Tuesday, December 31, 2013

December 30, 2013

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your Christmases were as awesome as mine was!

Christmas Eve we went to the Lavoies house. They had Finger foods, and it was delicious. Very Different from the usual Fondue. Delicious none the less! They had some friends they had invited over who weren't sure if they were going to make it because they had presents left to wrap, so Elder Wright and myself, with Brother Lavoie went and helped him wrap presents. I wasn't good at it, I haven't wrapped a present in like... Well, since way before I left on my mission! =) It was fun though. They had the Santa Tracker up and were were watching where Santa was with the Kids. Christmas day we woke up, did our studies, then went to the Pilons house where we had chocolate, played cards games and Pictionary and had general all around fun! We then went to The Waitos house, and had supper. THey are not members, but wanted us to go to their house for Christmas so we would have a good Christmas dinner. It was a very good Christmas dinner. =)  It was great to see The family and talk to them. It was also fun to see Elder Wright's family for the second time. We were able to share the 40 days and 40 nights challenge with The Lavoies this week, and explain to them how it affected our friend we are meeting with. They were very excited to be able to try it out and give their scripture reading a new life. If any of y'all are feeling a little bit complacent in your scripture reading, definitely give that website a look!

Have a great week, and I will talk to you next year!

Happy New Years!

Elder Oviatt

Thursday, December 26, 2013

December 22, 2013

HEY! So... I'm a terrible person. I don't have a single picture of the Christmas party. I know I said I would have some... My bad...

But, on a WAY 'cool'er note, Monday night last week Elder Wright and myself helped a member move some stuff from his U-Haul into a storage room he rented because he has to be out of his house in Oshawa soon, and he isn't into his house up here in Pembroke till January 4th. Anyways, we were out for like 2 hours loading and such, and it was like - 25 out. It was FLIPPING FREEZING. It was terrible, but we loved it. I lost one of my name tags, and I won't find it again till we move him out. In January. I'm crossing my fingers that we don't all freeze to death in the storage room and then they find us a few months later, frozen solid, then sell us to a museum. Actually, on second thought, if I had to die, that would be a cool way to do it. OK, Nevermind, I'll be OK no matter what happens during that move. 

So, Tuesday was... Eventful. But I'll save it to the end, because it was also the coolest day. Well, honestly, Tuesday has made every day this week just like, unbelievably awesome. Yeah for Tuesday!

Wednesday. Splits! We were in Fallowfield, blitzing the area because we were goin to be sticking around Thursday too, and that was lots of fun. We brought our cards with us. Munchkin. Anyone ever played Munchkin games? They are pretty awesome! But they are hard to play 2 player. Elder Wright and I do it from time to time, but it was nice to be able to play a 4 player game of it. So that was fun. 

Thursday. Christams Party! Woot! Actually, Don't want to be a party pooper or anything, but it wasn't that fun... We went out caroling. For like 30 minutes. And then we had hot chocolate and cookies and talked for a long time. Then we watched a 'Bible video' on the Birth of Christ. The End. I mean, it was OK. But... It's Christmas! Mediocrity during Christmas is lame! No, sorry, That's not very nice. It was a great party, and especially being out in Petawawa, it's nice to see other missionaries. We really enjoyed it! 

Friday.. Friday was just regular. Really not that special.

Saturday... We had a lesson in the mornign with a less active sister and it went SUPER well! =) Yeah for people wanting to come back to church! Then we had supper with a less active brother and his wife! That was delicious. She is a great cook. then we went caroling on Base with a family.

Sunday. Church was only 1 hour long due to the ridiculous amouts of snow we recieved. THere were like 30 people at church. 

But back to Tuesday!  Tuesday was terrible. I tore my pants. Bad. Goodbye Brown pants... Your sacrifice will not be forgotten. Yeah, I didn't tear it down the seam like I thought, but I tore the fabric down both sides of the seam. SO I was pretty mad, and Elder Wright and I weere on our way into a restaurant because a Member was going to feed us before eh came with us to a lesson, so I'm sitting in this chinese buffet just furious, waiting for our member to show, and Elder Wright gets the phone out, gives it a funny look and answers it. I'm not paying attention at all to what is going on with him, and he hangs up the phone and says "So... That was Bobby." I'm thinking "Who the heck is Bobby? I don't know any Bobbys!" Elder Wright then tells me that Bobby is from Nevada. Bobby Has a friend up in Pembroke who has been reading the book of mormon. Bobby's friend has prayed about the book of mormon and know's it's true. Bobbys friend wants to be baptised. I was just dumbfounded. It was a great feeling! =) We have since been in contact with Bobby's Friend. He is mega legit. We have taught him once, and basically we taught him nothing. His friends have been doing all the teaching. And it's awesome! We can't wait to see how this will all pan out!

But! This week is Christmas. In. Sane. Seriously. I can't believe it. Time is going so fast. But Wednesday we will be on Skype. I'm excited to see some of the Family! 

Merry Christmas!

Elder Oviatt

December 16, 2013

Hey Everyone!

This week has been a pretty good one. Cold albeit, but good. We went down to Ottawa again on Wednesday for district meeting, that was enjoyable! We did splits and I was in Ottawa with Elder Umana. We went around in the car and I was navigating because those elders don't have a GPS, so I was on Map duty. It went OK, I mean, I don't know Ottawa at all, and Elder Umana did, so he kept on saying, I don't think this is the best way to get to where we need to go. I just kept on telling him that if he knew where he was going, he could take us there and I would take a nap. =) Elder Umana is a funny guy. We went to stop by an inactive member and they live in like this weird apartment complex thing. So he pulled into a parking stall because we wern't expecting to be very long, and well, a car came up 3 seconds later and wanted to get into their stall... Bad choice Elder Umana! And then, he was like, Oh, I'll just park in this stall right here! I convinced him to just park on the road with his hazards on, which he did. And that turned out to be a good idea, because a car came like 45 seconds later and pulled into the stall that he was going to park in the second time. Good Stall picking Elder Umana! Anyways, we finished splits and went home. We have a limit as to how much driving we can do each month. And last month our limit was 2400 kilometers. This month our limit is also 2400 kilometers, but I have to be down in Ottawa almost every week. So as of right now we have used almost 1700 kilometers. We are WAY more than halfway done our kilometer limit and just passed the walkway through the month mark... uh oh! 

