Well! Here I am. Vancouver. Happy New Years Eve!

Well, hello!

Sounds like it was a pretty good Christmas in Cache Valley, and pretty good skiing at the Beav! It was good to see the pictures of everybody and everything. I hope that Jed has continued to perfect his harmonica skills. He was already pretty good by the time that I talked with him.

It has been a great week in Vancouver! Whew. The days go by so fast down here. It has been a crazy! I swear, over the past week I have had more food from Phillipines than most missionaries actually serving there. There are so many people on the streets of so many different cultures and races and who knows what else. It has been awesome. It's quite a bit warmer here, too, which is nice! To get to the library from Burns Lake, we would jump in the truck and drive for like 30 seconds across town to the library. Here, we walk from our home to the Nanaimo skytrain station, ride that to Commercial-Broadway, catch a bus for a couple blocks, and walk to one of the only libraries here that is open on Monday. It's pretty intense here! Stuff is always happening. For example, in the past half hour or so we got a mormon.org referral (that comes in the form of a text on our phone) that somebody wants us to stop by and give them a Dutch Book of Mormon. Hopefully we will be able to communicate with them somehow. Just a minute ago, while we were waiting for a computer, this black teenager and this old white guy had an argument over some dumb thing about using of a public computer that sounds like it is now going to result in a civil law suit.

Anyways, the work in Vancouver is awesome! In an average day, we usually just take public transit somewhere to visit a member or a less active, and then knock some of the doors around their home and street contact in the area that they live. We have had a ton of dinner appointments over the past few days, because of the Holiday season, and so we've been eating way too much. We talk to hundreds of people. When we get back into our apartment, we have lots of other missionaries from other parts of Vancouver or that speak other languages or from areas in BC that have investigators move to Vancouver call us and give us potential investigators or referrals. It's a really busy just trying to get in contact with some of the people that are around. We have a lot of really solid people that we are teaching. One guy, Conrad, just approached us when we were sitting on the bus because he had heard some bad things about our church and he wanted to hear "our side of things", and now he's a really solid investigator. One of our baptismal dates, Cheryll, just kind of decided by herself that she wants to "be Mormon" after reading a book by Marie Osmond or someone like that. There are some people that have committed to be baptized just after we or some other missionaries talked to them on the street for a little while. There is this OCD recent convert named Lee who met missionaries because he was in the emergency room because he thought the end of a Q tip was in his ear, and he randomly asked one of the missionaries (who were there because one of them had an allergic reaction) who they were, and he got baptized a few weeks later. But he is obsessed with the church. Literally obsessed. He's unemployed right now, and all he wants to do is come with missionaries to appointments and tract and all that sort of stuff, which is awesome, because we need to have males with us to come to appointments. We carry pass along cards in Korean and Vietnamese and Mandarin. It's definitely different than Burns Lake here, but I am loving it.

My companion, Elder Smith, had previously served with Elder Epperson. Ha ha... actually, it's pretty funny. I spent 3 months hearing horror stories about Elder Smith. They did not get along at all. So, when I heard that I was going to serve with him, I just sort of committed to myself that I was going to love him and get along with him no matter what. And... so it's going to be a great transfer. Elder Smith is awesome. I will definitely be able to learn a lot from the transfer. When transfer calls came, it was pretty crazy.

This new area will be awesome, too. The East side is supposed to be the "sketchy" side, but it hasn't seemed too bad! There are lots of places to go and see on Preparation day. We're going to Chinatown today because we weren't able to last week. There are a lot of areas where we aren't allowed to be after 7:00 PM. Apparently there was a gang fight and a burnt corpse outside of the missionary's apartment in the morning a while ago, (we've moved since then), but that's probably just a missionary rumor. Ha ha. There are a lot of awesome restaurants that I want to try here. This East Indian style Chinese food place has caught my eye.

Well. Serving here so far has really made me appreciate how blessed we are as members of the church. There are literally millions of people here that don't have access to saving ordinances. We are so blessed! What a privilege it is to share the gospel with these people. I can truly see the Lord preparing people here, as well. So many people approach us and ask us questions. So many people want to hear our message. This truly is the Lord's work, and it is incredible blessing to be working in the vineyard!

Well. I'm out of time on this library computer. Love you all. Have a great week!

Elder Blotter

Merry Christmas to us.

                         Presents from Elder Blotter in Canada!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2012

We LOVE Canada!

Re: Van City...

YES!!  That will be perfect. I am also pretty sure that will be 11:00 our time. We will talk to you then!!!   You white handbook missionary, you.  :)  Love, Mom

Van City...

Okay! So. I'm going to send this before writing an email, hoping to get a confirmation that this time will work for the fam. So, how President Tilleman told us it is going to work is we give you our cell phone numbers and tell you a set time to call us. I'm not sure why we're doing it that way, but it should work out fine! So... would it work for you to call at 10:00 AM (In Canada/Mountain West/whatever time zone I am in time)? That would be most convenient for us because it would be right after studies, and we wouldn't have to ride the transit home in the day to make the calls. I would google search and convert it into whatever time that would be for you guys, but I'm not allowed to use google, so that won't work. I'm guessing that would be like 11:00 or something for your time, but I'm not sure. The White Handbook says that calls should be "short (preferably no longer than 30 or 40 minutes)" and we're a white handbook following mission. So... no skyping. Ha ha. President Tilleman says that if calls go much longer than an hour, then you're no longer keeping them "short". Elder Smith's family will call him at 11:30 AM our time.

Anyways, our number is 1-604-644-2108. Hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Blotter

Burns Lake

Well!

It's been a great week up here in the North! Not too cold, either. Sounds like it was a pretty great week in Cache Valley too. The MoTab concert sounds like it was pretty great! Sounds like Jacey got to see a really good one for her first round with the choir! Sounds like you got to meet the Manwarings. Sister Manwaring was an awesome member missionary. I'm really glad that you were able to have them over. I'll bet that was great. It's not too far from Christmas, either! I don't know how it will work out for sure yet, since I don't know if I'm getting transferred or not, but I should hopefully be able to let you know next week how it is all going to work out. I probably won't need a calling card or anything, we'll probably just call from a member's home.

This whole week has felt pretty bittersweet! As (maybe...) my last week in Burns Lake, it has felt pretty weird. The Branch up here is just like big family, and so in a lot of ways, leaving this place will feel like leaving home again! The members up here are awesome and have spoiled us with all these Christmas gifts like Canada pajama pants and legit maple syrup and some "Burns Lake Branch" ties and things like that. Pretty awesome. Yesterday we spent quite a bit of time sharing messages with members and talking with them about people they can share the gospel with. As far as transfers go, transfer calls will come this evening, and then we'll know if anybody is leaving or not! In a couple hours we'll probably be on edge.

The work this week was really solid. We were able to teach a lot of lessons. Brooklyn really wants to be baptized, but her parents aren't being the most supportive, so it might have to be pushed into January, which is really too bad. She'll get in the water though. It has been awesome to teach her all of the lessons and help her get ready. One of our baptismal dates, Heather, was hung over and couldn't come to church Sunday morning (she committed to live the Word of Wisdom Saturday evening), and that's kind of heartbreaking, but we had a miracle to make up for it! At the display of nativities a couple weeks ago, we talked to a woman named Margaret who lives about an hour from the church. Us and a member invited her to church, and she didn't come that Sunday, and we kind of forgot about her. But lo and behold, this week she pulls up in the church parking lot with a bunch of cash that she had saved all week for the "collections plate". Margaret is this awesome widowed lady who has a broken heart and a contrite spirit and feels really lonely. The gospel will be so good for her. She's totally going to be baptized in a couple weeks. She's going to need some help quitting smoking, but the church will be there for her. We're still teaching the Filipino family, quite a few native families, and a handful of other Canadians. Canadians are usually about as hard hearted as Americans, but up in the North, they're so polite that they'll still invite you in. It will be quite a different story if I move to a city area this week!

