Dinner Photo

Just had a wonderful dinner with your son and his companion, he is doing well and did eat all of his green salad. We have a son serving in the Logan mission. 

Mark & Joy Sloan - Medicine Hat First Ward

Great week for me, no so for my companion

So as I went throughout this week, I was actually enjoying myself a lot. I was in a good mood and got closer with ward members in this area. It was pretty cool too that I got to go on exchanges with Elder Morenco who is our district leaders boy. So that meant I went to Brooks this last Friday and Saturday. The area was a bit different than ours here in Med Hat and Bow Island. It is more of a townish look, but it is still pretty big. There is SO many different religions there and black people there. I think it was great for the Brook Elders although they are technically English missionaries, they both speak Spanish and that helps a lot in that area as well. Our exchange wasn't bad. Morenco is pretty sweet. He isn't like a obedient Nazi, but he likes to work and I respect that of him. I had a lot of laughs with him. We mainly just did some catch up with his ward members and ward business.

Also on Sunday, we had dinner with these sweet ward members. They loved to take care of us and really wanted to get to know us. I loved them to death. Plus they showed us the movie Heaven is For Real. When I was in Parkland, a member gave me the book to read of that movie which just basically explains the movie, but several things are out of order, but it wasn't distracting. My favorite part in the book and also in the movie was when the kid mentioned that he saw his sister who was miscarried earlier in Heaven. It is pretty sweet to see their reaction to it. It also got the ward members that we were with open up with several experiences that they had. It was just an awesome overall dinner with them.

President interviews were also pretty cool. It got us more of a chance to see what President is like and also his wife. It is funny because they are both very "green". They have those greenie smiles and still trying to get used to this mission. But my interview was basically just a look back on my mission and seeing what I have learned. I focused on telling him I learned a lot of patience than I thought I had. I have also gotten to know my Saviour more and how to recognize more of His will for anything I experience. President wanted me to set a goal to get someone "ready for baptism" before I go. I think that is a good goal to set. It really comes down to the person that I will teach, but it is a nice to think ahead.

Although my week was pretty dang good, my companion on the other hand was going through pretty hard stuff. We kinda narrowed down his sleeping problems down. It turns out that it isn't me that is keeping him up. His restless leg syndrome is doing that. We have called the nurse and she gave some suggestions and he tried that and it didn't work. Then we went to the bishop's wife and she have him a owl and oils to help him sleep and that also didn't work. Then he went to get a prescription from the doctor for him to help sleep and THAT didn't work either! His sleeping patterns are odd. He does sleep more than other nights, but you can tell when he doesn't sleep well. I let him take as long as he can for his sleep so that he can function.

As for the Thai guy, the reason why he is with the Spanish is because he speaks Spanish better than English so the Spanish work with him more. He wasn't here last Sunday and we were supposed to help him again. Maybe next week is we aren't in Bow Island.

Speaking of Bow Island, our Ward Mission Leader has expressed that nothing is really going on in Bow Island and he wants us to talk to the Mission President about the issue. Elder Poulter is trying to figure what is going on since he may be staying here after I leave. So we will see what happens with him.

Question time:

 #1 do you see much of an issue with member sabbath day observance in Canada?

I believe that observance on the Sabbath day really depends on the individual that wants to learn most from it. People may find that socializing with others or doing other things during sacrament is distracting. I don't get distracted easily during the Sabbath. I stay as focused as I can. With others, in Med Hat it isn't a issue at all I believe. In Bow Island, it is more of an issue, but they can fix it.

#2, how is the reverence before and during sacrament meeting in the areas you have served in?

Most all of the areas I have been in except for Coaldale has been pretty dang good for observing the Sabbath. Sure, there is room for improvement, but they are doing pretty good overall.

#3, has a reverent attitude by the missionaries been taught as a general principle to the missionaries by your mission leadership?

Actually, surprisingly it hasn't been brought up to any mission leadership. It has been mostly focused on the ward and ward council people.

I got basically like 2 weeks left. Every day is a trunky day, but I still go out and work. The thought of home comes to mind every day, but can't really block it out so I just keep pressing on. Only two more emails for you guys ^_^. Love you all! Take care!

Meh

Can't really say too much this week because most of the people we tried to meet this week were not home or were pretty busy. It was a pretty dead week to be honest so there wasn't much to do. Elder Poulter is still having some sleeping problems, but I learned it is not just me because of it. He has had this sleeping problem since he was born and can't really sleep because his legs won't relax or something. He has to take ibuprofen and a sleeping medicine for him to sleep nice. But that doesn't work all the time. It is alright though. I let him sleep for however long he wants because I'd rather have a functioning companion than someone who isn't thinking straight or is dosing off. I am sure my companions did the same when I was sick or whatever. It helps a lot to deal with stress or whatever.

