Things are getting a little chilly in Burns Lake.

 

Well hello!

It's been another great week up here in Burns Lake, and down South (well, still up North for you people) in the lower mainland during the middle of the week! I had numerous experiences that I won't forget. It's definitely starting to get colder! We went tracting in a few inches of snow, but fortunately most of it melted when we were out of the area. It was -7 degrees outside (In Celsius, so not too bad) when we drove to church yesterday. If I don't get transferred out of here next time calls roll around, I might have to have some warmer clothes! Either way, it's going to be an adventure. We have to get creative sometimes doing missionary work in the North. Up here when it gets colder, we have to take golf balls when knocking doors, so that you can hear the knock even though we are wearing gloves.

It was a monumental week for the Burns Lake elders! Vanessa Jack's baptism was amazing. We were a little worried at first, because the font was so underused that the only water that came out of the spigot was a murky greenish brown. After a while of leaving the water on, it turned into... a less murky (but still distinct) greenish brown. But Vanessa was so excited that she wasn't put off by it at all! She was just really excited. During the service, she bore her testimony about the Holy Ghost and it was incredibly powerful. It has been such a blessing to see the gospel of Jesus Christ really change her life. Before her baptismal interview, she confessed that she ate half a granola bar before she realized that it had mocha in it, and she was so stressed that it would push back her baptismal date, and she kept on asking me if I had invited all of our investigators to come see her baptism. She's that kind of a person. The Spirit was present the entire time during the service. You can feel the Spirit SO strongly when you are in the font, and it was such a sacred experience to be able to baptize her.

I absolutely adore Vanessa's 2 year old daughter, Gemma Rose. (She can't really say anything except "uh oh" whenever she sees a ripped page of a book or something like that, but she totally said my name while Elder Aldred was interviewing Vanessa. Brother Moore heard it. He can vouch for me.) It is so amazing to see how the gospel has affected how Vanessa views being a parent. Alcoholism and immorality, which is really prevalent in the culture of a lot of the single mothers in this area, won't even be a concern for Gemma. I am SO happy about that. SO happy. You have no idea.

Well, I had a lot of eye opening experiences down South, as well! We stayed the night with the elders that are currently working in Surrey, an urban area not too far from Vancouver. Wow. Burns Lake has 9 avenues. 2nd Ave has... I think 2 houses on it. Their area covers the first hundreds of streets with ritzy apartment complexes and trailer parks and everything in between. We went street contacting and there were people everywhere! It made me glad that I was trained in the North, where everybody is a stereotypically laid back, polite Canadian! The first person I walked up to, with a big ol' smile on my face, cussed me out and told me I was being "way too pushy". Ha ha, it's a bit of a different pace in different areas. That is something to get used to. Burns Lake really hasn't been too wet. I think it's rained maybe 6 or 7 times since I got there, and never enough for it to really get in the way of the work. Down there it was POURING. We left our raincoats in the truck in Terrace, so we went out in regular suit jackets and we got soaked straight through. It was awesome.

I also had the opportunity to hear quite a bit from one of the Seventies, Elder Haleck. He shared many powerful and sacred experiences from his time as a mission president, and it was awesome. President Tilleman is totally going to become a general authority after his time as a mission president. He's nearly doubling the number of baptisms as compared to before his time here, and the mission he presides over is exactly obedient. He's very inspired. Anyways, Elder Haleck talked a lot about how to work with wards and branch councils, how we have the obligation to remain active after we return from our missions, and he bore a special witness about how the prophet is receiving revelation to "hasten the work". The Lord is hastening His work of gathering His sheep, and it is such a privilege to be a missionary at this time. Miracles are happening, and angels are preparing the hearts of people to hear us. It is a blessing to be here. Today I got many letters from girls all talking about how they are planning on serving now. (With return addresses like "Future Sister Pack" and "The Happiest Girl in the World") President Tilleman says that he is requesting to double the number of missionaries he gets each transfer. It's an exciting time! The Lord is expecting a lot from His missionaries, and He deserves it.

