I look at the pictures at the beginning of this blog and I can't believe it has been three months since we received our call, so many things have happened.
We have seen, done and been through so much and we keep learning more each day, not just about our work in the office but about ourselves, the scriptures, and the church.
We love these missionaries and the fine people that they are, we have wonderful young men and women and senior couples that inspire us each day.
The one senior sister in our office, Sister Green, who is over referrals had a grandson die last
Tuesday morning. I took the call from a family member who asked to speak with the president, I told her that he was in interviews at one of the churches in Brampton, she said it was a family emergency and she needed to speak with him, I gave her his cell number. I have the phone 27-7 and when I get a call like that I immediately give them his cell number because it is always something bad. A few minutes latter the president called me and told me that the lady was Sister Green's daughter saying that Sister Green's grandson had died that morning of a drug overdose, and he wanted me to be aware when the call came in for Sister Green, that I was to be there to help her, just before the president called she received the call and was on the phone the same time I was talking to him, I could hear her crying in her office and told him that I would take care of her. I went in and she was sobbing at her desk. I hugged her and let her tell me about it; this grandson was a good boy but was rebellious and wanted to do it his way. Sister Green has only one son and he and his wife tried so hard to be the best parents they could, but no matter what they did, Adam made his own choices. The parents felt like such failures and Sister Green was so hoping that when he turned 19 in June that maybe he would pull his life together and go on a mission. I told her that his parents were not to blame, we can teach and teach and love and love but it all comes down to choice and he made some bad choices. I also told her that now he was on a different mission now, this seemed to help.
Sister Stevens (her companion who is over the vehicles) and I took Sister Green to Buffalo that afternoon to fly to Ohio to meet her daughter and continue to fly to Utah. President and Sister Middleton were so kind and told us to take her and not to worry about the office, Dad stayed behind to answer the phones etc.
We left here at 3:30 in the afternoon and her flight was for 6:00 p.m., it usually takes 2 hours to get to Buffalo and then we have to wait at the border for 15 minutes to an hour to get over, we knew that it would be a miracle to get her there in time. We all said a prayer and even though we were going into the early rush we made it to the border in an hour and a half, we were so worried that the border would have a long line but there was one car a head of us in our line and we were through in 5 minutes, and had her to the airport by 5:00, we knew that the Lord had followed us and taken care of us, because it just doesn't go that easy.
I have been doing my work as well as Sister Green's this week, Dad helps me pull the referrals on his computer, mine won't do it, and then I call the missionaries to give them the referrals. It is so fun to hear how excited they are to get them.
Dad and I have been looking out for Sister Stevens, she lives 8 floors down from us so we can keep in touch with her and we are in a lock down building so she is protected or else the president would have her stay with them.
Sister Stevens is going to our YSA ward tomorrow, I am looking forward to her meeting and seeing the kind of missionary work that we do. She and Sister Green are in a regular ward, Sister Green plays the piano in the primary and Sister Stevens supports the missionary class. They also do volunteer work at a care center and visit a couple of families that are inactive.
As I watched Sister Green look so stricken and in shock I realized what people have said that it is so difficult for a parent to outlive their children and grandchildren, I knew what they meant Tuesday as I took care of her and watched her struggle with the terrible loss in her family. I also watched the Holy Ghost come over her and give her peace as we continued throughout the day, how blest we are to have the gospel in our lives to help us through the difficult times when they come.

I have a few minutes tonight so I will give some news.
Our home evening the other night went so well, we had over sixteen there of the YSA's with two missionaries and a member of the branch presidency and Bob and me. We did a fun game that we learned years ago at Deleeuws and the youth really seemed to enjoy it.
It has all turned green over night here, we look down on our pond and the trees around it and we can't believe how beautiful it is.
We are still having fun on the elevators talking to people, they don't seem so intimidated by our badges as they used to. Our building is almost like a mini U.N. building. All the nationalities are so fun to meet and talk to and joke with.
In the mornings we meet alot of families taking their children down to catch the bus, and so often we are reminded of one of our grandchildren. The children seem to enjoy us because we are like grandparents to them.
I have been sending out letters to our recent converts with the president's signature congratulating them for joining the true church and asking for their conversion story, I was told that no one ever answers; I talked to the president and he was anxious for me to start sending out these letters again. In the past few weeks we have received 5 letters and they have been so sweet and touching.
Today we recieved a letter from a older Chinese lady that wrote in broken English and told a most beautiful story of her conversion, I read it to the other two sisters in the office and we were in tears by the time I had finished reading it.
When we are raised in the church we take for granted the wonderful opportunity of being baptized into the church of Jesus Christ, and the wonderful gift of the Holy Ghost.
We continue to love our apartment and the gorgeous view that we see each night and morning.
The different birds that we hear all the time are beautiful when they sing in the early morning and at night.
The people we constantly meet are so wonderful and we are so blest to know them and learn from them.
Take care my dear ones, we love you all so much. I will write more in my e-mail on Sunday or Monday.
MOM

