You are not alone

"You are not alone on this journey. Your Heavenly Father knows you. Even when no one else hears you, He hears you. When you rejoice in righteousness, He rejoices with you. When you are beset with trial, He grieves with you...He sees you not as the world sees you; He sees who you really are. He looks on your heart. And He loves you, because you are His child...seek Him earnestly, and you will find Him" -Pres Uchtdorf

Monday, October 27, 2014

This week has been awesome!

So I don't have a lot of time to write but this Week has been Awesome and has felt a lot easier than the first few days. Mostly we have been meeting with a lot of members to build that relationship of trust with them because apparently the missionaries of a few months ago didn't have a very good relationship with the members and offended them so we have been really  trying to build that relationship that the members have with the missionaries. It has been really great and the ward here really loves Elder Kelly and a lot of the members really like him since he has been here and so it has been really awesome in Kamloops. Except the weather has been getting really cold the last few days and I have been freezing so I am always wearing a jacket and when we go to members homes they always say how nice the weather is and I'm there freezing and thinking how cold it is and whats even worse is that they are saying that it is really warm for this time of year so that means its going to get even colder and its been like 1-3 degrees celsius and tops 5-6 and they say it usually  gets to around -10 to -20 degrees celsius so hopefully I can stay warm and not die, but overall it has been great. We have been teaching a lot of investigators and we have one with a baptismal date on the 15th of November and one other who is just about ready to set a day and then we have a few others who are progressing but not far enough to think about that yet and then we have a few who are not progressing at all. I actually got to go on splits with one of the members of the elders quorum and to teach a investigator named Jason. I was pretty nervous because I had to take the lead, but it was so awesome. We read Ether 12 with him (if your reading this and havent read Ether 12 in a while READ IT!!) It was really awesome and we talked about faith and how we don't need to have that perfect knowledge of things but that we need to have faith in Christ and he will give us that knowledge of what we want to know after the trial of our faith. He really seemed interested. We had the Zone leaders with us on Saturday and our Zone leaders are way cool! Elder Smith and Elder Kennedy - Elder Smith is from Alpine Utah and Elder Kennedy is from Holiday Utah and he has a full ride scholarship to BYU for basketball, but what's really funny about them is Elder Kennedy is 6'10" and Elder Smith is 5'9" so they are very different and look very different but they are really cool and very funny. We went out on Saturday and went and raked peoples yards to try to find new investigators with Elder Smith and the Sisters- Sister Black and Sister Ditto, but it went really good, people seemed to be more receptive to listening when we were doing yard work for them. One thing that I have found out is really Awesome is the Book of Mormon and the New Testament and Jesus the Christ. Since we have an hour study time I have had the opportunity to read all of these and I always seem to find new things that can help me and apply to what I am going through. One thing I realized and gaind a testimony of is fasting, because before, even a few days ago I did not really like to fast but after I read in Mathew about Jesus fasting and why he fasted, how he need to become closer to his Father in Heaven and he was perfect in every way and he still needed to fast to get closer to God; how important is it that we fast and how we need to get closer to God because we obviously are not perfect or even close to what Christ was then it just shows how much more important it is for us to fast and with a purpose and to do it happily. I also realized how much I took my Family for granted and how much I miss them when we watched the primary program and it was all about family and how important they are and maybe not even blood family or relatives but even friends and our church family that they are given and ordained by God to bless and help us over come trials and difficulties of life. I Know that the Book of Mormon is the Keystone of our religion and that it does testify of Christ and how important he is in our lives and how he will help us overcome anything and I have seen that since I have been out here how he does what D&C 84:85 promises us. One of my favorite quotes ( this my not be the exact quote of if its even a quote at allo) To Christ we are nothing (??) but with Christ we are everything. We can do anything if we have faith in Christ and if we build our foundation on Christ we can not be moved  ( Helaman 5:12) Well I have to go hope everything is going well.

Love Elder Slack

Monday, October 20, 2014

A lot of firsts...

