"Still hurts and playing floor hockey on it was not the best idea. But when you are a true Canadian and some one hands you a stick are you just going to let it pass? No. No you're not."To top that off, his next email a week later starts out like this, "I don't have a lot of time this week. Plus my hands hurt from playing too much four square.". Good thing he has the Lord's work to do. Otherwise he would just be a crumpled up mess from all of his P-Day activities.
Speaking of the Lord's work, Brendan is really working hard towards finishing his mission up well. Each week he is telling us about the people that he and his companion are teaching and how they have set baptismal dates for them. Just a week or so ago, they were able to follow through with one of the baptismal dates that they had set and they are expecting another one right after Christmas. In fact there is a great story about the baptism that is coming up. Originally the baptism was set for January 10th and unfortunately for Brendan, he would be home by then and obviously unable to attend. Then just a few days ago Brendan got a call asking if the baptismal date could be moved up. Brendan told us just how happy and excited he was to be able to literally finish off his mission with a baptism. Not only that, but to also know that their investigator was willing to make a change in their life and to move forward. What a great blessing.
Winnipeg is getting a new temple. That announcement was made during General Conference a year or so ago. The big new lately is that now they have a date for the ground breaking and that date is December 3rd. In an email that Brendan sent, he told us about how he and his companion were literally the only two missionaries in the whole Winnipeg mission that were invited to attend the ground breaking ceremony. The reason why is because there were a few of the members in the area who are deaf and Brendan, now that he has learned sign language, was invited to be one of the translators.
So December 3rd came and Brendan told us about how the ground breaking went. First of all, there was a bit of a problem with the visa papers of the General Authority who was supposed to be there to preside over the ceremony. So instead, the Executive Director of the Temple Department had to pinch hit. But other than that, it all went as planned. As it turned out, Brendan didn't quite have the sign language translating responsibilities that he thought he was going to have, but he still got to do some translating during the meeting. His picture even made it in the Mormon Newsroom.
He wasn't actually signing at the time the picture was taken, but hey, he is ready to move those hands as soon as he is needed. Then there were the golden shovels. You can actually see them sitting up against the wall at the front of the chapel. But Brendan was able to get his hands on them for at least as long as it took to take this picture.
The weather in Winnipeg is cold, to say the least. Brendan arrived in Winnipeg almost two years ago, in the cold and he will leave in the cold as well. In his latest email, he described the current winter cold front like this:
"Its finally getting cold out here. Like it has been in the -30's pretty much all week with the wind chill. And it feels like it is eating away your skin. Its crazy. You don't know cold until you have felt Winnipeg cold. Blows my mind everyday that people live here... and they like it. haha, jk jk. I love it here with all my heart!! But jeez man, I mean there are warmer places out there. But GO JETS GO! haha, Its funny to watch all the first year immigrants and see them look like they are walking around in the arctic. Honestly. Its great. I will take some pics. They look like the Michelin Man"
When Brendan gets home in just a few weeks, he is going to feel like he just took a trip to somewhere tropical.
This is the wall he fell off of.
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