So this week Elder Wright and I have passed by a few less active members of the branch up here, to wish them a merry Christmas and such in case we don't see them before Christmas, and they all gave us cookies and chocolates. me and my companion have like 40 cookies and two boxes of chocolates to eat, and I'm sure we are going to get more. I don't want more! I feel like all I've eaten for the last few days has been cookies and chocolate. Haha, part of the problem too is that we try and pass by a whole bunch of people before Supper or something, and we get delayed, so it's 7:30 PM and we haven't eaten since 11 AM and in the car is a plate pilled high with cookies. 10 minutes later, there ain't no cookies left. I know, I know... We're disgusting. =) We were actually debating not buying any grocereis this week and surviving on the leftovers in the fridge and all the cookies we got. Which, Honestly, we could easily do. We have tons of food in our apartment. It's great. 

This week we are going back down to Ottawa for district meeting and we are going to be doing splits with the Elders in the Fallowfield ward, but we are going to 'Blitz' the area. Elder Wright and myself will both stay down in Fallowfield instead of one of us going back to our area with one of the other missionaries. The reason we are doing this is because our Zone is having a Christmas party Thursday evening. It should be tons of fun! We will be getting all our mail and packages then too. I'm Excited!

But, I'll talk to you all next week, and I should have some pictures of the christmas party! 

Elder Oviatt

Friday, December 13, 2013

December 9, 2013

Hey! 

Wanna hear about our crazy week?

OK, so our week really wasn't that crazy, but it did start out crazy! Monday for Lunch Elder Wright and I had some leftover lasagna. Mmm... Lasagna, right? WRONG! Well, no, actually, right... It was delicious! But then, suppertime rolls around and I felt... Meh, so instead of eating a big supper I had some cream of wheat. Right before bed, I got up, brushed my teeth and then had two little throw-ups, but then I felt great, so I brushed my teeth again, obviously, and I went to bed. At 11:30, I woke up. Threw my blankets off of me, walked to my dresser (which is about 1 foot away from me, not much of a walk.) I tossed on my pajama pants, took 3 steps outside of our bedroom door (Notice I didn't put on my flip-flops. That is how you know this is serious. I don't go anywhere without my flip-flops on) and I knew I wasn't going to make it up a flight of stairs, around the kitchen in the dark, over the christmas tree chords and into the bathroom in time, so I stopped right there and about 1/8th of a second later projectile vomited in the hallway in the dark. Now, luckily (or unluckily, your choice) I had the mind to bring my shirt up and cover my mouth so that bile didn't go EVERYWHERE. But then my shirt was soaking wet, dripping with the leftovers from our leftovers. I coughed, felt terrible, then proceeded to vomit 4 or 5 more times, always into my shirt so as to minimize clean up after. Well, I ran upstairs, my shirt actually doing an amazing job at holding the liquid, none of it dripping as I walked up 13 stairs and around our kitchen, over the chirstmas tree chords and into the bathroom. Bravo little shirt, bravo. I showered, cleaned up the hallway, tossed my clothes in the laundry, and the rags I used to clean the hallway in the wash too. I then proceeded to toss and turn, attempting to "sleep". It didn't work so well. I was upstairs the rest of the night. First on the floor, then on the chair, then on the floor with my feet on the chair, then on a different chair, then to a third chair, back to the floor, the first chair, and finally the 2nd chair did it for me. I got some "sleep". I felt terrible when I woke up still though, so did Elder wright, He having woken up a few times with some mad diarrhea. it was just a rough start for the two of us. We spent most of the next day in the apartment. We had 2 lessons set up so we went to those, but other than that, we stayed in and recovered. We didn't feel better until Wednesday morning, when we drove to Ottawa for District Meeting. We did splits with the Elders in the Fallowfield ward, Elder Foster and Elder Messinger. Elder Foster and myself returned to Petawawa and taught Mark and Tara about marriage and we were planning on talking to them about how they need to either be married before they get baptised, or move out. But before we had even started to teach them the lesson, Tara looks over at me and says "See Mark, that's the kind of suit you need to get for our wedding!" Elder Foster and I kind of just looked at each other and were like... Uh... What? Cool!! So yeah, they are already talking about marriage and want to even go and get sealed!! Sounds like a good goal to me! I hope I am around when their wedding happens, but they said that they would try and make it out to Edmonton when I get married. Who knows when that is going to be though! Probably in 30 or 40 years. ;) 

Saturday was our branch Christmas party. It was awesome. We were at the church from 11AM till 9PM. Looong day. We did a white elephant gift exchange. Elder Wright and I went all out with our present. We bought clear glass ornamental balls, and we took pictures of ourselves and put them in the ornaments. Now a family has 6 Elder Wright and Elder Oviatt Christmas ornaments. I took pictures of them because they are so boss. So. Boss. =) One is missing, I'll see if I can go and grab a picture of it for next week.

Have a great week!!







Monday, December 2, 2013

December 2, 2013

Hey everyone! 

