An Unexpected Baptism

Hello everybody! Things have been pretty interesting here in Grand Falls. This week we had two people with baptismal dates drop us. :( We also just didn't have much time to work in our area overall. The highlight of the week for me was probably going to Corner Brook for an exchange. I got to work with Elder Sortomme. He was a lot of fun, and we learned a lot from the time we had together. 

Corner Brook is a very rocky, mountainous city. Much different than any area I've seen in the mission. Most areas don't have mountains, so I thought that was pretty cool. :) It is a lot bigger than Grand Falls! We got to do some street contacting (which, because of my areas, I haven't done too much.) and we got to teach a couple more people about the church. We also got to meet the sister's investigator Aleena.

So...Elder Sortomme and I had just gotten back from a knocking spree where we found 4 potential investigators! (doesn't happen too often) As we got in the car, we get a call from Elder Hardesty and Elder Siepert telling us to go fill the font. Something was going to happen. We were super confused...but President Pratt wanted us to do it. So naturally, even though we were told by other people not to do it, we followed President's instruction. Apparently Aleena was flying out to Kazahkstan (her home country), and was confused with the troubles in her life. President wanted us to get her baptized. That night! So, we set into action. We filled the font and invited members of the branch to the baptism, the elders in Grand Falls instructed us on what to do, and the sisters found Aleena and got her ready. In a miraculous way, everything aligned up perfectly for her to be baptized. :) It was a crazy experience, but that night she became the newest member of the church.

So with that, we were all exhausted. Such a neat experience to be a part of (though not in the moment.)

Anyway, after that, we also got some interesting news. There is a midtransfer happening, and Elder Hardesty won't be here in Grand Falls. I will be with Elder Siepert and Elder Sortomme for the next two weeks working in Grand Falls. 

What a change...

I know that the Lord inspires our leaders. We need to follow the prophet and other men and women who are called by him. What a blessing it is to live in this day.

I love you alll!

Elder Wonderless

Blitz Week Bop!

Good day everybody! :) This is Elder WAN! I hope that you all had a fanTASTic week this week. We did here in Grand Falls :) I literally love this place so much. The Newfies are just my people. They are so funny, giving, and kind to everybody. (except when they aren't) but I digress. :) 

Speaking of digressing, one cool thing about Grand Falls is that it is the Cola Fountain of Newfoundland! Everybody drinks pepsi here. Like...everybody! And it is super cheap. Today I saw at the grocery store somebody buy an 8 pack of 2 liter sodas. (I didn't know that that was possible!)

We had quite an adventurous week this time around. We had a special challenge week called Blitz Week! We all had to contact over 300 people and find for over 30 hours. It was a good challenge for everybody, and I think it really stretched some of the missionaries who weren't sure if it was possible to get that many contacts and hours.

We didn't quite reach 300 here in Grand Falls, but we also had 18 lessons with investigators and less actives. But we did find quite a few people who said they'd be interested in learning the gospel. :) So neat to see how the Lord blesses us as we put out the effort. 

One of our investigators we found is named Lennea. She is pretty cool. :) She is a paramedic and is from Ontario! She moved to Grand Falls a few weeks ago and was very willing to listen to the message of the Restoration.

We also taught Darren and his daughter Erica. They are doing alright. They still need to keep coming to church, but other than that things are all good. 

We met with another investigator named Crystal, she came to church this week and enjoyed it! :) So that's good. :) 

On Wednesday a member of our church had her birthday. We decided to throw a branch activity and have her party at the church. It was a lot of fun, and she was so grateful. It was her first birthday party she had ever had, so it meant a lot to her. (she's in her 70's).

I've been doing a lot of pondering this week. December is already here, and that means the year is coming to a close. I've thought a lot about how I've changed on my mission, as well as how I've stayed the same. I'm so grateful for my Father in Heaven for getting me to where I am now. I love him so much. I know that the way I work on my mission shows how I love God. The way that I work after my mission, and the person I continue to become will show my love for God. I know that none of us are ever lost. That we aren't perfect. Not even close. But that Christ can perfect our imperfections and make us stronger, better, and happier.

