Lynn Lake

This week was an eventful one for sure! On Monday we decided that we should do something fun for P-day because it can be hard seeing as there are no missionaries and no basketball courts in Thompson! I was able to talk Elder low into going on an adventure! We went exploring in the bush just outside of Thompson! There was a fair bit of snow in the trees and we had no idea where we were going so we just explored around for a bit. There are so many snowmobile paths back in there that I think I could go there every day and still not walk them all! That night we were able to teach a family that lives in Gillam (4 hours NE) over skype. They have young kids so we had to get super creative with keeping them interested over skype but it worked well!

On Tuesday we were able to connect with one of our investigators for the first time since Elder Low arrived because she has had Bronchitis. Luckily she is better now! We continued teaching Pam this week and she is still really desiring to be baptised but we will have to postpone her date a little bit. She is like a sponge, we have taught her all of the lessons and now when we review them she answers everything correctly! She could probably teach gospel principles haha. 

On Wednesday we had the last District meeting as a District because this week is transfers. It will be sad to see the district change but I am sure it will be for the best! Our District leader had us share a spiritual experience/testimony builder from our mission and the spirit was so strong in that meeting! 

On Thursday the assistants to the President were supposed to be coming up for a very quick exchange which is a huge sacrifice for them because we are 8 hours north of them. Around noon on Thursday I gave them a call to see where they were at and they answered and old us that the roads were really bad so they weren't coming any more but I could tell that he did not want to talk so we said bye and hung up. We found out later that when I called him he had just crawled out of the side of the truck and was dialling 911 because they had slid into the ditch and rolled their tuck and it ended up on it's side. No wonder he didn't want to talk or explain why they couldn't come! The only major injury was to the truck so that was really good news! I guess we are just not meant to see other missionaries or something. 

On Friday we packed up for the weekend and headed four hours NW to a place called Lynn Lake! the roads there were good but they had a TON of snow there and we slid (in slow motion) into the ditch and were stuck in super deep snow but we were literally 200m out of Lynn Lake so we weren't scared or worried it was just annoying. We said a prayer before we did anything and literally as I opened my eyes a red truck rounded the corner. they turned around and it turns out they had just driven from BC to come search for Diamonds in Northern Manitoba. Anyway they pulled us out and we had a safe rest of our trip! Prayer works! We taught the family in Lynn lake and another Family in Leaf Rapids on the way back! We arrived back safely on Saturday afternoon/evening and we had soo many missed calls because there is no service anywhere so we did not have any service from Friday morning to Saturday evening. Saturday was transfer calls so the assistants were trying to get a hold of us but they couldn't! Finally when we did they told us where we will be spending the next 6 weeks... We are both staying in Thompson and I will finish the second half of Elder Lows training. We are excited because Thompson is the place every missionary wants to serve so we are lucky. 

Yesterday was the temple rededication and we attended the 11:00 session! It was really good, I bet the other ones were too but we only got the one in Thompson so that was it for us. We stayed busy this week and taught lots! 

Congrats to my brother on returning home safely. 

Love you all!

Elder Stewart

A Baptism!

This week we taught more lessons than I ever had before in a week! We continued to teach Pam this week and she is doing great! Most people we meet with only want to meet with us weekly or sometimes twice a week but not Pam! We taught her 6 times this week! We are so excited for her and her progress! 

Remembrance day was on Wednesday and it was weird not to be in Magrath for the ceremony but I figured we should still go to a ceremony so one of our investigators to us where to go and when! It was held at the ice arena (which is surprisingly big for such a small city, but hey it is a hockey town) and the whole arena was filled. We got there like 10 minutes early and could not get seats which was actually kind of exciting because I did not know how many people would go there. they had a bunch of RCMP and firefighters there in uniform as well as Cadets and scouts. The population here is almost split evenly between Caucasian and Native american people so at the ceremony they had a Christian preacher share a scripture on peace and they also had an Aboriginal elder do the peace pipe ceremony which I thought was a good idea to keep everyone happy. to make the ceremony even better they fed everyone Hot Dogs after! I have no clue who paid for it but it was great. 

on Thursday we had Zone Training meeting which was in Brandon but our Km's allotment didn't allow us to drive down so we Skyped in. Never try it, it doesn't work. Us and two other companionships skyped in but none of us could hear the missionaries in Brandon, we could only hear each other. It was awful because we couldn't leave 1. because we weren't allowed and 2. because the people in Brandon could see us even though we couldn't see them. Ultimately we sat there listening to every 5th word for 3 hours! believe me I was not sad when it was over haha. things got better that day though. We had arranged to meet an investigator at Tim's later that day. When we got there our investigator was not there yet. I started talking to a random lady and she was telling me what her favourite stuff from Tim's was. I had never tried her favourite muffin and she said I had to try it so she bought it for me! That made my day a little better! On Thursday night we met with one our members friends and he asked us all kinds of questions about religion in general and about The Book of Mormon. It was really fun to talk to him because the questions were hard to answer but he was not trying to Bible bash in any way! When Elder low and I walked out we felt like we had done a really good job! It really made me appreciate my studies because I was able to share some scriptures that answered his questions way better than I could have. 

On Saturday I got the opportunity to Baptize Jasmin. She is a girl from the ward, her father wanted us to teach her the missionary lessons so we did and then she asked me to baptize her. Her dad served a mission and wanted one of us to get the chance to baptize her so I did and Her dad confirmed her! It was a great experience and Pam was there, she really enjoyed the service.

My family has spent the week travelling eastern Europe and picking up Parker this week so I am sure that has been fun. I am living vicariously through the pictures.

Love you!

Elder Stewart

Thompson News

We had a fantastic week this week with so much success! Elder Low and I are working well together and we are getting along! Kinda funny but our poor truck needed more repairs this week. The tires were out of balance meaning that when we drove more than 60km/h the steering wheel would shake like crazy and the car would vibrate. talk about a smooth ride. Lucky for us the repair shop said it was their fault from last time they fixed our car so it was free!

