Hello everyone! How is it going? I hope you all had a great week. We had a pretty slow one here. It was sad. We had a couple of dinners and a couple of lessons which all went really well. We have great members here. I love this little ward and town. There just isn't anything to do missionary wise. We tried meeting with Rob Frost, but he volunteers at the fire house so he was busy all week. We didn't get a chance to find a time that worked to teach Dani. We had a lesson with a native couple we have been teaching off and on, but they canceled the morning of. Bro Yellowhorn, a less active native, hasn't been answering our calls lately. So we didn't get any lessons with non members or less actives this week. We did get the chance to do some service at the museum though. Every Wednesday morning we go and help out there. So we got there and they had us shovel snow. They didn't tell us when to stop so we just kept going. We shoveled off all the sidewalks that went around the museum. It was ridiculous. There were a whole bunch of drifts as well, huge ones and drifts suck to shovel. They get so packed down its like breaking away at ice. So we did that from 10 to around one, then took lunch and at the end of lunch got a call from Bro Mallard. He lives out in Lundbreck, a tiny town, and asked us to come help shovel at his house because he thought his house was going to flood. It has been really warm around here, which has been really nice. All the snow is melting and I don't have to wear a jacket anymore. But that means that there is water EVERYWHERE!!! So we got to his house and he has a HUGE drift covering his entire garage door and on the side of the garage is a huge drift covering almost the entire side entry door and neither are really weather proofed at all and the garage leads right to the basement so they figured if they didn't move it the basement would die! So we get there and for the rest of the day, until 6 or so, we were hacking away at this mound with pick axes and shovels and eventually got to the point where we could open all the doors. But then we had to go to dinner. That was the most exhausting day ever and it didn't seem like we got too much accomplished. We were going to go back the next day to help again, but they found someone with a bobcat to come help with the rest of it. So that was nice haha.
But the most exciting part of the week started Friday night. Friday night around 930 the missionaries from Trail BC came and spent the night with us and then at 3 in the morning we got ready and left at 430 to make it to Fort MacLeod at 515 to catch the tour bus to take us to Calgary. The mission had a bus pick everyone up from Lethbridge and Medicine Hat and then came here and picked us up and then drove to Calgary. That was fun. Things go crazy when you get a tour bus full of missionaries that haven't seen each other in a while. haha. But we got to the Sundance chapel around 700 and then we all sat down and sang until about 745 when Elder Todd Christofferson and Elder Real (pronounced ree-ahl) from the seventy came in. That was so sweet. I love apostles. They are amazing. Elder Real spoke for a little bit and then Elder Christofferson talked to us for about 2 hours. It was awesome. He was hilarious. He was real with us. He joked around and quoted a random beer commercial and when an Elder quoted him, Elder Christofferson asked Pres Archibald if he had a cookie for him. haha. He was just funny and he didn't chastise us for being horrible missionaries. He just told us some things that some missionaries forget to do and told us that we should work on it. Like planning around a commitment instead of planning a lesson and then sticking in a commitment randomly. Anyway, it was a great experience! (even though I was really tired, haha) I left feeling great and like I wanted to go out and do missionary work. Not like a lot of times when I leave meetings just feeling like a horrible missionary. It was a great feeling. Then we took the long ride back and got home around 3. So that was a pretty good day. It's never a bad day when you get to shake hands with an apostle. It's awesome.
Then Sunday we didn't get any of our investigators out to church, but I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting about the Holy Ghost. I don't know how well it went with not getting much sleep that night and then losing an hour of sleep Saturday night from daylight savings time. But people said it was good. It made sense in my mind. I talked about how the Holy Ghost helps our investigators and how the Holy Ghost can feel to people and then I talked about the blessings we can have from having the Holy Ghost in our lives, whether they be emotional, physical or spiritual. And I love that. I love the feelings of peace or happiness or joy that can come from the Holy Ghost. Our Father in heaven loves us so much and wants us to be happy. So he sends us the Holy Ghost to help us. Sure we are going to still have hard times and struggles, but that is how we learn and grow. This is when we need to turn to our Father in heaven most and look for those subtle prompting's or feelings of the Holy Ghost telling us that everything will turn out the way that we want it to. Prayer is a wonderful thing and I pray for you guys everyday. Thank you all for everything you do for me. I love you so much!
Love,
Elder Townsend
PS... I wore a different suit to district meetings today and we came straight to the library after them and I left my camera in my other suit... so no pictures today. I'm sorry. I'll send some next week I promise. :)
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
March 7, 2011
Hello everyone! How is it going? We had an allright week here this week. It's been freezing! Apparently this is the coldest, snowiest, windiest winter they have had in years... yippee... there is snow everywhere. They have been working the last two days with big dump trucks and stuff to move all the giant piles of snow from the side of the roads to an empty field. (unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that mom. So you won't get to see that). When it's this cold it's hard to find things to do as missionaries. We try to stay inside if we can. Do some service at the library or visit the older people who don't work anymore. But every now and then we are forced to be outside. But having a car isn't too bad. You can go in there and warm up for a while every now and then.
