It's been a good week in Kitimat.

Elder Blotter, Daniel Boyson and Elder Atwood

Well hello, everyone!

It's been a great week in Kitimat! Northern BC is the place to be in Kitimat. The highlight of the week this week was the baptism and confirmation of Daniel Boyson. It has been a very long road for the Boyson family, but to be able to see Daniel receive saving ordinances this weekend (and Chelsea is preparing to be baptized next week) was an absolute miracle, and a testimony that God answers prayers. Chelsea is being baptized next week because the Boyson family had a... funny way of getting around to communicate with each other. Daniel did not want to tell Chelsea that he had made the decision to be baptized because he didn't want to pressure her to be baptized. and when Chelsea found out that he WAS being baptized, she was quite peeved because she has always wanted to be baptized, and was just waiting for him to come around. And neither of them told their Mom when they were getting baptized, "because they thought that she would have to work or something". And so she shows up after the ordinance, because nobody told her when it was at. When she DID come, she just hugged Daniel and told him she was proud of him. In the end, it was a beautiful service, though. On the day of his confirmation, we took Daniel with us to visit a few people. We've been talking about serving a mission, and we're pretty confident that he is going to serve one, which is exciting! (I managed to find both camera and charger. I attached a picture of us with Daniel and with Brother Boyson, Daniel's dad. Yes, Daniel did wear a Mountain Dew T-shirt and dress pants to his baptism. Yes, we did suggest that for pictures sake he get a shirt and tie. No, we were not able to successfully convince him to do so.)

Otherwise, it was a good week in Kitimat! We found a very cool hybrid Catholic/Presbyterian family this week that we've started teaching. Matthew and Nicola. They grew up near a Mormon family, and just from their positive example years ago, they have a very positive perception of the church. The kind of lifestyles that we live really do make a difference in the long run. We knocked on the door as they were watching family videos, and they had just decided to make a new one. So, in any case, they will forever have documentation of a good part of the message of the Restoration in their family videos. When we first came to Kitimat, we had a "discussion" of sorts with some JW's. The husband and wife were not very open, but they had a nephew visiting from Portugal who was very cool. Unfortunately, he was planning on getting married back in Portugal and left after we met him. A week or so ago, we tracted into this lady who tried to let us right in, saying she moved straight from Portugal, and, because we can't teach females by themselves, we set up a time we could come back with somebody else. When we came back, lo and behold, it was Alex, the nephew from Portugal! And they are both open, so now we can teach them and do so in a more hospitable environment. That's a miracle!

This week we also had the chance to go to Prince Rupert for an exchange. Prince Rupert is directly on the coast, and it feels pretty much like California meets First Nations Reserve. The exchange was one of those times you feel like you are having too much fun to be on a mission, because the drive there is probably the most beautiful drive on the planet and me and Elder Busby, the missionary I was serving with in Rupert, were on bikes, and so we just biked around and talked to people in the sunshine all day. We had the chance to teach a very cool couple, Mary Jane and Clyde, who had just moved off the reserve into town. Mary Jane had some people come to the door offering her Bibles, and since she had just moved, she was looking for a church. She was in the process of praying and asking God which of all the Bibles was His book, and boom. The missionaries knock on her door. She took that as an answer, and now they are both meeting with the missionaries in Prince Rupert.

Well, in any case, it sounds like life at home is going great! That's good to hear. Enjoy the summer. I can just tell that Jed is going to be a good football player. I would not want to be a lineman across from him! Keep Kitimat in your prayers! I'll talk to you all next week.

Elder Blotter