December 30th to January 7th

Once again, I am very behind. No excuses! But I do have a few pictures. The first one is from Sister Cannon. Every time she and President Cannon visit with the missionaries, she takes pictures of them and emails them to the families (can I tell you how much I LOVE this woman??). So here was the latest we received on the 30th of December. I felt so spoiled! To Skype with Calvin on Christmas Day, then to get this picture the next Sunday, and in the January 7th "Kaldt to Serve" (the mission newsletter) there was a picture of Calvin with his companion (but I won't post that one because remember I have this thing about posting pictures without the permission of everyone in the picture).

I wrote to Calvin that his letters didn't include a lot of detail about the areas or the people, he gave a general overview of things. I asked him to write more details in his letters so that we can have more of the flavor of what is going on in his daily life. Here is Calvin's letter from the 31st of December:

Momm, 

Yeah, i was writing a lot of the details in my journal, but if you are keeping track, i will write more details. Sorry I have been so bad at that, I need to repent in sackcloth and ashes. [he says that a lot]  So I will by starting today! So, we got lots of snow up here, too. Oh, wow, last Preperation day was only 5 days ago. That messes me up. Ok, so, preperation day we spent in Babylon (the missionary name for the Rideau shopping center) following the zone leaders around while [an elder] bought a new suit. (hey [same elder] did you... did you buy something last pday?? I dont know, I cant remember..... I think it was....... ) So, after waiting in line for 2 hours at Zaras, we left the Rideau center, and hung out at the zone leaders appartment. I sketched LOTS of people in the mall, making sure i took note of the design of the coats, hairstyles, stuf like that. Unfortunately I couldnt put color in, because this one lady had her hair done in this awesome way, but i couldnt show the color. So, after that, we ate at [young couple's] house. That was fun, they are this super cool young couple. After that, what did we do? we didnt have a lesson with [another family]...... because it wasn't monday. so I cant remember what we did. (planners only have what we PLANNED to do, not what actually HAPPENED!) 

    so, then the next day was District study, then our DA with [a family] cancelled, because the roads were so bad ( they gave us a bunch of baked goods and candies like cookies, and brownies, and fudges, and all sorts of other stuff on sunday. We are DROWNING in candy and baked goods at our appartment ) umm... we also did an interview for baptism with an investigator in Champlain (the zone leaders) so, that was cool. so they had a baptism this week. The next day was weakly planning. so, we did a lot of thinking. Hard thinking. Lllllllloooooonnnnnnggggggg thinking. but that was ok. After that we ate with [a couple]. They are lots of fun! we had spaghetti. and little cheezecakes, that she gave us to take home (Throw me a life boat!!) Then after that, we went to a lesson with our recent convert. He LOVED it. We taught this super awesome lady. She is from DRC Congo, and has 2 little girls. So the lesson was all over the place.  But her and her husband are super solid investigators, so we are really excited. Then we went and knocked [his term for going door to door] for 15 minutes. 

  The next day, NOTHING worked oout that we had planned. We met with [a sister], who told us [her friend] doesnt want to get baptised any more, so thats sad, but we had a nice meeting with [the sister]. She gave me a coin purse from Siri Lanka, because that is where she is from. [My companion] let me have it, because there wasn't another one. So it currently has a whole dice set in it i found in the apartment. (Yes 20 sided, 10 sided, everything I was so happy!) So, we then had a lesson with a young man from our Ward, who had some question about the Plan of Salvation. We took a priest age kid with us. So, after that, we took [the priest-aged boy] with us to a lesson with [a family], which was cancelled at the door, because [the wife] forgot, and her son (the investigator) was grounded until he finished his homework. So, we went and taught a Malagassi man in french. Unfrtunately [the priest-aged boy] doesnt speak French. [He] is a really cool kid. He is part aboriginal (knick nack tribe? not sure but I think thats  what it is) and he comes with us to LOTS of appointments. After dropping [the priest-aged boy] off at his house, we went to [a family's house] for a good, Hatian DA. [The dad] cooked most of the food, or at leas prepared it, and it as all DELICIOUS! Hatian food is AWESOME! So then after having a lesson with [them], we passed by 2 less actives who were near each other. Neither was home, so we decided to try and help someone shovel snow. But that person wasnt interested in having our help because by the time we got there, they had already shoveled their driveway. So we went back to the car, and as we were about to get in, we hear this grating sound, like some one shoveling. So we go to help that person. he isn't interested, but his wife/ daughter (couldnt tel wich) asked "Is that the Mormons?" So we went to talk to her, and it turns out she had talked to missionaries on an airplane, as they were going home. So he gave us her # and Email, but wasnt really interested. Still, a cool expirience, showing that God really does guide us. 

