Keeping hydrated
(Sunday evening) Remember
last email how I said that I was ok with sleep? Well that lasted until Tuesday.
My schedule has allowed for no stops. I prefer this over the alternative!
Friday I fell asleep looking at my planner with my eyes open during planning.
Ha. Saturday night we drove back from Kenora, dropped Missionary Fireside
fliers at our churches, got a call to assist in giving a missionary a blessing,
then talked to the zone leaders in person about a few needs of the zone until
11:30. Lots to do, no time to slow down--perfect.
Interviews went well in Manitoba. We have round 2 this
upcoming week in SK. We are traveling up to Saskatoon tomorrow and
will begin an exchange at 6. Zone Conference went really well. There are lots
of changes coming from church headquarters to the missionary world. For
example we will be reporting our indicators online and a few small tweaks
here and there. Looks like some interesting changes this upcoming transfer, but
I do not know what is certain yet. Stay tuned, sort of thing.
My exchange to Kenora went well. We stayed Friday night
there. Oh, brutal...no AC and on Saturday it got up to 38C. Scorcher...The
current elders out there are really good. One is a new district leader that we
are helping with some pointers. The other is a well-prepared new missionary
full of greenie fire. Exchanges went well. One very interesting thing that I
was told is that virtually the entire city of Kenora has good vibes towards the
Church. The pastor of the biggest chuch in town is apparently telling everyone
to "be nice to the Mormons". It was not always like that. I am not
trying to elevate myself on a pedastal by saying this, but the senior companion
in Kenora told me that a factor in the change in mentality of the people in
Kenora towards the Church had to do with me singing in that little choir for a
month or so, which ironically was at that "biggest church" in Kenora.
It just leaves good feelings. Also while in Kenora I ate supper with a number
of my favorite people from Kenora: the Wickhams, the Ladds, the Goodridges and
Sister Irene Fredrickson. Oh ya. It was so good to see Irene "just one of
the crowd" if you know what I mean. I love those people and I love that
area. Bro. Wickham is like my mission dad. He helps people out so much. He has
a house right on the Winnipeg River in the woods just out of town and it is
BEAUTIFUL. I invited them to my Farewell Fireside. Ugh, that is coming up. I
have only begun inviting people because I procrastinated it on purpose.
Regarding Zone Conference, it went well. Elder Deeble and
I's portion was on teaching "Baptism, Our First Covenant" more
clearly and with more of a focus on how baptism is a covenant and what a
covenant is. After briefly teaching that, the practice continued with a direct
invitation to be baptized, and then establishing expectations with the
investigator. Throughout the practice we emphasized teaching doctrine clearly,
being bold, direct and persistent. With all the new missionaries, the mission
is lacking somewhat in those areas, especially in teaching doctrine simply and
clearly. The MTC now prepares missionaries with teaching skills and allows
missionaries to learn doctrine while out in the field. That is completely
different from my experience in the MTC where I was taught straight doctrine and
learned teaching skills out in the field. How lucky the new missionaries are!
This week will be spent in SK until coming home on Saturday.
Jessica and her family are doing ok. She got really
discouraged this morning when things just did not work out for her to come to
church today. We had stopped by at 8 (church at 10) to wake them up, as they
had asked. No real response. At 9:40 I got a call saying she was coming but
would be late, and then at 5 to 10 she called and was emotional that she was
not able to make it to church with some things that came up. Still working
there, but her desire is growing and she is recognizing distinct answers to
prayers. She is working at quitting smoking and she mentioned how she feels a
distinct urge to not want to smoke when she reads from the Book of Mormon. She
enjoys reading it when she can. She is coming along.
(Monday morning) Sounds like things are plugging away in
Boise. Way to go Mom on sharing your testimony like that! There are a lot of
people who misunderstand that we are total Christians. I am proud of you.
Sounds like Dad has been running some sort of marathon between states. Keep
sprinting! You beat me in trip distance...by the end of this week I will have
had just over 2100 kms travel over the prior 2 weeks, so about 1300 miles. It
is weird, but I am really starting to like metric...
I think Mom will like this: the Paulsons had a "mission
candy", M&M's, standing for members and missionaries. It was a great
idea and worked well. The Thomas', wanting to carry on this tradition of a
mission candy now have the motto "Search, Find and Rescue". Any
guesses as to that candy? Lifesavers is right. Them being from Alaska makes it
even better.
The most spiritual part of this past week for me was Zone
Conference. The Spirit was so strong. The Thomas' gave powerful portions.
Because departing missionaries give 5 minute testimonies at Zone Conference, I
pondered what I wanted to say and reflected a lot. That brought the Spirit a
lot. When it was time to give brief testimonies I had a few things jotted down
and I followed Elder Dunn, a tough act to follow. Once I got up to the pulpit I
was done. The waterworks were on for sure. I expressed my gratitude for Sister
Thomas' portion on the importance of including Less-Active work into our
efforts and I reflected on a few people that I have had the chance to work
with. I thought of the Osters in Fort Frances, Brett Eidman in I-Falls and
others. I expressed that I did not expect so many people to have such an impact
on me while out here. I testified that the gospel is real and that it's
cleansing is real. I encouraged anyone who was struggling to put others first
and to dream of their success. I promised anyone who would do that would become
lost in the work, and I can promise that because when I do that I forget about
myself and "go to work". Lastly I exhorted everyone to give their
best, because anything less than their best will cause them to miss out. God
will bless us as we do. I also gave thanks and looked people in the eyes and
called a few out by name. That is what I shared as part of my testimony and my
remarks were directed at a few specific missionaries, but I think a number
benefited (or so I hope).
That is all for now. The best part of the gospel is that it
is all true. Love ya,
Elder Galbraith
Friends in Kenora
With Bro. Wickham
No comments:
Post a Comment