Record Snowfall...he can't get away from the stuff!

Well, this past week Montréal got a whopping 18.5 inches of snow in one day (Thursday the 27th).

Here is a picture showing the aftermath:

Elder Shaver

Hey! 

Thats so cool you met with Mrs. Marlowe! (A friend of mine and his English teacher from high school...she listened to his video I recorded speaking in Mandarin and she said he is VERY good!)  I actually didn't even know she spoke Mandarin. Cool. 

Great to hear about the boys! (Just told him some funny stories about his little brothers...)  Makes me feel close to home. Thanks so much mom for updating me on everything! :)

A giraffe would be cool! (I asked if he wanted me to bring him back a giraffe from Africa...lol  Funny boy.)  But I'd have to talk to President, we aren't supposed to have pets.. you know... mission rules and all.

Ya Amber is great, she got baptized last month and is such a strong member, and a great example of Christ-like love!(A woman in his area who they've gotten to know well who added me on facebook so I have another way of getting the scoop on T!)

What kind of pictures do you plan to take in Africa? That new lens you got looks pretty nifty, what does it do again? I know you will take great pictures! Can't wait to see them! How long are you in Africa for?

This week has been interesting, we did indeed go out in the snow... it is everywhere! Pretty crazy. People must think we are crazy, but that is ok, that might lead them to inquire as to why we are "crazy". I like to look at it as just "motivated" or "unstoppable" but I'm sure people are looking out their windows thinking to themselves "Well they aren't to bright"... oh well. 

Oh I sang in Church with Elder Shaver yesterday! It was great! Then we taught Priesthood/Relief Society with Elder Bell. Taught about unity and what not. Hopefully we can strengthen the Branch.

I love being a missionary, we just get to go talk to people and teach the Gospel! It's a win/win way of life!

I love the little miracles we see everyday. Anything from and appointment coming through or having the perfect snowflake fall on your sleeve. Life is full of little miracles, that is what gets us through everyday. The best part is we try to put ourselves in the position to be somebody's miracle each day. I know the Lord is blessing my life, and can bless all our lives.

I love you all so much!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir

Aprés Christmas!

It was a great Christmas after all!  It was definitely weird not having our Taylor here, but we got to Skype for more than an hour.  I also just got off the computer with him today (Boxing Day) because it's his P-day today instead of Monday so we were emailing back and forth.  He sent some pictures!  Here you go...

T with Elder Bell

Transfer day...new companion is Elder Shaver

All 7 Chinese missionaries...the seven may turn into 12 come the new year!

Elder Bell and Elder Riff with their Poutine

Christmas Concert

Elder Shaver and T on the Metro...all by themselves!

Birthday Sushi!

John's baptism

Andy's baptism

Christmas tree for the 4 roommates that Dennis sent

Opening pressies with his birthday present wrapped around him...the quilt I made out of his favourite T-shirts!  Kaitlin got him the missionary stocking that looks like a suit and tie with a name tag!  Perfect!

Dad always finds cool coins and momentos for his kiddos to have as keepsakes to remember important times and events by.

His new Citizen watch from Dad that is solar powered.  He said he feels very classy with it on and feels important when he 'consults' his Citizen for the time.  Hahahaha!

The loot.

Grandma and Grandpa Morris sent him every flavour of Pringles out there, and a bunch of his favourite candy to last about 6 months...or maybe not that long if all 4 guys indulge! 

I did mention to him how I love his 'chesterfield'!  lol  

When we Canadians use the word chesterfield, it's when we have a couch that looks like THAT!

He says its very soft and comfy though!  

First birthday and Christmas away from home.  Success.  Phew.  We made it through.

(Yes, it was harder on Mom than him ;0)  )

Good practice for next year...and the many other holidays and celebrations that he won't be home for...cuz that's what happens when you grow up I guess, right?

Things are warming up in Montreal...even tho there's snow!

Hey! 

Haha yes my companions speak english, and french too. I speak French occasionally. And we sing in all 3 but Mandarin as often as possible.

No deliveries as of yet. Might get some today. 

Haha Brother Mandin is great! Cool that Uncle Brent and Auntie Kami came to visit! 

Well life has been pretty good the past week, although quite busy, really pushing to make things happen. And we have been knocking a lot! Elder Shaver is great, he is super thoughtful and very aware of people and how they act and what they think. Im a little more go go go, I can learn a lot from him. Knocking has been pretty normal, but we have had some cool experiences. First we knocked into these fellows from Morocco, we discussed some things, they loved to talk, but not listen as much. But then the next door was a man from Mauritius! (Small island in the Indian ocean) He was super open and he even let us in! We taught him, prayed with him and I could really feel the Spirit. He is not Chinese though, so I think he is in contact with the English missionaries.

Another cool thing was Saturday we went to a lady's house with the senior missionaries serving in our branch (President Cannons father and his wife). It was her and her 14 year old son. He is incredible at the piano and they fed us a great meal! Later we were talking about family, she was amazed at 11 children and kept saying you must be a great woman (to which I agreed). I told her to add you on Facebook. Yu Fang is her name. They like us missionaries but not quite open to joining the Church yet. Fun night though.

Also I have been trying to find a mom in the ward for you to get in touch with. We have an <older sister> figure. Liu Hai Tao. She is great! She bought us hot chocolate (Which is great cause it finally snowed here) and is always willing to help us. 