Hope all is well at home! Have a great week.

Elder Blotter

PS- I forgot to mention it last time, but the Library changed its hours so it is now open on Monday, so I'll probably always be using computers on Monday from now on. *cough cough*. :)

Report from Burns Lake

Hello, family!

It was great to see all of the pictures of the Holy Land! I have no idea if there is any turmoil in that region or not right now, but this one crazy Canadian guy living on Southside starting ranting about "the prophecies of Ezekiel being fulfilled in the chaos and fighting around Israel", and so I hope that everything is well. Your trip has made me think of the part in Elder Holland's general conference talk that talked about what his apostles were going through after he was crucified. It must have been really neat to see everything up close!

Well, it has been another amazing week up in Burns Lake! I was a little skeptical when I first arrived in Canada and saw all of the signs that call British Columbia the "Most Beautiful Place on Earth," and I've mentioned a bit about how beautiful it is up here, but a while ago, we were tracting around 7:00, (the sun sets at like 6:30 already) and we saw the Northern Lights. Whew. Northern BC is a great place to be. My new companion, Elder Epperson, and I were able to have another great week of teaching and finding, which made last week not seem like a fluke. The bar is being raised in Burns Lake! The missionary work here has a very different feel than when I first arrived. This area really is being blessed by the Lord, and we can see His hand in what we do every day.

This upcoming week is really exciting! Once a year in the mission, somebody from the quorum of the Seventy comes and gives a big training to everyone in the mission, and so we're going to be flying down to Vancouver and spending Thursday and Friday in Richmond to meet with Elder Haleck. That should be a spiritual feast. On Saturday, we're going to wake up early, fly for two hours, drive for 4.5 hours, and hurry to our church to begin filling the font for Vanessa's baptism! Vanessa was so prepared for the gospel, and the branch has been very good in fellowshipping her and making her feel welcome. I have learned so much about the  what President Hinckley called the"better" way to do missionary work from the experience. The Spirit does the converting, the members provide the friendship, and the missionaries just get a front row seat! The branch is really excited for it, because they haven't had a baptism in ages, and it is the first time they have had a First Nations person convert to the gospel. I am also really excited because it will be the first time that I have had the sacred privilege to perform the ordinance of baptism on my mission. Tell Jacey that I am thankful that I had the opportunity to baptize her and so I won't be nervous now. :)

Speaking of Vanessa, we had another miracle with her this week! Vanessa ran into one of her friends, Vieonna, one morning before one of our lessons with her, and invited her to come. She had just gotten out of treatment and was looking for something more in her life, and through a really long chain of events, things in her schedule miraculously worked out and she was able to come to the lesson. When she got there, we decided to just teach the Restoration to her instead of what we were going to teach Vanessa. She wasn't expecting it to be anything particular, but that definitely changed. When we were giving Joseph Smith's recollection of the first vision, she just starting laughing and buried her head in a pillow. We were a bit thrown off by that, but it soon became apparent that she was just really overcome by the spirit. Vanessa was right there to bear her testimony about the Holy Ghost, and the spirit was very strong, and now Vieonna is going to be baptized on November 11th. Elder Epperson and I aren't quite Amulek and Alma, but with the incredible blessings and guidance from the Lord, we are indeed beginning to have success among the Lamanites in Burns Lake!

We've also began meeting with a part member family on Southside, the Johnsons. Ray Johnson was born and raised Catholic, and Wendy Johnson is less active. When they were married, they had to compromise, and their compromise ended up to do neither religion. They have an 8 year old daughter, Brooklyn, who wants to be baptized, but Sister Johnson doesn't feel like she can insist on it since they weren't baptized as babies into the Catholic church. We are meeting with Ray to try and soften his heart so that he will (if nothing else) allow Brooklyn to be baptized! When we visited, Brooklyn showed us her "Book of Mormon Stories" book with all the pictures that she reads form every day, and walked up and handed me a little drawing of the second half of the Plan of Salvation that she remembered learning at church one time. She is such a little gem, and we are praying for miracles.

