Sunday, September 30, 2012

September 24, 2012


OK. I'm sick and tired of technology. No pictures this week because the computer wont let me send more than one at a time and my camera just died. I guess next week you will just get a butt load of pictures. 


OK!! Lets see!! How has my week been?
 
First, sorry again that the email was a little pitiful last week, there was nothing that I could do because the draft that had been saved, got erased also... 
 
Elder Beaumont! He is super awesome. He is crazy hard working, and had jumped right in to helping me out, which I am grateful for, because I honestly have NO idea what I'm doing! =P I have been trying to teach him how to be a good missionary, but I guess we will find out how I did when the next transfer comes along and I get switched out and he has to be a trainer. He is funny, and we enjoy telling each other crazy stories about our ridiculous adventures as delinquent teenagers. He speaks great French, and has been teaching me how to speak better every time I open my mouth. And I do that a lot. =D He loves musicals, which is great, because I sing Les Mis to myself all the time, and that is his favorite! He is taller than me ( Big surprise) and we get along great! Thus far at least. The Honey moon period should wear off here in the next few days, and we will find out how much we bother each other. If I don't email, next week, it's because he probably tied me up and left me in the closet in the apartment. I wouldn't blame him if he did. I couldn't stand living with me for more than 3 weeks either. 

We really haven't done anything super exciting this week. It seems as though in the last few weeks we have lost most of our investigators, so we are currently searching for new ones. And we are searching a lot. We have spent a lot of time just knocking on doors. It was getting a little bit discouraging the last few days, after doing 4 or 5 hours of knocking a day, but yesterday was great, we were both very happy and had an awesome time walking around, in the rain, with the wind, freezing to death, sharing the light that we have. We met this guy from Hungary last night, who came to Quebec "Because his friend was coming and didn't want to go alone". He has been here for probably 40 or 50 years since then. If that isn't the definition of Crazy, I don't know what is. 

We have a great week planned out this week though. Wednesday we are doing splits. I'm going to stay here with Elder Thia from Chicoutimi, and Elder Beaumont will stay with Elder Christensen in Chicoutimi. We will have supper at the Bouchards house on Wednesday evening because the Bouchards have a picture they want to show him. It is a picture of his Dad. His dad served a mission HERE, IN ALMA, like 25 years ago!! Now he is back and the Bouchards are so excited! Then, we are going to come back together Thursday morning, and then Sunday we are headed back down to Chicoutimi for church there. There is a stake meeting, so Alma is all headed down, and then next monday we have Zone Study, so we will stay in Chicoutimi Sunday afternoon and evening, and then carpool down on Monday to Quebec. So Actually if I don't email next week it's because we were on our way to Quebec, and didn't have time to use the computers. Not because I'm tied up in the closet. 

Ooh! This week we were joggin in the morning, and there was a police car just chilling in this dudes driveway, so we decided to run by and see what was going on, and what happened was he was watching this Poucupine! There was a huge porcupine walking around Down Town Alma, when we ran past it was climbing its way up the steps to an apartment building. It was really funny! 

Also, we recently drove out to the middle of nowhere to find an old investigator in the area book. And it was late, and it was raining, and we had to walk down this creepy dark path in the woods to get to this house, and no one was there, and it was pitch black out, and we were really scared, but we went to his neighbors house to ask if the guy we were looking for was still living there, and the neighbor said no, and kept of like, laughing a really airy laugh, and it was terrifying, and I was certain that he was going to chase us down this wooded path and chop us up into little pieces. We had fun. =) 

Anyways, I don't have much else to say this week! Other than we are working hard and are praying hard, and are playing hard. And having a great time while doing so! Keep on Trucking! You are all Geenos!

Bisoux, 

Elder Austen Oviatt

Monday, September 17, 2012

Hey Guys, 

Uh, lets see... First, My new companion! He is from Abbotsford BC, and is super awesome. His name is Elder Beaumont. He took French Immersion in school, all the way from Grade 1 through high school too! So he is a little ahead of me in many aspects of speaking French, but at the same time, he is still getting used to the "Alma" accent, so I win there =P He is not afraid to speak up, which is awesome! 

 I don't know if you remember Brock and Jones Freeman? But Their family comes from Abbotsford too, and Brock actually lived with Elder Beaumont's family for a year before his mission!!! So cool! 