This week was mostly uneventful. We ate supper with a family for the first time since I've been here. That was fun! 
We have a member who moved into the branch up here who actually is opening up an A&W. it opened this week, and he is super busy! But we are excited for things to slow down a little bit and to stop by and grab a burger or two. He is super legit, has a wife and two little kids. Honestly though, that is about it for our week... We did other missionary things, and lots of boring for you to read about missionary stuff too. But this week should be good! We have splits on Wednesday and then our branch Christmas party Saturday.  Oh, wait. Snow. We got TONS of it! I love the snow so much. We have only had one day of really cold, but it started snowing Saturday night and just hasn't really stopped. So pretty. Goo thing we got our winter tires on our car on Thursday!

Elder Oviatt!!



This is some sweet ice cream that we had at our branch president's house! Go Canada, eh?

 So... somehow I split my dress shirt sleeve down the crease. Now, if you think that is impressive, you should know that that is sleeve split number 3. Yup, the third time I've done it. the shirts are dead though. So it's ok. I threw them out. And I've still got enough to get me through my mission.

3. Elder Wright and I went down to sleep at our Zone leaders Tuesday night for district meeting on Wednesday, and there was another team sleeping there too, and so we were very crowded. So crowded that Elder Wright had to sleep under the desk. Well, he didn't have to, but he chose to. Silly guy.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

November 25

This week was good though, Not a whole tone happened, but we were able to go out to our branch presidents house for supper, the first time I have been there since I showed up! He lives an hour away in a little town called Barrie's Bay. We drove there and Back with Brther  Carlson, the guy who drove us to the temple and to stake confernce twice. =) He has a collegue up from Texas who is helping him with the job he is wrking on who actually got in town yesterday morning. So, Broher Carlson brought him along to supper too. He is 28 and pretty cool. Anyways, we were driving home from our branch presidents house after suppert, and it was -17 out. It was freezing. But I, being from Canada, and being kind of stupid, said "I'll give 5 bucks to whoever holds their hand out the window longest." And Brother Carlson and his friend were both like, OK! SO I had to stick my hand out there too, because like heck I was going to lose 5 bucks! So, long story short, I won, Yeah!! But... 14 hours later, and my hand still hurts from the cold! I obviously gave myself some nerve damage or something. it hurt so bad this morning that I almost couldnt do up my shirt buttons. And it's bright red and swollen. Haha, I'm so dumb... but it was fun. Honestly, that was about it for the week though. Oh, we went to a relief society activity to make an announcement to the sisters that we are going to do living christmas cards this year, and the relief socielty president invited us to sit down and hang out, so now everyone jokes about us being sisters. =) It's funny. I love this branch!

Have a great week! Christmas soon! Woah!

Elder Oviatt

Monday, November 18, 2013

November 18, 2013

Hey!

Alright! Let me tell you about my week!!

Wednesday we had mission conference. Elder Paul B. Peiper came and spoke to us. It was basically awesome. Elder Peiper taught us new ways to try missionary work, helping people learn to answer their own questions through the index and topical guide in the back of the book of mormon, rather than answering it for them. It really was awesome. There were other things talked about too, however the most inspiring/interesting was when he talked about women and the priesthood. He spoke for a long time on it, but one thing he said that I really liked was "the world would have us believe that equality means that two things are completly alike and compete for a special position (like, 4 = 4) but what we should remember about equality is that men and women are inherently different. Like Men alone may sing a song as well as women alone sing it, but they sing it differently and there is nothing about that that we can change. But keeping that in mind, when men AND women sing together, that song becomes better than just mes singing + women singing, but becomes men AND women singing. Kind of a ' the whole is greater than the sum of the parts' idea. Again, much more was shared than that, but that is all I'm going to share with you.
 
Thursday we went and helped chop wood again. it was really funny, the man we were helping said something along the lines of " OK Elders, what did you do for work before your missions? No, wait, let me guess. (He points to me and says) After seeing you work for two days I'd say you were a... Bank Robber. And you (he turns and looks at my companion), you were a babysitter." =) It was realyl funny, expecially coming from a mostly bald red-neck type man with out a whole lot of teeth.
 
Thursday night we were eating supper with the older couple we helped iwth the hardwood floor a few weeks ago, and the wife called me Elder Olivet. Which I actually was kind of touched by, because that is my Gramma's name!
 
We got the flyers for the week, and I was checking to see what food was on sale and what we were going to buy for the week, and I saw that chocolate milk was on sale agin, for like the 4th week in a row! So, I had like 2 litres left Sundaymorning, so before church I made oatmeal for breakfast. With Chocolate milk instaed of water or regular milk. it was... OK... Not the greatest. I found it tasted almost exactly like those moose poop cookies! So if you like that and want to have it in a breakfast cereal form, you now know what to do!
 
Sunday we had a "linger Longer". basically just a pot luck after church where everyone... Lingers Longer! that was delicious. I made those muffins from that recipe you sent mom, the pumpkin chocoalte chip ones! 3 dozen-ish were brought, and only 1 was left after the shenannigan was done, so they must have been good! Then, sunday night we ate at a familys house, the Pilon's (pronouced Pee-Low) house. Wee had spaghetti for supper and we were basically done when a small friendly lovers spat ended with a piece of spaghetti noodle being tossed at sister Pilon. SHe then took a few more noodles and lovingly threw them as hard as she could in her husbands eye. Aaaaannnnddd then all heck broke loose. =) Brother and Sister Pilon just went nuts! Elder Wright and I are looking on in disbelief, but very amused all at the same time. I was debating in my mind wether to get involved because it looked like tons of fun, or just sit on and try and maintain my missionary dignity when that debate came to a "blinding" end when Sister Pilon nailed me in the eye with a handful of noodles. She had good aim! After that it was all out war. They have 6 kids, and a friend was over after church, and then two missionaries. They had made a LOT of spaghetti. And then it was all over the walls, the floor, and each other. It was great. =D
 
Saturday though we had the super awesome experiance of going to the temple to help out with our pbranch baptism trip. Smantha, the recent convert was there too, and she loved it. it was really a great experiance, getting to go into the Montreal temple, which was a 4 hour drive. we were up at 4:30 Am. And Wednesday we wer up at 4:30 am too. We  lost lots of sleep this week. But they were totally worth it. All around, a great week. We are teaching lots, working lots, and having fun lots, and the Lord is blessing us! Transfer calls are this Saturday. Who knows what will happen! But if Elder Wright and I stay in one area, we will be together for 6 months and both of our christmases!
 
