May 9, 2016

Okay, how on earth is it May?! Still feels like it should be March.... Maybe I'm just weird. :)
The weather is totally bipolar lately - and keeps going back and forth between scorching hot and freezing cold. I think my brain and body are struggling to keep up.

On a different note, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!! Yesterday at church we had a really good program, and in one of the talks the speaker said that "A righteous mother is the embodiment of success." I really liked that idea. And I know that my own mother is one of the most righteous women I know :)

Well, in the long space since I last emailed, transfers have come and gone again. My last companion finished her mission with great excitement. And President decided to transfer me to a new area. That means he had to put two new missionaries in our place, and it turned out to be Elders of all things! That was a surprise! I absolutely loved serving in that area though. 6 months is a long while, but it's definitely been a highlight of the mission. So many great people I have come to respect and love, made me sad to leave what I felt was home. Goodbyes were hard. :(

So now I am serving in a city just north of Calgary, called Airdrie! Technically the first time I've served outside the city my whole mission... I have a great new companion, Sister Merkley! This is her last transfer in the mission, and so we are trying to make it a good one so she can finish strong. Coming in we have a few investigators, including this cute little family that have been meeting with missionaries for a few months. We are working with the ward to try and help them progress towards baptism. It's a small ward though. Honestly took some adjusting since I'd grown accustomed to covering 2 large, active wards! Here it's much more quiet, and apparently 53 of the 93 households are considered less-active. So we have our work cut out! But it's a beautiful area, with a lot of potential.

Here are a few points of interest:
- We just got a new Bishop, which means new energy!
- There's a member we were visiting whose BBQ unexpectedly caught fire, and miraculously caused only minor damage to the property and injury to the dad. Fire trucks came and took care of it, but it was a crazy night!
- Cinco de Mayo happened, and apparently nobody seemed to have heard of it before! I just assumed it was common knowledge growing up in the southwest..
- We went street contacting in downtown Calgary the other day - always an interesting experience. You meet so many unique people. But there always seems to be at least one who is prepared to hear about the gospel. We also got to finally go up the Calgary Tower!! Very tall, and at the top there are glass floors - yikes! The restaurant spins too. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week, full of miracles!!


Lots of love,
Sister Patterson