October - a bit late

We’ve been a bit remiss in keeping up on the blog, so here’s an attempt to catch up a bit – most of this news happened in October. Maybe we’ll catch up on November and December by the end of the year.

We have been asked to provide the meal for Zone Conference that is held once every transfer (usually every six weeks). There are 3 zones with 80-100 young missionaries plus the office missionaries and Senior missionaries. The Senior couples have been assigned a zone to help with. Since there are no senior missionaries in the Kitchener Zone, we have been asked to work with another couple, the Flinders, to arrange the meal for their zone.

It is pretty far from both of us (about an hour to the west from our home – if the freeway isn’t too backed up!). So, in preparation for the assignment, Elder Lyon and I took a drive out to the Kitchener chapel to see what the kitchen had in it and to see what stores were close by, etc. We found a cute family owned/run pizza place right across the street from the chapel, so we ordered pizzas. They were very happy to work with us, and it felt like a win all the way around.

We enjoyed the drive to Kitchener away from the hustle and bustle of Toronto, with lots of beautiful fields and forests. The Fall colors were spectacular. The landscape of Ontario, like its people, is quite diverse. We love it. 

The conference went well, the family had all the pizzas ready for lunch, the Flinders made salad and pumpkin squares, and the missionaries didn’t complain, so we think it was a success! Our next assignment will be in January, because the local Stake Relief Societies prepare the meals for the December / Christmas Zone Conferences.

Kitchener Zone Conference lunch - pizza, pumpkin bars, and salad

Speaking of feeding missionaries, we feed the two elders and two sisters assigned to our ward every other week on Sunday to discuss the work, goals, plans, how we can help them, etc. We enjoy having them here. They have such good energy. It doesn’t matter what you feed them, just as long as there is a lot of it.

We have also been asked to inspect the missionaries’ apartments every transfer. We have 6 apartments to check so we do one every Monday. It’s been a good experience and helps us have another connection with them. We aren’t their parents, so we aren’t there to clean up after them – mostly to check safety issues, fire/smoke/CO2 alarms, and things like that, and to remind them where they can do better to be clean and safe in their areas. We hear too many reports of new missionaries coming into an apartment and finding it less than compatible with mission and missionary standards.

The members in our Black Creek Ward are from all over Latin America. Every year they have a celebration called “Día De La Raza”. Tables were set up all around the gym, each representing a different country. People from that country worked together to decorate it and brought beautiful things to display. I think there were 8 or so. Then we ate. Oh, how we ate. So much yummy food. Each table had foods from that country, and our plates were filled to the brim. Then came the entertainment. The Alcón family from Bolivia did 4 dances: the grandpa and grandma did one together, the grandma, daughter and granddaughter did two and the daughter who dances with a dance group did one by herself. The Young Women did a dance. The Relief Society did actions to a song of reaching out wherever you are from. We also participated with the Arellano and Madrid families. We performed “His Voice as the Sound” from the new hymns. Elder Lyon played the piano, Hermano Arellano played his pan flute and cana flute from Ecuador and sung with his family and the Madrids while I played my harp.

The Alcóns - from Bolivia

The Villaltas - from Guatemala

The Food - from all over!

Elder Lyon has started teaching piano lessons to Ethan Arellano who is 12 years old. There is a lot of musical talent in that family. I have been helping the Primary (playing the piano) as they practice for their Primary Program. I will not be playing for the program, just for the practices. It has been fun to be in Primary. We don’t have many children in the Primary, but they are very attentive and are learning good things and sing with enthusiasm.

October 13^th was Canada’s Thanksgiving Day. The Relief Society had a lovely Thanksgiving Dinner with a program. We didn’t really celebrate much – I think we’re waiting for the November Thanksgiving Day to celebrate with the missionaries since most of them come from the United States.

Elder Lyon is very good at making things better, easier, and more functional. There were a lot of pass-along cards in the missionary closet with a place on the back for missionary phone numbers. The missionaries use their phones for everything. The chip and the number stay in the area with all the information on it that the next missionary will need. So, we went looking for a place to make a stamp with their phone numbers to stamp on the pass along cards.  We ended up in a very middle eastern neighborhood. The store was Print2Go. It looked very disorganized and crazy at first sight. You wondered how they could keep track of anything. But they were great. It should have taken them 3-4 days, but he made it for us right then and we went home with it. They were so nice and professional. We would recommend them. The stamps work perfectly with our cards. 

A stamped passalong card

The Stake Relief Society provided a wonderful activity that we both attended. It was a day of service to our ancestors, our posterity, and our community. There were two Endowment sessions we could sign up for at 10 and 10:30. There were baptisms that you could do without an appointment at 10 or 11 and then go over to the Stake Center next to the temple for some classes. They had two classes – one for family history and one for journaling. They also had a room where two sister missionaries showed a video of the Rome Temple and answered questions and took people on tour of the temple gardens. Then there was lunch of soups (about 7 different ones), salad, rolls, pumpkin pie, and apples They had hot cider as well as fruit drinks and water on the tables. The Stake Relief Society Presidency were out and about visiting with all of us. 

We were able to take Luz, who was baptized 3 weeks ago. She loved the experience and asked good questions. Elder Lyon is such a loving, kind, gentle teacher. We also brought Laura who moved from Mexico 2 months ago. She has been a member for 4 years. We were able to take our own tour of the temple gardens and had a good visit. It was a sweet activity. The soup and pie were good too.

Ana Laura and Luz at the Temple with us.

To thank us Laura invited us to the restaurant where she works. It’s called “La Pozoleria” (pozole is a Mexican soup). They had a variety of other Mexican foods as well. Very tasty.

The name says it all!

We have District Council every week with the young missionaries, and as Senior MLS missionaries we hold our own District Council once every 6 weeks. There are 10 MLS couples. It is good to get together and share what we are doing and get ideas and talk about what we are learning and ask questions and get some ideas. Elder and Sister Andersen instructed us on making good invitations (invitations to come to church, for instance, or to read the Book of Mormon. Not Birthday invitations… 😊). Elder Lyon and I were asked to give instruction on uniting with ward leadership and members to retain the new members, and the Chadwicks and Vanderwalls had a discussion on how to accomplish what we are trying to do in member retention efforts. The wards we serve in are so different with different dynamics and needs. We are so grateful to work in the Black Creek Spanish ward. They are so loving, humble and easy to work with.

We also teach a class every Thursday night entitled “Mi Senda De Los Convenios”, or “My Covenant Path”. It is especially for the new members, but we invite the whole ward and get quite a few from both groups. It is so rewarding when you finish a class and no one wants to leave because they are visiting with each other, often continuing the things we have discussed in class.

