Coolest experience of my mission to see how big of a help members are to this work

     This week has been really amazing and as you can see by the subject line, which I usually never use, but I felt it was appropriate for this occasion. So I will start this story with last Sunday. So we went to visit a couple, The Merretts, and we followed up on someone that they had talked about at a cottage meeting we had my first Sunday here where they talked about a guy in their building named Peter. They told us how they had been talking to Peter and had told him a little about the church; about how they just returned from a mission in England. As we were talking to them and how they could help Peter more they told us how they had planned to have us over for dinner the next Sunday; so they told us that they would invite Peter to come as well and they did!! On Sunday we went over for dinner and Peter and his wife came and we were able to talk a lot about the church and what we believe and what we, as missionaries, do and it was great! At the end of the meeting Brother Merrett asked if we could come visit them again and they said yes so we got their phone number and are going to be seeing them this week or next week! It was one of the coolest experience that I have had on my mission and to see how big of a help members are to this work because they know people and talk to people that we never could as missionaries and people can see members and see how they are just normal people. It also helped me see that I need to do that when I get home, to continue to be a missionary even though I do not have the nametag anymore.

      We have also been working with a guy named Ryan and we have seen him four or five times and he has been coming to church and is really solid! We saw him on Thursday and we had planned to teach him about the word of wisdom and before we started to do anything he asked about the word of wisdom because he had heard about it a little bit at church and from members so we were able to teach him the word of wisdom and he took it so well! He told us how the blessings that come from the word of wisdom are exactly what he wants and he has already been trying to cut down on smoking and in the last 2 weeks he has gone from forty cigarettes a day to ten a day which is amazing especially for not even knowing about the word of wisdom! It was so amazing to see how prepared he is and how much he has changed by himself because he is reading the Book of Mormon daily and comes to church almost every week! He has changed so much since we have been meeting with him and it mostly has come from himself applying what he has been learning, which is something that we should all be doing. He has told us that he does want to be baptized and that he feels that this is where Gods is telling him to be and he has such a good testimony of the Book of Mormon so once he quits smoking he wants to be baptized! Also he was member referral from someone in the YSA so yeah member work is the way to go!

        We were able to teach quite a bit this week and have been seeing a lot of success and a lot of progression from the people that we are working with! Being on a mission has been a pretty amazing experience and I am very grateful that I still have some time to be here in Canada eh! I have really learned that as we share the Gospel our testimony grows and as we learn more about the gospel and apply it our desire to share the Gospel will increase!

Love Elder Slack

Sometimes we like to just have some poutine :)

Elder Ringheim is a pretty great cook! 

Look at our sweet new Car! runs pretty good:)

I also know that he calls the weak and the simple to perform great things

     This week we were able to see a lot of success in teaching! We were able to do a lot more teaching this week and find some really good people that we are going to meet with this week.

     Monday, after P-Day, started off pretty slow because we were supposed to have a lesson with one of our investigators and then go to a FHE with a family in the ward but we were not able to get a hold of our investigator and the wife in the family fell and had to go to the Hospital on Monday so our evening opened up real quick! So Elder Ringheim and I decided to pray to know where we should go and so after we prayed we felt like we should go by a former investigator that we have been trying to contact so we bused over there and went by him and he did not answer so we decided that there must be a reason that we should be over there so we were walking down the street and I felt like we should go and knock the house on the end of the street and a lady answered and so we talked to her for a little bit and she did not seem too interested until we started to talk about the plan of salvation and she was really intrigued by it and told us that she would invite us in but she had plans later that evening and she was really busy that we but that we could come by next week! So we are going to go by this week and teach her more! Then we kept walking and Elder Ringheim felt like we should knock a house that was across the street and so we did and it turned out to be a lady who was visiting her parents from Mexico and we felt like we should talk about the Plan of Salvation and how it blesses our families and it turned out she had a little daughter and so we talked to her about how we believe that families can be together forever. She told us that she would like to learn more but she was going back to Mexico on Wednesday morning so we told her that there was missionaries in Tijuana where she lived and told her to contact the missionaries there and she told us she would!! So it was so amazing to see how the spirit guides even though our initial thought did not work out there was a reason why we where there!

      Then our week just kept getting better! We were able to see Ryan a guy that the YSA elders passed to us and he is very prepared and he was telling us how since he has been reading the Book of Mormon it has really helped him, especially with his patience at work and he told us how his friends have told him that he has really changed over the last month that he has been meeting with missionaries and coming to church! He has been very prepared and is a very sincere and humble guy. He has been having great experiences with the Book of Mormon and has prayed about it and he has felt that he received an answer that it is true! I have seen so many times how the Book of Mormon changes people and it really is that way that people can come to know if Jesus Christ has restored his Church and brought the fullness of his Gospel back to the Earth! 