I feel really blessed to be able to be serving the Lord at this time. Right now, in the Canada Vancouver mission, there are 118 missionaries. By July or August of next year, there will be about 250 missionaries. The Lord is really hastening His work, and we're seeing a lot of miracles as a result. Every day we have powerful spiritual experiences. The Lord's children up in Canada are certainly loved by Him. The church is true! Say woo woo!

Well, we have to go get our truck's bumper fixed because a first nations guy backed into our truck when we were teaching a lesson, so this email might be a bit short! I love you all and I'll talk to you in a week!

Elder Blotter

Re: December 17

Mother!

Happy Birthday yesterday! Your firstborn thought of you quite often on that day! I hope that it was the best one yet.

Elder Blotter

December 17

     Good Morning!  Well, I have to say Sis. Manwaring and I have bonded. What a sweet and lovely lady! I loved her accent and just loved her. It was so fun seeing pictures of Burns Lake and the surrounding BEAUTIFUL areas. Bro. Manwaring showed up pics of bears, foxes, sunsets, lakes, mountains, etc. She told me what Vanessa had told her when you first knocked on her door with your huge smile and how you seemed to glow and how thankful she was to you for never giving up on her. They told us how happy you are and when anyone asks how you are, you smile and say..."excellent!!!". They wondered if that is how you've always been.  :)  We told them that is just how you came. It made our year to have that visit on Friday night and to hear about how much you are loved by the members in Burns Lake. And she also said that Elder Epperson is a very special missionary. We are thankful that you've had the opportunity to serve with him. That was like an early birthday present for me!

     Wait a minute....is TODAY the day you find out if you are transferred this week? I was thinking it was next Monday, but it's got to be today! What an exciting and wonderful time for you! Merry, merry Christmas!!!!  If you and Elder Epperson will be separated this transfer will you tell him THANK YOU for being such a good companion and that we want to meet him after his mission. And can I secretly tell you what a blessing it has been to me to have Sis. Lambert as a friend. I think the church should adopt a program where a member in each area could be a "missionary mom friend".  :)  You wouldn't even have to know. But it has made the first 6 months of your mission much better for ME. Hee hee.

      So will we just hear from you next p-day, which is Christmas Eve, about how and when we will get to talk to you? And do we call you or you call us? Will you need a calling card?  Maybe you should call my cell phone. We are down to one home phone. Anyway, it will be so amazing to actually be able to talk to you! Do you want us to invite Amelia to stop by so you can talk to her for a minute? We can or don't have to. That reminds me...did you get Grandma Blotter's package in the mail? She is worried you didn't get it or she thinks you won't know it's from her. It cost her more than it does to send Jacob a package and she's afraid you didn't get it. If you did, will you let her know.  :)  

     That was so interesting hearing about the family from the Phillipines. Can you imagine serving where everyone was so kind and receptive to the gospel? How is it going with them? Are they letting you teach them? And the cute little 9 year old that will be baptized this month? The kids got your letters and loved them. Jed came and gave me a big hug as instructed and Jacey wants to start to reading her scriptures every day like that girl. And Jenessa has a letter to send back but we are waiting for transfer day to make sure we sent it to the right place. We enjoyed the Mormon Tab's Christmas concert, but we missed Josh. Jacey felt like she was big stuff though. It was one of the best concerts in a long time. It's been a hard week for the US of A with the heartbreaking events in Connecticut. It was less than an hour from the Elwoods. A sweet little beautiful girl that died had moved from Utah not long ago. And I heard another student had just barely moved from Canada. It's hard to imagine such a thing. I know that the children are OK and with Heavenly Father but such heartache for those left behind. If only they all knew about the Plan of Salvation and had that comfort.

    Well, good luck with this week! Possibly big changes are in store. But you never know, I guess. We love you and our thoughts will be with you this week.  Love you to pieces.  Mom

Jacey made it to the Mormon Tabs concert this year!

Buuuuuuurns Lake

Well!

Just like that it's been another week! It's good to hear that there's finally a little bit of white sticking around Logan. Up here there's plenty of snow still, but the temperature has been really bipolar. One day it will be around 0, then the next day it will be -15, then the next day it will be 0, and so on. Winter seems a lot less scary than it did at first, too. We're getting used to it! -10 is just sweater weather now. It sounds like a lot of calls were given! Roger Mann will make an awesome bishop. That seems like a calling perfect for him. And I can just picture Amielyn Evans speaking Spanish in a southern accent. Exciting times!

Christmas season is in full swing up here. In the "mall" (which has like a bank and a dollar store connected to a grocery store) in Burns Lake, the branch puts on a "display of nativities" every year, and we spent quite a bit of time talking to people there this week. It was set up in this little room, and they had 171 different nativities on display. We counted them. We would go and stand in the hall and do our best to usher people inside and then give them Books of Mormon and pass along cards and things. On Friday, they had the primary kids act out a live nativity presentation, and they had a little musical program to go along with it. One of the members that was supposed to come and sing two solos was sick and couldn't come, and the missionaries are kind of the "go to" people in those situations, and so me and Elder Epperson both had to sing a solo that we had never rehearsed before in front of an actually respectable sized group of people. It wasn't too bad though, because they also had the community choir perform a couple of songs, and they went before us and attempted to sing "And He Shall Purify" from the Messiah, so the bar was set pretty low as it was.

Well, the work in Burns Lake is still moving forward. It's crazy how many investigators we are still finding even though every door has been knocked on a couple times. I guess miracles happen when you're trying to work hard. We found some really awesome people that we are excited about. We got a taste of what serving in the Philippines would be like. We tracted into this Filipino family, and without finding out who we were, the guy just tells us to come inside and runs into the house. We sit on the porch for another couple seconds, and he sticks his head back around, and asks us why we haven't come in yet. He sits us down, and then asks who we are. Filipino people are the best. They moved to Canada a couple weeks ago, and we're excited to be teaching them. We randomly have a Book of Mormon in Tagalog, so everything worked out nicely. We also found an older couple that live a ways East of town that we're teaching. The guy, Cliff, is a Freemason, which is pretty interesting. There's another less active guy who's about 30 who hasn't come to church since he was a deacon, and he's had a change of heart and we're going to be teaching him the lessons again. We're still seeing a lot of pretty awesome miracles.

There is so much potential in this area, because over the past few months we've hit the pavement (or... snow) really hard. We've filled up our area book with a lot of investigator records. We're teaching a lot of lessons. But for the life of us, we can't get these people to church. It's the worst. We had like 6 people committed to come to church, and from sick kids to health issues to just going AWOL, none of them made it. Again. Gah. We reminded them the day before, where possible, called them/knocked on their door in the morning, had members set up to give each of them rides, and pretty much everything else that's physically possible for missionaries to do without using weapons or kidnapping their children as a ransom to come to church. So... that's pretty lame. In short, we must just need to do some more studying from chapter 11 in Preach My Gospel or something, because the people that we're teaching are really struggling to keep commitments. I guess we just have to accept that these things happen in the Lord's time.

The members here are really awesome though. With their faith alone I remember when I first got here, they were really sluggish and disheartened about missionary work, but now they're all working with somebody, and they help us out a ton. It's awesome. They're really involved and they all make sure to try and console us when nobody comes to church. We haven't had to buy milk or eggs or meat or anything like that because the members always give us plenty from their hobby farms and things. And after 6 months, little old Burns Lake starts to feel like home. It will be really weird to leave this place, and transfer calls are in like a week! That's really weird.

Well, Merry Christmas!The timer on the computer says I'm about out of time! Hope that everybody has a really awesome week!

Elder Blotter

Send the warm spell up here please...

Well!

