11/17/14 - 11th LETTER FROM DUNCAN

Always so happy to receive our letter from Colton!  This week is extra special because one of his friends will be entering the Mexico City MTC on Wednesday.  Laura is called to the Washington Kennewick Mission, Spanish Speaking and is reporting in Mexico first.  We're so excited to hear all about her experiences too! Unfortunately, since their missions border each other, they won't be able to write to one another.  (Laura is in the dark blue shirt, just behind Colton)



Good luck, Hermana Hawkes!!!!

To Whom It May Concern:

Hello, loyal fans. How's life?! Man, the Island is nuts. It's getting super chilly here...like, we're talkin' -2 C. No snow just yet, but tons of frost. We left our car outside at our ward mission leader's house while we were over there for a cottage meeting, and when we got out, the Chevy Cruze was sparkling. Like, we're talking an apple-cider-level sheen. (If that makes any sense to anyone but me...) So, serving a mission is 2,500 tons of awesome. I am getting good at it, too, now! Well, not to sound prideful.... I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm not the worst teacher in the world anymore. I'm starting to lead in lessons now, and I actually know the doctrine now! I'm getting better! So...it's pretty fun now that I'm not constantly worrying about my atrocious teaching skills. Now I just accept that we're eighteen-twenty year old guys...so we're going to be weird and clunky and awkward, but that's all part of it. It's getting awesome. So, I'll give you what you came here for: the secular history of my week in the mish... 

Monday: We ate at Boston Pizza right after e-mail time. Pizzaburgers are God's gift to the world. A hamburger wrapped in a pepperoni pizza... Chills. We did our thing, got some shopping done, and then we decided to clean out our fridge....oh, man. There are some things we neglected in the fruit drawer for a while (ever since we got to Duncan) and they legitimately smelled like death. So, I'll be sure to include pictures of what we did to combat the smell. Hint: scarves are life-saving. We taught a less-active family in our ward about the Book of Mormon, and it was awesome. Gettin' cold!!!
Tuesday: This day was packed to the brim with awesomeness. We started off the day by watching Mr. Krueger's Christmas and The Other Wise Men with N and K. They loved the movies. N, when called on to say the closing prayer, told us to, "Bow down!" He's fueling our mad theories that N is going to take over Duncan with his crazy schemes to take over the world. We then did some service for a family in our ward. Their kids are crazy! They kept shooting us with Nerf guns and trying to get us to play soccer...and we're all, "I'm here to work, boy!" Anyways, we had some great soup, and then we told the little kids we'll be back to play soccer one of these days. They liked that. Then, we went and dropped by a member referral that we'd prayed about and felt really good about. They are awesome! We talked with the wife pretty much the whole time while everyone else was making dinner, and she was so excited to hear about prophets on the Earth today. Then we taught W about chastity. He made it hilarious. When we told him about how the law of chastity forbids homosexual relationships, he said, "I like woman." And we started laughing so hard. Oh, man. You gotta love these times. We showed S a movie called Between Heaven and Earth all about temples. It was awesome. SUPER spiritual lesson. She told us that her grandfather who had died the week before (they were grieving for a while) was baptized into this Church. She wants to be as well, to be an example for him. Whoa. Chills!

Wednesday: We taught K about the Book of Mormon, and found a shortcut to our house from downtown where you climb up these weird moss covered stairs up a cliff pretty much. It's wild. 

Thursday: We planned our week out and got to teach W again about tithing. He expected us to have something like that in the church. He's too solid for us!!!! We met with the White family in our ward and their son Ammon was hilarious and adorable. They were talking about the story of Moses, and they gave him a hint: "He's in a movie you saw!" And the whole time, this kid was trying to figure it out. Then, as his dad was telling him how this guy parted the Red Sea, and turned a staff into a serpent, and all this stuff, he blurts out, "Is it a Jedi from Star Wars?!" I almost died from laughter. Man, Moses WAS a Jedi. Wisdom from the mouths of babes. 

Friday: Amazing zone meeting about baptism. I have pictures from it. One of them: me and my favorite missionary ion this mission, an assistant who's going home soon. Elder Lieber rocks. He greeted me from the plane when I got here, so he's the first missionary I imprinted on haha. That's my explanation for our relationship. He's super cool. And then me and Elder McCown got pink tie buddy pictures!!! Oh, and guess what: a woman in our ward works at a place called Pacific Rim Early Childhood Foundation! PAC RIM!

Saturday: We went to Lake Cowichan, a nice little town, to meet with a ward member that was running for mayor! We had steak with him and talked for a while and shared a lesson on prayer. We just felt like that's what we needed to share. Then, the next Sunday, we saw him again. He didn't win the election, but he was impressed. The lesson he was teaching in elder's quorum was on...prayer! That Spirit, tho! 

