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.