The Lord promises to bless us and take care of us as we put him first and show our faith!

    Well, this has been a pretty eventful week with a lot of up's and some down's but to just let everyone know I have two new companions now - Elder Flood and Elder Evans because Elder Cowley went home. Not anything that he did wrong or anything he did not clear up before his mission but he was really struggling with his anxiety and it was really starting to effect him in the work and all aspects so he decided to go home to sort it out and plans on coming back. So, it has been an interesting last couple days sorting everything out and figuring out what I am going to be doing for the last 3 weeks of the transfer but it looks like I will be staying in Victoria with YSA Elders who pretty much cover the same area as me so it should work out good!

    

     So this week has been a little crazy to say the least but I am glad that we can just get back to a normal week! We did have some really cool things happen this week though! We found a new investigator named Jasem, he is from Iran, he has been here for a couple years and is a neuro scientist I think I talked about how we found him last week so if you remember back that far you will remember how awesome Jasem is! We were able to teach him a couple of times this week and it was really good but very different because he has no knowledge of Christianity at all so we have had to keep it pretty basic with him but he is very interested in it because he did not agree with many of the teachings that he grew up with and really wanted to learn more about Christ and then he ran into us so pretty much a miracle! We had some really good questions and things that he was wondering if we believed and pretty much everything he asked can be answered by the lessons we teach as missionaries. So he is doing really well and the rest of his family is moving over to Victoria this week so he wants us to meet his wife too! so that was pretty cool! We also found a couple this week too, named Farie and Fahrac (fa-rock) who are Ba hi but are really open to learning and listening and they have met missionaries before so they new a little bit but we where able to teach the restoration to them and they actually knew quite a bit of it and  want to learn more so we will see how that goes.

    Victoria has been amazing and it looks pretty likely that I will be finishing my mission here which I am not upset with at all! I have been able to learn a lot here just all of my areas but here in Victoria I have realized how little time we truly have our missions and how as we put Heavenly Father and what he has asked us to do first then everything will all workout and I guess it is a little easier on a mission but that is a principal that is applicable to everyone. What ever assignment we have been given. The Lord promises to bless us and take care of us as we put him first and show our faith! As we truly trust and Believe what we know to be true. As we believe the Lord when he says "I am bound when you do what I say but when you do not what I say ye have no promise" He is bound to bless us as we are obedient and fulfill and magnify our callings. He has to do it because he is bound to do what he says or he would cease to be God so its a pretty safe bet that he hold his end of the bargain as we do ours. I know, Believe and can testify that this is true that the Lord wants us to be blessed. He wants nothing more than to see us full of joy and happiness and that will happen as we put him first and do the things that will not only bless us but others as well through our service!

Love Elder Slack

The X Men Castle - it is the castle they used in the Xmen movie The new Squad!

New Companions Elder Flood and Elder Evans - a tripanionship once more

We did not even plan to be downtown at that time but we felt that we should go there

   This week was not quite the same as the previous. We where not able to see many of our investigators this week but we where still able to see Ryan and he is doing so good! We were also able to find some really cool potentials that we are going to be teaching this week!

    Ryan is still doing amazing and is still changing a ton! He set a goal to be fully clean by Sunday so we are really praying for him that he can do it! We had a really good lesson this week with him and we taught him about the temple and how we want to not only to be baptized but to also continue on and prepare to go to the temple and it was such a good lesson and he told us how he wants to do that and make it a goal and how he wants to be married and sealed there! It was so Legit!!! He has such a good testimony of the Gospel and how it can change peoples lives! He even brought his cousin to church yesterday! He is pretty much doing everything a member does except he is not baptized but he is a great missionary and pretty much the coolest thing since sliced bread. He is preparing to be baptized in August so I hope that I am still here when he does!

  We also went on an exchange with the YSA Elders this week and I was with Elder Evans in their area and We were in Downtown Victoria and while I was talking to someone another guy came up behind me and just stood there until I finished my conversation and then he just asked me what I was doing so I told him how I was a missionary and how we share a message of Jesus Chirst and then he told me how he wanted to learn more about Jesus Christ and that he had tried to contact a Catholic priest but he never got back to him and then someone told him that "those guys who walk around downtown in white shirts and ties teach people". He said that he did not believe the guy that told him it so he came to see if we really do that and once he saw that is what we were doing he came up and started to talk to me. It was so cool because before this we had been walking around for 35 minutes and had no luck and we did not even plan to be downtown at that time but we felt that we should go there and it was a Miracle! His name is Jasam and he is from Iran and we are going to see him tonight!