Sunday: We had a cottage meeting at our ward mission leader's house and it was hilarious and awkward because it was just us, the sisters in our area, Brother Schmidt (our mission leader) and Judith, our recent convert. Hilarity ensued....
Love you all! Church is true! The Book of Mormon is the word of God! We have a living prophet on the Earth today! #truth

Cleaning out the fridge!

 Cleaning the fridge!

 I have no idea!!!!!

It's wonderful to see he's as "interesting" in the mission field as he was at home ;-)

 Elder Stock and Elder Lieber

 Pink Tie Buddies!!!!!

Elder Stock and Elder McCown

 

11/10/14 - 10th LETTER FROM DUNCAN

No new photos this week......but the letter is here on MISSIONARY MONDAY!!!!  So here's a pre-mission photo.

And on to the letter!

 

 

To the general public: 

Hello! I'm Elder Stock!

Man, this week was awesome in Duncan, BC. Super crazy and busy, but that's just how I like it. I hate down time now. It's what the mission does to you! So, to start off the week after last Tuesday, which you already received an update for, I went on an exchange on Wednesday with the fantastic Elder Burns! He's a super awesome missionary that's companions with my district leader. We went and saw N and K and watched a movie called Together Forever all about eternal families. N and K were really touched by it, because they love their family and being brothers. It was super cool. I love that principles of eternal families, and how they truly go on forever. It's really sweet to know and brings a lot of peace into my life.
Elder Burns had a nasty leg injury earlier that week, and so we had to end up calling the mission nurse and get him some rest. But we did a lot of work on Wednesday and I got to give Elder Burns a blessing. Love the priesthood!
So, Thursday rolled around, and 50 K winds tore Duncan apart pretty much. Power lines were torn down all over the place and since we live on Sherman Road, we're on a separate power grid than Duncan, so we had power. But we drove out to downtown at night, and it was pitch black. It was pretty scary. Looked like a low-budget dystopian 80's action flick. Had an Escape from New York feel to it.. So, we went to our bishop's housed that night and taught his family about dispensations and prophets because we can't tract in pitch black...

Saturday was pretty cool, because we got to be a part of a lot of service opportunities. We helped a family move in, and we helped some YSA people shovel mulch into a goat pen and then wrangled the goats into the pen. I got to drag a goat by its neck into a pen in the middle of the forest somewhere on Vancouver Island! It was hilarious. Elder Orr told em he secretly wanted the goat to kick me or something...he thought that that would be funny. I must admit, that would have been hilarious. We met a guy on the street named R. We're going to teach him soon. He's super prepared. Bonus: we talked to him while our bishop was waiting for a red light right in front of us. How's that for building trust with the ward members?! :D
Sunday was INCREDIBLE! The Sabbath Day truly is holy. We had the Duncan Ward primary program yesterday, and so I got to enjoy the overpowering Spirit that comes from all of these little children singing hymns and sharing the pure and simple truths of the gospel. It reminded me of the program back home, except with less Joey Knight Iron Man....that was done better in the Islands Ward's. ;) It was super cool, and we had a lot of nonmembers at church because their kids were in the program. We taught our super-solid-baptismal-date-holding investigator named W right after church. He's so awesome. He's already making a ton of comments in class. More than most of the active members! I love watching people take hold of the gospel and letting it change their lives and mold them into something better. That's what this gospel offers to all of us. 

We went and taught the Ellis family (he's the first counselor in the bishopric) for our dinner appointment that evening. They're super nice. They home school their kids, and so I got to tell them how I was home schooled, too for second grade! Well...kind of...right, mom? (For the record: Colton was officially home schooled for 2nd grade!!!) ;) Sister Ellis is from Safford, AZ. Right next to the Gila Valley temple! I've been there! It's cool to find people that are from the same state as you up here. We taught their two twin children about baptism (they're getting baptized in two weeks) and they loved it. It was a fun little lesson. I love teachings kids, because you can just tear it down into super simple principles.
Anyways, I'm loving the mission. My testimony has grown so much already, and I can't wait to see what's in store for me. I love you all, and know that my prayers go out to all of you! 

Go to church, pray often, and read your scriptures!

All of Y'all's Biggest Fan,
Elder Stock

 

 

11/04/14 - 9th LETTER FROM DUNCAN

Well, Colton hasn't been out 3 months and I can't live without my Missionary Monday email.  So picture how happy I was when I didn't receive an email from my boy on Monday.  That afternoon I went to facebook and discovered other moms who didn't have their expected email.  (by the way, what did parents do before email?!?  I need my weekly letter, how did so many go without contact for weeks on end!) Someone finally posted that there was a Zone Conference on Monday.  One mom posted this, "I just read all the comments. Mine is in Victoria too, so that makes sense. I'll stop yelling at him now." (and NO, I was not the mom that wrote that)  Tuesday evening, we discovered that Colton had written!!!!!!  This is what he told me, "Hello, mother! How was yesterday?! I hope you didn't panic. When our zone leaders told us that the zone conference was going to be on Monday, the first thing I said to Elder Orr was, "My mom is going to be ticked!"  Oh, how that boy knows me!  Without further ado, his highly anticipated letter.