      We also had a great Lesson with Matti Lott and his kids and him and his son have come to church the last two weeks! We had dinner with them on Wednesday and were able to teach the Plan of Salvation and it was a really great lesson and Cameron was very interactive and asking a lot of questions so we hope that we can continue to work with them! Hopefully we can help them become fully active and help Cameron get Baptized!

       Then we had a Zone Meeting on Friday which was really good and we talked a lot about conversion but it was a little nerve racking for me because I had to give a training on Conversion in front of 25 people which was very interesting but it went well. I have seen on my mission how as we put in our effort to prepare, the spirit will guide us and help us to accomplish whatever the Lord has asked of us. I have also seen how since I have been on my mission that I have been able to overcome my fears more and put more trust in the Lord to help guide me because I don't think I could have given a training in front of a group that big at the beginning of my mission. I have been able to trust in the Lord and in myself more. 

     A lot of the things that we talked about were about conversion and about why we do things. Do we do it out of obligation or out of a love for the Lord and his Gospel? As we become converted to Christ and his Gospel our desires will be pure and righteous. As we do things out of a love for the Lord we will do them better because we have a pure motivation and the Lord will bless us for that and help us even more. I have been able to think about why I do the things I do and I would invite everyone to do that. I also learned that if we are doing this out of duty and obligation that it's much better than not doing it and God does not expect us to change right this second be he does expect us to be progressing. It is about eternal progression not instant perfection! So it is ok if we are not perfect yet God does not expect us to be but he does ask us to get a little closer everyday and to just get a little better than we were before and that is how we will become more converted!

     I am very grateful for the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that he would love us enough to give his life for us! I know this Gospel is true and that this is His church restored to the earth once again! I also know that he calls the weak and the simple to perform great things and that we can accomplish anything that he gives us as we follow Him and our Saviour! Life was meant to be enjoyed and happy so make it that way and Pure Eternal Joy comes through our Saviour Jesus Chris so "look unto him in every thought. Doubt not fear not!" D&C 6:36

Love Elder Slack

Beautiful sunset in Victoria

Healthy living in Victoria

Peacocks in the park

{5/9/16} Elder Ringheim and I have been exploring a lot more of Victoria than we thought we would

This week has been Good and Crazy mostly because we have been trying to go to different places in our area which does not sound like it would be that crazy but when you have to get there by bus and you don't know how to get there by bus it makes it a very interesting journey especally if you miss your bus or the bus you are on does not get you exactly where you thought it did at all. So needless to say Elder Ringheim and I have been exploring a lot more of Victoria than we thought we would.

   We have been able to find a few new people to teach this week though! On Tuesday we texted a bunch of the potentials that we have in our phone that we did not know and a few of them responded back, one of which was a lady named Hyung Hee,or Stephanie because she is Korean and so she picked an English name, but we did not know she was a lady. So we set up to meet Hyung Hee at the church but when she got there and realized that she was a lady and not a guy we had to go talk to her outside, because as missionaries we cannot be alone with a sister, so we talked to her about the Book of Mormon and told her about the sisters in our ward and how she could meet with them so we passed her info to the sisters and they were able to meet with her a couple days later and she came to church with her son yesterday! It was amazing so see how the Lord really does prepare his children to hear the Gospel and to be receptive to it! We also had a less active and his son, who is 10 and not baptized, come to church for the 2nd week in a row! We were able to talk to them and Brother Lott invited us to come over for dinner and to teach his son Cameron because Cameron has been pushing his dad to come to church so it was really Awesome to see them there! Also Brother Lott owns a resturant called La Belle Patate which is French for The Beautiful Potato and it is so Good! He makes the Best Poutine I have ever had!! We have been going there pretty regularly and have talked to Brother Lott quite a bit so we could build a good relationship with him and help reactivate him and baptize his son. 

  Victoria has been amazing and a lot of fun and it has also helped me get out of my comfort zone a lot more too but it helps that the weather here is Awesome and the ocean is not too far away! I am very grateful that I have had this opportunity to serve a mission and that I still have 5 months to give in this marvelous work! Also Skyping home was Awesome! Happy Late Mothers Day to all the Moms out there!! 

Love Elder Slack

Miracles still do exist as long as we have faith

Well, this week was really good and a lot less stressful than last week because I am finally starting to figure out the bus system here and District Meeting went well and our investigators are starting to get back to us so this week which was really good! 

