It has been a rough week. We didn't see
a lot of success this week. We did a lot of stop-by visits for less
active members and former investigators but none of them were home or
couldn't meet. There was one day in Liverpool where we stopped by potential investigators/former investigators for 2 hours and we only
talked to 3 people during that time. It was frustrating. We don't really
have any less actives that we are regularly meeting with so right now
we are trying to figure out which less actives we want to work with. I
have a couple in mind that I worked with when I was here last time. But
some of them don't come because of health and there's not much we can do
there. This week we want to set actual appointments with these less
actives so it doesn't keep happening.
I have a
sad story to tell you this week. There is an Elder that I came out with
that lost his mom a couple years before his mission. So when he left for
his mission he only had his father at home. Well this week his father
suffered from a major heart attack. A few days
later he passed away. So now both of his parents are gone.
It is quite tragic and very disheartening. It has been a somber past
couple days for the mission. We are a close knit mission and when a tragic thing happens to one of our fellow missionaries it affects all
of us. We are brothers and sisters. We are here for each other when we are
struggling. This Elder is a strong Elder and he is going to stay out on
his mission but he is going to try and go home for the funeral then fly
back out to the mission field the next day. He is the only one in his
family out on a mission right now and for him to stay out and get
through it on his own is remarkable to me. We are all praying for him and his family at this time.
This Elder is a warrior.
I have some sad
comical news for you as well. I hate to say this but my appetite is
beginning to diminish. I think my stomach might be shrinking. It has
been evident to me this week when we've been at dinner appointments and I've struggled to finish the first plate of food they give me. It made
me sad when I confronted that reality. I have been known to eat a lot of
food and now on my mission I have gotten to this point.
Their
has been another development this transfer. This week it was just me
and Elder Quinton serving together because Elder Dooley got emergency
transferred to Bathurst. Now this week we found out that we will be in a
trio again as of this Wednesday. Elder Darche is serving in Greenwood
right now but his companion is dealing with health issues so he is in
the Halifax Metro right now. While Elder Darche's companion is getting
taken care of in Halifax, he will be temporally serving in Bridgewater
until his companion gets better or they find a new companion for him in
Greenwood. So that's why he'll be with us. But it will only be
temporary. My guess is it'll last a maximum of 2 weeks before he goes
back to Greenwood.
I was a little disappointed
when we found that out. I'm not the hugest fan of trios but it is what
it is. It will only be temporary anyway. It has been a hectic
transfer between being a trio for 2 weeks, then there was an emergency
transfer and things were back to normal. Now I'll be in a trio again. I
wasn't envisioning that this transfer would go this way when I got here
:P. My anxiety has been tested and tried my whole mission. With
change after change, unexpected quick changes, then change. My body has
undergone so many missions on my mission it's getting to the point
where my body is just used to change and my anxiety has become a
non-issue. My anxiety has been put through the refiner's fire. That has
become a huge blessing for me on my mission. Going through so many
changes.
To add on to the chaotic transfer the
Bridgewater Sisters will also be in a trio as of Wednesday. Sister
Alverez will be coming to Bridgewater because her companion is also
dealing with health challenges and she is being taken care of in the
Halifax Metro. While her companion is being taken care of, she will be in
Bridgewater. So there will be 6 missionaries serving in Bridgewater this
week. It's crazy! So needless to say we'll have a lot of work to do
now.
At the beginning of last week I went on
an exchange with Elder Cox in Sackville. Elder Cox is from Utah and goes
home in February. He is the oldest Elder in the mission. He is very
seasoned and experienced. He is a great guy and a good missionary. I
asked some doctrinal questions that I was unsure about and that he was
able to clarify for me. He is very laid-back and light-hearted. On the
exchange we did a lot of finding. We visited a less active member with
health issues. We went to a seminary class because the Elders there help
the teacher out with the doctrine. We also had a dinner appointment with
the second counselor in the stake presidency. We had another dinner appointment with the Taylor's. They are an older couple that are from
England. The Sackville sisters were actually going to have dinner with them
but they cancelled so they invited us instead.
We
had District Meeting on Wednesday. At District Meeting we went over the
things we learned from Blitz Week and the common one was that we are
more capable than we think we are. I mean I invited a random stranger to
be baptized that week. That takes a lot of courage. That evening
we had dinner with a couple from BC. They like to talk about sports so I got caught up
with hockey and basketball with them. I love it when I can talk about
sports with a member.
On Saturday
we went to Lunenburg and ran into a born again atheist. Never heard of
one before that. We had the Ward Christmas Party that night. It was a
good turn-out. About 140 people showed up and some of them were
neighbors of members. We sat with the Fraser`s during
the dinner. We talked about the organization of the Church with
Bishop and talked about how strong the Church is in the Maritimes. He
made the point that when they lived in Alberta he could pick 10 or more
high priests that could be bishops. Out here he said he could only think
of a few that could be the bishop in Bridgewater.
Anyway,
this Wednesday is Christmas Zone Conference and there's going to be a talent
show in it. For the talent show us, the Sackville Elders and the
Kentville Elders are going to be doing the Church version of the famous
Harry Potter Puppet pals skit. Haha it`s gonna be funny. Feel free to
look it up. I`m going to be the Holy Ghost in the Skit. But it should be
a lot of fun. Also, this Sunday the ward is having a Ward Christmas
Concert so that should be fun too. 'Tis the Season!
Before
I go I received those other two packages on Thursday. When Elder
Quinton saw how many gifts I got he said he felt very unloved and
neglected by his family. Haha.
Have a good week!
Love,
Elder OBrien (The Older)
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