Ha-Kitimat-ata

Well hello family!

 

Hopefully you've all had a good week! It's been good up in Northern BC. Even though it does get a lot lighter earlier and we're well into the season where we go to bed when the sun is up and we wake up when the sun is up, summer seems to come later in the year. And that seems to influence when summer vacation comes, because all the kids are still in school. So, it could be worse, Jed and Jacey! In any case, there have been a lot of good people to talk to and lots of good things happening and we're excited to be in Kitimat.

 

The work is moving forward. Samfred, or Samantha and Wilfred, have been coming to church and are up to be baptized in the coming weeks. There have been a few miracles that have happened in the past week. Samantha used to be our neighbor, but her roommate is kind of crazy, and they got involved in some kind of altercation. Samantha looks like she's harmless and like... Jenessa sized, (no offense, Ness) but apparently she caused her roommate to take a hospital visit. Which is really funny, because Samantha seems to be very gentle-natured. Long story short, Samantha over the course of a day decided to move out to Kitamaat Village, which would leave us having no idea where she was, since she doesn't have a cell phone. But, lo and behold, we were walking by the apartment in service clothes coming back from a moving project at the church and we were there just in time to help her and her dad move her stuff out and get the phone number of the house she'd be living in. But, we tried the number a few times, and nobody picked up. So we were kind of back to the drawing board, and we were going to try tracting out the whole village just to see if we could find where they were (not likely), and we decided to get gas before leaving. And lo, yet again, who should pull up to get gas? Yep. Samantha and her family were filling up to go on a fishing trip, so we were able to get her address and set up a ride for her to come to church. Not all mission miracles are overwhelming displays of God's power. Sometimes they are just an accumulation of little things that let everything work out. Samantha and Wilfred really are awesome people though. Wilfred is a trooper. A lot of natives are very... less motivated. But he works at the Wal-Mart in Terrace and oftentimes has to hitchhike in the wee hours of the morning to get back to Kitimat. Sometimes he has to walk all the way to the airport from Terrace. Which I can assure you, would be a long ways to walk.

 

And then there's the Boyson bunch. What a quirky family! They have put off their baptism because they have been delaying talking to their mom about being baptized because they can't talk with their mom. Because she works at Dairy Queen, and apparently even when she's not working there, she just goes there to "hang out". And the rest of the time, nobody knows where she is. And we would count that as a feeble excuse, but we drop by at weird hours of the day and she is never there. They're kind of one of those classic part member families with a few sheets of teaching records because they've been taught so many times in the past. But, this time, we're getting them to keep commitments. They've come to church solidly for about 2 months. We have a lot of faith that the situation is going to work out, but it's going to take a lot of faith. But Alma and the sons of Mosiah had a converting experience with an earth-shaking angel not because of their own goodness, but because of the prayers Alma's father, Alma. So. Somehow, we figure that we'll be able to get Sister Boyson on board. It has been very cool though to see how they've grown. Chelsey Boyson will say that she thinks she needs to know more about baptism, but when we ask her what she thinks it means, she'll more or less recite exactly what it says in Mosiah 18 as qualifications for baptism, meaning to stand as a witness for God, to help others, etc. You just want to shout "no! You get what baptism means more than most scholars who get degrees in theology do. You get it!" They're an awesome family. They will come around.

 

Well, it's an awesome time to be a missionary. To be fully dedicated to "the work of salvation!" We did get the chance to watch the broadcast on the old computer the branch has to do church business things for the branch clerk. It really is exciting to be able to see the vision that the Lord's servants have as the Lord is now "hastening His work". How cool was it to see all of those missionaries in the choir? And having members and missionaries work in unison really is the best way to move the work forward. President Tilleman said they are going to "phase in" having "new tools" in the next "six months to a year". Which sounds kind of vague. We're not exactly expecting an iPad to show up in the mail. But still! It really does only make sense that the way we do missionary work needs to change as the world changes. It is a powerful witness that this is His work, and that He is moving it forward. The church is true! We're blessed to be able to share what we know.

 

Well, I love you all! Have a great week!

 

Elder Blotter

Greetings from the "Pacific Inland Coast"

Well!

It was a great week in Kitimat! Life is good. It's starting to get hot up here, finally. We used to wear short sleeves one day, and a coat the next, but it's finally getting warm. When I flew up to Burns Lake straight from Utah summer, when everyone was complaining about the heat, I thought it felt great, but a year in Canada has made me grow soft. Any hotter than 25 degrees (whatever that is in Fahrenheit...) is just too much. But, we're finding and teaching, (and hopefully baptizing this weekend) so we can't complain.

This week has been an interesting one. We finally were able to get Samantha and Wilfred (commonly referred to as Samfred), a young first nations couple, to church, and they loved it. Which is awesome, because we were teaching the Sunday School lesson and took the opportunity to teach the Word of Wisdom to them. And Samantha liked Relief Society even though that usually consists of one of the people who usually teach in Primary or Young Womens sitting down for some "one on one" time with whoever comes. Because the branch is pretty much all young families, it takes all of the sisters to handle teaching. It's also kind of awkward because for Sunday School, all of the women and children suddenly go downstairs after Sacrament meeting, so if we have female investigators, they are suddenly left in a room full of men. (Yeah. You kind of have to figure these things out.) In any case, the member who gave them a ride home and hit and killed somebody's family dog en route (of course that would happen...), but they still want to come back, so they must have liked it.

