We had a "mini-Zone conference" in Terrace on Sunday, and we only had time to drive back to Smithers yesterday, so we are having our P-day in Smithers this week! It has been nice because there are lower prices on food and things here, but it also means that we are able to email today! So, this email is a little early.
It is weird how fast time has flown this transfer. It's already halfway over! In just over 2 weeks we will find out if we're being moved or not. I hope I'm in Burns Lake for one more round, but we'll have to see how it goes. There are a lot of people that have one foot in the font and the other on the banana peel, and they just need one more nudge for them to either be baptized or commit to be baptized, and I really feel like there is more for me to do in beautiful Burns Lake. I guess we'll just have to see what happens! They have a new training program for new missionaries called the "12 Week Program" where for the first 12 weeks in the field you spend an extra hour a day studying things in Preach My Gospel. I'm 3 weeks away from being finished with that, and I will no longer technically be a "greenie" when it's over. That's pretty weird!
This week has been an interesting one, because we spent a lot of it in other areas, but it has also been a week of miracles. Every week is week of miracles, of course, but still. :) We left on Friday to spend a day having another district meeting and companion exchange in Smithers, and then drove to Terrace and spent some time up there. When we got to Terrace, there was another companion exchange. It was pretty hectic, but I think everybody learned a lot. When we were in Terrace, I was with a group of missionaries and we went to tract out a trailer park. I was paired with an elder who is leaving after this transfer, and we agreed that whichever group found a new investigator first had to buy the other group milkshakes. At the second trailer that we visited, we saw somebody standing by a window and we got their attention to come to the door. When we looked at the door, there was a piece of paper taped to it that rather impolitely told people who were proselyting to leave the trailer alone. But... the person opened the door, we got in, and we managed to get a lesson and two new investigators from the trailer. One of the investigators committed to be baptized as we were leaving. It was certainly a testimony that even in unexpected places, the Lord is preparing people to hear the message of the Restoration.
Another experience we had when tracting Burns Lake is we ran into a man, named Ridge, who we had street contacted into and tracted into previously, and in both situations he had said no. We were out on a random street, and we knocked on the door of a house, and suddenly Ridge walks up to the door. He was just there to pick up his brother because he was intoxicated, but we had a conversation with him, and he told us he wanted to be a better father for his kids, and we basically taught him the Restoration on the doorstep of that random house. We gave him our number and set up another appointment, and left. We were like 5 minutes away and he called and told us to visit somebody down the street for him, and as soon as we hung up the phone, a car pulled up and rolled down the window to talk to us, and it turns out, it was the guy that Ridge told us to visit. He initially said he wasn't interested, but when we told him Ridge wanted us to see him, he agreed to give us his number and meet with us.
We're working in Burns Lake in a lot of different ways. We're starting to get some of the elderly natives to just come to church. We're not allowed to visit single women without a responsible male adult 17 years or older present, and there are a lot of old women on the reserve, and since there just aren't enough Priesthood holders in Burns Lake to get in the number of appointments we would like to, one way we've been getting people to come unto Christ is by setting up rides for them to come to church and teaching them there on Sundays. We'll have to see if any fruits come that way in the future. We know that we need to be working harder for Burns Lake to blossom, and so we're doing what we can.
The town itself of Burns Lake is small and only has about 1500 people in it. There are other areas in BC with massive wards in them and no missionaries. But there is work to do in Burns Lake, and the experiences and miracles that happen like that every day are just another witness that the Lord has missionaries where they need to be. It is so surprising to see the people that the Lord has prepared, but he has certainly prepared them.
Well, it has been a great week! I love serving the Lord. It is very fulfilling work. I am blessed to serve in a beautiful and uniquely challenging area. I hope all is well at home! All is well in Burns Lake. Oh. I also found out that the name of Queen Charlotte's island is spelled "Haida Gwaii". Just for clarification. :)
Hope to hear from you next week! Have a great one. I've got to write President Tilleman.
Elder Blotter
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