There isn't too much warm air up here! If you could find some way to package it up and send it up here, I wouldn't complain about a little global warming, ha ha. It's pretty consistently -12ish Celsius now, and it feels a lot worse because of the wind. We're just kind of figuring out that surviving up here in the winter is all about wearing lots of layers and breaking up tracting as much as possible with teaching appointments. Snow kind of comes and goes, but there is about a foot or more of snow on the ground still. I think that the ski resort in Smithers is already open, but I'm not totally sure. It is the worst how short the days are up here! The culture is that 8:00 feels the same as about 10:00, and so when we are knocking doors at 8:30, everybody seems put off by how late it is. Oh well! We'll be blessed by being obedient to the schedule. A truth-seeker won't care what time we knock.

And transfers are... on December 20th, I think. So I'll probably be leaving right before Christmas. It's pretty weird to think about actually, because this has been my whole mission experience so far. I can't imagine not being here! The branch up here is just really awesome and so Burns Lake has kind of become a home away from home. I can't imagine serving in a ward. Or having more than 4 or 5 people in Elder's Quorum. Or being in an area where you can street contact. It will be weird to see what happens on transfers! And on Christmas, I'll go to a members home or something like that to call. I'll probably have somewhere around an hour to talk, and I'll probably be able to tell you about what time the call will come in email the week before or something. I'm not exactly sure exactly how it will work out, since I probably won't even be in Burns Lake on Christmas, but it should be great!

Is it Governor Herbert that Ethan has to be nominated by? Just have Ethan bring that picture in to the interview. He'll get the nomination by relation to me, I'm pretty sure. That would be awesome possum if Ethan got called to Vancouver. But I predict South Africa. Ha ha. As far as the election goes, members are talking about how there are a few more people that have moved up here to join their family in BC after President Obama got re-elected, and renounced their American citizenship. Making a stand is great and everything, but if high taxes and socialized medicine isn't your cup of tea, Canada is not the place to go.

Well, we had a lot of miracles and a lot of setbacks in Burns Lake this week. You really love the people that you are working with, and so when they are progressing, you're doing awesome, and when they don't keep commitments, you're devastated. A lot of highs and lows. We're really coming to realize the miracle that Vanessa was. She is going to be instrumental in getting more people in Burns Lake to come unto Christ. We met with a former investigator, Heather Tom, who knows Vanessa, and had a very powerful first lesson and set a baptismal date for December 29th with her. Earlier that day she had committed to herself that she was going to quit drinking, and she was looking for something to help her do that, so she had a really soft heart. How the lesson worked out was a miracle. We set a return appointment and we were super excited about it. We had a member coming into town all the way from Southside to come with us, when Heather cancelled last minute. We still had the member, Dallin (who is 17 and leaving on a mission probably when Ethan is) coming, and so we frantically tried to figure out what we could do. We said a prayer, and I just started calling tons of potential investigators to figure something out. We called this other native lady, Lillian, who has been a potential investigator for months, but we haven't had a member for an appointment, and it's really hard to schedule appointments with members on the reserve because sometimes the people can be a bit flaky. But we called her, and she said she would love it if we dropped by in half an hour (probably because we had shoveled her walk a couple times before Ammon-like service is super important with missionary work). As soon as we called her, I felt really calm, like everything was going to be okay. And then Vanessa called, and asked randomly if there was anything she could do to help us, so we invited her to the lesson as well. Turns out that Lillian was pretty good friends with Vanessa, and Vanessa just bore her testimony really strong about what the church has done for her, and we had a really powerful lesson. Now Lillian wants to get baptized too. Whew. it was really hectic, but it was all orchestrated by Heavenly Father. It was awesome. Nights like that happen all the time. But... then the next day, even though we had 6 people committed to come to church, none of them came. Lillian had health reasons, and the others, we're just not sure about, but... gah. It is so stressful sitting by the doors to the church the 15 minutes before church starts. Seriously. Ups and downs. Ray didn't come, but Brooklyn is still progressing a lot. It is so fun to teach a 9 year old. Her date is for December 29th.

In other news, I have officially tracted everywhere in the area at least once, surrounding areas included! Hutter Road in Decker Lake was the very last one. Except for Topley, a little not-even-one-horse-town that might be in our area but might be in Smithers' area. Still. Awesome. We're putting in a lot of time knocking on doors! We're going to find somebody else to baptize this week, and we're excited about it. Tracting has become second nature now. A day doesn't feel complete if we haven't done it for a couple hours. And it's still productive! That still blows me away. We found like 4 new investigators this week. At this rate all of Burns Lake will be a potential or former investigator at some point!

Well, I hope that everybody has a great week! Keep Burns Lake in your prayers! I got the Christmas package the other day. Thanks a bunch!

Elder Blotter

Happy December 3rd.

Hi there, Elder Blotter!

     Are you still having a bit of a warm spell in Burns Lake? I hope you are staying warm! Am I right in guessing transfers will be in 2 weeks? Does that make you sad that you could leave Burns Lake just a week before Christmas and be in a new place where you don't know anyone? I imagine the members in Burns Lake are going to have a hard time if you are transferred! You have been there SO long and I know how much they have come to love you. Maybe someday you could take us on a tour of British Columbia and we can meet some of these friends from Burns Lake. I just think if they are opening 7 new areas there is a good chance you might be transferred. Or could you get a greenie and stay there?  I guess you never know.  :)

    How is Ray Johnson coming along? Did he make it to church yesterday? It sounds like you've got some things going and I am never ceased to be amazed at the miracles that happen every week in the life of a missionary. Make the very most of your last remaining time there. Oh, Nate Day received his mission call to Dallas Texas Mission. Joe's mom will have two sons out for almost a year. Did you get your Christmas package yet? You better save it until Christmas so you have something to open that day. And I'm sorry....when I went to mail it, it weighed 4 ounces too much so I took the candy out and it was just right. So no candy in that one. I think Grandma said she send one with lots of candy so save some of that for Christmas Day.  :) DO I REALLY GET TO TALK TO YOU ON CHRISTMAS?!!!! I can't believe that. That will be all I want for Christmas. How does that work? Do you give us a number to call you on?

    Dad and Jenessa had a great birthday this week. Grandma made their favorite White Mountain frosting cake and they went to ifly. They brought a video back and it looked SO fun. I think I must try it. So little Jenessa is 18 years old. It's very weird for me. Ethan is now trying to get in to the Air Force Academy and has to be nominated by .......oh, what's his name that you have a picture with where you are doing the Japenese tourist face? Him. He has an interview with him this week. As you will see in a photo I'll send, Supe needs a haircut terribly. And I was able to download this personalized video from Santa to Jed. It is so funny and he is going to love it. I don't know how much longer Jacey and Jed will believe in Santa so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

   We had to start Grandpa Jorgy on hospice this week. They are coming to help him quite a bit. He fell and broke a rib last week and is having dementia. Someone comes 3 times a week to bathe him and shave him. He is at the end of his journey here, I know. Bless his heart. He has been such a good dad for me. I just love him.

    Well, can't wait to hear all about your week! It is surely the highlight for our family. You know I've been the YW President for 3 and 1/2 years. Bp. Holt met with me yesterday and asked if I have another year in me.  :) I do.  Love you so much. Good Luck with your last remaining weeks in beautiful Burns Lake.   Love, Mom

Happy Birthday!

 

Burns Lake Report

Family,

It actually hasn't felt quite as cold in Burns Lake, either. A lot of people seem to be complaining about global warming. We're not complaining, though, because now that we've kind of adjusted to the temperatures up here -6 degrees actually feels kind of warm. There's still quite a bit of snow, but that just makes it feel like a legit winter. We're thinking about making an "I'm a Mormon" snowman on our front lawn, but we're not sure how our landlord would feel about that.

The second round of Thanksgiving was awesome! We had two dinner appointments with less actives right in a row. Whew. It was some really delicious food, though. I'm not sure why America hasn't found out about perogies yet. They are actually pretty good. Except that the "healthy" families don't fry them, and so I'm pretty sure that if we were Canadians, and so knowing Mom, we would only boil them and not fry them. One of the families we ate with had their neighbor Walt over. Walt is kind of like the Bensens. It's frustrating that they don't just find eternal happiness through accepting saving ordinances and being baptized! Walt has the Doctrine and Covenants pretty much memorized and he just goes off about comparing the stuff in there with the prophecies of Ezekiel. Investigators that know it's true but don't get baptized. Whaddya gonna do?

