{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

Mastering the Public Transit System

     Well this week has been a mess! Pretty much all of the people that we are teaching went MIA and we were not able to contact any of them. So, we have been doing a lot of finding to get new people to teach. We spent sometime this week calling through people that previous missionaries  had already talked to and the people gave their number. So we have been calling through  them and have been able to set up quite a few appointments so hopefully this week goes better. 

      Something that happened this last week that I didn't get to tell you was, to start off we are not allowed to drive our car on Saturday so on Saturday the 24th we decided to take a bus up to the church to go to the trunk or treat that they were having and it was quite an experience because I have never really taken public transit and Elder Harris is from Vernal Utah and started his mission in a little town called Smithers so neither of us knew how to use a bus. So we got on after finding the right bus and we were heading up to the church but we didnt know that you need to pull a cord to tell the driver that you want to get off at the next stop so we were waiting for our stop and when we were about to get there the bus just drove by and we ended up getting off at a stop 8 blocks away from the church and had to walk all the way there in the dark on a road that had no side walks; so needless to say that was an experience. But we redeemed ourselves this week when we successfully used the transit system to get to our dinner appointment this last Saturday. So we are pretty much experts at it now. 

       Not too much has happened this week because we have been doing a lot of finding. Oh, but one very unique experience we had on Friday was that we were teaching one of our investigators who lives in an assisted living home because he is paralyzed on his left side. So we where teaching him in a little common area when all the sudden some JW's come and start talking to us and one of them was an old lady and she called us the "devils that call ourselves saints". Elder Harris and I we so dumb founded that we did not know what to do so we said a prayer with him and left because they totally just killed the spirit that was in that lesson. It was crazy. I have never had that happen to me before.

       Anyways I have to go and I am going to say sorry right now because this computer does not have spell check so I don't know how many things I spelled wrong.

 

Love Elder Slack

Another great companion in Brookswood

So, this week has been really crazy and I do not have a lot of time but I got a new companion Elder Harris and he's like 6 foot 5 so I am pretty short compared to him. Brookswood has been really good. We have a few new people to teach this week and we were able to see both of them this week. Their names are Mike and Ray. I'll tell you more about them next week but today has been really crazy and our email time is getting cut short because the library is really busy.

 

The Brookswood Ward has been really awesome! I am really glad that I got to stay here because the ward here is so supportive of us here. Well I am out of time. sorry for the lame email.

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

{10/13/15} 2 American missionaries and a Brazilian family celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving in Canada

Well this week was pretty good I guess not much happened except that Ken Got Baptized!! It was so cool and kind of funny because the font would only fill up to knee height so it was pretty interesting because he pretty much had to lay down and then get back up but hey it works. 

  So that was probably the best thing that happened this week and we also have been teaching a kid of a recent convert family that the parents were baptized in March and their son just turned 13 a month ago and they wanted us to teach him before he was baptized and help him understand the importance of baptism and he is going to be baptized next week so that is pretty cool.

  Also yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving and it was my first because last year I was in the MTC for Thanksgiving. We went to a Brazilian families house for Thanksgiving which is kind of funny because it was 2 American missionaries and a Brazilian family celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving in Canada. 

Also, Next week is transfers and we are pretty sure that one of us will be moving but we don't know who so if I keep my streak going of staying in areas for 2 transfers it will be me but Elder Mattingley has been here for 3 so we don't know. I don't know what else to write because I left my planner at our dinner appointment last night so I can't remember what we did. I guess that's what happens when you get old right?

  Well I'm gonna go

   Love 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