Well a lot has happened in the last few days like I rode my first train and on my first plane, that I can remember and left the country for the first time in my life. So a lot of firsts on Wednesday. So on Wednesday we left the MTC at 6:05 am and took a bus to the train but when we got to the train there was a lot of instruction on how to board the train but not which train to board or when so there was a little confusion but after sitting there for 20 minutes we finally got on the train that took us to Salt Lake and then we caught a mono rail( I think or something like that) to the Airport and when we got to the Airport there where people who knew exactly what we needed to do and were we needed to go because this happens every week. So we got in line to get our tickets and for them to take our luggage and while I was waiting for them to weigh my luggage I saw Quentin L Cook!!!! which was Awesome so when me and Elder Jang got done with everything we waited and tried to build up some courage to go talk to him but thankfully Elder Aua, who is from Papa New Guinea but I never saw him at the MTC and didn't even know he was going to Vancouver, just went up and talked to him so me and Elder Jang and Elder Walker followed him and talked to him for a minute and shook his hand which was Awesome!! You could  just feel the spirit around him but what was really funny is when me and Elder Jang saw him we started to act like a five year old and the people who were weighing our luggage apparently were not Mormon and couldn't figure out why we where acting so weird. So we then go and find where we are going to board the plane and run into Sister Burt (Mission President's wife) who was supposed to meet us in Vancouver but we found out that she came down to help her daughter with her new born baby and President Burt arranged for her to fly back with us, which was really awesome and apparently is very special and never happens. So that was really cool. Then we went and called home, sorry mom maybe if you had answered your phone more when I was home I might have called you {what!!...ok he got me there...}, after we boarded the plane and took off to Canada and I did not like turbulence because it felt like a mini tower of terror except 10,000 feet in the air. When we actually got to Vancouver we had to go through customs which was terrible and I didn't think it would be that hard to get in to Canada but they asked a lot of questions and I passed so I got to stay. then when I went over by the exit where President Burt, Sister Burt and the Canadian missionaries where. The Humidity was terrible I felt like I was taking a shower. Then we went to the Mission Office and had some orientation and had our Interview with President Burt not to much to write home about but then we got to say at a hotel and went to bed at 9:50 instead of 10:50which so amazing. Then the next day we got up and had breakfast and went to our transfer meeting to find out where we are going and who our trainer would be. So my trainer is Elder Kelly and he is from Lehi,Utah and he actually went to school with Elder Walker. He is really cool and way funny and he is a really good singer. He has been out 3 months and only left on July 9th he is way cool. We are Serving in Kamloops 2nd ward. After then meeting and we had lunch we went out and went door knocking until the Elders that we were staying the night with came to pick us up and that was pretty interesting and very terrifying but we did that for about 30 min until they came and then we went to white rock which is their area and drop our stuff off then we went and Knocked on some more D's for 3 hours and some of the people were not very nice and one lady, who was Buddhist, told us about how she was trying to spread the message the technology is bad and phones can harm your body and with perfect timing the phone went off in my pocket and she told me that having a phone it your pocket can make you able to not have kids so that was pretty interesting. Then we met a lady named Anetta who was really Awesome and was asking a lot of questions and we gave her a Book of Mormon and she seemed really willing and ready to accept the gospel. That was so Awesome to find someone who was really ready to accept the Gospel and it made the other 2:45 worth it. Then the next day we had to get up at 5:50 to get to the greyhound in Langley that we would take for 5 hours to Kelowna and that was for ever so most of the time i just slept but it was so long and finally when we got to Kelowna we met the Zone Leaders Elder Kennedy and Elder Smith and they are so funny. then we finally got to our car and loaded it up and got some lunch and started our 2 hour drive to Kamloops after that we went and met the Bishop and a few other people and that was the day pretty boring and uneventful. The next day I got to do weekly planning and that took almost 4 hours and was so long and then we met some members and met an Investigator Brian who really loves to talk and always never seems to be fully sober but when we go to teach him 40 min of the lesson his him talking and telling stories and 20 min is us actually teaching but it was cool because he came to church on Sunday and so did some other Investigators. Sunday was so busy we went to church and then contacted a referral and then went the the other wards sacrament meeting with an other investigator and then went and taught a lesson and then went to a member family's house and then went to another members house for dinner and then we went to another members house and finally back to our apartment but that was a very long day that didnt even feel like a Sunday. So yeah it has been a crazy couple of days and I know this is really long but a lot has happened and its really crazy to think that a week ago i was still in the MTC doing laundry. Its been great!

Love Elder Slack

***
following the email he sent some final pictures of his district from the MTC

This one of our other teacher brother Metcalf 
from left to right Elder Spitler, Elder Vanleeuwen, Elder Hancock, Elder Payne, Me, Elder Walker, Brother Metcalf, Elder Jang, Elder Crapo


"This is the classier half of our MTC district"
We also received his new mailing address for anyone interested:

Elder William Slack
2080 B Westsyde Rd. 
Kamloops B.C V2B 0E7 

"and yes it is supposed to be a y in Westsyde"

Sunday, October 19, 2014

This is a little late in being posted but Elder Slack made it to Canada eh.

