Introducing Elder Francis....

Flying South for the Winter, Part II: Return of the Basement Suites, Skytrains, and Oodles of People.

Family,

Well, I'm back to Van East! Well. Van East East. Burnaby South, if we want to call it what we're supposed to call it. I have been transferred to the area adjacent to Van East. Boundary Rd is in my area again. Since I've left, they've had to squish in massive amounts of Sisters in a lot of different areas, so now Burnaby is cut in half and elders are in the Southern half, but that's the stomping ground now. And goodness. I. Love. Vancouver. I forgot how much I loved Vancouver because of how much I love Northern BC, but Vancouver is a great place to be. It feels like the perfect temperature outside always. The bishop is from Japan, the opening prayer to Sacrament Meeting was in Mandarin, the ward mission leader is from Uganda, etc. etc. etc. Going running in the morning, you run past Filipino bakeries and it smells good. There's people all over the place. Frozen pizzas don't cost 9 or 10 bucks. You don't have to eat frozen pizzas, because food is cheap. ...Apples taste really good. We live in the basement of an East Indian family's house.  The list goes on. Anyways...

So my new companion is Elder Francis, who I am follow-up training. He's been out for 6 weeks. (I think I'm just going to be training for the rest of my mission, or something) He was originally called into the Spanish work, but has been serving in the English work because there's not enough Spanish areas for the number of missionaries that we have right now. His dad is a diplomat for the Canadian government, and so... he was born in Colombia (his mom is Colombian and his dad is your typical pasty white Canadian. Not that pasty white Utahns can point fingers), and has since lived in Argentina, Guatemala, Toronto, England, Hong Kong, Romania, The Philippines, and... Utah, because he went to BYU for a year. His family is currently living in Kenya. So... there you go. He speaks English and Spanish, decent French, and a little bit of Mandarin. He's a pretty cool elder, to say the least.

And the work in Burnaby is very cool! This Sunday, a wonderful little 10 year old girl named Faythe Mileta was baptized. The missionaries here have been working with that family for a while. Brother Mileta is also investigating, but he just has not been able to quit smoking. His wife, who is a member, obviously wants him to quit, but is kind of an enabler and doesn't want him to get too worked up or stressed about quitting smoking. In the first lesson that we had with him, we reset a date with him for October 13th and made a plan for him to quit smoking. Right now, he's smoking "maybe a little over" a pack a day. But he can do it! Elder Aidukaitus (perhaps... I misspelled that) of the Seventy was visiting our mission, and he went out of his way to specifically visit them, and after he pulled us aside and told us to make sure we baptized him. General Authorities. They're the best. Apparently, at the beginning of August, Elder Francis and Elder Kennedy (who is 7 foot 6 or something insane like that and has full rides in either basketball or football to BYU... I have some literally big shoes to fill) set a goal to have 10 baptisms, but all of those people have kind of been dwindling aside from the Miletas.

The ward here seems very cool as well. We have everything from this prim and proper British lady who, if you impress, will spend thousands of dollars on you in the form of new suits, shoes, food, etc. (she's included past missionaries in her will, apparently) But she picks favorites, and some missionaries just get the cold shoulder. There's this Iranian guy, Sammy, whose dad owns the largest construction company in Iran. Sammy had a rare disease that only 6 people in the world had, and his dad funded millions in research until they found a cure. Anyways, he's blind and a little disabled, lives by himself here (and somehow became a Mormon), and since he's blind he has no idea what time it is. And he calls all the missionaries in the area 5-10 times a day, which most of the time we can't answer (which if we don't, he sings the "I'm so lonely" song). And since he has no idea what time it is, that 5-10 times a day need not be restrained to the hours of 6:30 AM to 10:30 PM. We've been woken up a few times already. Good people though, that's for sure.

