Canada Vancouver Mission: 7/18/16 - 1st LETTER IN SIDNEY

THIS WEEK ON MISH LYFE: ATTACK ON SIDNEY…

“Elder Stock, can you stand?” President Burt commanded at a meeting full of new missionaries and their soon to be trainers. “Elder Stock is heading into new territory for him. On Vancouver Island. He’s going to an area called Sidney. Whitewashing. And his new companion is from Utah. His name is Elder Whitney!” The words rang in Elder Stock’s ears as he briskly walked up to join his “son” at the front of the chapel and gave him a big elder to elder hug.

A blur of trainings and pictures were taken. Soon, the duo found themselves tearing down the highway toward a giant ferry to the mystical Vancouver Island.

Elder Stock turned to his son. “Aw. Yeah,” he said. And thus began to most epic adventure of all time.

Elder Whitney Bio:

From Gunnison, UT. Loves the gospel and missionary work, has a strong testimony of the plan of salvation. Filled with energy and is excited to be here. Is exactly obedient and is adjusting to mission life at five days better than I was adjusted at my year mark, it seems like. Consensus: he’s a beast.

Being back on the Island feels so nice. The air is fresher here than anywhere in the world, the people are prepared, the church is strong and not complacent, and everything is just perfect. See, when the earth was created, there was a slice of perfect that fell out of heaven and landed in the ocean right next to British Columbia. That sliver of land that solidified afterward is known today as Vancouver Island.

Sidney borders my first area, Duncan. And I am thrilled to be here. We got right to work this week, wasting no time. Found some new investigators to teach, and are building up a teaching pool here in Sid City. The ward is on fire! Our bishop is a beast. He’s literally named John Carter. Yeah, like that one dude on Mars? Same concept only First Nations and extremely devoted to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. I learned a lot in this short week about the Spirit. How to follow and trust him in the work. Elder Whitney and I were driving toward our home at the end of our night, when suddenly Elder Whitney felt a prompting to go drop by a referral we received from a less active member. I spun around in the opposite direction immediately, and we went to go find the reason!

As we did, we realized that we did not have this referral’s address written down on anything in our car. We were kind of just running on pure faith juice at this point. So we did. We stopped on the road we assumed his house was on. We prayed for guidance and bolted out of our car, with fifteen minutes left of the night. If we didn’t find this guy and teach him a lesson, we were going to be way late…

Running on pure hope at this point, we knocked on the door of what we wanted to be his home. A man answered with a glass of wine and no shirt. Told us we got the wrong house. Ten minutes. A ray of hope shined forth. Wine glass man uttered, “Go up the road to the gas pump. He might be there…”

Chevy Cruze tires sped across the asphalt, and a gas pump soon loomed in the distance. As it got closer, we saw that there was a stretch of rez on the side of the road. “He’s got to be in there!” I said to Elder Whitney. We parked and ran to a home we felt impressed to knock on. A little girl answered, and her dad came up the stairs.

“We’re looking for a man named Bear!” we managed to say to him. “Do you know him at all?” Five minutes.

“Yeah,” he sighed, tired from a long day. “Follow me…” We did. Through bushes and a yard full of broken cars and glass. For what seemed like an eternity, we ended up in the back of a thicket of broken down houses and trees. A run down trailer sat before us. “This is it,” the man said as he knocked on it and then walked away.

Our guy answered the door. “Are you Bear?” we asked.

“Yes.” We then taught him how he can come closer to his Heavenly Father. We prayed with him, and he felt the Spirit. He prayed for us, and thanked his Creator for the blessing of meeting us. And we’re going to see him this week.

God provides. Get on your feet and see His miracles!

Have a great week,

Elder Stock

Leavin’ Vernon in good hands!