The Harvest is White Already to Field

Hello Everybody! Things are going pretty nicely in the Maineland. This past week has been fairly slow, but also pretty cool. Now I don't know how cold it is in Utah yet, but up here it is 30-40 degrees all the time. It hasn't snowed yet, but everybody keeps telling me it will snow before Halloween... Which is in four days. So that's exciting!

 We managed to get a new investigator this week! His name is Narayana. (Ne-Ryan). He used to be Hindu, but is really accepting of the gospel, and wants to get baptized if he knows that our message is true! He has been reading the Book of Mormon, and has enjoyed it thus far. We taught him almost four times this week, which is super exciting!

 On Wednesday, we had kind of an interesting experience. While we were knocking, a lady drove up to us and started yelling at us. She had a younger girl in the passenger seat who looked super uncomfortable. She told us to stop knocking, which was okay, because we only had a couple of houses left. She then drove off. After she left, we finished knocking the street, and then proceeded with our day. We came to find out from a member of our church (her coworker) that the lady went back to her workplace and talked about how terrible 'Jehovah's Witnesses' were and that when they knock on her door it scares her son, how we shoved our beliefs down her throat, and all these other terrible things.

Elder Wanlass and his $3 scarf

 The lady complained to her manager about it, and it turns out that her manager was the lady who bought us hot dogs a couple weeks ago for serving in the community. She told us that we were the Elders and that we were the best young men ever, and that we could teach them things that will make them happy. The lady who yelled at us is now in a lot of trouble with her work because she took a company car and an intern over to yell at us, rather than doing her job. So the Lord protects his missionaries!

 The last event that took place this week was an amazing ward activity called the Harvest Social. In Maine, they do this party annually and invite members, nonmembers, investigators, and everybody in between to come and eat food. A lot of it is potatoes and turkey, because that is what Maine is known for, and it was a lot of fun. We had a couple investigators come to it: Randy, Will, and Lisa. Randy and Lisa are brother and sister, and Will is Lisa's boyfriend and a member of the church. Randy is so cool, and he wanted a tour of the church. So we gave him one!

 We were expecting to see all of them at church, but they didn't come... so that's a bit of a shame. Oh well!

 The Harvest Social was so fun though, I met so many members, and I really feel like I'm starting to become a part of the ward here. we also achieved our sacrament attendance goal two weeks in a row now! Hooray! People are coming!

 The scripture I've been thinking of this week is James 2:17-18: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without they works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."

 I love this scripture, because so many people feel that if they have faith, they don't need to do anything else. But their faith will truly be shown by the efforts they put into loving God and others. On the contrary, if you are doing good works, but don't have that faith or hope that truly brings conversion, you will not be able to progress and become better. You need faith AND works.

Love you all!

 Elder Wanlass

SO MANY PUMPKINS

Well, this week was a little bit interesting. The first few days were pretty eventful, but the last couple have been a little bit dry.

On Monday, we had the opportunity to go thrift shopping at a store similar to Ross (I hear). I got a coat for 30 dollars when it was originally 200! Best deal ever! It's called Marden's.

Tuesday we went to see a few investigators, and we even got to have a fakesgiving dinner with one of them! They made turkey, peas, fresh mashed potato, and carrots! Potatoes are super popular up here because Maine is a potato state. I guess Maine and Idaho are in competition. The potato I had here was the best one I had ever had. Hands down. Brother Bennett also bought us Subway sandwiches.

Wednesday we went to a very small town called Limestone! I had never been to Limestone, but I ended up getting a collector's pin and met a couple members. One of the members decided to come out on splits with us, so we divided up into Me/Bate and Woodbury/Member. I think it went pretty well! I felt super great knocking on people's doors, I felt happy and excited, and I got yelled at and I was still super thrilled. The coolest thing happened. We weren't going to knock one of the houses, but we decided to anyway, and when I did, a man came out and was super friendly to us. I asked him if he knew anything about us, and he said that he had worked with mormons because he lived in Utah. He told me he was from Layton!!! How crazy is that?! He wants to meet with us and learn more about what we believe. So amazing.

