Melfort Fair

July 23, 2018

This week had been pretty good had FHE with the old people here in the branch that can't make it to church Sundays and that was pretty alright. There is a couple there that is dating and he's 83 and she's 103... They are pretty cute haha I'd have to say she's the oldest person I've ever shaken hands with, and to be honest she doesn’t look 103 yrs. old she's looks like she's in her 90s.
Had exchanges with PA Tuesday night to Wednesday night. Tuesday morning we did a walk with Kim (investigator) and then half service with the Salvation Army place sorting clothes and hauling stuff around for them to other places. We got a couple members that work there so we visited with them a bit and visited with the others that work there, they are all pretty good. There is a lot of crap that comes through those second hand stores... Some cool stuff though. We got a bench for free out of it so that was sweet!
Exchanges were good up in PA only almost hit 10 people.... They don't care up there if a car is coming or not they just walk out on the street anyway, it's crazy!
PA's not as big as I expected but it's a nice size and it's pretty nice. I went with elder Carr on exchanges and we did some tracting and DC (district council) it’s not dm anymore, had lunch at the party Wendy's. We call it the party Wendy's because when you go in the bathrooms there they have black lights in it so people can't shoot up in there... So that was cool haha kinda different.
When we got to PA for the night those goons came to open the door for us and they were in their superhero costumes they made. Wolff was superman with a red blanket as a cape and Carr had a flash bathrobe on haha they thought they were pretty cool.
Sister Turner already has me working on song she wants to sing and play with me so she's keeping me busy. We went out to their place last night to practice and find some new songs we could sing n play for Wednesday and Friday.
Did a whole lot of service with Bro Prete this week weeding his garden.

Friday us and PA went to the fair here in Melfort to try and see if we could talk to people there and see what was all going on there. They had some chuck wagon races, motocross, rides, games, petting zoo, and a few other things. Spent most the time with elder Wolff at the motocross with a few people that we were able to make friends with while we were there.
At one point we had us, PA, and the Tuners' all together and we were watching the motocross when all the sudden there was a cop running around the front end of the bleachers looking under them which got everyone's attention and so they all started looking around wondering what was going on. Looking to the back on the bleachers is when we found 5 police officers with guns out trying to pull a 19-20 yr. old kid out from under the bleachers and that’s when everyone on that section ran off to get away from a possible shooting. The boy wasn't cooperating and was kicking back at the cops trying to grab him even with 5 guns on him! Eventually one cop got in there and he took a couple rounds out of the kid with the back end of his pistol and flipped him over taking his hands and cuffing him with his one elbow in the air and the other toward the ground kinda in a chicken wing almost. It was pretty sweet! A couple girls that me and elder Wolff were behind turned around to us and told us that the boy was in their class and chucked a desk at them once, and pulls knifes on kids that make him mad so they were kinda glad he was gone. The story behind why the cops were after him was because he pulled a gun on a kid over by the rides and then when the cops came he tossed it in the trash and ran, which leads him to where we were!
I can't remember too much of this week due to all that we have been doing service and driving wise. Wasn't a very interesting week other than at the fair and just serving people, maybe this week I'll have some more for you next Monday!
Well love you all talk to ya next week! 

 

 

Emergency Transfer

July 17, 2018

 

This week has been good been doing a decent about of everything it seems this week. Did a decent amount of driving, tracting, teaching, and service.