Sounds like there is some pretty interesting stuff happening back home. A lot of mission calls! It's really exciting to hear where people are going. 7 new areas are going to be opened this upcoming transfer alone in our mission. I'll bet that Jed and Jacey are great skiiers at this point! Tell Jed and Jacey thank you for the pictures in with the package. I always love them a lot. I especially appreciate it when Jed makes sure that I know that he did the monster drawing all by himself. (Ha ha) I think I read the book version of that zombie movie.  Another week of birthdays are coming up, too! Happy birthday on the 29th, Jenessa and Dad! That is weird to think that Jenessa will be a legal adult in a couple days. I'll have to send some more Canadian candy sometime. iFly is pretty cool. I remember doing that. I think it would be cool if you got an iFly the size of a gym and then you could play Quidditch in it. Oh well. Back to missionary work!

At this point, the work in Burns Lake is centered on getting Ray Johnson baptized, so that their family can become an eternal family. It's hard to work with him because even though we feel like he knows that it's true, he's addicted to smoking and scared to death of his Catholic mother, but we're really working with him. He came to church this Sunday, and so we're hoping that he keeps progressing. Brooklyn will be baptized at the end of December (what parent could say no to a 9 year old girl who just wants to be baptized for Christmas?)  The Corliss family, who we've been working with for a couple weeks now, is becoming more active again, which we are excited about. We can already feel a difference in their home. If we can get them to get over the initial embarrassment that comes from starting to come back to church and get them to chuck the coffee machine that the slightly bipolar wife uses, they'll be golden. One member, Sister Scheel, is pretty much fully active again, despite her nonmember husband, which has awesome to see happen. We've been working with a lot of less actives and we've been promised that baptisms will come as a result of activating people. So hopefully we'll see some miracles soon!

Vanessa is pretty much living proof that Helaman 15 is correct: when Lamanites get converted, they get converted. She has such a solid testimony. It's awesome. She says that her therapist broke down and started crying during one of her counseling sessions because of how much she's changed and how there just seems to be a light around her now. She's pretty awesome. Now we just have to find somebody else. We have been tracting SO MUCH.  At least four or five hours a day. Often more. We just want to find somebody that we can help into the waters of baptism!

Oh, and mother, you'd be so proud. While the primary is using the chapel for primary presentation practice, Priesthood meeting is held in the primary room, where they don't have recorded music for the hymns. So they have me play the piano for them. Right hand only. But still.

Well, hope everybody has a great week!

Elder Blotter

Re: Burns Lake Report

I just love you and am very proud that you played the piano, even if it's only the right hand! I hope you'll tell Vanessa that I would like to meet her one day. What an amazing person she must be. Have a wonderful week, Love Mom

One year older and wiser too...

Well hello!

Turning 20 in Northern BC was great! In Smithers, we had a dinner appointment with a less active couple on my birthday that was this 3 course gourmet Indian food feast. Seriously, if you let that guy move into a gas station in Cache Valley he'd probably have quite a successful restaurant going in not too long. Heavenly Father looks out for his missionaries. Ha ha, mother, you WOULD get members up here to make a peaches and cream cake. When she called us to find out if either of us was transferred, we asked her if there was anybody in town that she knew might be open to hear our message, and she told us to go contact somebody. (The guy that she wanted us to talk to told us that it would be better that millstones were hung around our necks and we were dropped in the sea... but that's okay. A referral is a referral.) And Amelia will be a fantastic missionary! What an awesome call. I'm super excited for her. The mission field is already changing a bunch. We had 5 sisters and 5 elders come into the mission this transfer, and over the past months we'd get maybe 2 sisters every other transfer or so.
This week hasn't been so cold, which is nice. We even had like... 6 degree weather at one point, and the rest of the time it was only a little below zero. Burns Lake is still frozen over, though, and there's still snow on the ground. When Francois Lake freezes over, the ferry's hull has been designed to break a really wide channel in the ice. People strip down snowmobiles and try to jump it, apparently. You can drive over it, though. There are pictures in members homes of them driving out on top of it and taking pictures.

   
Yep, this week we have a thanksgiving dinner scheduled with this kind of psychotic less active member who lives in the middle of nowhere on Southside. He (tries) to make a living my breeding dogs, and so he has hundreds of dogs on chains in his front yard, and they all go insane and try to eat you when you knock on his door. Thanksgiving in Canada is at the beginning of October, but most of the members at some point came up from the States, and so they just have two thanksgivings every year. It's pretty awesome. But without Thanksgiving, people don't know when to have Christmas season start... so somebody told us Merry Christmas like a week ago.

Well, it was another awesome week as far as missionary work goes. We started teaching this guy that me and Elder Neher found months ago named Dennis. He's a hermit sheep farmer, and the first time we went to knock on his door he came out brandishing a shotgun, but he actually turned out to be a nice guy. He met with missionaries when he lived in the lower mainland in the '70s and read the whole Book of Mormon then, and now we're reteaching him. Man. There are weird people up here. It's awesome. Vanessa is still doing well as a Primary teacher, and is still keeping strong. One less active member, Moneca Scheel, has pretty much become fully active again, and we're working with the Corliss family to try and get them reactivated. They're praying and reading scriptures as a family. It seems to be hard to get people to take the step of coming back to church once they haven't for a while, but we're doing everything we can to get them there.

Elder Blotter

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY, ELDER BLOTTER!

 

Dear Elder Blotter,

       WE LOVE YOU and hope you had a wonderful birthday this past Wednesday. We thought about you all day and wondered what you were doing in Smithers. Are you really 20 years old?? Did you get a little Peaches and Cream Cake for your big day? Am I in big trouble for communicating with a Burns Lake member? I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF. When it was that Wednesday that I thought you might be getting transferred, it was driving me crazy that I didn't know where in the world you were. I remembered that lady had sent me a pic of your baptism. I very innocently texted her to see if she knew if Elder Blotter had been transferred that day. Then she texted back and we became friends. I told her it was your birthday and she said it was her 5 year old sons birthday also, so we concocted a little plan. And THEN to make matters worse I sent her the video of Amelia opening her call. I asked her what she thought about letting you watch it. (I kept going back and forth about whether it would be OK or not)   She worried it might make you homesick, so we decided she wouldn't show it to you and I would just tell you today. Then later that night she texted that her husband showed it to you! Knowing you, I didn't think it would be anything but exciting and fun for you to get to see it. I know you'll be thrilled for her and excited about her call to Brazil. Can you believe it?? And that she will leave April 3. (Her Dad said he wished she was leaving either a month before or a month after that) And just a little bit more exciting news....................Stephanie Pack received her call on your birthday also and Dad says she has the dream call. She is going to Chile. (Northern) Can't remember the city. Lots and lots of baptisms and perfect weather. Alison Lundberg will get her call this Wednesday. All those 19 year old girls are getting their calls. Oh, Brooke Porter got her call to the Philippines. 

      So I have a question about the ferry? When the water freezes how to you cross? Do you just drive over it? Scary. The Durstelers haven't ever taken a real family vacation and they realize Ethan will leave for a mission in probably June. They are in Hawaii for Thanksgiving! Then they have a trip to Disney World scheduled for January! Grandma and Grandpa Blotter are going back to Armenia for 10 days in January. And our Ohio friends, the Dubanowiches are coming to stay for a week starting on Jeds birthday. What can I do with them for a week??

