July 14, 2014 - Nanaimo South

A RISING HEAT

Well it's July now, and as you might expect, Vancouver Island has been a hot place to be. The temperature has been going up to the mid 30s consistently throughout the week. I don't know how the missionaries survive in the southern interior. It's apparently common for the temperature to reach around 50 in places like Clear Water! Fortunately Elder Burns and I managed beat the heat (sort of) by placing a fan in our apartment study room. I've had to start taking cold showers each night after daily planning and that seems to be helping me sleep.

The Nanaimo Ward had a barbeque at a local park on  and we showed up for lunch there. The food was great and it was fun to see so many people we knew there. 

Well even though it's been a hot week in Nanaimo, the miracles have been everywhere especially on Tuesday. Elder Burns and I were going to see a couple of investigators named Edmund and Karen, but they weren't home. We decided to tract their townhouse complex and we found 7 new investigators within something like 26 doors! Even those who weren't interested were polite to us. It was difficult to feel happy about the finding but only because I was so surprised! We knelt down and thanked our heavenly father for helping us meet so many great people despite baking in the heat. We found another couple street contacting downtown as well!

On Friday we met Dail over by the Macdonalds close to our apartment and we taught him a couple of the commandments and part of the plan of salvation. We brought Brother B out to the lesson with us. At first he seemed ok with what we have taught him but he texted us the following night and told us that he wasn't ready to give up everything and didn't want to come to church with us. Brother B heard about this as well and he gave him a call to rest assure that we didn't expect him to give up everything all at once. Though Dail didn't come to church yesterday, we got a spiritual prompting to see him shorty after a dinner appointment with the McCallums, a member family who live in Ladysmith. We had a good chat with him and he told us that he misunderstood our expectations and agreed to keep meeting with us. Boy were very relieved that we hadn't lost him!

We've been teaching a woman named Paulette who once investigated the church when she was younger. She knows a lot of the members there and she seems pretty excited about being baptized! Elder Glover and I actually briefly met her on the street as we were tracting. She's really friendly and because she lives on her own she really enjoys our company. She also came to church yesterday. :)

Well with the transfers call looming and the fact that I've been in Nanaimo for all 6 months of my mission, it is quite possible that I could be packing up and moving to another area. Something tells me that I'll end up going somewhere more remote. Possibly in a more northern based area. A place like Terrace or Quenel. Whatever. It's not for me to decide. I'll let you know if I'm staying or not by the week after next. That's the week! Hope everyone enjoys summer while it lasts! As always, thank you for the support and I will email you on the day of transfer calls.

With love from,

Elder Maclean Samis