We've met a few people that seem very promising, but we have a lot of digging in to do to pick the work up in Burnaby, and there are a few challenges. When I came into the area, the area book hadn't been updated for a while, and the teaching records were all just kind of jumbled together in no particular order at the front of the binder. The area isn't... organized at all. We need to break the area down into smaller areas, organize the area book, and get a big map of the area and plot out where all the less actives, part member families, members, etc. etc. live so that we can plan better. And we can't afford to sit around in the apartment doing that, so... we'll probably do that for the rest of the P-day and then in the mornings and evenings until it's done. And transit here... well. In Vancouver, transit was incredibly overwhelming at first, but eventually you just figure out that more or less you Skytrain as East/West as you need, and you learn the buses that take you as North/South as you need. The buses are more sporadic and the city is in less of a grid than in Vancouver, so it's going to be a little dicey and takes about an hour to get anywhere, but hey. We'll get there. Right now we're emailing at the "Justice Institute of British Columbia" and it took us an hour just to get here. It'll take at least an hour to get back, and then we've got all the other P-day errands to run... Fun stuff. Better than having to drive in Vancouver. Anyways.

Well, there are certainly a lot of challenges up ahead, but I'm excited for them! The challenges here are a little daunting, but preferable to the challenge of knocking the same door for the 7th-8th time. Shout out to Elder Atwood, who is staying and training in Kitimat and will be there for at least 6 months!

Well, dad sent a little video attached to one of the emails of Jacey doing a backflip. That's a super cool trick! But what in the world! Jacey, you already look a lot older and you've still got quite a bit of time to grow! And Jed, look at you in your football pads. You're old enough for that? What in the world! Ha ha. Well. I hope that you all have a great week!

Elder Blotter

Mother, I forgot my camera, but I'll try to send some pictures next week.

Fall Strikes the North.

Here is Elder Blotter with the Syphus Family. Sis. Syphus has a food blog and is a wonderful cook. She fed the missionaries almost every week. They were from Arizona but working in Kitimat for a year.

Family,

Well, hello, everyone. It's been a cold and wet week up here in Kitimat! Either it's just a cold spell, or somebody upstairs must have flipped the switch, because the last weeks have been hot, and now there's a little nip in the air. The missionaries from Prince Rupert came to Kitimat for exchanges this week, and so me and another elder were on bikes in the pouring rain. Probably a good experience, because missionaries with vehicles probably get a little bit soft. Not exactly the most fun, but it was good in that even if people will close the door on us before we get the chance to say anything, at least they have to acknowledge that we're sincere enough about what we're doing to go and get wet for it.

Anyways! It was a good week this week. We had a pretty intense Canadian service project with some members that I am still sore from. we drove off into the bush/rainforest (Kitimat really is a rainforest based on how much it rains. There are frogs just jumping around on the streets and sidewalks. That's unimaginable in Utah) on sketchy logging roads and chainsawed trees down, chained them and pulled them into clearings, and then cut and split the wood and loaded it into trucks. BC has more trees than it knows what to do with. It's literally a jungle out there. But, since wood is only as expensive as the time it takes you to go and get some, most people have wood stoves in their homes because it's a lot cheaper than a gas furnace.

The work is going well in Kitimat, though! We're working with some interesting people. Heavenly Father has some diverse children. I might have mentioned Cam before. He's interesting because he has read very heavily into this researcher who studies psychology and human reaction. Apparently, if you have people hold out their arm and make a statement while trying to push their arm down, the way that they react indicates if it's true or not. So if you were 30 years old, and somebody had you hold your arm out and said "You are 31" while pushing down on your arm, it would go limp, but if they said your correct age you would naturally keep your arm up and resist the pressure because it's a natural way your body reacts to things that are true or good for your mental health or something like that. And the vast majority of people have that positive reaction when told that "Jesus Christ is the Son of God", and so because of that, he believes that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, because if it wasn't true, it wouldn't have that influence and "resonate" with so many people. And he isn't "this is my excuse to my scientist friends why I'm Christian", this is "I really don't know how it's possible, but apparently Jesus Christ really is the Son of God. How about that?" Which is pretty cool the different ways that the Lord can lead people to finding faith in him, but it's just a stepping stone to developing sincere faith with deeper roots.