       I sent you a package this week with warm gloves and liner, a fancy pants $50 scarf from the Sportsman and some thermal garment bottoms. Could you also use a thermal garment top? I am going to send your Christmas package this week so you for sure get it before Christmas and/or a transfer. Make sure you don't open it. You need something to open on Christmas day.  :)   I so loved your letter last week and have thought about you tracting that city 5 times and knowing Reed and Sheila live here, Bob lives here and works for so and so. I know Burns Lake has had its challenges, but you will always have a special place in your heart for that beautiful, cold place with all those characters. 

     Is there anything else you need that I could put in your package and send? Do you need more contacts? Please let me know if you need something. And know that your mom loves you. I am just so very proud of you and thankful to be your mom.   

PS I sent that pic to Grandma on your birthday. She blew it up and its hanging on her fridge. One year ago. Years go by fast!

      

Still in Beautiful Burns Lake

Well!

I am in Burns Lake with Elder Epperson for another transfer! Ha ha, I love it. When I got in Burns Lake in July I had no idea that I would be around to see the lake freeze over, but there it is, frozen over! There's another elder on Haida Gwaii that flew up with me when I first entered into the field, and he says that his area is beginning to feel like Lost. "He can't get off the island". It's starting to get colder and colder up here! They say that in December it will usually get down around -20 or -30 Celsius, so I'm going to have to adjust to the cold! It's just a matter of loving the Lord more than disliking being a little chilly. Last night it was only around -2 or 3, and it felt really warm, so we're getting used to it slowly. We got some winter tires, and so now we're slipping and sliding around on the roads a little less, which is good. Driving to and from the church we'll usually see a car or two sitting in the ditch to the side of the road. The snow has been pretty useful as far as missionary work goes, though! Sometimes in the mornings, we'll go up and down the avenues in town and if anybody is out shoveling their walk, we'll help them finish while talking about the gospel.

Well, I'll be turning 20 in Smithers. We're going on exchanges this week, and we're going to be catching a greyhound in a couple hours. A year ago, I had no idea that I would be up here for my next birthday. It is weird to be 20. Very weird. My age doesn't start with a "1" anymore. I'm not sure how I feel about that, ha ha. You kind of realize that you don't have forever to figure out what you want to do with your life! I've got the next year and a half mapped out pretty solidly, and that's all that I need to think about for now.

Well, the work in Burns Lake is still carrying on! It was one of those weeks when nobody showe I've knocked on every door in town about once a month, and so I've tracted it out about 5 times now. I'll probably do it at least once more again before I'm done here. Working in Burns Lake is really interesting. You have to develop relationships with people. Teach a little bit more or testify a little bit differently each time you talk to them. You have to remember names and religious backgrounds and things like that. Yesterday we started over on the roads east of town, and we were talking about Pinecrest Rd, and I could walk through each house on the road. "Pete and Sheila live in the first house. I wasn't there the last time they were taught but they didn't like that we claim to be the only true church. Then it's Joe Wheeler. He owns a contracting business. Then it's the Blackwells. He used to work for Wes Boehmer. We gave him a Restoration DVD but he didn't watch it, we're pretty sure. etc etc" Burns Lake really feels like home at this point. Every time we tract out the town, we always find something new, though! This week, we found a former investigator who wants to read the Book of Mormon again and a less active member who moved in recently. She converted because she did door to door sales with RMs in Arizona, and even though she moved into the middle of nowhere, the Lord didn't forget about her and we managed to knock on her door one of the few times she was home. We're seeing a lot of miracles like that. Brooklyn Johnson is going to be baptized on the 5th of January. It is very interesting to teach a 9 year old. (Jacey!) She knows a lot of really random stories. In our last lesson she told us in detail about how Moses killed all of the Israelites who worshipped the calf when he was getting the 10 commandments on the mountain. We're praying and fasting for help finding somebody else to help prepare for baptism. We're working with a lot of solid people. We'll have to see what happens!

It sounds like life at home is going pretty swell. It's weird to see that the grass is still green by the snowmen! At this point I'm used to everything being white. With daylight savings, the sun sets at 4:00 now. It's still light until 5 or so, but the sun sets at 4:00. Whew. When we're knocking doors at 6:00, people will ask "why we're out so late!" I hope that everybody has a really great week! Talk to you next week!

Elder Blotter

Re: Coats?....Boots?

But I think as far as coats go, I should be okay, because I can wear coats on top of coats. It would be awesome to get a pair of nice gloves, and maybe another scarf or something. Also, some thermal garments would be awesome. In the apartment I found a pair of ankle length ones that are pretty great, we're trying to figure out how to keep our legs warm. Also, this is random, but remember the blue striped tie that I wore when I left? It was a Stacy Adams tie. You can trade one of those ties for like 5 ties up in the mission. If possible for Christmas or something, you should send some of those because I traded both of mine away, unfortunately. And they are awesome. Love you mother! Thanks for all of you help!

Elder Blotter

Coat?..... Boots?

Josh, I am in SLC right now. Should I stop and get you a good warm coat and maybe boots? Josie tells me there are good places right around here. I know you will be on the computer any minute. What are your thoughts??    :)

Sent from my iPhone

Happy 20th!

  It really doesn't seem that long ago when one Friday night my water broke 3 weeks early and you made your big arrival at 1212 Medical Plaza in Salt Lake City. Now 20 years later you are a missionary in Burns Lake, Canada. Please know that we'll be thinking of you on Wednesday and Jenessa requested we have your favorite Peaches and Cream cake in honor of Jooooooooossssshhhhh. Your not a bad kid. I really hope you have a great day and that someone will let you in on one of those 9....Oh, excuse me, 10 avenues in Burns Lake and they will listen and be kind to you.  :)  Oh, I am assuming you are indeed still in Burns Lake.  :)

     I just returned from a Stake YW training meeting. I am so excited for the new program for the youth beginning in January! Have you heard about it? It's called "Come, Follow Me" and there will be no more manuals for Sunday lessons. We are encouraged to teach like the Savior. And spiritually prepare throughout the week and just go with the spirit and let the girls teach each other and we will be facilitators. The website is AMAZING with lots of videos to help, etc. I think it is very inspired and will be really a good thing and will help the youth be more prepared to serve a mission at 18 or 19. And make it essential that leaders (me) are more prepared spiritually.   :)

    Please let me know WHAT I can send you to help you be more warm. I will send you whatever you need....today. A big super warm coat with a hood?  Better boots? Gloves?  I really don't like the though of my firstborn chilly. We love you so much and are proud of the young man you have become. We are all well and can't wait to hear about your week. Have a very Happy Birthday!!!!!!!  Tell Elder Epperson to give you 20 spankings and a pinch to grow an inch. (Well, maybe not)       Love, Mom

We made you this sign at our 1st annual Girls Night at the cabby.

   

  

Burns Lake

Well!

It's been another great week up in the North! It's like 3 degrees outside right now, and after the past couple weeks it's feeling really warm! As far as winter clothes go, I actually found a pair of boots up here, left up in the house up here from previous missionaries. They aren't too warm, but they are doing the job, so no complaints! If I stay up in the North, I might need to get my hands on some winter gloves, but that's about it. In January, the members say that when you walk outside, you have to break yourself into the air. If you just take a big breath outside at -40 it feels like you got stabbed in the lungs. Oh the things to be excited for! :)

Transfer calls are today! Everybody is assuming that I am leaving... we'll have to see. I might be, I might not be! It would be a good note to end on if I was leaving, but Burns Lake is a great place to be, and so I certainly wouldn't mind staying. Elder Epperson predicts that I am going to go somewhere in the lower mainland. I think I would be going to Nanaimo on the island. Wherever you are, in this mission in the winter, you have to pick between always freezing or always getting soaked! It will also be really exciting to see where Amelia is going! I figure that with all of the friends that I have putting in papers, somebody is going to be sent to BC! There are already 3 people from Sky View up here, but the more the merrier!