This week was pretty slow for lessons. We didn't have anyone signed up on the dinner calendar so we lost those seven lessons and a lot of people just weren't home or available. But, we were able to go out to the pass on Thursday and spend the night out there. That was good. We were able to meet with pretty much every active member out there (there isn't too many of them) and a couple of less active families as well. I found out why there is a branch out there with their own building though. Back when the mines were open there would be like 150 -200 people there every week. But then the mines closed and now there are like 20 that show up. Everyone was forced to move for a job. So that's sad. They are pretty close up there though. It's a good little branch and I enjoyed being out there. It was fun. We met new people. It was a change in pace and we were able to meet with Dani each day. That went pretty well. She seems to be coming along. Although she did tell us that she wants to look into other churches to see all of her options. I guess thats good. But it means things will probably move slower then they would otherwise.
The Crowsnest pass really is a beautiful place. It could be a place I would come back and visit. Probably more in the summer though. I bet that place looks awesome in the summer.
Then on Sunday Rob Frost came and the other Iranian lady that we have been moving a lot were there. That was cool. I don't know if I have told you about the Romanian lady. She came to church once and then we helped move all of her stuff into a trailer. She just moved from Calgary. It was a whole bunch of really expensive stuff into a tiny trailer. I think she's planning on buying a house later. But that place is packed now. And she keeps calling Bishop "pastor" and I can't help but laugh to myself every time she does. Anyway... that's pretty much my week. Nothing too exciting. Don't worry, we have a couple dinners here this week. So that's good. Elder Christofferson is coming on Saturday up in Calgary so we get to take a road trip up there. That should be cool. I am excited for that.
Thanks for everything guys! I love you! Talk to you next week!
Love,
Elder Townsend
The pass. There are like six little towns in the pass. This is one of them... it might be Coleman... I can't remember
driving through the pass.
we might have gone out of our area to take this... we aren't entirely sure... I don't think so though. haha
This week was pretty slow for lessons. We didn't have anyone signed up on the dinner calendar so we lost those seven lessons and a lot of people just weren't home or available. But, we were able to go out to the pass on Thursday and spend the night out there. That was good. We were able to meet with pretty much every active member out there (there isn't too many of them) and a couple of less active families as well. I found out why there is a branch out there with their own building though. Back when the mines were open there would be like 150 -200 people there every week. But then the mines closed and now there are like 20 that show up. Everyone was forced to move for a job. So that's sad. They are pretty close up there though. It's a good little branch and I enjoyed being out there. It was fun. We met new people. It was a change in pace and we were able to meet with Dani each day. That went pretty well. She seems to be coming along. Although she did tell us that she wants to look into other churches to see all of her options. I guess thats good. But it means things will probably move slower then they would otherwise.
The Crowsnest pass really is a beautiful place. It could be a place I would come back and visit. Probably more in the summer though. I bet that place looks awesome in the summer.
Then on Sunday Rob Frost came and the other Iranian lady that we have been moving a lot were there. That was cool. I don't know if I have told you about the Romanian lady. She came to church once and then we helped move all of her stuff into a trailer. She just moved from Calgary. It was a whole bunch of really expensive stuff into a tiny trailer. I think she's planning on buying a house later. But that place is packed now. And she keeps calling Bishop "pastor" and I can't help but laugh to myself every time she does. Anyway... that's pretty much my week. Nothing too exciting. Don't worry, we have a couple dinners here this week. So that's good. Elder Christofferson is coming on Saturday up in Calgary so we get to take a road trip up there. That should be cool. I am excited for that.
Thanks for everything guys! I love you! Talk to you next week!
Love,
Elder Townsend
The pass. There are like six little towns in the pass. This is one of them... it might be Coleman... I can't remember
driving through the pass.we might have gone out of our area to take this... we aren't entirely sure... I don't think so though. haha
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
March 1, 2011
Hello everyone! How is it going? I hope all is going well for you guys. We definitely had a slower week here. We weren't able to meet with Rob Frost again and we had lessons with Danyelle last Friday, but she called us that morning and said she was too sick to have us over. We didn't get a chance to go to Bro Yellowhorn, a less active in the reserve. Those are the three people that we are really working with. So that was sad. But this week hopefully we can get in with them again. We are going to go out to the Pass on Thursday and spend the night out there and work Friday too. So hopefully we can get in with Danyelle both days and get in with some less actives and part members out there. President Archibald is kind of sceptical about that. Apparently missionaries have tried it before and didn't find much to do out there. But the high priest group leader is pretty excited for us to go and is trying to plan out both the days. So we will see how that goes. If nothing happens I don't think we'll be able to do it again. So I hope it goes well. Even if not much comes out of it though it will still be nice. Something to change up the routine a little bit. I have only been here for 8 weeks now, but I am already running out of things to do here. I don't know what I am going to do if I stay here too long.