My Covenant Path Class map - early version, in English

Another assignment we have been given from the Mission is to help with the Christmas Program for the December Zone Conference. Sister Lyon is working with 2 other senior sisters. These sisters are real musicians and have conducted choirs and put together musical programs a lot. Sister Lyon loves music, but what she brought to the table was simplicity. So, we are having all the missionaries learn the Christmas hymns in the new hymn book. Each District can choose a song they will perform or have the whole group perform together along with a scripture to introduce the song. We have people who play the clarinet, violin, trumpet, etc. Hopefully it will be fun and less stressful than if it was a big production using only a few. These Conferences start December 2^nd.

We continue to work with our new members. Our ward has been good at giving them callings and it is so fun to see them progressing as they accept and fulfill them.

While inspecting the sisters’ apartment we learned that they needed trash cans. So, we thought we would just get some for them while we were out and about. While in the check-out line we saw boxes of colored chalk that would be a perfect gift for Elder Clement who had just instructed us in District Council and couldn’t find a piece of chalk that was big enough to use.  So, we had to get something for his companion, Elder Astle. He has been leading the singing in our district council and is very serious about his leading and works on it.

So, we looked all over and finally found an amazing music store called Long and McQuade. This store is huge. The basement sold drums and such, the main floor sold mixers and brass instruments, the third floor sold harps, violins beautiful things and batons. We found a very reasonably priced one for Elder Astle. Then we looked at the keyboards, which happened to be in a part of the store two buildings away. We have been toying with the idea of getting one and we walked out with one. It has come in so handy as Sister Lyon has been practicing at the church to help the Primary with their program and as Elder Lyon accompanies everyone.

Keyboard

Since transfers were coming the next week, Sunday would possibly be our last Sunday dinner with our missionaries, so we wrapped and gifted them with their “gifts”. They were thrilled.  

The end of October brought transfers – right on schedule. Our Sister Lynch got transferred to the Churchville YSA ward, which is still part of our District, and Elder Clement got sent out to the Hamilton Zone. They’ve both been wonderful to work with. Their replacements are Elder Innocenzi and Sister Stefan. It will be fun getting to know them and working with them.

The Etobicoke District with Elder Clement's selfie stick

September catch up

September 2025

We need to catch up a bit – we’ve been pretty busy and the blog has taken second place. So here goes!

Our Stake was blessed with a meeting for new members with General Authorities from Salt Lake City early in September. The visiting leaders were President Guory, one of the counselors in the New Canada Area presidency; Elder Webb, first counselor in the general Sunday School presidency; and Elder Dixon, second counselor in the Young Men General presidency. They gave wonderful talks. We were also blessed to hear from 2 brothers who were recently baptized. They gave good talks about their conversion and about love. One of them had only been baptized in August!

One of the stories that was told by Elder Webb really touched me. While serving in Mexico City as a young missionary a family was taught by him and his companion. They were golden and knew the church was true and wanted to be baptized. When the elders went over to give the discussion before baptism, the brother opened the door only a crack and said he didn't want to see them anymore and the baptism was off. Missionaries do not take things like that lightly and one of them stuck his foot in the door. He let them in and told them he couldn't be baptized because he was a schoolteacher and one of his goals as a teacher was to teach his students that there is no God. Hundreds of people turned away from God because of him. How could he be baptized with that great sin upon him. 

The elder had this brother read Jacob 2:8 "And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul." They testified of the Savior's power to heal the wounded soul because of His Atonement and asked him to kneel with them right then and ask God if He would forgive him for his great wickedness. As he prayed to know great tears of joy poured out. The man said as he prayed it felt like the scars left from his wounds were rubbed with healing ointment and pained him no more. It was a very tender story.

The next day, Sunday the 7^th, our dear friend Laura Madrid taught the new member Sunday School lesson for the first time. She has been a member only 9 months, as we detailed previously. Wow! She taught with love and with the Spirit.

Zaid, a new convert, was there at church today and looked so handsome in his white shirt and tie. Tony wore a white shirt today as well. He heard his name being called from the pulpit to give the closing prayer in Sacrament Meeting. He was surprised but did a great job. It is so fun to see these new members accept callings and responsibilities and progress as well as support each other.

We met the De La Rosa Family as well. They have been members for a little less than 2 years and recently moved to the Black Creek Ward. We asked if we could come visit them in their home. Sister De La Rosa invited us to come the next day at 5pm. We received such a warm reception in their home on the 30^th floor of an apartment building near the church. She is a single mother with three children. Ivan is 16, Camila is 13 and desires to serve a mission, Santiago is 9. We had such a good visit with them. They shared their meal with us. We left feeling full of good food and love.

Then we visited the Madrid family. We love them like our own children. We shared some herbal tea and had such a good visit with them. They had a very busy week and didn't get to study about Patriarchal Blessings as Elder Lyon had asked them to last week. Elder Lyon shared a "miracle with a word" with them. That's what I am calling it. He had Laura pick a number between 1 and 15 for a book in the Book of Mormon. Then a number for the chapter and then a number for the verse. Eric read the verse and chose one word that stood out to him. The word was miracles. So, we spent the next few minutes discussing miracles. That is the miracle of a word. The Spirit can teach you things about one word and you can think on it and receive inspiration on that one word from the Holy Ghost all day. They were quite surprised.

We talked about a lot of things. We discussed how they have progressed so rapidly and well on the covenant path and Laura said they are in the Lord's hands. I felt inspired to say that sometimes when we are progressing so quickly and we have all these wonderful experiences, we burn out, and Satan tries to discourage us. That is normal and ok as long as we don't let those feelings take over but hold on to what we know and to each other and we will get through. It was just a wonderful visit. Eric said a sweet prayer. Derek came out and gave us hugs and as we left Edric came home from soccer practice so tired. He hugged us too. Oh, what a sweet spirit in their home and what dear children of God.

We were able to go to Zone Conference in the Toronto Zone, held at the Toronto Stake Center. The Senior couples provide, prepare and serve the luncheon. We also get to eat with the young missionaries. Helping in the kitchen was so fun for me. My four sisters are having our annual Sisterette (sister get away) this week and I was missing them. Being in the kitchen with these sisters was almost like being with my dear Glidewell sisters.

Elder Stanfil, a General Authority 70 and assigned to be the president of the newly created Canada Area, is touring the missions in Canada. He wanted to meet all the missionaries personally, even us old ones. An hour before the meeting started, he met with a handshake every missionary at the conference. He was inspiring and informative. It was a wonderful conference.

On Wednesday nights there is a lot happening at the church. While my companion was meeting with the ward clerk, I attended the English Connect class. Before the class started I met Antonia and her mother Blanca. They haven't been here very long, and it is very hard for Antonia in school as it is all English and there aren’t any Spanish speakers. Antonia is 7 and cute as can be. Her smile was infectious. She wanted to be my partner the whole time. At first her mother joined us. When we switched partners, Blanca changed but Antonia just wanted to practice with me. We worked on pronunciation and understanding. I can't imagine how hard it would be. She told me she does have one friend at school who knows as much Spanish as she does English. She hugged me and asked if I would come back next week. I told her I would try but she could come to church on Sunday. Then I realized that we were speaking on Sunday, and her mother got interested (they are not members of the church). She said they will if her husband is OK with it. I hope they will come. I forgot to mention Robert. He is 8 and wanted to practice with us too. He is a little further along than Antonia. They were cute doing the clock together. I met his family, mother, father, and tiny baby sister. These people are all working hard to make a better life for themselves. I'm glad I went.