Last Sunday we were tracting but we had to get somewhere so I said "Lets just tract up to that fire Hydrant and then we will go". We did and on the very last house before the fire hydrant we tracted into a lady named Pam who invited us to come back on Monday at 5. We didn't think too much of it but we went back on Monday at 5. She was waiting on her front porch to make sure that we remembered what house was hers and to make sure we knew she was home because her outside light was burnt out. That was some major dedication considering it was like -5 C. We taught her the message of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to be baptised! She said yes. She also invited us back on Tuesday and Wednesday and Saturday! We also invited her to church and she said yes. We arranged for a ride and when the ride gets there on Sunday morning there is Pam waiting outside in the freezing weather with her three kids because she was so excited to come to church! It is seriously a miracle that we found here and she is so ready for the Gospel.

We also have another investigator preparing for baptism but we do not yet have a set date. She is reading a ton! We hadn't talked to her in a week because she was sick and then when she talked to us she informed us that she had read all of second Nephi! The work in Thompson is progressing! I am so excited for both of them to get baptised because it will make both of them so much happier. 

On the topic of baptisms we have a young girl from the branch getting baptised this Saturday which will be the first one since I have been here. Both here and the family are so excited for her baptism. 

The weather here is toying with my emotions! It will be cold and seem like winter and then it will warm up just enough to melt the snow. So for this week we have had the cold but not the snow and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I am actually getting excited for winter to be here but I probably will be more excited for it to be over because all the locals say it is way worse than Alberta's winter. Brrrr. 

I hope everyone has a great week and congrats to Parker for finishing his mission on Wednesday! Thanks for the good example! have a safe trip home family!

Love you all!

Elder Stewart

Thompson is Great

This week we had so many good things happen! I mentioned last week that everything was going so slowly but it has turned around as we knew it would if we kept working hard and being obedient. We had a couple great lessons this week with a bunch of our investigators! We have one investigator named Tara who has eagerly agreed to be baptised! She just started meeting with us 3 weeks ago I believe but she has been reading so much and attending church most weeks! Elder Low is doing great and his eagerness and enthusiasm  for the work is unparalleled. I am really lucky to have him as a companion because he is definitely not lazy! We had to get the Wind shield replaced on the truck again. Luckily this time we didn't hit a crane! It was just a rock that a truck flipped up that did a real number on our Wind Shield. That is the second time we have had to get it done since I have been here! We have also had to get a new tire because one of ours split at the seam. We also had to get the drive shaft replaced because of the roads around Thompson. I am pretty sure our truck might be the most high Maintenance mission vehicle in the world! 

We went to Nelson House again this week and luckily the weather was a lot better than it was last week. I love going to Nelson House because the members there have a tough time getting in to church but they have some of the strongest testimonies ever! They have an eagerness to share the gospels as well which for us as missionaries is fantastic! One of the people in nelson house is an elderly lady (probably 95) who lives in an old folks home. She was baptised just a couple years ago and she is unable to make it to church on Sunday so we have permission to give her the Sacrament so we do it weekly. It is always a really spiritual experience and it is also very fun because she sings to us in Cree. Her favourite hymns are Silent Night and Away in a Manger so she sings them every week... even in July because "it is almost Christmas" but it is wonderful. 

On Halloween we helped at the ward primary party. It is a lot different than at home because only two families could make it so there were seven kids. We had a bunch of fun games set up and the kids had a blast. One of the families was from Lynn Lake. They obviously can't make it to church every week because that is 4 hours North of Thompson but the came in for the party and went "trick or treating" in Thompson. We had the chance to teach the kids after the party because the haven't been baptised yet! that was fun and I was impressed by how much they know because they have never been to Primary but it goes to show that the best place to learn and develop a testimony is in the Home! This family even stayed overnight and came to church on Sunday which was fantastic. We will go visit them in two weeks probably so that will be Sweet!

It was the Burkmans last fast and testimony meeting yesterday and the whole branch is going to be sad to see them go. They will be hard to replace especially because Elder Burkman has been Branch President and Sister Burkman has been doing primary but it will all work out! It always does.

Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Stewart

Elder Stewart claims he used his "culinary" skills and made moose stew.

First Week with Elder Low

This week was a slow one but it was good! I had always been told that when a new missionary enters an area it takes a couple weeks for things to get back to normal. I thought that it wouldn't be true for us but I was wrong. We had so many lessons scheduled for this week but so many of them just didn't work out in the end. It was humbling so I think it was a good week! Elder Low is doing a great job here in Thompson! He is doing really well with keeping his spirits high and he is quite confident in lessons which is something I struggled with at the beginning so that is great to see. 

It got really cold this week and I think it is safe to say we are in Winter here in Thompson! We have had about 6-8 inches of snow now, though not all of it has stuck around. It is below zero everyday essentially as well so I think I am in for a long winter! On Tuesday we drove out to Nelson House and the roads were still just dirt and stuff but they were dry. On the way back we were in a blizzard so we couldn't go very fast. While we were in Nelson House we taught a great lesson to a Recent Convert! Her name is Shelby and she shows so much excitement about missionary work. She is going to be teaching 2 lessons with us this week as long as all goes as planned! On Wednesday we had a district meeting but since some of the members in our district are in Flin Flon and others are in dauphin we don't get to actually meet so we Skype. The internet here is mediocre at best and the same goes for the other locations. We could not get a 3-way Skype going so it was a bit of a tough meeting! On Friday we had a real adventure! We got to go visit a family in our branch who lives in a place called Cross lake which is a reserve about 4 hours south west of Thompson! Elder Low Elder Burkman and I went there in the morning! We were really scared about driving on that road but it ended up being very nice! When we were at the house we taught a lesson to the kids on the Sabbath day! It is really neat to see and hear the testimonies of that family because they live too far away to make it to church every week and they don't have reliable internet so they can't tune in but they still just have the strongest of testimonies! I had the opportunity to give the mother a blessing because she had surgery last week. The drive home was fun because it is dark at like 7 here so we were in the dark most of the way home!