Well that is all the time I have but Victoria is about the most beautiful place in BC and I am really loving it here sooo talk to you next week!

Love Elder Slack

Share the Gift

     This week has been a really good one! We have been working with Ryan and he is making some really good progress and he is continuing to move forward to his baptismal date of July 22nd. We were able to teach him the law of tithing and he told us how he did not like giving his money to churches but that this church is different and that he would live the law of tithing and that he wanted to pay his tithing from when he first started to come to church six weeks ago! We have seen so much progress with him and he is doing so well! He really is becoming converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is gaining a strong testimony of the restored Gospel! He is so solid and it is just another testimony of member work because he was brought to church by a friend and he had talked to missionaries before and they had invited him to church but he never came but since his friend brought him to church and it was someone he knew it was different and since then he has been progressing so much and has been doing so good!

      Elder Cowley and I have been able to do a lot of teaching this week and have been able to see some really cool miracles this week one with that referral from the Merretts and we were finally able to see him this week! His name is Peter and he is so Cool! He used to be a financier for the Canadian Government and used to travel all over the world with the Prime Minster and finance projects that they were doing. Anyways he has been retired for a few years because he is confined to a wheel chair and could not travel anymore but when we met with him he told us how he had met a lot of members of our church and he had always been impressed by how we live and how we seem to be good people. He really wanted to know why, so we told him about how we follow the example of Jesus Christ and believe in living what we preach and how we believe it is very important to live the life that we learn about. He is very interested because he grew up Catholic but left it because they told him how asking questions was bad and they would not answer the questions he had but he does still have that belief in Christ and God. He is very interested in learning more and finding out for himself. 

      It is really cool to see how people seem to notice what we do and how we as members do live our lives and that is definitely doing missionary work but if no one would have talked to Peter that work might not have yielded all the fruit it could have. I have seen a lot how important it is not only to live what we teach and doing our best because we will not be perfect and then talking to people and trying to share the Gospel in any way we can, not being crazy weird or pushy, but just sharing what we know has changed and blessed our lives, kind of like how we tell people about a good movie or a good place to eat!

  Well I gotta go so talk you next week!!

Love Elder Slack

It was so cool to see how Heavenly father does truly prepare his children to hear the restored Gospel!

 Well I do not have too much time today but this week has been great! We have been able to teach so much and have had a lot of success in finding too! We found three new people to teach this week by knocking on their door and them just letting us in! It was so legit!! We have seen so many miracles! One of the people that we knocked in to is Clark and we were able to teach him the restoration and when we got to the first vision and the Book of Mormon he was so shocked. He told us how he had never been taught that before and wondered why no one else taught about there being another prophet on the earth. It was so cool to see how Heavenly father does truly prepare his children to hear the restored Gospel!

   We also had some really good lessons with Ryan who is down to 2 cigarettes a day at the most! He had been coming to church every week and has been reading the Book of mormon like crazy! He even started to read the gospel principles book to and he is really loving it!

 Well I have to go but thanks to everyone for all the Birthday wishes!

Love Elder Slack


Yep, you read that right...it's this missionary's birthday! He's finally hit the big 2-0! Crazy! How did this boy...

Get to be so old, where has the time gone...but, just look at him now...a mom couldn't be prouder. What a wonderful young man he has become. 

A mission is definitely not what I expected or anticipated but it has been exactly what I needed

This week was good. It has been a little hard because lots of our investigators stopped meeting with us but we have really been blessed with some new people to teach. We were able to find a family this week and they are really cool. Their names are Troy and Joslynn and they have four kids. They are a really cool family that we tracted into and they let us in and we talked to them for 30 minutes and went over what we do as missionaries and went over how that message that we share is meant to bless families and how important the family is and they told us how they used to go to church but they felt like God was being taken out of church and that people were not living what they were preaching and they told us that the church they used to go to did not feel right and that something was missing. We told them a lot about our church and how we feel the spirit there. It is a place that we go to worship and fellowship. They really liked it and told us that we could come back after spring break because they would be really busy. It was such a great experience! We talked to them about how that spirit that is missing in other churches is in our church and that we believe that the church that Jesus Christ established is the same church that we attend now and it has been restored to the earth. It was really great to meet them because we have been doing a lot of tracting and going by people that met missionaries before and we have not had too much success but we met this family who have really been prepared to hear the Restored  Gospel. They have been missing something and This Gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness. We have been able to set up some lessons with other people that we met and with some people that met missionaries before so the work has been a lot better here and it is going good. 

