February 16, 2015 - Bridgewater, Nova Scotia

Dear Family,

We have been snowed in our apartment since Sunday morning. We just barely dug ourselves out. Brother Hirtle has been plowing the snow all day. We can still email now even though P-Day is over since we were stuck inside all day. Three quarters of the way down our hill, the tractor couldn't lift the snow. So we had to shovel the rest of it out. We tried to make an escape for it last night but the snow was up past my waist and halfway up the hill we ended up stuck in the snow for about an hour. So we had to get Brother Hirtle to come rescue us. It was quite the adventure. Elder Nielsen's ears were frozen and they couldn't even bend. My hand got frostbitten. We weren't really using our brains when we decided to make a run for it. It was a bad decision. Church got cancelled yesterday so we had a zone conference call testimony meeting instead. Originally I was supposed to go on a exchange in Kentville on Saturday night to Monday morning but because of the storm they cancelled the exchange because it wouldn't be effective if we couldn't actually go out and work. 

Tuesday, we met with Brother Chase and Sister Donaldson. Brother Chase hasn't been to Church in two to three weeks. We couldn't get in contact with him so we were a little worried about him. When we met with him he said the reason he hasn't been coming to Church because he heard a member saying bad stuff about him. But he had a talk with Brother Nillson and now he says he's coming back to church. So we resolved his concerns there. Sister Donaldson just had her leg amputated. There was a tumour in her leg. She is less active but only because of her health. She is in a wheelchair right now and can't really get out much. She is a great lady. She has been through a lot and it has helped build her faith. She is a very valiant woman.

Wednesday, we started setting up for the ward valentine's supper on Friday night. They didn't have a Christmas dinner so this was supposed to replace it. Sister Harlow was in charge of it and she goes all out. After being sick for the past couple weeks, Bishop Fraser was back. So we had bishop's correlation with him and then ward council. He approved our Easter concert. March 29th. 

Thursday, President Leavitt came to our apartment for personal interviews. In his interview he said that being a quiet missionary is just as bad as being disobedient because the other companion ends up doing everything. But it came across very loving. It took me until after the interview to realize that he was being bold with me. He said that there is no such thing as a quiet missionary. I have this tendency to drop into the background in lessons sometimes so I think that's what he was referring to. That's something that I do need to work on.Then we went to Liverpool for the day. We met with a less active named Peter. He stopped coming to Church because he didn't have a ride and no one asked him if he wanted a ride. But he hasn't actually asked for a ride. So he's been feeling unwanted. But in order for people to reach out to him he needs to reach out to them. So we just encouraged him to do that. 

Friday, was the Valentine's supper. We had to be there at 5 to help. It was a good turnout; there were a equal number of members and non-members there. A total attendance of about 100. There was a photo booth going on outside the dinner which was quite a success. Lots of people had their picture taken. There were all kinds of props that they could use. The Bridgewater sisters ran it. David came to the dinner with Brother Tidd and he seemed to have enjoyed himself.

Valentines Day, we met with David again. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. He seemed really receptive. He has really opened up to us lately. He is progressing really well right now. I'm starting to get my hopes up for him being baptized. We met with Lisa again and she said that she believes the Church is true but wants to wait for her mom in China to get back in three years. So things kind of hit a bump with her.

We didn't get a lot of proselyting done this week because of the Valentine's supper and being snowed in for the past two days. But we did search for service and we got in contact with the library, hospital, and old folk's home. So now we're just waiting to hear back from them. 

Have a great week! Hopefully the weather is better this week.

Love,

Elder O'Brien