We had a wonderful YSA meeting on Sunday and Monday night we had a great YSA family home evening. We usually have 8 to 12 come but this time we had 16 youth there with one investigator and one inactive girl, they really had a great time. Next Monday dad and I give the lesson and game and treat, we are looking forward to it.
Last Saturday we went to Buffalo and had a great time, Dad stayed to work in the office and I went with the two senior sisters, of course we got lost, the other sister put the wrong address on her GPS and we ended up in the projects, we sure got out of there fast.
It was wonderful being in the US again; bad roads, rude drivers and overweight people and I loved it!!!! We shopped and shopped until it got late and we had to start back, just past the border on the Niagara side a terrible storm hit, we could hardly see the road, the wind and rain were so bad. Dad called on the cell phone to make sure we were ok and I told him it was pretty bad and he said he knew because it had passed through here about a half hour before, it kept raining and blowing until we got almost to Hamilton then it slowed down a little. Up here when it rains, it can rain for two or three days without stopping.
Yesterday our new missionaries came in from the MTC, 1 sister and 4 elders, they were so tired and young. This morning Dad and I went to the mission home to take part in the orientation about office stuff and then we came back to the office. The two senior sisters were transporting missionaries all over the mission, from here to London (ON.) which took most of the day. Tomorrow the missionaries going home will all meet at the mission home for one last day together with the mission president and his wife and then they leave on Friday.
Next week we get ready for the zone conferences that start the next week, Dad and I only go to two this time instead of three, we go to the one here in Brampton and then to London which takes the longest to get to, almost two hours depending on the traffic. We take the tole road part of the way and since the Canadians won't use it much because the Saudi's bought it, the travel goes much faster.
The weather is so nice, and the trees are coming out in bud. The geese are very protective of their nests now and will chase anyone that comes near them. We looked out the window from our office last week and saw a goose chasing a runner around the field who had run too close to their nest.
So good to hear from you and hope is all going well, we love you so much and hope you are fine, I probably told you some of this in my e-mail but I wanted it on the Blog for my journal.
You are all in our prayers every day. Give our grandkids a hug for us and thank you for your replies, we so enjoy them.