To start off our week we did a few hrs. of tracting and we caught no one home for basically the whole street... But after and hr. and a bit we finally got someone to answer! They were and older couple named Joan and Wayne kind of like John Wayne haha but they were super nice and let us in for a bit to cool off and talk about stuff. Their house kinda reminded me of Ed and Marilyn’s back in Neepawa. And they kinda even reminded me of them a bit. We talked about farming and the price of grain, planting, home, work, what we are doing knocking on doors, and even got to share a little bit of the gospel with them bit not a whole lot.
They weren't interested in our message but they were nice enough to let us in for a bit and chat so that was good enough for me. Who knows maybe they will hear the next missionaries that come because of us.
Later that day we were knocking a different street but having about the same luck as before with catching people home. Finally we caught some people home and the third one to answer was a girl about my age, a little older named Ashley. It was my door so I told her who we were and what we were doing and asked if she would be interested and had some time now we could share this with her, and to our surprise she said "yes!" and stepped out onto her deck with us.
Ashley hasn't been to church in a while now, said she went all the time as a kid but since then not so much. She told us of a time when she and her grandfather had both been pronounced dead on an operation table and how they had both seen and heard many crazy things while they were dead and how since then she hasn't been scared of dying like she was back when she was younger. 
We taught her the restoration and then at the end had her read Moroni’s promise 10:3-5. She read it on her own since she want comfortable reading aloud and when she finished reading she handed the book back to me, we asked her what she was thinking and she told us she had no words for it she told us she had never felt the way she was feeling after reading something, she said "I have goosebumps. That's powerful." we told her that was the spirit testifying to her that what she was reading and being taught was true. She gladly accepted the book of Mormon and said "Yes! I'll read it."
We met with Ashley again a day or so later and we read 3 Nephi 11 with her and talked about it. Eventually the discussion went into where do people that commit suicide go and how are they judged, along with why does she feel promptings to do something just before someone close to her dies. She told us that her boyfriend who isn't all that into religion was reading the book of Mormon the day we found her, she says "he's further in it then I am I think..." he told her that it answers a lot of questions that the Bible isn't so clear about so that was pretty cool for her to tell us that! So we are gonna try and meet with him next time too.
So I got a little surprise for you all. Thursday morning I got a call from the AP's at 9am right as we were finishing studies and they said "are you two able to hear us?" we said "yeah what's going on?"
"we hate to put this on you elders with such short notice but elder Nelson we need you to pack your bags you’re going to Melfort and you need to be there by 9pm tonight, so do whatever you need to do to be there on time. We gotta ET another elder and we felt that you would be the best one to take his place." so off we went to packing and saying goodbye to everyone we could get to which luckily we got everyone I was wanting to say bye to other then the Buchanan’s in person anyway.
We stayed the night in Saskatoon with the wildwood elders elder Berry, Bloomfield, Russell, and the ETed elder. Everyone in that apartment was Albertan other than the ETed elder so that was pretty cool.
The next morning we got things going and we got put with the new companions well not really new for me cause it was elder Sauni! We were both pretty excited to get to serve around each other again when we found out.
First night here the PA (Prince Albert) elders came down for exchanges here and we goofed around a bit that night and made a fort in the living room to sleep in so that we could stay cool during the night since the AC in this place kinda sucks. Half way through the night though the wind from a storm blew it down... Haha but me and Wolff were the only ones that noticed so we left it alone till the morning.
Had a branch picnic down at Struthers Lake about 30min from our place. It was pretty fun! Played volley ball, catch, magic tricks and ate lots of food. At the end we had a little devotional with everyone around a fire and me and sister turner were the main act pretty well. Pres froc had us play guitar and sing, and believe it or not I sang and played with sister turner and the first song we did was Amarillo by morning haha good church song, we did those later. It was lotsa fun though to go and do that with the new branch and get to know them and all.
Church was pretty good! They have about the same amount show up for church as Weyburn does but way more kids then adults. We had one of our investigators Kaylin come to church, she's 12 and she's pretty great. We ended up over at her place later that night and met the rest of the family she has a sister that 16 names Carteea and a younger one that's 6 and her name is Aracellie and she's in love with me haha she had me push her on the swing and then play with her on the teeter-totter. Once we got back from our walk with them to the park Aracellie had me go with her out to the trampoline and play ring around the rosie and crack the egg haha it was fun, she's like "your fun, I won't leave you!" her mom just laughed and said "I think she likes you a little bit!" when we told her we had to leave she was kinda sad but I told her the sooner she goes to sleep the faster we'll be back tomorrow. We were going to walk with Kim (the mom) Monday morning at 6:30 so she was pretty excited to go to bed after that haha
The walk the morning with the family was good, Arasellie was holding my hand the whole time having me swing her around as we walked with her mom. She keeps asking if she can come home with us haha but her mom keeps telling her she can't. Aracellie once we got back to the house was wanting me to come jump on the trap again but we had to go so I told her Thursday I'd come a jump again.

