March 30, 2016 - Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia

Dear Family,

I get to go to the temple tomorrow! I'm so excited! I haven't gone since the end of November when I got transferred back to Bridgewater. Sorry if I threw you off by not e-mailing you on Monday. When President Pratt came into the mission, everything stayed the same. No immediate changes were made. The first significant change didn't come until a transfer later. As time has gone on, President Pratt has made a lot of steady changes to this mission. This is just one of many changes he has made in the last 6 months. Nonetheless, I sustain him and support these changes. These changes are inspired and they are made for a reason. New mission presidents aren't called to keep things the same as they were before. They are called because they have unique ideas and unique perspectives. It is going to be the same way with Chris when he gets a new mission president this summer. He probably won't make immediate changes when he first comes in but over time he will make gradual changes.

Anyway, we found out about transfers last night and Elder Steimle is going to Halifax. I will be staying in Sackville and my new companion will be Elder Goeders. Elder Goeders is from Port Moody, BC. I have heard a lot of good things about him and I think we will do well together. It has been a while since I have had a brand new companion. I have only interacted with Elder Goeders once and I don't know much about him. For the last little while I have served with old companions; now I get to have a clean slate to work with again. I was grateful that I had the opportunity to serve with Elder Steimle again. 

A while ago I told you that this new transfer would be a 5 week transfer and the MTC schedule change didn't affect my release date. But it looks like I misread the transfer schedule. This transfer will be a regular 6 week transfer and as a result my mission is being extended a week. My release date is now August 5th.

My favorite account of the Savior's Resurrection is Matthew 28:1-9. To me Matthew 28:9 is very powerful and uplifting. "And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him."

The 30 minutes of additional study are now up. One of the things that stuck out to me was how Jesus is the good Shepherd and he knows each of us and we know him because of his Atonement. Another thing that stuck out to me was how the Atonement can turn the effects of the Fall into positives instead of negatives. There's a lot of things about the Atonement study I learned that I loved.

For Easter Sunday we sang in the ward choir during sacrament meeting. After Church we visited Gary and then we had Easter Sunday dinner on our own.

Tuesday and Thursday were really rough work wise. All of our appointments fell through on Tuesday and we ended up doing lots of finding instead. We did have apartment inspections that day and we passed with flying colors. The senior couple that did it were super easy to please. Our finding was stagnant that day and nothing seemed to be going right. But the one bright spot of that day was a potential we knocked into. He said he wants to learn more about us. Thanks to our positive attitudes and our upbeatness we got through that day.

After dinner Wednesday we went knocking and we knocked into this lady who told us that she has tried praying to God and leaning on him to help her get through the loss of her daughter but felt like he wasn't there for her. We testified of the power of prayer but she declined. We knocked into another man who lost his wife and daughter within the past year. We told him that God is there for him and wants to help but he told us he'll get through it on his own. Those two people broke our hearts that night and it was hard to hear them say that.

For the last few days we have been traveling on foot or by bus. Someone backed into our car a couple weeks ago and it is being repaired right now and we won't have it back till Friday. It is a nuisance but it is good exercise. We have been talking to people on the bus as we have been traveling. For the last few days we have also had Elder Sortomme with us. He is going home on Friday but you wouldn't be able to tell by working with him. His mindset is the same and he's just as willing to work. He finished strong and set a good example for me when I end my mission.

This morning I was reading in Alma 13 and I felt God sending a message to me. I read Alma 13:28,
"But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;" I have been praying on what I need to do to get myself through these last 4 months and the answer I got from this verse was that I need to pray consistently to rise above distractions that I cannot bear. I also need to submit everything to the Lord and be patient every passing day, every passing hour, every minute of every day. My mind is begging to cave in on me and I have fight to not think about home. There is a force out there that is working on me and wants me to throw my hands in the air and be done. Tough times lie ahead. It's going to be a long 4 months.

Have a good week! Happy Conference Weekend!

Love,

Elder O'Brien (the older)