We have been able to work really hard and to see some really good success here in Victoria!

    So, this week was pretty crazy being in a Tri but it has been really good! Elder Flood and Elder Evans are both really Awesome and I have known them both for a while. Elder Flood has been in Victoria since I got here and Elder Evans was in Abbotsford when I was there last so I knew them both and it has been a lot of fun being with them. We have been able to work really hard and to see some really good success here in Victoria!

     We saw Ryan as usual and he is doing so good right now! We were able to have a really good lesson with him and about the importance of baptism and how he could grow his faith to completely quit smoking and kick it so that he could get baptized. It was so good and the spirit was really strong and we were able to re-set his baptism date for August 27th and he is really committed to it so we are going to really be working with him to help him get there! 

   We also have a really cool new guy named James who has come to church the last two weeks and we where able to teach him about the plan of salvation this week and it was Awesome! He just soaked everything in so well and has been reading the Book of Mormon and he told us that he feels like his prayers have been answered since he has been reading it so it has been really cool to see the progression he has made even though it has only been two weeks!

     This past week has been really crazy because we do cover two areas but luckily they overlap but it looks like this week will be the same and then next week I am probably gonna get moved to another area for a week in Sidney with Elder Whitney who is actually from Gunison Utah!

Anyways I gotta go!

Love Elder Slack

{7/11/16} Final Farewell to Elder Kelly

This week has been really different from most in Victoria but still really good! Saturday was transfer calls and both Elder Cowley and I are staying here in Victoria. Which I am really excited about because we have some really good Investigators that we are working with and I really did not want to leave. We were not able to teach as many of our investigators this week but we where able to set up quite a bit of lessons for next week.

  Ryan is still doing really well and is progressing towards his Baptism in July! He came to church yesterday and brought one of his friends with him so it was really sweet! He is already doing missionary work even before his Baptism. We also had a lesson in priesthood about the Temple and about how important is is and we told Ryan a little more about the temple because he was pretty confused and we told him that our hope is and what we want to prepare him for is to not only to get baptized but to also go to the temple and he told us how he wanted to make that a goal to go to the temple after he is baptized! He is so awesome and has changed so much since when I first met him. The Gospel has truly changed him for the better and has seen how much joy it has brought him! I am really excited to be here for his baptism and it is going to be so Cool!

  We also have found some new investigators that we are working with and we have a lesson with a family that Elder Cowley and I found at the beginning of last month but they went out of town for the month and just got back so we are going to be seeing them this week and they are really cool! We met that dad and his name is Kyle and when we first met him he told us how he was really interested in what we believed and they just started to go to a new church but are not too sure if they want to stay there so we hopefully can get them to come to ours! We also have a guy named Doug that has met with Missionaries a few years ago and we just re connected with him and since we first saw him a couple of weeks ago he has read all of first and second Nephi and told us how much he has enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon and feels that he has received an Answer that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God! It was really cool and he is really been prepared since the last time that he met missionaries!

  The last eventful thing that is happening is the Elder Kelly is going home! This is his last couple of days in the Canada Vancouver Mission. If you do not know, Elder Kelly was my trainer and we were together 21 months ago! It is crazy to think that it has been that long since I got to Canada! It has been Amazing and I am really glad that I still have 3 months left to serve the people here in BC!

Elder Kelly and Will

It was really cool because he answered my prayer from a long time ago

Well, this week has been really crazy! A lot because of transfers. Elder Hunter is getting transferred to Powell River and yep that's right, I am getting transferred too, to Kelowna 1st ward. They are going to bring in two new missionaries to replace us so we have had to write a ton of things down that the Elder staying usually knows and it has been really crazy and kind of stressful over the last day. We told the ward council that we were both leaving and they were so shocked that we were both leaving because they have had a ton of missionary changes in the last 6 months so it was a pretty sad day yesterday but everyone was joking that I will be back in a few months so I hope that comes true! So, we spent most of the day yesterday telling people that we were leaving so when the new missionaries come and try to go teach them they won't be confused when two new missionaries come by. I am really sad to have to say good bye to Abbotsford again but lots of the members were telling me that they would see me in a few months so maybe I'll come back before I go home. 

   

   Anyways besides transfers. We were able to stop by to see a former Investigator named Carlos and we set up a time to come by the next day and when we went by he told us he was still a little busy right then so we just talked to him for a minute at his door and told him about the restoration and how that is what we like to share with people and then he invited us in to tell him more and we were able to teach him about the restoration and while I was quoting the first vision he started to cry and after he told us how he felt something and how he wants to start to change his life and to follow Jesus Christ. So we set a baptismal Date with him for March 26th and we told him about the Book of Mormon and he told us how we wanted to buy it and we told him that we would give it to him for free and he told us how he really wanted to read it. It was amazing! It was one of the coolest lessons that I have ever had. It was so cool and we went and stopped by last night and talked to him again and he has been reading a little bit of the Book of Mormon and he said it has helped him especially to overcome some of the challenges he is having.