I thank him for this week, and for the many weeks in the future!

I love you all!

Elder Walrus

Zone Conference, Bai!

Good day everyone! :) It is good to hear from ye! Elder Warless here! I'm excited to tell you about our crazy busy week! :) To start, we had an adventurous P Day and saw some pretty cool sights! Grand Falls is such a beautiful area. This week I got to see more of the island. We went to the other major city in our area, which is called Gander. 

Gander isn't super big, but they people have the biggest hearts I've ever seen. There is a story about Gander, that during 9/11, some of the flights to New York had to be changed, so tons of them flew into Gander for the emergency. The people of Gander apparently fed and entertained those who were staying there. Many people in Gander talk about it. Pretty interesting. :) 

We taught several lessons this week as well. We taught 8 this week, and met some other less actives. We've been really busy here in Grand Falls. It's so cool! :) 

We are teaching Darren. He is the son of a member here in Grand Falls. He likes church and he comes every week, but he just needs some more time before he can get baptized. We also tried to teach our investigator Derek, but when we went over he was a little intoxicated, and he started preaching to us. Interesting, to say the least, but he still wants to meet with us, and he does have very real intent in finding out if this is Christ's church.

We also had Zone Conference this week! That was pretty exciting. It was my first time conducting at a zone conference, and I think that I did pretty well. I was a little nervous, but things were good. :) As a mission we are making some changes to go along with the 2016. This week we are having a Blitz Week! We are going to be trying to achieve 30 hours of finding and contact 300 people. We are also having mini challenges against the Sister Missionaries. :) We are probably going to win though ;)

We as a mission are aiming for 135 baptisms this next year. We are going to do it! It'll take some effort, but we can! :) 

It's been an interesting couple of weeks...I'm definitely still adjusting to the fact that I'm a zone leader now. It's a little different, but I will get used to it. :) 

I've been studying a lot on Faith and Miracles lately. (It's probably one of my favorite things to study.) I definitely know that as long as we have faith in Christ, we can accomplish all things and he can make weak things become strong.

I love you all. Have a great week! :)

Elder Worthiness

Scenery of Grand Falls

From Elder Wilderness and Elder Hard-to-See

Hello everybody, this is Elder Wanlass :)

It's been quite a long week! With packing, driving, and learning about the area being most of my activities for the last little while,  I'm definitely going to miss St. Stephen and the people there. 

I'll especially miss Sandra Beaumaster. She is the first convert who I've had to leave on my mission. She's an amazing member of the church. She was the first person I met in St. Stephen, and one of the last ones I said goodbye to. It was pretty hard... she said "Thanks for all ya did!". A bittersweet moment to be sure.

 I had a great three months there. I'm super excited for my new area though! Grand Falls here I come! :)

Grand Falls is a pretty neat city. It's about 20,000 people which is my biggest area by far. :) (It's still not very big though.) It's in the dead center of Newfoundland, which is pretty cool. The members here are very funny. They give us nicknames, come to lessons with us, and they gives us snacks. (I said gives on purpose...newfie talk) The names on the title of this email are things we were called this week. :)

We only have about 13 members that come to church in an apartment building that's been converted into a church. Pretty cool. :) 

We had one really cool experience this week. We weren't really sure if we were going to be able to find a new investigator due to how much time we weren't in our area, but a miracle happened! We were walking to a recent converts apartment building, when a guy outside stopped us and asked what church we were from and where our church was. It was literally right across the street from the apartment building, so we pointed it out to him and he said that we could meet with him! He was so cool. His name is Derek and he wants to quit smoking. We put him on date for January 23, and he really liked the member we had with us. so that was neat.

Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic week! love you!

Elder Wanted-List

Saying Goodbye to all my St. Stephen's Family.  (All the above pictures.)

Transfer day with Elder Astle and  Elder Edge!

More of the great people I serve with!

Here is our church that is located at an apartment.  (With Elder Hardesty)

Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland

I'm Going to NEWFOUNDLAND!

Hey everybody! Elder Wanlass here. :) It's been a pretty good week, but even more exciting is that it is transfer week! 