I made a fun connection today in the temple. I was at the recommend desk with Brother Tse. I hadn't looked at his name tag, but he described his son from China who was married to a Korean. They now live in American Fork. I looked at his name and asked him if they ever lived in West Valley. Yes! They were our neighbors there. When their baby was blessed in our West Valley Ward, they gave out gift bags to people who had come for the blessing. I happened to get one and took it with me when I met Kimberlee Hernandez and her family. That was the key that brought us together. Her favorite Aunt who had just passed away used to bring a gift bag like that with treats just like that when she would visit them. I told that to Bro. Tse and he said he put those gift bags together himself. Small World!!! I love the Tse's. 

We made an appointment to go to the temple with Zaid to do baptisms. He wouldn't know if he could get work off until 6:30 the night before. So I planned to get wet if he couldn't come. But he was able to get work off and we had a lovely time with him. Elder Lyon baptized him. I got to be one of the witnesses. Zaid was asked to be a witness for other baptisms. It was sweet being there with him. We walked around the grounds and found a beautiful spot in front of the temple to take pictures. We had never walked around there previously. Our goal is to help these newly baptized members get a temple recommend and do baptisms in the temple within the first month of being a member. It’s not easy since they typically work 6 days a week, often 10-12 hours a day.

Zaid with us at the Toronto Temple.

We had a lovely dinner with the Arellanos. They are so kind and excited about the work and they are serving and loving and doing all they can to serve the Lord. They have two sons. Ethan is 13 and Liam is 9. Sister Arellano made soup and pasta salad. I brought fresh cut peaches from Costco. Hno. Arellano is very talented musically. He played two different pan flutes for us - not the small double pipes like mine, but the bigger curved single layer. He played them so beautifully and if he has heard the song before, he can play it. He also played a straight "Indian" flute. Hermana Arellano showed us her beautiful embroidery and all of her mother's old patterns that she rescued from being thrown out. Her mother has a business where she embroiders blouses and things. She creates her own patterns and uses a machine to embroider. But Veronica likes to do it by hand which is very time consuming and beautiful and delicate. She has one blouse ready to go and she finished embroidering on a tie for one of the missionaries that was here and since returned home.

We decided that for the Night of Nations festival in our ward we will make a group number and perform the song "His Voice as the Sound". Hermano Arellano will play both his instruments as well as sing with his family. I will play the harp, and Elder Lyon will play the piano. I chose the song because I am learning it and might be ready by October. Hopefully the Madrid family will join in the singing. It will be interesting and fun.

On Sunday Sep 14^th I was given a sweet miracle. We spoke in our ward. We had good discussions all week about our topic which was missionary work. I had some inspirational promptings as I woke up a couple of mornings. I knew what stories in the Book of Mormon to use and what scriptures to use and what quotes to use.

I wrote it up the day before and translated it. I didn't get a chance to time it but felt good about it, so we went to bed. We were going to have 10-12 minutes apiece. When I timed it in the morning before church, it was 14 1/2 minutes. It was too late to do anything about it right then because I had to work on lunch for the missionaries. We were having a meeting with our 4 missionaries after church, and I always feed them at this meeting. We had ward council before church. It would have been so easy to read what I had written, but that wouldn't have given me a miracle.

I have been very concerned about my Spanish. I don't hold back but I don't speak very well either. So, I have been practicing. But to speak on the fly in Spanish is scary to me. I prayed and prayed for a miracle that I would be calm and not worry about me but say what He would want me to say and that the Spirit would be what they heard. I was able to focus in the ward council meeting on the needed discussions, gave the opening prayer, and even made a comment. So I had no time to worry about my talk.

I felt calm. I wanted to go into a room and go over my talk and cross things out and rewrite things, but instead I visited with the members. As I sat on the stand, I was filled with an overwhelming love for all of them. That is what I needed to forget myself and say what I needed to say. It was a miracle.

I have prayed for the gift of tongues and believe it is one I am having to work at. Little by little, line upon line. I am understanding more every day. And thinking more in Spanish all the time. This experience helped me in so many ways to have more confidence in myself and faith in my Savior, and how love made the difference. I can do that.

Elder Lyon spoke beautifully and said the things we wanted to say about members helping the missionaries and missionaries working with the members etc. I love hearing him speak in church.

After our church meetings, we had a baptism. Erick has been being taught for a month or so and was baptized that afternoon. We have been working with the missionaries to be better prepared early in the week for these baptisms so they can involve the ward more fully. It’s working. The Ward Mission Leader conducts the meeting and members of the ward share talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. Because the members are alerted early in the week (there have been times in the past when the members learned that there would be a baptism in Sacrament Meeting an hour before the baptism). Now, they are getting at least 4 days notice.

September 14^th was our sweet granddaughter, Eleanor Ricks’, farewell. She is going to be serving the people in Paris France. She is fluent in French due to the French Immersion she has had in school since kindergarten. We are so excited for her. She will be an awesome missionary. We are also grateful for this connection we share as missionaries.

Later that week, we visited with a new member, Jonathan, and his wife Sol, and their little almost-2-year-old daughter Soy. The Spirit is always at these sweet family visits. My companion is so good at teaching and loving and being in tune. As a senior missionary couple, we have experienced a little more of life than the young missionaries and are able to share our experiences that might help them in what they are going through. The Spirit helps us know what they need and what we can share.

Hermana Alcon is a dear sister from Bolivia who lives in our ward here. She invited the sister missionaries in our ward and us for brunch. We enjoyed buñuelos and pastel de queso and api. Typical Bolivian food. Buñuelos are like flat round donuts that you deep-fry in oil. Pastel de Queso is cheese filled dough folded with a braid and deep fried in oil. Api is a purple or yellow drink made from corn "meal". We usually had purple api in Bolivia, but she made both colors and spooned one on top of the other. It looked really pretty and tasted delicious. You drink it hot. She put powder sugar on top of the pastel and miel de cana or molasses drizzle on top of the buñuelo. It was so fun being in her home. She has a lovely home. I loved seeing all of her Bolivian things.

Hna. Alcon and the sister missionaries.

We had a good conversation. Hermana Alcon was able to tell us stories from her life and from Bolivia. She and Elder Lyon talked about the customs there. Then Hermana Brown showed a video on her phone about Jesus, and we had a closing prayer by Hermana Alcon. It was so very sweet. We are going to get together on Saturday for a late lunch. 