  This week has been really weird because I really felt like we were both going to leave but earlier this week I was looking at my planner I had right after I left Abby for the first time and I wrote down areas that I wanted to serve in and I wrote down Abbotsford 2nd and I remembered right after I left here the first time I prayed and asked if I could come back here before I went home. It was really crazy because I totally forgot about that and It was really cool because he answered my prayer from a long time ago and I am really glad he did because I have learned so much since I came back here. It has really helped me to grow and to change more into who I need to become. I know this sounds really cheesy but it has really helped me to come back here so I am not just saying this to look cute but this is real! Well, I have to go and pack and clean up our apartment and do some other "fun" stuff.

Love Elder Slack

{August 3 & 10, 2015} On to Brookswood after a fond farewell to some great friends

     These last few weeks have been awesome! One of our investigators came to church yesterday; he loved it. We went and saw him later that day and he told us how he feels like our church is the one he wants to join! So that was pretty cool to hear but he missed church this week and has been really busy but we are going to see him today so that should be good and hopefully he will continue to progress. 

  

     Well, we got transfer calls on Saturday and found out that I am leaving again to go to Brookswood, which is in Langley, and my new companion will be Elder Matingly and he has been out 6 weeks. Elder McCown is going to be training a new missionary here in Surrey. I am pretty sad to leave here but it has been good and I am excited to go to Brookswood. For some reason I can't stay in an area for more than 3 months or keep a companion for more than 6 weeks but I guess there is a plan!

Elder Matingly's sweet flag

     So the last few weeks have been pretty similar and we have been continuing to meet with our investigators. Valentino is the one that told us he wants to join our church and he is really cool. He has come to church 3 times and is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy! He loves it and really enjoys meeting with us. 

      Another one of our awesome investigators is Sonny. He has been doing really good. He has been reading the Book of Mormon a lot and it has really changed him. He was not too happy last night when we went and told him one of us was leaving. 

Elder McCown, Sonny and Will

He is so awesome and has really shown me that the Book of Mormon can change lives drastically! We have been working with quite a few other people too. One of the coolest lessons we had this week was on Sunday when we met with a guy we met at Surrey Central named Egor. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and he really liked it. He told us that he was going to come to church and really wanted to read the Book of Mormon to learn for himself. It was so cool because it was all the spirit that taught him and he is someone that has definitely been prepared!

      This week was kind of sad because Elder Lawlor and Elder Woolf are going home so we got to see them for the last time last night. It stunk because Elder Woolf has been around me for 6 months, 3 in Kamloops and 3 here, we became really good friends and Elder Lawlor has been here the whole time I have been here and he is going back to Japan so I probably won't see him for a while.

 I have loved Surrey and I am really sad to leave but I am really excited for Brookswood and to go where the Lord needs me!

Elders Nelson, McCown, Maloy, Kelly, Will and Elder Hall

Elder Hall, Will and Elder McCown at the Vancouver Temple. Their chapel is right by the temple. 

Janet (investigator) and her son who is a recent convert 

Will & Bro Brown (his mission president's uncle)

Love Elder Slack

This week has been so busy but the good busy

     Well this week has been really awesome! I got Elder McCown on Wednesday and we pretty much just drove missionaries around all day to their new areas so it was a pretty boring day. For the rest of the week we were really busy teaching a lot of lessons.

      We met with Gus and talked to him about his smoking and he set the day to quit for July 1st and he told us after he quits smoking he wants to get baptized so that’s really awesome and we are really excited for him because he is a very cool guy and he loves the church. We also were able to see Janet again and she came to stake conference and she told us she was 97% ready to be baptized so she is so close and very ready. On Sunday morning, an hour before church we were told that an investigator from Whitehorse, which is in the Yukon, had come to our area and that he wanted to come to church. So we found him a ride and he came! His name is Ram and he is so cool. We set up a lesson with him for later that night and taught him the restoration and about baptism. He told us how he wants to be baptized so we set a date with him for July 19th but sadly we won’t get to teach him anymore because he is YSA age and will be taught by the YSA Elders but he is so prepared and ready to be baptized.

     This week has been so busy but the good busy. We have been teaching a ton and have a lot of really amazing people that we are teaching. It was also really cool because yesterday the Trio got back together! Elder Kelly, Elder Tolman and me. It was so good to see them both because it’s been forever since I was in Kamloops with both of them. Elder McCown is from Tuscan Arizona and he is really cool! We get along really well. We came out together and he was born like a month before me so we are practically the same age and from the same area, kind of. Well I have to go. See YA!

Love Elder Slack

Garry gets baptized!!

     Well this week was pretty good I guess. Just a typical normal week except for on Saturday when Garry GOT BAPTIZED!! If you don't remember Garry he is someone that Elder Boehmer and I worked with a lot to help him and when I left we set a date for June 6th and just before I left he had quit smoking. I was able to go to the Baptism with Elder Samis, who is serving in the same ward as me and he found Garry when he was serving in Clearbrook. So just on that this week is a pretty amazing week. It was also really good to see Elder Kelly and Elder Boehmer. 