We have been asked to help this one kid get ready for his mission by taking him to do several stuff out in Bow Island. Problem is that there isn't much to do in Bow Island at all! I don't want to go on about it as I am sure I have done so for the last 3 emails. But meh, it's whatever. I only have to go out there 3 more times.

So our investigator who was nine got baptized this Saturday in Carston. The bishop made sure that it was done by going to the baptism and all that. We don't really work with our investigator at the moment now because he will be staying in Carston for the whole summer basically. So I am sure I won't be seeing him again or either their family. But it is nice to know that we did do something to help him with his progression. I have still not seen a baptism that I have really helped with. I mean, sure, Nichole in Parkland for one lesson and this kid for one as well, but as to really progress with them, I haven't. I am not saying that I am sad about it however. I am really glad that I could be part of the progressing stage. It is so nice to hear after you leave that area that the person you were working with before is getting baptized or has been baptized. Just because I didn't witness their baptism, doesn't mean that I didn't have the chance to help them or help them see or feel the Holy Ghost in their lives.

This Sunday was pretty cool as well because we were helping someone who spoke Tai here take the lessons. When I say help, I mean we just set up the Skype call and told the person what to teach this person. It is usually the Spanish missionaries that take care of this, but they were not there because they had to stay in Brooks about something. It was pretty cool however because sometimes they spoke a bit of Spanish and I could pick out some words and kinda understand what they were talking about. I couldn't really understand the gospel terms they were saying, but really just common ones. In the end, we committed him to pray about the Plan of Salvation and to read certain scriptures about it. He said he would.

I have also finished my study copy of the Book of Mormon that I have. It has all my notes in it that I had come to me while I read it and also previous notes from my previous scriptures. Now I am working on transferring my old Bible notes over to my new one. It is a pretty long process, but when I read it, it helps me understand what I just read. Before I would just highlight it without any explanation and later I would come back to that verse and not understand why I highlighted it.

As for the obedience thing, I have heard multiple times that saying about, "Obedience brings blessings, strict obedience brings miracles." I think it doesn't really depend on obedience alone as people think. Sure people can wake up at 6:30 and do all the daily routine and such, but just because they did those things doesn't mean everything will be great and dandy and whatever. There is an analogy that our AP told us: There is one missionary who does everything obedient. He wakes up on time, studies, doesn't listen to bad music, etc. But when he goes out to do the harvest, he only brings a pair of scissors. That won't cut much wheat down for it to be stored. Now we have another missionary who slacks up a bit here and there. He doesn't always wake up on time, listens to questionable music sometime, lacks in studies here and there, etc. But when he goes out to work or to do the harvest, he brings a scythe to bring in the harvest. It is important to know that the Lord uses different tools for us missionaries to help others. One could be obedience. Another could be diligent work. Another could be love. Obedience is not the only tool the Lord gives us as missionaries.

Alrighty now, question time!

#1 Do you count our investigator as a convert baptism seeing that he is nine years old?

Yes, we do. Anyone who is over 8 years old that we help baptized counts as a convert baptism for us. I don't know how it works with the church and all, but as for missionaries, yes it counts.

Question #2 Where do you stay when you go to Bow Island?

We stay with members either with this family named the Atwoods or the Features or something like that. Both pretty nice families. The Atwoods feed us a lot which I am grateful for.

Well that is all that happened this week basically. I can't guarantee more will happen this week seeing that people are still gone this week. We have President interviewson Tuesday and we will see what I get to talk to him about. I will talk to you guys next week for the 3rd to last time! Love you all! Take care!

One. Day. At. A. Time.

Holy crap! This week just zoomed by, until we got to Bow Island, but still! This week just flew by and it is kinda hard to believe that I am right back to emailing right now. I only got 4 more times to email all of you guys! WOW! 4 more times over emails and then I get to talk to you for real. That is insane! To be honest, I never thought this day would come because there were times on my mission where I was just about to quit. Like...a lot! But now, I am just about done! Crazy how when you think at the beginning of your mission that two years is so far away. And then you get here at this point!

This week was a bit slow because of Elder Poulter. Not like he was bad or anything, but he wasn't feeling good at all this entire week. From as he described it, he just felt like crap all the time or just weak. I personally think that he was suffering through a bit of sun stroke from being in the sun too much. But then his back starting acting up and he said it just hurt. We mostly relaxed this week as he was trying to recover. I also feel bad for him feeling a bit weak and crappy because, and this shouldn't be news to anyone, but my snoring has kicked up a bit. So bad that Elder Poulter has to move to the other side of the room so he can sleep better. Sometimes I feel just a bit guilty for my companions and sometimes their weak or sleepy times throughout the day because of my snoring. Elder Poulter says he is worried more about my progress in the gospel for no woman would want to sleep with me with my snoring like that. Haha! I have all these before so do not worry.

The kid that we put on date is still in Carston and won't be baptized till the 18th we believe. We won't be able to go because...well, it's in Carston and we are like 2 hours away from them. Still, we believe that there shouldn't be anything holding this kid back from being baptized.