 And then we're teaching Ed, this older guy who has very fiery opinions about everything because all he does is watch documentaries. He insists that if he got a few hundred dollars more a month from welfare, he could get back on his feet and start contributing to society. Then we found out from some members that he's also addicted to crack, so... you know.

And then we're teaching people like James. James is this solid individual who has a million questions about everything, and is a little bit slow, but is really hungry to find truth. He'll read the Book of Mormon, and then he'll re-read the same pages a few times just so that he can understand it. It's troopers like that that make you glad to be on a mission. It's interesting to be on a mission, because you just see the inside of people's houses and into people's lives that you just wouldn't otherwise. It's pretty cool.

Well, it's transfers this week again. After 3 transfers, there is definitely going to be a change in Kitimat. The general consensus that will probably be wrong (just because the general consensus is usually wrong) is that I'm going to leave and Elder Atwood is going to stay and train a new missionary. Either way, it should be a pretty exciting week!

Good to hear from you all, and I hope that you have a good week!

Elder Blotter

Re: Another week has gone by in Kitimat....

This is awesome Jill. His words are beautiful and you can tell he is filled with peace and joy and loves his mission and he loves people. People of all kinds. To me, that is the meaning of the word Christian. Btw, he is such a great writer! This could be a chapter in a book, its so well done.

I just had a call last night form the elders that we met while visiting the office where Jerry and Audre worked. Did Nessy tell you about our visit? Did she mention the young (handsome and sweet) man that is the brother of a red headed girl who married somebody at your church? He was to return to Logan sometime soon and will be starting school same as Ness. Well, anyway....(please, do tell if you meet him. He grew up on a farm and is worried about school)... the other two boys called last night and I hope will be coming out for eggs. One was from Utah, the other, I'm not sure.  Oh Jill, Nessy commented on how they glowed and they really did shine a pure light that couldn't be missed. We are doing great but missing Ness. I am sure her calendar is keeping her hopping! Tell her we send her bunches of love.

 

Talk soon,

Thanks for the forward. It really is so touching to read his words. I may not be Mormon, but I am definitely "mor" (more) because of the gift of knowing you.

lots of love,

sal

Another week has gone by in Kitimat...

Well hello!

Just like that, it's been another week in Kitimat. Well, it's been a week everywhere. But in my world, it's just been a week in Kitimat.Life has been good, though! The work has been moving forward in Kitimat, and we've been blessed. It's also finally getting dark at 10:30, so it doesn't feel like it's eternally daytime because you're sleeping during the few hours of darkness. Can't complain.

This week, we had a pretty awesome miracle at the end of one of our dinner appointments at the Syphus home. (Mother D, do you look at her food blog? If so, you should try to make the fluffy brown sugar icing. It's called something like that. Apparently it's pretty popular, and she found the recipe from Sis. Bonnell, who is a widow in the branch whose attic we have been cleaning because she's planning on moving soon. Sis. Bonnell was pretty happy that it became popular.) We were just wrapping up our spiritual thought and were about to leave, when there was a knock at the door. It was Ron, who was apparently someone who Sis. Syphus wasn't necessarily friends with, but they always would run into each other around town and their kids were friends from school. So, his father in law had just died, and his wife was at work trying to finish her shift, and he said that he was having a really hard time with it and just didn't know where to go. So... he "randomly" just felt like he should go to the Syphus home. Right when we were there. As we were leaving, we talked to him about what we do as missionaries and invited him to meet with us, and he said that him and his wife would be "very interested". It's a miracle how they've been prepared. They aren't very religious, but they have faith in God, and apparently the members of the church in Terrace did a lot of nice things for them, so they have a high opinion of the church. And now, in this time of need, they are ready for the gospel. It's very cool to see how God prepares people and then puts them in your path. All of the variables that need to be in place for that to happen really are too great for that to just be some coincidence.