That's about it! It is still such a miracle to be finding as many new investigators and teach as many lessons in a town that only has about as many people as Sky View does. It has really built my testimony that this is His church and that He will move the work forward in these last days! It is such a blessing to be a missionary, and life is great up in the North.

Have a great week! Hope the trip in the Holy Land goes well!

Elder Blotter

Jerusalem

Dear Josh,
You sure had one happy mom last week sitting on a computer on the Royal Caribbean. I LOVED the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please tell your companion THANK YOU and that I like him already. They were great pics and I needed to see you. You looked so cute and like such a nice little missionary. I can't see why EVERYONE you meet wouldn't want to listen and immediately be baptized. :)
For the last two days we've been in Egypt. Wow. When I get home I want to write you all about it. Very poor and dirty, but the pyramids were cool. Today we came to Israel and got to go to Galilee and Caapernum. So many things happened there! At the Sea of Galilee, Jesus told Peter and the others to Follow Him and become Fishers of Men, he walked on the Water, calmed the Sea.... It was unbelievable. Tomorrow we see Jerusalem, Mount of Beatitudes, the Garden Tomb, Gethsemane and others. Tonight we are sleeping inside the Temple walls by the Jotha Gate. I can't believe I am here. I love the Savior so much. :)
I am so looking forward to your letter this week. It is the highlight of our week. Hope you are doing good and it's not too cold. Love, mom

Egypt

The Sea of Galilee

Jerusalem

Burns Lake Report

Well hello!

Well, it sounds like so far the trip to the holy land has gone well! I think it would be fascinating to see the Vatican and to explore all of it. The more you look at the Catholic church, the more bizarre it seems that so many people think it is the same church that Jesus established on the earth. It has none of the same ordinances or organization. They call their leader "the Pope", which comes from Papa, or Father, when Jesus specifically taught to call no man your Father save it be your Father in Heaven. Everything just seems a little off with that religion. It is a blessing to have the gift of the Spirit telling us what truth is, so that we can know when something is what God would want us to do! I wrote Jed a letter finally, and the post office was closed last time I tried to send something for her birthday, but I sent Jacey a package for her birthday. Hopefully they do not think that I have forgotten about them!

General Conference was amazing. You get a lot more out of it the more spiritually in tune you are. They say up here that General Conference is the missionaries' Super Bowl, but it's even better than that! Everybody up here loved President Monson's shout out to the Canada Vancouver mission. President Tilleman says that President Monson really loves "his Canadian missions". And I'm guessing that tens of thousands of life plans changed with the announcement that missionaries can leave on their missions at younger ages. It's certainly inspired. It will be awesome to have the increase in missionaries. More and more areas can open up inside of British Columbia, and so that will be a blessing in this mission. Now I will have an excuse when after 6 months the flow of letters starts to stop. "All the girls that would be writing me are on their own missions!" Ha ha. I figured that Amelia would immediately call her bishop after the announcement. It will be exciting to see where that takes her.

Well, the work in Burns Lake is going fantastic! We taught more lessons than Elder Epperson has on his entire mission, and he's been in areas like Victoria with hundreds of thousands of people in his area. The Lord has really blessed us. Vanessa is still going strong. She has been living the Word of Wisdom like a champion and is going to be baptized on October 20th! I hope that the white clothes that I brought will fit me! I should probably double check before the day of.

