Hello Everyone!

I'm not sure how to describe this week. First of all you should all know that there is currently no snow on the ground and even though it did snow on Thursday none of it stuck I've been told repeatedly that I should count my blessings. I just smile at them and then tell myself that I'll get better at handling the humidity. When the wind isn't blowing I'm fine but when it does hit I'm freezing now matter what the temperature is!

Also Sunsets from 10,000 feet up in the air with snow clouds on all sides is one of the most beautiful things I have every seen and would recommend it to everyone. So yes flying was fun. Delayed often but fun I really enjoyed it. I could have looked out those windows forever. I was also a bit airsick but not enough to stop me from really enjoying it though!

I arrived around 7 o'clock Canada time and it took a while to get through customs as none of them really knew what to do with me. Somehow I got the wrong intentions letter (It was the one for elders instead of sisters) so well... now my visa says I'm staying here until February 2018 so... fun stuff looks like I'm serving two years instead of 18 months! So after much confusion there I was picked up by some sisters and taken to the mission home where President and Sister Clayton were holding a party for the All the senior missionaries so I got to meet all of them which was nice.

I stayed with the sisters that night and then the next morning went though a bunch or orientation stuff and around noon got to meet my new companion! It would have been sooner but once again there was some paperwork confusion and I somehow got put down as speaking Cantonese instead of Mandarin which was really confusing for everyone as there are no sisters who speak Cantonese in this mission. (A couple of elders who go back and forth between here and Montreal) So, when they asked me if I spoke Cantonese my eyes got really wide and I said "No... Was I supposed to?"  Let me tell you I think that might have scared five years off my life.

So yes, I got to meet sister Liao and we've hit right off our personalities are similar and it's so great working with her. We spent the rest of that day driving around picking up her stuff, and then driving to Kitchener, where we are currently staying with a couple of Spanish sisters. They are both super nice and it's fun speaking three languages in the house.

Wednesday we started meeting with members and doing some street contacting. That was also terrifying. I keep switching back and forth between English and Chinese and forgetting who speaks which language so that was fun! Still I loved being out there and standing in the street and wondering who had been prepared by the lord. I loved meeting with the Chinese members as well. There is a lot of focus on new converts and returning members here. So we try to meet with people from the ward often. I really do enjoy sharing my testimony and I got a powerful witness this week that right now if I promise them a blessing from God it will happen... Isn't that so cool! I was inspired to promise one member looking for a job that if he went to the temple the Lord would tell him where to go and the spirit was so strong.

So yah, contacting members and trying to find new investigators as Sister Liao and I technically opened up a new area and don't have any new investigators so we're starting from scratch! That's been fun. Also it gets dark really fast being the middle of winter so were going to try going out in the mornings more this next week and then spending the dark hours studying instead of in the mornings where we feel safer out on the streets.

I've been driving this week too! Getting used to Kilometers has been super weird and I'm still trying to figure it out. So first time I got in the car I heard a weird noise when I braked and I called Elder Erickson the elder in charge of cars right away. He said that the sisters who had been driving it previously had been fine but if the noise continued to take it in to a shop. So Saturday that's what we did and guess what? Back right tire there was NO break pad left. It was metal on metal and they wouldn't have it fixed until Monday. So I called Elder Erickson again and so for the last three day's I've been driving the Kal Tire Minivan... Got to go in style right? I was just thankful that we were okay for those days that we did drive it. God really does take care of His missionaries. (It also helped that I've learned from experience to follow promptings when it comes to cars so...)

Anyways, I really am doing great. I'm still trying to figure out how everything works and trying to find my place here at the mission but I'm so excited to be here and in time I'll get to see how things continue.

I love you all and appreciate your prayers and thoughts.

-Sister Skinner