I love y'all!

Remember, Rainy days make things grow.
 
Elder Oviatt

Monday, November 11, 2013

October 7, 2013

Hey! Happy General Conference week!  Let me tell you about my week!

Tuesday we went down to Ottawa for our Zone meeting (we never to go Montreal). We had interviews with President Patrick. that was great. It's crazy how fast you can find such a deep love and respect for someone, especially when you see them once every  2 or 3 months! That was fun though. After the Zone meeting, we sat down with Us (Petawawa) And two other teams in the zone who are in small branches, and President and us Counseled together and talked about other ways to do the work up here. We came up with knocking on doors with a clip board in hand, and asking specifically if we can come back later, in appropriate clothing, and give them service. So far we haven't gotten a chance to see if it works, but we got clip boards, and are super excited to see if we can get through to people that way! 

Speaking of service though, we went and helped out a Less-Active family whos friends we are teaching, because they are having a rough time, and their landlord is getting on their back about the property looking shabby. So we went and raked leaves for them. Which would have been fine and dandy, but they live on an acerage. We raked for 6 hours. I was actually worried about my shoulders falling off. Ok, maybe not really, but I was worried about my right shoulder, that I had my surgery on. And sure enough, I was really having troubles with it. I woke up and almost couldn't move it =) But it went away in just a few minutes. ANd it felt good the next day when I woke up. Thankfully.

And Honestly, that was about it for this week. I have no idea how, but this week flew by and somehow, it feels like we did absolutely nothing. It was actually a terrible feeling! Haha, I mean, we did stuff, but... I don't know how to explain it... I'm sure everyone kind of has an idea of what I'm talking about though... 

General Conference was great though! I love conference. Which is weird, because before my mission it was... less desirable... 8] But here I am now, looking forward to it so much! And man, I can't wait to celebrate conference with a plate of ribs... Actually, this session of conference was weird. I couldn't focus, I was trying to take notes and get something out of it, but it wasn't working so well. I liked what I DID hear, but I know I missed a ton. I'm going to devour the Conference Ensign when it arrives! 

Transfer calls are this saturday. Hard to believe, hey? Time is going faster than a greased up pig going down a slip-n-slide coated in butter. Now thats fast! 

I will try and have a more eventful week this week, I'm sorry! =) 

Elder Austen Oviatt


1. This is the Noah's Ark restaurant. It is for a Christian summer camp, but the restaurant is open all year round. Elder Wright and I ARE going to stop next time we pass it.

November 11, 2013

Hey guys,

Ready to hear about my week?

Monday: We went down to Renfrew, where we met with a less active sister who told us that she wanted to come back to church and to take the missionary lessons too. And she wanted her non-member Husband to sit in and learn also. We were super excited. And her Brother is in the Stake Presidency and when he found out about that he sent an email to our branch President telling him how great the branch was doing in implementing the "Hastening the work" program. It was really cool! While we were there we pixied Tara and Mark, the investigators we are teaching in renfrew, dropping off Banana Muffins. That was fun. It's a long drive, and Elder Wright was having a tough time staying awake, but when we got in the car after booking it off their front steps having just rang the doorbell, Elder Wright said "Well, thats ONE way to wake up a little bit!" I'd Say!

Tuesday we went further North than I have been yet in this area! To a little town called Rolphton (I think it is even considered a Ghost town...) to stack wood for a less active lady and her Non-Member Husband. That was fun. Holy toys though, this guys recently bought (don't ask me how though...) a 12000 Dollar wood splitter. It had a winch to pull the logs up a little ramp, where there was a chainsaw mount and a stopper line so you could cut the same size logs every time, where they rolled down to the hydrolic press that pushed it through splitter. A six split-splitter. Which also had a little ramp/chute so the wood just fell right into the truck. We basically did nothing. It was lots of fun. =) 

Wednesday: Ok, nothing super special here. Regular Wednesday. District meeting, over the phone. Pass by's, knocking, we had a D.A. with a less active/part-member family. Then played Euchre so we could have more time to talk to the non-member wife. 

Thursday: We went out to Quebec to teach a member who is preparing to go through the temple for the first time, and so he van be sealed to his wife who passed away a year ago. Then we went BACK to Renfrew to see a family that just moved into the Branch, who's Daughter went to the same YSA ward as me back in E-Town!! Crazy small world, hey?!? 

Friday's are almost all exactly the same. Studies, Lunch, Then off the the retirement home for more Euchre, then home for weekly planning, then supper, then FINISH planning, then a little bit of knocking/passbys untill we head home. 

Saturday just knocked doors and passed by members, less actives and potential investigators untill we went to our Dinner with a family who has a son who brings a friend to church often, and we did an Origami night and Elder Wright and I taught them how to make a few things! The friend was there, and he had a great time. Saturday was also the first real day of snow!! It was actually so nice to finally see. I had missed it. I love snow! But then it all melted on Sunday. Stinking rain!

Sunday we were at church from 7:30 till 2 because we were shoveling the snow and then had meetings galore! I love going to church meetings! You really get a chance to see all the work that goes on behind the scenes, all the care and love that the leaders have for each individual member. It's awesome. 