  So that leaves us with sunday, which was wierd because President and Sister Cannon came to our Ward. They came to give us interviews, but also to give some talks, and lessons in ward council, sacrament and the third hour.  Of course, one of our investigators shows up to church, but he's always there, he is practically a member. And i got to do a "split" with Sister Cannon. It was in the church building, but technically i guess it was a split. I just went with her to help teach the youth. It was interesting.  Sister Cannon talked about 7 positive contacts with members makes someone interested in the church, and how being and example is the best way to do those contacts. Then she had the youth role play some scenarios on how they could be examples when faced with immodesty, porn, disobeying parents, stuff like that. And how that influences a person to be interested in the Gospel. After Church, President and Sister Cannon came to our appartment, and while president did interviews, she inspected it. She was appalled at the bathroom, and how much clutter there was in the appartment. So, while I was being interviewed, Sister Cannon told my companion all the things we need to do to fix our appartment. Sister Cannon took the picture [the picture I posted at the beginning of this letter] after interviews was done. Actually, which picture was it? Anyways, I told Sister Cannon how much you love those emails. Oh, and she thought Sophie was the most adorable thing, and she was impressed with dad's drawing of the muscular missionary. so, after that, we went and taught a lesson to [a woman], and committed her to baptism on the 16th of February. Then, had a dinner apointment with [a family], and [another family] were also there too. That was fun. Then we saw (a spanish Less active) and he actually went to CURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES! He goes to a spanish group at the Riverside chapel, so we didnt see him, but he WENT!! So, after the lesson with him, we stopped by [a family'd] house, and dropped a restoration DVD, and that was our week. 

    Today we have a DA with [a family], and since we cant prosolyte after 6, we may spend that time with them. Yay! I love [this family]!! I'm so happy they are back from Germany. 

    I got the Totoro pic. :) that makes me happy!!!

    Well, I love you all , and I miss you LOTS!!!!!!!!!!! I cant wait to bring you all up here to show you the Great White North, and introduce you to EVERYONE!!!! 

    Love you all lots!

    Watchout for ohmus!!!

Love

   CALVIN

I'm sorry this gets rather confusing to read sometimes when I edit out the names of people. But I feel very strongly about protecting privacy. Before you read this, for those of you who aren't LDS, I probably should explain that "greenies" are missionaries fresh from the MTC, so they don't have a lot of experience in the mission. There is a sort of hierarchy in missions, but it's not based on merit (in other words, you can't really "earn" a "promotion.") Here are the terms they use, in hierarchal order, starting from the "bottom."

You start as a "Greenie" fresh from the MTC, and you're a Junior Companion.

Senior Companion

District Leader

Zone Leader

Assistant to the President

 Here's Calvin's letter from the 7th of January:

Hey Momm!!!!
Ok, sooooooo what happened this week......... well, on New Years Eve, we went to [a family's] house for their dinner appointment. We had some lessons set up, but they all fell through, and since we cant go door to door after 6 on New years Eve, we spent the evening with [them]. (oh darn!) They are an awesome couple, and [he] is the new Elders' Quorum president! When we come back, [when we as a family go back to visit people in Calvin's mission] we have to go and hang out with them. I dont know what we will do, because D&D will be WAY to booring for [her], and watching Babalon 5 wouldn't work either. Oh, well, worry about that when i get there. 

     Tuesday. Was ZONE STUDY!!!! had an awesome time with that. The trainings were really good too. We had one on gratitude by [a Zone Leader], which i think it was the best training of that day, which is high praise! Because, (these essentially two greenies) did this awesome obsticle course training, demonstrating how the spirit works. That was fun! So, after Zone Study (I got the packages from both Grandmothers that day as well) we went on splits with the Zone leaders, so i got to go to downtown Ottowa for the day!!!! that was fun, because we taught this girl who was SUPER prepared in advance by the Lord. She reads LDS blogs in her spare time, and got interested by reading those blogs, then saw a mormon.org link on that blog. So she requested a missionary visit! then we taught one of the more interesting investigators.

    wednesday. So, we unsplit, and immediately ran off to have a lunch appointment with a YSA member, who after wards came with us to a lesson. He is a returned missionary, and has TONS of good advice. So, then we had a lesson with a non practicing muslim. We have only had two lessons with her thus far, and are planning to pass her off to the Dows lake sisters. So, that was pretty cool. (The YSA member we took) did really well, though I think he was hitting on her the entire time. As he said "Elders, your not dropping your potentials, your dropping MY potentials" or something like that. so he's pretty funny. After that, later in the day, we went to a dinner appointment with our eternagator. She cooks REALLY well. she is a cook by profession, and she's hatian, so we had some AWESOME Hatian food , like plantaines, some turkey, and talapia. I gotta learn how to make all of that stuff!!! (Actually, we bought a plantaine today, and since our appartment has a DEEP FRYER in it, we are going to try to make some) [She] also had one member, and his daughter, over so we could be there, but we had no idea that she was going to bring her family out too! Some neices and nephews, so we got a potential investigator for the Riverside sisters! victory! 

   Thursday.  We got into a long discussion with an aethiest about our doctrine, and we went into some DEEP doctrine. It was the worst lesson ever, and i will NEVER do that again!!! we wasted so much time. so, after that (we found him by knocking) we went to a dinner appointment with [a family]. After that we had a lesson with the husband of a couple we found who are from DRC Congo. we brought a member (who incidentally has one son out in france, Paris? i think and one son JUST got back from Chile). [The husband] had a friend over, which was fine, until the friend had a question. He hijacked the rest of the lesson, because he asked "how can I know TANGIBLY that God is there?" At the end of the lesson, [the husband] was like " I still want to hear your guys' message, so next time, we will ask the questions AFTER the lesson." They are super solid potentials! 