         To start off the week we got to see Khaled on Monday and teach him more about the Book of Mormon and then we got to see him on Thursday and give him a church tour and show him the restoration and while we were teaching him we asked him why he continues to meet with us, because he does read a little bit but he never seems to be fully engaged in the few lessons that we have had with him. He told us that he is trying to make friends since he is new to Victoria. So, sadly it turns out that he is not very interested in learning more but just wants to meet new people and make friends so we invited him to some of the activities that the church is putting on but we probably will not be teaching him anymore. 

         We had a really cool miracle happen this week too! While the sisters in our ward where contacting in a park they met this guy Tim, who they were prompted to go talk to, and as they did they told him as missionaries that we teach people lessons and so he told them that he would be interested in hearing one of their lessons. So they taught him the restoration in the park and gave him a Book of Mormon! That night they gave us his number and we called him the next day and were able to see him that day! We gave him a church tour and shared more about the Book of Mormon. It was such a good lesson and he told us how recently he has felt like there was something missing in his life and very recently he has felt that thing is God so he was thinking about getting God more in his life and then the sisters met him and he believes that was a sign that he should look into this path to see if it is the right one. He told us how if we would have met him just a couple months ago he probably would have never met with us but because of what has happened in his life it has prepared him to be open and willing to search for God! It was such a good lesson and it is amazing to see how God prepares his children to hear the restored Gospel and how he softens people’s hearts!

         We were also able to go see a part member family where the two boys in the family are baptized but their mom is not because she has not been able to give up smoking. They used to be pretty regular at church but for the last while they have not been coming so we went and saw them on Saturday night and they came to church on Sunday! We also had a less active member, Matti, come to church with his son Cameron and they came all by their self. It was awesome because Cameron is 10 and has not been baptized so we have been trying to get in to meet with them and they just randomly showed up to church! So Miracles still do exist as long as we have faith.

  This week has been really good and we have been able to see a lot of great things happen in our area! It also does not help that Victoria is beautiful and the weather here is amazing! Especially with the breeze off the Ocean! Pretty amazing place to be in the summer!

Love Elder Slack

Last look of Kelowna before leaving for Victoria

Will in Kelowna

Will & Elder Frye before Will leaves for Victoria

Legislative Building in Victoria (capitol of BC)

Will & his new companion Elder Ringheim in front of the Legislative Bldg in Victoria

Views from James Bay

{4/24/16} I have been able to get out of my comfort zone a lot here

Well another crazy week on the Mish. It has been a pretty crazy week like it always is with transfers. Monday was pretty normal though. We got invited to an empty nesters FHE and had some really good food. I got to say good bye to quite a few of the members in Kelowna and then we went and saw Dez and taught him about the Book of Mormon and really emphasized him reading it to find out for himself and that was pretty much my last night in Kelowna. On Tuesday I left and flew down to Vancouver with Elder McCown, who also got transferred after only one transfer in Kelowna. So we flew down and I got picked up and driven to the ferry but I got there too early so I had to sit outside the ticket office for 20 minutes before I could buy a ticket and wait for the ferry to come and then I took the 2 hour ferry ride to Victoria by myself which was pretty boring but the ferry does have good poutine so that made it ok. It was a pretty uneventful ride except I got to see some killer whales while riding on it so that was pretty cool. Then I finally got to Victoria at 5pm and I met Elder Ringheim there with the Zone leaders and then we got dropped off at the church to go teach a lesson to a guy named Paul who Elder Ringheim has been teaching for the last couple weeks and he wants to be baptized and he comes to church a couple times but just needs to quit smoking which is easier said than done but we were able to make a plan with him so that he could over come it and begin the process to quit. 

   Victoria has been very different from other areas that I have served in, one big difference is that we do not have a car...we just have bus passes so that has made it a lot more interesting but luckily Elder Ringheim knows the bus system pretty good so I rely on him a lot to know what bus we need to catch and when it would get there so that has made it a lot of fun. Also Victoria is a pretty big city and we cover the down town so we get to meet a lot of interesting people here especially when we go to the down town. It has been really fun though a lot of people especially members have gotten a kick out of my last name. Most people think that it is pretty funny  but sometimes we meet people on the street who think that it is my first name so the are usually very confused why someone would name their son Slack but good because it is usually a good conversion starter.

   I have been able to learn a lot here and I have been able to get out of my comfort zone a lot here because everything here is very different than what I am used to and it has caused me to have to do things that I would not be comfortable doing but that is where that growth comes from and I am learning a lot here and relearning a lot here too. Victoria is also a very beautiful place and the weather here is amazing so I am pretty lucky that I got here right before summer! Also a really cool thing is that Elder Bonfield, one of my old companions ,lives in Victoria now so I get to see him quite a bit!

 Well I got to go but....Love you bye!

Elder Slack