Elder Beaumont is bringing a new energy to the mission, alI can say he is great, but he just has a few rough spots! And so do I. He will be teaching me a ton!

Elder Austen Oviatt!!!


Epic photo time. This is Lac-Ste.-Jean. It's huge, and when it's windy, it looks like the ocean.

 This is a picture from the Other side of the lake at a place called Dolbeau-Mistassini. Crazy names, but beautiful rivers!

Weird Poutine that I ordered that had canned peas on it... it looked nasty, but it tasted pretty good!

District Car, together for one last time!!!! ='(

 Elder Heder, off to go speak some Chineese! 

 Elder Beaumont! Who actually is super good friends with Brock Freeman. And by that I mean Brock lived with his family for a year before his mission!!!

 So, I don't know if I talked about how big this area is, but it's huge! Like, the drive from Montreal to Quebec is 3 hours....

 I cant resist. Here is a beautiful sunset picture! 

Monday, September 10, 2012

September 10, 2012

Bonjour mes Amis! 

Man, this week has been great!! Haha, I have to tell you about our last P-Day.

After we sent our emails we went out to go shopping and we needed to go to the bank too. Well, I assume it was Labor Day weekend back at home too, but I'm not sure. Something you learn about Labor Day in small towns is that it actually is a day for EVERYONE to not work. All of the grocery stores were closed. All of the banks were closed. Everything! It was kind of funny! But then we did nothing all day, because we couldn't go shopping or get our banking done. We just sat in the apartment and cleaned and played Frisbee. So Tuesday morning we ran to the "Maxi" (Quebec's version on Super Store) and did our grocery shopping. Then we headed down Tuesday evening to Quebec for Zone Study. Elder Heder and I had to give a training, and all of the other new missionaries too. And by new missionaries I mean the ones who aren't going home in this transfer or the next. We ate at a buffet, and I think I gained like 10 pounds. I eat way to much at buffets because I go, PFH, if I'm going to spend my money, I'm going to get my moneys worth! So literally 4 or 5 plates of food, then 2 plates of desert and a bowl or two of ice cream. Then you sit in the truck for 3 hours and drive back up to Alma. You just feel so great after! And to be honest, it usually takes a day or two before you are able to poop too. But that might just be because I eat a lot of Chinese food at the Buffet. We were back Wednesday in time to work a bit that night. Ah, we also had 3 Dinner Appointments this week. We had crepes at one of them, which were super good, but the only thing we had to put on them was maple syrup and brown sugar. Which normally isn't that bad, but when you eat like 4 or 5 crepes, you just start to buzz with all the sugar in your system. But I love maple syrup, so I didn't complain! 

Saturday night we had a dinner with a non member family, actually with the Evangelists! And we went to help the husband move a piano. He said "5, 10 minutes tops!". Wrong. But, everyone is always wrong when they say things like that. It was a 1200 lbs piano, and we ended up having 5 of us to move the dang thing. Elder Heder and I were in our dress clothes, and it was raining, and the piano was dirty, so we basically destroyed our clothing. And it took like 30 minutes to move this piano. It was retarded, but we had tons of fun! And then we ate Tacos. So that was great.

So, I didn't bring a rain jacket with me on my mission. Don't ask me why, I think I though I would have more time during P-Days to go out and buy one, or that I would be somewhere that there were stores that I could find a rain jacket at. But I don't, so I wear one of Elder Heder's spare jackets. We aren't the same size, so I really don't fit in it. It looks hilarious. But I don't have a picture. Anyways, We were out knocking on doors the other day, and it was raining, and we were soaking wet. And in Alma, there are TONS of people who don't have doorbells, but they have the wires sticking out of the wall still, so if you are lucky, you can actually still ring the doorbell, by rubbing the wires together! We do it all the time. But anyways, it was raining, and we came to a house without a doorbell, and so I grabbed the wires and I went to ring the doorbell, but I hadn't realized that the parts that I had grabbed were not covered in the plastic wire coating, and so when I got the doorbell to ring, what actually happened was that I totally zapped myself. It didn't hurt, but I was so not expecting it that it made the shock a little worse than it was. It was funny though.