Thursday we taught the gospel to some investigators, raked leaves at the hospital, etc.

Saturday was a pretty good day. We did a lot of member work. We carved pumpkins with the YSA and with a less active member, and I carved the angel Moroni! It looks so cool!

To make up for missing Friday and Sunday, I want to share a scripture I really loved this week.

Joshua 24:15 - And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

I find such power in that statement. If we do not choose righteous things, we are not going to have the strength and power of God with us. As I serve God, I know that I will be able to benefit immensely from my mission experience. I love you all!

Elder Wanlass

http://preparetoserve.com/canada/halifax-mission-blogs

Happy Fakesgiving!

It's Canadian Thanksgiving today, but even more importantly it's Columbus Day! Hooray! This week has been quite busy. We had a lot of stuff going on as far as district training, exchanges, zone leaders staying over, and the President interviews.

Monday: Last Monday after P-day I got the chance to try elegant Chinese food at this place called the Oriental Pearl. By elegant I mean...It might have been the grossest food I've ever eaten. It's a tradition among the missionaries to go there at least once during your time here in Maine. So I feel like I have been a true Maine-iac.

Tuesday: The Zone leaders came over for the day, which was pretty fun. I got yelled at by my first lesbian today, which was admittedly pretty funny. People overreact really bad sometimes to the missionaries asking them questions.

Wednesday: We had exchanges with the Woodstock Elders! So Elder Woodbury went down to Woodstock, New Brunswick, and Elder Craig came up to Caribou with Elder Bate and I! He is such an amazing missionary. He is already training an Elder and he has only been out a couple months. Usually you don't train until you've been out at least 3 and a half. We met a couple potentials, but nothing really happened today. I also scheduled a meeting with one of our investigators: Lisa, on Friday at 8. (This will be important for a little later.)

Thursday: We picked up Elder Woodbury and traded Elder Craig back, and we went to a new investigator's grandmother's house. She is a 13 year old girl who wants to get baptized into her Grandmother's church. She will be learning from the sisters from here on out, but this means I'm going to contribute to 2 baptisms by the end of this transfer!! The people of Maine are pretty accepting of the gospel. It's fantastic. It's mainly through members that we find people who want the gospel. We also met up with a recent convert named Brandy who gave us a few presents from her trip to New Hampshire! I have a pin on my shoulder bag already.

Friday: We had a miracle happen today. I set up an appointment with Will and Lisa on Friday, but unbeknownst to me, we had a less active visit already planned for Friday night. We were about to call Will and Lisa and tell them we would have to reschedule, but before we did, the less active family cancelled on us. So we went to do a lesson with them, and another guy was with them. It turns out it was Lisa's brother. As we started teaching, he started asking us questions, and I felt a strong impression that I needed to talk about the Book of Mormon. As we talked about it, he looked like he really wanted to know more, and he is investigating the church now! If I hadn't set up that Friday appointment, we never would have met him. It was amazing!

Saturday: Another Miracle!! We spent a lot of time knocking and street contacting today, which I feel like I'm starting to become more comfortable with. As we walked down the street, a car pulled up and this guy asked "Are you Jehovah's Witnesses?" and we said no, and that we were from The Church of Jesus Christ, and he said "Me too!" It turns out that he was a member of the branch in Caribou 40 years ago. We weren't even planning on knocking that street! After talking with him for a bit, he bought us dinner at a really good Italian place called Napoli's, and he wants us to teach the owner of the restaurant, who is one of his good friends! We also get free food from there occasionally because we are missionaries. It was so cool!

Sunday: We had a few investigators of ours come to church! A couple came with their two kids, and they seemed to know a lot of people and they liked it. Hopefully they will be interested enough to come again! After that, we checked on a few potentials in Presque Isle, and then went home.

It's been a great week. Many more to come!

Love you all!

Elder Wanlass

I Hope I Don't Get Stephen King'd!

Seriously, Maine has it's graveyards right next to the roads. No fences, no sidewalks. They're just there, watching the cars as they pass. Ominous. No wonder Stephen King wrote all his books here.