This last Wednesday we went to see our President. Kinda like officially meet him. He seemed pretty sweet. President Nicholas was the kind of President that like to say hi, maybe even get a quick handshake, and then go on his way. This President however is one who will shake your hand firmly and look straight into your eyes, like even your soul. It kinda got us a bit scared because this is all new to us. But he is a very friendly President. His plan as he shared with us was that we understand why we need to obey God's commandments. I was super happy for this mission when he announced that because lots of missionaries here do something that we call here "blind obedience" meaning they just do stuff because they just been told to do it and not really figuring out the reasons why. To be honest, I am a little jealous that I won't be here when President Miles is here.

Members here keep on inviting non members to the dinners that we come to and I am very happy that they are doing so. This is awesome! I love members that do this because it helps us become united in the work and it shows trust in us.

Alrighty, time for questions:

Question #1: How do you work Sundays with two different Areas?

So what we do here is for one week we go to Bow Island Friday, Saturday, andSunday till church ends. Then the next week we go to Bow Island on Wednesday andThursday, but go to Church here in Med Hat that week. So basically it is every other week.

Question #2: Why is it called Bow Island?

Don't know. I will have to ask that next time we go down there.

Question #3: Neck size?

I believe its 17 or 18.

Question #4:How much can you be on the computer as a missionary?
The standard time we can be on a computer each day is about an hour. This may give or take depending on what we are doing on the computer like blogs, videos, and all other kinds of stuff. The hour is just to help us understand that the base time is, but we just got to be smart with our time on the computer.

Question #5: Did it take a long time to take pictures of all your pictures?

Not really. As I did mention earlier, Elder Poulter was sick a lot this week so on the time where he was relaxing, I drew. I send the pictures to one of the members who I trust to access my account and kinda introduced me to Deviantart.com and she posts it there. I still haven't shared all my drawings yet for I have a binder full of them. It is just sometime I do when we are bored and can't do much else.

Thank you for letting me know that my package is home. Plus thank your for all the support you have given me. I can't wait to talk to you all next week and see what will happen. Love you all!

President is gone!

Well President Nicholas is gone we got a new Mission President this last week. To be honest, I didn't noticed the change much. The mission pretty much stayed the same for now. It won't be much different until later, and to be honest I don't think I will be here long to be involved in it. There is a talk going around saying that there is going to be another Walk and Talk August as we did last year. I don't really see the point of it because we already did it and it is trust trying an old idea again. If they are going to do it, I would rather they shorten the goal so that is IS reachable. We didn't even reach 10,000 when we did it the first time.

So what can I tell you about this week. Well, this week was short, but long at the same time. Let me explain: When we are in Medicine Hat, the work goes faster and smoother because there are things to do here. Members are always willing to talk with us and they are chill with missionaries. However, in Bow Island, time seems to slow down. I could almost say it comes to a screaming halt. No members really want to talk with us except for 1. Plus, the area is just DEAD. The members treat it like it is not dead, but it is absolutely dead. We can't really do much about it. We try to visit people, but they are always busy or just not friendly to the missionaries. If I had to the choice, I would probably go out there maybe every two weeks by the way it is progressing. Oh well, we are still trying to work with them I guess.

We did however get someone out here on date. Well, he is going to Carston to get baptized, but we still put him on date for the 18th. He is part of an inactive family, but all, but the husband, are returning to church. The kid is 9 years old and we just had to teach him the basics because he wasn't baptized when he was 8. We basically taught him the last 2 lessons really fast right after church and got our district leader to interview him later that day. It is pretty tricky because our district leader is out in Brooks which is quite far away.

We may have found a new investigator as well BECAUSE, are you ready for this, OF A MEMBER!!! Surprised? I am not since that is total key for missionary work to progress. We had supper at this woman's house and she brought a non-member. We had fun and played some games and got to know this guy. When we shared our dinner message and explained our purpose he expressed that he would like to know more and loved to learn more about the gospel, all because a member invited him to a dinner. See how easy that is? I am super proud this ward gets member missionary work because there are a few that do.

We did do a bit of tracting this week because my companion is a fan of that. But I found the reason why I don't like or not very good at tracting. I can't do the initiative or start the conversation at a door. It is just awkward for me. So, whenever we go tracting, my companion does the first talk and then I come in later. It makes me tolerate tracting. But ya, we did that. Nothing much came from it as usual.

I was happy to see Kaylee and her new born baby! Whoo hoo! That is a crazy story for what happened. I am glad the baby is safe and well. I have a second niece! Whoo hoo!

I have sent a package home. It is another "Do Not Open Till I Get Home" package. If you would not open it that would be awesome. Thank you.

Well, summer is still here and activities are coming. We got some BBQs this week and going to meet some awesome people from the ward. I will talk to you guys next week. Love you all!