Saturday night we received transfer calls. Big changes. We lost 13 missionaries, and 18 new missionaries are coming in to Quebec. With 16 last transfer and 18 this transfer we have 34 new missionaries. that means there are a lot of people training. And people who aren't training or being trained, are in leadership positions. So everyone has a job. Everyone. Elder Heder got called out of Alma, and is going to Montreal. As a Zone leader! 5 transfers in and he is headed off to be a ZONE LEADER!! And, even crazier than that, he is being sent to a Chinese Branch! He gets to learn a little bit of Chinese!!! And go to church in Chinese once every two weeks! Hehehe! That's so cool!! As for myself, I am training!! I get a brand new missionary, and I decide his fate. MWAHAHAH!! No, I'm actually a little bit terrified. This is a big deal! His first impression of real missionary work is resting on my shoulders! I show him that we study hard, work hard, and play hard. And in that order too. But I know that if I wasn't ready for this responsibility, then I wouldn't be training, so the Lord knows I can do it, and that is very reassuring! I'm not super super worried, but there are somethings that I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to deal with them. I hope he can speak french though, because that is something we do a lot of up here in Alma. =D 

Anyways, our area is doing very well. We are always teaching lessons, always doing our best, and always seeing the miracles from the Lord. He is watching over us, and he is watching over this area. It's like Elder Heder says, Alma is booming because of the strength of the Members here. They really do have some of the strongest members that I have ever seen, it is amazing.

I love you all, and I hope that you have a good weekend!!

Love,

Elder Austen Oviatt

P.S. Because I'm training, that means I'm the senior companion, which means that I get to drive the truck!!!!! So excited for that!!!!

 Portes De L'Enfer. That means The Doors of Hell. Cool, hey?! I want to go visit it, but it's a little to far away to just drive down to for the afternoon. 
I had a whole bunch of other pictures, but by camera deleted them all?!?!? So chapped. Maybe Elder Heder can send me some of the ones I want to send to you...


 Trying to take a beautiful shot of the scenery. This strange black think kept getting in my way, I had no idea what it was. It was the antenna. Good for me. Hehe, why did I ever think I was smart?

Elder Heders huge rain jacket.

Huge leaf. It made me feel like an Ewok.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

September 3, 2012

Hey Guys! What is going on my friends?

I need to start my email today with some cool news. Are you ready for this? OK, here it comes. Right after this sentence! I saw a shooting star the other night! Cool, right? Yeah, I know it's cool! You're all jealous. And it was at like, 8:30 PM, not even that late! Anyways...

We had a great week this week! Monday was P-Day, and we did normal P-Day things. Grocery Shopping, the laundry, sent emails, wrote letters, took naps. All that fun stuff! 

The next exciting thing that we did was hand out with our Friends Kevin and Celine. Which is kind of normal, go and spend some time with them, nothing too special. Except this time it was in a Semi-Truck! It was cool! But I can tell you right now, that that is not a job that I will ever do. Goodness gracious... Did you guys know that those trucks have like, 18 gears? It's crazy, but there is only 6 spots on the stick shift. to hit the higher gears they have to push a button to get to the gears higher than 5.

Then, we had splits the next day, so I got to hang out with Elder Christensen. We are super alike. It's really funny actually. But I am very glad that I have Elder Heder as my companion because if I was working with someone like Elder Christensen/myself, then I can see a whole lot of time wasted. Not necessarily not doing what we are supposed  to be doing, but just, not being super efficient with the time we do have to use? Anyways, we got to teach "English Class" in Chicoutimi, to an Iranian couple, that is super fun. Elder Fitzgerald and I did it last splits. But this couple speaks Persian, so they taught me how to say and write "Flower" in Persian! For those who are wondering, it's "Gol", pronounced almost like, "Goal". 

And then, we got home from splits, and Elder Heder and I were doing our weekly planning. And we were sitting at the table trying to figure a way to get another person to come to church to try and meet our goals, and we had no idea what to do, and literally as we were talking about and trying to think of what to do, our investigator Richelle calls us and says "Hey, I was talking to my 20 year old son about church and I invited him to come with me and the kids, so is it OK if he comes to church this week?" Elder Heder and I just looked at each other and kind of just said... Yeah!!! Thats fine! We couldn't stop smiling! The Lord shall provide a way! So we had enough people at church this week, but I will get to that later.