Anyway, hello everybody! It's been a great week in Caribou! It was actually a little slow because of General Conference and Zone Training in Canada, but other than that, It's been wonderful!

On Tuesday, we had a lot of service activities. Particularly stocking and handing out food pantry items, as well as having a 2 and a half hour orientation at the hospital we want to serve at. It was alright I suppose, but it took way longer than we were anticipating. After that, we went and knocked doors on Milk Street. (Yes. Milk Street.) Let's just say, the carton was empty. Everybody here either has their own religion, or just disregards anything we say and closes the door. We got a referral for this big black guys house. He was super nice, but he kept telling us that the Bible was the only word of God. He then said he loved the work we were doing despite disagreeing with us.
We also went to a members home and ate dinner with them. They had a slide from the top floor of their house to the bottom, and I got to go down it! Who needs stairs?

Wednesday was kind of a boring day. We had Zone training, but not much else. We went to a Members house and they had a pigpen with a black potbellied pig living in their dining room. Then we drove through moose country. The woods are creepy at night.

On Thursday, we went to Canada. Because my mission is dual countries, we cross the border a lot, and we went to see members who live in Canada, and we had dinner at their house with members and nonmembers alike. They gave us Rice and Chili (A Newfie Tradition) and then we went home. I also got to commit our new investigator Jason to baptism! He is such a great guy, and he really desires to become a better person. He's already been to church 3 times and we just had our first lesson with him.

Friday was a little bit of a slow day, because people keep cancelling on us. We went to a gas station though to look for a member, and a couple of nonmember ladies saw us and offered to buy us all food and drinks. They insisted. My companions got Hot Dogs and I got a Diet Coke!

The weekend was filled with General Conference and it was amazing. We stay at a lot of members houses watching it, so it's pretty cool. I will say, I do miss the mountains and many of you, as I was watching conference, I thought of all of you watching it, but 2 hours earlier in the day than me. good times...

We also had a chance to go to another church on Sunday. One of our investigators wanted us to come, and we decided to. It was different. It seemed to be a blend of Pentecostal and Christian Rock band. The Preacher didn't look too happy to see us at all. Let's just say, I can really tell that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, because it feels warm, peaceful, and calming, rather than strange and irreverent.

I love you all, and I hope you all have a fanTASTic day!

Love,

Elder Wanlass

I MADE IT TO CANADA!

Well, Sort of. On Tuesday we flew basically all day. Coming from the MTC to the airport is probably the biggest 180 somebody can make. We went from being 12 in a crowd of thousands of missionaries, to most people looking at us strangely as if we were from a foreign country. (I guess the airport in Chicago is kind  of a foreign country though).

We made it to Halifax at about 11:30, and we went to the mission home at around 12:30 for immigration. It was weird. They had kilometres, litres, french everywhere, and it certainly felt different. That night, President Leavitt told each one of us what area we would be serving in. One Elder went to New Brunswick, two to PEI, three to Newfoundland, and five to Nova Scotia. And then there was me.

I guess Canada really didn't want me for long, because I was the only missionary sent back to the States! Caribou, Maine here I come! I had a seven hour long drive to get to my area, which was the longest by far, but I finally got to meet my companions and cross the border. I like Canada, but there was a feeling of patriotism I got when I got to cross the border and see the MPH signs and the American Fleg once again! Only US missionaries can serve in Maine for whatever reason, so my companions and I had a huge talk about why America was so great. 'MUrica!

I keep saying my companions! I will clarify, I'm in a trio. One of my companions is Elder Woodbury, and he's my height and has been out 20 months, so he's super experienced. My other companion is Elder Bate, who is 6' 10" and has been out six weeks. So for those who said I would be with somebody really tall, you got your wish I suppose! The funny thing is, Elder Woodbury is probably going to be transferred, so that leaves me and Elder Bate! Exciting!