In areas they keep track of how many lessons you teach each week, and if you look in the history of really small areas you can tell that missionaries get into death spirals where they don't have anybody to teach, there aren't a lot of members to do member work with, so they're left with nothing to do but tract all day. And there aren't that many doors to knock, and so you're left visiting the same people over and over again, who, if not given enough time between visits, can start to get annoyed, and so the missionaries get discouraged and... well. It's not productive. And so it's very cool to see that if you have faith and work hard, you don't get into death spirals. God puts people in your path, and you will have people to teach. And even in this little area, we keep on finding new people to talk to.

We had some other miracles in the work, as well. One former investigator we talked to when we first got into the area, but he wasn't ready to meet with missionaries, so we put him back in the reflecting pool. After a few months, we dropped by, at a good discussion about agency and 2 Nephi 2 and now he's promised to sincerely find out if the Book of Mormon is true. He's the guy who is satisfied with his Anglican beliefs, but "doesn't want to be like the Jews who didn't think that Jesus Christ had anything to offer them, so I keep meeting with you guys". We also found a less active guy, Tom, who was baptized in Langley many years ago, and doesn't remember too much about what we believe. But he's retired and alone, and looking for something more in his life. Conveniently a few months ago, he started living the Word of Wisdom again because he was out of cigarettes when all the stores were closed and he started looking for butts in ashtrays to try to use to get a nicotine fix. He took a step back, said "I'm better than this" and quit. So he's been prepared to start coming back to church too! The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Missions are awesome. Too many experiences to pick from... one shirtless tattooed former drug dealer that we talked to on a more run-down street started talking to us about our faith, and then insisted on feeding us dinner. We told him we were going to be busy, but could come back when we had made some time to eat, and when we came back he was pounding steaks to tenderize them, and he made us this gourmet steak dinner. We ate it sitting on his front lawn as people walked by, kind of weirded out. Good times. The guy wasn't ready to hear our message, but the world is filled with good people!

Well, the church is true! We see miracles every day. It's good to hear that there's lots of exciting stuff at home. Is it really time for school to start already? No way. Jed; good luck at football! Jacey: keep tickling the ivories. You'll be a great pianist. Talk to you all next week!

Elder Blotter

Beautiful Kitimat

August.

Elder Blotter

I hope that summer continues to find you well in the Great White North.  Hopefully, the work in Kitimat is progressing.  Fifty some odd people at Branch meeting sounds pretty good indeed.  That is exciting and I hope that you can find people to teach the gospel.  I also think that bikes are great.  I always liked bike areas the most, and I pedaled all over Argentina.  The quality of the bikes there was so bad you could not even believe it.  Theft was also a problem.  Nonetheless, bikes are a great thing and I loved them.    Just remember, Mama Grizz on the side of the road can still out run you on your bike.  

Well, today was the farewell of Hannah Blotter.  She did a bang up job.  We are going to miss her.  She spent a few weeks this summer here, and was here a lot when she went to USU.  Sad to see her go, but happy for her opportunity.  While I was there I met a member of her Stake Presidency, with the last name of Hobbs.  He has a daughter in your mission.  Her name is Sister Hobbs, and she is currently in Victoria.  Been out 2-3 months.    She is probably not ready for the hard core, remote, small, first nation, freezing towns of the north yet :)  They seem to be saved for you.  We did have a nice time in Heber and Peru is getting a fine sister.

On the home front, Jacey started piano lessons, and we are enduring the endless plunking of the piano keys.  If I hear Book of Mormon stories one more time, I might lose it!!  The excitement phase of piano lasts about 1 week and then the nagging phase takes over and lasts for years.  Jeddy is doing football, by his own request, and seems to like it.  I am trying to teach him to tackle.  He seemed to like to tackle kids on the bus and get bus tickets, but is more timid on the football field.  I need to reverse those two things.  Jenessa is back from Ohio and her stay with the Dubonowich clan and doing well.  (Jacey just started Book of Mormon Stories on the Piano again while I am typing this email!!)  I think Jenessa had a good time and Griffin is about to propose marriage.  Anyway.