  Friday. Friday was weekly planning, which we finally, FINALLY did in one shot! after that, i cant remember exactly what happened until we went to see Brother [], (who came to church this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AUGH!! we are SO excited!!!!!) So that was Friday

   Saturday.  We had a lesson with our Malagasi (He's from Madagascar) investigator. It went well, but he isn't really progressing well. then, we went knocking, ate at Five Guys, and then passed by [a woman's house] (who wasn't home GRRR!!) and finished off the night with a visit to [a family]. You never told me the Red Green show was Canadien!!!! 

   Sunday. So, we had a lesson with [an investigator] that flopped, then a surprize lesson with [the woman we tried to visit on Saturday] (who was at church!!!!!!). She actually invited us over for a Lunch dinner appointment, so we shared a spiritual thought with her. then, ate at [a family's] house, and saw [another family] there! (tis been FAR too long) Then we went knocking to finish off the night. 

 So, that was my week in a nutshell! oh, [one of the men we taught] asked me to do the closing prayer, so i did in French, the whole lesson is in French. After the prayer, he said "Its ok if you do it iin English. I can tell your not fluent like your companion there." it was pretty funny.  I thought you would get a kick out of it. 

No they dont send Elder way ip to Ninivut. 

You guys watched "The ARTIST"? I heard that one was good. NAd Chantal got accepted?! With SCHOLARSHIPS!?!?! And Sophie went to SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and Miranda got her Patriarchal blessing?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!???!?! NO WAY!! so much is changing! 

i love you all, and i hope all continues to go well for you!!!!

Keep up the good missionary work!

Love you!

Watchout for computers that sudde----- 

Okay, so I was going to try to paste this picture from the "Kaldt to Serve" from this week, but I can't figure out how to do it, and Todd isn't here, so I'll describe it:  You know the fans with round heads? and the covers are essentially painted, metal wire spokes radiating out from the center of a solid plastic circle? One set of missionaries found a discarded stand fan. They detached the metal cover, poked a hole in the center of the solid circle, looped a piece of string (or perhaps a leather bootlace) over the clothes rod, put both ends of the string (or lace) through the hole in the center circle, tied a knot to secure it underneath, and use it as a holder for all their ties! They have A LOT of ties from the looks of it. I thought that was a pretty clever idea!

Christmas Day!

Notice the "bunny fingers" from Grandpa and Chantal. Like Grandfather, like Granddaughter!

Gosh, Calvin doesn't look ANYTHING like Todd now, does he?  *smirk*

Momm

First off, I have to apologise for my lack of forsight to tell you all the details of when I was going to be calling, where i was calling, etc. etc. I hope you werent too worried!!! We just hadn't planned that far ahead, and i forgot about preperation day not being on monday, so sorry about that!! 

  [The family we Skyped from] are a super awesome family! So Christmas was great because we all got to sleep in!!!!!! (a special gift from our mission president!) So I slept in until 8:15. I feel lots better because of it! Then I waited for my companion to shower, and get dressed, (I stayed in my pajamas the whole time) and then we...... washed dishes! Mostly because my companion started to, so once we got that done, we opened our presents!! HOLY COW!!! We got A LOT of candy! I think i might be set until NEXT Christmas!!!!! There is SO MUCH! But it was all awesome! The first Christmas i actually appreciated getting clothes for christmas! I opened your package last!  :) i really enjoyed it!!! We immediately filled up the ice cube tray! Best ice cube tray ever!! I hope everyone else had a good christmas, and that you guys found ways to serve others. I have been thinking a lot about that. 

   So, after opening presents, we went to the [members'] house, where I talked to a lot of funny people whom i hadn't seen for a while! After that, we went to another members' house for lunch. That was fun, because they just had little hour dourves for lunch , and talked, and shared stories, etc. Then we did some secret cookie leaving  operations for some less active members. That was fun, we had to book it down the street, and my companion dropped the keys in the street, so we just left them there, hid, and waited until it was safe. It was a lot of fun! Then we ate dinner at another member's house and then they gave us the leftovers! But we wont be able to eat those this week, because we have dinner appointments for the entire week!! Feeding the missionaries before really works well!!!! [I've always told the missionaries that I'm feeding them because some day my son would be on his mission and if I fed them, he'd get fed!] and its not like you cant eat just a little at members' houses either, because they expect missionaries to eat LOTS! So we leave dinner appointments totally STUFFED. it's the BEST! 

   So, It was AWESOME to talk to you all!!!!!!! That was lots of fun. I think the [family] enjoyed hosting us for skype as much as we enjoyed skyping! 

   As far as the visit from Uncle brad and Aunt Sonya, I dont know how much longer i'll be in Ottowa, Let me know when they plan on coming out. Also, i totally forgot, but winter sports aren't allowed, which includes ice skating. Sorry! oh, and we cant give our # out to you guys. 

    So, I love you guys soooooooo much and it was great to talk to you!!!! i cant believe how much Chantal and Miranda and Sophie have grown up!!!! they look and sound a lot more mature. 