October 16, 2014

Dear Brother and Sister Slack,

Attached are two pictures of your wonderful missionary, one with President and Sister Burt and one that also includes your son's new companion at his recent arrival in the Canada Vancouver Mission.  Monday is Preparation Day when he will email you his new mailing address in the area where he has been assigned to serve.   However, emailing your missionary is the most effective way of consistent communication with him in Canada.

Thank you for sending Elder Slack to us!  He is absolutely delightful and is so well prepared and excited to be a missionary. We feel lucky to have him!



Friday, October 17, 2014

All about the companions

We were fortunate enough to receive two letters in the mail yesterday...

 Dear Slack family (dated 10/11/14),

 First I just wanted to says thanks for emailing me and writing me, it is really nice to hear from you. I know I haven't written in a while but the last week has gone by really fast and all day we are always doing something and we have been teaching a lot. I think Elder Walker and I have taught, I think, 9 lessons in the last week. Since Monday we have been teaching our TRC Eric, who is a really awesome guy. We we first taught him he was just doing it because his wife was a member and he did not want to pray and never read the Book of Mormon and as we taught him the spirit was so strong and it was cool to teach him and watch him change and by the 5th lesson we got him to pray with us and to read the Book of Mormon and he did it was so cool to see him progress and at the end of our last lesson he committed to baptism and he accepted!!! The last lesson was so amazing and after we left Elder Walker and I just hugged and jumped around like little kids because it was so awesome and the spirit was so strong. One of my new favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon is 3 Nephi 27. It is so cool and we have used it so much in our preparation and our lessons. My district is so cool, I don't know if I have told you about everyone. Well, there's me, Elder Walker,Elder Jong (from Toronto,Canada), Elder Crapo (long A we were told;) who is from Calgary. They are really cool. Elder Jong is so funny and random but knows a lot about the gospel. Oh, and he is also Korean and he lived there until he was 5. Elder Crapo (reminded again that it is a long A, haha!)is more strict about the rules but is a really cool Elder. Elder Hancock, who is from Surprise AZ,and loves hockey but is really cool and knows a lot about movies and he makes a lot of references to Strange Brew. Elder Payne, who is from Atlanta GA, is really funny too but is also one of the nicest people I have ever met and he can do a really cool Jamacian accent, which is really funny. Elder Spitler, who is from Blockton, Iowa, and really loves to sing. Elder VanLeuwen, who is from Plano, Texas, is really shy and also loves to sing. They are both really nice and kind but not very outgoing. I forgot to tell you about Elder Walker. He's from Lehi, UT. He is so cool and he loves basketball and soccer (hi likes Arsenal). He is so strong in the gospel and is an awesome companion. I love having him as my companion. Everyone except Elders Payne, Spitler, VanLeuwen are going to Vancouver, Canada. The others are going to Twin Falls, Idaho.

 P.S. If you put this anywhere online, fix it, because I know it sounds weird when I start writing about my companions

 Love,

 Elder Slack

 ****

 Dear Family (dated 10/12/14),

 So, I got sick because half of my district got sick and now it is my turn I guess. I really do not feel good and am really tired because I kept waking up last night because I was sick. So today has not been the best day but I just wanted to say that I love you guys and thank you for being so supportive of me while I have been out here and for praying for me. I know it has helped tremendously and I am praying for you so please try to stay healthy and loving to each other because I know that if you strengthen your relationship with each other your relationship with God will become stronger as well. I just wanted to say I love you and you have been a great blessing in my life. I have also found out how powerful prayer is and how important it is in my life and that is how God blesses us and how he specifically knows what we need or how he tells us what we really need. I love you.

 Love,

 Elder Slack

 Wow! what powerful letters. My little boy is no longer a little boy. How proud we are of him and the lessons that he is teaching us with each letter. How amazing! Vancouver is definitely the better with these young men in their midst.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Meet the Mormons

Saw this amazing movie tonight...definitely a must see and definitely a missionary moment..