So far Melfort has been good!  I think it'll be fun. 

Well love ya all talk to you next week! 

 

President and Sister Hitchcock

July 9, 2018

So we got to meet President and Sister Hitchcock this week that was pretty sweet! They are super nice and they are way different then Pres. and Sister Craig. Pres and Sister Craig were pretty soft spoken and not super personal I guess you could say to the extent of like going to every group of missionaries and getting in on the conversation, the Hitchcock’s on the other hand they do that. Pres Hitchcock loves hunting, shooting stuff, and basically anything outdoors so I think we'll get along pretty good. Sister Hitchcock she loves baking, camping, and yeah pretty well all the stuff that Pres Hitchcock likes too. It was funny watching them during ZC cause they were trying to get better at calling each other by Pres and Sister rather than merry (yes it's spelled like merry Christmas) and Craig. They said we are all MPTs (mission president trainers) because they are going to need as much help from us as possible as they try to get started here. We are all pretty excited to see what goes on with them here, he said they weren't going to change much in the mission really so that’s nice. During ZC Pres Hitchcock had us all stand and sing his nomination for the mission song (we didn't have one before) it was I know that my redeemer lives, he told us he wanted us to sing it as if we were baring our testimonies of Him. As we sing that hymn I don't think any of us have ever felt that kind of spirit while singing, more than half of us were in tears (not me though...) and ah it was amazing. I think I now know why that is my mom’s favorite hymn. 

After ZC we had exchanges with sunrise elders again. I went with elder Delano and he's pretty good. He's kinda like elder Berry in some ways like with his jokes and deep voice haha so it was fun.

We went and saw Latisha the mom of the boy thunder that I baptized when I was there and when she saw me she screamed and gave me a big hug! She almost started crying even she was so excited to see me again. We had a good talk with her and her parents for about 2hrs. 
For lunch on exchanges we all went to DQ with our coupons and we all got basically a 2 for 1 meal deal so when they brought us our food we all had to things of what we got... So we had 8 full meals on our table haha they gave us a crazy look when they saw all that food was just for us 4 guys. It was a good deal up till about the time we finished it all... It was a lot of food.

