Still in Nanaimo for now

Still in Nanaimo for now
Elder Samis on the ferry

Tuesday 19 May 2015

May 19, 2015 - Area 4: Surrey East

Diversity

I don't really want to write this weeks email knowing how long it will probably turn out at the end of the day but I suppose I better, so sit back and get ready for a ramble!. I couldn't write it yesterday due to the Victoria Day weekend. All the libraries in Surrey were closed and so was the church employment center. 

Where do I begin here...? Ah yes, Elder Heiner and I spent our remaining days in Campbell River saying goodbye to everyone. We were given our travel plans Tuesday night after some tough goodbyes to Britaini and Candace. We had to leave at 7 that night and stayed with the zone leaders over night before catching the 12:45 pm ferry the next day.  

Remember that email last week when I told you guys that I was going to be placed with Elder Bonfield and another Elder in a tri in Surrey West? Well, turns out that that assistants accidentally misinformed me about my transfer news. Another assistant informed Elder Bonfield that he was going to be placed with Elder Slack in Surrey West who was going to be transferred from Clearbrook. This was the correct info but I was told otherwise. My new zone leaders (Elders Green & Hall) told me I was actually supposed to be placed in Surrey EAST with Elder Fitamant and Elder Lawlor. So it was. Elder Bonfield is my district leader. 

Elder Lawlor is from Japan originally but lived in Calgary a little before his mission. He has 3 months left. Elder Fitamant moved from France to Quebec for a few years before he got sent on his mission. He had only served 3 months before going back home yesterday for unknown reasons. Its expected that he'll come back on his mission in 6 months or so. Its a shame too because I really liked him despite not being with him for long at all. His English had been pretty good.


So now here I am with just Elder Lawlor is Surrey West. I'm terrible at explaining things so I hope you haven't been confused yet. :P How's Elder Lawlor? He's been good. He loves to cook, especially Japanese food which is awesome. Speaking of Japanese food, we went to a Japanese restaurant on Friday for lunch with Elder Bonfield and Elder Slack. Here's a look at the 3 of us during our half-week long companionship:


How's Surrey? Surrey is a very diverse place. You'll find every race of people imaginable here. Plenty of asians, natives, whites, blacks, you name it, this town probably has it!   As challenging as it's seemed with the much faster then Campbell River pace, it's been a lot of fun. We've done much of our contacting at Surrey central downtown at the bus terminal. The feeling of being there for the first time can be best described as feeling like you're a 14 year old at your first church dance. There are so many girls-or in this case people to talk to yet you're scared to do it. It's overwhelming!  Has the nerves of talking to people about the gospel on the street ever gone away since the beginning of my mission? Not really. It seems to never go away altogether. It's just something that has to be done.

Teaching has been good so far. We've been teaching a new investigator named Betty. She's Mexican and is one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. Her and her 13 year old daughter are undecided about which church is true though they are of strong Christian faith. They used to go to their church but aren't practicing, mostly just searching. When I told her that Jesus visited the Americas in the Book of Mormon she was really excited about it! We taught her with Brother Smith, our ward mission leader.

The other main person we're working with right now is Ammol. He's a Y.S.A. aged East Indian man who was given a copy of the Book of Mormon a few days before I came to the area. He says he found it very interesting, so much so that he read all of 1 Nephi before we came back for his next lesson! He has a baptismal date for June 23rd. Make sure you keep him in your prayers! 

Our ward here is a big one with 140 active members and people of every kind. We had our first dinner appointment with a Polynesian couple named the Kawjiks. They're awesome! I've heard that out of all the zones in the mission, the Surrey zone gets fed the most! Well to conclude these remarks, I'll end by saying thank you for your prayers as I've traveled. My mission keeps getting harder, but also very rewarding. I hope everyone has been well as the weather has improved. Yesterday was a bright and sunny 27 degrees here and it looks like it will be just as nice today! Love you all!

Elder Maclean Samis  

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