It was Stake Conference yesterday and we had it broadcast to our building! Elder Stacy of the 70 was in Winnipeg and he related the relationship we can have with our earthly fathers where we ask them for help if we need anything to the relationship we should have with our Heavenly Father. He testified that the communication with our heavenly father can be just as clear as with our Earthly Father. 

Have a Great week!

Elder Stewart

Moose antlers at Cross Lake

Cross Lake

Transfer Week!

This week was eventful to say the least! Elder Birchall and I did our best to stay focussed and continue to work hard as it was his last couple days in the area and we did really well with that! We taught a couple really good lessons and even found a new investigator! Her name is Debbie and she is showing so much potential! She truly wants to join the church and raise her kids with the morals and standards of the church! It is amazing how the Lord blesses us with so much as we are obedient! We also continued to teach some other investigators and it was tough for him to say goodbye to Thompson and the people here. It is amazing how much it just becomes "home" when you spend a couple months in a place! On Wednesday we drove down to Winnipeg which takes almost 8 hours! We had an uneventful trip down but since there is nothing between here and Winnipeg we didn't have lunch so we were super hungry by the time we got there! Winnipeg has a road called Perimeter Highway which is just that, a road that goes all the way around the city. We accidentally took Perimeter East instead of Perimeter West so we drove 90% of the way around the City before we finally got to the place we stayed the night. That was fun. On Thursday we had transfer meetings. For transfer meetings the new missionaries meet with President and Sister Craig and the Assistants for initiation and stuff and then the trainers join in for the end and then other missionaries in the area join in the meeting at the end. When we get there we just know that we are training and we have no idea who our new companion is going to be. President Craig calls up the new missionary and then projects a picture of the place they will serve and missionaries guess where it is because some of the pics are hard to recognize. After about 4-5 of the new ones President Craig called up Elder Low and instead of projecting up a picture of where he would serve a screenshot of the Google map was projected with the route to Thompson highlighted and it said 8.0 hours or whatever. It was funny and everyone laughed! I got to go meet Elder Low and he is my new companion! After the meeting We had Pizza and then everyone left as if nothing had happened and we get back to missionary work. It was neat to see how something so big like transfers doesn't delay the work of the Lord. Elder low is from Chestermere Alberta! He is a very musical guy! He has played the saxophone for many years and is quite the singer so we may have the first special musical number in Thompson in a long while! He is tall so I still look like a midget! Thursday night we stayed with the St James Elders just as we had on Wednesday night. We had some time after the meeting to do some missionary work so we went street contacting and had some success! Elder low even gave someone a Book of Mormon! Later that night the St James Elders left to an appointment so Elder Low and I and another new missionary who was leaving to go to Saskatoon the following day went and knocked some doors. these aren't the best ways of finding people but since none of us knew anyone in Winnipeg we just went for it. It was really strange for me to be the "experienced" one who they were watching as an example. It was kind of a good feeling though, and it makes me pumped to train! On Friday we drove back to Thompson and we are all back into the swing of things! We have taught a couple lessons together and Elder Low is a great teacher! Elder Burkman wasted no time in assigning us to speak so we both spoke Yesterday! Elder low spoke on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and i spoke on the Atonement. I am actually really enjoying speaking which is weird because I dreaded it at home. Yesterday was the biggest sacrament meeting that has happened since I have been here! We had 26 people which is insane for Thompson! We had two investigators surprise us at church because they hadn't told us they would come! It just goes to show that we have the responsibility to ask and invite everyone because sometimes that is all they need and we never know who is ready so invite everyone! I am excited to spend my next three months training Elder Low and I am also excited to still be here in Thompson!

Love Elder Stewart

Elder Evans (my brother)

Elder Birchall (My dad)

Elder Wilson (My grandpa)

Me 

Elder Low (My son)

Elder Stewart and Elder Low

Turkey and Training!

It has been a good week and we have taught quite a few lessons! On Monday we had the opportunity to give another lady a blessing! I have loved having these opportunities to exercise the priesthood with those who cannot otherwise access it because there are not too many male members here in Thompson! The lady we gave the blessing to is not a member of the church yet but she loved that experience so a seed is definitely planted. 

We also got to get our hair cut this week which was much needed! Elder Birchall and I both were just doing our best to not look like scrubs. On Wednesday night the Zone leaders Elder Wilson (Elder Birchalls Trainer) and Elder Owens came and did an exchange with us. I got to stay here in Thompson and go on visits with Elder Wilson and Elder Owens and Elder Birchall went to Nelson House. Elder Wilson and I taught one really great first lesson to a lady we met recently and she has committed to be baptised! We do not yet have a date set but she seems very sincere! We also received a phone call that day from a member of the branch whom I had never met before. He is from Lynn Lake which is 4 hours north! He expressed his desire for the missionaries to teach his family again as they are unable to make it to church most weeks. He invited us to go and visit his family so we are planning that for November. It was such a miracle for that to happen because 3 appointments had fallen through and we were almost to the point where it is like "What do we even do now?" but we met with him and taught him a lesson! 

The rest of the week was fun as well! Saturday was transfer calls so we were anticipating the call all day. It came at around 1:30 and it was one of the assistants. He asked us what we thought was happening. We both thought Elder Birchall was leaving and we were right! He is heading to Steinbech to whitewash train meaning that he and his new missionary have both never been to the area before. It will be tough but he will do great! We were then informed that I would be training here in Thompson! I was a little shocked but excited as well. We will be making the long journey to Winnipeg this week and then I will drive back up with my new comp. 

