This issue of Preservings is unique in the history of the magazine. To commemorate the migration of approximately 8,000 Mennonites from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay that began a hundred years ago, we are publishing a translation of a memoir written by Aeltester (bishop) Isaak M. Dyck, an Old Colony leader. First published in Mexico in 1970, the year after his death, the text recalls the experiences of Mennonite communities in Canada, the decision to move to Mexico, and the early life of Mennonites in their new home. This is the first half of the memoir, Auswanderung der Reinlaender Mennoniten Gemeinde von Canada nach Mexiko, which was translated by Robyn Sneath. It gives voice to the concerns of the Old Colony and helps us to understand this period from their perspective. This was a tumultuous period in history, sharing some features with our own, in which war and a pandemic had polarized society, creating divisions within groups and mistrust towards the government. These circumstances likely served to exasperate insecurities felt by both the Old Colony and government officials as they searched for stable ground in a changing world.