President Pratt came to my district meeting this week, which was nice. I loved having him there! He is an awesome Mission President. :)

I'm going to Grand Falls, Newfoundland! It's pretty crazy, and was unexpected since I had only been in St. Stephen for a short time. I'm pretty excited though! I've heard a lot of cool things about my area, and it should be a lot of fun. :) I'm the only one in St. Stephen who is leaving, so it will be sad.

I've had a lot of good times in the area, but I'm pretty excited to serve in a new province. :) It's going to be so much fun! :D

Some fun facts about Grand Falls:

There are only 6 people who attend church (including us)

Our church is an apartment building :)

I'm four hours from the nearest missionaries.

It is the zone leader area in Newfoundland.

I'm super excited :) We are going to see a lot of success. It's going to be so much fun. I've got to go, but thanks for reading this short entry.

 Grand Falls, Newfoundland...I will be flying over.

 President and Sister Pratt came to visit our District this past week.

The McAteer's are the best!  I will miss them.

Sister McAteer made me sign a contract before she cut my hair.

Elder Gardner has been a great companion.

Brother Murphy is a carver.

Sister Beaumaster

Hey everybody! This week has been quite the amazing experience! We had a baptism! My first convert, Sandra Beaumaster, did amazing at her baptism. She was pretty nervous throughout the week, but when the day finally came and she was at the church, she was completely still and calm. She knew she needed to be baptized, and she was going to do it! :) I'm so proud of her and how far she has come in her life. 

On Sunday when she got confirmed, she looked just like a regular member. I can't wait for missionaries down the road to come to this ward and see her not as a convert, but as a member who has been there forever. Sister Beaumaster will be a blessing to the St. Stephen Ward. 

This week otherwise went decent, we met with a new investigator named Daniel the other day. We store contacted him and he said that he wanted to meet with us. He is a really nice soft spoken man who wants to come closer to Christ. We extended a baptismal invitation and he said that he wanted to be baptized and come to church. So cool! He should be coming this week. He also showed us his pipe collection... so that was cool!

Anyway, this week we ran into a lot of people who were really nice. We are seeing a lot of people's hearts softened towards us and the gospel. I know that this church is true and I've seen a lot of success here in St. Stephen!

This week for District Meeting President Pratt is visiting me. GULP :D I'm doing it on testimony and how are testimonies can bless the lives of others. Surely it can :)

I love you all!

Elder Wanlass

Sister Beaumaster was baptized November 6.

A Zombie Apocalypse Style Halloween

Hey everybody, this is Elder Wanlass! It's been a busy week this week! We had a good time preparing Sandra for baptism! She is doing so well, and she loved gospel principles this week. :)

On Wednesday we went on exchanges with the zone leaders so that they could interview her. It was a good interview, from what I understand, and she was definitely ready for baptism. Elder Edge interviewed her, and he said: "I was going to ask her to bear her testimony at the end, but she kind of did through the whole interview, so I just thought she was ready." Sandra is such a gr

I had some weird experiences knocking with Elder Edge too. We ran into a guy who told us he worshiped Hitler, a man who said he was already a part of a cult in his past and that he didn't want to join another one, a girl answer the door in a robe, and an old lady who screamed at us through her door. So that was strange... We had an adventure I suppose. :)

We had a few appointments fall through again, unfortunately, which happens. Oh well.

Craig is doing well, we had a really spiritual restoration lesson with him and he accepted a baptismal date, so that was fantastic!

On Halloween night, we went to our apartment, boarded up all the doors, turned off all the lights, and looked outside at all the people dressed in costumes. We are kind of in a sketchier place in St. Stephen, so....that could have been interesting. Luckily nobody came to the apartment. We also watched Meet the Mormons and made some calls. Hence the Zombie Apocalypse :)

Anyway, the rest of this week was fairly slow, and we didn't have much else happen. We are trying to find people to teach. :) It's a slow but rewarding process. I'll let you all know how the baptismal service goes next week. :)

Our awesome investigator Sandra. 

Here is our updated District picture!!