   A mission is definitely not what I expected or anticipated but it has been exactly what I needed and I am very grateful that I still have some time to learn some more and to continue to share this Gospel that has blessed my life so much. Crazy thing is I didn't understand, and I am not sure that I still do completely, how much it has impacted my life and blessed me until I came on my mission. I have seen how it has changed others lives as well and given them that hope that it has given me. I have come to learn how real the Gospel is and how much it does help us with and how much Christ helps me with everyday, even things that are not directly related to the Gospel or things I thought were not related to the Gospel. I have also learned that life is not meant to be easy and it will never be easy. Something that President Burt says a lot is that there is not much growth in a comfort zone and there is not much comfort in a growing zone, that is a butchered paraphrasing but basically it means that hard things help us grow and learn and mold us into who God needs us to be.

Love Elder Slack

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

And the miracles keep coming

 Sorry that I did not send an email last week. I wrote it but I actually never sent it so I am just going to write this one.

   So this week was great! We have seen a lot of success this week. We were finally able to see a part member family that we are working with, the Swensons, this week and had a really good lesson about the Plan of Salvation and what was even more of a miracle was their son Calvin was very calm through the whole lesson and we were able to teach everything that we wanted and the spirit was so strong and it was awesome then we were supposed to see them later that week but when we went by Ron, the father, was not there so we just talked to Jeanie, who is the member, and we invited them to a primary activity on Saturday and to church on Sunday but they were not able to make it to the activity and we where waiting for them at church but they were not there when it started so we went and sat down but 20 minutes into the meeting they showed up and it was a miracle because we had a Multi stake Conference yesterday so church started an hour earlier than normal so they did not know but luckily a member who lives in the basement went up and asked if they knew so they were able to make it so it was pretty much a miracle! 

  We were also able to meet a bunch our other investigators and had some really good lessons we even had our investigator Luyi sing in the choir for the ward. We did not have much else happen this week but it was really good!

Love Elder Slack

{1/18/16} Abbotsford is Amazing!!

Abbotsford is Amazing!! These last few weeks we have seen so many miracles and have been able to teach so many people! One of the coolest things happened Thursday night when we got a text right before we went into a lesson from a random member of a person that told us how they had met missionaries a while back and that they wanted to become a member of the church and that she had been going to church in Vancouver with her boyfriend! That is a miracle in and of it self but when we figured out her name I figured out it was a lady that Elder Boehmer and I found last April that was coming to church and had a baptismal date but then her life got really crazy and she dropped off the map. So that was one of the coolest things that happened this week! 

  We also had a part member family come to church yesterday and come for all of church. We talked to the husband after priesthood and he told us how he really likes the church and this is something that he is really looking into and he has seen how much his wife has changed the last few weeks since she has been reading the Book of Mormon and came to church last week!

  Then Brookswood called us Saturday night telling us that they met a guy that wanted to come to church so we got him a ride to church and he came to church yesterday and he really liked it and told us that he really wants to learn more! 

  We have been able to see a lot of really cool miracles this week and this transfer! I really love Abbotsford and I am really glad to be able to stay here for another transfer!

Love Elder Slack

I Love Abbotsford!

This week was so great! We were able to see most of our investigators and were also able to find a few new ones.

 We were able to see most of our investigators this week. We were able to see Luyi who is a home stay student and is staying with one of the families in our ward. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was really good. He asked a lot of questions about baptism and the need of authority and it went really well. He is really thinking about baptism right now but he wants to make sure that is what he should do so we will continue to teach him and to help him build his faith. 

We also got to see Gord who is doing really good. We were able to find a good member who was able to connect with him and we had a really good lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he committed to come to church and He came! We have been trying to get him to church all transfer and he came with his two kids and it was great! The kids really enjoyed primary and he really enjoyed church and finally started to read the Book of Mormon too. So he is doing really great! We have seen some good progress from the last couple weeks from him.

We have also been able to find some really cool people recently and we were able to see one of them last night after our specialized training. His name is Joel and he was really interested in the Book of Mormon so we were able to teach him about the Book of Mormon last night and it was really good. He really wants to change his life around and is trying to forgive himself for things that he has done in the past so we are helping him know how to do that. 