One morning I read the news in our beloved USA. It saddened me and hurt my heart. It is just the opposite of the message of Jesus Christ. It made me sad. So, I knelt down and talked to my Heavenly Father about these feelings and what I could do with them and how I can help. He showed me in my mind these young missionaries that we serve with. They are amazing in their ability to teach others about Jesus Christ and to search the scriptures and teach each other and us. They are learning to love in the Lord's way. His children from all over the world, who look so different and believe so differently and sound different. They love them all whether they want to hear their message or not. They are learning how to be like our Savior. He is teaching them.  They are doing a great service for the people here, but they are becoming the hope of our world. They are learning how to serve others. Every lesson they give or person they teach they ask if there is anything they can do to serve them today. They are the future leaders of the world. They are hope because they represent the author of hope. They are young 18-22 years old. They serve all over the world and young people from all over the world are a part of this group of amazing young representatives, ambassadors of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It fills my saddened heart with joy. God is in charge. He loves all of His children in every land, we are His and He indeed has a plan, a marvelous plan for all of us. There is hope and joy and love because our dear Heavenly Father sent His beloved Son to atone for every sin, pain, evil, heartache in the world for everyone who has ever lived and will yet live on the earth. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and Eternal Life in the world to come. I love to testify of these things in the name of my Savior Jesus Christ.

The Alcon’s had all the missionaries over for dinner on the 20th. Both elders and sisters from our ward as well as the elders in the Weston ward were there. I think Elder Brewerton has a way of getting into people’s hearts with his sincere eye to eye compliments. We ate out back on the patio. Hermano Alcon grilled some yummy steaks and chicken legs and sausages. We also had arroz con queso (a creamy rice with chunks of goat cheese), a green salad, and llajua (which was perfect), and bread. Fernando was also there. He is a wonderful young adult who was baptized about 2 years ago. He has an amazing smile. He brought a tres leches cake to share. It was lovely being there. The Alcon’s are so kind. Their daughter and two granddaughters were there as well.

There are so many good people in this ward who are progressing and serving. Fernando was just called to teach the Valiant class with Hermano Madrid. I talked to him after, and he said the kids in the class are so smart and know the gospel. They are being taught in their homes. 

We love being able to visit with all our children, pretty much weekly, via Zoom, Facetime, Google Meet, and Whatsapp. Technology is great, and we appreciate knowing enough to adapt to the particular need of the person or family we are communicating with. We do appreciate that we got to visit with our sweet granddaughter, Ellie, before she started her mission experience at the MTC.

One day, we had to leave in a hurry to get to our weekly Ward Mission Coordination meeting. Imagine our surprise when we got home and went downstairs and couldn't open our door. We can always get in the outside door, we use an electronic keypad, and we also have a key. But we don't have a key to our inside basement door. We never lock that door when we leave. But for some reason in our hurry to get to our meeting we did, and we were locked out, and our landlady, Nyree, is on vacation for 2 weeks. We tried all we could and then I called the housing missionaries. We figured that they would know if the mission office has keys to our apartment. They have keys to all the young missionary apartments, but they figure the senior missionaries would be more responsible. Obviously not.

We tried to call Nyree and texted her as well, but she didn't answer. We had talked to her about a key to the basement before she left on her vacation, and she said she had one upstairs and would make a copy. She wasn’t able to do that before she left, but we knew there was a key somewhere in her house. We just hoped it was out somewhere visible. So, we checked her inside door, and it was unlocked, so we went in to find the key ... awkward. We did - we found a zip-lock bag on the table that had a key in it and written on the outside was “apartment key”. It worked!!!! We didn’t have to call a locksmith. Nyree left her door unlocked just in case.

As missionaries, we are a part of a missionary district. We have District councils with the young missionaries every week, where we learn from each other. We love being taught by the young missionaries. We talk about goals and how they did the week before and set new goals and hear council from the Mission President. Our District is the Etobicoke District, but they wanted to change the name on their messenger account, so after voting, they named it the “Lyon’s Grandchildren”. It might seem that we have a good relationship with them – I hope so.

We have made some American Fork connections with a couple of our Lyon’s Grandchildren district. Elder Gunther is related to our dear friends, the Gunthers in American Fork. We know his grandparents and parents and uncles and aunts, cousins, etc.  Sister McMillan is the granddaughter of our friend Connie Ault. Her mother was Becky’s friend in school. Connie went to high school with Elder Lyon, and they reconnected when she was planning the 20-year high school reunion and asked Elder Lyon to help. Such a fun small world.

On September 26^th and 27^th we attended the Senior missionary refresher. They have these periodically. Friday night we met at the mission home and had potluck. President and Sister Lee are from Hawaii, and they made us a traditional entrée called loco moco. It is a hamburger patty over rice with a poached egg on top and brown gravy over all of it. It was pretty good. We played a crazy fun game. Imagine 40 people all talking to each other at once. Two couples sang a beautiful number, the Lees taught us, and then opened up a question answer session which was very helpful.

Canada Toronto Mission Senior Missionaries

The next morning, we took an uber (which happened to be a Tesla) downtown to have a yummy breakfast at Fox on John’s with all the senior missionaries, not quite as many as the night before, but a big group, nonetheless. Then we had a few hours to spend exploring Toronto before meeting up at Rogers Center for a Blue Jays Game. We got a ride home with our dear friends, Sister GoodHeart and Sister Skelton.

CN Tower from the Blue Jays Stadium

Rogers Center - the Blue Jays Stadium

Us in reality

Us with a bit of AI enhancement!

Sister Lyon from the top observation deck.

Look up the Edge Walk at the CN Tower. Sister Lyon wanted to do this so bad....This is looking down on the big bubble in the tower from the top, little bubble observation deck.

Sunday September 28^th, we woke up to the news that our dear President and Prophet Russell M. Nelson had passed away during the night. We will miss him, but we are happy that he is able to be together with his Dantzel and other family members who have passed on, as well as with his best friend, who he has served his whole life, our Savior Jesus Christ.

As indicated, we are so grateful for modern technology that enables us to see and visit with our children while we are away. We love them and miss being with them but are so happy to be here serving the Lord and His children in the Canada Toronto Mission.

Sweet families, new members, and senior missionaries

Sorry - no pictures this week. But lots of learning and teaching.

On Sunday this last week, we participated in the Ward Council with the missionaries and Ward leadership. They really are working well together and are supportive of the things we suggest that would help in new member retention and new friend fellowshipping. There are a couple of very good investigators (friends) that aren’t quite ready for baptism but really want what the church has to offer. One is struggling with the Word of Wisdom, another can’t see how they could pay tithing, a third one has to wait to resolve a legal issue. The missionaries have so many other contacts and friends who are progressing, so the Ward is going to take responsibility for the progress of these three. We’re working to get the individuals who have been called as Ward Missionaries to take the front-line responsibility for these three in particular. In the past, the Ward Missionaries haven’t really been expected to do much, so it’s going to take some time and training.