    Love!

Calvin

Yay! Skype Tomorrow!

This is Calvin's area map

This is the mission home

A beautiful archway into Chinatown?

A horse to make Miranda jealous. :-)

                                     

Calvin's desk - and I don't know what I did to make the comments off center now.

A message for our family, written with a white erase marker on the back of his tag.

Todd answered the cell phone tonight and heard, "Dad? This is Elder Messinger, uh, I mean this is Calvin." Todd laughed and laughed! We all laughed when Todd told us. Calvin will be Skyping with us tomorrow. YAY! We'll get to see him!

I've been really bad at keeping up with Calvin's emails home this month, sorry. But now I'm on Todd's computer where all the pictures from Calvin's latest snail mail are. So can I beg your forgiveness with pictures? Okay. Good.

First let me post Calvin's email from December 10th:

Momm,

   So, this week was really interesting. our car got stolen. no not really, but in effect it did. What happened was we took the car to get the oil changed and the tires changed, and while we were waiting, the guy at the front desk started making calls about a car that was stuck on a lift. He was asking if someone could come and fix the lift, went back into the garage, came out, and said " well, guys that car on the lift is yours." We were like, "What.?" He explained that the lift's hydrolics had failed. so we went back, and luckily the car had had emergency braces put underneath it, otherwise, it would have been dropped. So, we ended up bumming rides off our Zone leaders and members for the rest of that day and part of the next. that stunk. 

   So in our companionship, we made an effort to do better at talking to everyone, and its really cool how that improves a day. Since everyone is really nice here, they will at least talk to you. 

   Most of our solid potentials right now are Hatians. They love missionaries, and they will always talk to you. Especially if you know French, and if you say "Sake Passe!" you are their new best friend immediately, mostly because sake passe means whats up in creole, and most people dont know anything in creole, so that scores you BIG points with them. Hatians also love feeding you. I havent had many dinner appointments with them, but they offer to feed us often enough. I love hatians! 

   what else is going on, well, as for skyping, i think we can, but I dont think we can use members' computers, so IDK, I'll ask my Zone leaders. 

   Momm, havent you been reading ANY of my emails, begging for us to come back after my mission?!? Of course I'll come back and show you everything!!!!  [I asked him if we could go back and visit his areas because we stalk him on google earth and it looks so beautiful there in Ottawa! I also watch travel shows whenever I can on PBS on Saturdays and other days of the week and I've only ever been to Prince Edward Island and the Toronto Temple in Canada (which are not in Calvin's mission) but I've always wanted to go to Quebec and Montreal, and now Ottawa is on my list of places to visit.]

   I am staying quite warm, i actually kick blankets off the bed because its too hot some nights, but usually i count my blessings and stay warm. 

   So what else can I tell you about my mission, umm.. well a guy just returned from his mission just this week, so that was awesome to see. he actually served where my companion is from, so he brought TONS of  presents back for my companion from his parents. Oh, we have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree kit, so we set that up as our christmas tree for the time being. we have  a bigger one, but we are just too lazy to set it up right now. We didnt put presents under it, we just put it on top of the presents! 

   By the way, in the pictures, the clouds were clouds before a tornado, but there wasnt one. It was still pretty cool!

   Umm, yeah, so lots is going on. Umm, oh yeah! So we have that stratego game in the mission apartment, so we play it on Preperation days a lot. The last few preperation days have been us mostly playing Clue at the Zone leaders' appartment. lots of fun!

Love you all!!

Keep going!!

Do me a favor, and this christmas look for a way you each (except Sophie, she is my favorite! Just kidding ) can do meaningful service for someone else. I have been thinking a lot about that these past few weeks and how all my favorite families in the mission constantly look for ways to serve others. 

LOVE!!!!!!!!
Watch out for ......... EVERYTHING!

Calvin

About the "Watch out for . . . EVERYTHING!" I usually end my letters to Calvin with several one-line reminders: Study your scriptures and "Preach My Gospel!" "Pray fervently!" and I include a silly line "Watch out for ____________!" (Ninja Snowflakes and Dalek Christmas Trees are some of the recent warnings) It's just something fun I do.

Did I mention there is another Elder C Messinger in Calvin's mission? And that we thought it would be fun if they were companions at some point? Can you imagine "Hello, we're Messingers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." We thought that would be pretty fun.

Here's his email from the 17th of December:

Momm, 

   AUGH!!! I cant wait to get bck and see Sophie!!!!!! she is going to be so BIG!!! I cant wait to just do stuff with her! [When I write to him, I usually try to include some cute things Sophie says and does.]

yes i do love my other sisters, dont worry, and i cant wait to spend time with them too. oh tell miranda that my companion and I quote invader zim all the time. So, this week. Well where to start. So my companion and i have been thinking about doing more member work in the sense of teaching members lessons. That way, we strengthen Zion and make the members more confident is sharing the Gospel. we havent had a good comp discussion about this, how we are going to do it, what it will mean, etc. We got the idea, when a member who recently got back from his mission said that for the last 9 months of his mission, he only tracted about 10 hours overall. That was because he had been doing member lessions, and their baptism number actually increased. So, we were blown away by that. We just want to do stuff effectively. 