Sunday was the last Sunday here for Elder Birchall. Everyone is sad to see him go but he gave a great farewell testimony. In honor of thanksgiving we cooked a turkey and it was delicious! One of the members gave us a turkey and that is something I want to do every year when I get home. Just buy the missionaries a turkey because it takes so long to cook we just did our studies and went tracting while it cooked and now we have food for a week. Last night we visited a man in the branch who had a serious surgery where they actually amputated his foot. he is back in Thompson now so we visited him. He has a smoking habit but last night he said he didn't want the smokes any more and he gave them to us. We were super excited and couldn't believe it! This surgery has really made him more desiring of the gospel than ever so that is great! 

This week should be fun with 18 hours of driving! Love you lots! 

Elder Stewart

The thawing of the turkey. It was too big for the sink!

Looks pretty good! It's even the right side up!

The Feast.

General Conference Week

This week we spent a lot of time at the church! On Monday we got the chance to watch the funeral of Elder Richard G. Scott. It was really neat to watch that because I got to meet him like 10 years ago when President Evanson was called. There were some really great talks given and it was quite evident the sadness among the Quorum of the twelve to lose yet another member. I really liked Elder Christopherson's talk and the story he shared about the juice from the wineries. We taught some great lessons this week and focussed a lot on the prophet and apostles because of conference coming up! 

We also got to help a couple people move this week. Being the missionaries and having a truck just makes us the moving company but it is kinda fun to try to figure out how to get couches around corners and stuff. We put a real focus on teaching with members present at the lessons this week because it becomes very important for converts to have friends and feel welcome at church. We were able to teach with three different members this week which was a real increase! It also helps the branch strengthen and we will continue to focus on that in the coming weeks. 

We got to go to Nelson House again this week which is always a good day. We only get enough Km's to go there once per week so we need to make the most of it every time! We were able to teach two  new people and both expressed desire to be baptised! The tough thing is that to be baptised they must attend church and that is really difficult for those in Nelson House because of the drive. We went to stop by one of the members there and she wasn't home because she had a baby in Thompson. We came and visited her here in Thompson and after 5 days we were the only visitors she had had yet. It was really sad and she was understandably lonely. 

I got more out of General Conference this time than ever before, mainly because I was awake this time! I loved all of the talks but some of the best were Elder Hales on dating and marriage. You better believe I'm reading that 5 times when I print it off. Elder Burkman kept saying during it "You better be taking notes cause this is gold". I also really liked Elder Hollands on Mothers because it was a different kind of talk for him but he still got the point across well. Elder Anderson gave a great talk too, I liked when he said "Give brother Joseph a break". Elder Nelson's talk on women I also one I will read when I'm dating. It pretty much gives a check-list of things to look for in a women. Between his and Elder Hales talks I'm set! It was really neat to see Elder Renlund called because I talked to him a month ago! I was sad to see the physical condition of President Monson. I  thought he may collapse during his talk but I'm pretty sure every one watching started praying for him so he could finish!

After conference yesterday we went over to a members house and had a moose roast! It tastes very similar to beef just a little more wild! This Saturday is we get transfer calls. I think I will be staying in Thompson and Elder Birchall is leaving because he has been here for 4 transfers (6 months) already. After this week I will be done my training which is pretty crazy!

Love you! 

Elder Stewart

Elder Birchall and a younger "Elder Stewart".

This is the chocolate bar card that the Toly's sent. He loved it!!

Priesthood Power

This week was a really fun one! We had the opportunity to get to know some of the members of the ward so much better. We got to go bowling with a couple members on Tuesday and that was sweet because I didn't really think bowling would be an activity I would end up doing on my mission. Later that night we had a really neat opportunity come up. We were in our apartment almost ready for bed when the phone rang. We talked to the guy on the phone and we were asked to go give a blessing to his Granddaughter who had just flown into the Thompson hospital with Pneumonia. We had to get permission to leave because it was almost lights out so we were definitely not supposed to leave the apartment but we got permission and left. When we got there and I was given the opportunity to give this young girl (probably 4-5 years old) a blessing in the emergency room and that was super neat. I felt so bad for the mother, she was there with a 1 month old baby and a super sick 4 year old. She was doing her best but you could tell she was struggling. After the blessing we said bye and left. That night they were then taken to Winnipeg because the girls Pneumonia got worse. We are really worried about her but the news from the mother that we have received is that she is moving in the right direction. it was definitely one of the biggest testimony builders for me because the spirit was so strong in that hospital room and giving a blessing to a young child was just a super neat experience. It makes me excited to be able to give fathers blessings because I have heard people say how neat that is! the rest of the week went well also. We have continued to meet with Mike (the guy we met on the street) and he is progressing and loves reading the Book of Mormon. We got to do a lot of service on Friday by helping paint a member couples deck. It was a really sad day that day though because their 16 year old dog died the night before. I think they enjoyed the company though. the members here are so strong! It is amazing to me how strong they can have their testimony even through time times. We had the opportunity to go to Nelson House again this week and that was really great! We have an investigator out there who is preparing to be baptised and is very excited for that. the only tough thing about Nelson house is that we only get there once a week so we can only teach her once a week as well. All in all it was a great week and I am super excited for General Conference.

Thanks for the package. The coat may come in handy sooner, rather than later! It already snowed here last night. I can't believe I have only two weeks left of training. It has gone by so fast! I think I'll be staying in Thompson after this transfer. Love you!! Elder Stewart 

This is a picture Elder Burkman took of Elder Birchall and Elder Stewart. Sounds like they have been having lots of fun with him doing crazy pranks like stealing his ties and filling his shampoo bottle with melted ice cream. :) The Burkman's head home in 9 weeks.

