Monday, March 30, 2015

3/30/15 - 6th (and final) LETTER FROM WESTBANK

Yes, you read that correctly.....the last letter from Westbank.  It took Colton nearly 6 months to be transferred out of Duncan and only 6 weeks to leave Westbank.  Here's the story:

To Whom It May Concern,

Well, what can I say?!  You already know how awesome my week went, because they just keep getting better and better, so...yeah...this week was fantastic.  We did some crazy stuff.  We taught a ton of lessons as usual, and really focused on studying Preach My Gospel to its maximum capacity.  It's so, so, so important to know the doctrine that we are called to teach as missionaries. Without that, we are just aimless missionaries, but with it, we are focused ministers of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!  Literally, it is getting harder and harder to write down detailed, day by day e-mails of what is happening out here, because everything is going by in a big blur.  It's kind of nuts, actually.  But I can say that I now have a t-shirt to commemorate my stay in the Okanagan.  It says, "Ogopogo" on it, which is the mythical (we all know it's real, come one, now...) sea serpent of the Okanagan Lake.  So, that's fun!  Elder Boehmer and I got to serve a lot.  We were moving people out of their homes, getting free pizza out of one of them (free food is the best...especially as a missionary), and just ministering.  Everywhere. I loved it.  Elder Boehmer is so awesome!

We set a baptismal date with a woman we were teaching named Linda.  She's married to Lee, the self-named "King of Westbank"...he's an...interesting fellow...  We gave her to the sisters, but Linda wouldn't listen to them, so we were like, "Ok, I guess we're teaching her," and it's turned out really well!  We keep telling everyone of the ominous transfer calls that we were anticipating tonight.  But...the crazy thing is...they happened last night and totally caught us off guard!!!

I was calling the elders in my district, collecting some results, and praising their awesome work, when we get a call from President Burt himself.  Now...this kind of made my heart drop on its own, and so we were all, "hey, elder, we'll call ya back.  Hold up!"  And then boom, we were talking to President Burt.  He told us he was calling with transfer news!!!!  AH!

So...long story short, Elder Boehmer and I are both leaving.  My companion's going to Clearbrook, in Abbottsford, and I am heading off to Burnaby North, to be a stinkin' zone leader over the North Vancouver Zone!  AH!  So it was super exciting, sudden and crazy.  But I think we survived...

It's so sad that we're splitting up and that we're leaving Westbank...but I am honestly so pumped to be in Vancouver.  A) I will be there during the time when the Book of Mormon musical comes to Vancouver (bring on those golden missionary opportunities!) and B) I will be there during the time when, according to Pac Rim's timeline (oh yeah, I'm goin' full out nerd on y'all), the first jaeger-kaiju fight happens...in Vancouver!  So....I am legitimately pumped beyond belief.
Honestly, God is so good.  He is truly at the helm of this great work.  I cannot stress to you all enough that we are literally smack dab in the middle of the Lord's hastening of the work.  All we have to do is open our mouths, and get out there and work, and we we'll see extraordinary missionary opportunities basically come to us once we show our diligence and our devotion to the Lord.  I am so excited to be a missionary at this time, and I know that we can choose to make every moment a life changing one.  Because of Christ, and because He lives, we can choose to rise above who we are, who we were, and be who He can make us.  And that is the beauty of the gospel.  I hope you all have an amazing week!

Sincerely,
Elder Stock

We're so happy for Colton!  Since he didn't send photos this week...I get to choose a few.



Congratulations, Elder Stock!!!

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