This next week should be great! we have mission conference, and Elder Paul B. Pieper is coming up to address us! Then we are going to the Temple on Saturday for a baptism trip! =) Lots of early mornings this week!

Have a great Rememberance day!

Alma 46:11-13

11 And now it came to pass that when Moroni, who was the chief commander of the armies of the Nephites, had heard of these dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah.

 12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

 13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land—

Thank you, all the amazing men and women who fight in the Canadian military, and in other militaries around the world.

Elder Oviatt



1. the coins that we got last week! Super cool!!

2. Took a drive down lovers lane...no lovers though

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

November 4, 2013

Hey!

This week was mostly uneventful. On Tuesday night we drove down to Ottawa for Zone Training meeting, then we had to stay there till Friday, because we didn't have enough Kilometers to make the trip back up to Petawawa. That was fun, but we didn't get a lot of work done in our area. That was ok though, because when we finally made it back, we worked our butts off. And our knees. We helped lay hardwood flooring for an elderly couple we met the very first day I was in Petawawa! It was lots of fun, and they really appreciated the help, and actually they gave both of us Silver coins. Some of those collector coin things! We don't have any pictures right now because we are in the library sending emails, but next week I will send you some! This family also gave us apple pie for desert, and they did something I have never seen before... They put cheddar cheese on it. and said "Apple pie without cheese is like a hug, without a squeeze" And it was flipping delicious!!! You have to try it out next time you make pie, OK? 

Sorry, this email is lame, but I really don't have anything else to say, and Elder wright is ready to go. =) Companions! What would we do without 'em?

=)

Elder Oviatt!

Monday, October 28, 2013

October 28, 2013

Hi.
Hey.
How are ya?
Hello.

This week... This week made me a little bit sore. It was great!

In Petawawa, the church building is right across the street from the heritage center, and tehy needed a little bit of help, and have asked the missionaries many time to help them, so we got a call asking us to head over and help them pull plants from the giant garden they have over there! So Wednesday we tossed on our suits and drove off to district study, then we striped ourselves down and hopped into jeans and sweater (It's starting to get freeking cold over here, I don't know about you guys....) and jogged over to pull plants. It was the easiest 30 minutes of service ever. I really don't know a whole bunch about gardening and stuff, but I appreciate so much more the great dark rich black soil we have in Edmonton. Everything here is just straight up sand. EVERYTHING! Petawawa and Pembroke are going through a small boom and so there are new houses being built everywhere. And beside every new house is a huge pile of sand, because that is what they dig out to pour the foundation and basement. THere is a spot where they are building probably 20 or 25 new houses, and it looks like a giant beach/desert. Everywhere is sand, with tons of huge piles of sand scattered around. I love dirt. So, pulling these plants was mega easy because the sand in the soil kept everything from getting to packed, and allthe plants just pulled right out. We were pulling sunflowers like it was nothing. Or maybe all my morning exercises have started to pay off and I am actually just jacked now. =)

Right after that, we got in the car and drove to Pembroke and helped and "investigator" family lay some Click Flooring in their basement. That was actually tons of fun! And way easy. Then they fed us. Barbecued steak. I love steak. And after a day of service, nothing satisfies like a nice steak and a baked potato. Mmmmm.... 

Thursday we Headed down to Renfrew to visit with our friends Tara and Mark, with their friends, and members, the Donohues! It was a great lesson, and we were able to commit her for baptism, on the 22nd of February. That was one of the most spiritual lessons Elder Wright or I had ever been in. She has 2 super cute daughters who are 4 and 6. And we found out that she is pregnant! She told us that she had actually asked her Boyfriend mark if he would be OK if she got baptised, and he was like, "OF COURSE I said yes!" They are so great. We have put off seeing them every week and will be seeing them every other week so that we can see Tara and Mark Together. He works shift work, so every other week he works evenings.

We also have an investigator from Colombia who came to church yesterday with her 6 year old son and 4 year old daughter and month and a half old daughter. She loved it, her Son loved it, and her daughter loved it, and her other daughter just slept through the whole thing (Rude... =P) Her son was asking if they could go every week. She is going to Lebanon in a few weeks though to get married to her husband, well, he will be her husband, but for now, it's just her fiance, who is Lebanese. We are just waiting to meet him, but he was having Visa problems, so he had to go back to Lebanon and wait for those all to get figured out. 

Saturday we helped a new family move into the ward. Guess who long it took to unload the whole truck? 35 minutes. All of those reading this right now who aren't members of this Church/Community who have helped someone move before, it that isn't motivation enough to join the church, I don't know what is! ;) 

This week coming up we have... Halloween for one!! I love that holiday, I think this year I'm going to go dressed up as a door-to-door Carpet Cleaner salesman. Trust me, my product is so good, it's like a 100% forgiveness policy. You spill something or make a mess, and BAM, it's like it never happened, and your perfect and clean again!* no refund or return, please be sure to get all appropriate knowledge and have performed all pre-requisite readings and experiments before entering into this sale contract.  And we have a zone meeting, Wednesday and we will be headed down for exchanges with Elder Umana and Elder Wilbur after that, so that will be tons of fun! But then, that's it! I'll let you all know about how everything went next week!

Elder O 'Henry' Viatt

October 21, 2013

Hello, eh!

So, this week we spent a lot of time with a member who is from the US, up working here because he makes gun ranges, and the military needs a new gun range. And he has adopted 'Eh' and uses it excessively. It's music to this Canadians ears! But more on that later!