Sis Burkman posted this comment on facebook this week:

Heath Birchall and Karri Hill Stewart we love and adore these two fine Elders. We are expecting Elder Seth Birchall to be transferred to another area soon and we are not looking forward to that day. When we leave in 9 weeks, there will not be someone to step into my husband's shoes so we are thinking it should be Elder Matthew Stewart. There are very few elders that are this wonderful. You both have raised some very fine men.

How BIG is the Winnipeg Mission???

This week was great! We taught quite a few lessons this week! We had a really neat experience on Tuesday. We were just street contacting over to the church which is like a 20 minute walk. On the way there we started talking to this guy and he seemed super interested. When we asked when it would be best to meet with him again he said "Let's just walk and talk". We did this and when we got to the church we invited him in and taught him about prayer because that is something that he really wanted to know about. At the end of the lesson he said a great prayer and we have met with him a couple times since then! He even attended church with us yesterday. Once a week we make the hour drive out to Nelson House and meet with some people out there. The road there is made up of patches of pavement and gravel. It is such a wet area though that the road doesn't really survive so it becomes somewhat of a trail instead of a road at places. There are pot holes everywhere but it makes for a super fun drive. Anyway we went there on Wednesday and met with a recent convert who has a super strong testimony. We made that drive safely but that wasn't the end of our dirt road drives this week. On Friday we went out to Gillam which is 4 hours NE of Thompson. There is a family that lives there that are super nice and the "tune in" to church every week because they are just too far away. It was really fun to visit them and get to know them better. We taught their kids a lesson on the Sabbath day. It is called "Not on a Sundae". What we did was had two bowls of ice cream and we asked the kids what their favourite things to do were. Each time they say something not appropriate for the Sabbath you say "not on a Sunday(sundae)" and put ketchup, mustard or BBQ sauce on the one bowl of ice cream. After you have put their delicious sauces on the top you offer them their sundae. They usually don't eat it and I'm not sure why. After that you ask them what good things to do on Sunday would be. Each time they say Pray, Church or something like that you put chocolate, caramel, or sprinkles on the top and offer them the good "Sunday". Then we had sundaes and it was a really good lesson that the kids actually enjoyed. We stayed the night at their house and drove back the following day but the road between Thompson and Gillam is famous for being the worst road in Manitoba. It makes the one to Nelson House look like the I-90. Just under halfway back we notice that the car is starting to pull to the right side so we stop and I open my door to hear air running from a tire. Our front right tire had popped and we were in the middle of no where. We had to change the tire on this muddy road and it was so funny because there we are in our shirts and ties underneath the care getting the spare. We made a successful change and made it back to Thompson safely and we were late for our lesson so we went even though we were a mess because we knew the person we were teaching wouldn't be offended. She just laughed at us but we had a good lesson so it all worked out. Our poor truck thou, it took a beating on that road.  

Have a great week and don't drive to Gillam if it is rainy!

Love Elder Stewart

The truck after the trip to Gillam

We're guessing that not many people have seen this sign!

Mission Conference in Winnipeg

This week was a really good week. We were out of Thompson for most of it but were still able to teach quite a few lessons. we are teaching quite a few people and have been able to find even more people that show genuine interest in the Gospel which is wonderful. We have been working so hard to help people come to church and decide to get baptised. our hard work is starting to have its effects. We taught a lesson to one of our investigators named Y'vonne on Saturday and have committed her to be baptised on October 10th. this is very exciting for us as well as the members of this small but wonderful branch here in Thompson. 

We had the opportunity to drive down to Winnipeg this week to hear Elder Dale G Renlund speak to us. It is about an 8-9 hour drive and since we carpool with the Flin Flon Elders we are crammed in a little car because it gets better gas mileage than our truck. It makes the drive really "fun". When we got to Winnipeg we went to a restaurant called Mongos. It is a Mongolian grill like Hu Hot in Kalisbell but it isn't buffet style. You get one bowl and however much you can fit in it you get to eat. As missionaries we have it down to a science. By the time we were done dishing up our bowls were about 9-10 inches tall. I could barely even eat half of the food so it was a great meal!! 

Elder Renlund spoke in last general conference about Latter Day Saints doing our best to not be Latter Day Sinners. It was a really great talk. Anyways, while we were in Winnipeg he gave us great training on how to be better missionaries. He focussed on having a good attitude and also a good effort. One without the other makes us incomplete missionaries. He explained that all of us have natural tendencies to either have a good effort with a bad attitude or visa versa. When we can overcome this natural habit of negativity is when we will truly become the best missionaries we can be. He also talked about Alma and Amulek. Alma was the missionary and he did lots of great things but he was much more successful when he found the Member (Amulek) and brought him to lessons as well. This is something our mission is really working on. It can be tough here in Thompson with so few members but we are working very hard to be able to get members in lessons with us. He also gave a really interesting quote that he heard from his sister but really liked so he shared it with us. It is "The church is just an Atonement delivery system." I thought that was a really neat way of looking at it. Sister Renlund also spoke about how to be an effective missionary and how to better plan for our lessons so that we are not wasting time and also so that we don't have to scramble during lessons. 

President and Sister Craig also gave a portion on how to better use members in our teaching and how to use ward council. We definitely learned a lot and are trying to apply as much of it as possible here in Thompson. They also encouraged us to focus more on inviting people because people need to be invited in order to progress in the Gospel. It was a great meeting and it was super fun to see all of the other missionaries there. it was only for the eastern half of the mission so i didn't see my MTC companions but i was able to meet so many missionaries and see my grandpa (my trainers trainer)

Love you all!

Elder Stewart

The famous rock frog in Thompson.

The District en route to Winnipeg - Elder Birchall and Elder Stewart in back,  Elder Blommaert and Elder Moore - the Flin Flon elders.

