Yes. It has happened. After 7 and a half month, I have
finally left Nanaimo. I went to a dinner last Monday night at Sasha's place on
the night of the calls. Knowing that it was very possible that I could be
transferred, she cooked up something a little more exotic this time. We ate,
and I kid you not, SHARK. It wasn't too bad actually. It tasted like fish
with a bit of a stronger flavor. Anyhow, we received a call from the
zone leaders during our appointment and they said that they would meet us at
Sasha's place to share their own transfer news. Elder Rolfson told us that
he was going to Haida Gwaii (a huge island just south of Alaska) and Elder
Stapley, who became Elder Rolfson's companion for a couple days since Elder
Olsen has become an assistant in Richmond and had to leave a few days before to
be interviewed, is going to Westbank in the Okanagan area. Elder Burns and I
were stunned! So was Sasha and Micheal. We visited for a few more minutes, took
some pictures with the family, said goodbye and then left.
I didn't get my call until 9:45pm just after our daily
planning. The new assistant Elder Olsen gave the call... He
told Elder Burns that he would be staying in Nanaimo while I would be
leaving for Clearbrook, a small regional district within Abbotsford and
would serve with an Elder by the name of Lamb. I had heard that he was a funny guy and that he served in Nanaimo South for
only 6 weeks before being transferred. Sasha said that Elder Lamb was one of
the Elders who taught her briefly in preperation for her baptize.
I can't even come close to listing off all of the events
that have happened in the past few days so I'll get right to what you need
to know about life in Abbotsford. I'm pleased to report that life with
Elder Lamb has been fantastic, though a bit of a culture shock. The
first couple days I was wondering, why aren't we doing a lot of
finding? That's almost all I ever did some days in Nanaimo. Well, fact of
the matter is the answer is simple: The members LOVE missionary work! :) Elder
Lamb told me that we get a lot of referals and that's where a good portion
of our teaching comes from. It's a darn good thing too, because the tracting
area is very small. It almost feels like a different mission! As for
our apartment? Well it's gotta be the nicest in the entire mission, no
biggie. Our suite is HUGE. It's got a fire place, a spacious
kitchen, a 2 door bathroom that connects the kitchen area and the bedroom,
and a view of Mount Baker from the deck. Wait till you see
the pictures!
On Friday we helped a lady named Sister S with a
move. Her husband is not a member but he has been coming to church for a while.
He is interested in being baptized, but just not yet.
Elder Lamb introduced me to a member named Jeremy who
was at a scout meeting. After visiting with him at the stake center for a
little while, he took us for a ride in a souped up Volkswagen Golf GTi. Let me
tell ya, he punched the gas on that little car like a maniac! He took us to the
out skirts of town and we passed Chad Kroger, lead singer of Nickelback's
house. Unfortunately it was dark and, we didn't see much of the home itself
except the 8 foot tall hedge and the massive iron gate that hid it. That was
probably the first "stupid" fun experience I've had on my mission. :P
Saturday night we drove out to Richmond to hear Elder
Johnson of the seventy speak in a special conference for missionaries and ward
leaders. It was all about the members and missionaries working together. One of
the bishops attending stood up and asked what the rules were concerning having
the members eating at their homes. Immediately President Burt stood up and said
that he had received revelation that he wanted the missionaries and members to
work with each other as much as possible, to take the next step, even if that
means eating dinner with them! There was sense of excitement among the pews. A
lot of people have been wondering if the rule about having a non-member eating
with them would change.
Shortly after church once the announcement had been made,
our new meal calender had nearly every day filled! We visited a couple of the
members after that and tried to go visit a potential investigator with Jeremy
but that fell through. As far as current investigators, our pool is fairly
small and we had a baptismal date with a guy named Chris who I haven't met yet.
Well as surprising as the area has been, I've felt really blessed to serve in
such a great place. It's been a stressful adjustment but all is well as of now.
I'm much more caught up and relaxed with everything.
Elder Lamb has been an awesome companion! He is easy to feel
comfortable around and shares a lot of the same interests I do. He's from
Lethbridge so for the second time in my mission, I have an Albertan companion!
How about that? Well it's been a thrilling week and it's nice to get some rest
on p day. The weather has been great despite the summer winding down and boy do
I ever pity those that are stuck in the snow back home. SUCKERS. Baha, just
kidding. :) Hope schools been off to a good start for all of you students and I
will talk to you all next week.
With love from,
Elder Maclean Samis
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