Dear Family,
Another week has flown by and now it is Christmas time. Just in case you're wondering there was a big storm that came through New Brunswick last Tuesday that we were supposed to get a part of but luckily we only got a little bit of it. But if I was still in New Brunswick I would have gotten hit pretty hard by snow. I actually kind of want to be in Newfoundland next winter. Just to see what it would be like. That would be quite the adventure.
Last Tuesday Melanie had us over for her birthday. I can't remember what we had for dinner but we had this really good Skor cake. It was nice of her to do that for us. I think Melanie really likes us. During the dinner, Madison (Melanie's daughter) asked me to do her confirmation. I was really excited when she asked but nervous at the same time since this will be my first time doing a confirmation. Madison is a really smart kid. She has made some funny comments to Travis about the Church. Like one time Travis was talking about looking into the Catholic Church; then Madison told him that wasn't where the truth was, don't you know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day was the true Church.
We went to Sackville for district meeting this week. At this district meeting, one of the trainings was conducting a companionship inventory out of "Preach my Gospel"; then we role played doing one. It was good for me because some weeks I didn't do companionship inventory with Elder Bodine. But doing companionship inventory is something that needs to be done otherwise those things that bother me get all bottled up and your companion doesn't know how you feel towards him. That`s the big thing I got out of of district meeting this week.
Lately, President Leavitt has been emphasizing about Finding through Facebook. Whenever we make a contact, we need to ask for their Facebook name so then we can message them on Facebook and share Mormon messages with them or stuff like that. He said that most people nowadays have a Facebook account and most people don't mind telling you their Facebook name. So what we've been doing lately is going through the ward list and adding them as a friend to the area page. I think that since we're now getting iPads, President wants to make sure we know how to use them.
On Thursday, we had some lobster at Bishop Spinney`s. This was the first time I've had lobster since I've got here. It was alright. It didn't have much of a taste to it. Then we had this really good pie for dessert that tasted like Skor. Later on that night we met with Gordon Squires. This time we brought Brother Thompson (2nd Counselor in the Bishopric). It was good to have him there. Gordon seemed to have liked him. Gordon is a really smart guy. Every time I've been there he talks about the scriptures deeply. At the end of the lesson he was asking about the plan of salvation. I can't remember the exact question but it was a very deep question.
On Saturday, we logged wood for the Bond's for three hours straight. By the end of it I was exhausted. But they did reward us with lunch after so that was good satisfaction. Yesterday morning I woke up with a sore back and it's still sore today. Later on that night while we were out knocking, we apparently knocked on a famous bible scholar who wasn't home. We found out that he was famous through the neighbors next door. That night we had dinner at the Drennans. They are a really funny family. The parents are both pretty young. Brother Drennan is a cop that works with Travis actually. He has a lot of energy and likes to joke around. But he has big muscles. I can see why hes a cop. They don't act mature sometimes though. But anyway, I found out that Cory Grinton (a ward member in Stirling) is Sister Drennan's nephew. She said she didn't know I was from Stirling but when I told her that she was excited to find out that I knew Cory.
So Shannon Hirtle met with the bishop last Tuesday and she was given a calling after coming back to Church for just a week. But she's really made a lot of big strides since we first contacted her. She has come to Church for two weeks in a row now. I can see a big difference between when we first saw her until now.
It looks like well have a pretty full week next week.. Here is what our schedule looks like: First Presidency Christmas Devotional on Sunday, Christmas Zone conference on Wednesday, Ward Christmas Party on Saturday, Melanie and Madison's baptism on Saturday, transfer letters on Sunday and then the Christmas Fireside which is that night.
I did have a couple of off days this week where I was thinking about my first Christmas away from home and I was concerned about my family being without me for it. I was also feeling inadequate because I don't know some of the deep doctrine of the scriptures that other missionaries do. But after I talked to Elder Willoughby and Elder Dupin, they told me that it takes time to know the scriptures as well as they do. That was a good reassurance from them.
Have a great week,
Love Elder OBrien
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