Oh, I guess I will actually talk about church right now! First of all, yesterday was Roger's Birthday, so we sang to him and gave him a cake and stuff, it was good! But, for investigators at church, we had 7. Frère Martel told us that we had 9 members at church, 2 missionaries, and 7 non-members! it was absolutely amazing! Richelle was there with Amelia, Danique and Her oldest son, Henrico. And we had Kevin and Celine there, and our friend Michaël! We had primary again! Man, the members here are so strong, their faith is making so many miracles happen! 

Uh, what else for this week... OH! I have to tell you about our new snack food: Fruit Poutine!

We learnt this a week and a half ago at zone conference, but didn't get to really try it untill this week when we went shopping. But it is yogurt, and a whole bunch of rolled oats, and then just a junkload of fruit! Apple chunks, Banana slices, grapes, nectarine bits, blueberries, raspberries and almonds! Because almonds are very healthy for you. And we are all about healthy eating here! It is super good, super quick to make, and keep you quite full for a long time actually! And we lucked out last week on Yogurt! We hit a sale where a thing of 4 individual yogurts for a buck, so we bout like, 8 bucks of yoghurt. We should be stocked up for a while.
Something I've noticed about being a missionary is with eating food! I am able to eat anything! We had a Dinner Appointment and they had a shrimp ring, and I ate like 8 shrimp! And then there was another one where we had Cod, and I ate a lot of the Cod! (for those who don't know, I really don't like fish/anything that comes from water). Cheese! The French love their cheese, and I find that I actually am just loving all the cheese, even though a lot of it is very strong, and I didn't used to be able to eat a lot of strong cheese. Uh... what else. Oh! Mom, Tanner, Kaden, I eat SO MUCH peanut butter now. On my toast (not cut in fingers dipped in chocolate milk though, sorry), on my pancakes, on my plate and just by the spoonful, with my bananas! It's good! Well, it's full of protein and fat, and that is good. =P And, the final touch, we were on our roadtrip to Quebec two weeks ago, and we had bought some Ju-Jubes, or "Super-Jubes" As the package said. We called them "Super-Jews" though. Anyways, I ate all the black licorice flavored ones! Crazy, right?!?! No one likes the black licorice ju-jubes!

Anyways, I think that's about it for me this week. Can you believe that it has already been 6 weeks since the last transfer calls? This Saturday we find out if Elder Heder and I stay here or if we will be switched around! Wish us luck!

I Love ya all, and I hope and pray that you are all doing well!

Elder Austen Oviatt

2 Néphi 25:26
26 Et nous parlons du Christ, nous nous rejouissons dans le Christ, nous prêchons le Christ, nous prophétisons concernant le Christ, et nous écrivons selon nos prophéties, afin que now enfants sachent vers quelle source ils peuvent se tourner pour obtenir la rémission de leurs péchés. 

2 Nephi 25:26

26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophecy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. 


Jesus Christ is kind of important. Like, on a scale of 1 to 2, he is like, at least a 3. This is why we try to help others see the joy and the peace that comes from a faith in Jesus Christ, because through him we receive a remission of our sins. All our mistakes, all our guilt, all our shame can be erased through faith in Jesus Christ! What a glorious message!

 I hope it isn't a sin to be proud of how much food we have in our fridge, because, honestly, we eat really well for missionaries! I always thought missionaries ate like college students. Ramen. But that is not true! 

 This is a new door contacting method we were told to try by President Cannon. So far it was worked quite well! 

 This is Kevin in one of his trucks. He is super proud to be a trucker. We are proud of him.

Yeah... I took the puppy for a little spin around the block. No big deal or anything...

 Elder Christensen tried to see if he could fit in the Drier at his appartment. Considering he is like 6'4'' I'd say he fit very well. I was very impressed with him!! 

 A beautiful shot off the bridge looking at "downtown" Alma

This is our friend Bertrand. He is old and talks funny and I love him very much. He gives us lots of fruits and pies and jams straight from his garden. it's awesome. Rhubarb pie, apple pie, fresh grapes, fresh tomatoes. Sometimes we feel bad visiting him because he gives us so much food! But only sometimes. 