   Umm.... it was basically a regular week. We taught some people, and did missionary stuff. Yes that is a terrible response, but there is just SO MUCH we did this week. nothing  too too exciting, except the fact that we have a girl commited to a baptismal date.

   Now, we are meeting with this awesome guy who is super cool. He is part native, and is really interested in the church, and he listens to the lessons. 

   We got to see another recent convert. she is ok. We had a great lesson with her about the Tree of Life story . This has been our theme for lots of our lessons, and it works super well now a days, because we use everyone's Christmas trees as the tree of life.  Its pretty  fun ! 

    So this week we have our Mission Christmas party. We are going to be away from our areas for 2 whole days. We wont really be doing any work for about 3 days strait. Our numbers are going to PLUMMET!! But hopefully not that bad. 

     So thats all new right now. We are goig to an aviation museum today, and then to dinner, and then off to do some random work (probably tracting this appartment building  we have been working in for a few days) Then, we will go [to a family's house].  :) sooo happy, [they] are AWESOME!!! 

  Anyways, love you lots!

    Calvin

Merry Christmas

Happy Bump Day!

  Last Wednesday - November 28th - Calvin reached his 6 month mark. Missionaries have names for milestone days, and some missions celebrate by burning clothing:
6 months: Bump Day; burn a tie
12 months: Hump Day; burn a white shirt
18 months: Slump Day; burn a pair of pants
24 months (last day before you return to the mission home to go home): Dump Day; burn a suit
  I have asked Calvin several times if he burned a tie, but he hasn't told me how he celebrated yet. Maybe he didn't celebrate. Some missionaries don't pay attention to the milestones. Since I didn't post last week, here are two weeks' worth of emails!

Momm, on thanksgiving we had an AWESOME dinner with an American family. They had football on the TV they made a HUGE turkey dinner, it was all awesome! I thought of you all, and hope that your thanksgiving was GREAAT!!!!!!!!!!

Calvin

Momm, 

Wow that sounds like a great week!!!!!!!!! I am SO MAD that I missed [Miranda's] LARP party! That stinks! What happened at it? And which movie was skyfall? [Todd and I had a DATE! We went to see Skyfall. They had started the ads for it before Calvin left on his mission, but missionaries don't really pay attention to current movies because they don't go to movies.] So, I have had a pretty good week. I'm really nervous for transfers because i dont want to leave my area, i love all the people WAY too much! but I know it wont be to bad. So, this week we have a new baptismally committed person. She is 59 years old. She is really nice, and was introduced [to the church] by her friend who is super awesome! They arre roommates in the retirement home. We are haveing a great time, the new bishop is making his focus on missionary work. He is really buisness like and wants to get stuff done, it's really good. I am so excited that the area is picking up again!

Anyways, i will write more, but I cant think.... OH! We had someone run away from us. We knocked on their door, and we hear some footsteps, so we knock again. Then we hear this mechanical grinding sound, so we wait more. next thing we know, a car comes zooming out of the garage and zooms away. we both laughed our heads off! so thats my funny story so far! besides making plasma in the microwave. 

Love you all lots!!!!
Calvin

That's pretty funny that they had someone run away from them. We were speculating why someone would feel the need to run away from missionaries. Perhaps it was the black coats that scared them? For those of you who aren't LDS: Missionaries are good kids, and if you don't want to talk to them you can tell them you're not interested and they'll respect your wishes and leave. However, as the mother of a missionary I want you to know that if it's a hot day, or they look particularly tired, it's okay to give them food and water. You can still tell them you don't want to discuss religion, and you don't want to take their lessons. But remember that they are young men, and their mothers worry about them, and any kindness you show them would be greatly appreciated. Speaking of worry, what's this about plasma in the microwave?! I'm pretty sure that's not something allowed by mission rules - or any sane rules outside of a laboratory experiment! Gotta ask about this.

**I am not posting what Calvin wrote about making plasma in the microwave. Missionaries are, after all, 19 - 21 year old boys. They are known for doing stupid (often dangerous) things because, well, they are 19 - 21 years old, and boys these age often do stupid things when they're on their own. I am not amused, and I let Calvin know in a follow up email that I was not amused. Now on to this week's emails.

I wrote Calvin a nice, long email describing my week to him, and apologizing for writing so many emails to him every week. I usually watch for his first email to appear, then if I have questions I'll write a line or two. Sometimes that's the only way I get answers to questions - like if he has his winter coat yet, or if he needs anything like new shirts or socks or ties. Calvin tends to forget to answer questions like those. This was Calvin's first email:

Momm,

 You are NOT selfish. you are a MOTHER. You have an especial privelage to my time. 

love,

Ccalvin

momm, 

 yeah i think you might have mentioned that you love me.I dont know about skype. I might be able to. [I asked Calvin if he would be able to Skype with us for his phone call at Christmas. Some missionaries can Skype, others can't.]

