One Month

On Wednesday I realized that I have been gone for over a month! It's weird how time flies like that. I've been super busy so that makes it all the better. We also had a district meeting that morning. It was cool, because we taught a new investigator that afternoon and I totally got to use some of the stuff we learned that morning in our lesson!

Sister Eyanson is still teaching me sooo much. I finish the most days being mentally exhausted, but she still goes my pace and it's cool how much I am able to learn! She made me prepare a lesson all by myself yesterday. Well, mostly by myself. I was looking for a specific scripture and she gave me the reference. And she also asked a couple of guiding questions when I was stuck. But stll, it was super cool!

We also had a ward games night that evening. I got to play a board game invented by a couple of the members. I took a picture of the family playing risk, and I told them the story behind why I called it "The Missionary Game". They thought that that was super funny.

Our church  on Sunday was a broadcast for the Northwestern parts of North America. Did you guys get to see it too? I really wish one of our investigators had come to church. It would have actually answered a lot of his questions and concerns. 

Tsunami Warning on Vancouver Island

Soooo Tuesday morning we got a call at 4:15 AM from the APs. They told us about the earthquake in Alaska and that there was a tsunami warning for the island. They had to ask us about where we were on the island, how close we are to the ocean, (they didn't even look at a map  before calling us!) where the backup plan/ tsunami gathering place is, etc.

Then President Wong called us and told us to ask our bishop for the info that we didn't know! At 4:20 Am, by that point. We felt really bad because he has a baby who is only a few months old, but he did, at least, sound awake when we called. It was a messy morning. We had to make our plans taking into account how close we are to the ocean, even though we are on the west side of the island and the ocean that we can see is mostly a harbor.

And THEN, during personal study, the power went out!!! Luckily, it was light outside by then, so we just opened the windows. The first power outage was only for about 20 minutes. BUT it went out AGAIN a little bit later, and that one took forever to come back on! That was mostly just our neighborhood, though. Not the whole city. Our morning was full of unanswered doors, but as we continued on it got better. We found out later that a couple of our elders serving on the west coast did have to evacuate to Nanaimo, but they were back home by the end of the day.

PDay to Nanaimo

 

Courtenay: Week 2

We did exchanges on Saturday. We went with our Sister Training Leaders, the only other Sisters on the island. I got to go with Sister Yraguen. She's super nice and bubbly and tons of fun to be around. it was really nice to get a new perspective by watching how she does things differently. We also did exchanges on Saturday. We went with our Sister Training Leaders, the only other Sisters on the island. I got to go with Sister Yraguen. She's super nice and bubbly and tons of fun to be around. It was really nice to get a new perspective by watching how she does things differently.
We got a new investigator together, too! I seriously thought this guy was going to slam the door in our faces because of how he was standing and speaking, but then he said, "Actually, I have a few questions..." and we went from there! He loved what we had to share and had already found for himself the truths of some things that he had been taught otherwise before.
I also used some of the scripture masteries that I memorized during high school to answer a couple of his questions. That was super cool, and God had totally prepared for him to be taught.
Sister Eyanson and Sister Liao also found a new investigator! That was super cool.

We got back into our original companionships so that they could drive home, and we went to eat at the Williams'. They are super awesome and talented and very into making their own things! They both are good at woodworking, so much of their furniture is stuff they've made themselves. They showed  us a board game that they made with another family that all of the children love. They also gave us two jars of homemade jam- one strawberry and one blackberry. They're SO YUMMY!!!

Three of our investigators came to church yesterday, and they all loved it and felt very supported.

Sister Eyanson and I went tracting on the beach. 

First week in Courtenay

 My new companion is Sister Eyanson.
This is her last transfer. Something funny is that the other Sister she's trained was also a redhead from Alberta. The Sister before me was from Calgary.

It's not even very cold here. Just foggy and wet and pretty much always raining, even if it's very light most of the time. We are very close to the ocean.My rain coat and umbrella have been very helpful already.

We are an answer to so many peoples' prayers here. They were super upset when, two transfers ago, missionaries were pulled from the area and they had to share with Campbell River and their Elders. There are TONS of single or widowed sisters here, and we can go and visit and teach so many more people.

The members have been super helpful, spreading word and giving referrals and whatnot- which is especially helpful because we are whitewashing AND pinkwashing the area. 

 We went to a double baby shower the other day. It was the RS celebrating two recently-born babies. But, Sister Anderson ran ahead and announced us as we were coming into the room. They all cheered and clapped like we are celebrities! They were extra excited to know that we are just for their ward & area, and not shared. There have been plenty of people who we have visited, and they let us in and we just chat & get to know them.  This ward is amazing, too. We spoke on Sunday, and everyone's super excited to see and hear from us. So many people say that they were praying to get some Sisters in this area, especially the RS presidency.

The place we live in is super cool. The Andersons renovated their garage, and turned it into a suite just for the missionaries! It has all the furniture we need (though my office chair keeps scaring me), a kitchenette, a cute little bedroom, a bathroom, everything! It looks more like an apartment than a garage. It's super cool. We have seen tons of blessings and miracles already.

First transfer day

Transfer from the Mission home to Courtenay

We took the ferry from Tsawwassen to Duke Point.








We have seen tons of blessings and miracles already.

One of them was that we were going to miss the ferry-traffic was slower than anticipated, and we thought it had already left before we got there. But! The Elders called us (the only other Sister companionship on the island was driving) and told us that the ferry was delayed! So we finished the ride and got there with a little time to spare.

That was super cool.






Then we drove from Nanaimo to Courtenay.

MTC: Tuesday devotional

Elder Bednar spoke at the MTC on the Tuesday just before she flew out.

He explained exactly what happens when a prophet dies.

He also gave the missionaries a blessing.

More coming on his talk from her notes.