August 27, 2012

Goodness Gracious my friends... This week was jam packed..... Let me get started here,

1st! We headed down to Quebec for Zone Conference. We drove to Chicoutimi to pick up the elders there, Elder Fitzgerald and Elder Christensen, and we car pooled down. It was basically the awesomest thing ever. Monday, we went to this chocolate museum, and the Zone Leaders thought it would be super cool to visit! Then, it turns out that it was this tiny 2 room building, and one was the chocolate store. We didn't spend a whole lot of time there, but they did have a dress made of chocolate and a working clock made entirely of chocolate too! Then after that we went and visited Old Quebec. Man, it was pretty! Old shops, cobblestone pathways, Cannons, Castles. Beautiful. I have about a Bajillion pictures, I have no idea how I am going to choose just a few to send this week. That night, after we spent time with the other missionaries and such, we went to go blitz an area, Elder Heder and I worked with one of the Assistants to President Cannon, Elder Glenn, he is super great too. But we got to do something that we don't have the chance to do in Alma! They are called Buzz ups! You go to an apartment building and you try and have someone buzz you into the apartment so you can do some door contacting. Which kind of sucked, because people really didn't let us in. BUT!! And this is where the story gets super exciting, we got let into this building, and we were talking with the people, and we were talking with one lady at the door, and I hear someone tapping on the glass door to get into the apartment complex, and I look over, and it's two police officers! SOMEONE CALLED THE COPS ON US!!!! =D =D =D They couldn't do anything besides kick us out of the apartment building, but still! It was really cool, and something I didn't think I was going to experience, but I did!

2nd. Zone Conference: That was fun. We learnt a lot, and we ate well too. The members who fed us basically gave us a 5 star meal. it was amazing. And not even because we were missionaries, like it actually was just an amazing meal. They had mashed potatoes, and in the mashed potatoes, WAS BACON. I know, right?

Next, Friday night we went with our friends Renée and Paul to their chalet on the lake. We had an amazing dinner there too, and got to spend some time around the campfire. We gave a cool little "Spiritual thought", but not really because they don't want us talking about the church, but we gave the CTR rings. 8] and they are starting to ask questions about the church, and about missions, and about our message. We are slowly opening the door, and then slowly sticking our foot in the crack so they cant slam the door on us. hehe... But that was super fun, and trust me, as soon as I'm done my mission, Mom and dad? We are coming back to visit. Partially so I can show you the beautiful country up here, partially so I can introduce you to all the amazing people I have met already, but mostly so I can swim in the stinking lake. It's killing me not to able to strip down and jump in the rivers and the lake here...

Saturday we had a Branch activity. It was the "L'Epluchette de Blé d'Inde". Literally translated into "Peel the Wheat from India", but what it actually means is we had a Corn Bust! And man, we had miracles there.... All week long we had been inviting people out to this activity, and as a result, we were struggling to meet our goals for the week for lessons taught and new investigators found and stuff, and it was starting to wear down on us. And then we showed up on Saturday to start to get ready for the activity, and people just started to show up. And they didn't stop coming. Our Branch has 9 people in it. There were over 30 people at the corn bust! We had 21 investigators show up. 21!!!!! THAT'S INSANE!! There were kids! THAT'S INSANE TOO!!!! Luckily, we had two huge bags of corn, because people were eating and eating and eating! We had a Frisbee, and some friends of our branch president brought all their musical stuff and their speakers and amps and mikes, and put on a little show for everyone too! It was amazing..... Elder Heder and I basically killed ourselves trying to keep everyone entertained, because the members were so outnumbered! Ah! It was a great day!

Sunday! Elder Heder and I gave the talks in Sacrament meeting. We even got to pick our own topics. I didn't like that part. I don't mind talking about something, as long as I am given a few guidelines on what that thing should be. I ended up talking about Grace, and Elder Heder talked about The joy of being a missionary. And, we had our Friend Richelle come to church again this week with her kids. They came a few weeks ago, and the kids said they were a little disappointed because they thought there was going to be other kids and a lesson for them and stuff, but we didn't know they were coming so we didn't prepare a primary lesson for them or anything. But this time we knew they were coming, so we had a primary, and they kids really seemed to enjoy themselves! In fact, it was Danique and Amalia, the two kids in my pictures from last week! 8] They are so awesome! 