As we are getting to know the recent converts, we are truly enjoying getting to know them and help them see what the Covenant Path means, and how they can progress in a way that meets their needs.

We met with the Madrid family last Tuesday. What a joy it was to be able to get to know them. On Sunday, we introduced ourselves and asked if there would be a time we could visit with them. They were excited and invited us to their home on Tuesday evening. We got there and they gave us a treat and told us their story. It was truly inspiring.

They have two boys – a 10-year-old and a 5-year-old. They came to Canada about two years ago, and when they tried to find a school for their older boy, they got turned away every time. She kept trying, and they basically had to home school him for the first year. When the same thing kept happening as they prepared for the second school year, Sister Madrid was so discouraged she prayed and told God that if she didn’t get an answer from the school by Thursday admitting their son, she was going to go back to Mexico. Her husband told her that she shouldn’t make ultimatums with God, and there were so many other good things here that they should keep trying.

Well, on Thursday morning, at 9:02 am, she got a call telling her that her son would be admitted to that school. She was overjoyed, but interestingly, she started receiving messages about our church in Facebook that same day. They weren’t messages from friends or acquaintances – they were just popping up. So they responded to one, the missionaries contacted them, and the message of the restored gospel resonated with them.

They were baptized last December and are completely engaged in every way. They have prepared their own names and done baptisms for the dead at the temple and continue to look for family members who need their work done. The father, Erick, has been ordained an elder, and Sister Madrid, Laura, was just called to teach the new member Sunday School class. She told us she was nervous, but we told her we would be there and gave her some ideas on how to get started. It will be fun to see their continued growth as they prepare to receive their endowments. They have started the Temple Preparation class, and while we were there, they asked us how long it would be before they could do that and be sealed as a family. We told them that as soon as they had been members for a year, they could do that if they were worthy. They asked us if we could be there, to which we replied, “We’ll move heaven and earth if that’s what it takes to be there with you.”

As we talked about things, I felt prompted to ask them if they knew about Patriarchal Blessings. They looked at each other and said that they had heard about them and hoped that we would help them learn what that was. It just seemed that we had been inspired to get to know them at the perfect moment that they needed it. It will be such a joy to us to be able to continue to teach them and learn from them and share with them in the joy of the gospel plan.

As an aside, when we got there, the 10-year-old very politely waited to find out if he needed to translate for these old gringos. When he realized that we could communicate with his parents, who speak no English, didn’t need him, he politely excused himself and went to play with his younger brother in the other room. Such sweet, humble people. They are as dear to us as if they were our own children and grandchildren, and we’ve only known them for a week.

Another recent convert is Zaid. He was baptized last Sunday. His mother is a member in Mexico and had been sending him Conference talks to listen to. When he met the missionaries, he was already prepared. He is about 22 years old, and a hard worker, but had broken his collarbone on the job, and so wasn’t working when he met the missionaries. That gave them time to teach him and baptize him. The day after his baptism, he was able to go back to work, and it’s been difficult finding a time to teach him the new-member lessons.

Well, today was Labor Day here in Canada, so he had the day off. We invited him over for dinner and taught the first lesson on the Restoration. Since he had been well-taught by the missionaries, it was mostly a review. But he received it so well and was so humble and gracious. One of the missionaries had given him a tie to wear next week when he receives the Aaronic Priesthood, so I tried to show him how to tie it. I suggested he could find a YouTube video that he could practice with during the week.

We taught him about the Aaronic Priesthood, and what it meant to have that authority to help pass the Sacrament. It will be fun to continue to see him progress.

And the last one I’ll mention here is Tony. He was baptized 3-4 months ago, and has been ordained a Priest, but hasn’t felt ready to help with the Sacrament yet. We had a phenomenal visit with him after church yesterday. He’s ready to get a white shirt, the Bishop already gave him a tie, so we’ll see if he participates with the Aaronic Priesthood next Sunday. He asked about Patriarchal Blessings, and after I explained it to him, he said that he was excited to learn more and prepare for that. He has committed to weekly appointments so we can keep a connection and keep helping him learn, as well.

We also found a member whose baptism and confirmation had never been recorded. We know who baptized him – there is a picture on the wall in the hall at church of them just before the baptism. The missionary who taught him and witnessed his baptism is here in the ward (for a second time – serendipity? I think not.)

Since I was involved in fixing an identical problem in Tupiza when we were there, it was easy to find the instructions in the General Handbook, so I’m working at getting that taken care of as well.

Sister Lyon and I have been invited to talk about conversion with the missionaries at our District Council this week, so we are preparing for that. We enjoy learning with the missionaries each week in these Councils.

Each transfer (every six to seven weeks), they hold a Zone Council. One difference from our experience in Tupiza in these zone meetings is the role that the Sister Training Leader companionship has. They share time with the Zone Leaders in giving instruction and council. We see real growth in these young missionaries and are grateful to be here with them.

And, lastly, we had a “game night” with the other Senior missionaries here in the mission. There were seven other companionships there, all about our age, and we enjoyed identifying songs (“Guess that tune”) from our era. Sister Lyon loved “rocking out” with these dear faithful Senior missionaries.

Loving the work

This week was a week of getting increasingly engaged in the missionary and new member work. In our Sunday Stake Conference Meeting, Elder Evanson from the new Canadian Area Presidency shared some of the key experiences he has had. One in particular was very important. He described how he had been called as a Stake President and struggled with the responsibilities of the calling. One day, he told us, he was feeling so down and crying to his Father in Heaven "I can't do this", and he heard in his mind "No you can't, but I can."

In our work here, as well as our efforts in life depend so much on His love, power, authority, inspiration, and light. We are finding that as we rely more on Him and less on us, that we are finding more success, both with the missionaries and with the new members with whom we work.

We have met a couple of times now with the Ward Mission Correlation meeting. It is under the direction of Brother Meraz, the first counselor in the Elders Quorum presidency. He is engaged and energetic about ideas that come to him and that we share. We can see the ward becoming more engaged in the missionary work, especially as it regards new members as they approach being baptized, and immediately thereafter. The keys, as President Hinkley taught us, are that every member needs a friend, a responsibility, and to be nourished by the good word of God. In so many cases, the “friend” of a new member, is the missionary that taught them. Or us. We have to work to help make sure that their friends are the members of the ward.

We’ve also been to a couple of the Ward Council meetings and are impressed by how the Bishopric and ward leaders want to know and help with the new members. Our role is to help the ward members and leaders see how they can be more involved in making the transition better. There are so many new and different things to learn and understand once a person has been baptized, and we often don’t put ourselves in their shoes – we expect that they will be able to put on that new pair of shoes that we have designed for them, and to just be able to run at full speed.

