August 18, 2014 - Nanaimo South

A REWARDING MOVE

The summer is drawing near it's close, but that hasn't stopped the weather from being nice. We also finally have some great news outside of Kevin and Bruce's progression towards their baptism.

As we were emailing at the church last week, we got a call from a non-member named Bob who was requesting some assistance with a move from his apartment on Wednesday. He's related to a member in our ward and we happily agreed to help out. The move itself lasted quite a while. Bob's daughter, wife and mother were all there, but it made things a little tricky because Bob had to follow us wherever we went due to our rule about being alone with someone of the opposite gender. He had a bit of a chuckle when we told him that we couldn't be alone with a woman in the same room but he agreed.

 

We helped out with the move from 12:00pm until 3:00pm to take a dinner break and then to teach Kevin. We agreed with them that we would come back for the last hour. After lifting out the last few heavier items in the truck, the Whites gave us 3 boxes of food and a Tim card for each of us as a reward! I almost cried when I saw how much food they were giving us and I couldn't thank them enough! It's people like this that will always have a special place in my heart.

 

Yesterday we contacted a couple of former investigators from over a year ago, a young couple named Eduardo and Ashley. Eduardo was working on his pick up and kind of preoccupied, but Ashley seemed quite happy to see us. They were apparently taught around a year ago and became too busy to have time to meet with the elders at the time. Eduardo will be gone for a couple weeks at work in the north but they were more then happy to have us come back and teach them once he got back. 

 

Later that night we talked to a homeless guy while street contacting downtown named Randy. He was looking for a place to stay. We'll be seeing him tonight and teaching him under an underpass so that could be interesting... Perhaps our teaching pool is about to become a little deeper. :) That's all for now! Glad the family had a good trip down to the states. Also happy 50th Dad! Your the best teacher I know and you taught me a lot as I've grown. Enjoy summer while it lasts everyone!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Maclean Samis

August 11, 2014 - Nanaimo South

A STOP IN VICTORIA

Well with the exception of our trip down to Victoria to the John Bytheway fireside, the week was almost a repeat of the last. Kevin and Bruce are both progressing towards their baptismal dates for August 30th and we've been working with them frequently. Our teaching pool has been thin otherwise.

 I suppose the focus of this email with be about seeing John Bytheway in Victoria. We left for Victoria just after our zone meeting from the Nanaimo stake center. It was about a two and a half hour drive with the Port Alberni Elders in the backseat on the long and winding Island Highway. We arrived in Victoria at about 3:00 pm. The landscape in Victoria is pretty similar to Washington. Much of the highway that runs through the city is almost completely enclosed in trees that shade the road. 

President and Sister Burt as well as all the missionaries on Vancouver Island were there. The Burts are good friends with the Bytheways and said a few opening remarks before John began to talk. For those of you who don't know who John Bytheway is, he's a remarkable motivational speaker, regarded by many as one of the best. He speaks for a living and is very passionate about what he does. He's also quite humorous. We had some good laughs when he told us about some of the experiences on his mission is the Phillipines. 

He told us about how we were "unusual" in the sense that we chose to serve missions. Of course, serving a mission is something very few people in this world are willing to do. He went on to explain how there is a much larger collection of evidence of the restoration then one would expect. Thomas Jefferson for example knew that there would have to be a restoration of the gospel as America would progress as a nation. Less then 60 years after this "prophecy" the gospel was restored through Joseph Smith! How's that for a cool bit of history?

 

The first session was for missionaries only but there was another one for the youth shortly after that we sat through. John talked about the invitation to come unto Christ. I preferred the first session but both were great! We stayed at the Victoria Chinese Elder's basement suit before leaving the next morning. 

 

Well that's about it. The weather has been very hot this week but things should be cooling down within the next few days. Hope the family continues to enjoy their trip to the states. Hard to believe the summer is close to being over now. Enjoy it while it lasts!