I had a great Lotoja prep ride yesterday.  Big rides in August to prepare for 'the ride' in September.  We rolled off over 100 miles and 6,500 feet of climbing yesterday.  I think I will take a little Lotoja break after this one.  The old back and neck get a little sore.  I guess I am 45 years old these days, though I think of myself as being much younger.  I kind of lost the decade of my 20's,  sacrificed on the altar of medicine.  Mom and I took Grandma and Grandpa to the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor dreamcoat, and we had a great time.  It is a fun musical.  I hope that you continue to help gather Israel in.  I know there are many 'Israelites out there, and if you look around you at the world, the time is at hand.  I hope that you have a great week!

Love

Dad

Life is good in Kitimat.

Family,

Well, it's been a good week in Kitimat! We couldn't email yesterday because the library was closed for BC Day. Otherwise known as "The Holiday we made so there was another 3 day weekend in August". We have finally managed to get our hands on some bikes, and so we've been riding around in style. For some reason, you feel so much more legitimate as a missionary on bikes. Not sure why. You'd think since dress pants tucked into socks isn't the most classy attire, it would be the other way around, but biking around is the way to be.

The people in the locked apartment buildings have previously managed to escape for the most part coming in contact with us, ever since we stopped street contacting in parking lots (after one of the managers of the SuperValu grocery store got mad at us. They came out right when a native was saying a prayer with us, too.) Now whenever they walk along the back sidewalks of Kitimat, they will have to live in fear that the Mormons will silently pull up behind them on bicycles and start teaching them the gospel. We love it. As I've probably described before, Kitimat has streets that just kind of swoosh all over the place, and they have sidewalks that just kind of cut through it all. And behind the houses, we've found all sorts of crazy things that we had no idea were there. Parks, swimming pools, all that sort of stuff. Who'd a thunk it?

Yesterday, we went on a bike down the road to Kitamaat Village, which goes along the Douglas Channel. Beautiful. You don't get beauty like that everywhere, that's for sure. Daniel Boyson had came with us, except after a few kilometers he puked and had his dad come and pick him up. It's a good thing he knows that the church is true. Brother Boyson has put us in the "Children that he spoils" category. Under the idea that they were building up a stash of things they could give as gifts when needed, they bought a ton of "stuff" in unopened packages. And then they decided it was just cluttering up their house, so they just gave it all to us. Probably $300 worth of dollar store "stuff". Everything from "Tool Band-its" (look that up on Google) to year's-supplies of bouncy balls. No idea what we're going to do with with. Probably think of object lessons... Otherwise, the Boysons are doing well! We just don't know what to think about Sister Boyson, because now she's invited us over for dinner. Hopefully her heart is softening.

But otherwise, the work in Kitimat is going very well! We're working with a native teen, a Portuguese couple, some Alcan employees, etc. Lots of people from different places live in Kitimat. It's kind of that time where we've been on every street too many times to remember how many times we've been on the street, but we still see miracles and still find new people every week. Yesterday we knocked on a door and taught a guy named Cam who had just never been home the previous times that we had knocked their door. When you work hard and have faith, you can find people to teach regardless of how few people live in your area.

The Kitimat Branch had 51 people in attendance this week! It's too big for the building that we have. This week, a lot of the Burns Lake clan were visiting for Boy's Camp. (They don't call it Scout Camp) It was awesome to be able to see that crew. An older couple from Logan is up here visiting for the fishing, too. I believe their names are Karen and Lee Johnson. They said they lived somewhere on the Island.

Well, the church is true! Hope that everybody has a good week and we'll talk to you all next Monday!

Elder Blotter

Hello Mother.

It was BC day, so no email til' tomorrow since the library was closed. Usually we end P-day early on days like today and then just email on the morning of the next day. We went to the chuch because it was open to upload pictures.

 

Love you dearly Mother Dearest.

Amelia

Just got a text from Jill Mann. Amelia leaves first thing in the morning for Brazil!

Hiiiiiii!