Sounds like life at home is pretty good! Hopefully grandpa got some screamin' deals on some bulls and that everything at the ranch is doing well. We have a former investigator family that we are going to drop by to hear the results of the election. They are kind of biased against Romney and just tell us dumb things that he has done, but it's a good excuse to go and teach them. It will be quite interesting to hear the results of the election. Americans driving through town always tell us that one of "your people" is running for President in "our country" and want to know if we have heard of Romney before.  As a missionary I know that Romney's running has already created a tremendous amount of interest in the church, and so as far as his purpose, he may have already fulfilled it. I guess we'll find out later this week.

The work is still carrying on in Burns Lake! Even though this town is small, I am still learning more about it. For example, yesterday, I found out that there is a 10th Avenue. It's pretty much a dirt driveway with no houses on it, behind the youth center on the Reserve, but after almost 4 and a half months of thinking that Burns Lake only had 9 avenues, it was kind of a shock. The next baptism for Burns Lake will probably happen at the end of November, if we can work out some family situations. Brooklyn Johnson is a very smart 9 year old who really wants to be baptized. Her dad, Ray, is a less active Catholic with a really, really, really angsty mom.  Ray says that he is more scared of his mom than the Lord. He knows the church is true, but he is too scared to rock the boat by letting his kids or himself be baptized. One time I tracted into his mom with Elder Neher. She's pretty beastly, but I think that eternal salvation would be worth it. We're going to do what we can, but it is an interesting challenge.

This week we had a lot of miracles working with less active members. We finally managed to drop by one less-active family when the wife, who is pretty cold towards missionaries, wasn't home. We were talking with the dad and he was saying that his testimony is stronger now than it was when he was active because "he's felt the difference" between having peace versus contention in his home, and how hard it is for him to pay his bills since he has stopped paying tithing. He gave us the numbers of his 17 and 20 year old kids living in Prince George, and we referred them to the sister missionaries there, and they are now becoming active, which is a miracle. We are going to be working closely with that family. On the reserve, there is one less active woman who has completely apostatized since she hasn't been to church since she was 12, and we felt prompted to visit her. She was really unreceptive to the spirit, and not too interested in meeting with us, but as we were leaving the subject switched to winter tires, and she told us she had a set that she didn't need anymore. One of the families in the branch that is a little less well off had been looking for tires that exact size, and we were able to get the tires for them. It was cool to be able to answer the prayers of a family in the branch. Finally, there is an excommunicated member who has a really solid testimony, but, in short, is currently living in sin and lets Satan make excuses for him. Elder Epperson had some experiences in the past with his dad that really related to him, and as he was talking, this 58 year old "tough guy" just started crying. It was pretty awesome.

I feel really blessed to be up here serving the Lord. I hope all is well at home. Have a great week!

Elder Blotter

From Pres. Tilleman

We are not supposed to forward President Tilleman's weekly letter, so I am just going to copy and paste part of it!

Second, you may have heard (or felt!), there was a major earthquake (7.7) on Haida Gwaii on Saturday evening, with numerous after-shocks since then.  If your parents or anyone asks, all the missionaries that could have been affected (Haida Gwaii, North Island, and Prince Rupert, in particular) are doing fine.  There were no deaths, or even injuries, in Haida Gwaii or anywhere else.  This is a miracle given how big this earthquake was (third largest recorded in Canadian history, in fact).

II.        Spiritual Thoughts for the Week

What a remarkable mission presidents’ and wives’ seminar Sister Tilleman and I had.  We are humbled and feel very blessed.  Elder Maynes called it “extraordinary and historic.”  I would have to say the theme was “the time to hasten the work is now; the Prophet has spoken.”  Three members of the Seventy (Richard J. Mayes, Presidency of the Seventy), Elder Schwitzer (First Quorum), and Elder Aidukaitis (First Quorum) instructed us.  They were joined by Richard Heaton, the MTC’s top administrative advisor.  It truly was an amazing conference.  And the theme came back, over and over again, to how the Lord, through his Prophet, has called on each of us to hasten the work, right now.  If we were called by Brigham Young to cross the plains, would we jump right in and do so?  In terms of missionary work, this is that type of revelation from the Lord.  Truly historic and extraordinary.

Elder Maynes reminded us that the Lord has already declared: “Behold, I will hasten my work in its time.”  D&C 88:73 (emphasis added).  Elder Maynes explained that President Monson has declared that time to be now.  The Church normally receives about 300 missionary applications per week.  Since the Prophet’s announcement, as of Wednesday of last week, the Church has received more than 10,000 applications in two and a half weeks– that is more than 10x the normal number applications.  The missionary department will be holding at least twice as many assignment meetings each week, with a member of the Quorum of the Twelve presiding over each of these meetings.  Our leaders are truly leading us by example.  With all they have to do, the Quorum of the Twelve will be spending significantly more time to make each of the significantly greater number of missionary assignments that will have to be made.  The hastening of the work is starting at the top of our leadership in the Church!

Missionaries’ time at the MTC will have to shorten to accommodate this surge of missionaries.  Soon the English speaking missionaries will not even be spending three weeks in the MTC.  We will therefore have to be exponentially more prepared to train missionaries as they arrive into the field.  Do we see, now, why the Lord implemented the 12-week program?  The Lord has been preparing us for this time of hastening.

In our mission, right now, we must prepare ourselves, and our areas, for many more missionaries.  We must be better teachers, and more of us will have to be prepared to take on the highest honor that the Lord can give a missionary – to train.  Right now, we must have more truth seekers in our teaching pool and improve or “hasten” the work in each of our areas; some of the areas in our mission that currently have two missionaries will soon have four.  We must prepare our areas and our wards and branches to receive and put these new missionaries right to work.  Right now, we must respond to the clarion call from Elder Haleck to have each companionship averaging one baptism per month.  We can do this!

One of the Keys to Hastening the Work – Serving With Zeal Toward God and To All Mankind (Alma 27:27)

Elders and Sisters, to answer the call  of the Prophet, I feel we can and should truly become like the sons of Mosiah.  After the sons of Mosiah were converted to the Lord, or as Alma the Younger said, after they were “born again,” (Mosiah 27:25-26), these young men “zealously” strived to repair all the wrongs they had done.  Mosiah 27:35.  These fantastic young men became their era’s examples of Preach My Gospel missionaries – they became “instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer.”  Mosiah 27:36.

What was their reward for doing so?  “And how blessed are they!  For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth.”  Mosiah 27:37.

What was their desire after being born again?  They became so immersed in the Savior’s work of salvation that “they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble.”  Mosiah 28:3.

How were these missionaries received by those they taught?  After Ammon and his brethren first experienced much “long-suffering” and “many afflictions” (Alma 18:11), the Lord guided them to those who were truly searching for the truth, even though at first they did not know they were.  The Lord guided the missionaries’ thoughts and actions, and touched the hearts of those they were teaching.  The Lord blessed them with much success.  See Alma Chapter 26.

And what type of converts did the sons of Mosiah have?  The Ammonites were noted for their “zeal in keeping commandments”.  Alma 21:23 (emphasis added).  Later, after they had moved to live with the Nephites, they were again “distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly upright in all things; and they were firm in their faith of Christ, even unto the end.”  Alma 27:27 (emphasis added).

May each of us individually continue to become that type of missionary, and may we collectively continue to become that type of mission.  May we serve our Heavenly Father, our Saviour, and our brothers and sisters, with zeal, or with “enthusiastic dedication” and “eager desire.”  As we serve with enthusiasm and eagerness, our lights will shine and those we teach will, in turn, feel of our enthusiastic love for God and all mankind, such that they will come to believe and then emulate these same qualities.  Elder Schwitzer taught this perfectly at our mission president’s seminar, when he said, “it is not so much what our missionaries teach, as who they become.  As they become more like the Savior, their teachings will naturally become more like His teachings.”