This week was great! Tuesday we headed down to Renfrew, where we meet up with a less-active family and their friends, Tara and Mark, who we are teaching right now! Tara had an awesome experience with Prayer this last week! She had never really prayed before, but we had promised her that if she prayed and asked a question, she would recieve an answer. So we committed her to pray before we came by the next week. So she prayed about for her cat, who was very sick and wasn't really getting better. When we came over this tuesday, She told us about her prayer and how now her cat is doing much much better and how to her, she said "that's basically my answer!" we laughed and agreed wholeheartedly that yes, that was her answer and if she kept praying and asking, she would keep getting answers. We then talked about the Holy Ghost and how we can recognize it when it is in our lives. Brother Donohue, the member gave a fantastic example and explanation of why we as members of the church avoid addictive substances and behaviors, such as drugs, alcohol, smoking, and other, personal things that people are addicted to (For example, chocolate, Watching Lost, or World of Warcraft. =P ). He said, "have you ever tried to do something that required lots of concentration", like writing a test, or something artsy like painting, making jewelery or , or even just reading a book? Then, he said, "have you ever tried to do those after drinking a ton of water and having to pee SO BADLY? because even to this day, I can't do anything when I have to pee. my brain doesn't function, and all I can think about is "Where is the closest bathroom and how can I get there in less than 3.4 seconds". That, Tara, is why it is so hard to feel the spirit sometimes, because there are things in our lives that are like having to pee. And you can't do anything when you have to pee, let alone feel a small, subtle warmth or a nudge to the heart." I thought it was a super great way to explain that! I'm going to use that for the rest of my life!

After that, we decided to sleep over at a member who lives in Renfrew, because it's like an hour away from Pembroke and we had to be back in Renfrew the next day anyways. And our mission president has approved our sleeping in their basement already. So, since we were there Tuesday, and we had to attend district meeting wednesday, which normally we do at the churhc, which is an hour and 15 minutes away, we decided instead to head the opposite direction and we drove to Ottawa to attend in person! It was great,it being the first district meeting since transfers, and we got to meet the new missionaries in our district and zone! So, there is only one NEW new missionary in my zone. It is a sister! Her name is Sister Dick!! Hahaha, if you don't understand why that is so funny, go read Kadens last 3 emails home. =) I went and introduced myself with my companion, because both of our borhters know who she is, having been in the same zone in the MTC, and she saw my name tag and said "OHMYGOSH!" then quickly recovered and said "I know your brother, and your brother too!" it was funny. That was it for that though, we had a long drive to go back home. 

The rest of the week was mostly uneventful except the one time we drove past a less-actives house and they wern't home so we parked the car and made some phone calls. I was wearing my sunglasses because the sun was shining right in our eyes. Then, after a few minutes of making calls, I hear a tap on my window and look over to see a police badge! Woah! Window rolls down... Hello? The man was a member of the military police and was just looking out for his budy who was also a Military police officer, but who was out of town. He just wanted to make sure we weren't scoping out his house or something. =) That was my 2nd official run in with police on my mission. I'm going to try and keep the number at 2. But then we had a crazy fiasco Saturday and Sunday. Kind of. =) 

So, it all started with that announcement that Full time missionaries are supposed to attend adult session of stake conference. So, like I have said before, I live 2 hours away from the stake center and we were trying to catch a ride down with members so we wouldn't destroy our Kilometer limit. So, this one member, Brother Carlson from Texas (He is a contractor who builds gun ranges, this one is for the military and is up for a few months. He has a wife and 4 kids, but they are all back in Texas, he served a mission in Kentucky, so he just comes out and helps us with lessons and drives us around all the time, it's great!) Anyways, he offered to drive us down, and then get a hotel for us to stay in because he can get them for free sometimes from his work. Then we would go to Sunday session. Then head home. We were super pumped, but then he checked for a hotel and they were all booked up from the ones he could get for free. SO we were sad and bummed, but planned on have a sweet dinner with a less active instead of going to the Saturday session, and then we were going to go down Sunday morning with Bro. Carlson. Then, change of plans! Zone leaders call us up, and we have to go down Saturday whether we have a ride or not! So we call Brother Carlson to tell him that we will go Saturday night and stay at our District Leaders apartment, and thanks for the offer to drive us Sunday, but we will have to see him at conference Sunday. Well, Brother Carlson, being the sickly awesome/I-have-no-responsibilities-right-now-because-my-family-and-children-are-thousands-of-miles-away person that he is, offers to drive us down Saturday, then back home after conference Saturday night, and then BACK Sunday  and home again so we could save on Klicks! And it was OK because he has a rental car and his company pays for gas and they have given him the OK for Church things. So, we were like, uh, yeah! We need to save Klicks, and you are a blast to hang with, so we are totally in! So we spent WAY to much time in the car this week, and in total, made 3 trip to and from Ottawa! Saturday night we got back to our apartment around 11:30, in bed at like 11:45. Then up at 6 so we could be in the car by 7 to make it to conference and have good seats. We were dead Sunday night, and went to bed as soon as we finished planning and did everything we needed to be ready. It was a great session of conference though! the members who spoke did great jobs, and focused a whole ton on how members and missionaries can "Come together" as President Monson said in his conference talk! And Sunday, our mission president spoke also. It was just a great weekend!

But that is it for me this week! It is supposed to snow today. Please no! =P

Elder Austen Oviatt!
This is the room we stayed in in Renfrew! Those members are awesome!

On our way home we stopped at the "5 arch stone bridge" Apparently the only one in North America!

It spans the mighty Mississippi river. I have no idea if it's the same as the huge one way down south... 


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

October 14, 2013

Hey Hey Hey!!

So, Who remembers me telling them about Samantha? The investigator who was really close to baptism up here in Petawawa?

Probably no one. Because I didn't talk about her, because she didn't really exist...

Well, ready for a curve ball? She exists now! Actually, well, not even really, because she got baptized on Saturday!! 