 

Elder Maclean Samis          

August 4, 2014 - Nanaimo South

THE PROGRESSION OF BRUCE AND KEVIN

The temperature has risen once again here in Nanaimo as August has begun, but with the heat has come success. We've been visiting Kevin a lot this week and his testimony of the gospel has really started to get stronger. He's still having a bit of trouble with the Word of Wisdom, but he's come a very long way from where he once was. We brought him over to dinner on Sunday with a member named Patrick. Kevin has been fitting in very well with the members it seems, partly because he is very easy to talk to. He currently has a baptism scheduled for August 30!

Bruce now has one for the very same day! Like Kevin he is struggling with the Word of Wisdom but Elder Burns and Elder Olsen set a date with him during an exchange. Both Kevin and Bruce came to church. Elder Stapley has currently been placed in a tri with the Nanaimo North Elders. Over the last transfer, Elder Buchanan got moved to New Westminister and Elder Stapley began training while being district leader. His companion went home for unexplained reason so now all our leaders are in the same apartment.

 

As for the finding, its once again been pretty quiet. It seems like there's less and less people home during the day since a lot of people have been on vacation. Even so there has been a lot to enjoy about working here. A big miracle we had was the fact that one of Port Alberni's investigators has moved into our area! Her name is Laura and she came to church on Sunday. I wasn't able to talk to her for too long but she seemed excited to be there.

 

Well that's the week. Hope everyone's not boiling this summer. We sure have been with all the humidity in the air! Fortunately we have been given another fan from a member. The current one we have is a smaller one from Wal-Mart that isn't really helping us too much. This Friday I'm going to Victoria for a special youth fireside featuring John Bytheway (yes, that is his last name) as a guest speaker. All the missionaries on Vancouver Island have been advised to go. I hadn't heard of John Bytheway before but he's apparently a widely known motivational speaker so this should be a pretty fun event. What I learn from that will be given in next week's letter. By for now!

 

Elder Maclean Samis        

 

July 28, 2014 - Nanaimo South

SIX MONTHS AND COUNTING...

Surprise! I'm still in Nanaimo! :) You heard correct, I will be staying in the city I've grown to love for another 6 weeks and I am very excited. Overall it has been a VERY slow week for finding. This comes as almost no surprise since the way we have been finding has changed dramatically. We didn't find anybody new to teach this week, a personal all time low. The good news is we had 3 current investigators come out to church this Sunday, a personal all time high! I also had the privilege of seeing some old friends from my homeward just before sacrament meeting. Anyone in the Edmonton North Stake know the Bachelder family? Well I saw them at church yesterday! :) If anything made my week, it was that church meeting!

I'm very excited to report that we have been working with Kevin again! Elder Burns and I have been working really hard with him to overcome the habits that he's been facing lately. It was his first time ever coming out to church and he said that although he has been to many churches before, this one is the closest thing that there is to the full truth! During one of our lessons with Kevin we read Moses Chapter 1 with him in the Pearl of Great Price. He was fascinated with the idea of the book of Moses being extracts from the book of Genesis. It really helped him understand why Joseph Smith was considered a prophet of God and what type of person he is. Once he is able to give up his addictions, he should be baptised soon after.      

Bruce came for the second time and we've began meeting with him again as well. Slowly but surly he is understanding what "sets us apart" from other churches. The third person who came to sacrament meeting was Paulette who is moving out of town. We helped her with part of the move with Brother May.

 

We met with the Sternal family on Friday in Ladysmith and ate dinner. After we shared a brief spiritual thought, Brother Sternal taught my companion and I some remarkable things he came to know when he studied energy in university. The human body uses energy in so many ways it's actually mind blowing. Almost supernatural. I can't really explain a lot about the things he told me but it made me further understand that only God could design the ways that our bodies use energy.

Well there you have it for this week. Also, Happy Birthday to my younger brother Hunter! Can't believe you're 16 now. Where does time go? We had a lot of memories together back home that will last forever and I know that there will be plenty more in the not too distant future. Bye for now!