There were a couple experiences this week that really touched me. At the end of one of the really long, destitute roads on Southside, there is a clump of houses that we call the Morris reserve because all the people there have the last name of Morris. We taught one of the investigators there, and then we felt like we should visit one of the houses on the other side of the Reserve, even though me and Elder Neher had taught him and he hadn't been interested. We knock on the door, and the man yells for us to come inside. He's sitting on the couch with a Book of Mormon, and tells us that it is the "biggest joke he has ever read." Apparently, in the morning, his car wouldn't start and so he couldn't go anywhere, and so he just started reading the Book of Mormon we left with him weeks ago. He had read all day at his slow pace, and was in Word of Mormon when we knocked on the door. He thought that Joseph Smith had written the book as a story or something, and was about to burn it. We were able to explain to him what the Book of Mormon actually was, teach him about Priesthood authority, and he calmed down and is now investigating the gospel. He just needed a bit of guidance and direction right at the time we were able to be at his door, and it was miraculous that we were able to talk to him before he hardened his heart. If we were an hour or so later, he wouldn't have talked to us.

The other was an experience with a man named Jonathan Alec. We were knocking on doors looking for the apartment where an investigator moved to, and one man said that he had never heard of the person we were looking for. He asked us why on earth we were walking around in nice clothes in "the middle of the night" (it was like... 8:30) and we told him we were missionaries. He let us inside, and as we taught him part of the message of the Restoration. He said he would like to meet with us, but he was going into treatment to get him off of illegal drugs on the 7th of November. The Spirit told me to promise him he could quit using and be baptized on November 3rd, and he felt the Spirit witnessing it was true and agreed to be baptized. It was amazing. The Spirit literally put words in my mouth. We're meeting with him again today and we are very excited.

Well, life is going well here! That is about all I have time to write, but many miracles are happening here. I've got to try and upload pictures now, so hopefully that works out. I love and miss you all and hope everything is great at home and in... Egypt now?

Elder Blotter

PS- I found a charger for the camera!

Hello from ROME!

Hi there! It was fun to here about Elder Eppersen. I Facebook stalked him and think he looks like a very nice boy. How was your first week together?  Are you getting ready for the baptism? That is so exciting.
    I'm sure it's beginning to get pretty cold in Burn's Lake. Are you able to still run in the mornings? Is your companion a runner? Oh wait, you said he was on the track team. It would probably be fun to run together, if it's not too cold.
    Today we saw the Pantheon, which was build so that a perfect sphere could fit inside. It was incredible, and amazing that it was built around the time Christ was born. We also went to the Vatican and saw where the Pope lives and the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Square. It was very ornate and fancy and kind of Gothic. It was good to see it, but I would probably not go back. The Spirit was not at all there. It was a weird feeling. It made me want to go to the temple. There is no feeling like it!
  Oh! Where you able to see Conference? I'm sure you've heard by now about the big announcement. As soon as I heard it, I KNEW Amelia would go on a mission ASAP. I just knew it. An hour after it was announced I received a text from Amelia (in Rome) saying...(I'm GOING ON A MISSION!) in fact she already has an appointment for tomorrow (Tuesday) with her bishop! She could go by December and be home about the time your home. She will be such a great missionary! I think this announcement will change things so much. Many, many more sisters will go. Isn't it crazy? I missed seeing conference SO much! I can't wait to read it when we get home. We say good bye to Italy tomorrow and head for Egypt. Wish us luck! Can't wait to here from you tomorrow! Love you,  Mom

Sent from my iPhone

Inside the Pantheon.

The Colosseum.

The Vatican

Re: It's definetly October in Burns Lake (From MOM)

Elder Epperson sounds like he will be a wonderful companion! The two of you will do great things together. I am so excited for the baptism of one Vanessa Jack. I can't imagine how it will feel for you to participate in a baptism of someone you found, didn't give up on and then was able to teach about the Savior and his Gospel. It has to be the best feeling in the world and very humbling. Today in Lewiston I read your e-mail to Grandpa and Grandma Jorgy. They were so touched by your words that both of them had tears streaming down their faces. It was a sweet experience and you must know they love you very much. When you ever have a minute, will you write them a letter. I don't think Grandpa has a whole lot of time left on his earthly journey. It would mean the world to them to get a letter from you. (Because they don't have e-mail anymore) There address is 795 E. 1600 S. Lewiston, Utah, 94320.