For those who have no idea where Caribou is (most, I assume), it is on the border of Maine and Canada. The name is a bit of a lie, however, considering you don't even get to see Caribou. Only Moose. Throughout the small town, there are about 100 different churches, and most people are very religious in their particular faith. It's honestly pretty cool, because even though there are a lot of religious people, nobody has been mean to us. They actually support missionary work. So they won't accept it, but they give us drinks anyway. We also have an investigator who was trying to convert us to be a Seventh Day Adventist. (Not sure what is is still)

Caribou actually has the strongest ward by far in my entire mission. The congregation is about 200 people, and we have a few really faithful investigators right now. The growth of the church here is astounding! We have three on date to be baptized in November, and hopefully a couple more will commit! With so many members, we've also had a 3 dinner appointments in the last 5 days. We do a lot of member service up here as well. I actually have a bit of a miracle that happened on my second day. Us Elders were helping the Hudson family move in to their apartment. As we started loading furniture in, a car parked in the driveway, and an old man came out livid. It turns out he was a landlord. He was screaming that we weren't allowed to do this, and that his assistant made a mistake and that he was going to make us move them back out. The old man went and yelled at the dad, and I thought we were going to have to pack everything back up. As he continued to shout, I said a silent prayer that his heart would be changed. Soon after, the man had calmed down, and allowed the family to move in once he knew they were LDS. He met us, and was actually quite polite. After that, he went outside, drove to a different apartment, and started yelling at someone else. Nice guy. Nice guy.

I also got to dedicate their house for them! Which was pretty cool, I had never done it before.

The most momentous occasion happened on Saturday. We went Subway contacting at the local Subway, and I figured out that the sandwiches are cheaper up here! We also met this really nice guy named Donald and talked to him about what we do.

Basically, a lot has happened since I last wrote. Mondays are now my designated P days, so you should receive emails a little more often. I love you all! I hope you are doing well, and I am constantly praying for you!

Love,

Elder Wanlass

PS: Some fun facts about Caribou:

1. The trees are incredibly beautiful here. Unlike anything I've ever seen. Red, Yellow, Brown, Orange. It's so nice.

2. There is an old man that smokes a different colored pipe everyday, and he just walks around town.

3. There are two guys that I guess have been trying to sell this old bike since may, and they walk door to door trying to sell it.

My new address is:

40 Sweden Street

Caribou, Maine

04736

The "Beg" the "Fleg" and the Name "Teg"

Hello everybody! I guess it's been a while! It's been super busy here at the MTC, but it's been quite an amazing week. First of all, I've been teaching, planning, studying, and that's basically all for quite a while now. The food here at the MTC is pretty good, but I can't wait to actually head out into the mission field. I actually get a Diet Coke every lunch and dinner just because it reminds me of home.

My companion is Elder Astle. He is from Colorado Springs, and he loves lacrosse and somehow figured out how to play the kazoo with his nameteg. He is my height, and looks young, just like me! We get along really well. The rest of our District is all pretty fun as well. We are kind of a family, and there are four Elders and four Sisters. The Elders in our district are pretty lucky, because there are six beds in our room and only four of us, so we have a lot more space. Sadly, our room still was written up as "Unacceptable" even though we did the best in our zone. Hmm...

The other Elders names are Elder Kruger (As in Freddy), and Heimonen (not to be confused with Hermione). They are basically a part of our companionship, because we always sit together in class, lunch, and we share our room together. Kruger is the big teddy bear in our group, and Heimonen is kind of the buff guy that does impressions of Gollum. The Sisters are Sister Pitcher, Sister Lambert, Sister Bowden, and Sister Moore. We are all super fun and get along really well, which can lead to distraction, but we're working on it.

I didn't actually think this would happen, but it turns out that it did. I figured that a few people in my District would live in Provo or close to the MTC, but it turns out that I'm the closest one in the District! Three of the sisters and the other Elders live in Canada, and one Sister lives farther away from Provo than me, but still lives in Utah. So that's interesting! I have my Canadian initiation going on, where I learn all the different lingo, accents, and such. Like Name'teg', for instance.