   We have seen a lot of success this last week and have been able to see a lot of people and to teach a ton! I Love Abbotsford and I am really glad that I got sent back here and got to spend some more time here. Hopefully I don't get sent somewhere else in a couple weeks when transfer comes again.

Yeah, it snows a lot here in Canada

   Well not too much else to report except it snowed here again! not much stayed and it is mostly slush now but it did stay for a little bit so I did get some snow in my last Christmas in Canada. Well I gotta go!

Love, Elder Slack

{11/11/15} The Spirit is What Testifies of Truth

This week has been a ton better than the last! We were able to teach a lot more this week. We found a lot more people to teach this week and were able to contact some people that used to be taught by missionaries in the past.

  We actually went by a guy named Nick and the Elders in the past because he was really hard to contact but we went by and caught him home. We went in and started to talk to him and he told us how crazy his life has been and he actually asked us if we think going to church and reading the scriptures could help change his life for the better and we where shocked because no one ever asks us thoses types of questions and so we jumped on it and taught about how those things are ment to bring joy to our lives and how following the example of Jesus Christ and keeping his commandments helps us find the most joy in this life. We taught him the Restoration and about baptism and he told us how he feels like he needs to be baptized so we set a date for him to be baptized on December 13th. It was so cool to see how ready to hear the message we share and how he has been prepared to accept it now. 

  We also found 3 new investigators that are all from Central America. This week I really wished that I had taken that spanish class in high school more seriously because they all spoke english but not that great. One of the people we taught is Sabas, and he is from Mexico and he is up here for work. He comes up here every year for 6 months to work on a farm and we went out to where he lives and he lives in what looks like a group home but its just for all the workers on the farm and so we taught him the restoration and he was really attentive and I dont think he understood everything but he told us that next year when he comes back to BC he wants to come to our church and he wanted a book of mormon so he asked if we had one in spanish and so we are going to take one to him before he leaves back to mexico. We will probably not see him get baptized but the spirit in that lesson was really strong and he seemed really intersted like the he felt the spirit in the lesson and it was so cool. If only we spoke spanish. At least the spirit is universal!

  This week I have learned a lot about how important is to have the spirit in lessons and to always feel the spirit in our lives because it is how we stay strong in the gospel because the spirit is what testifies of truth and it is how we can and always will know that this Gospel is true and that this is the Church of Jesus Christ on the Earth today.

Love Elder Slack

Another crazy week in Brookswood

Well we have had another Crazy Week! After Ken got Baptized our teaching pool went down after we reflected some people and some people said they did not want to meet anymore. So we did a ton of finding this week and we actually got 2 new really cool people to teach. One of them was a referral from a member and his name is Ray. He is an ex Jehovah witness and we are not sure why he is not a JW anymore but what really matters is that he wants to learn more about the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints so that is really awesome and he really wants to read the Book of Mormon and he actually has some roommates who are interested in Mormons too and would like to learn more so it looks like the spirit is a real thing and that it does really work on people and the God does really prepare his children, who would've guessed?!

  

  The other new person that we are teaching is Mike. He was given our number by some previous missionaries in Brookswood and he gave us a call a few weeks ago and we finally got to meet him last night and it was so cool. We honestly thought he was not going to be that interested and be one of those people that likes to argue and we were dead wrong. It was such a great lesson and he told us how a lot of things have gone bad in his life recently and how he is really trying to put his life back together and really wants to grow closer to God and it was a super good lesson and we talked a lot about the things that Christ has done for us and how the Gospel and the message we share is meant to bring joy to our lives and we invited him to be baptized and he accepted it!! It was so awesome and the spirit was so strong!

  So this week has been a little harder because we have not been able to do as much teaching, but meeting these two new friends it was all worth it and we are so glad the God has prepared people to accept the message of the restoration and to feel the Joy and happiness that comes from this gospel.

  In knowing that, this should not be a side note but Ken was confirmed yesterday and it was great. After the confirmation he had a huge smile on his face and was just really happy! It was great and Ken is even cooler because he loves baseball and he always tells me what is going on with the post season so I guess we are pretty good friends. 

  Oh and we got transfer calls and I am staying in Brookswood and Elder Mattingley is going to Powell River and my new Companion is Elder Harris and he has been out for 3 months. Well I gotta go so see ya!

Elder Slack

None of the work for salvation we do is about us...it's about helping others.