We’ve presented some ideas to the Ward Council about tracking some of the key things that need to happen with a new member that we don’t often think about – do they have Gospel Library installed on their phone? Do they have a church account and LDS Tools installed so they can see the members of the ward? Do they have a picture in LDS Tools so the ward can get to know them? Have they been offered a subscription to the church magazines, or shown how to access them in Gospel Library? Have they been invited to attend the YSA Ward and Institute, if they are of that age group? Are they added to the WhatsApp chat groups for their group – Elders, RS, YM/YW, etc. Do they have the Family Search App? Do they know how to get names to take to the temple to do baptisms for the dead? Have they been given the For the Strength of Youth or My Family Pamphlets and taught what they need to know or do regarding these? Have they been taught the new member lessons (retaught the missionary lessons, basically)? Have they been taught about Patriarchal Blessings? Do they know and understand what Come Follow Me is, and how to access and study the lessons? What about the fact that the class they attended last week (Gospel Doctrine) is different than the one this week – EQ or RS? There is so much we take for granted that we learned over years of being a member.

These are in addition to the ones we easily think about – ordination to the Aaronic Priesthood for brothers, temple recommends for brothers and sisters, ministering brothers and sisters assigned, a calling in the ward. There are a lot of things that we need to remember, and if we can help the ward remember them and make sure that they happen, then we will be successful. The real key is whether these new members can make the transition to being a member so they can continue to grow and learn along the covenant path to become a lifetime disciple of Jesus Christ.

Ideas for tracking new member events

So, a few details of the mission this week:

We have a Devotional each Tuesday. This week we heard testimonies from missionaries who are completing their missions. This is frequently the case, and we love to hear them tell how they have come to see Christ more fully and completely in their own lives as they have found and invited others to come unto Christ. They are truly growing and becoming disciples of Christ.

Our weekly service in the temple is sweet. We have a wonderful Temple Presidency who are completely committed to helping the members have a beautiful experience as they come to learn and worship in the temple and serve their kindred dead.

Toronto Temple

We attend the weekly District Councils with the young missionaries. As we see them teach each other, we are energized by their energy and love for the work.

We have participated in a number of lessons with the young missionaries and their friends – individuals being taught. We love doing this and sharing our testimonies of the love God has for them. Sister Lyon is so sincere in communicating through her spirit and approach that God loves them, and when she does that, you can see how much it touches them.

We’ve also taught a number of new members, and love to share God’s love for them. We had a wonderful lesson with Tony, a member of 3 months or so. When we had him install Tools on his phone and see himself there, he was so tickled. You could see how he realized he really was a part of the ward. When we finished, Sister Lyon gave him an abrazo, as is her nature, and he nearly cried. He said he hadn’t had a hug in a long time and didn’t realize how much he missed that simple act. Our Latin-American friends come from a culture of abrazos – hugs – between everyone. Sister Lyon is a perfect one to share the Savior’s love in that simple way.

We got down to Lake Ontario this week and were impressed by the diversity of nationalities and ethnicities of the groups of people at the park adjoining the beach. That diversity really is hallmark of the area in which we work and we see it everywhere we go.

Sister Lyon at the beach on Lake Ontario.

And lastly, we continue to find good food and good restaurants. This week we found a Greek restaurant, and were treated by the waiters and cashiers, etc. as cherished guests, even though they recognized it was the first time we had eaten there. The food was good, and the feeling in the restaurant was sweet and friendly. 

Missionary Work, Temple Work, Food and My Covenant Path

We went to our first Ward Council on Sunday. We were both very impressed with the bishopric and those ward leaders who were there. They are all desirous to help the new members and friends in every way they can. The meeting was all about missionary work and retention. We are so blessed to be working with this ward and these missionaries at this time. The love, energy and spirit in the meeting was wonderful.

There were quite a number of “friends” (we used to call them investigators) at church today. It was great to see ward members invite them to sit with them. Friendships are important in helping these new members feel like they are part of the ward.

We met with the full-time missionaries assigned to our ward in the afternoon. After we met together, the sisters had a video lesson scheduled with Jay, so they just took care of it here in our living room. We enjoy participating in their lessons, especially when they ask us to testify of Christ and His atonement.

We had some video chats with our children and grandchildren in the afternoon. We know that they will be blessed along with us as we serve here. We love hearing about their school, their talks in church, their mission preparation (yay Ellie! France bound in September), and everything else.

We’re trying to figure out good ways to keep track of the new members. We were put on the ward list as “out of area members”, which makes us visible in LDS Tools to the members. We can see their contact information, as well. We also figured out that new members have access to their own “My Covenant Path” information, and can keep it updated, which helps the ward leadership. We’ll teach new members how to use these apps, like Gospel Library and Tools to study and learn, and to become integrated into the ward as they progress.

On Tuesdays, we have mission-wide devotionals over Zoom. There are so many good ways that the missionaries leverage technology to stay connected. This was presented by a senior missionary couple who told us of some amazing miracles that have happened to them. In the mission here, we see and hear of many miracles each week. It’s important to both believe that miracles can occur, and recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives when they happen.

We also received more training about Welfare Services and Self-Reliance resources that are available for us and ward leaders to help meet members’ needs. There really are so many programs and resources that can help us teach self-reliance. Brother Erickson, one of our instructors, emphasized the importance of being “Savior Reliant” in order to become more self-reliant.

One of the ways that we get to feel more at home here is to find places to get good produce, groceries, and other supplies. Some things are available on Amazon.ca – the Canadian site for Amazon, but not all things we need are there. So, we might need to drive down to Buffalo to get some things like blood glucose test strips. I’m surprised that I can’t find them on Amazon.ca, but it might be that you have to have a prescription here and get them at a pharmacy. We’ll be checking into that soon to avoid the trip to Buffalo, if possible.

On Wednesday we had our first shift as Temple Ordinance workers at the Toronto temple. There were only 26 workers (brothers and sisters) on the shift, so it was quite different than the previous Utah temples we’ve served in. It was more like the Cochabamba Bolivia temple. The temple President, President Wong, and his wife, the temple Matron, were presiding, so we got to know them a little bit. They are gentle, kind, humble, loving, faith-filled people. It is a joy to serve with them. We have so many opportunities to see how the Lord blesses the members who come here to worship Him.

We’ve found a number of very good restaurants that are so culturally diverse. We had dinner between the Stake Conference Leadership meeting and the evening meeting at an Indian restaurant across the street from the Stake Center. Last Friday, we had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant that some members had recommended. The food was wonderful, and they had a singer – dressed in traditional Mexican attire – singing traditional Mexican songs in a beautiful tenor voice. It was fun. A week ago, we ate at a Turkish restaurant. There are so many interesting options – we’ll enjoy many more, I’m sure.

