Greetings from Burns Lake, eh?

Fammillyyy...

The missionaries in Terrace told me about a heli-skiing resort that is owned by a part member family. I can't remember their names, but where did you go again, Dad? That would be kind of neat if it was the same place. I definitely am going to have to pay another visit to BC when I'm off the mission to do some of the fishing and skiing that they have up here! We tried to go mountain biking at Boer Mountain yesterday, but we only made it about 20 minutes before Elder Neher took a tumble and we had to pay a visit to the hospital for him to get some stitches, although he ended up being fine. C'est la vie! It was beautiful while we were biking though! A bit different from the biking we did in Moab and Canyonlands. Instead of large rocks being the main obstacles, you were swerving between pine trees and roots. And it was interesting to see socialized health care in action! He walked in, a nurse swabbed the gash on his knee, told him the doctor could see him in a couple hours, and so we just sort of left and came back! It was kind of weird.

Oh! That will be great for Jordan. It's weird to think that Elder Nelson is still in the MTC, too... since I've already been here for almost 3 weeks. One advantage of going English speaking, for sure! You'll have to keep me posted on where other people go, even though most of my friends have pretty much gotten their calls.

It's good to hear a little bit about the outside world! I heard about the shooting in Colorado because an investigator had their TV on, and I figure that as long as people can afford to drive cars, no global catastrophe has occurred... yet. And when the smoke up here cleared up, I assumed that the fires hopefully didn't burn our house down. But that's about as far as I go in terms of knowing what's going on!

Apparently, President Tilleman only sends missionaries that he can trust up in the North, because of how far away it is and how little oversight he has over the area, but I figure that because he has absolutely no experience with me, I'm definitely an exception to that. I guess I can prove myself while I'm here, though! As far as how transfers in the mission go in this area, in the past, he has sent a greenie here with a trainer, then moved the trainer out after a transfer, so that the greenie is the one who knows the area and has to participate more. But, the zone leaders say that you never know with President Tilleman. They say that many Elders in the North qualify for living common law because of how long they're there, and sometimes you're only up for a transfer. I expect that I'll be in Burn's Lake for at least another transfer, but Elder Neher, who was in this area last transfer as well, might be shipped out. I know that however it is organized, it's the way that the Lord wants it, however, because President Tilleman is very in tune with the Spirit and I have full faith that how he organizes it, it is supposed to be. Have I told his story in emails yet? I don't think I have. I'll do that next week or when there's time, because it's definitely inspiring. President Tilleman is awesome.

Me and Elder Neher definitely have our differences, but we still get along great! Pretty much, we both want to be good missionaries, he just feels like that is accomplished through planning extensively, and I like to stick to the time guidelines that are in the white handbook and in PMG. I've just sort of figured that it is probably better to do things his way and have a good relationship, than to become frustrated and create a rift between us. It's definitely hard to constantly be doing your best to be working hard, but when you do manage to do so, you feel so much more satisfied. I'm by no means a perfect missionary no matter how you slice, but I'm doing what I can.

The work here is starting to progress! When me and a zone leader, Elder Reynolds, were on splits, we found 16 potential investigators in one day, and for an area where tracting and street contacting aren't very effective, that was awesome! I have a very strong testimony that the Lord puts people who are prepared for the message in your path. It is amazing to being to see the changes that the gospel brings in people's lives. We have 3 different baptismal dates set, and we are planning on committing about 3 more to be baptized. We have faith that we'll be able to have a baptism in August, and hopefully one per month, even though our Ward Mission Leader is insistent that 1 baptism every five to ten years is acceptable. We're trying to infect him with how awesome missionary work is. :) There is a lot of potential here, and we are going to make stuff happen. I've definitely been humbled, however. The Lord is the one who does missionary work, I'm just here to get the ball rolling.

Well, talk to next week!

Elder Blotter

PS- Thanks for the package, mother!

PPS- With emails, I can only email direct family and grandparents. You can forward me stuff they say and forward what I say, but that's about it. Also, in this mission, we can only listen to music that would be appropriate to play in Sacrament Meeting. So thanks for the music you sent! Next time, send some MoTab! It's fantastic stuff. I'll be good for a while, because Elder Neher has a bunch.