Love, 

Elder Maclean Samis    

 

           

July 21, 2014 - Nanaimo South

THE COOL DOWN

 

Well folks the weather has cooled down considerably on the Island and it's a good thing too! It's rained for a couple of days which should help out the fire fighters quite a bit. Though I can't stay too informed by the news, we've been told by the ward members that there's been a lot of forest fires in BC this year.

Teaching and finding has been pretty low this week. President Burt has adjusted the way we find investigators. It used to be easier, now it's harder but I like the idea. It's helping us learn how to become better teachers. The way it used to work is that you could talk to someone on their door step and if they said you could come back and say a prayer with them, the person would become a new investigator. Now you need to get the return appointment to go through to make it happen so it's more challenging.

Dail has stopped meeting us again. Perhaps for a while. He sent us a text explaining that one of his family members told him to "STAY AWAY from the Mormons" so I guess we did all we could without being too pushy. We'll keep on praying for him and he'll come around one day.   

On Saturday we taught a homeless guy named Scott in the park downtown. He listened but it didn't really seem like he was "buying" what we were telling him. We gave him a Book of Mormon though and he said he would read it.

 

The brightest part of the week was the fact that we found Tanya! :) After over a transfer we dropped by her place and she was happy to see us again. The north elders had a baptism going on that night so we invited her to go to it. She did but for some reason she didn't come to church the next day. She has been traveling all over the island so maybe she's worn out. We'll be sure not to lose her this time!

 

Another miracle we received came this morning. We recieved a call from a family called the Sternals who are members and moved from Ontario to Ladysmith last week! This was huge news to us since it seems like little happens there. We felt prompted to go there on Friday and spent the entire day trying to contact less active members spending and finding without much success. The Lord must of blessed us with putting the Sternal family in Ladysmith. Who knows, maybe some other missionaries will be able to work with them and the handful of other members to get a branch there one day!   

That's the week! transfer calls are coming up. Within under 24 hours I could be told that I'm leaving Nanaimo. By the time you get my next post, I may be some where else in the province. Stay tuned!

 

With Love from,

Elder Maclean Samis 

 

 

      

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

July 7, 2014 - Nanaimo South

WELCOMING THE BURTS

 

Well another week gone and you may also say, another mission president. The Tillemans left for Arizona on July 1. They will be greatly missed and I will forever treasure what they taught me in the 5 and a half months in the Canada, Vancouver mission. Less then an hour ago, I met president and I must say that I am liking what I've seen. Both President and Sister Burt have an amazing love for the missionaries here despite not knowing them for very long. Their first training earlier this morning really helped me understand why it's necessary to sacrifice so much to the lord as you serve him. I've been hearing that we'll start working with ipad minis, though I can't say that this is 100% confirmed.

Our finding has been good this week although as you may expect, not too many lessons have gone through as we would have liked. There is however, a very large miracle that was placed in our path when I was on an exchange with Elder Olson last Sunday. His name is Dail and Elder Burns and I taught him a couple times last week, He's a single dad and has a couple of daughters who seemed to not mind listening into the discussion as well. Dail said that he is grateful for that day we came knocking on his door. He's been reading the Book of Mormon quite frequently and has really enjoyed it. We also set a baptismal date for August 2nd and he came to church with his two girls on Sunday! :)

My birthday was a blast! Elder Rolfson and Olson came over for lunch and to my surprise they bought a DQ cake! Then a recent convert, Sasha took us out for lunch at a Thai restaurant downtown. She also bought me the coolest paisley tie as a gift! Then to finish things off we helped Brother B out with some service. We had pizza and another ice cream cake after that. Don't worry we still had enough time to do finding that evening. ;)

Well that's all there is to report at this time. I'm really excited to work with our new mission president and be sure to keep them in your prayers. Love you all and special thanks to those who sent me the birthday wishes.

Sincerely,
Elder Maclean Samis