Got back to Weyburn about 7 Wednesday night so we went and visited b brown and talked with him for a hr. or so till he sent us on a drink run for him before we left. 
Weyburn is a busy place right now with the fair going on till Sunday, lots a horses, cows, and people around kicking up all those good smells I love from back home! Kinda sucks but I love it at the same time. Every morning when we go outside it smells like I'm out walking around by our barn.
Had a pretty good busy day Thursday didn't even tract one door, that's how busy we were. Did some service for Kevin unloading shingles from his grain truck for a hr. or so, then he took is to lunch after at the club cafe which is a Chinese food place here in town. After that we had to catch up on our studies we didn't get to do in the morning so that took a few hrs. Once studies were done we went and met with bro brown and visited with him again for a while taking about what he'd been reading and answering questions he had. By the time we got out of there it was dinner time so we went to A&W to get our free root beer they are giving out on their coupons and came back to the apartment to eat. 
Spent the rest of the night taking with Dave and then the other Dave and his wife and conveniently enough they live right beside each other! Got formered by Dave and his wife sadly but they said we were welcome to their home any time. Gamer Dave as we call him he was still interested far as we could tell and we talked with him for 2hrs on his deck, just about any on everything came in that time haha it was good. 
Met with Velda, lady bro brown wanted us to meet with and teach. This time went about as well as we thought it would with her, she told us the book of Mormon wasn’t a word of God and that the Bible was the only thing from God and nothing else. Her favorite thing to say was "it doesn't say that in the Bible." then we'd show her where it does and she'd just shake her head and ask another question. Us being called by elders came up a few times and how no one in the Bible was called by elder (there was) she told us the Bible was a word of God because it hasn’t been disproved, so we told her neither has the book of Mormon but she didn't like that haha it was kind of a stand still lesson so needless to say we probably won't be going back there again.
On the other hand though we had a good lesson with John, Thelma's cousin. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we didn't get all the way through it but we spent the time we needed to with him on the first few points of the lesson so he could hopefully understand it all since he doesn’t understand English very well. Committed him to keep reading and praying every day and he said he would so let's hope he does! 
Had a high of 44° the other day.... So that was fun working in that. Luckily it was windy and that kept us decently cool during the day.
Had a lesson with gamer Dave the other day. It went alright, not a lot of progress there but we discussed a few things that he was wondering about and I think he has a slight interest in the book of Mormon and why we would believe every word of it to be true. Dave is a "skeptic" as he calls himself and doesn't have much faith in man made things or written things and he's also pretty okay with whatever happens to him. Basically his view is whatever happens happens and I'm just here for today and that’s all everything else I don't worry about, which I can relate to in some ways. He said he'd read the book of Mormon and we could meet with him next week same time n all so we'll see what happens then! 
Did almost a full day go service the other day helping out one of our investigators, John paint his aunts rental house in town and a few other awed jobs. It was good I think for him to just get to be around us and talk about whatever and get to know one another a bit better. He asked quite a few questions about church type things even so that was good. After we got done with John we helped bro Dudragne unload a freezer out of his truck to his back deck.
Had a full building just about on Sunday! The Shugart family was all there for a reunion I think? So Bro and Sis Shugarts 3 kids where there along with their family and all their families were pretty big it seemed, so we had lots a kids for primary! Church in Estevan was had 9 which was a good turnout actually! Especially for lately. 
Had another lesson with John Sunday night with bro and sis Dudragne. We finished off lesson 3 and John he seems to be understanding faith, repentance, and baptism now. We tried to set a date with him for baptism but he said he wants to have more faith and time to repent so he can be ready which I thought was great! It shows he really does want to know Christ and that he does want to be better, so we just set a goal of baptism with him for the 28tg of July just to work towards.

Lots of teaching, lots of learning and new things this week! It was good.

Well love ya all and talk to you next week! 

 

 

He Lives

I came across a book the other day with songs and art work by Hilary weeks and Simon Dewey it’s called He lives. Here's a little part of what I read in it. 

"He lives and everyday he watches over you. His love will never end for he's your brother, your savior, and friend. When I think of all he's done for me, I want to live so that someday I'll kneel at his feet and I'll thank him with my tears for his love through the years."
Often times we forget who we are, where we came from and what our potential is.
It is because of and through Jesus Christ that we can become who we are meant to be.  As we follow his example of how he lived his life on earth we can become that person God knows we can be.  It will take hard work and it won't happen overnight but I know as we do our best and learn from our older brother’s example that we can find our true potential. 
 Alma 36:3 says: 
"And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day."
If we trust in God and do what we know is right we can overcome anything. Have the faith to let God take the reins and that he will put in where you need to be. 
One of my favorite quotes is "pray as if everything depends on God, and work as if everything depends on you."  
God loves each one of you and he wants you to be the best you can and receive all the blessings he has in store for you.  I know we can accomplish all He has planned for us as we work as if everything we do depends on us and trust God to do the rest. 