Working Hard to Find Investigators

This week was really great! On Monday evening we did a ton of tracting because at times we feel like we are running out of people to teach. We decided that this week we would put a special focus on finding new investigators. We did a ton of tracting on Tuesday as well and we were having little to no success. Many of the people would just crack the door open and say "no thanks". some were not as nice but we just kept knocking. Occasionally we would talk to someone and they would be very nice. Me met some people that said we could come visit later so that was really good. When we went back to visit them almost all of them weren't there. I said a prayer that we would be able to get in and teach a lesson. We continued to knock and two doors later we get invited in and teach lesson 1! The Lord answers prayers. We even set a return appointment with this person! We were so excited! Finding one new investigator may not seem like a big deal but for us here in Thompson it was huge! Finding a new investigator is not something we have been able to do every week. The lesson we had with here was really good but at the end when we invited her to say the closing prayer she agreed to. She began to pray in tongues. It was definitely like nothing I had ever heard before. Elder Birchall could hardly control himself because he was trying not to laugh. It was a really different way of praying but it was a neat experience any ways. The person Elder Birchall reminds me most of is Parker (Stewart). It is actually freaky how much they are alike. Pretty much every day he does or says something that reminds me of Parker. It is pretty neat and kind of feels like home. We had quite a few other lessons this week as well. We don't yet have anyone with a baptismal date but I know that as we keep working we can get one. Something else exciting that happened this week was Sister Burkman (A senior missionary here in Thompson) wrote the spiritual thought that was put in the weekly newspaper. It was really great publicity for our church! We are seriously hoping that it will open up some more teaching opportunities. This Sunday was fast Sunday which has always been my least favourite Sunday of the month but I haven't gotten as hangry since being on my mission. It has been a real blessing. Thanks for everything! I Know i said "don't send too many packages" but I was wrong, I love getting them. :) 

Love you! 

Elder Stewart

Elder Birchall with a really cool wolf tie!

Elder Birchall and Elder Stewart (Nice apartment!!)

Finally some Pics! Lots of Service.

This week was full of service! On Tuesday we went out to one of Elder Burkmans friends house to serve him. He has a lake house on a lake called Setting lake. I'm really jealous because it is perfect water skiing and it was hot that day. He offered to take us out on his boat to do some fishing but we aren't allowed so we didn't. It was sad. Any ways he had 15000 lbs of gravel that needed to be hauled and spread out throughout the yard. We were at it all day and finally finished. That is where the picture that President Craig posted is from. It was 50 trips with a 300 pound wheelbarrow. On the way back we took a trip to Pisew Falls and got some crazy pics there but while we were getting the pics I got soaked because of the spray that comes off of the falls. They are super neat falls! You should Google them. We both slept well that night. 

The rest of the week we taught some great lessons and that was really great! We have a couple progressing investigators and they are both really coming close to being ready for baptism. I have become a lot more comfortable with teaching as well as finding activities. 

We cut a lot of grass here but that shouldn't last too long because it should snow soon enough. When that happens I'm not sure when we will teach because the snow should keep us busy. On Friday we were mowing one of the members of the branches lawn. She is in a wheelchair so she can't do it and the people who she hired haven't been there in more than two months. when we got there to do it the grass was super thick and 18 inches long, no joke. We started mowing but the poor lawn mower couldn't make it 3 feet without dying. We had to take the bag off the back so that the grass wouldn't clog the blade. It worked well but we also had to raise the lawnmower to the tallest setting. We had to do some more creative adjustments to the lawnmower but after mowing the whole lawn 3 times we finished. It only took 4 hours! At the end we were covered in grass because the bag wasn't there to catch the grass. 

Saturday was exciting because we received transfer calls! One of the AP's called to inform us that I will be finishing my training here in Thompson with Elder Birchall! that was exciting!! It is almost guaranteed though that in 6 weeks one of us will be out of Thompson. 

On Sunday, Neither of the speakers were able to make it to church so both Elder Birchall and I spoke. I spoke for about 15 minutes on obedience and the blessings it brings. Elder Birchall spoke on "The Big Three"! Faith Hope and Charity. He killed it!

Love you all and have a great week!

Elder Stewart

Minute to Win It - Primary Party last week.

Huge shovelling job!

Setting Lake. Wow!!

Elder Birchall and Elder Stewart

Elder Birchall and Elder Stewart on Day 1 in Thompson.

After mowing!

At the lake house at Setting Lake holding moose antlers. They are HUGE!

Pisew Falls. We discovered that it's a provincial park.

The inside of his apartment. What more do you need besides an iron, ironing board,weights and a Bosu? :)

Lots of Lessons to Teach!

This week was a really good week! We were very busy and that is  not something that we can say every week so it was very exciting. We were able to teach so many lessons this week that it became very hard to plan for them all and I had never experienced this problem before because it is usually the other way around. 

On Monday we did our shopping and laundry and it makes me miss home because I never did much of that kind of stuff before the mission. Monday evening we had a really good lesson about the Plan of Salvation with a lady who has no religious background which makes The Plan of Salvation quite mind blowing for her. She seems really interested and enjoys the Book of Mormon so we are very excited for her. 

On Tuesday we went out to dinner with a family that just moved here from Churchill! It was neat to meet them and hear all about Churchill. It's really too bad we never get to go there but it is understandable because you cant drive there, you have to either take a plane or the train but the train ride is 16 hours. We almost got to go visit this family but then they moved here so there was no need to go to Churchill. Also on Tuesday we were just walking back home from the church and we met a lady on the street, we did the whole "we are missionaries" and all that, eventually we asked if there was a time to meet with her and share our message. She said "right now" so we taught the Restoration of the Gospel on the side of the road. That was the first time that had ever happened to me. 

On Wednesday one of the lessons we taught was to a less active member at the church but she was late so Elder Birchall and I got bored and ran over to the park across the road and went on the swings. I decided to try doing a back flip off of the swing while swinging but it didn't really work out , I landed right on my back and got my white shirt covered with sand. It was a bad idea but  decided to try again... Same result. I was in a bit of pain during that lesson but it was totally worth it! 