El Chorro at La Unica Panaderia

Chicken Fajitas

We also enjoy going to the District Councils with the young missionaries. They’ve distributed the senior missionaries, so we won’t gang up (or so it appears). It really is wonderful to see them teach and learn and interact. They are still so young (compared to us!), but so mature in their energy and desire to serve. We met a new missionary with a last name of Gunther from American Fork. On inquiry we found that, sure enough, he’s one of the Gunther clan that we knew when we lived there. He’s related to so many dear friends there in American Fork.

Thursday evening, we met with the Ward Mission Correlation group. The counselor in the Elders’ Quorum, Hermano Meraz, led the meeting and was completely on point. We talked about how we could work together better between the missionaries and the members to be more successful in retaining new members. We discussed inviting an Aaronic Priesthood young man, and a young woman to represent the youth, especially since one of our new “friends” is 16 years old. It was great to be able to interact with Hermano Meraz and see his ideas.

Our Stake Conference visiting authority this weekend was Elder James E. Evenson. He focused on the Covenant Path and encouraged ward members to get engaged in helping the missionary work, especially with the newly baptized members. There have been over 300 baptisms just in our Stake over the last year, so there is lot of work being done and work to be done. That’s part of our purpose here - to work specifically with the new members, and we find new and exciting ways to help all the time. We feel like we are exactly where we need to be right now, and enjoy being engaged in missionary work with both the members and the young missionaries.

Missionarying and a Tour of Downtown Toronto

Fast and testimony meeting on Sunday was great! I sat by Jay, the friend that we helped the sisters teach on Friday. He listened intently throughout the meeting.  He told me afterward with tears in his eyes that all the things the people said were relatable to him. It was a good meeting for him. After the meetings, we sat and had a good discussion with him and the sister missionaries. He had some questions about the Priesthood (the lesson today was from D&C 84). He is so sincere.

After that, we met with the sister missionaries and Tony, who was baptized two months ago. A young woman named Ana, whom the missionaries are teaching, was there as well. They both expressed difficulty with finding time to read the Book of Mormon. We gave them some ideas about how to learn and feel the spirit when they read. It was like a huge weight had been lifted from off their shoulders. They both smiled and relaxed and decided they could do it. The main focus of the lesson was that the scriptures are for them, not just to check off a task.

We came home and had a meeting (with food) with the missionaries. We learned from them how they keep track of their people and learned how we can see what they are doing so we can be ready to join them in lessons before their friends get baptized. That will help us know them so we can work with them, essentially as ministers, after they are baptized.

We also discussed how we can help them communicate with the ward leaders. It was so positive, and they were all very excited to have us on their team. It was getting late, and I asked them if they would like something to eat. Of course they did, so while Elder Lyon was finishing up with things, I got out the food. They really enjoyed it and ate most of it. 

I felt like we really can help them in their work and that together we can help these dear "friends" stay on the covenant path.

Old City Hall

On Monday, our landlady, Nyree, invited us to a tour of downtown to help us get to know the public transportation system and get to know Toronto. We left at noon and drove to the subway station near us. At the subway station, the workers indicated that we could get a Senior discount (from the CAD 3.30 fare each – about $2.40 USD), but we’d have to pay cash. Elder Lyon had two CAD two-dollar coins, called “toonies”– which they accepted as adequate and let us through the styles. They were very friendly.

We rode the subway south to Union Station, just off Lake Erie. Union Station is a beautiful building and has shops, businesses, etc. They have underground tunnels, elevated walkways, and at-grade walkways connecting the office towers of Downtown Toronto called PATH.

We saw lot of old buildings like the old city hall and old churches. Nyree was very knowledgeable and was a great tour guide. Just in front of the new city hall, there is a pool with a fountain in the center and on the other side of the pool are big letters TORONTO. It is a photo op which we took advantage of. In the winter the pool freezes over and people skate on it.

Molly and Nyree in front of the TORONTO sign.

We had lunch at a Thai cafe called Salad King. We shared 3 yummy dishes – spicey cucumber salad, eggrolls, and lettuce wraps. All were very tasty and the spicey was pretty spicey.

We continued our walk through China Town and past the University of Toronto. Nyree attended the University which is one of the very best universities in Canada. She showed us the street she lived on. It was a walk down memory lane for her.

China Town

We got home around 5:30, having walked about 3 miles. 

It was a fun lovely day. We got to know Nyree a little more and we got some good information about the city of Toronto as well as some Canadian history. 

District Council was on Tuesday. All four mission companionships taught us. I am so impressed with these young missionaries.

On Wednesday, we met with President Evershed at the temple. He is one of the counselors in the Temple Presidency. He was very kind. We visited for a while, and he set us apart as ordinance workers. Then he trained us. We really like him. We also got to meet his wife who is very lovely, smiley and warm. We came prepared to work with our temple clothes, but he encouraged us to just wander around and get a feel for where things are in the temple. We will serve every Wednesday morning from 9:15-2:00. I'm very pleased that our mission President, President Lee was encouraging about us serving in the temple.

Transfers are tomorrow and we wanted to see “our” missionaries before they moved to different areas. We went over to the church, saw them, took their pictures, and gave them hugs (me to the sisters). We will miss them. We have enjoyed working with them, but change is always a good thing in the church because it is done with the Lord.  

On Thursday, we had our second session of training on the Welfare and Self-Reliance program. Many, if not most, MLS missionaries receive this training so they can help the Bishop and Ward Councils by offloading some of their burden. One comment that was made was very impactful. Brother Erickson, one of our teachers, said he prefers to think of “SR” as Savior Reliance instead of Self-reliance. We will continually struggle until we rely on the Lord to help us find strength and peace and hope in our circumstances.

On Friday, we had a lot of things to do around here. Elder Lyon has created an app to help us track our new members and our responsibilities with each one. Our assignment is to help teach them the new member lessons, work with the Bishop to get the brothers ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and the brothers and sisters recommends to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead for their own ancestors. There are about a dozen individuals who have been baptized in the last year in this ward, and about half of them seem to have disappeared shortly after being baptized. There are another five or six with baptism dates in the next month, so we need to make sure we’re on top of things. So, Elder Lyon has built an app that will work on our computers as well as our phones and/or tablets wherever we are to note communications, check off tasks, etc. Hopefully it will help us be organized.

On the communication front, we’ve heard that T-Mobile will cut us off if we don’t spend at least a few days in the States every three months. That being a no-go, we’re converting our phones to a Canadian plan. Since we use Google Voice, our numbers (that we use for everything) won’t change, and when we get home, we can convert back to a states-based plan without disruptions. So, we chose to go with Freedom Mobile here. We’ve converted our phones with new sim cards, and everything seems to be working fine!

We had dinner at a place called “Bullger Burgers and Turkish Corner”. Elder Lyon got a burger and loved it! It had big shreds of mango and it had a spicy sauce on it. I got a dish that was basically a peperoni pizza without the sauce and not very much meat. It was good, but not as yummy as Charlie's.

