Ponoka is a small town in between Red Deer which has Katelyn last area and Edmonton. The Ward that Katelyn and her companion attend isn't actually in Ponoka. It is several miles away in a different town called Lacomb. In fact Ponoka was just opened up for missionary work about three months ago. When Katelyn and her companion arrived in Ponoka, the members there told them just how grateful they are to have missionaries. Katelyn said that all of the members there have been so nice since they arrived. With this transfer to Ponoka came another big change for Katelyn. That change is going from a small Young Single Adult branch to a regular family Ward. Katelyn told us that there were so few members attending the YSA branch that each week Katelyn and her companion had to take on multiple roles teaching, speaking, etc... just to get through the three hour block. But now that they are in a regular family Ward, they really appreciate the fact that there is a full Relief Society presidency, Ward missionaries, a mission leader and many other dedicated members of the Ward.
So here are a couple of funny stories that have happened to Katelyn over the past few weeks. One thing that Katelyn does very well that her brothers needed to work on a little more while they were on their missions, is that Katelyn sends us pictures every week. Over the past few weeks she has commented on the food they eat and the way they eat it. Fortunately, the members of the church where they live have been kind enough to invite the missionaries for dinner almost every night. But for breakfast and lunch Katelyn and her companion are on their own. So here are a few pictures of their mealtime situations.
Would you call this "eating on the go", "eat and run", "dine and dash", who knows. But Katelyn said that they end up eating lunch in their car quite often. They have really gotten good and whipping up a good meal in the front seat of their missionary mobile. After church on a Sunday, on their way to an appointment, whatever or wherever they happen to be when lunch time comes around, it really doesn't matter. They are ready for anything.
Now here is a new one. Eating lunch on a couch in their front yard. Actually, there is a story behind this picture. A few weeks back their mission president decided that missionaries should do not need to have a couch in their apartments. There are actually some very good reasons for that, but that isn't part of the story. So, being the obedient missionaries that they are, they moved their couch out of the apartment so that they could give it away. But rather than just throwing the thing out like an old piece of garbage, they decided that they needed to give it a final send off. So they fixed lunch and ate it on the couch. Sounds like a great idea to me. Eating alfresco!
Then there are the zucchini pancakes for breakfast. This looks almost as good and the portobello mushroom burgers that they made a few months ago for lunch. And you think that the Elders eat some weird things. Well I know that you are all just dying for the recipe so here it is. According to Katelyn you just mix up some zucchini slices with flour, water, salt and onions in a bowl and then fry it. Katelyn said it was delicious and tastes like pot stickers. I'm thinking that the jury is still out on that one.
Then there is are changes were thing just don't go so well some days. Katelyn told us a sad story about some people that she knew. There was a family back in Red Deer that had a tragic event happen to them. Katelyn wanted so bad to be there to help comfort the family but since Red Deer was now out of her area, she was unable to go. Then Katelyn and her companion were driving an older sister home when Katelyn was pulled over for a speeding ticket. On top of that just a few hours later, she was pulled over again for not wearing a seat belt when she actually was. But as every missionary knows, with the bad comes the good again. Not too much longer after that, they were able to help some other people find something that they had lost and also do a little service by helping to clean a house. Then there was Halloween. Katelyn and her companion got dressed up and went to one of the nearby member's house to help greet the kids and pass out candy. Katelyn said that seeing all of the kids and passing out candy was a ton of fun.
So I mentioned earlier that winter has come to Ponoka. Katelyn told us that it started snowing last Saturday around noon and didn't stop until sometime on Sunday. In fact it snowed so hard that on Sunday morning one of the members called them and said that church had been cancelled. According to Katelyn, by the time the storm had passed, it left about two and a half feet of snow. Just to give you a little idea of what the storm left, here is what it looked like over a 24 hour period.
Here is Katelyn when it first started snowing on Saturday.
That night they had to drive home in the snow from Lacomb.
Here she is the next day trudging through the snow on the way to an appointment.
And finally, here is the little present that the snow plow left behind.
It is funny just how much things can change in just a short time. Last year at this time Katelyn was in Ecuador where the sun shines for twelve hours everyday and the temperatures are in the 70's. This year the sun shines for about nine hours a day and the temperatures are headed towards ZERO!
Oh, this doesn't really have anything to do with changes or new adventures, but I just had to share these pictures with you. I decided to use a third one as the header picture for the blog. They are so clever that I think you will enjoy them.