The Boysons are probably going to be baptized this weekend! It's taken some excessive missionary effort to get them to continue to progress because the mom isn't a member and not the biggest fan, but all things are looking good. We're following up today to be sure.

I had some interesting experiences this week, though. In one instance, this angsty semi-intoxicated Canadian cussed off of his porch, but, probably because he's Canadian, he felt bad and came out and tried to apologize to us. We had a brief conversation with him, and he basically expressed his belief that we were wasting our time because we're annoying and everyone just yells at us. We told him that it's very rare for people to treat us like he did, and he didn't believe us. So he decided to come tracting with us to see what it was like. Yep. We were just kind of followed around by this potbellied Canadian while we went finding. If it ended up that he got baptized as a result, President Monson would no doubt tell that story next Conference, but in the end, he just got bored when nobody else got mad at us and went home, so it probably won't be retold. But still.

The other experience was with one of our former investigators, a JW Portuguese family. Kitimat has a huge Portuguese population for some reason, and most of them are from the Azores, (which is where Heidi Fillmore lived for a while). But anyways, they usually were pretty stiff around us, but were slightly intoxicated and so were a bit more friendly. They actually fed us dinner, some Portuguese bean and sausage dish, and as we ate they sort of boasted about the different programs and things offered by their church. It really got me thinking about how blessed we are. "Oh, you guys meet together and hold conventions where you act about Bible dramas (pronounced dra-ma not drah-ma)? Very cool. We have a prophet and authority from God to act in His name to save His children." But really, all comparisons aside, it got me thinking that Heavenly Father would be quite sad if the people in His only true and living church didn't appreciate everything that we have, and make the most of it. We are blessed with so much. It really is astounding. We should do things like go to the Temple, prepare awesome lessons for classes we're teaching, etc.

The church is true! But, it sounds like it was a good week. Have a good next week, family!

Elder Blotter

Elder Atwood and Elder Blotter on a P day.

Not Mrs. Checketts...

Yes. It is MUCH easier as a mom, for me, after the year mark. It took about 6-7 months before I could walk past your pic in the church and not tear up. Now when I see it I just get so happy and proud and EXCITED that I will see you in LESS than a year. Years fly by. I am a very proud mom and so happy that you are giving everything you have while on your mission. You will be so blessed and it will be so worth it.
    Jed LOVED your e-mail to him. He wanted me to tell you that he did NOT get Mrs. Checketts. Unfortunately she in now at Greenville. She was so GREAT!  He got Mrs. McMillan, who Rachael says is really good. And for some reason he liked the idea of going to Lagoon with the $50.  Ha ha.  Eric Holt left for Spain exactly a year after you. Kathy is a wreck.  :)

To Jed from Elder Blotter

JED!

You're the best. I read Elder Atwood your story today about the squid and the muscle man. We think it's awesome. Sounds like you're having a ton of fun!

I think your teacher will be... Mrs. Checketts! Cause she was mine!

I think I will save that $50 and then we can go to Lagoon when I get home. How does that sound?

I'm almost out of time, but I'll write you another email next week!

Elder Blotter

To Elder Blotter, from JED

Dear Joshua,

     I MISS you so, so, much. If you were here I would squeeze you so tight! This is your special day so we are thinking of you a lot. You are half way done today! I found a little vial that mom says holds oil you can bless and anoint people who are sick. I'm going to ask Dad if he'll bless it? Or mom says you could also.

     Grayson is staying with us for a MONTH.. I moved the tramp on the steep part of our yard so if I jump with socks on, I slide off!! There is a new person in our neighborhood and his name is Ethan. He lives in the Chadwick's old home and he is my best friend. There are men here washing our windows so mom is trying to wash the inside while they wash the outside. (Grayson like to play video games TOO much)

     Did you get moms package she sent you? What did you use the $50 for that I sent you?   Do you like your companion? I found out who my teacher for 2nd grade will be!   Guess who it is? ............................................Tell me who you think it will be in your next e-mail. And I'll tell you if your right. I want to send you a package with something in it. I love you.   Love, Jed

Kitimat Report

Family,

 

Well! It looks like there were some fun times had in Florida this past week. Ha ha... the car made me laugh.

 

There were 3 experiences that we had in the 'Mat that made me ponder a bit over the past week that I want to share. The first was with a front-toothless man named Aloyes (probably Portuguese) in his fifties and who apparently has a chest and aorta full of tumors. I'm sure that Dad would have understood whatever condition he's in, but apparently they aren't malignant, but he still doesn't have too much longer to live. (As a sidenote, because of the healthcare system, he doesn't have the option of paying for treatment. All he gets are some painkillers.) The JW's ripped him off of his life savings when his wife died, and so he is very skeptical of organized religion, and he's done some research and has questions about if the Bible is legitimate. But at the same time, religion and spirituality has been an issue that's pressed on his mind lately because, well, for him, death is kind of imminent. We've taught him a few times about the Plan of Salvation. He admits that he loves talking with us, but he has a really big barrier to developing any kind of faith. But we'll see. We have high hopes for Aloyes.