Last night I found a mom! There is a lady in our ward.. Iris. They have three boys. One has soccer so him and dad don't come to church too much, but she is there every week. And they have been here 10 years so her English is great! I will ask if she has facebook when I see her again. 

Still not sure about Christmas, things happen really last minute in the branch. The back up is President and Sister Cannons (you can also add Sister Cannon on FB). Hopefully I know what the plan is by next week.

Well those are some of the most eventful things this week. 

Love you so much!

Elder Heinzlmeir

Hello Taylor!

I received an email today from the mission president's wife, Shirin Cannon.  She said "We love him so much.  He is amazing!  Thought you might be able to use this picture to blow up for the wedding. Congratulations!"

Taylor must have told her about our weddings coming in 2013...that he'll miss...lol  We talked about taking a picture before he left that we could blow up full size and mount on foam core and stand him up in the wedding party!  lol   This pic was taken with a phone, and it's not bad...but it won't blow up very well, but I was SOOOOOOO excited to see his face...and all the rest of him!

Getting familiar with a new area.

YAYYY!!! Congrats to the two of them. (I told him the news about Kaitlin and Ryan getting engaged!)

Silly parking tickets. lol Glad you had a good time.(I got yet another parking ticket in Edmonton...I always get parking tickets in Edmonton!!!!)

 Yes, we use our card for groceries. I haven't made myself anything yet :P

4 guys is great!(There's 4 of them in one apartment now.) Elder Williams and Elder Cutler are great! We all get along well, and not too messy! Plus Elder Williams likes to cook... and do dishes!

I love hearing the stories of the kids. 

I say hi to Mrs. Gondek and Mrs. Marlowe!

Pretty cool about their School.(Thickwood Heights --the little kids' school--is trying to get the classification of a performing arts school by September 2013 including music, dance, art and drama).

I think I want gel insoles, what kind should I get?(maybe his feet hurt?  lol)

Oh and still don't know where we are Skyping, still in the Chinese Branch in my new area, just work on the west side, and it's not YSA we just have a lot of YSA, sorry for the confusion.

The new area is interesting, quite different than downtown. It's good though. Elder Shaver and I get along so thats a plus too. He's a really great guy. 

This week was super cool because we taught two people on Saturday. Then that night they came to our Stake Christmas concert and sang with our branch! It was awesome! Other than that this week has just been slowly adjusting to the new area. 

I'll have some more stories next week i'm sure.

Love you all lots!! 

Elder Heinzlmeir :)

New Experiences

Hey mom!

Elder Bell and I have knocked 2 full buildings. There isn't really a mom I am close with, I'd imagine Sister Chen would be the closest thing but they are still in Taiwan and then are leaving on a mission... guess I'll just have to find one. No X-Mas tree at home, not really big in China. Elder Bell is getting more excited to Train his COUSIN! Who comes Wednesday, and I got transferred to the other Chinese area and Elder Shaver is my new companion and my new apartment has 4 Elders... fun times ahead :P

Good news about Maria (my friend from Australia who has been very sick and is slowly recovering thanks to many prayers!) and Janice! (my other friend's daughter who is getting married this week in the Calgary Temple).

Speaking of food, cool story. So this week Elder Bell and I are minding our own business, knocking people's doors in this apartment building... you know, the usual. When all of a sudden we knock into a father and son, who actually let us in! It was great (Elder Bell and Elder Riff will see them again on Friday). While we were in the lesson the phone went off a couple times. Of course we didn't dare interrupt the Spirit so we let them slide. When we check after our lesson, one of the calls was from a member that hasn't been to church in YEARS! No contact. We called back, her name is Xiao Li, and she invited us over for dinner! (This was my first DA(dinner appointment..the local members invite the missionaries over each night to feed them dinner...but where there are fewer members, there are fewer meals, so they fend for themselves) where someone actually said "hey come over" instead of us being like "FEED US PLEASE"). So we go Friday night, her husband recently came over from China and her mom was there ( both aren't members) it was so cool. We started by helping them make these little dough balls, it was fun, thought we were gonna bake or fry them.. but no.. they were boiled into the soup for dinner. We had a classic Cantonese soup, with these little chewy dough balls. Yup, it was definitely interesting. I ate quickly so they repeatedly told me to take more! I ate sooooo much! Let me tell you I was not hungry. Oh by the way the gave us tangerines and I ate a whole one by myself! Pretty crazy.

Then the next day there was a WEDDING in our Branch. A guy from Taiwan (who served his mission here) came back and married a girl in the Temple on Saturday... Pretty cool (But that meant I had to teach English class by myself, which really isn't bad considering I'm the only Mandarin missionary whose first language is English.) Elder Bell and Elder Shaver served around Feng (the guy that got married) so they got to go to the wedding with President! Elder Laboulaye and I went to work. It was pretty cool to see the branch come together for the wedding.(a branch is a smaller 'ward' which is the term that represents a geographical area and all members living in that area are in that specific ward (they are usually named or numbered) (There were more members and investigators at the wedding than that come to church! {we are working on that}) Xiao Li and her husband even came!

Well that was the excitement for this week. 

Thanks for the stories from home! Love you all so much!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir!!!

The Reformed Church that we found, Xiao Feng's baptism (Feng baptized him), and a cool orange suit that costs like 1500$ 

Seriously?  An orange suit?  lol

The Wedding Reception

Above, the District

Below, Elder Laboulaye