6 Months in the Mission Field

I really am enjoying having a fall season. Today was the first day that I actually put on a winter coat and winter boots. We saw a few snow flakes yesterday at about 10:00 at night, but the kind that melted as soon as they landed on the ground. There is still green grass outside and ther flowers are just now showing signs of dying due to cold weather. In Edmonton, especially when I was younger, I remember the fall season lasting all of about 3 weeks, and then winter. It is no wonder I never really liked fall, it was just a short anouncement that winter was coming.



P-day at the office.

We weathered "Frankenstorm" rather well. We only had weather advisory for severe wind. Any of you who may have been watching the news may have heard there was one casualty in Toronto, a woman was hit by a sign which blew off a large pole, she did not survive. That was the day that many of our missionaries were driving in the wee hours of the morning because it was transfer day. There were a vew precarious driving conditions, but every one was fine and transfer day went just fine.
 
Elder Stark and myself have had a few new and interresting duties added to our list.  We had to go and do some things for apartments, because now we have no housing co-ordinator.  We are at the point where we are considering to ask Mission President if we can just live at the office, for all the time we spend in the apartment assigned to us, it really does seem like a waste. The picture is supposed to be a P-day but we were still doing office duties.  At least we eat well! I have never before had an entire lobster.  They were on sale- and really inexpensive!  I can never get that in Edmonton, so that day we ate lobster in the office.




Stratford Film Festival

We went to a live performance at the Stratford Film Festival.  I kind of wanted to do something cultural while we were here.  It was an unusual play called, "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" and the actors and actresses were the peanuts! It was so funny, as the announcement at the begining of the play was "Wah wa wa wah-wah-wah-" and ect. then "brrrrr-rrrring" We all knew that they were requesting us to turn off our cell phones, but if you remember in the cartoon "Peanuts"adults were never heard, only blurbed.  So here are a couple of pictures of our trip that day.  We were with two other senior missionary couples.

Elder Starks Favorite restaurant

I guess you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.  This restaurant impressed Edler Stark so much that he wanted to take several pictures of it. Not only was there excellent breakfast food, but at a price even ther missionaries can enjoy!  The restaurant is in Kitchener, if you ever wish to stop by.

5 Months in the Mission Field

I had no idea that the red maple leaves went from green to a green and part red stage, to red and then to yellow. I wanted to send some leaves to our family, unfortunately by the time I got around to doing it it was mostly only yellow leaves left, then they turn-on the ground to a brown. What a lot of colours they go through!
I can't believe it's fall!  We've been in the mission field for 5 months!  The geese are taking test flights and those fussy headed babies, which turned into awkward teenagers now fly and look just like their parents.  I'm lookin forward to the different colours in fall here, as in Alberta we mostly just get yellow leaves.  The Maple leaves are already half red.

Elder Starks Favorite Building

This is the building where the old Canada Toronto East mission office used to be in, that was before the combining of the two missions which occured in the summer of 2011.   The office is on the top floor of this stake center.   The Stake Center is now home to only two small branches.  

The September Transfer Day

September Transfer was the largest for incoming missionaries.  I believe at last count there were 23.

You would think the number wouldn't change, but it does for  variety of reasons.  This transfer also occurred at a month where we had Zone meetings, this gets us behind in our office duties because we have to spend at least two days per week on the road for three consequetive weeks.  We do vehicle placement to assist with missionary travel and we each do have a part in Zone training, we have four different places in the province for one set of Zones.  These are a few pictures taken on transfer day.

Unusal Buildings

The Toronto area has unusual buildings, what I mean is different from in Edmonton.  There are all kinds of shapes and sizes- and it is not the usual to see a square building. all kinds of circular, semi circular and just multi -curved.  Here are only a few.