"Wait, What? How can this be?" You ask? Good question. Let me tell you.  Samantha has been investigating the church since 2009. She has also been regularly attending church since 2010. She has never been baptized because she was living with her boyfriend. He wouldn't propose to her, and in order to be baptized she either had to be married and living with this guy, or not married, not living with this guy. So, years passed by and she kept attending church, and not being married or baptized. Then, her Guy had to go away for trainings (military stuff) for a few months, and she told him that they were going to try moving out. So, he moved out, and has been moved out for about a month. Then, Tuesday morning, we get a call from our Branch President, President Stevenson, and he said "Elder, Samantha is being baptised on Saturday. Can you help get everything ready?".....    Let me put it this way. UM...... YES!! So we had a baptism on Saturday! Yeah Surprise! We didn't know it was coming... But, with that, Elder Wright has been my most sucessful companion to date! We have had a baptism every transfer we were together! 

Transfer calls! Elder Wright and I are staying together for another 6 weeks! We are super pumped for it! 

Thanksgiving was delicious my friends. I loved it. We went to the Lavoies and had turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, Mashed potatoes, Sweet potatoes with marshmellows, double baked potatoes (FLIPPING DELICIOUS. It's like, those mini potatoes, baked (Or boiled, I don't remmber) then, you cut them in half, and scoop out the inside, mash it up, add in bacon, cheese, refill the potatoes, then toss a layer of cheese on top, and stick it in the Oven. I'm prity sure I ate half of them.), gravy, salad (bacon brussel sprouts and broccoli. Hot. Not that good), beets, and that was Sunday night. Tonight we another Dinner. I'm excited. And a few pounds fatter than I was yesterday afternoon. 

Hey, I love you all, but I have to go today!

This week should be good, we have a trip out to Renfrew to visit some families and teach some lessons and convert some masses, the usual. Ya know?

Elder 'Oh' Viatt!

Monday, October 7, 2013

October 7, 2013

Hey! Happy General Conference week!  Let me tell you about my week!

Tuesday we went down to Ottawa for our Zone meeting (we never to go Montreal). We had interviews with President Patrick. that was great. It's crazy how fast you can find such a deep love and respect for someone, especially when you see them once every  2 or 3 months! That was fun though. After the Zone meeting, we sat down with Us (Petawawa) And two other teams in the zone who are in small branches, and President and us Counseled together and talked about other ways to do the work up here. We came up with knocking on doors with a clip board in hand, and asking specifically if we can come back later, in appropriate clothing, and give them service. So far we haven't gotten a chance to see if it works, but we got clip boards, and are super excited to see if we can get through to people that way!

Speaking of service though, we went and helped out a Less-Active family whos friends we are teaching, because they are having a rough time, and their landlord is getting on their back about the property looking shabby. So we went and raked leaves for them. Which would have been fine and dandy, but they live on an acerage. We raked for 6 hours. I was actually worried about my shoulders falling off. Ok, maybe not really, but I was worried about my right shoulder, that I had my surgery on. And sure enough, I was really having troubles with it. I woke up and almost couldn't move it =) But it went away in just a few minutes. ANd it felt good the next day when I woke up. Thankfully.

And Honestly, that was about it for this week. I have no idea how, but this week flew by and somehow, it feels like we did absolutely nothing. It was actually a terrible feeling! Haha, I mean, we did stuff, but... I don't know how to explain it... I'm sure everyone kind of has an idea of what I'm talking about though... 

General Conference was great though! I love conference. Which is weird, because before my mission it was... less desirable... 8] But here I am now, looking forward to it so much! And man, I can't wait to celebrate conference with a plate of ribs... Actually, this session of conference was weird. I couldn't focus, I was trying to take notes and get something out of it, but it wasn't working so well. I liked what I DID hear, but I know I missed a ton. I'm going to devour the Conference Ensign when it arrives! 

Transfer calls are this saturday. Hard to believe, hey? Time is going faster than a greased up pig going down a slip-n-slide coated in butter. Now thats fast! 

I will try and have a more eventful week this week, I'm sorry! =)

Elder Austen Oviatt



1. This is the Noah's Ark restaurant. It is for a Christian summer camp, but the restaurant is open all year round. Elder Wright and I ARE going to stop next time we pass it.

Monday, September 30, 2013

September 30, 2013

Hey hey!

So, I shall start this week by saying how much fun it was driving down to Montreal to pick up the new car! To montreal it is a 4 hour drive. But with all of the traffic and construction in Ottawa (and a few detours to pick up city emblem pins) it took us 6 hours! BRUTAL! We showed up 2 hours late to get the car, then took like an hour driving around MOntreal, dropping off the old car, eating lunch and things, so we got in the car at 8 AM, and if we had of driven all the way back to Petawawa that night, we would have gotten out at 9PM. 13 hours later... But, we called up our district leader while we were passing through Ottawa, and we told him we were going to sleep over there that night and go to District meeting with them. So that ended up being super fun! ANd it was only 11 hours in the car. So much for missionary work, right? It was a looooooong day though, believe you me!  ANyways, the car is a Chevy Cruise. but, more than that, it is a 2014 Chevy Cruise. IT'S STILL 2013! It's like when halloween candy comes on sale in September! So much fun! And, when I got in the car for the first time, it had 38 Km on it. Woah. I have never been in a car that new in my life. But, we put like 800 Km on it this week, so, Bye Bye newness! It;s a nice car though. Black interior, so everyone can see all the tinyest grains and particulates of dirt and dust. Very encouraging for keeping it clean. Today, we went took some turtle wax and washed it! Man, that thing sparkles more than a vampire! 