I think the most exciting thing that happened this week is that we helped a less active older couple move across town. It was kind of fun. It was FREEZING. They started it on Friday night at six and we loaded up a little Uhaul truck and a couple of pick ups and headed over to the other house and halfway there the Uhaul breaks down... so Bishop got his half ton and towed it the rest of the way. I was actually really impressed with that little Ford F150. haha. Then when we got there we unloaded it all. It was amazing how much stuff they had in that little house. A whole bunch of furniture and a ton of boxes. It was getting really dark so we couldn't see much in the Uhaul so we got a car to shine its lights in it for us. I've never had to do that before haha. Then we went back for the last little bit of it. Just a couple more pick ups since the Uhaul was dead. And the last thing we moved in were the washer and dryer. That was exciting... I was carrying the washer in and I was the one walking backwards and on the driveway was this big snow drift I hadn't seen before.... and as my foot hit that it just slid right off of it and I went down and the dryer came on top of me... luckily, the snow absorbed most of it... I think... I don't really know what happened all I know is it didn't hurt me at all. I think it landed mostly beside me. But of course, nobody cared about the missionary on the ground they just ran to the washer and made sure I didn't break it! haha. Don't worry... I didn't.
That's pretty much our week though. Oh and we found out that Elder Christofferson (i don't know if I spelled that right...) is coming to talk to us all next Saturday. So that will be exciting. And it also means a really long, early road trip for us up to Calgary. That should be fun.
Oh, I guess I'll tell you a little about my companion, Elder Brighton. He is from Roosevelt Utah, a tiny town east of Provo. He is a nurse assistant or something. He started in high school and then went to a year of college and then did nurse stuff for a while. He came out when he was 20. He is at his year mark this up coming week. He is really good at playing the piano. He's been playing it for twelve years now. He is kind of awkward. Doesn't say too much. Tells the same stories over and over again. He really likes having everything really clean and he is the healthiest eating missionary I have ever seen. He has made homemade bread and this weird zucchini casserole and he bought a bunch of fruit and potatoes and stuff. It was ridiculous. (mom, I'm not doing that. I like making something really fast and then taking my nap for the rest of my lunch break. haha) He is a pretty good companion though. We seem to be getting along pretty well. It's kind of nice to have someone who is excited to do work here again and someone with new ideas of how to do work here. So that is good. Hopefully we can start having this area pick up more.
That's it from me this week though. Nothing too exciting. I'll let you guys know how next week goes. Thanks for everything! I love you guys!
Love
Elder Townsend
Darn Canadians and their weird sports...
My last district. Roberts, Lafond, me, Malagamaalii (aka m), Fowler and Grace
I think the most exciting thing that happened this week is that we helped a less active older couple move across town. It was kind of fun. It was FREEZING. They started it on Friday night at six and we loaded up a little Uhaul truck and a couple of pick ups and headed over to the other house and halfway there the Uhaul breaks down... so Bishop got his half ton and towed it the rest of the way. I was actually really impressed with that little Ford F150. haha. Then when we got there we unloaded it all. It was amazing how much stuff they had in that little house. A whole bunch of furniture and a ton of boxes. It was getting really dark so we couldn't see much in the Uhaul so we got a car to shine its lights in it for us. I've never had to do that before haha. Then we went back for the last little bit of it. Just a couple more pick ups since the Uhaul was dead. And the last thing we moved in were the washer and dryer. That was exciting... I was carrying the washer in and I was the one walking backwards and on the driveway was this big snow drift I hadn't seen before.... and as my foot hit that it just slid right off of it and I went down and the dryer came on top of me... luckily, the snow absorbed most of it... I think... I don't really know what happened all I know is it didn't hurt me at all. I think it landed mostly beside me. But of course, nobody cared about the missionary on the ground they just ran to the washer and made sure I didn't break it! haha. Don't worry... I didn't.
That's pretty much our week though. Oh and we found out that Elder Christofferson (i don't know if I spelled that right...) is coming to talk to us all next Saturday. So that will be exciting. And it also means a really long, early road trip for us up to Calgary. That should be fun.
Oh, I guess I'll tell you a little about my companion, Elder Brighton. He is from Roosevelt Utah, a tiny town east of Provo. He is a nurse assistant or something. He started in high school and then went to a year of college and then did nurse stuff for a while. He came out when he was 20. He is at his year mark this up coming week. He is really good at playing the piano. He's been playing it for twelve years now. He is kind of awkward. Doesn't say too much. Tells the same stories over and over again. He really likes having everything really clean and he is the healthiest eating missionary I have ever seen. He has made homemade bread and this weird zucchini casserole and he bought a bunch of fruit and potatoes and stuff. It was ridiculous. (mom, I'm not doing that. I like making something really fast and then taking my nap for the rest of my lunch break. haha) He is a pretty good companion though. We seem to be getting along pretty well. It's kind of nice to have someone who is excited to do work here again and someone with new ideas of how to do work here. So that is good. Hopefully we can start having this area pick up more.
That's it from me this week though. Nothing too exciting. I'll let you guys know how next week goes. Thanks for everything! I love you guys!
Love
Elder Townsend
Darn Canadians and their weird sports...
My last district. Roberts, Lafond, me, Malagamaalii (aka m), Fowler and Grace
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Februrary 22, 2011
Hey everyone! Happy Family Week!... Apparently it's some Canadian thing. The kids all have this week off of school... apparently they like families more up here or something. haha. Today is transfers though... and for the first time in FOREVER I am not going anywhere! haha. I am getting a new companion though. We will see how that goes. His name is Elder Brighton. He was in the west when I was there. He never really said anything and he was just kind of shy. Other missionaries said he's pretty fun and easy to get along with though. So hopefully that is true. He is a male nurse from Utah. So I will let you know how that is going next week. It should be exciting. It's been like 6 transfers since I have been the one that has been in the area the longest... so we will see how that goes. haha. I'm sure it will be fine. I'm looking forward to it.
Other then that the week was pretty average. We got new windows in our apartment last week. That was exciting. So Tuesday, Wednesday and part of Thursday morning we couldn't leave our apartment because there were guys in there putting our windows together. So that was boring... and Thursday I got sick anyway so we didn't leave our apartment because I didn't want to get too far away from a bathroom, just in case, and Sister Archibald told me that I should get some rest. So I did. I felt better the next morning though. But I felt bad for making my companion stay in the whole day. He didn't have much to do. He just did crossword puzzles all day. It was sad.
Other then that this week we just taught a bunch of members and tried getting in with less actives, but they never let us in. This is a pretty good ward though. There are some good members here. It's a small ward but they are all very close. I guess the highlight of our week was on Wednesday we went and taught Dannyelle up in Coleman. That was exciting. We just talked about how the stop smoking program was going. She hasn't gone a day without a smoke, but she says she is improving. So I guess taht's good. It's hard for her though since her mom and her mom's boyfriend still smoke. And then we talked about the three pillars of a testimony, scripture study, prayer and going to church. that went well. She still didn't come to church on Sunday though. We are going to try to start going out to the pass for two days every other week and spending the night out there. So we will work with some new people we don't get to see much of out there. President Archibald is pretty skeptical about us keeping busy enough out there, so we will see how long he lets us go out there. It should be fun though. We are going on Thursday and Friday this week.
Other then that nothing really happened this week. So I will let you know how this week goes. Thanks for everything! I love you all!
love,
Elder Townsend
There are deer everywhere in Pincher
Pincher Creek is one of the first places they put up windmills. And there are TONS of them!
The piggy bank again
Other then that the week was pretty average. We got new windows in our apartment last week. That was exciting. So Tuesday, Wednesday and part of Thursday morning we couldn't leave our apartment because there were guys in there putting our windows together. So that was boring... and Thursday I got sick anyway so we didn't leave our apartment because I didn't want to get too far away from a bathroom, just in case, and Sister Archibald told me that I should get some rest. So I did. I felt better the next morning though. But I felt bad for making my companion stay in the whole day. He didn't have much to do. He just did crossword puzzles all day. It was sad.
Other then that this week we just taught a bunch of members and tried getting in with less actives, but they never let us in. This is a pretty good ward though. There are some good members here. It's a small ward but they are all very close. I guess the highlight of our week was on Wednesday we went and taught Dannyelle up in Coleman. That was exciting. We just talked about how the stop smoking program was going. She hasn't gone a day without a smoke, but she says she is improving. So I guess taht's good. It's hard for her though since her mom and her mom's boyfriend still smoke. And then we talked about the three pillars of a testimony, scripture study, prayer and going to church. that went well. She still didn't come to church on Sunday though. We are going to try to start going out to the pass for two days every other week and spending the night out there. So we will work with some new people we don't get to see much of out there. President Archibald is pretty skeptical about us keeping busy enough out there, so we will see how long he lets us go out there. It should be fun though. We are going on Thursday and Friday this week.
Other then that nothing really happened this week. So I will let you know how this week goes. Thanks for everything! I love you all!
love,
Elder Townsend
There are deer everywhere in Pincher
Pincher Creek is one of the first places they put up windmills. And there are TONS of them!
The piggy bank again
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
February 15, 2011
Hello everyone! How is it going? This week was alright for me. We were going to teach Dannyelle on Wednesday, but she called that morning and said "personal things" came up and she couldn't anymore. So that was sad. But we still had a pretty good day that day. Nothing too exciting just a lot of lessons with members. We helped Bro Barfus move 14 huge filing cabinets around in his office. that was fun. then Thursday we taught the Buffalo family. A native family out on the reserve who have been taught for a while, but it was my first time meeting them. It went good. They like to talk a lot so we didn't get to say much, but we did get a lesson in and she wants to come to church, he doesn't, but she doesn't have a ride out there and we can't find one for her. So that is actually really sad. Then Friday we got another lesson with Danyelle so we went out there and taught her. We did the 7 day stop smoking program with her. I don't know if I've told you guys about that. It's these 15 steps that if they follow them everyday will make it so they have no more desire for nicotine at all. It completely eliminates that, but the "cool" factor will still be there. We can't seem to get rid of that... but the lesson went really well. She was really excited to follow it, which is awesome. I hope she can quit! Unfortunately we called her Sunday morning and she wasn't going to be able to come to church. That was sad. And while we were talking to her she told us that she had slipped up on smoking... dang it. So she had to start the seven days over again, but she still had a really good attitude about it. She new that she slipped up and that she could try again and do better next time. That was sweet to hear her say that! (ya, that's right. I'm an awesome teacher. Just kidding. But seriously... I am. haha) So hopefully she can do that.
Then we taught this old lady. Like mid 80's. It was ridiculous. She said she knew like everything about our church and had a Book of Mormon and all that. She had me go grab it from this shelf that was full of every religious books ever! OK... maybe not, but a lot of them. So we were talking about the restoration and stuff and she seemed to like it. Answered any question we gave her and it was pretty sweet. Then we came to the first vision and she asked where in the bible that was so she could look it up... and we asked her if she wanted to be baptized on March 5th and she said "yea, I could come to that" and wrote it in the cover of her bible and then we asked if she would want to come to church and she said "oh no, of course not. I have my own church." So... I don't know how much she got out of the lesson... but the Spirit was there! haha. Then we talked to a lady in our ward Sis Le Pard and she just told us that we shouldn't continue. The old ladies family would get mad at us if they found out we were there. So in a space of less then 24 hours we got a new investigator, set her with a baptismal date and then dropped her. haha. It was weird. My companion still put it all on our numbers for the week. haha.
Elder Lafond is interesting. He is a fun guy, really weird at times though. Sometimes I am just embarrassed to be around him. I can't really not like him though. I think our personalities are just ones that don't really go well together... at all. Is it bad to pray for him to get transferred next week? I thought about doing that but then I thought if I did then he would stay for sure... I'm in a bit of a dilemma here. haha. But whatever happens next week at transfers is supposed to happen. Maybe there is something I am supposed to learn from him... I hope not, but maybe. haha.
Thanks for everything! You guys are the best! Thanks for all the love and support you give me! I love and miss you guys!
Love,
Elder Townsend
PS. Mom I got the package from Aunt Jenny and Uncle Bill. I got it today, but that means it probably got to the mission like two or three weeks ago. haha.
Random little town in the pass... apparently the best water in Alberta... tastes like water to me!
Then we taught this old lady. Like mid 80's. It was ridiculous. She said she knew like everything about our church and had a Book of Mormon and all that. She had me go grab it from this shelf that was full of every religious books ever! OK... maybe not, but a lot of them. So we were talking about the restoration and stuff and she seemed to like it. Answered any question we gave her and it was pretty sweet. Then we came to the first vision and she asked where in the bible that was so she could look it up... and we asked her if she wanted to be baptized on March 5th and she said "yea, I could come to that" and wrote it in the cover of her bible and then we asked if she would want to come to church and she said "oh no, of course not. I have my own church." So... I don't know how much she got out of the lesson... but the Spirit was there! haha. Then we talked to a lady in our ward Sis Le Pard and she just told us that we shouldn't continue. The old ladies family would get mad at us if they found out we were there. So in a space of less then 24 hours we got a new investigator, set her with a baptismal date and then dropped her. haha. It was weird. My companion still put it all on our numbers for the week. haha.
Elder Lafond is interesting. He is a fun guy, really weird at times though. Sometimes I am just embarrassed to be around him. I can't really not like him though. I think our personalities are just ones that don't really go well together... at all. Is it bad to pray for him to get transferred next week? I thought about doing that but then I thought if I did then he would stay for sure... I'm in a bit of a dilemma here. haha. But whatever happens next week at transfers is supposed to happen. Maybe there is something I am supposed to learn from him... I hope not, but maybe. haha.
Thanks for everything! You guys are the best! Thanks for all the love and support you give me! I love and miss you guys!
Love,
Elder Townsend
PS. Mom I got the package from Aunt Jenny and Uncle Bill. I got it today, but that means it probably got to the mission like two or three weeks ago. haha.
Random little town in the pass... apparently the best water in Alberta... tastes like water to me!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Februrary 8, 2011
Hey! What is up? How is the party in the states going? I hear "it's a party in the USA" haha. Well, I had a little bit of a party here in Canada. Good old Pincher Creek. Actually it kind of sucks here. It is cold and it's snowing A LOT! More then they have seen here in like 5 years. And it's freaking windy! I hate the wind... its official. I ran out of money last month so I couldn't buy stamps to send mail to you guys so I got money this month went and spent $20 on stamps to hopefully last me a while and what happens? We open the door to the car and the wind sends all of them flying!! So that sucked. I wasn't too happy. So all of you waiting on mail from me... (especially Michael) I'm sorry. I'm trying... hopefully I'll have some in the mail today though. Speaking of mail. Another reason why I don't like Pincher Creek is I haven't gotten mail in forever! We were supposed to get it at zone conference but the assistants forgot to bring it... darn assistants. So I won't get mail until transfers probably. So that sucks. Why can't I just go back to Calgary where I get it like once or twice a week? haha.
Anyway. I really did have a little bit of a party here I promise. We were able to teach Danyelle again. That went pretty well. We taught lesson three and set a date for her to be baptized on the 19th. So that was sweet. That was on Saturday. We also got her to commit to coming to church. So Sunday morning we got up and called her to make sure she was still planning on coming before we drove all the way out to the pass to be with her. She said she was coming but she also said that she thought the 19th was too soon to be baptized. So we have to work on that again. Then we got to church and I realized we forgot to tell her church was three hours long so she wasn't too happy. Her kid was hungry and tired the whole time. So she was busy with him the whole time. I don't know how much she got out of it. She left early so we didn't get to talk to her about it. Then Monday we called her and all she really said about it was that it was too long. We are teaching her again tomorrow and she wants to do the seven day stop smoking program so she must not be too mad at us. haha.
So we were in the pass on Sunday. Which was weird. There were only 20 people in church and it was sacrament meeting. The only people that bore their testimony were us and Pres Hummell and another guy. Then they ended sacrament 20 mins early. So that was weird. Especially for being the first sacrament meeting an investigator came to. The members love us out there. They don't get to see us too often. So someone invited us over for lunch so we went there. That was fun. He is the high priest group leader and they live in this fun little mobile home that they turned into a log cabin looking place. It was sweet. Then we stopped by some part member families and less actives and then someone had us for dinner and then we drove home. A nice full day in the Crows Nest Pass. We are trying to find a way to get out there more. Maybe stay at a members house out there overnight or something because it kills our kilometers driving out there too much.
Then Monday was sweet. The Wright's took us out snowshoeing. It was awesome. The Wrights are really fun and they took their dog with us. So they take us out to Beauvais Lake and we start up this trail and we are trying to get up to a peak they haven't been to before. so we start out on this "trail" if you can even call it that. We were walking through trees and following orange signs that were nailed to trees. The snow came up to our knees even with snow shoes on. The dog disappeared when it jumped in. haha. It was really fun though. Then the trail ended and we started to make our own trail. It got really steep with a lot of snow. We crawled for parts of it. It was well worth it though. The view from the summit was definitely worth the effort. Coming back down the steep part took us 15 mins... it took us an hour to get up it. haha. It was a pretty fun Pday though. I am freaking tired and sore now, but it was awesome. I loved it. They want to do it again in a couple of weeks and since there isn't anything else to do here in Pincher, I'm looking forward to it! haha. It helps that the Wright's are awesome. He is an RCMP and she is a hair dresser and they are hilarious! I love going over there.
That was pretty much my week though. Pretty exciting. A party if I do say so myself. Thanks for everything! I love you guys!
Love,
Elder Townsend
the "trail" haha
Anyway. I really did have a little bit of a party here I promise. We were able to teach Danyelle again. That went pretty well. We taught lesson three and set a date for her to be baptized on the 19th. So that was sweet. That was on Saturday. We also got her to commit to coming to church. So Sunday morning we got up and called her to make sure she was still planning on coming before we drove all the way out to the pass to be with her. She said she was coming but she also said that she thought the 19th was too soon to be baptized. So we have to work on that again. Then we got to church and I realized we forgot to tell her church was three hours long so she wasn't too happy. Her kid was hungry and tired the whole time. So she was busy with him the whole time. I don't know how much she got out of it. She left early so we didn't get to talk to her about it. Then Monday we called her and all she really said about it was that it was too long. We are teaching her again tomorrow and she wants to do the seven day stop smoking program so she must not be too mad at us. haha.
So we were in the pass on Sunday. Which was weird. There were only 20 people in church and it was sacrament meeting. The only people that bore their testimony were us and Pres Hummell and another guy. Then they ended sacrament 20 mins early. So that was weird. Especially for being the first sacrament meeting an investigator came to. The members love us out there. They don't get to see us too often. So someone invited us over for lunch so we went there. That was fun. He is the high priest group leader and they live in this fun little mobile home that they turned into a log cabin looking place. It was sweet. Then we stopped by some part member families and less actives and then someone had us for dinner and then we drove home. A nice full day in the Crows Nest Pass. We are trying to find a way to get out there more. Maybe stay at a members house out there overnight or something because it kills our kilometers driving out there too much.
Then Monday was sweet. The Wright's took us out snowshoeing. It was awesome. The Wrights are really fun and they took their dog with us. So they take us out to Beauvais Lake and we start up this trail and we are trying to get up to a peak they haven't been to before. so we start out on this "trail" if you can even call it that. We were walking through trees and following orange signs that were nailed to trees. The snow came up to our knees even with snow shoes on. The dog disappeared when it jumped in. haha. It was really fun though. Then the trail ended and we started to make our own trail. It got really steep with a lot of snow. We crawled for parts of it. It was well worth it though. The view from the summit was definitely worth the effort. Coming back down the steep part took us 15 mins... it took us an hour to get up it. haha. It was a pretty fun Pday though. I am freaking tired and sore now, but it was awesome. I loved it. They want to do it again in a couple of weeks and since there isn't anything else to do here in Pincher, I'm looking forward to it! haha. It helps that the Wright's are awesome. He is an RCMP and she is a hair dresser and they are hilarious! I love going over there.
That was pretty much my week though. Pretty exciting. A party if I do say so myself. Thanks for everything! I love you guys!
Love,
Elder Townsend
snow shoeing
the "trail" hahathe summit
the wrights
Friday, February 4, 2011
Februrary 4, 2011
Hey! How is it going? This week was pretty good for me. A lot of times there wasn't much to do but we still got a lot done! haha. Last Tuesday we were walking around after emails and we saw a lady who was scrapping ice off her sidewalk so we went and helped her and after she invited us into her house for some hot chocolate. Turns out she lived with her older sister and her mom and the mom is kind of less active and the daughters are very less active. So we talked to them for a while and they said we could come back if we could find a time that worked. They are a busy little family. But that was sweet. Apparently they haven't talked to missionaries in forever.
Then we had a couple days of not much to do. A lot of walking around trying to find someone to talk to or something to do. But then Friday was a great day. We had a lesson with Danyelle at noon. So we drove out there and had this older lady from the branch come with us so we could have a member there. She was the only one that was available then. The lesson went really well. We watched The Restoration and talked about Joseph Smith a little bit more and we started to talk about baptism and found out that she hasn't been baptized but that she had a name and a blessing when she was a baby. So she said she would be willing to be baptized. We weren't able to set a date and we told her that it would be good for her to come to church and the lady from the branch offered a ride and to sit by her during church. She didn't come because she didn't feel like she was ready. I think she'll make it there eventually. Then we stopped by a couple of people and headed home.
Then we had a dinner with a family. Elder Lafond said it might be weird because every time he had talked to them they didn't really like the missionaries. So we got there and they were all happy and a fun family. They even told us that we were the first missionaries they have had over in years because they didn't like any of the other ones. But apparently they like us. So that's cool. It was really weird when I walked in though because they had some pictures on their fridge of people I knew from BYU. Apparently their daughter went there and got married and was friends with Allison Slater and Morgan Thorup and there were some pictures of them at her wedding. So that was cool. They talked about that for a while. It's weird to see people that know people I know. I guess I'm not really that far from home even though it feels like it, haha.
Then after dinner Bro Westrup called us and said that we could teach his friend, Rob Frost, at the church at 8. So we went there and taught him a little about the restoration and we talked to him and found out that he wants to be baptized but not for a while. He wants to read the Book of Mormon and the Bible in a year and he thinks that he will be able to make the decision to get baptized after he does that. Which I guess is good and it's good that he will be reading. Once he starts to read and think about it the Spirit will get working on him.
Saturday we went on exchanges. I was with Elder Fowler here and we didn't really have all that much to do. We had a lesson in the morning. Our dinner canceled and we had a lesson in the native reserve in the afternoon but it was snowing too much to make it out there. So we spent a lot of time walking around and shoveling snow. We seem to do that a lot in this mission. haha.
Sunday we called this lady named Stacy who we had talked to on the street once and seemed nice and gave us her phone number. We called and she said we could come over later so we went around five with Bro Barffus and that actually went really well. There were three little kids there. Two where her own. So beside all the distractions and times where we had to stop because of crying kids it went really well. We taught a first lesson and she seemed to accept it. She said she wanted to get baptized but we couldn't set an exact date. She grew up Christian and kind of fell away but she wanted to get back into it. That's the only reason she talked to us on the street which is awesome. (she did think that we were from another church... but that's irrelevant. haha) Her dad seems to know a lot. She said that her dad always tries to talk to her and teach her and she doesn't really listen. So I hope that he doesn't start to anti her. I think that will be the only obstacle in her life and maybe smoking. But we can fix that. Easy peezy lemon squeezy. haha
Then Pday was pretty fun. The district all came here and we just played some games and stuff and then went to the really good Mexican food out in the middle of nowhere. So that was exciting. So it was a pretty good week. We got two new people to teach. I hope we get somewhere with them. But if not then we did our best. Thanks for everything guys! I love you!
Love
Elder Townsend
Then we had a couple days of not much to do. A lot of walking around trying to find someone to talk to or something to do. But then Friday was a great day. We had a lesson with Danyelle at noon. So we drove out there and had this older lady from the branch come with us so we could have a member there. She was the only one that was available then. The lesson went really well. We watched The Restoration and talked about Joseph Smith a little bit more and we started to talk about baptism and found out that she hasn't been baptized but that she had a name and a blessing when she was a baby. So she said she would be willing to be baptized. We weren't able to set a date and we told her that it would be good for her to come to church and the lady from the branch offered a ride and to sit by her during church. She didn't come because she didn't feel like she was ready. I think she'll make it there eventually. Then we stopped by a couple of people and headed home.
Then we had a dinner with a family. Elder Lafond said it might be weird because every time he had talked to them they didn't really like the missionaries. So we got there and they were all happy and a fun family. They even told us that we were the first missionaries they have had over in years because they didn't like any of the other ones. But apparently they like us. So that's cool. It was really weird when I walked in though because they had some pictures on their fridge of people I knew from BYU. Apparently their daughter went there and got married and was friends with Allison Slater and Morgan Thorup and there were some pictures of them at her wedding. So that was cool. They talked about that for a while. It's weird to see people that know people I know. I guess I'm not really that far from home even though it feels like it, haha.
Then after dinner Bro Westrup called us and said that we could teach his friend, Rob Frost, at the church at 8. So we went there and taught him a little about the restoration and we talked to him and found out that he wants to be baptized but not for a while. He wants to read the Book of Mormon and the Bible in a year and he thinks that he will be able to make the decision to get baptized after he does that. Which I guess is good and it's good that he will be reading. Once he starts to read and think about it the Spirit will get working on him.
Saturday we went on exchanges. I was with Elder Fowler here and we didn't really have all that much to do. We had a lesson in the morning. Our dinner canceled and we had a lesson in the native reserve in the afternoon but it was snowing too much to make it out there. So we spent a lot of time walking around and shoveling snow. We seem to do that a lot in this mission. haha.
Sunday we called this lady named Stacy who we had talked to on the street once and seemed nice and gave us her phone number. We called and she said we could come over later so we went around five with Bro Barffus and that actually went really well. There were three little kids there. Two where her own. So beside all the distractions and times where we had to stop because of crying kids it went really well. We taught a first lesson and she seemed to accept it. She said she wanted to get baptized but we couldn't set an exact date. She grew up Christian and kind of fell away but she wanted to get back into it. That's the only reason she talked to us on the street which is awesome. (she did think that we were from another church... but that's irrelevant. haha) Her dad seems to know a lot. She said that her dad always tries to talk to her and teach her and she doesn't really listen. So I hope that he doesn't start to anti her. I think that will be the only obstacle in her life and maybe smoking. But we can fix that. Easy peezy lemon squeezy. haha
Then Pday was pretty fun. The district all came here and we just played some games and stuff and then went to the really good Mexican food out in the middle of nowhere. So that was exciting. So it was a pretty good week. We got two new people to teach. I hope we get somewhere with them. But if not then we did our best. Thanks for everything guys! I love you!
Love
Elder Townsend
So Coleman (where Danyelle lives) is really close to the BC border. And the BC border is the border for our area. so we were going to go there and get a picture next to it. But we got there and it had snowed too much to get any closer then this...
I tried
I triedTrying......
Failed
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