Thursday we went out to Nelson House again and Stopped by the lady who we taught on the side of the roads house. She wasn't there but another lady (we think her sister but not sure) opened the door. we talked to her and she invited us to have a lesson with her. That was the first time something like that has happened to me as well. We also had the opportunity to teach a less active member out in Nelson House. She had been reading the Book of Mormon and we actually read the last couple chapters with her to finish off the book. We were excited to hear her say after "well I guess I start over now". 

Friday was a good day too but Saturday was a big day for the branch because we had a primary party. It was a weird idea because since being here we haven't had more than 5 primary age kids at church. I wasn't too sure how the party would turn out but it went great. Elder Birchall and I led the kids in minute to win it games. There were like 15 kids! I didn't even know half of them but it was still good and a free meal for us!!

At church we got to listen to Brother Hinds give a talk! He is like a 75 year old guy from Scotland and if you don't know him you cant understand him through his accent. He is hilarious though and he talked a lot about letting God lead us and trusting in Him. His wife was supposed to teach Sunday school but she wasn't feeling well so guess who got assigned to teach Sunday school. We taught on Ether 12:6 and showed the video "the refiners fire" and read the story of Abraham and Isaac. it was actually kind of fun to be put on the spot like that and have to make it up as we went. Sunday night we went to the Hinds for dinner and it was amazing! He is actually quite the chef!

Thanks for all the love and support!

Elder Stewart

A LOT of Travelling!

This week was pretty crazy! We spent the rest of P-day playing tennis and shopping. On Tuesday we had a great lesson with one of our investigators. We had like four lessons fall through on Tuesday as well but at least we got one taught. That is one of the hardest things here on the mission because it's easy to get down when you have five lessons scheduled and four of them end up falling through but we are in good spirits anyway!

The rest of the week went by at 110km/h. Literally. On Wednesday morning we drove 3.5 hours to Flin Flon and did exchanges with them. I was with Elder Owens from Alaska and we taught some really great lessons. We then went and played soccer that night because they have some investigators they play with every Wednesday but for some reason no one else showed up but it was still fun just the four of us. Thursday morning we got in their car and began our eight hour driven to Brandon with them. We stopped in Neepawa and met up with our ZL's in Dauphin and the Neepawa missionaries and went to a members house for dinner. They fed all eight of us a delicious lasagna with Caesar salad and a pasta salad. We then left and finished our trip on to Brandon where we stayed with the Brandon Spanish elders. They are super great missionaries. 

Friday morning we went to specialized training at the Brandon building. Our whole zone was there as well as the assistants and President and Sister Craig. Our zone leaders taught a portion on how to teach, the assistants taught a portion on how to extend commitments and then President and Sister Craig taught a portion about on-line missionary work. It was really great to actually learn about on-line work because it can seem like a waste of time sometimes. After the meeting we had another great meal of... you guessed it Lasagna and Caesar salad. It was delicious though so I didn't even mind. We each also had an interview with President Craig and he is an amazing man. He has so many wise words of advise. There are quite a few Elders heading home in two weeks and most of them are extremely sad to leave.

After our interviews we got on the road again and drove to Dauphin to stay the night with the zone leaders. Let me tell you one thing, missionary apartments aren't big enough for six missionaries but we made do. On Saturday morning we got in the car and drove the six hours to Flin Flon where our truck was and then we drove the 3.5 hours to Thompson. I was so sick of driving when we got home I wanted to either go run a marathon or go to bed but I couldn't because we had a fireside with the stake leaders who came up here for branch conference. The three members of the stake presidency spoke to us and they were really great talks. Yesterday was Branch Conference and I was called as Branch Clerk and President Gruninger set me apart after the meetings. 

We had a delicious pot luck after our meetings as well. We ate chicken breasts, pasta salad, a different pasta salad, Kraft Dinner, rice, and cake and ice cream. It was a strange mix of food but I loved it! Free food is good food. We even got the leftovers! President Burkman is a great Branch President and he is showing me the ropes of being Clerk. 

We had another great lesson yesterday and it is exciting to see investigators progress! They better be ready to fill the font in Thompson!

Love you all! 

Elder Stewart

Elder Stewart and District at the Provo Temple before heading to Winnipeg.

Elder Stewart and Elder Birchall on their way to Flin Flon. (We aren't sure what happened to the bottom of this photo.)

Elder Owens and Elder Stewart. They happened to have matching "Black Sheep" ties!

Elder Stewart and Elder Evanson at the MTC. So cool that they were there together.

A Great Week in Thompson...and a couple pics!

This week was great! Right after I finished emailing last week Elder Birchall and I went and played tennis. We decided that whoever won 4 games first didn't have to shave their legs but the other one did. I won four straight games and that was that! He really didn't want to have to shave his legs so he said lets go double or nothing. I agreed but this time if he lost he had to eat 25 perogies for breakfast on Tuesday. Well I won four more straight so he had a big breakfast. It was one of the grossest things I've ever seen because perogies don't taste very good after about #5. That night we taught an FHE to a family via skype so that was very neat! On Tuesday we had a great lesson that we taught with the Burkmans to a lady who seems very interested in the church. That day we also went out to Nelson House and taught some great lessons there as well.I cant remember if I told you or not but last week on the way to Nelson House we hit a sand hill crane and cracked our wind shield so we got that fixed! This week on the drive we didn't hit anything so that was a plus. Later in the week we met some east Indian kids who play soccer near the church everyday so we may make that a tradition to play with them. They are super nice and have a bunch of questions regarding what we are doing way up here in Thompson. A lot of people ask us that because they don't get many visitors here. On Saturday night we had dinner with a guy who is interested in what we believe but not in joining the church, but he is still one of the nicest guys. He is very passionate about what he believes and believe me there are no dull moments when he is around! He fed us a delicious pork BBQ and it made me think of home! Church was nice, I think we had 14 people there and two of them were less actives! We then taught one of the boys from that family over skype again because he is getting baptised next month. We are quickly learning that a 30 minute lesson with an 8 year old is too long. Yesterday for dinner we had home-made Shepherds pie with the Hindes. It was amazing!!! A lot better than the stuff I usually eat at the apartment. It has been a great week and Elder Birchall and i have been getting along great! We have some fantastic investigators and its exciting to see them progress!

