Kaylee Lofthouse: October 20, 2014 Arriving in Vancouver Canada

Hello Everyone!!

What a week! I made it to Canada! It was funny because we woke up early Wednesday morning and we got on a bus and I thought it would take us right to the airport... Yeah I was wrong. They dropped us off at a train station. There was 18 of us going to Vancouver. They unloaded all the luggage from the bus and I thought the bus driver would give us instructions but nope. All of the sudden the bus just drove away! He didn't even wish us good luck! Rude! So there were 18 of us little mormon kids looking at each other like "Uhh... So now what do we do?" We did have a travel "leader" but it was a missionary who just learned English so he couldn't understand any of the instructions in the packet they gave him. And we tried reading them but they were just weird! So we talked to a worker there and they helped us get on a train on the right direction. :) Then we had to take another train to the airport but it was just so funny because there were so many of us and we all had 3 suit cases wondering around in a line! But we made it to the airport and we saw Quinton L Cook there! We made our way down to our gate and to our surprise we saw our mission president's wife, Sister Burt!!!! She came home to Utah because her daughter had a baby and they made it so she could travel back with us! The Lord knew we couldn't have done it alone. Haha. But the plane was really small! And the kid behind me was throwing up. But I felt his pain... Been there, done that. Lol. But I slept a little which was amazing and then the flight was over! It was so short! Finally we got out of the airport and met our mission president! The sisters rode in his car to the mission office. Which is the richmond chapel which is kind of weird. But wow. Richmond is where all the Chinese people are! On every sign there is Chinese! So thats cool. Vancouver really is so diversed.

Thursday we finally got to met our new companions! My missionary mom is Sister McKee from New Zealand! She is great! She has actually only been out for 2 transfers so thats crazy! But I asked her to explain a little more about our area and she said its the ghetto... So I was expecting the worst! Haha. But sister Ditto and her companion actually came with us for the rest of the day and night because they were taking a train up north more for their area in the morning. We had so time to do some street contacting. Which is always a wild ride in Surry! Basically like 80% of people are from east india and you see guys in turbans all the time! But they don't speak any english... We split up in companionships and later when we met up again Sister Ditto talked to a woman named Bethany. She is gold. So ready for the gospel! They set up an appointment for us to teach her. We were so excited! So a couple days later we get a call from the bishop and said we got a referral form Salt Lake. Turns out it was bethany! SHe went onmormon.org and look up a bunch of things. Then when we called her to see if it was still good to meet she said she had orange juice for us becasue she read we dont drink coffee! So we went over Saturday and taught the Restoration. She was so excited to read the book of mormon. And every couple of minutes, as we were teaching, she would be like " Wow, this actually makes so much sense!" We soft set her to be baptized on November the 8th. And she came to church yesterday! She loved it! And so did her 3 small kids. She is a single mom and took the bus stop the church so that shows how much she really did want to be there! She has been prepared for the gospel. Me and Sister McKee are so excited for her!!

Well, like I said Surry is in the Ghetto. And it is the most dangerous part of the mission. So it always keeps things interesting! Haha... The other day me and Sister McKee were talking to people at the bus exchange and there was this big black guy wearing white gloves punching a trash can... So we were like what the heck... And he came up to us and was like "Are you Woman of God?" And we were like "Uhh... we are missionaries." He was sooo weird and was asking the weirdest questions about arcangels that I have never heard of. He even asked me what a colony was so i was like "Like the 13 origanial?" Haha. Anyways, we talked with him for a while and Sister McKee saw someone she knew so see turned away for a second and I was trying to get rid of him and then he opened his arms and tried to hug me!! ANd I was like Ahhhh! "We give hand shakes!" And then he asked me if I was a nun. Then after Sistert McKee came back he started talking about The Book of Mormon out of no where and we tried to give him a copy but he wouldnt even touch it. He was so weird!! ANd he had a hard time seeing and he was wearing those weird white gloves! So after we were joking and Siter McKee thinks he is a bad spirit or something becasue he wouldnt be able to touch our hands. Haha but who knows... He was weird! What an interesting place surrey is!

Me and SIster McKee have been busy and missionary work is so tireding but i'll get more used it! Our apartment is in a pretty safe place so you dont need to worry that much! I love you all! Thanks for your love and support! You all mean so much to me! Pray for missionary opportunites. If there is one thing I have learned in the last week it is that The Lord has a huge hand in His work. It is comforting to know that! Being a missionary is so great and comes with so many blessings. Pray for our investigators!! Love you!!!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse