New Goals and New Contacts

November 30, 2015

Dear American Family, (Cause you know I got a Canadian family too)

On Tuesday we spent the whole day in Moncton for a zone conference where we learned new things for this upcoming year. As a mission we have new standards and new goals that will get us to work even harder and work more effectively. This week we will be having a Tour de Faith, where all meetings in the mission are cancelled for the week and we will be dedicating all our time to finding new people to teach. But it is a competition between the elders and the sisters throughout the mission, and whoever wins serves the other at our Christmas Conference.

For American Thanksgiving our dinner appointment got cancelled so Elder Kleinkopf and I made some burritos, doing it Arizona style because Mexican food is scarce up here.

We planned well for this week and actually had quite a few appointments happen so that kept us fairly busy. After almost a month of praying and trying to find someone new to teach, we found two new investigators this week, Jennifer and James, who had been taught a little in the past and are going through a rough patch right now and want to learn more/get more into religion.

On Sunday Elder Kleinkopf and I were pretty much church. It was the primary program for sacrament meeting and we were a part of it because they needed more people to sing and speak there being only five primary children and all. Then we taught youth Sunday school, like we do every week. And then because it was fifth Sunday we also taught a combined third block about less actives and ways to reach out to them.

This week I also found out that Gary and Owen, two investigators that I had been teaching back in Sackville, were both baptized in the past couple of weeks! I was allowed to call and congratulate them and they both expressed how grateful they are for the time I was there. I am sad that I couldn't be there for their baptisms but am very grateful I still got to be there for part of their journey. It helped me to realize even more the importance of this work and the blessings that come from it. It isn't easy, but it is worth it.

Love You All!!

Celebrating American Thanksgiving with Mexican Food.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
(with our tiny tree) haha

Companion Transfer

November 23, 2015

Dear Family,

Well, the first half of the week we spent a lot of time visiting all the members so that Elder Shambrook could say goodbye to everyone. He was pretty sad about it and I mean who wouldn't be after being there for six months with so many awesome people? I was even started to feel sad with all the goodbyes and I wasn't even the one leaving, which means it will be a lot harder when I do have to go.

On Thursday (Transfer Day) said so long to Elder Shambrook and Elder Batley and they left, so I spent the day in Charlottetown with Elder Larson while we waited for our new companions to arrive. It was sweet though because we went out to talk to people on the street and in Montague you can't really do that because Montague is so small and like no one is outside, so I was like aw, so many people!

When Elder Edge and Elder Kleinkopf arrived, all four of us spent the evening helping serve food and clean at a soup kitchen, run by Mckenna, who is from Kenya but lived in New York for a while and now here. She is so funny and loves the missionaries. She was taught before but she doesn't quite like meeting because she gets so attached to the missionaries and then they just up and leave and she doesn't want that to keep happening and is disappointed that we don't stay longer.

Elder Kleinkopf is awesome though, you know being from Arizona and all. Jk, but there are lots of things for us to talk about back home which is cool, and surprisingly doesn't make me homesick. I guess it only takes nine months to get over it. He is such a hard worker though and we will get a lot done this transferred, hopefully find some new investigators because we have been dry for a while.

Sunday morning we had the opportunity to go to the Montreal temple re-dedication (being broadcast throughout some of the chapels in our mission) and it was really cool to be a part of.

In the evening there was a Book of Mormon fireside and we had Ron, who is just about an investigator but not yet because of his work schedule, come to the fireside, and he thought it was very informative.

Great week, but hopefully it continues to go up from here.

Love you all!

Love, Elder Ray

...We tried.

I have come to love ties....I think I have a problem.

When one scarf isn't enough and your necks still cold.

Remembrance Day

November 16, 2015

 Dear family,

On Wednesday, Remembrance Day, we helped the veterans at the Legion with their ceremony and also helped serve food for their luncheon afterwards. I know we have Veteran's Day in the States but it doesn't seem to be a very big thing for a lot of people. Here it is a big holiday, to honor the veterans and it was really cool to be a part of. We were very involved with it because we have been helping at the Legion every week.

Here it is that time of the year where everyone is cutting and stacking wood for the winter so we help some members with that every week, does make me sore but is still fun.

For the past couple of weeks we have been visiting a less active member from the Charlottetown area because they were in a hospital in our area. But when we went to visit him this week a lady said that he had been discharged and she wasn't allowed to tell us where he went, soooo he's kind of gone.

We taught Joe this week about accepting help to help him accept support and other things to try to help him stop smoking, he is pretty much a member though, he always comes to church and branch activities, it's just this one, very difficult thing for him, but he has been happier this past week than I have seen him since I've been here.

Our other investigator David, who didn't seem the most solid, dropped all our appointments this week, we kept rescheduling and he was never there so sadly we might be losing him.

And yes, transfers are happening this week. Elder Shambrook is leaving and going to New Glasgow in Nova Scotia. He has been fun to work with and have had a blast making the missionary video, but everyone has to go at some point, he has been here for six months. My new companion will be Elder Kleinkopf, who is, take a guess, from Arizona! He went to mountain view high school. I met him before at a zone conference so I know a wee bit about him.

This upcoming week should be interesting but am kind of ready for a change.

Love you all more than Medusa loves her stone statues!

Love, Elder Ray

PEI District 2.0

Remembrance Day!

Chasing Pheasants at the church

Service

November 9, 2015

Dear Family,

It has been a long week, and this upcoming might be the same.

But good things have happened this week.

On Wednesday we performed with the high school choir for their Remembrance Day assembly for the Veteran's, it was awesome, and a big part of the community saw us in it. As missionaries we are a huge support to the veterans and to the Legion here because we do so much service for them.

We also did quite a bit of service helping people stack their wood for the winter, which left me pretty sore the next day but it was fun, good workout too.

On Friday we had a branch activity where everyone brought a soup, a stew, or a chowder for everyone to try. Elder Shambrook and I also put together a talent show for the evening and I did the song Danny Boy (BYU Vocal Points rendition) in sign language, people enjoyed it.

Well we only had one investigator lesson this week because the others kept falling through...
But we did teach Joe about Agency and applied it to his smoking situation. He is having a hard time with it but he is really working at it, I am sure that he can do it, it may not be in the time that I am here but he will.

Love you all!

Love, Elder Ray

Soups and Stews Night!

In the UK they have a holiday they call Bonfire Night (November 5th),
because Elder Shambrook is British we had to celebrate it,
but we weren't allowed a bonfire so therefore...
roasting marshmallows over a candle.

It's gonna eat me!

This one was hard to find.

Halloween

November 2, 2015

Dear Family,

On Tuesday we had dinner with Jennifer and James, a few potential investigators that have been taught by missionaries in the past. James said that he was looking for an answer to his prayers and that by running into all four Charlottetown missionaries in one day was a sign and his answer, crazy! So we are going to work with them again and help him and even Jennifer.

Choir is fun as always and we used the choir director, Christie, and her kids in our video. We are actually singing with the high school for their performance on Wednesday.

We visit a less active member every week, Shelly, and she just started school again to get her GED, she was so excited that after her first day of school she called the whole branch, including us, to talk about how good it was. She is awesome.

Halloween was eh, Elder Shambrook and I went as each other (we just switched name tags for the day). We had to be in by five for the rest of the evening because stupid things can happen that night. We still got some candy from some of the members during the day though, so that was good.

Other than that the week has been pretty low key, nothing has really changed but there is good potential to pick up an investigator this week.

Love you all!!
Love Elder Ray

Well, I guess this week you just get to see me enjoying a bowl of frosted flakes...