Sandy read the following scripture from the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 17:3-6) and likened it to our time in the Redlands Temple and Laguna Niguel:

"And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them....And we did sojourn for the space of many years....And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea....And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore;"

I've mentioned previously that every mission vehicle now has a GPS device that detects speeding, non-use of seat belts, and aggressive driving (hard acceleration, hard stops, hard turns, and hard bumps). We received a comparative report this week stating that the Canada Edmonton Missionaries are the safest drivers among all 129 missions in the US and Canada. Below is from an email the mission president sent to all of the missionaries announcing our number one ranking:

"Elders and Sisters, in a recent report from SLC, they compared each mission in NORTH AMERICA (129 Missions) against each other with respect to the TIWI results.  Read below to see how we are doing. This looks so good on you!  Elder Kerr, in our reserved ways, FIST PUMP and HIGH FIVE over this! We love you!  You are exceptional.  Remember , all things are spiritual unto the Lord! What impresses us the most is this is reflection on what is going on in the inside of each missionary!  We are the best mission in North America!  That is what TIWI says!  Believe it!"

At 1:38 this morning my cell phone woke me up with a text message from my brother John with some 2017 tax information. I wrote him back, "You are up late." I laid down to go back to sleep when  a text from my brother Rolfe arrived, "At least three of us are." A moment later my brother Duane sent this text, "Me too." I then wrote, "Amazing! We must be related." Rolfe then wrote, "Well, I was just up to the bathroom." The last text came this morning from John at 7:43, "A chuckle like that in the middle of the night could make it hard to go back to sleep."

A few recent and fun missionary assignments:

• Sisters Kuchar and Karcher are companions.
• Elders Baker and Cook are companions.
• Elder Wood was sent to serve in Wood Buffalo.

Sisters (L to R) Morris, Mills, and Stastny

For the mission Christmas conference these sisters wrote and performed a parody

of Frozen's, "Let it Go." View their video by clicking on this link.

The missionaries exchanged white elephant gifts at the mission Christmas conference. Sister St. Onge's gift was unusual. Notice the cookie with green frosting in her right hand. All of the mission vehicles have GPS devices that track driving practices, such as speeding and aggressive driving. A green score means that Church standards were met. Grades are given every six weeks. When the whole mission scores green the missionaries get cookies. The mission has achieved three all-green scores out of the four six-week grading periods since the devices were installed.

Sisters Nichols and Stastny found this street sign while tracting.

A winter wonderland last week.

Video of falling snow in the winter wonderland.

We took this photo at night. Street lights were reflecting off the snow like crystal.

Our landlord's son-in-law plowed our driveway and sidewalk as we left for the office.

Winter has its advantages.

We "Love Snow."

The Hendersons let us use their pencil Christmas tree.

Our pencil tree top up close.

Sandy decorated this tree for the office.

Elder and Sister Burnett are from Arizona. She is the referral secretary and he is the finance secretary.

The assistants and I realized that we had the same WalMart sweater.

 

Repairing crashed mission vehicles is an expensive endeavour. This Toyota hood emblem was broken in a front end crash and cost $640 Canadian to replace. Ironically, this emblem is part of the accident avoidance system. Fortunately, none of our missionaries have been injured in accidents since we've been here. In the last month there have been eight accidents due to icy road conditions.

Elders Wells and Perfecto sent a photoraph of their reminder to "drive with Kerr."

Today, December 21, 2017 is the shortest day of the year (winter solstice). Below is today's sunrise and sunset times compared to the longest day of the year (summer solstice), which was June 20.

                    Winter Solstice     Summer Solstice
Sunrise             8:48 A.M.             5:04 A.M.
Sunset              4:16 P.M.             10:07 P.M.
Daylight      7 hrs. 28 mins.        17 hrs. 3 mins.

Today Sister Burnett said that an article in the Ensign Magazine (December 2017) reminded her of Sandy. The article is entitled "Valiant in the Cause of Christ," and here is a link to the article: Valiant in the Cause of Christ. A nice tribute to a special woman.

At Christmas time the office receives a lot of packages for missionaries. This photograph is from last week and represents only one day of postal deliveries.

Preparation Day is Tuesday, and Zone Leaders come to the office to pick up mail and supplies for their zones. Sandy and Sister Burnett alternate bringing treats to the office for the missionaries who come to the office on Tuesdays. Below is what Sandy made for today. The chocolate treats are called Reindeer Droppings, but the sign uses an euphemism for droppings.