Remember that couple I told you about last week? The Pentecosts? We had a lesson with them Wednesday night, and it was a complete gong show. The Husband had gone online and found some anti-Mormon site we assume, because he had all these scriptures that "proved" that the book of Mormon was wrong. it was really really sad. And the training we had received at Zone Conference talked a bit about the spirit of contention and how we want to try to avoid anything that can lead to contention, so all Elder Heder and I did while we were there was sat and listened while He tried to prove us wrong. Scriptures like where it says in the BOM that the Savior should be born in Jerusalem. He was all up on that because Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Yes. We know that. But Bethlehem was a suburb of Jerusalem at that time! It's like saying that if someone is Born in Mill Woods, and then someone else, who lives in Cambodia who doesn't know anything about Canada or Alberta or Edmonton at all, says that that person was born in Edmonton, then they are wrong. No, just because they don't have every detail perfect, doesn't mean that they don't know where he will be born! There is no difference between Mill Woods and Edmonton. But, there isn't much we could do about that. They obviously were not ready at all to accept the gospel if that is how they wanted to meet with us. The only way that someone can receive a witness that the book of Mormon is in fact a true book, and contains revelation from God is to ask God. One cannot receive a knowledge of God from Man. 

Anyways, I think that is about all I have to this week! The next few weeks should be pretty busty too, we have exchanges this week, and I will get to ride in a semi truck! One of our investigators just finished Trucker School! (Kaden, I now know exactly what the difference is between engine breaks and other breaks), and then the next week we have zone study, so we are right back down to Quebec, and then that week we have transfer calls! Time has blown by! Gah!

Anyways, I love you all, and I hope you all have a great week!

Mosiah 3:3

Et il me dit: Éveille-toi, et entends les paroles que je vais te dire; car voici, je suis venu t'annoncer la bonne nouvelle d'une grande joie. 

Mosiah 3:3 

And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy.

This is our message. We as missionaries have this news, these things of "Glad tidings of great joy". And all we want is for people to experience this Great Joy themselves in their lives. We know that with this message of the restored gospel that we have the only means whereby man may achieve a fullness of joy in this life, AND in the life to come. My invitation is for everyone to come and to see for yourself if these things can bless you in your life. And I promise you that if you have a desire to know the truth of this message which we have to share, and you ask God, he WILL give you the answer that these things are true. I know because I have done this myself. I prayed and asked my Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon was true, and the answer I received was powerful and absolutely undeniable, and I know, with certainty, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that through its teachings, every human being can receive a fullness of joy.

This is the working clock, made completely out of chocolate! (Except the pendulum...) 

 Door contacting for Elder Christensen is hard. He is just too tall!

 There is this store in Quebec. It only sells Christmas stuff. 

This is a little disturbing... Could you imagine having that in your house for like 2 weeks? I would probably end up lighting it on fire......

 OK, they have some of the coolest graffiti here in Quebec City!


 There were a lot of missionaries who stayed in one apartment for the Zone Conference...

Tell me you don't want to just swim in this lake?

Paul and Renée's Family. Super awesome time at the chalet!

They are French. They eat like they are french, and they cleanse palate like they are french. It was so good!

Philippe and Albert. Super awesome kids, and both very active and into sports!

This is as close as you will get to a sunset picture this week. You are all very lucky... Because trust me, I have more.

This is WAY to much corn for 11 people. But a perfect amount for 30+

Frisbee Champs of the world! We have Richelles kids, and we have another friend of ours kids, David, and I have absolutely no idea what her daughters name is. It made passing her the Frisbee really hard...

That is the fullest this parking lot has been in years. I know this probably doesn't seem to impressive, but trust me, it is.

Some of our friends enjoying the free concert!

 Quebec may have some crazy graffiti, but so does Alma!! AWE YEAH!


Tuesday, September 4, 2012

August 20, 2012

Hey Family and friends! (I hope)



Today I have to keep my email shortish. We are headed down to Quebec for zone conference! It's great to get a chance to see all the other missionaries and President Cannon is coming up too! Super excited! But yeah, it's a 3 hour drive to Quebec, and we have to be there by 1:30 and we have to do our grocery shopping and clean our apartment a little too... Busy day today!

This week has been good! We did lots of great things, Elder Heder and I! We found lots of new people to teach! One couple that we found is a super awesome young couple, with a 2 year old baby, who is SO cute. Ah, that is the one thing that I miss... I mean, I was OK leaving my family and friends, because, what ever, who needs family and freidns, right? But every time I see a baby, I just want to go home and pick up my new nephews... =D I can't wait to see those guys! But this couple are Evangelical Pentacosts. And the wife is super interested (we have only met with them once, so I don't know how well we can really judge their interest levels... But we can hope, right?) And the Husband has lots and lots of Questions.