     Well, the time has come for me to PACK for my trip in 2 days. So much to do and we hope everyone will be OK at home. We sure do love you and are so very proud of you and the young man you are. Any luck on finding your charger?  Maybe we didn't send it! I'm still investigating that.  Love, Mom

It's Definetly October in Burns Lake

Hello Family!

Well, it's been another great week in Burns Lake! A lot of miracles have been happening, and it has been pretty crazy because of transfers. It is a beautiful drive from Terrace to Burns Lake with all of the fall colors. It made me think back to when I drove to Burns Lake from there over 3 months ago at the end of Spring when everything was SO green! It has been great to be here long enough to see the seasons change. It is certainly beautiful up here. It is starting to get chillier though! You need a sweater/suit jacket whenever you are tracting outside now. Elder Epperson is always freezing, since he's been on the Island for the past 4.5 months. I think that I have just gotten used to the temperatures up here. I think I might be a little hot when I have to come back to Utah in the middle of June in 2 years! And I am pretty sure that just a few days ago I was doing missionary work right outside of the same building that Dad would have gone curling inside of.

You'll have to let me know how helping with the zone conference goes! I went to the Terrace zone conference after the district conference there, and I went to the Prince George zone conference after I went to the Prince George stake conference there. What was the conference like? Up here President and Sister Tilleman usually provide a lot of inspiration and we all bear our testimonies. It's pretty great! Before President Tilleman, the mission used to baptize in the low 200s each year, but this year the mission goal is to baptize at least 325, and we are probably going to baptize even more! He is a great mission president. It sounds like all is well back at home, though! It will be interesting to see who the new Stake Presidency will be. Your trip sounds very exciting! I hope that some day I can see some of those sights. I will certainly have to pray for your safety, ha ha. And I am also excited to get your postcards. I bet they will arrive faster than when you are sending them from Utah. Elder Aldred is from England and he gets packages sent from home in under a week! I heard that Utah State beat the U in football. Is that true? That would be pretty crazy. And has Dad heard of a patient named Victor Manwaring? He might be visiting soon and he just moved from Burns Lake.

My new companion, Elder Epperson, is fantastic! He is a very good teacher and testifier and I think I will be able to learn a lot from him over the next couple weeks. I am also learning a lot because I am the only one in the companionship who knows any of the members, investigators, or where anything is, so I have to really know what I'm talking about. It definitely has been a great learning experience. Elder Epperson and I have many similar interests in our previous lives. He is from Murray, and did cross country and track in high school. He also wants to have a lot of success in the area and wants to work hard, and so I am excited for the next transfer! It makes me reflect on my time with Elder Neher. I really had to learn charity for him because we had different personalities and work ethics. Sometimes it was very stressful for me because I really don't like contentious situations. The Lord really blessed me with patience, and I grew to love him over the time that we served together, and I am glad that it ended that way. (Elder Epperson is quite worried that we are going to be mauled by a bear on Southside, becaues a less active member we were visiting talked to us about recent bear attacks on people who were fishing around here, we saw a bear when we were driving on Southside, and I showed him the picture of the bear in the house on the Reserve. It's pretty funny.)

Well, I am beginning to feel like a legitimate missionary now! I have knocked on every door in Burns Lake, and now I am beginning to knock on them all for the second or in some cases even the third or fourth time. It is amazing to see how many new investigators we are able to find now, in of despite that. It is truly miraculous! I remember in my first couple weeks in Burns Lake we might have found 2 or 3 investigators. Now we are finding and teaching almost a new investigator every day. As a result, we are setting more baptismal dates and getting more progressing investigators and naturally we will see more baptisms down the road! Vanessa Jack will be baptized in about a week and a half, and I am very excited for that because she is such a golden investigator and it was such a blessing to be able to teach her. When investigators who have never been taught about the Holy Ghost begin to describe how they feel in lessons, it is such a powerful witness that we truly are representatives of Jesus Christ! I feel blessed to be here, and I am happy to serve.

It was great to hear from you! I hope that you all have a very great week!

Elder Blotter