 

The second was with a 20 year old native named Fred. It was pretty cool how we managed to find him, but long story short we were led to his door and he let us in. We taught the message of the Restoration, and the Spirit was very strong. At one point he was in tears. BUT, wouldn't you know it, right as he was about to say a closing prayer, the rest of his family walked in the front door. And it became very apparent that his family wasn't too big a fan of walking in and seeing some Mormons on their couch. We wrapped it up pretty quickly and left. We were given his cell phone number, but it's been a few days and he hasn't responded to calls or texts. But he knows it's true! It's interesting the trials of faith that each of us are called to go through. For some people, it seems to be a challenge acting on the witness that they have received, and for others, it's a challenge to receive a witness in the first place.

 

Finally, I don't remember if you guys remember Norma. I'm not sure if I talked about her too much. She's the toothless, 300+ pound, 5 foot tall old First Nations lady from Vancouver that literally is almost dead. Every week she would have stories about how doctors wanted her to take surgeries that would give her a 50% chance of survival and how she didn't want to take them. In any case, at some point much earlier in her life, she had met with missionaries and was going to be baptized in Vancouver, but the police required her to move because her abusive boyfriend was out to get her, and so she never got baptized. Many years down the road, Elder Smith and I talked to her as we were waiting for our bus to come, and then Elder Holtby and I taught her all of the lessons. We had lots of cool experiences, like a priesthood blessing that healed her of an addiction to coffee, etc... And then, the week before her baptism, her landlord gave her the boot and she had to move to Surrey. We just gave her teaching record to the missionaries there and they managed to get in contact with her, and just this past week she got baptized there! A senior couple missionary called and gave me the chance to talk to her, and she just kept on saying how happy she was. It was a miracle. The church is true.

 

It's cool to see how the Lord has a plan for each one of us! Our walk on this earth isn't supposed to be an easy one, but it's certainly a worthwhile one, and it's very cool to see how everything works out in the end. But life is good in Kitimat! There's a lot of stuff going on, which is the way that we like it. I hope that you all have a great week this week! And Jacey can have that old iPod. I wondered where on Earth that thing went. I knew it fell down there somewhere, but I never could find it. Ha ha...

 

Elder Blotter

Kitimat.....

Family,

Well. It's been another great week up in the North! It was transfer week, and since all the new missionaries go down to the meeting after their first transfer, we were going to fly down to the lower mainland, but one of the missionaries from Prince Rupert forgot to bring photo ID (and his suitcase, for that matter), and so they wouldn't let him get on the plane. Long story and quite a fuss at the airport later, I just volunteered to stay with Elder Forgetful and work in Kitimat during the transfer meeting. We ended up being rained on all day, BUT we found another pretty awesome family, which just kind of goes to show the simple truth that the best missionary work happens most of the time under... less-than-ideal circumstances.

It's taken me a while to get here, but over the course of my mission I've kind of come to a point where I don't really get too put out about rough times, because, well. I know this is God's work, and if I'm doing everything that I can, then whatever happens is God's intention, even if it is nothing more than a trial of our faith (1 Peter 1:7) (Elder Atwood would probably say that's a lie based on how worked up I can get in the fifteen minutes before church starts). Same thing with rules. In the mission, President Tilleman has asked us to not eat meals between 5-7 pm, because that's "prime finding time". We're also commanded to do things like not teach someone of the opposite gender without another male present. Some people just get put out and say things like "we could teach and baptize more people if we didn't need members present at lessons". That's so dumb. 1) you couldn't, and 2) This is the Lord's work, and if the Lord doesn't want you to teach single sisters, then that's His call. President Tilleman has a line he says, "Obedience is more important than sacrifice and baptisms". But I digress!

This Sunday, President Kaberry and Brother Van Horne were both gone for a branch conference in Smithers, and so that left Brother Streeter to conduct the meeting. It's pretty impressive to go from having no church experience to conducting Sacrament meeting in a year. The members up here are awesome. But... it was my turn to teach Priesthood this Sunday, and then Brother Van Horne called us in the morning to ask us to teach Sunday School since he wouldn't be there, and since the manual for Sunday School was at the church, we didn't really have any time to correlate or plan a lesson, so it kind of turned into one of those situations where one person talks a lot more than the other because neither person really knows what's going on. So church this Sunday kind of consisted of Elder Blotter talking for a long time in a mostly empty room, since most people were gone or in the nursery/primary/etc. Ha ha. Branches really are awesome, though. And Elder Atwood and I pulled it together by Priesthood meeting and had a good discussion on families. The Boyson family was there, and despite all their quirks, they really fit well together as a family, and it had been awesome to see how preparing to be baptized has drawn that family closer together. The church is true.

Well! Sounds like everyone had a good week. Congratulations on graduating, Ness! (I initially typed "getting baptized" and had to delete and change it to graduating) Hear from you next week!

Elder Blotter