I don't feel in danger at all but it is an interesting place! I like it.

Love you all!

Elder Stewart

Elder Moore and Elder Stewart- Companions at the MTC. Elder Moore is just a little bit taller than Elder Stewart...6'8"!

We mailed him a few pictures of the Saviour and he emailed and said  "I decorated!" We are not sure that word was in his repertoire before he left! It's pretty neat too...

First Full Week in Thompson

Well it's almost been a month and I love it so far. A couple nights ago Elder Birchall and I were talking and we both decided that leaving home was tough and things but we also agreed that we weren't mommas boys before the mission but we are now haha. They sell shirts at the MTC store that are pretty funny. They have a picture of some totally jacked guys that say "Stripling Warriors" and then in way bigger print "MOMMA'S BOYS". I should have bought one but I didn't. 

We have a Chevy Colorado so its super handy. We eat a lot of cream of wheat, oatmeal and egg and toast for breakfast. Lunch is usually some kind of ichiban or something. Dinner is pasta or perogies or something usually. I also eat a lot of frozen fruit.  We get fed about twice a week, mostly by the Burkmans! They are extremely kind! Our apartment is nice enough, but we hardly spend any time there anyways.

That is super nice of you to feed all of the missionaries! Always feed them fruit and veggies because they are so much $$$$.  Elder Burkman takes some unbelievable shots! You should order some of them. I'm hoping to get permission to stay out late one day and look at the northern lights with him but I'm not counting on it. I'll buy gear if I need to but my priorities are in line, that's why my first purchase was a new tennis racquet. That mailing system you mentioned should work well, but hurry cause its freezing here already. (Editors Note: We sent NO warm clothes or a coat with him to the MTC. We had been encouraged to wait. We figured we'd have lots of time to get them to him in the field, as it was July when he would get there...:)  )

This week was a busy one here in Thompson. We taught a Chinese lady who is very interested but has little to no knowledge of Christianity so it is a different feel than teaching a person with a Christian background. She is progressing so we feel hopeful for her! On tuesday we volunteered by helping with a search party for a missing man. Thompson has the most people go missing and not be found out of anywhere in Canada. It is sad but they never give up hope and they just keep searching. That afternoon we went to a reserve called nelson House. It reminds me a lot of Cardston so in a strange way it felt like home. We have a fair amount of members there. It is very difficult to get lessons taught here because everyone is so busy but we are teaching a lady who is seriously considering baptism. She will be a great member one day! We also volunteered on Wednesday by helping re-stain the museum. It is a log cabin and it needed to be updated so we went over and helped out with some of the staining. That night the Burkmans fed us and we practiced teaching them! We have so many great investigators it is just so hard to meet with them during their busy schedules so we have a lot of time to go tracting and that is always fun! With yesterday being fast Sunday, it was really interesting because there were only 14 people at church so pretty much everyone bore their testimony. Elder Birchall is a great trainer and he is so knowledgeable especially for only being out since April. The mission has been great so far and Thompson is a wonderful place but i'm scared for the Winter. 

Love you all!!!

Elder M Stewart

From Salt Lake City, UT to Thompson, MB!

Hey Everyone,

So I left the MTC at 2:30 am on Wednesday (July 22) and headed to the airport with 16 other missionaries who are also all headed to the PEG. We flew out at like 5:00 or something and I slept the whole way to Minneapolis. In Minneapolis we got breakfast quickly then got onto a really small plane and were on our way to the PEG. When we arrived in the PEG, me and the other two Canadians (one from northern BC and one from northern AB) were able to pretty much just go but all of the Americans had to go through customs which took forever. The Craigs and the AP's met us at the airport and they all seem great! We then went over to one of the churches and had a small meeting as well as our interviews with President Craig. They also fed us taco in a bag. After that we went over to the mission home which is SUPER nice! We relaxed and then ate another amazing meal of ham and baked potatoes. After dinner we had a testimony meeting and then went to bed. Sleeping at the mission home was much better than at the MTC. So was the food, I think if I could live there for two years I would! In the morning we woke up and had a fantastic breakfast of eggs, pancakes and bacon. It will be a while until I have that kind of breakfast again! We then went over to a different church and had initiation and stuff. That is where I saw Elder Binning and was assigned to get on a 10 hour bus ride to Thompson, Manitoba. They fed us pizza there. After that I had to wait until my bus left at 10:30 so I went and taught a lesson to a recent convert with Elder Carroll. After the lesson I went street contacting with another elder named Elder Timms from Vancouver. I then got on the bus and woke up in Thompson the next day. I was met at the greyhound station by Elder Birchall who has been out since April. He is from Utah and is a sweet guy and great missionary.     

I also met the Burkmans from Alaska. He is the Branch pres up here. Since being here I have mostly just been meeting people. On saturday, we drove 3 hours to a place called Leaf Rapids to build a deck for a lady in the branch. It was super fun actually. Yesterday I gave a talk in church on the Holy Ghost and I had to talk for 15 minutes!! There were 12 people there I believe so it wasnt too nerve racking, although people skype in as well. After church we went street contacting and taught a lesson to a guy who lives in our apartment. I will buy a coat if I need! There is a Mark's here so I can get boots here too.  I told the raft story in my talk so my pool of stories to tell in talks is much shorter.  Feel free to remind me of some! 

love you all! 

Elder Stewart