Being in the right place at the right time

Transfers came and went again and Katelyn is still in River Valley.  If you don't remember where River Valley is, it is very close to downtown Edmonton and sits along the river that runs through the middle of the city.  Katelyn had really expected to be transferred to a different area this month because her six months as a Sister Training Leader has pretty much come to an end.  But to her surprise, her mission president decided to keep her as a Sister Training Leader for at least one more transfer.  Katelyn was really excited about that.  She has really enjoyed leadership and has also really enjoyed working with the other leaders in the mission. 

Almost every week Katelyn tells us about the people that she has met with and taught.  A lot of her stories seem to have the same theme which is no coincidence.  The theme is that Katelyn and her companion seem to always be in the right place at the right time.  Whether it is being at the Ward Mission Leader's house when a friend that they were just talking about just happens to drop by or when an appointment falls through which puts them in the right place to meet someone else who is interested in knowing more.  But no matter how it happens, Katelyn tells us just how strong the spirit is when they are teaching the Gospel.  Sometime these teaching opportunities happen in a house and other times it is on a front porch and every time it always feels like a miracle. 

So here is just a small example of what Katelyn is talking about.  A couple of weeks ago Katelyn and her companion were out delivering flyers for a food drive to help out the Edmonton Food Bank.  They had both been out for hours handing out flyers and were about ready to call it quits for the night and head home.  About that time they noticed a lady in front of them taking her dog for a walk.  For some reason the dog kept turning around and barking at them.  Then just as Katelyn and her companion decided to go and talk to the lady, she turned around to see why her dog was barking so much.  Then rather than the missionaries starting up a conversation which is usually the case, the lady asked Katelyn and her companion what they were doing.  Katelyn told her that they were out delivering flyers to help the food bank.  Then the lady asked if she could help and seemed very excited about the opportunity.  Of course Katelyn and her companion said yes and shared not only a mormon.org pass along card with her but the name and telephone number of the person that was coordinating the food drive.  In this case, service was the thing that brought Katelyn and her companion together with someone else who was also looking for an opportunity to serve.  Letting the Lord put you in the right place at the right time is what missionary work is all about.

In Katelyn's latest email she told us how much she really enjoyed watching conference.  She also talked about the fact that they had several of the people that they had been teaching also attending General Conference as well.  Some of them came to the church to watch and others got together with some of the members in the area to watch conference in their homes.  They also had one experience where a man who had been searching for a christian church to attend just happened to walk in off the street, sit down and start to pray.  Since it happened to be conference weekend, obviously the church was full of missionaries as well as other members in the area.  What a perfect time for someone to walk in and want to know more.  Not only were the missionaries there to explain more about the church, but there was also a live broadcast from church headquarters with the prophet and apostles speaking. 

All in all it was a great conference weekend.  Not only did Katelyn have many great experiences but our family did as well.  A person that our oldest son Christopher had taught while on his mission, came out to Utah to visit and attend conference with us.  She stayed in hour home and we were able to do a little more missionary work here. 

A couple of pictures of fall in Canada.  But winter is coming...