"Oh the weather outside is frightful! Investigators to teach would be delightful! We got places to go. Please don't snow, please don't snow, please don't snow!" - The song of a Canada Edmonton Missionary ;)
Hello family and friends!
This week it has snowed quite a bit. Just keeps piling up. Gotta love Edmonton in the winter. :) We had our ward Christmas party on Monday. Best Christmas Party Ever!!!! Santa and Mrs. Claus came. The theme was Elves and Reindeer. The girls dressed like Elves and the guys like Reindeer. It was so fun. We even had Karaoke. During one of the numbers our MCs Sonja (RS President) and David (Executive Secretary) ran around the room with mistletoe on a stick and had the Bishopric and other couples in the ward kiss. It was super funny. We also had some performances by members in the ward. One of which was a stand up comedian/ magician. He was pretty good. My favorite line of his was this- He randomly grabbed a Windex bottle out of his trunk, took off the lid and took a drink out of (don't worry, I'm sure it wasn't real Windex) he then said, "Public speaking freaks me out. I get super nervous. This keeps me from streaking." ha ha ha get it? Streaking. So funny. Anyway. The Bishopric dressed up as Reindeer but used real antlers. Super creative. I'm going to try and attach some pictures from the evening. Sadly, we had to leave early before it was done (gotta love the curfew of a missionary) so we didn't get to see all the performances. It was a success though.
On Thursday at service we got to see a musical performance. It was really good. During the performance however we had a surprise (well, the Elders had a surprise). Two police officers came in looking for a driver of a Chevy Cruze. Elder Schiess was the driver. Turns out somehow their OnStar button got pushed and they called the police who came to find if someone was in trouble. They tracked down the Elders. Elder Schiess didn't even remember pushing it. Super funny. Well, it gets better. Turns out the other Sisters were there, but visiting a resident when the police came. While they were putting the parking permit on their rear view mirror they accidentally pushed the button, but thought they turned it off. They too drive a Chevy cruze, but since they weren't there when the police came they didn't have to talk to them about it. It was pretty funny. We all got a good laugh from it.
So, a really neat story from this week happened yesterday at church. There is a couple in our ward Justin and Emma that are getting married on the 15th of December. Justin served his mission in Australia, Mandarin speaking and Emma is from China, but went to University in Austrialia where she was baptized. Justin actually taught her and after his mission they stayed in contact. She decided to move to Canada after her degree and after living here for a while her and Justin started dating and are now getting married. Emma's parents flew out this weekend for the wedding and came to church yesterday. Emma was asked to speak in Sacrament meeting and while she did Justin translated for her dad and Sophie (recent convert) translated for her mom. It was really neat. Well, just before the last speaker Brother Orr got up and asked that Emma bear her testimony in Chinese for her parents. The Spirit was so strong. It was so amazing!!! Her parents then attended Sunday school and Priesthood and Relief Society. In Relief Society Emma said, "My mom would like to say something and have me translate." This is what her mom said, "When we found out Emma got baptized we weren't very happy to find that out. Then to hear she was moving all the way to Canada and now marrying a Canadian. We were very worried for her and wondered if she was alone or taken care of. I have never been to a church before. But coming to church today we have realized just how many friends she has and how much love there is here. We know now that she has been taken care of. We have really enjoyed being here and we feel so warm while we've been here. Thank you so much." That was one of the most touching things I've ever been able to observe. The love that they have for each other is so evident. And you can tell that the Gospel truly blesses families, even if all of our families aren't members. That was so neat!!!! Over and over I have seen how much the Gospel really touches people's lives. I see it in my recent convert Chris' eyes when he talks about Eternal marriage and his excitement for the family he will one day have. I see it in the Ben Nicolson who is coming back to church when he testified of how the Candy Cane represents the Atonement to him (He said that the red and white stripes don't change width even when the candy cane bends. He connected that to the Savior and how no matter where we are, even if we turn away from him, his Atonement is still there and the same.) The Gospel is real!!!
I love you all!
Love always Sister Thompson
Sorry, ran out of time to attach pictures. Next week for sure!!!!
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