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? :)