  Well this week has been a bit of a gong show. It has been really crazy because it has been kind of difficult to meet with some of our investigators; like Sheila and Leaf and Eric but we were able to see Sheila and Eric yesterday when we dropped by and we had a really good lesson with Sheila and figured out some of her concerns about being baptized and are really helping her through them so it was really good to see her again.

    The best thing that has been happening this week is probably that Ken is really progressing and is getting baptized this Sunday!! It has been so cool to see how much he has progressed in the last month since we found him. He came to Conference and really liked it! He is doing so good and really wants to be baptized and really wants to get the Holy Ghost so he can have it to help him in his life. Elder Mattingley and I are just really excited for him!!

  One thing we also figured out is that this transfer is going to be a shorter transfer than normal and will only be 5 weeks so on the 21st will be transfer day so we are not sure who will be leaving but it could be either one of us. Just a heads up. 

Well, I do not have a lot of time to talk about conference because the computer i am using only has 6 minutes on it before it shuts down so I am not sure what my favorite talk was but I really liked Elder Dale G Renlund's testimony and how he said something to the effect that this work is not about me it's about the Lord and Heavenly Fathers children. That really hit me because it's true. None of the work for salvation we do is about us; it's about helping others. That is what Christ did; none of the things he did were ever about him, the healings, the atonement, none of it; it was all for others.

well I have to go

Love Elder Slack

The spirit makes missionary work so much easier

This week has not really gone like we planned but it has been great! I want to start off with something that happened a few weeks ago when we had to go to the mission office. So on our way back we went to one of the only Krispy Kreme's in Canada and the only one in BC! It was so awesome and it was an amazing experience! 

  This week we were able to see Leaf and we took the Bishop to one of our lessons and it was awesome! We taught him about the restoration and he seems to really be soaking it up and he has been reading the Book of Mormon regularly so its only a matter of time that the spirit gets him and converts him. I love the spirit. It makes missionary work so much easier because it is the one that converts them. He was going to come to church yesterday but he got stuck in traffic and was going to be like 25 minutes late and he told us that he got frustrated and went home. So sometimes you just want to drop kick satan because he just pulls the lowest things to stop people.

  

   Ken is doing awesome! He came to church again and really enjoyed it and we moved his baptism to October 11th because of Conference but he has really been progressing and it looks like he is going to make his date. We had a really good lesson with him and we taught him the word of wisdom and found out that he has already cut out alcohol and coffee over the last year! It was really cool to see how he had been prepared by the Lord.

  

  I am almost out of time but I need to tell you one more thing. So we went to McDonalds on Thursday and Elder ordered a McDeca which has 10 patties on a McDouble. I know, I didn't think it was possible but it is and its not a rumor or a legend but it's reality!!

 Well, I have to go.

Love, Elder Slack

He seems a lot happier and it seems like he is feeling a lot more joy!

So this week has been crazy! Transfers were this week and neither of us got moved but we did have to take our car to the mission office so that we could swap our car with some Elders in Kelowna because we had a Subaru and they had a Cruze but in Kelowna it snows and it doesn't in Langley so they took the all wheel drive car to where it snows and the front wheel drive car where it doesn't snow. So we drove to Richmond on Wednesday and were there for 2 hours waiting for the car to get there and for it to get switched so they know were it is and everything so needless to say it was kind of a mess but it got done.

  So about a week and a half ago we went to the Canada US Border and it was pretty cool; no wall yet but that should be up right after Trump gets in office but for now it's just a ditch, trees and a piller because I guess it is not a big problem. 

We saw In-N-Out up in Canada but it was a 2 1/2 hour wait to get it so we didn't....it was really sad ;)

   Ken is Also is doing awesome! He came to church yesterday and loved it! He was able to meet a lot of members and had a really good time! He has changed so much since we first met him. He seems a lot happier and it seems like he is feeling a lot more joy! He is still on track to be baptized on October 4th still! He is so prepared and very willing to learn more. Sheila has also been doing well. We were able to give her a blessing yesterday because she has been sick for a week and it was really good because she said she felt a lot better. She is progressing really well and just needs to tell her family that she is getting baptized and then she will be baptized!! Another one of our investiagtors is Leaf and we have had a few really good lessons about the spirit and found out when he has felt it which was really good because he says he has never felt it but he has!

We found a free book thing on the side of the street so we put in a Book of Mormon and it was taken a few days later! So thats pretty cool.

Well I have to go love ya Bye!

Love Elder SLack