December 21, 2015 - Area 5: Port Coquitlam

My Dear friends and family,

Guess what?? Christmas is this friday! Its been a good week despite the seemingly difficult time we're having trying to talk to as many people as possible. I've been thankful for this time of year to serve the final weeks of my mission. Yesterday we had the wonderful experience of being a part of the Poco Ward Choir and sang a few songs the Sunday before Christmas. After church our bishop held a ward get together at his house and we ate lunch there. It was so great to be among so many great and faithful members in that house! The bishops less active son also had a couple of his non-member friends there and we answered a few questions they had about the church.

On Monday night we had a really special lesson with Melanie. During our lesson about the Plan of Salvation she asked us quite unexpectedly, "So if I were to get baptized, would you be there with me?" We aswered with a yes and invited her to be baptized on the 16th of January, 4 days before my departure from the mission field. She has accepted but unfortunately, she hasn't been heard from since then. We hope she didn't fall on any anti. We'll keep on trying to contact her.

The zone meeting on Wednesday was very special and emotional experience for me. As it was my last zone meeting, I bore my testimony about the atonement and how he has always been right there with me, even in the darkest times of my mission. I felt charged by the spirit afterward.

On Friday night we had a lesson with a former investigator named William. He's a very kind man with a lot of health challenges that have been preventing him from meeting with us. He's from Sudan and considers himself Christian. The last time we saw him, he was concerned about the Book of Mormon and was wondering why we needed it since we already have the bible. However, he read it during the time he's been ill and told us that he feels really good about it. We proceeded to testify of it and then taught him the Plan of Salvation, emphasizing the doctrine of the Resurrection that deeply touched him. He was very grateful for our visit and told us to come back any time!

Late last night Elder Okamoto and I had our plans fall through and were unsure of what to do. Then he suggested we go see Rocky, another former investigator. We did so and he was surprised but quite pleased to see us again. His wife was also there and though she sat in the living room while we spoke to Rocky in the dining room, she seemed to be listening to us. After showing Rocky one of the Christmas videos recently released by the church, they sent us home with a bag of mini oranges! While we're not too sure exactly what the level of interest they have is, we will be sure to know by the end of this week if we should keep teaching them. 

How's the schedule looking for Christmas? Well, the W family has kindly offered to allow us to Skype our families at 3:00 pm MST. Sister W is Skyping her 2 sons, while Elder Okamoto will be talking to both his mom and his step dad at separate times and I'll skype my own! That's a lot of skyping in one home! We plan to have a turkey lunch after. It should be a lot of fun spending a good chunk of our time at the W's. There will probably be some finding on the 25th as well since there are time gaps to fill.

Have a Merry Christmas!
Elder Maclean Samis