Elder Samis, Elder Kelly (Will's 1st companion & trainer), Garry, Elder Boehmer (Will's last companion who just happens to have the same birthday as Will) and Will

      Besides that this week has been really good. We were able to teach a lot more lessons. One of our investigators, Janet, finished reading  the Book of Mormon on Saturday and she told us that she is 96% sure that she wants to be baptized! Which is pretty awesome. She just has a concern that she doesn't understand why bad things happen to people if God is a loving merciful God. She has come a long way from when she first sat down with the missionaries because at first she didn't even believe in God and now she is really close to baptism. We also saw Gus this week who is an investigator that we have been team teaching over the last few weeks and he is really awesome. He has a baptismal date for June 28th and loves coming to church and knows the Church is true but just needs to quit smoking and he can be baptized at anytime. We have some really awesome people that we are teaching right now that have been prepared and are growing in the Gospel.

      Surrey has been really awesome and has really been something that I needed to help me get out of my shell and my comfort zone and to really rely on the Lord and trust that He will help me. That is when we are most successful as missionaries, when we are completely relying on the Lord and trusting that if we do what He has asked us to do that we will help our brothers and sisters to find the Gospel to come unto Christ. Sorry for not emailing last week I just forgot to and didn't remember until last Tuesday so sorry. Well I hope your week has been as great as mine!

Love Elder Slack

Elder Bonfield 

Farewells...Reunions and new adventures ahead

      Well this week has been crazy because of the transfer this week. Mostly because we where scrambling around on Tuesday trying to pack and visit members and investigators before I left Clearbrook and then we had to travel to the Mission Office to meet our new companions and we didn't have a map to the mission office and Elder Boehmer and I had only been there once so we were using our memory and the spirit to get there on time and we only got lost 3 times but two of them were in Vancouver so that was an experience and not a very fun one but we finally made it there a half hour late but we did make it. I finally got to see Elder Kelly again after 4 months so that was pretty sweet and really fun. I finally got to meet my new companion Elder Bonfield who is from Ontario Canada so I still have a Canadian companion so I am still the only American when we go anywhere.

      Anyways, Surrey is very different from my last two areas in that it is a lot bigger than Clearbrook and Kamloops and it’s more of a city with a down town so we do a lot more street contacting especially at a place called Surrey Central where there are thousands of people walking through because there is a mall, university, bus loop and a sky train station so there is a lot of people there and it was really overwhelming the first day we went there but it got better the longer we stayed there. 

     On Friday we went on an exchange with the Assistants, Elder Englestead and Elder Cottingham. I went with Elder Cottingham and we went to Surrey central for 4 hours just talking to people and it was crazy and very busy. We met a ton of crazy people and a few Jehovah Witnesses, which are always fun to talk to. 

     Sorry I have to go but our time is cut short because we are emailing on Tuesday so I have to go. 

Love Elder Slack

                                                  Saying goodbye

Elder Boehmer, Will & the Bumbys 

Will and the Noftles 

Will and the Vidals

Will and Brother Newman

Will & Garry (baptism date set for next month)

God works in mysterious ways

     Well this week has been really awesome!! Some really crazy things have happened this week like on Thursday night we just got done with our correlation meeting at the church and when we are just about to leave these 4 East Indian foreign exchange university students walk in and ask if they can have a church tour, so we said of course and we showed them around and gave them our number and they said they would call us back. Then on Friday we were out and we dropped by a person who had told previous missionaries that they could come back and so we went and knocked on the house and the lady that answered said that the person we were looking for moved but then told us we could come back because she was interested in learning about our church because her biological family was Mormon, so we set up a time to come back later that day and had a really awesome lesson. So needless to say we saw some pretty awesome Miracles this week!

     One of the people that we have been working with is Garry and we have been seeing him a lot this transfer. We have really been trying to help him to progress and quit smoking because he has told us several times that he wants to get baptized but he can’t because he still smokes but over the last few weeks he has been really cutting back. So yesterday I fasted that he would be able to over come his smoking addiction and last night we went over to see him and he told us that he had tried smoking but only smoked half a cigarette because it was making him sick. You know what they say God works in mysteries ways. It was so awesome to see him and he is truly progressing and has a strong desire to get baptized. So we set a date for him to be baptized on June 6th and it really looks like he is going to make it.

     One of the other really solid people that we have been working with is Katrina. We met Katrina at the beginning of the transfer and invited her to General Conference and she came but right after that her mom passed away and she was really busy planning the funeral and had a lot on her plate but a few weeks ago she texted us out of the blue and asked when church was so we told her and she came last week! At church yesterday she told us how she found a Book of Mormon 30 day study challenge. So that is insane! She is so awesome and has been prepared by the Lord to hear the Gospel. 

      One of the things that I have really learned on my mission is that it’s not me and my companion that convert people, it’s not us that prepare people but it’s the Lord. Yes, we do teach people and we do help prepare people but it’s someone much bigger than us that brings people to the Gospel. I have loved my mission and have really learned a lot and am really excited to continue on and learn a lot more. 

      I am so grateful for this gospel and for what it has done for me. I am extremely grateful my Savior for giving me the opportunity to share his gospel with others and for giving me the opportunity to choose to live with God again. I know he lives and I know that he is always there for us no matter what we are going through. I know he loves all of us. 

Love Elder Slack