Yeah we watched the [First Presidency Christmas Broadcast from Salt Lake City], it was a lot of fun! It was great to get that spiritual uplift. 

so, transfers, I'm staying! Im going to be in Chapel hill for Christmas!!!!! thats pretty cool! I am so excited, and i'll be with [my current companion] too! We are both excited, and things are picking up in the mission thus far! So you watched Lincoln. What is that? Was that the vampire hunter one, or a different one. I have been out of the loop for a while. [See? I told you missionaries don't keep track of movies and things. This time I went to the movie with friends - wow, I haven't been to movies for almost a year and now two in two weeks? Wow.]

So lately I have been worrying about [a family]. lots of negative things are happening, and its affecting them being able to come to church. But our ward has been super good with supporting them. Its wierd, I feel like I've been living in this ward all my life. I know everyone, and things have started to blend together. 

Oh, keep an eye out for an elder. he will enter the MTC on Jan 20th. he is a cousin of an elder here, but he is going to utica, so idk if that is our mission [it is], but I think he might be there. 

ok, Ill send this early bc inquiring minds want to know. there really isnt anything else that I wanted to say.

 LOve

Calvin 

Calvin usually forwards the mission newsletter so we can see what's going on in his mission. We learned this week that there is another "Elder C. Messinger" in Calvin's mission. His first name is different, but still it starts with a C!! We were flabbergasted that the first initial is the same, and that the last name is spelled the same. I'm so glad I've been writing his full name on the packages!! It must be a little confusing for the mission president that their names are close. And wouldn't it be cool if they ended up companions?! Elder Messinger and Elder Messinger! Then they could say "We're Messingers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!" Sorry, it's really fun to have our last name sometimes. Especially when it talks about "Heavenly messengers" in the scriptures. We always read it "Heavenly Messingers," and remind our kids that our last name has a special responsibility associated with it.

All fun aside, the mission is preparing for an influx of new missionaries (both the normal number of missionaries they usually expect, and a greater number of incoming missionaries since they changed the age requirements). The newsletter mentioned cleaning apartments. Calvin had become quite the pro at cleaning before he left, and we've discovered some really effective, non-toxic, cleaners since he left, so I wrote a quick email with some of the "recipes" we found.

thanks momm!
This will come in handy! I've also done a lot of cooking. Really bad for my waistline. but! its been delicious. Members feed us really well here, though. we cook ourselves some monsterous llunches, just because. Thanks for teaching for all these lessons that you have given me!
Calvin

November 19, 2012

Last week Calvin wrote 6 lines. SIX LINES!! I didn't feel like it was worth an entire post for just SIX LINES! But I felt really awful for my friend in Texas; her son didn't write anything. Nothing. Zip. Nada. So, my young friends who are planning on going on a mission, please remember this: Missionaries know that mail is their lifeblood, but mail is just as important to your mother!! (and college students would do well to take note too) And no, I'm not proofreading these for spelling/grammar mistakes.

Here is Calvin's email from last week:

Momm,

Thank you for giving the missionaries dinner! Every time I walk out of a dinner appointment, feeling like im gonna pop, I think of you and say THanks momm!

Keep reaching out to others, especially new members! they need that support sooooooooo much! I think I have about 50 new facebook friends for you! [My companion] told quite a few people to friend his mom, so I thought why not?  anyways, I'm glad to hear all is ok at home.

This week we committed another person to baptism!!!! it was super cool, but all of our member present lessons have fallen through! We could have had 10, but only got 5. People are busy in these latter days! So, not much new has happened this week, and we dont have much time today, but know I love you, and MIGHT send some letters, but  idk.

LOVE youo alll lots!!!!!!!!!

Calvin

Okay, so it looks like more lines here on the blog, but trust me it was only six lines in the email! I guess I should count my blessings that I got anything at all.

This week was MUCH better.

Hey momm!!!!! 

Great to hear that you have been doing well this week! Oh gosh, Sophie's picture. I'm going to prepare to break heads when she gets older! [I sent him a photo of Sophie in the sweater I knitted for her] Yes i am lucky to celebrate thanksgiving twice, although my waistline is telling me otherwise. This week we have a dinner appointment every night except one, and on that day we have a breakfast AND a lunch appointment. The breakfast appointment is with the new BIshop, and the lunch appointment is with [a family]. Anyways, other than that, not too too much has been going on. we are doing a lot of knocking because we continuously get stood up at our appointments, but its just because people are busy. the Lord always gives more miracles than letdowns. WAYY more! And no, I'm not homesick. There are plenty of amazing people here, so much so that I want to take home and superimpose it on this landscape, and see if all the empty spots are perfectly filled by home. Then save it and live there! But, i'll have a second home at Couer d'Alene. [did you know Calvin was born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho?] Mercie Beaucoup pour tous vos prieres, et pour tous votre amour! Je veux que vous pouvez etre ici de voir tous les peuples qui habite ici, mais je ne peux pas. But!!!! I can come back as soon as I'm home!!! And i want to!!!! At least once a month!!!!!! PPPPPPBBBBBBBBRRRRRREEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

   Wow, now that I've been super childish, time to be more mature. Yeah, missionaries are often transfered at the last 6 weeks. [One of our missionaries here is being transferred for the last 6 weeks of his mission] Often they are also transferrred when they love their area a lot. I love my area A LOT. I'm freaking out a little, because I'm sure I'm getting transferred, but I love this area! oh well, it will happen in the lord's time. 

