This has been quite a week, we’ve had three back-to-back exchanges, lots of planning for Elder Neil L. Andersen’s mission visit, interviews, hosting missionaries, district council, etc. We’re also both trying to keep up with our assignments, mine being social media content creation, and Elder Blake’s being learning Farsi. Oh yeah, and the snow finally decided to drop in. I thought we missed it, but nope! So that threw a wrench in our plans. Because of all the snow, we have been counseled to keep our cars grounded and use public transit or walking wherever possible.

President & Sister Gill Crash District Council

None of us knew they were coming haha. But yeah President & Sister Gill decided to show up, and that was pretty awesome! It was a bit stressful for Elder Snow (our district leader, and my former companion) but he did an amazing job. It was super neat, they had the Sisters give a training on revelation. Which felt just like what we talked about MLC recently, so I’m sure the Gill’s loved it. I loved hearing their insights. President shared with me that he and Sister Gill have been loving the content I’m making. I’m grateful that they’ve been liking it and it’s been turning out.

Reflection of What Once Was

My exchange with Elder Watkins was pretty awesome. A bit weird being back in my old area (Richmond), with my old companion. Especially because we both served in that area together. It was nice to go back and see some of the members. Brother Mendoza told us that he became a faculty manager, crazy news! He just dropped his old job and he begins tomorrow. He’ll be traveling all over British Columbia doing the technical work on meeting houses.

Beginning our exchange we rushed over to a restaurant in Ladner for a lesson. We were teaching their friend who was getting baptized on Sunday. There was a new member who joined us and we enjoyed a good lesson and some good food. He seemed very prepared and ready. We still had a few principles left to teach him, so we focused on teaching those, and completed the baptismal program with him. Despite eating dinner at a restaurant together, the Spirit was strong and unified us all together. Even teaching some random principles from all over the place, the lesson flowed and was very smooth. A conversation turned into a teaching moment and an opportunity for us all to feel the Spirit. It really is a testament that all of this is God’s work.

Right before we drove back to end the exchange, we received a call from a member from Calgary who was visiting family in Richmond. They had a family member who was requesting a Priesthood blessing. We quickly arrived, and administered the blessing of healing. Blessings are truly incredible, I’m grateful to be a part of them. They’ve been some of my most spiritual experiences I’ve had on the mission. It’s remarkable to have the Spirit direct your words and manifest God’s will so clearly. The recipient of the blessing was in tears and expressed that during the blessing he saw a face. He couldn’t describe who it was. But we encouraged him to talk to his family more about it. We were running a bit late so we had to go quickly.

The Snow Strikes Back!

Today we were planning to have a baptismal interview for the Maple Ridge Elder’s friend, Corinna. That got a bit tricky when we discovered all the snow and were informed to not drive our vehicles. Fortunately, the Maple Ridge Elders were able to get a bus and their friend was willing to bus down as well. She even gave them instructions on the buses they needed to take and they went together.

So we made our journey through the snow to the chapel. Luckily we don’t live too far, so it only took around an hour. Upon arriving, we prepared the building and got everything ready to go. Everyone made it safely, and Elder Blake gave the interview. She’s super ready and we look forward to her baptism. After completing that, we saw Brother Mendoza and the other FM guy who was training him. It was pretty neat to see him in his new job after just talking to him yesterday about it. As we left the chapel they called to us as they were both in the car. They then asked for suggestions on where they should go for lunch. Elder Blake suggested donaire. But they were feeling pancakes, so they both decided to get pancakes together haha. You could tell they both were having a good time with each other. After that we made our journey back home in the snow. Once we arrived home we were both quite exhausted, not because of all the walking, but just with the craziness of this whole week. It’s been so much at once, so we made some lunch and we both laid down for the rest of our lunch hour.

I think that’s everything worth mentioning this week. Just been planning a lot, looking forward to the mission visit and Stake Conference!