Him: Mostly being: So, your telling me that the bible isn't then end of God words?
Us: Yes Carl*, that's exactly what were trying to tell you.
Him: But, at the End of Revelations it says "whosoever adds to this book, or takes away from this book shall bring upon him the wrath of God" (rough Quotation).
Us: Well Carl, John wasn't talking about the Bible, he was talking about "The Book of John's Revelations".
Him: But, it says that you can't add or change anything!
(*Name has been changed to respect the identity of those involved in the story)

It's going to be tough to help him understand that the heavens aren't close and that God truly has more that he can and wants to say to mankind. Man has no power to put limitations on God, but if man refuses to accept an increase of God in their life, than they have basically succeded in making god a limited being.

Ahhh... what else? Oh, Blueberries! Lac-St.-Jean is known for their blueberries. Like, they are super known for them, because they are super delicious and such, but this year because of a hot spring with no rain, and a hot summer with little rain, the blueberries decided not to grow! I AM SO DEVASTATED. I wanted to eat some fresh from the plan blueberries, but alas, 'tis not so!

Oh, Campfires. Everytime I smell camp fire, I want to go camping. for ever. Like, literally, for the rest of my life. The families here in Alma in our branch are so awesome... I'm warning everyone right now, that after I'm home from my mission, I will be leaving again to visit everyone here. So don't expect to have a lot of "Me" time for a while after I'm back. =)

We do lots of service here as Missionaries, because, were here to serve the communities! But we went and helped out this investigator we have clean her kitchen and stuff, and she gave us a list of things to do, told us where everyone is, and than peaced out. We didn't see her again. We cleaned for like, 2 hours and she didn't come back! Hahaha, I love the people here in Quebec!

This week coming up should be super full, and should make up for this lacking email, I'm sorry guys! But this week we have zone conference in Quebec, and on Friday, we hope to go out and do a family night type deal with some investigators we have, who have a chalet on the Lake. And we should have marshmallows, and a fire and all that good stuff. Good stories and good pictures too!

Jacob 6:12

Oh! ayez de la sagesse! Que puis-je dire de plus?

Jacob 6:12

O be wise; what can I say more?

One of my favorite scriptures, shown to me by one of my all time favorite person in the world. Not much I can add to that, like the scripture says, what can I say more?!

Anyways, I love you all, and I always have you in my prayers! Keep truckin' along!


Fishing is kind of a big deal here. People travel from all over the world to do two things here. 1, to fish. 2, to swim across the lake.
We do district study once a week. This is how our district meets. We are a rough bunch of missionaries...

Oh how I love Quebec! It's actually rare to see people with their shirts on. We had a really hot summer.

We ate something called Tourtier. It's only found in Lac-St.-Jean. It was meat, cooked with lots of salt, in a pie crust. Really good with some ketchup.

These are two kids we are "teaching". They are super awesome!!!  Danique and Amalia. I think. I have no idea how to spell french names. I should say, I think that's how they are spelled, because I know those are their names.

 Seriously, Kids are the best!

 Beautiful sunsets. I have to take lots of these while I can. Suck it up.



 I really hope you enjoy these as much as I do...


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Monday, September 3, 2012

August 13, 2012


Here is how my week was!

First, we had splits this week! My first real experience with splits! Splits are supposed to last 24 hours, but the first ones we did lasted like 3 or 4. So, I went to Chicoutimi with Elder Fitzgerald, our District leader, and we had a BLAST! It was great to see a different side to missionary work! Elder Heder and I work very hard and get a lot done, but it was nice to see the side of missionary work where you still work, but you don't kill yourself in the process =P Elder Fitzgerald is going home this transfer. It is just so weird to see missionaries actually go home! I think I've already said that before, but it's true!

With that being said though, I would really appreciate some letters this week... I've sent a few out, and if they have been replied to, that's awesome, but if I could get a letter this week from someone that would be so great. I love working with Elder Heder, and we do so much and get so much accomplished, but at the same time, I don't have the mental capacity to keep up this pace without a break in the week... So this is my plea for help! Also, I'd just straight up love to get a letter from any of you anyways!

Yup, that's a great picture of a Lynx! Good Job guys, take five!


Evangelical Christians always have the Coolest campers! Man, sometimes I wish I could be an Evangelist, but I would only do it if I could have this guys camper!