Speaking of accents, there's a British guy in our zone. He asked me where the loo was, and then said cheers. So that's exciting :D.

We had a chance to meet our Branch President, and he selected District Leaders from our zone. President Stice is super cool. He looks like a military general, but he is really nice to the Elders as long as they do what they are supposed to. He wants us to practice giving blessings to each other, so we offer the sisters as well as give companionship blessings. It's pretty cool, because some Leaders actually don't allow the missionaries to practice. President Stice also told me that he had a son that did ballroom and that he married his partner! Maybe foreshadowing for me..?? 

Anyway, that leads me to my next point. They called me to be the District Leader. Which I guess makes me the Jeff Winger of my District. I have to call on people to give prayers, pick hymns, speak, and I also am in charge of picking up the mail. Thanks Grandma and Mom for giving me things! :) Nobody in my District except for me and Sister Pitcher receive things constantly. So that's been cool. 

This Sunday we got to go on a temple walk, and today we actually got to do an endowment session at the Provo Temple. It was nice to feel the peace of the temple. You know how at Disneyland, they play constant Disney songs? Well at the MTC, it's kind of the same thing except I have a constant hymn playing in my heart. 

As the week wrapped up, Richard G. Scott came to speak to all the missionaries. His talk was about prayer, which spoke to me at that particular moment. 

Well, I've really been thinking how to become more like Christ throughout the week, and the best way I think is by Charity. We watched Elder Bednar's "The Character of Christ" and he shared a story. It reminded me that "My mission isn't about me, it's for the Lord." I'm so excited to continue serving. Continue onward everybody! :D

Love,

Elder Wanlass

Mission Farewell Talk

Mission Farewell Talk on August 24, 2014

How to Find Peace

Hello brothers and sisters, I'm really glad to see all of you here today.  I want to take some time to thank all of you for everything that you've done for me.  I have really good friends that have helped me through hardships in my life, an amazing ward that I've been able to feel at home in, and a supportive family who I love, and I'm blessed to know they love me too.  For those of you who may not know, I have been called to serve in the Canada, Halifax mission.  My area is right above Maine, and covers all of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and a tiny sliver of Maine.  It's crazy, because there are some parts of my mission where the church is so small that they don't even consider themselves a branch of the church.  So they call themselves "The Sticks".  So luckily for me, even though I am a little nervous to speak to you today, this is probably the biggest group of people I'll have to speak to over the course of my mission.

While I was thinking of my topic for my farewell, I really wanted to talk about something that I've had experience with these past few months.  I'll be honest; it's been a pretty hard summer.  Sometimes I'd be feeling happy and confident in myself, while other days I felt really down.  We all have times like this in our life, and it is especially important that we seek for guidance and help during these times.  When we ask Heavenly Father for help in faith, we can feel a Spirit of Peace overcome us, and know that we are not alone.  I feel that everybody needs to know how to find this peace and love of God at some point in their life, and when they seek, they will be able to find.

Finding peace can be easier said than done.  Sometimes our trials can seem so tough that we can't handle them ourselves.  Luckily for us, in these times of struggle, we do not have to face these challenges alone.  Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can overcome all things through him as long as we believe that we can.  Christ's Atonement doesn't only help us recover from sin and death, but it can help in all things that we may need help with.  In one of my favorite hymns:  "Where Can I Turn for Peace"  It says:

"Where is the quiet hand, to calm my anguish?"

"Who, who can understand? He, only One."

Jesus Christ knows each and every one of us individually, and knows our feelings, our thoughts, and our hearts.  He suffered for us because he loves all of us, and wanted to help all of us return to our Heavenly Father to become more like him.  In D&C 6:36, the Lord tells Joseph Smith, "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not."  If we do this knowing that our Savior loves us, then we will be able to find peace through the Atonement.

