The sleek, metallic beast roared down the road in a blur of light and sound, spraying leftover rain up into the air off of the highway, shooting through entire cities in the blink of an eye. Her name? Queen Rogue--a Nissan Rogue commandeered by the elite Elders Stock, Briscoe, and Reay used to hasten the work of salvation. The Queen skidded to a halt in the slurry of rain and mud in front of an investigator's apartment complex. The three warriors within stared at each other. "Let's do this..." They said in perfect, Spirit-tuned unison. The doors to Queen Rogue were opened and they stepped out into the cold, humid air. The whir of a dilapidated sky train and the agonizing yelps of the godless dregs of Surrey Central echoed in the night air. It was about to go down...
There's a little taste of the epicness that is missionary work during the Lord's hastening. If you're a priest-aged young man reading this and that didn't get you to mission prep, then I don't know what will....
This week was incredible. I mean, it's hard for a week of missionary life NOT to be incredible. It's like making a microwavable burrito. It takes a special skill set to ruin it.
We had the privilege of being able to have our combined zone meeting this week. We went all the way out to Abbotsford where we correlated with Elder Stone (the King of Abbotsford) and had an incredibly uplifting zone meeting centered on giving the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to others this Christmas season as missionaries. We had a lot of time to role play and really focus on using inspired questions in our teaching. It's helped a lot, and it's been nice to see a change as we more fully apply the counsel we have been given in Preach My Gospel. It's as if the book is inspired or something...
At the zone meeting, we had a huge Christmas tree with everyone's Christmas packages and letters underneath it. We also got these incredible consecrated oil vials that were handmade for our mission. They say Canada Vancouver Mission on the side along with our motto. "Love. Serve. Obey!" And a little Canadian maple leaf is included as well. Solid stuff! The senior couples from Hope and Chilliwhack also made us a huge lunch. As a missionary, and especially as a YSA missionary, your appreciation for food is pretty intense. So we devoured that Christmas food as if it was about to sprout legs and run away from us.
We have been teaching our friend C for a little while now and he is so excited for his baptism in January. He was down to be baptized, like, yesterday, but he found out that he's got to go to Penticton this week for Christmas. So as soon as he gets back, he's cannonballing into the font. Well, probably not literally because that would hurt and be blasphemous...you'd feel two effects of the Fall: Pain and Spiritual Death... He's doing so well, though! It's been fun to be able to teach him and help him understand the gospel. Especially because he is incredibly prepared and eager to learn more. He told us this week that he wants to increase his virtue and knowledge even more in order to live a more Christ-centered life....because he learned about those principles at church. What an amazing thing this gospel is. I marvel every day at how much Christ changes people. How much He changes me, and how much He can change everyone in this world. If only we let Him. We need to "yield our hearts" to Him, and then we shall experience that peace, joy and sanctification that only He can give (Helaman 3:35).
We also were able to see our investigator, S and give her a blessing to help her feel better from her illness she's had for a little bit. She's doing really well, though! And her family is now interested in meeting with us missionaries. Say what?!?
We found some new investigators as well. We are teaching a man named L who's progressed a lot surprisingly in the short week we've been teaching him. His first lesson, he had a full bottle of hard whiskey on the table when we first started teaching him which he drank from mid-lesson. By yesterday's lesson, he didn't have any alcohol that we could see in the house, was much more alert and spiritually receptive as a result and has committed to really read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I love it. I love this gospel!!!!
We've had a lot of funny and awesome experiences lately. It's hard to write down all of it when I get to e-mail time...kind of like what the prophets of the Book of Mormon felt as they tried to write down everything in the scriptures but either didn't have room or were overwhelmed by everything. But it's been a great week.
I am excited for this week to celebrate Christmas and to be able to help others to find Christ in their lives. To invite them to come unto Him. It is my testimony that as we yield our hearts unto God more fully, He will bless us with increased sensitivity to the Spirit and with more of a desire to obey Him. He will help us to find those in our lives that need a helping hand, that need a Savior in their lives. And we, with our knowledge and testimony of Him, are those they need. To guide them to Him. This is God's plan for us. To bring us together in unity and to help us become like Him and His Son, our Perfect Example. I am grateful for this Christmas season, and cannot wait to report on the amazing miracles we see in His service on His day. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Sincerely,
Elder Stock
Abbotsford/Langley Zone Christmas Tree!
Josh Sloan was with us again...
Elder Briscoe thinks he's fat....He's not. He's actually a stud...
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