Love,

Grandma and Grandpa Heart

It has been so long since I have written, I have not been able to because first, our computer was acting up and then I was just too tired to look at a computer after working on one all day long for 8 to 10 hours.
These past three weeks have been some of the hardest that I have gone through in many years, it reminded me of the time when we started up our business and Jon earned the Medicaid contract, I wanted to run away then and I wanted to run away this time too. Bob has been so good to lovingly support me as well as do all the many things he had to do too.
We were not given much training and were left with a lot of back work that had not been done, I sometimes wondered if we would ever learn, but the Lord in His quiet way was always there whispering things that we should do and when I made mistakes helped find them and correct them.
I love the missionaries, they are so good and always positive when they call in for help of come in to spend a few minutes with us in the office.
There is a very special sister missionary, Sister Pedraza, she is a convert and such a sprititual person. She called in two weeks ago to have me send her an official letter to the government to help her get her health care taken care of. It was a holiday weekend that week and I told her that I didn't think it would get to her on time, because she had to have an MRI taken, she said that if we would pray and have faith then it would be all right. She prayed and called me the next week to say that the letter had come, it really was a miracle because the mail system had shut down all weekend and on Monday and she should never have received that letter but she did. She called to thank me for praying, she told me how grateful she was to the Lord for hearing her prayers.
I have had 50 back letters to send out to new members with a request for the new convert to write their conversion story, the previous secretary didn't do it much because she said that they didn't reply. The president asked me to start sending those letters out and I am down to the last 10. This week we received a sweet letter back from a young boy of 11 who was baptized in March and he said that he wanted to be baptized because he wanted to hold the priesthood and be able to pass the sacrament when he was 12. It was so sweet because he typed it in his own words.
We had a special meeting with the sister missionaries at the mission home this week and we sisters in the office were invited to come also. The three of us gave short talks on assigned topics and then the sisters (18 in all) gave ideas on teaching the lessons from "Preach My Gospel", I was so impressed with the maturity of these young women and the great love that they have for these people that they teach.
Today, our president & his wife had all the senior couples and 2 sets of senior sisters to a pot luck dinner at the mission home. There were 18 of us and we had such a great time. The president talked to us after dinner about his mission president conference that he just attended in the states and he told us how desperate the church is for senior missionaries and that there are just not enough of us to go around to all the missions that need us. He thanked us all for being such great missionaries and for all the service that we give to the mission.
I love our apartment, we look out over the city and at night I go from room to room looking at the beautiful view. I ride a stationary bike that was left from the other couple and as I ride I watch the planes landing and taking off from the airport over in Toronto.
Monday night after work we parked in the underground parking and went in to take the elevator up to the 25th floor and the elevators were not working, we walked up to the next parking floor and there were people sitting in the foyer waiting for the elevator to get fixed. There were two people caught in the elevator and they finally had to have the fire department come and get them out. The elevators (3 of them) were out for over 3 hours, we stayed down there for a while and finally I told Dad that we should walk up, (Dad does it all the time for exercise) but he was afraid I couldn't do it, I told him I would rather walk up than sit down there all night, so we started walking, I would stop every now and then but we made it up in 15 minutes, and I was not any worse off. For sure that night I did not ride the bike, but I think that that is why I was able to climb up those stairs.
I am beginning to love these people so much, they are delightful, fun, interesting and nice. We still have our conversations on the elevators every morning and night on our way to and from work and we have met such fun people, we also have fun convesations in the wash room also.
Dad and I along with the 2 senior sisters in the office are going to Buffalo to shop on Saturday and we are so looking forward to it. We are making our lists and going to buy the town out. I was going through our desk stuff from home and came across a card from a widow friend of ours in the ward who gave us a $100.00, I had to thank the Lord for finding that, because it will really help.
Our mission is so expensive, if it is $5.00 in American then it is $7.00 here, the fast food places are terrible and the fresh produce is not that good either, but the pancakes that I make are out of this world, I don't know if it is the altitude, climate or what but they are like clouds - wow.
I am getting tired so I guess I will stop for now, I doubt that anyone will read this, maybe my Kellye, but I needed to write this for me.
We really are loved by our Savior and Father in Heaven, how very blessed we are to have them in our lives as well as the Holy Ghost to guide us as we travel through the ups and downs of this life.

Well, we are really alive, it has been such a long time since I have written. So much has happened since I last wrote.
Our trainers left last Tuesday morning early, we only really had three good days of training before they left and it has been a nightmare trying to remember all the many procedures and things that have to be done to run a mission office. Dad and I have really felt the spirit of the Lord guiding us. I could never have done all the things I have been doing on a computer if it were not for His help. This truly is the work of our Savior and He is always there to help.
I had times in these past two weeks when I was so discouraged and so homesick for my comfort zone, but I am feeling much better now and each day it does get better.
This past week we went with the mission president and his wife to three Zone Conferences, one here in Brampton, one in Hamilton and one in Kitchener. Hamilton and Kitchener were about 50 to 60 miles away and of course we got lost going to Hamilton, we were an hour and a half late. But we made it with the help of our mission president's wife standing on the curb in front of the chapel on her cell phone guiding us there. We went by Map Quest and she said it is very hard to follow and since we have been having trouble with our GPS we found ourselves heading toward Niagara Falls, but not for long. We didn't have much trouble with Kitchener.
We have been so impressed with these wonderful missionaries, what great testimonies and power they have. We have l53 missionaries in our mission; this includes 4 sets of senior couples and 2 sets of senior sisters.
Each meeting Dad and I bore our testimonies and we felt our testimonies grow just by sharing them with these missionaries.
On our way home from Hamilton we passed over Lake Ontario, it was beautiful with choppy waves because of high winds.
We have had very nice weather, in the 40's of 50's with rain on a few days. In the Great North of our mission they had 6 inches, so you can see the difference and the area that we cover.
Dad really missed being with his sons last night, he went with Elder Walker, (the former temple president) and said it was so nice but not the same as with his sons. He is so proud of you for still going as am I.
During the afternoon break, Dad and I walked around the pond below our building to see the Canadian Geese and Malard ducks, they are really beautiful. The babies should be hatching in a few weeks and then we will really have a lot there.
Dad and I are still meeting people on the elevator each day and are sure enjoying it. We have people from all over the world and they are so fun to meet and talk to.
Tomorrow night we go with Brother and Sister Walker to our youth home evening group. We have about 9 or 10 that come to ours. There are two other groups that other couples are doing and they are getting about the same attendance. We feel very good about this because they have to get their own transportation and it is after work and school so they are coming because they want to not because it is in their home and their parents are having it.
Wednesday night we are having dinner with our branch president and his family, what fun to have good company and a good home cooked meal.
We miss you all so much and would really like to hear how you are doing. May the Lord bless all of you and thank you for your support.
Elder and Sister Ward. (MOM and DAD

