Dear Home,
I am in Prince Albert at the moment. It seems like it's been a while since my last visit to the city, but it's probably going to be my last day-trip to PA from Flin Flon. By the end of this transfer, I'll have been here for 6 months. I wonder where I'm going next...
In other news, we've had a bit of missionary-ish success lately. ^^ The first story is about a man that we've been able to help with a big project around his house. While we were tracting one day, we asked a lady if she knew anyone in the area who could use a hand with anything, and she informed us that her neighbor accross the street was re-doing his foundation. We dropped by at his house and at first it seemed like he was going to give us a response that we get quite often, 'Yeah, that's really nice of you, and I could use the help, but I'll be alright. You don't have to bother yourself on my account.' But before it got to that point, we showed him that we were serious- that we really wanted to help- by asking him not if we could but when would be the best time for us to come back and lend a hand.
Now, normally, I'm not that pushy. I like to be respectful and polite, but lately I've been more honest than I would like to be. Occassionally Elder Sheffield will ask me if such-and-such a thing annoys me, and my old such would answer 'not really. maybe a little', except now I've been answering 'yes' without giving it much thought. That bothers me because it makes me sound like a jerk, but Elder Sheffield says that he doesn't mind my honesty.
Of course, a random stranger on the street might not see such honesty in quite such a forgiving light. They might think we're being pushy, that we're trying to force purselves on other people. 'Oh, you don't want our help? Well, too bad! We're coming to help you anyway.'
Fortunately, our friend didn't see it that way. He let us lend a hand, knowing full well that we weren't expecting anything in return. He even showed us how a tiny jack can hold up a massive house while you're preparing a more permanent support. We got a good workout and a good feeling inside, followed by a good meal. The man was super nice to us and asked us to stay a little longer and join his family for dinner. We had a great time talking with him and his family. (The conversation didn't go to the gospel. That may come up later, though.) We look forward to helping him again soon. It felt good to be useful. If I can't help my family work on the kitchen, I can at least help a good man strengthen his foundation.
The second story of missionary success is more related to conventional missionary work. Several weeks ago, we got a call from the mission office. They had a Headquarters Referal for us. Appearantly, a man from near our area visited Salt Lake City (Mostly to see the Choir), and loved it, especially the Temple. He talked to the missionaries there and they gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, which he was excited to read and learn about. That's where we came in. He told the missionaries in Salt Lake that he wanted the missionaries in Flin Flon to come and talk with him more about this church, so they told the referals people his information, and they told us. From then on, we had been trying to get a hold of this man. We tried calling him in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings. No answer. We couldn't stop by him because he lived so far out of town, we couldn't justify traveling that far without a set appointment. Still, we had to contact this man, so we kept trying.
Eventually, we got a hold of him and set up a time that we could visit him. He had a lot of questions about the people in the Book of Mormon. "Who is Mosiah? What did he teach? Who is Alma? Who is Helaman?" Elder Sheffield did an amazing job at teaching from the scriptures and following the spirit. I was really impressed. It was a great lesson. That man is definitely ready to hear more about the gospel. =)
So that's our newest investigator. We won't be able to meet with him as often as we would like, but we can still call and talk to him, answer his questions, and all that. I'm really looking forward to teaching him again this Wednesday. He's a great man. ^^
The one thing I can think of that didn't go quite as well as it could have this week was Stake Conference. Because Flin Flon is so far removed and not all of the members have the time or the money to drive to the Stake Center in Saskatoon, we have to recieve group meetings like these ones via Satelite or the internet or whatever other way they can think of.
At first, I think they were planning on transmiting the conference by satelite, but that plan changed quickly. Towards the beginning of the week, they (and I have absolutely no idea who "they" are) told us that the conference would be held over the internet, so they gave us the website to go to, Brother Davis showed us how to set it up, and Elder Sheffield and I spent a good 30 minutes figuring out how to get the website to work. By Saturday evening, we had everything all figured out.
Then, Saturday night, our Branch President got an Email saying that Saskatoon had some kind of computer glich on their side and that transmitting the conference by internet wouldn't be an option. Instead, they told him how to access the conference call that they were going to set up, and he relayed the info to us.
Sunday morning, we called the number that the Branch President gave us. We got into a Conference Call "Room", but the moderator (Saskatoon) never showed up. We just sat there, listening to the On Hold classical music (which was pleasant), while we waited for Saskatoon to tell us what was going on with Stake Conference.
As it turned out, someone in Saskatoon got their information mixed up. The conference was still to be held over the internet (maybe the glich got fixed?). Eventually, we got the computer started up, logged on to the website, and finally got a live video feed of Stake Conference.
Then we got to set up the audio equipment. Murphey's Law.
But other than that, all is well. We're doing lots of good missionary work, and we're feeling the spirit. Life is good. God is good. We're enjoying life in His service.
Thank you for your prayers and letters. I greatly appreciate both. ^^
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