We were supposed to join a lesson at the church with the sisters and Jay at 6:30, but he couldn't get off work. Hermana Brown is our new sister with Hermana Morton. She is darling and very enthusiastic and speaks Spanish well. They appreciated that we brought the portion of my pizza that I couldn’t eat.

Jay thought he might make it to volleyball at 7:00, so we hung around and helped set up the volleyball net with Tony and the sisters. We were there for a while and met some new members and friends. Jay wasn’t able to make it – we’ll catch up with him soon.

Saturday was the Barrio Black Creek picnic. I visited a lot with Hermana Isabel Zambrano who is the Primary President and the wife of the First Counselor in the Bishopric. She is darling and is from Venezuela. Her husband is very smiley and warm as well.

She introduced me to Hna. Meraz and I talked with her and her husband, who is in the Elders Quorum Presidency. Hna. Meraz teaches self-reliance and just finished teaching her first class last Wednesday night. She speaks very good English and feels like a friend and support to me. She wants us to come to their house for dinner sometime.

We also visited at length with Hna. Ana Ramirez (from El Salvador) who is the new-member and investigator class Sunday School teacher. She is darling. We have lots in common. She loves the temple and loves the Lord.

It was a productive and fun activity.

Figuring Out Toronto and Our Assignment Here

 

Finally, we get to start describing the ward and our “missionary” activities!

On Sunday the 27^th, we attended Sacrament Meeting in the Black Creek Ward. It is a Spanish-speaking ward and meets in a converted KFC factory (or so we’re told.) You’d never guess the previous use because it has been so completely refurbished, and very nicely so. But it fits no pattern of usual church buildings that we’ve seen. It has lots of big windows in nearly every room with nice drapes, and has a very unusual shape – the chapel and cultural hall are on the north side, with the rest of the building tapering to the south with two floors of classrooms, RS room, Library, etc. There is a baptismal font – on the second floor! All-in-all functional, but very different.

Black Creek Ward Chapel Front

Black Creek Ward Chapel Rear

We met the bishopric and a lot of wonderful people. We attended the RS and EQ meetings and felt very much at home here. The Latin Americans are always so welcoming.

On the last Sunday of each month, they have a “linger longer.” They had a lot of food, and the visiting was great. We are looking forward to serving with these dear people.

We had a zoom Meeting with all the mission tonight. They call it a “miracle call” where some missionaries have been asked to share a miracle story from the week. The stories were wonderful. It’s clear that the Lord’s hand is in this work!

On Monday, we went to Ikea and got some shelves and some kitchen things and some “prayer” rugs. We don’t have any carpet in our basement apartment, and these will keep our knees a bit younger, hopefully.

Then went to Costco for gas and Best Buy to get a printer and monitor and monitor stand. Then we went to our Senior missionary luncheon to say good-bye and hello to a few Senior missionaries. There were two couples leaving, and we were the only new ones. We got to meet the office staff, and our mission President and his wife. Sweet people all around. Since it was Sister Lyon’s birthday, they all sang to her. Serendipitously, it was also the birthday of one of the office Elders, so they had a cake already prepared!

On Tuesday, there was a mission devotional over Zoom. The senior missionaries who are leaving shared their testimonies with all the missionaries. President and Sister Lee shared theirs to close the meeting. They are a lovely couple from Hawaii and are so loving and welcoming.

Afterwards, we checked out all the grocery stores close to us that our new neighbor Mary Ann told us about. Very interesting and good, a fun adventure. Wal-Marts are plentiful, but there are a number of others with great produce and good prices.

Our Landlady, Nyree, has had senior missionaries here previously, and shares information and garden produce with them. She gave us some tomatoes from her garden. They are red on the bottom and green on the top. They are called Black Krim and are very delicious.  We visited with her out in her backyard. She has a green thumb and has made her yard beautiful.

Concerning prescriptions, there are a couple of options that the missionaries shared with us. One is to drive down to Buffalo (about a two-hour drive if the traffic isn’t too bad), pick up your medications at a Walgreens, for instance, do whatever other shopping you need to do, and return – another two-hour drive.

The other option is to go to a doctor here and get your prescriptions re-written so they can be filled at local pharmacies. We figured we’d give it a try to save time and gas money.

So, on Wednesday, we went to a nearby walk in clinic. It took a couple of hours, but we learned a lot. We had him re-order Elder Lyon’s prescriptions and went to Costco to have them filled. The clinic visit cost about USD 73 (CAD 100), and the prescriptions weren’t any more expensive than in the States. We have insurance that we can get reimbursement from, so the upside is saving all the travel time with little downside. We really liked this doctor. He answered all our questions and was very personable.

Our church building has two wards in it. The Weston Ward is English speaking. The Andersons are the senior missionaries for the Weston Ward. They have been here for 2 months. Their assignment is the same as ours. So we are learning a lot from them. We attended the class that they teach on Wednesday nights for the new converts and those working with the missionaries.

It was good. There were probably 10-15 New Converts there + the two employment sisters and the sister missionary serving in the storehouse. The elders came as well. Sister Lyon sat by Niki, a new convert of about 3 months. She was cute. She mentioned in class that she had gone to the temple last week with the group from the class and loved doing baptisms. It was her 2nd time going but this time she brought her own family names and felt so good about it all. 

On Thursday we were able to attend the Toronto Canada Temple. It was wonderful! We love being in His Holy House. After the temple we went to a lovely restaurant called Montana. We are learning our way around Toronto, and Sister Lyon is learning how to be a navigator.

Toronto Canada Temple

On Friday, we had zone council. There were 24 of us there – 18 Elders and Sisters assigned to our Zone, the 2 Assistants to the President and the two MLS couples.  We were very impressed with the way the elders and sisters conducted, presented and taught us, as well as the discussions and comments from everyone. Food seems to always be a part of every activity, so after the meeting we had lots of food, even homemade cinnamon rolls and watermelon and everything in between.

That afternoon we were invited to join the sister missionaries in teaching a 16 year old boy. He was amazing and knew so much and felt the Spirit and answered the questions clearly and sincerely. We were able to share our feelings about the Prophet and the Atonement and to bear our testimonies. We really enjoyed this experience.

That evening, we had dinner and visited in the Anderson's apartment. We had such a good time with them and the 3 sisters that were at our meeting on Wednesday. The food was yummy. We talked till 10. It was so fun to be with these dear people. they have led some very interesting, productive lives.

On Saturday, we helped our landlady fix a bathroom door that was scraping the floor (the humidity had made it swell a bit) and bought a cupboard / pantry that we brought home and put together. It is about 6' tall and will make Sister Lyon’s life so much easier. We had no place to store any food, just one small cupboard over the counter. We are making our little basement apartment into a comfortable home for us.

So, we’ve settled in, know the Toronto area around us pretty well, and feel comfortable with our assignment. We feel at home and excited to continue in this phase of our lives.