I got news in my last two Mission Newsletters that Brother Roy and Pascal both got baptised on schedual in Lemoyne! So that was awesome! Apparently there were over 120 people at Brother Roy's Baptism! 

There is a guy in our ward, his name is Romolo Simonetti. He is the executive secretary in the Branch. He found out I was from Edmonton and said, "Now, I know Edmonton is a huge place, so you probably don't know who I'm talking about, but my mission president is from Edmonton." I think "Oh, Great. I'm going to have no idea who this guy is talking about." And Then he says "actually, he is a stake patriarch now too!" And my thoughts are "HA! I only know two patriarchs, Patriarch Davies and Patriarch Henderson. That narrows down the possibilities of me knowing this guys mission president down to basically 0." And Brother Simonetti says "Yeah, do you know him? His name is President Henderson!" Needless to say, I felt kind of stupid when my jaw nearly hit the table. YEAH I KNOW PRESIDENT HENDERSON, I WAS HIS HOME TEACHER! We had tons of fun with that! So, just so you know President Henderson, Elder Simonetti is doing fine, married, has a baby boy, born 5 or 6 weeks ago, and still being a great missionary! Haha!
Other than that though, our week was... Uneventful. I have nothing else to share with you... Uh... Nope, thats it! Have a good week my friends, be safe, recycle, Smile!

Elder Oviatt


Here I am with the new car! I don't like it as much as the Malibu, but it's turning radius is much smaller, so Elder Wright likes it, because he doesn't have to back me up nearly as much now. 

I took a picture at 56 Km. Still lower than anything I have ever seen before!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

September 23, 2013

HEY HEY!!!

So, this week was fun and action packed! But I will try and explain everything to you in an organized way. So, I started writing things down to tell you about on my Mondays spot in my planner so I could actually start sending you decent emails. It's a good, idea, but so far it's still a work in progress. Only 2 things on my list. =) Next week will be better.

So, last Monday I was sick. How sick? Well, apparently sick enough to forget to tell you that I was sick. I just had a little cold, but it knocked me flat on my be-hind. my back was so sore that I couldn't stand for more than a few minutes, then I couldn't sit down either for more than a few minutes. I was up and down and up and down. I tried to drink it out with Hot Chocolate, but that didn't work, it just made me have to pee a whole ton. Then, we went to Walmart to do our grocery shopping and we grabbed some NeoCitrin and I had two glasses, and when I woke up Tuesday, there was absolutely nothing. So that was really nice. Working whilst sick really isn't fun. But I mean, while we are talking about being sick, I was sick basically all this week, and most of the week before that too. Mom, you remember how I used to be lactose intolerant when I was little but then I kind of grew out of it? Well, apparently, if I drink enough milk on a regular basis, it comes back. Haha. I have been eating oatmeal every morning for breakfast, and it is delicious. But I started doing it with Milk instead of water, because it tastes much better, and we don't go through milk very fast, so, I'm just making sure it doesn't go bad, right? So anyways, Milk EVERY morning, was making my stomach rumble and grumble and not feel good at all. And then this is where everything takes a turn for the worst. Chocolate milk goes on sale. A dollar a liter. so Elder Wright and I bought 4 liters. Each. It destroyed me. BUT I LOVE CHOCLATE MILK SO MUCH. So it was worth it. I was really gassy, and bloated, and it felt like someone had a hold of my intestines and was twisting them up like an egg-beater. And I kept on drinking. Lactose intolerance? more like, Insatiable-desire-for-chocolaty-lactose-drinks. Tolerance. Philic. Got MIlk?

There is NO French up here. Dad asked. Just answering his question. But we work every single Friday at an old-fogies home, playing cards. For an hour and a half every week. We play Eucher. It's a super fun, fast paced game. I really like it. Last week Me and Ernie (we play with Ernie and Edith every week. OUr Card buddies) cleaned up, winning three games to ElderWrights and Ediths' Zero. Yeah Ernie! But anyways, there are a few ladies in the Home who grew up on the Quebec side of the river who speak French. But the Ontario kind of French. It's not good, it's so much fun to talk to them. I can't understand them half of the time. But that being said, I don't understand them most of the time in English either. =) We played a little bit of piano for them Ladies on Friday, because Edith has some super easy old music books, and Elder Wright and I apostatly take turns playing music on the piano and dancing with Mona, one of the ladies there. It's great.

So, at our apartment, there are a few board games. And because Petawawa is an army base, we shouldn't be surprised that one of the games is Risk. another is Risk 2210AD. Another is Axis and Allies. It is a game based on WWII. It is tons of fun. Very confusing at first, and quite intricate, but we just played a game that took like an entire week to play. We played for like 6 hours last monday, and then during lunch and supper and every evening last week (During our time off, not during pross time, it's OK.) and then finally finished it off today. After another good 4 or 5 hours of play. Haha, we are such nerds. But after this last game we are both kind of done with it and will be spending MUCH less time playing games this week (probably like no time at all). 

And we just got a call from our mission fleet coordinator. He is the Senior Missionary who is in charge of the cars. Our car has 80 000 kilometers on it, so we are due for another one. And apparently we are going down to Montreal tomorrow to pick it up! Haha, it's a 4 hour drive. And then a 4 hour drive back. Tomorrow is going to be a loooong day. Haha, I'm excited. But that being said, we get to pick up a brand new car. BRAND NEW! Probably has less than 700 kilometers on it. If that. We are currently trying to put some nice up beat music on some CD's so I don't fall asleep on the trip. We also bought a 2 pound bag of sunflower seeds. I have never seen that many sunflower seeds before in my life! Haha, it's HUGE! We should be OK. If not, I guess Mom and Dad, you will get a phone call to find out how bad it was.

I love you all, this email is huge!!

Elder Austen Oviatt!!