The Church is true.  God lives.  Jesus Christ, His only Begotten son, is our Savior and Redeemer.  Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, who through the power of God translated the most correct Book of any on earth, the Book of Mormon, which will bring us closer to Christ than any other Book on earth.  Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God; He is God’s mouthpiece on the earth today.  This Church is guided by true Apostles and Prophets, just as we learn Christ’s Church should be governed from Acts Chapter 1 (calling another Apostle to the Quorum of the Twelve after Judas Iscariot had died), and Paul’s great teachings in Ephesians, Chapters 2 and 4 (Christ’s Church is founded upon Apostles and Prophets, with the Savior Himself being the chief cornerstone).  You and I have the privilege of being full-time witnesses of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I testify to you of these things, and am pleased to join with you in doing so.

This is the Savior’s work of salvation in which we are engaged.  It is so marvelous and wonderful.  Sister Tilleman and I love it, and we love to serve with you in this glorious labor of love.  We love you, respect you, and are so grateful for you!

Have an incredible week.  Bundle up, stay warm, and serve like there is no tomorrow – with great zeal and haste!  Also, a reminder to get your flu shots if you have not already done so.  And finally, as always, I anxiously await each of your emails this week.

Love,

President and Sister Tilleman

Burns Lake

Family!

There was definitely an earthquake up here, but at the time, we were on the ferry, so we didn't feel anything. We only heard about it when the assistants to the president called us to ask us if we were okay. Apparently it shook quite a bit for about a minute, particularly members who live in trailer parks and things like that. Burns Lake was pretty unaffected as far as damage goes, but Haida Gwaii had an evacuation order because they were pretty worried about a tsunami. Winter does seem to be in full swing, though! It's snowing right now and there's somewhere between eighteen inches and 2 feet already. (I'm not sure exactly because everybody tells us the height in centimeters) It's supposed to get warmer in a couple days, and so it might melt, but... whew. It's not even Halloween yet! Since we have a house in Burns Lake, we bought a bunch of packets of skittles and taped them to pass-along cards. We aren't allowed to leave the house past 6:00 on Halloween, so we are just going to do our weekly planning and let people tract into us, for once. :)

Elder Epperson thought he had a bad sinus infection because he felt congested and was getting pretty bad headaches, and so we went to a walk-in clinic because he wanted antibiotics. The doctor walked through his symptoms and told him that he didn't have an infection, they were probably just tension headaches. Elder Epperson was not happy about that. He really just wanted some antibiotics. He went to a pharmacy and got some Neilmed sinus rinse stuff and he uses it 4 times a day now. I imagine that when patients think they have sinus infections, it's kind of a pain to convince them that they don't. It's probably a pretty busy time in medicine. It's good to hear that the trip was awesome and that you got back in one piece! Some of those pictures looked very cool. I got a postcard in the mail today that came when you were at the Vatican, I think!

The mission is really revving up to get ready for all of the new missionaries! It is a super exciting time to be in the field. I might sent part of President Tilleman's email that talks about all of it. It sounds like they are going to be shortening the amount of time missionaries are spending in the MTC, and putting missionaries all over the place up here. Next transfer we are already putting another set of missionaries one area away in Vanderhoof, and they are opening an area called "100 Mile House", and that's only in the Prince George Zone, and this is before the wave of missionaries from the announcement has started to pour in.

The work in Burns Lake is doing awesome! I feel like I might be leaving next week, which honestly is a little heart wrenching. This branch is filled with a bunch of characters, and I love them all. When I first got here the members really weren't very excited about missionary work, and now they give us almost too much time in PEC and branch council to talk about the work, and President Lambert now always talks about missionary work when he bears his testimony every fast Sunday (because in a branch this size... almost everybody bears their testimony every time) and always thank us. When the members find out things that we need, like that we don't have winter tires on, they always figure it out for us. about I think some summer I am going to have to come back and "portage," which is like backpacking, but you carry a canoe on your shoulders and canoe whenever you hit a lake or river. They all complain about doing it, but since I've been here, they've gone on 3 portage excursions, so it can't be all that bad!

Vanessa is doing well! This Sunday she was called as a Primary teacher. That will be really good for her! When on exchanges, me and the new missionary in Smithers, Elder Marshall, tracted into a new investigator, which is a miracle because Smithers rolled their truck, and so without a vehicle, they have had to knock nothing but the streets in walking distance many many times over the past couple weeks. The guy said that the last time the missionaries came to his door he cussed them out and kicked them off his porch. He got in a crazy car accident a couple days earlier, however, and that in combination with us coming to his door, he took to be a sign as God reaching out to him. It is amazing how people's hearts change. Tracting is never a waste of time. Many miracles happen up here in the North! It is such a blessing to be here serving the Lord.

Elder Blotter


PS - A 17 year old member from the branch, Jace, left with some program to go teach English in China about a month ago, and I heard that he ended up in the same group that Justine Larsen is in! Justine passed some inside joke through him to a member in the branch to me, but I have no idea what she was talking about. How crazy is that?

Re: Things are getting chilly in Burns Lake (From Mom)

My dearest firstborn, Elder Blotter,
    I can't believe we missed you AGAIN. But I think it will be easier now that we know it will always be on Mondays now. I was comatose last night by 8:00 with jet lag. Jacey and Jed actually put me to bed and tucked me in and said a prayer with me. There was a 10 hour difference on our trip. I can't even tell you all that I experienced and learned on our journey. It was pretty epic and a trip of a lifetime. We saw the Colleseum, the Vatican, the Pyramids, mummies of Ramses and other, the Holy Land, Greece, and the beautiful Amalfi Coast in Naples, the lost city of Pompei and many other amazing things. But by far my favorite thing I got to experience was the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem. I want one day to have all my kids be able to experience it. The Spirit was so strong. Dad and I both just really felt it. Tears just streamed down our faces and you just KNEW that Jesus Christ lived and died for us and it happened right there. I can't even explain it. It was just amazing.
        Do you know how much I love your letters? I mean really. They are awesome and a highlight of our week. All day Saturday as we were traveling home I thought of you on your trek home from Vancouver and rushing home to fill the font. And then I thought of you about the time of the baptism and I just WISH I could have been there! And sweet tender mercy happened. We had been traveling about 20 hours and were just arriving in Hyde Park I got a text. It was from Sis. Lambert in Burn's Lake with a photo of you just minutes after the baptism with Vanessa. I couldn't believe it!! It was such a blessing after having thought of you all day and wondering how it went. I would love to give that woman a hug. And how adorable is Vanessa and her sweet little one! Can you believe how her life has changed with the gospel as a part of it? I hope to be able to meet her one day. (And I loved that Gemma said you're name)
    Well, we got a new Stake Presidency on Sunday. The new Stake President is named Mario Durrant, from Amelia's ward. We don't know that much about him, just that he has really great kids. Then Scott Erickson (Pres. Erickson's son) is one counselor and Mitch Gatherum's dad is the other. They were all bishops in our Stake. They are all pretty young! About Dad's age, I guess.
    Poor Chester is most likely dead. The word on the street (from Preston Whitteker) is that animal control was scraping something white off the road in front of our driveway. He told Jacey at school while we were gone so she cried all day! Not sure how to break the news to Amelia.  :o
    Jacey LOVED the Canadian candy. That was a huge hit with her. She shows it to everyone and lets them try a little.  Well, I wish you a very successful and happy week! Know your fam prays for you many times a day. During our family prayer tonight after Family Home, Dad was saying the prayer and when he started to pray for you he couldn't say anything for like 25 seconds. We love you and are so blessed to have you as our son. Forgive us for not writing last week. But did you start to get any of the post cards yet?  :)  I will send you a couple pics from the trip. Have a great week. Love, Mom

Here we are at the Sea of Galilee. It was awesome.

Things are getting a little chilly in Burns Lake.

 

Well hello!