Well, LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!

Calvin

5 November, 2012

Calvin has been on his mission for over 5 months now. He is in his 6th month! Wow! 1/4 of the way through! The time has flown by (for me, at least). We miss him a lot, and we pray for him every day that he will be safe, and that he will love what he's doing. I really enjoy his letters and I can tell that our prayers are answered. His love for the people that he's serving shows in every letter home, and I am glad that he's kept safe as he drives! So here is this week's letter. YAY!

Hey momm,

Im glad to hear that you guys pulled through ok. Everyone here has been asking how you are all doing. I wasn't worried because we are up on a hill. Here, we didn't get it too bad. I was dissapointed. But I guess its better than having everyone  here in more need. This week has been going well. We have a few people who are super interested in the gospel. One is pretty much a definate for baptism, it's just that her mom doesn't like mormons. We got our baptismal committed to church this week, even though our investigator church attendance has been at an all time low lately. We still get 4 investigators to church, so we are still feeling good. My biggest concern now is keeping our new converts in the church. PLEASE make friends with the investigators, and have them over to our house, and be their friends, and most of all LET THE MISSIONARIES know that you are doing these things. Members give you the best info ever. Members have the most important role in missionary work ever. The members here are really good at that, it's just that there are so many of them, it's hard to choose. Anyways, we are trying to work hard, and use our time the most effectively. However, I feel great because not a day goes by that I dont see at leaast one miracle in it. I feel very blessed. I think back on Jeffery R. Holland's talk this past conference, and think I can never go back to my old nets. I will need to be, and will be changed. Totally changed.

[I am giving a talk in church this coming Sunday on repentance, so I asked him if he had any input and any messages for the branch]

Anyways, as for your talk, I  would stress the importance of the bible dictionary. Also, stress that repentance is CHANGING your life. It's not just not doing the bad things anymore, it's completely changing how you think to cut those bad things out. You try to not even think about doing bad things, and your mind and thought process becomes focused on good things, and uplifting thoughts constantly. 

oh, I loved the package!!!!! I loved that one sheet of paper that everyone [in the branch] signed. That meant a lot to me. thanks for the Book of mormons, but why did you send them? I can get 50 billion of them free if I want. But I'm sure they will come in handy sometime. Thanks for the package, it made my millenium!!!! I didn't have to pay anything, but I dont know if the office did, I havent gotten notified about anything. 

Any tell anyone anything messages? Well, I got stamps, so tell the girls there might be a few things coming to them soon. As for ward members, tell everyone I think of them and they are a huge source of encouragement and support to me. 

Thank you for all the support you give me mom, I love you so much, and I know the world is a tough place to live in, but keep going! Keep your mind on the Gospel, and the principles of it, and how you can help the Lord first, then look everyday for at least 2 miracles. Then tell me about them!

Keep it up!

Love

Calvin

[Wow. My missionary son gave me an assignment! Guess I'd better work on it! I sent him a note asking how he liked the package, and attached a picture of his friends' Halloween costumes, and he sent this back:]

oh my gosh, [she] would. [be Rosie the Riveter]

[He's] the pumpkin head, right? Pretty cool, and the other girl is the main charecter from adventure time, right?

That's pretty awesome!

So the ties i liked , the letters too (Sophies' story was so cute!) And the candy was amazing!!!!!! I got so much candy this week from members, it's like "Who needs trick or treating??" We had a lesson, so we couldn't do all the fun things the other guys were. but we were real missionaries, and did real missionary work, so that's ok.

and the organ CD is awesome!!!! I love it!

For christmas. D&D miniatures. and lots of love. and letters, and drawings. but mostly love and D&D minis. Its a tradition!!!!!

I love you sooooo much!!!!!
Calvin

PS. So, we have an american family who already signed up for thanksgiving, and another family already signed up for christmas. so sign up for the missionaries now!!!!!!!!

[We usually get new D&D miniatures for our stockings. It is a fun tradition and after 10 years of doing this we have quite a collection!!]

October 29, 2012

This is Calvin's letter from last week. Sorry it's late. With the storm and the end of Field Hockey it was a pretty busy week. I have left in some of what I wrote, so his answers make sense. Calvin's answers are in bold.

Momm,

This week has been wierd. Transfers happened this week, and I got my new companion. He is from Edmonton, Canada. He is awesome! He was my MTC companions' trainer, which is cool. I found out how much my last companion meant to me this week as well. I miss him, but I got over it pretty quickly, because we have seen some success so far, and we hope to watch that success climb.

So, what happened this week? Well, I drove by myself this week for the first time, all alone, because of transfers. Umm... not much else else happened. We did a lot of knocking, and found some people who might be interested.

I guess I'll reply to your letter.

Dearest Calvin,
  Chantal says she will nevereverevereverevereverevernever forgive you for the comment about her looking like Justin Bieber again, because he wishes he looked as good as her. *winky face*

 

lol, Sorry Chantal, but it is the truth! I love your hair, though. I want to see some senior pics.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought of you this week, and I was like "oh, momms' bday is this week, I should do something!" So our zone went out to sushi. My first time, and I loved it! it was super good! we also went to the mall, and then to a party for [my companion] when he was going away.