Hi there, Elder Blotter,

     Yeah!!!  It's Monday already and we get to hear from our favorite missionary. How was your week? I got a good chuckle from the pic of Chelsea's baptism with her mother texting!  Bahaha! You will not forget that family, that is for sure. When is it starting to get dark in Kitimat? It gets dark around 9:15 in Cache Valley. It was just barely staying light until 10:00 and now you can tell it's getting ready for school to start. We've been working on getting the helmet on and chin guard strapped tonight . Full pads tomorrow. Jed is not sure what to think about football....

     

      Guess what? I saw in the obituaries that our dear friend, Jay Hoth passed away! What a kind bus driver he was for you and Ness. I don't know many or any bus drivers that will take kids fishing. In fact, Jed's bus drivers give me the distinct impression that they wouldn't want to see him any longer than they have to. :)  Hannah's farewell is next Sunday. Then the next Sunday is Jacob's homecoming.

   Can you believe Amelia is still in NYC? At what point will they just say, "Go ahead and just finish you mission there". It makes me wonder what will happen. Maybe that visa will just show up any day. I hope so. Jenessa has been sending pics home from Columbus...Tremont School, Fancyburg Park, Castle park, our house, Graeters, etc. I know she had fun but is ready to come home. She'll be home on Tuesday. And we just heard from Claudia that she will be here on the 19th, just 3 days before school starts. And then when she leaves, you'll be coming home! Do you mind if she stays in your room?

     Well, all is well with us. There is a new temple movie and it is really incredibly awesome. The same things are said but I can't explain how powerful it is. As I looked around there weren't many dry eyes. You would have a hard time falling asleep with this movie. I just loved it and can't wait to go back.   Well, I love you SO very much and am thankful for your righteous and obedient example to everyone around you. You are just good. And it is fun to be your mom. :)    Have a very good week.    Mom

Dog Days of Summer.

Elder Blotter

I hope that this P-day finds you in top form.  I'm sure that BC is beautiful this time of year.  I hope that the work of saving souls in Kitimat is going smoothly and that you are able to find people to teach.  I'm sure that you now understand better our father and son discussions about the fact that there is no 'missionary work.'  There is not body of work out there waiting to be completed.  'Missionary Work' is created by the missionary.  If all you had to do was go for 2 years a complete a full schedule of teaching, and baptising, missions would be a piece of cake.  Filling the day with productive pursuits that would make our Father in Heaven proud,  is what missionary work is.  And it is hard, probably particularly hard in Kitimat.  But I do know this, a multitude of blessings await the faithful servant. 

Well, Jacob Blotter is back in town.  Still haven't seen him though, hopefully tomorrow.  He is coming to help hay at the ranch this week. He was always a bit distant and maybe shy.  Be glad for the mother that you have.  As you have reached the ripe old age that you have, I'm sure that you can know realize how lucky you are to have the mother that you have.  There is almost no greater blessing than a great mom.  They form the very essence of a person's being. 

Well, we spent 3 days in Park City.  What a wild ride these soccer tournaments are.  Jenessa's teams were never really good.  Jenessa and a few others were good players for sure.  Ness started almost every game her senior year for SV which is in and of itself and accomplishment.  Team wise, though, they were nothing like Jacey's teams.  Jacey's team is one of the best teams in the state in that age group, and they win.  It is kind of fun but pretty intense. 

Jed has started football, and tomorrow is his first day of full pads.  Finally Jed gets to tackle other people's kids......legally.  :)

Ness is still in Ohio with the Dubonovich clan doing who knows what. 

I am trying to ride the bike like crazy in between everything else.  Work is still busy, which is good.  The clinic has grown, and the allergy clinic has done really well.  Medicine is still a pretty good gig, and I enjoy it most days.  Grandma and Grandpa are doing well and Grandpa is keeping busy at the ranch.  It is the haying season, which is a busy time.  Grandma and Grandpa Jorgy are muddling along the best they can. 

Well, here is hoping for a banner week in Kitimat! 

Love 

  DAD