It's been another great week up here in Burns Lake, and down South (well, still up North for you people) in the lower mainland during the middle of the week! I had numerous experiences that I won't forget. It's definitely starting to get colder! We went tracting in a few inches of snow, but fortunately most of it melted when we were out of the area. It was -7 degrees outside (In Celsius, so not too bad) when we drove to church yesterday. If I don't get transferred out of here next time calls roll around, I might have to have some warmer clothes! Either way, it's going to be an adventure. We have to get creative sometimes doing missionary work in the North. Up here when it gets colder, we have to take golf balls when knocking doors, so that you can hear the knock even though we are wearing gloves.

It was a monumental week for the Burns Lake elders! Vanessa Jack's baptism was amazing. We were a little worried at first, because the font was so underused that the only water that came out of the spigot was a murky greenish brown. After a while of leaving the water on, it turned into... a less murky (but still distinct) greenish brown. But Vanessa was so excited that she wasn't put off by it at all! She was just really excited. During the service, she bore her testimony about the Holy Ghost and it was incredibly powerful. It has been such a blessing to see the gospel of Jesus Christ really change her life. Before her baptismal interview, she confessed that she ate half a granola bar before she realized that it had mocha in it, and she was so stressed that it would push back her baptismal date, and she kept on asking me if I had invited all of our investigators to come see her baptism. She's that kind of a person. The Spirit was present the entire time during the service. You can feel the Spirit SO strongly when you are in the font, and it was such a sacred experience to be able to baptize her.

I absolutely adore Vanessa's 2 year old daughter, Gemma Rose. (She can't really say anything except "uh oh" whenever she sees a ripped page of a book or something like that, but she totally said my name while Elder Aldred was interviewing Vanessa. Brother Moore heard it. He can vouch for me.) It is so amazing to see how the gospel has affected how Vanessa views being a parent. Alcoholism and immorality, which is really prevalent in the culture of a lot of the single mothers in this area, won't even be a concern for Gemma. I am SO happy about that. SO happy. You have no idea.

Well, I had a lot of eye opening experiences down South, as well! We stayed the night with the elders that are currently working in Surrey, an urban area not too far from Vancouver. Wow. Burns Lake has 9 avenues. 2nd Ave has... I think 2 houses on it. Their area covers the first hundreds of streets with ritzy apartment complexes and trailer parks and everything in between. We went street contacting and there were people everywhere! It made me glad that I was trained in the North, where everybody is a stereotypically laid back, polite Canadian! The first person I walked up to, with a big ol' smile on my face, cussed me out and told me I was being "way too pushy". Ha ha, it's a bit of a different pace in different areas. That is something to get used to. Burns Lake really hasn't been too wet. I think it's rained maybe 6 or 7 times since I got there, and never enough for it to really get in the way of the work. Down there it was POURING. We left our raincoats in the truck in Terrace, so we went out in regular suit jackets and we got soaked straight through. It was awesome.

I also had the opportunity to hear quite a bit from one of the Seventies, Elder Haleck. He shared many powerful and sacred experiences from his time as a mission president, and it was awesome. President Tilleman is totally going to become a general authority after his time as a mission president. He's nearly doubling the number of baptisms as compared to before his time here, and the mission he presides over is exactly obedient. He's very inspired. Anyways, Elder Haleck talked a lot about how to work with wards and branch councils, how we have the obligation to remain active after we return from our missions, and he bore a special witness about how the prophet is receiving revelation to "hasten the work". The Lord is hastening His work of gathering His sheep, and it is such a privilege to be a missionary at this time. Miracles are happening, and angels are preparing the hearts of people to hear us. It is a blessing to be here. Today I got many letters from girls all talking about how they are planning on serving now. (With return addresses like "Future Sister Pack" and "The Happiest Girl in the World") President Tilleman says that he is requesting to double the number of missionaries he gets each transfer. It's an exciting time! The Lord is expecting a lot from His missionaries, and He deserves it.

Hope all is well at home! Have a great week.

Elder Blotter

PS- I forgot to mention it last time, but the Library changed its hours so it is now open on Monday, so I'll probably always be using computers on Monday from now on. *cough cough*. :)

Report from Burns Lake

Hello, family!

It was great to see all of the pictures of the Holy Land! I have no idea if there is any turmoil in that region or not right now, but this one crazy Canadian guy living on Southside starting ranting about "the prophecies of Ezekiel being fulfilled in the chaos and fighting around Israel", and so I hope that everything is well. Your trip has made me think of the part in Elder Holland's general conference talk that talked about what his apostles were going through after he was crucified. It must have been really neat to see everything up close!

Well, it has been another amazing week up in Burns Lake! I was a little skeptical when I first arrived in Canada and saw all of the signs that call British Columbia the "Most Beautiful Place on Earth," and I've mentioned a bit about how beautiful it is up here, but a while ago, we were tracting around 7:00, (the sun sets at like 6:30 already) and we saw the Northern Lights. Whew. Northern BC is a great place to be. My new companion, Elder Epperson, and I were able to have another great week of teaching and finding, which made last week not seem like a fluke. The bar is being raised in Burns Lake! The missionary work here has a very different feel than when I first arrived. This area really is being blessed by the Lord, and we can see His hand in what we do every day.

This upcoming week is really exciting! Once a year in the mission, somebody from the quorum of the Seventy comes and gives a big training to everyone in the mission, and so we're going to be flying down to Vancouver and spending Thursday and Friday in Richmond to meet with Elder Haleck. That should be a spiritual feast. On Saturday, we're going to wake up early, fly for two hours, drive for 4.5 hours, and hurry to our church to begin filling the font for Vanessa's baptism! Vanessa was so prepared for the gospel, and the branch has been very good in fellowshipping her and making her feel welcome. I have learned so much about the  what President Hinckley called the"better" way to do missionary work from the experience. The Spirit does the converting, the members provide the friendship, and the missionaries just get a front row seat! The branch is really excited for it, because they haven't had a baptism in ages, and it is the first time they have had a First Nations person convert to the gospel. I am also really excited because it will be the first time that I have had the sacred privilege to perform the ordinance of baptism on my mission. Tell Jacey that I am thankful that I had the opportunity to baptize her and so I won't be nervous now. :)

Speaking of Vanessa, we had another miracle with her this week! Vanessa ran into one of her friends, Vieonna, one morning before one of our lessons with her, and invited her to come. She had just gotten out of treatment and was looking for something more in her life, and through a really long chain of events, things in her schedule miraculously worked out and she was able to come to the lesson. When she got there, we decided to just teach the Restoration to her instead of what we were going to teach Vanessa. She wasn't expecting it to be anything particular, but that definitely changed. When we were giving Joseph Smith's recollection of the first vision, she just starting laughing and buried her head in a pillow. We were a bit thrown off by that, but it soon became apparent that she was just really overcome by the spirit. Vanessa was right there to bear her testimony about the Holy Ghost, and the spirit was very strong, and now Vieonna is going to be baptized on November 11th. Elder Epperson and I aren't quite Amulek and Alma, but with the incredible blessings and guidance from the Lord, we are indeed beginning to have success among the Lamanites in Burns Lake!

We've also began meeting with a part member family on Southside, the Johnsons. Ray Johnson was born and raised Catholic, and Wendy Johnson is less active. When they were married, they had to compromise, and their compromise ended up to do neither religion. They have an 8 year old daughter, Brooklyn, who wants to be baptized, but Sister Johnson doesn't feel like she can insist on it since they weren't baptized as babies into the Catholic church. We are meeting with Ray to try and soften his heart so that he will (if nothing else) allow Brooklyn to be baptized! When we visited, Brooklyn showed us her "Book of Mormon Stories" book with all the pictures that she reads form every day, and walked up and handed me a little drawing of the second half of the Plan of Salvation that she remembered learning at church one time. She is such a little gem, and we are praying for miracles.

That's about it! It is still such a miracle to be finding as many new investigators and teach as many lessons in a town that only has about as many people as Sky View does. It has really built my testimony that this is His church and that He will move the work forward in these last days! It is such a blessing to be a missionary, and life is great up in the North.

Have a great week! Hope the trip in the Holy Land goes well!

Elder Blotter