 

  Wednesday I had to go renew my driver's license. I got all the stuff together and went down to the DMV. I was in and out within 20 minutes! Yay!!! I thought about you and how you wanted to do your
KISS face when they took your picture for your permit. *grin* I went across the street to deposit a check for Dad. Then I went to Barnes and Noble to return the book [I got for my birthday]. So I have a "store credit" for the price of a paperback book. I might get a book about knitting socks instead.

 

nooo!!! get an art book! an art book!!! or an anne mccaffery. Oh, there was a member who was giving/ throwing away a piorot book ,and a dragonriders of pern book. But I had no idea how I was going to send them back, so I left them there! Sorry!

 

I came home and Dad went to work. Miranda called me to ask me if I could sign her out early so she could see Chantal's game. The game had been moved from Afton to Harpursville (because Afton's field was flooded). So we signed Miranda out and went to the field to the game. The girls won their first Sectionals game 2-1 in sudden death overtime.

 

GOOOOO HORNETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Chantal made some awesome saves!! Then we came home and went to Mutual.
  Thursday Chantal had another sectional game in Greene. Sophie, Miranda and I drove over there and got there about an hour early, so we waved at the Harpursville bus as they came into the parking
lot, then we walked over to Raymond and picked up leaves along the way. When we got to Raymond, we found the van and stuffed leaves in between the windshield wipers on the front of the van and
on the back. We thought Dad would appreciate our sense of humor. *grin* Dad walked over on his break and watched about 5 minutes of the game (YAY! First game he's been able to attend this year!). They lost their game 7-0

 

AWWW! @^#*@ (parents, now would be a great time to cover your kids' ears) $& GREENE!!! Sorry, missionary thoughts, missionary thoughts.  ok, I have control of myself now. (sorry elder, No, really, the computer just flew twords your head all on it's own! No, I'm serious!)

 

(but Chantal informs me that Vestal lost to Green 9-0 so I think Harpursville did pretty well!)

  Saturday we went to the temple. It was really nice, even though we only had 3 girls [doing baptisms. We had 4 girls with us]. While everyone else went into the temple, [a friend from school], Sophie and I walked around the temple and I explained a little about the temple to her. Then we went to the Joseph Smith home and the log home, and took the tours there. [She] stood on the bricks where the plates had been hidden. *grin* Then we walked around the Sacred Grove for a while. We got rained on, and since most of the leaves have fallen off the trees we got really wet. Sophie soaked through her sneakers and socks and her pants were wet almost to her butt - because she kept stopping to pick up leaves and things. Sophie was scared of the animals in the woods. When I asked her what animals she was afraid were in the woods, she said, "Bears and Tigers and Lions and Monkeys." After we got out of the grove, we went back to the temple to wait because we only had about 20 minutes before they were scheduled to be done.

 

Sophie is sooo cute! that's just too funny.

  Grandma and Grandpa came over after the trip for dinner and birthday cake. I made the same cake I did for Sophie's birthday - except not Totoro.

 

Darn. Was it at least in the shape of Darth Vader's face?

  Today was Branch Conference. Sophie was in rare form! She has started sticking her tongue out at people and giving them the raspberry. I made her apologize to everyone she did it to. RUDE CHILD!!

 

Lol, she learned from the best!

I didn't get to sit in the chapel to hear all of conference. I had to go out into the Nursery with Sophie. *gasp* I got to go to RELIEF SOCIETY today!!! I got to be an adult today!

 

YAY! adult time! Oh, and my comp just reminded me, he has a talk by J golden Kimball. We listened to it, and OH DEAR!!!! he was super funny!

I'm glad you are having home teachers over. Home teaching, and member splits are super awesome for missionaries! Please help the missionaries out as much as you can!

  We're all getting ready for Hurricane Sandy. They handed out a phone number in sacrament meeting for people to call to report damage. *is it coincidence that the hurricane segment on the Sesame
Street DVD just came on?* They're evacuating parts of New York City, and they shut down subway and rail service in NYC, and they're shutting down bus service there too. Greene Schools are getting
out early tomorrow. Hancock school has closed tomorrow. This is supposed to be a big storm. Looking at the different models, I'm not sure if we'll get lots of rain or just a little.

 

I heard everything from "the perfect, epic storm of the century" to just a tropical storm. So, i think personally that Binghamton is going to get flooded again.

 

I think Elmira is going
to get lots of rain. Anyway, I hope you guys don't get too much rain, and that you're safe. Did you get winter stuff from the "free store?" I hope you did. Please let me know if you didn't and if you
need stuff. It's getting colder and I worry about you. Do you have enough blankets?

yes

 

Do you have stuff for emergencies?

 

yes

 

Like extra water and a little food?

 

sortof

 

and flashlights?

 

sortof

 

 and stuff?

 

Umm......... sure!

  Okay, I have to get going. I'm really tired and starting to get a headache. *Storm's coming Ani. I can feel it in my bones.*

 

LOL!

Momm, I love you and miss you and everyone else at home! I'll try to send some mail home, but I send love home everyday!

 

Love

Calvin