Buffalo

Sorry the blog is late this week, but our schedule has been off a little. Monday was Labor Day in Canada (as in the USA), but we went about our normal schedule. We decided to ride bus 63, the Bloor subway, followed by bus 25 to the stake center (taking about an hour) to work in the supply room. We got a call from Manuel, a Portuguese man who stopped by the Ossington Chapel one day after ESL trying to find his unknown cousins. He wanted us to show him how to get to the Family History Library in the Stake Center even though it was closed for the holiday, so, he went along with us. He was there when we went in today (a week later) and had found out his uncle changed his name when he entered the USA.

Manuel with Sister Wheeler at the Family History Library

On the way back we decided to walk around Greek Town and Arab Town (by the subway station) which we had only passed quickly in a car other days. There are many little ethnic neighborhoods in Toronto.

Mosque in Arab Town

On Monday evening we gave a review lesson on the Restoration to Joao and Fabio. Their roommate, Cleton, was also there. That means we officially have three Portuguese investigators. We showed the Restoration video.

It was jacket weather for our Tuesday morning walk. This is transfer week so we had a social following ESL in the evening. We found out that Sister Crosby is going home, Elder Te'o will go to Brampton, Elder Ruttan will go to Sudbury, and Sister Phillips will become a Spanish sister with Sister Fotheringham.

ESL social

We were not involved in the transfer on Wednesday so we were able to work on our institute lesson. We got a call from Amanda (a member of the ward) to see if we could get rid of the virus on her computer. While I worked on the computer, Sister Wheeler talked to Amanda. It gave a good opportunity for her to get to know ward members better. We are trying to get to know the bus system better this week so we took the bus down to Little Portugal and walked around the streets a little. sister Wheeler was able to get a Portuguese tort (like she had in Lisbon) and Elder Wheeler enjoyed looking around a small Brazilian shop.

Sister Wheeler waiting at a flowered bus stop

Sister Wheeler beside a painted wall

Little Portugal

We had the best zone and district meeting we have yet had on our mission. We were sorry we had to leave early. Elder Germann is working with Elder Sitten as our zone leaders. Elder Robinson is our new district leader. The zone vision is "create success through obedience". We left early to pick up supplies at the stake center to take to the mission office in Brampton. This was followed by a temple session with senior couples and the homebound missionaries (which included Sister Crosby and Elder Payne from our zone). We had a chance to meet President and Sister Scott who were there for the session. They had a dinner planned for the senior couples following the temple session, but we couldn't stay. It took us an hour and 20 minutes to get back from Brampton, arriving just in time to start our first institute class. We had 10 students which the institute director figures is good. Our class is "The Gospel and the Productive Life" which starts with the Plan of Salvation as a plan for life. We really enjoyed teaching, but were very tired after the busy day.

Friday is our normal preparation day, but it didn't happen. We were asked to take Lindsay's car to Buffalo for shipping, since they had to return to Utah early. They couldn't find the car registration nor the insurance (the APs packed them up with items shipped earlier). So here we were driving a car that didn't belong to us and no proof of ownership across the international border. With the help of prayers, we got through without any problems. Elder and Sister Sipple followed us down. They couldn't drive the car since they are Canadians which would look suspicious in a Utah car (so we were elected). Arrangements were made previously to pick up the car at a church building in Buffalo, but Elder Sipple got a call from a Russian-speaking driver requesting we meet him at a mall where there is more room. He didn't know the exact address and had miss-spelled the name of the mall so it was difficult to find on our GPS. We finally found it and were able to meet him. He was about 4 hours later than we had planned (about 8:30 PM). We did have a chance to get a nice meal for a reasonable price. The GPS saved us because none of us knew our way around Buffalo. It was 11:30 PM when we finally got back to our apartment in Toronto.

Catholic church in Buffalo

Sister Wheeler teaching Ben Franklin in Buffalo

Eating with the Sipples in Buffalo

Our Russian driver with the truck

Lindsey's car is finally on its way to Utah

Saturday brought ESL again. Adam Opper, a recently returned missionary from Taiwan stopped by to help Elder Wheeler with the Mandarin class. He was very helpful.

Sunday was another busy day. We started with a 2nd lesson, The Plan of Salvation,  with Joao (Fabio and Cleton were gone). We gave another invitation to attend church, but he didn't go, even though he knows it would be good for him. On the bus to the lesson we talked to Jenny, a young lady from Colombia on vacation in Toronto. Her boss back in Columbia is a member of the church. Another young lady, Juliana, was listening to us. As soon as Jenny left the bus, Julianna came to talk to us. She even went past her expected stop so she could talk to us. She had met some of the younger elders, but she had been praying to meet some older missionaries (the priest figure) to work with her alcoholic boyfriend. We tried to visit him after church, but there was no answer. In the evening we had two activities at the stake center. The first was the mission fireside. The second was the YSA social followed by the church CES broadcast. Elder Oaks was the speaker, talking about the two-sided coin of truth and tolerance. It was late enough when we got back we couldn't do the blog.

Well, another week has gone by with a lot of different activities. Elder Wheeler has been asked to teach the high priest group next week and we both have been asked to teach a session in a regional workshop next month.