 

 

New Mission President Arrives

July 2, 2018

This week has been good. Started it off with bowling here in town with the Regnier’s and the temple missionaries from Regina that I know pretty well, so it was us two young guys and eight older couples. All the guys they put on one side to okay each other and then all the lady's went on a different game next to us so they could take their time. Pres Regnier he won on our side then elder Hackett, and then me. I did pretty well the first but then my luck ran out. It was pretty fun playing with them because they could really care what they got cause most the time it was the gutter ha-ha

Did some service Tuesday morning with Kevin out on the farm moving posts and old wood around so that he could get the one yard cleaned up and ready to hand over to the new owner this week so that was fun!
Went looking for a less active in the haunted apartment, didn't find the ghost but we did run into a crazy old guy named Edward that kept us at his place for a hr. and a half just talking about anything and everything. He talked about Americans and how they all drive new cars and how they don’t actually pay for them. Also says he can tell the difference between American cars and Canadian cars cause they are loud and they are big and new. Also says that cowboys are dumb and so is rodeo haha cause they ride these horses and they land on their heads and then they get back on again, "they never learn!!" he says ha-ha Talked about trump a bit and how dumb he is and yeah it was pretty funny.
Had in person district meeting this week in Regina so that was a party and a half! Lots a construction going on around here....
Went to see Edward the other day and when we pulled up he was walking away from his place so we tracked him down and talked with him. Turns out he doesn't like Mormons.... Says they are morons haha also called us a few other things that I won't say in here. So he wasn’t too interested in meeting with us anymore. 
Ran into an interesting older lady named Kathy in our old apartment area back on 5th Street and she let us right on in before we could even tell her what we were doing. We told her once we all got introduced to each other that we couldn't stay long cause of the fellow ship rule we got as missionaries, but that didn't seem to faze her any because after we told her that she was like "just give me a second I gotta put my teeth in" haha so she left and while she was gone we gave each other the look of like what the heck... We gotta get outta here, we can't stay long. When she came back she told us to come in and close the door then said "sit down here, you’re not gonna strangle me are ya!" haha We told her about the book of Mormon and how it can help her in her life and where it takes place and she committed to read through it! We asked if we could come back in the next few days with a member and she said we could but that soon she would be gone for a few months in Moose jaw. She told us that she has seen us waking quite a bit around town and knew we used to live just down a few buildings from her, she says we are great young men to be walking so much to teach people about god. 
Pres Regnier called us the other day during lunch saying there was a lady in town that was needing a blessing and he wanted us to come along with him. The lady and her friend were from High River and they were up here to get the one lady’s boys from her ex and she was needing some comfort and we were the men for the job I guess! We had a good talk with them and they found it pretty cool that they ran into two Alberta elders serving together right next to Alberta. 
Had a good talk with brother brown (LA) this week and we were able to help him with finding out what church he wanted to go to. A few weeks ago he had a moment where he decided that he was going to go to the Catholic Church because he was told to by something to do that, so he left our church for a few weeks before the Catholic Church stopped coming to see him and show that they cared about him. Meanwhile we and President Regnier had kept coming by trying to help him with whatever he needed and that was a big deal for him because he felt needed, which he is, everyone is needed in a ward or branch because we all serve a different and valuable purpose. It was super good! We went back to his place on Sunday morning and we got him up and we waited for him to get ready and got him a ride so he could come and we think he enjoyed being back.
Got told by some people this week that I look like Elvis when he was young..... Haha I don't know if I can see that but hey that's cool. Also had some old ladies this week say they weren’t interested in our message but we were really handsome young men. Haha 
Sunday we did games night with the woodruffs, Dudragnes, and Morrissettes along with our new investigators John who us actually sister Dudragnes brother! So it was super good to get to spend some fun time with all them and get to build a little bit of a relationship with John. Before we left bro Woodruff had us share a spiritual experience from our mission and then went around to everyone else that had served and had any nice experience with anything spiritual. It was a really good thing for John I think to hear all the different things we have experienced.
Well the sad news of the week is we have lost our president Craig.... But the good news is we have a new President Hitchcock! We are all pretty excited to get to meet him finally on Tuesday for ZC.

Well that was our pretty decent week!

Love ya all and talk to you next week!