We can also find peace by following Christ's example using the three main attributes of Christ: Hope, Faith, and Charity.  Hope assures us each day that Jesus Christ's atonement will be able to help every single person.  Faith in Jesus Christ gives us knowledge of the truth, and Charity offers us a chance to act as Christ would.  The best witness one can receive of a gospel principle is by acting on it first, and then seeing the blessings that come from them.  If we ever feel discouraged or troubled, the best way to fix that is to help somebody else who is going through a trial of their own.  If we constantly seek to follow Jesus Christ's example in this way, he will be able to grant us blessings of peace.

One of the best places to go when you feel you need guidance and peace is the temple.  A couple of weeks ago, I had a temple week.  Early on, I had the opportunity to go to the Ogden Temple Open House and see the new temple with my family.  It was a really cool experience, and it was a nice start to my week.  The spirit was strong, and you could tell that it is a place where amazing things will take place.

In his 2011 General Conference "The Holy Temple-A Beacon of the World" Thomas S. Monson said this regarding temples:  "My brothers and sisters, temples are more than stone and mortar.  They are filled with faith and fasting.  They are built of trials and testimonies.  They are sanctified by sacrifice and service."

I again had another temple experience a couple days later.  I'm a Primary teacher, and all the Stake Primary kids and teachers got together to walk to the Bountiful Temple.  Even before the walk started, the spirit was invited with hundreds of kids singing "I Love to See the Temple".  We couldn't see the temple over the mountain, but we could feel it in our presence, and when we made it, the peace there was amazing.  Sometimes we can't immediately feel peace that we need, but when we exercise even a particle of faith, and keep moving forward in our lives, Heavenly Father can grant us anything that we desire.  It will all be worth it.  Two days after that I had the opportunity to receive my endowments in the Jordan River Temple.

Some days we may not be able to make it to the temple.  However, that does not mean that we can't feel the spirit in our home. You can invite the spirit by reading your scriptures, listening to happy and good spirited music, learning more about the gospel, or simply praying to your Heavenly Father daily.  If you do these things consistently, you will feel a gradual strengthening of the Spirit in your life, and be stronger against trials and adversity in your life.

One really cool thing that I got to do in preparation for my mission was study some of my genealogy.  I had wondered for a while if I had relatives from my mission because my ancestors were Scottish and English, and Nova Scotia means New Scotland.  Well, I figured out that on both sides I have relatives that lived in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, both areas that are in my mission.  I'd like to talk specifically about my Great Great Great Great Grandfather who was born in Halifax, Daniel Starke.  Daniel Stark became a member of the church early on in his life in 1843 at 23 years of age.  He was a carpenter, and a very hardworking man.  A few years later, about the same time many of the Latter-Day Saints walked the plains to Zion, Daniel and his family, as well as 238 other members got on a boat headed to California.  On the boat, they had a room where all of them would gather for morning and evening prayer and devotionals.  They were to travel all the way around South America.  Later on in their travels, a really bad storm started to freeze the sails of the boat, and the strong wind prevented the ship from being controlled easily.  The captain of the boat, who was not a member of the church, went down to the room to warn and prepare the Saints for the worst.  However, rather than panicking, he found them singing hymns and praying with the utmost peace and composure.  They eventually made it to Hawaii, and then traveled to California after staying there.  Even in this possibly perilous storm, my grandfather and the other members of the church put their trust and faith in the Lord, and made it safely.

I have another story which is one of my favorite examples of peace.  It's in D&C 121.  Jospeh Smith and some of the Latter-Day apostles had been taken to Liberty Jail, the Saints were being persecuted and forced to leave and abandon their belongings in Missouri, it was a dark time for the church members.  While he was still in the jail, Joseph Smith prayed to God, saying:

"O God, where art thou?  And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?" D&C 121:1.

He asks God for how much longer this torment of the Saints will last.  Surely, this was not a peaceful time for any of them.  Sometimes we may feel this way in our own lives, and may want to ask the same things.  However, after 6 verses of Joseph Smith pleading, Heavenly Father responds to him:

"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.  Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."

The Lord is always beside us as long as we live righteously.  However, sometimes God will allow trials to impact the righteous because he wants us to become stronger, he knows we can handle them through the Atonement, and he knows that as long as we put our faith and trust in him we will have peace in the end.