...like the blind leading the blind...we were now the experienced ones

Since I wrote you last a lot has happened like my district is now the "experienced" missionaries and the new missionaries always ask us the things we were asking a week ago but it is really like the blind leading the blind. It has been really awesome because last Monday and today we got to go to the temple and do a session and it was so awesome i feel like I have gotten something new from it every time. We have really learned a lot and what to do like gaining relationships with the investigator and how to adjust the lesson to meet the needs of them and even to just follow the spirit when we are teaching and if you get a prompting follow it always. Since Monday night Elder Walker and I have been teaching our TRC investigator Eric and it has been a really awesome experience to teach him and watch him progress. The first lesson we planned to get through the whole first lesson and we only got through the first two points of the Restoration but we really created a relationship with him and gained his trust and he started to open up more to us, it was so COOL. We also asked him to say the closing prayer in the first and second lesson and he would not do it but as we taught him we finally got him to pray with us in the third lesson and to read from the Book of Mormon (Moroni 10) and we could see the spirit touching him and he really started to listen to our message and to keep the commitments that we gave him and by the last lesson on Saturday he committed to be Baptized, which was AMAZING!!! He started out  not even willing to pray with us and he ended up reading the book of Mormon and committed to be baptized. For the most part the week has been the same as the last with a lot of learning and role plays except like I said we are the "experienced" Elders and we pretty much know everything about the MTC. Oh and I forgot yesterday they split up the block so we had Priesthood in the morning and sacrament in the afternoon. I guess I should start this story with last week the branch presidency told us that we needed to prepare a 3-5 min talk for sacrament and that 2 of us would be talking so as you can already guess I got picked and so I had to talk but it wasn't that bad because there was there was only about 20 people there and so i gave a 3 min talk on Recognizing the spirit it was not that bad because Elder Payne had to talk to and his talk was only 3 min too. Its crazy to think that I have been here 13 days and will be leaving in two days but we leave for the air port at 6:05 am so that does not sound really fun that we have to get up even earlier that we already have been. I am excited to go and also nervous to but it should be great but hopefully I wont freeze too much when I get up there but we checked what the weather is supposed to be like when we get up there and the high is 53 and the low is 50 and it is going to be raining so it should be pretty nice. Oh and another new thing I got to experience just earlier today was I got a haircut at the barbershop and it was really different because they asked how I wanted it and I had no idea what to say because I usually just go to Grandma Bette's and she just does it so hopefully I can figure that out but its not bad but not as good as Grandmas. Well I can not think of anything else that has happened this week that was interesting so Bye eh.

One thing that I forgot to tell you one thing that happened that was really Awesome. Elder Walker and I where teaching out "investigator" who is really our teacher Brother Metcalf but anyways we went to teach him about Baptism and scripture study but when we got there and started talking to him Elder Walker had an impression that we should teach him the Plan of Salvation so we did and it went great but luckily we had just taught the  Plan of Salvation to our TRC investigator the day before so we knew what to talk about and had a general idea of what to teach. It was just Awesome to see that sometimes the spirit will prompt you to do something completely diffrent of what you had planned to do and if you follow it the spirit will help you(D&C 84:85) it went great and it was something that he really needed to hear and it was awesome to see the spirit work in us and in him. Sorry I forgot that but when I remembered it I knew I needed to share it with you.

Love Elder Slack

Friday, October 10, 2014

"..and the food here is awesome and they have awesome chocolate milk".

Not too long before Will left, him and his dad went to Provo for some last minute shopping. When they arrive home I inquired if they were able to find everything that they needed, to which Henry exclaimed, "I got him a notebook". Just a plain old ugly notebook like you'd see a grade schooler carry around. Naturally this brought a confused look to my face as to why this was so exciting. He explained that he had told Will that emails weren't enough, he need to write a real letter on occasion. I was surprise that I had never thought of that myself. Apparently I had lost myself to the technology generation. But I had to admit there is something so personal and intimate about reading an actual letter. You not only see the personality of the person's writing but you can also detect emotion...anger in dark bold letters or excitement found if the quick sloppiness of penmanship with grammatical errors abundant. So I decided that I would find Will and Henry some stationery so they could write each other on appropriate paper. This wasn't as easy a task as I imagined. The stationery I found was usually quite feminine and didn't think that would appeal to either one of them. I did eventually find some nice simple stationery and excitedly gave it to them. I knew that Henry would use it but wasn't sure if Will would. But to my surprise we found, not only one letter, but two in the mailbox last night. Since he didn't have access to the internet to share his feelings that first day, he apparently had decided to write a letter; and did so again the next day. What a thrill they were to read!

 
Instead of typing up what he wrote I was hoping you might enjoy reading them first hand as well. I especially like the small tucked in note asking us to send him some hair gel. In our hurry to get him to the MTC on time he had left his hair gel sitting on the bathroom counter. As we all know, a missionary must look his best...no hair out of place ;) and for those of you who know Will well will not be surprised about the chocolate milk comment.