Elder Ward and I just got back from our first meeting with our Young Single Adults leaders. Dad and I were given a group to be over in the other mission for home evenings each week and Elder Ward is over the mission leaders and I am to take care of teaching the YSA to give talks and lessons. It is really neat and we are excited.
Elder Ward and I were in the SuperMart today on our lunch hour and the check out girl asked about our name tags and we told her, she is from India and has recently come unto Christ in another church, Elder Ward asked her if she would like to know more about our church and she said yes so we got her name and phone number and gave it to the elders.
We are getting better in the office each day, we were alone today and we learned alot. Our trainers were busy getting ready to leave. They will be in tomorrow and some on Monday, we have a zone conference to go to so we won't have them much more because they leave on Tuesday. The Lord is really blessing us.
It is late and I am very tired. Hope all is well with you, I understand that you are having snow storms, we have had rain but the weather has been in the high 40's and low 50's.
Love to you all.
Elder and Sister Ward

I am sorry again for the long time in writing, I have been lost because we couldn't get the internet started and then my computer won't work.
It seems like years since we left home. The trip here was so nice and we love our apartment. The view is so wonderful, every morning we watch the pond way below our window and the ice now has completely melted.
The other night we had just gone to bed and we heard funny sounds from outside, I told Elder Ward that the seagulls sounded sick and then it dawned on us that the geese were coming in. They come in at night and they fly in in families. There are about 15 to 20 geese in the pond now and the people in our building say that in the summer you can see around 100 at a time. By the way, JON AND MATT, you know that goose picture that everyone hates, well, I would love to have it here, there are not many pictures on the walls and I could find a great place for it.
Our work is overwhelming, I seem to learn one thing and then there are 40 new things to learn, our trainers are leaving next Tuesday and Dad and I are trying to cram as much as we can in such a small time.
We had transfers this week and all the new Zone Leaders came in for a meeting yesterday and it was so wonderful seeing all these fine young men, when they were all in our office after their meeting you could feel the power and strength of the priesthood in the room. We go next week to some zone meetings with the President and it should be wonderful.
Tomorrow night Elder Ward and I meet with the new branch president and the other people who are there to help to see what he wants us to in our calling with the young adults.
Elder Ward and I are still having trouble finding our way around, sometimes our GPS gets screwed up as it did tonight; it took us twice as long to get home. It is hard to navigate for us because we do not have our beautiful mountains to help us know where north and south are, it is flat here.
Canada is a melting pot for all nationalities, Sunday at our meeting with the youth, it looked like the United Nations and it was so cool finding out where all of these young people came from.
We have a lot of people from India here and quite a few in our building. They are usually shy, but we talk to them in the elevator and then they loosen up and are laughing by the time we get to the bottom. We have met some really nice people in the elevator.
The drivers here are terrible, they will never let any one in, you have to push in everywhere you go and they go really fast, but because people can't afford cars there are not as many as would normally be on the road.
I will write more tomorrow night and not as much since I won't have to catch up on everything.
Love to you all.
Grandma and Grandpa Ward (kiss our grandchildren for us)