May 25, 2015 - Bridgewater, Nova Scotia

Hello Family,

It has been a good week. For most of the week the weather was really nice. I even got some sun and felt a little sun burnt on Thursday. Lately, I have had this inside craving to mow someone's lawn. I don't why, but I really want to mow someone's lawn. Looking back, it was one of my favorite summer activities and now I miss mowing our lawn. So I'm hoping that we can help mow someone's lawn soon. As weird as that may sound. I think it's just about time to pull out those short-sleeved shirts. I haven't worn those since the end of August of last year.

 But anyway, transfers are next week. We find out about transfers this Sunday. This will be the last time President Leavitt does the transfers. It's going to be interesting because the new mission president comes in two weeks before the next transfer ends. So it'll be interesting to see how that will work. This is just me speculating but I think there's going to be a lot of big changes made so the new mission president won't have make that many changes. He'll say to himself "Uhh.. I've only been here for 2 weeks and now I have to make all these decisions on missionaries I just met and areas I don't know much about." Another interesting thing will be how he'll do transfers because I know that in some missions they don't tell you until the day before and they only call you when you're being transferred. In this mission, we find out no matter what and we're given 4 days notice and we find out all the transfers in a letter in the mission portal Sunday morning. As far as transfers go, I am very open to the idea of being transferred this time around. I have been in Bridgewater for about four and half months now. With that being said, I would be happy to stay here for another 6 weeks if that is the case. It's a good ward with a lot going on right now. So I am more than happy to be transferred or staying if need be. I am neutral. With 7 sisters coming in, I think sisters will be coming back to Bridgewater next week. 

As for my week we did a lot of tracting. 336 contacts and 20 hours of finding to be exact. We worked really hard to find a new investigator but with no luck. We ran into a lot of interesting people this week.

Tuesday, we ran into these two girls who told us they were having a highly inappropriate conversation before we stopped them. They said they talk about religion when they're not talking about something inappropriate. It was very uncomfortable to say the least. After that we went home-teaching with President Wentzell. We visited Norma Wentzell and Johnny Li. 

Wednesday, we had District Meeting in Sackville again this week. The zone leaders were in attendance, Elders Funa & Elder McNabb. They gave a training on weekly planning using a 10-day planner and coloring in time slots with certain categories such as meals, meetings, family history, and planning time. By then end of it, we found out we have 20 plus hours a week to find. I was amazed. After District Meeting we went to Lunenberg and went on a big contact run. We ended up talking to 75 people while we were there. We ran into a Presbyterian minister that really appreciated what we do. He was a nice man. He has been a minister for 30 years and is deeply rooted in that. 

 

Thursday, while we were out street contacting we ran into this one middle-aged karate man who came up to us and shook our hand and said "Are you Mormons?" So we said, "Yes" and then he began walking away. He turned back around and said "Where are all the Mormons in Nova Scotia?" and we're like, "Uhh.. probably working maybe, why?" Then he's like "Exactly my point." His comment made no sense to us. We visited an investigator after that. She hasn't been praying lately and isn't making much progress. We told her the answer to her question "Why do people judge?" so we told her and it made sense to her. 

Friday, we taught a man about the Atonement. He asked us if we can be forgiven of our sins if we keep doing them. If we truly feel like we've repented yet we commit the same sin again, what do we do? It was a good question. We answered it by saying none of us are perfect (Either 12:27). As long as we are making a consistent effort by praying to God and reading our scriptures, he will help us. It was a very spiritual lesson. Then we had a very awkward dinner appointment. We walked in and it was just the husband at the time. So he invited us to sit down on the couch. So we talked to him for about half an hour just having a casual conversation. Then he asks us "So were you just driving by?" and we're thinking to ourselves "Uhh.. no you signed us up for dinner today" So we told him that and he was surprised and said he completely forgot. So he offered us these protein shakes. So his wife got home after a little bit and she felt very embarrassed. We ended up having tacos as it was the quickest thing she could make. 

 

Saturday evening we met with a young investigator. We taught her about the Holy Ghost. She still hasn't asked her parents about baptism; she said she's come close but hasn't yet. So we gave her a blessing to help her have the courage to talk to her parents. 

Have a great week! Happy Graduation Chris!

Love,

Elder O'Brien