Monday, October 6, 2014

{10/6/14} "The MTC has been a real humbling experience"

Letter to dad...

I loved Elder Bednar's talk because it is something that we can share to investigators because it is directed to non Lds people. So far everything is working well i can not think of anything that I need. As far as I know is when i leave because we already got our travel plans a few days ago and today we are going to the travel office to get our passports checked. Last night we went to a devotional and Via Sikhema talked about his mission and all of his experiences of missionary opportunity that he had after his mission but his talk got me really excited to go and serve and to get a chance to serve the people of B.C one thing he said that really helped me was "not all successful missionary experiences are going to lead to baptism" because sometimes us giving our best and doing all we can is not enough for that person but it can plant a seed for the next set of missionaries. We also listened to a talk that Elder Bednar gave at the MTC a few years ago on Christmas that was on and he talked about the character of Christ and selfless and how it is not enough to have a testimony be we also must be converted . His talk kind of made me feel like I was not ready to serve but also made me want to become converted. The MTC has been a real humbling experience and one thing I have learned is that my mission can not be about me it has to be about the people and about Christ because its not us that convert people its the spirit that does we just try our best to invite it in our lesson. I love you and really miss you guys but its ok becasue this mission is not about me or my needs but its about Christ and what he wants me to do.

Letter to mom...

I was terrified when you guys dropped me off but when the Elder that was helping me started talking to me I had a feeling of peace come over me and I knew what I was doing is Right. Sorry I do not have a lot of time to write because I still have to go do laundry. I just wanted you to know why I am serving a mission and its not for praise or to make you or dad or grandma proud, although I do want to do that, the main reason I am serving a mission is because Christ has given me so much and has blessed me with more I could have ever wanted or asked for in life that if he is asking me to give up two years of my life which in perspective is hopefully 1/40 of my life to serve him is not asking for much that I should at least do that for he who has given me everything. I have gained a testimony of prayer and preparing because it feels like all I am ever doing is praying and preparing and I feel like I have prayed more in the last 5 day than in the last five months before I came to the MTC. That's Awesome!!! it would be way cool to meet John Bytheway hopefully I get to. well i got to go. Love you guys.

Love, Elder Slack

and we got pictures this week...

Will with members of his zone



{10/5/14} "We're just like one big family"

This is actually quite a sweet post...if you ignore the line that says, "I can't believe mom forgot the conference tickets".

I got the package and it was really helpful and I got some time to write for about 15 min. I can't believe that mom forgot the conference tickets! but we watched conference in the gym and they probably have the most uncomfortable seats of anywhere, at the end of the day my butt was so sore but it was so awesome. It was almost like being at the conference center and I thought it was really cool that they let people speak in there native language. I do not have much time but I just wanted to tell you that I am doing great and I am loving the MTC and our zone is so fun, we're just like one big family. It's kind of weird but I feel like I have known these people for years not just four days but it has been awesome and really good. I am learning a lot and I'll write you tomorrow.

Love, Elder Slack

Our first email!! {10/3/14}

Hi I cant write a lot until my p day on Monday but I just wanted tell you that I am ok and still alive and I am LOVING the MTC it has been and awesome experience and i have never felt the spirit so much and also have never prayed so much in my life. I just wanted to say that I love you guys and I will send you pictures on Monday.

Love, Elder Slack

And so it begins...


How does one prepare to say goodbye to their firstborn son leaving the house for the first time? And not just leaving the house to go to scout camp for a week or off to college but leaving the house for two whole years with minimal contact with them once you drop them off at the curb of the MTC? I’ve known for over four months that this day was coming yet that bit of information didn’t take the sting out of walking into the family room and seeing these suitcases all spread out over the floor or suit jackets, dress shirts and ties hanging off the banister waiting for their turn to be neatly tucked in for their ride to the MTC.



So grateful that Will has been fortunate to have such a great group of friends who have always been so supportive of all that's he done and most grateful for these two great young men that came to see him off. Will, Tim, Jacob and Nate (missing from photo due to the fact he is serving his own mission in Chile) have been the best of friends for so many years and have spent countless hours hanging out in our home. I couldn't have chosen any better for him.




There is no book or manual that could’ve prepared me for the heartache I felt as I watched him walk away with suitcase in hand. There was no last minute look over the shoulder to say that last non-verbal goodbye. Just me staring as I watched the distance between us get bigger and bigger.


Many tears were shed on that day :(