Dear General Public:

(The following must be read in an epic Law and Order-esque TV Narrators voice)

Last week on Canada Vancouver Mission: Duncan Elders' Adventures:

Elder Stock and Elder Orr had an amazing preparation day last week. With barely any money left from a stupid move at Boston Pizza that only two hungry teenage men could make, they were left to wander around in Duncan, looking for free souvenirs. They were saved by Elder and Sister Nickels, an incredible senior couple, who gave them homemade sushi from a man in North Island. Balance was restored. And from this experience, they now budget their grocery spending extremely well. Later, Elder Stock journeyed to the harbor city of Nanaimo on an exchange with Elder Camp, his senior zone leader. Together, they taught a Chilean woman about the plan of salvation who gave them hot chocolate and dulce de leche. It was epic. They read the Book of Mormon with a man in the hospital, and felt the Spirit very strongly there. They ended the night with two dinner appointments. Food is good. The next day, they all attended a district meeting led by the glorious Elder Durfee. Afterward, they ate homemade breakfast burritos at the zone leaders' apartment, where Elder Stock discovered that potatoes are worth their weight in gold in the mission field. The next day, Elder Stock and Elder Orr taught their incredibly solid investigator named Will about the Word of Wisdom...at a coffee shop with a coffee in his hand. Hoping that he wouldn't beat them up for telling him that he shouldn't drink coffee, they waited for his response to the question: "What do you feel about the Word of Wisdom?" To their utter surprise, he said, "Well, sacrifice is necessary for the Lord..." and threw his coffee cup away. God is real. Every commandment He gives to us is for our benefit. The Word of Wisdom helps us remain healthy and live active life styles to help us serve those around us and help free us from addictions. It's so inspired. Then, Halloween came. The rule in their mission is to go inside by 6:00 at night and do weekly planning while the Hallow's Eve shenanigans rage outside of their windows. They entered the home of a member in their ward: Brother Gedcke. He gave them chocolate Santa Claus's. This was the only Halloween candy they received. And it was basically just a stocking stuffer... It was awesome. With them, they took a picture that will be their Christmas card for forty years at least. It was a crazy Halloween. Lots of lessons taught, and it ended with them celebrating the holiday with a feast at A&W (Canada worships American fast food). While they were walking on Saturday, they ran into extremely drunken people, and it led into a hilarious conversation. This truly is...Drunken Duncan as they call it. ;) We fasted for revelation at the zone conference on Monday, and when it came, it was awesome. We watched Meet the Mormons. Following is a review of the movie. 

This Monday, we watched an incredible movie as two zones on Vancouver Island combined. It was simply titled Meet the Mormons, and it briefly examined the lives of six LDS families that all have one common thread together: they're ordinary human beings, united by an extraordinary gift: the gospel of Jesus Christ. They're Mormons. It's a movie that aims to help viewers understand that Mormonism is not a cult, that it is indeed a worldwide church, even a worldwide family united in their beliefs and their values and their goal: to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Both hilarious (the 30 Rock and The Simpsons references were outstandingly and flawlessly edited into the film) and utterly heartfelt (the stories of these Latter-day Saints are genuine and incredibly inspiring), the movie is remarkable. It manages to introduce the world to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints without preaching to them. It's an incredible missionary tool. It shows what we value: that we enjoy life, that we are here to experience mortality with a physical body to one day become like our Heavenly father. That's what He wants for us. And we are here to serve others and to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Who didn't laugh their heads off when the football coach showed his perhaps unhealthily competitive side? Who didn't tear up at the missionary mom's story of sacrifice and faith in the Lord? Whether you're a pro-active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the most ravenous Anti-Mormon fiend known to man, this movie will touch your Spirit in ways that you could never imagine. It is quite literally perfect. 5/5 This and Pacific Rim are pretty much Best Picture Nominees for Life... That's my review.. :D

What will happen next on Duncan Elders' Adventures? Will Elder Stock and Elder Orr baptize the entire town? Will miracles happen? Tune in next week for more!

Christmas Santas for Halloween....why not!

 Sushi

 The Clonts' in our ward sent Colton a care package.  I will let his words describe the rice krispies for you....."They're delectable."

And finally a shout out to the Young Women of the Central Ward in Tucson, AZ.  Thanks for sending him a letter!

10/27/14 - 8th LETTER FROM DUNCAN

Dear Followers,

Well, this week was awesome as usual in Duncan. It started off last Monday with us havin' an awesome preparation day. We cut our own hair to save money with clippers we got from our bishop. I have a semi hipster haircut now...so that's awesome! We had a good day. On Tuesday, we visited "N" and "K" (as usual) and watched a video about temples with them called Between Heaven and Earth. It was awesome. Our stomach's were growling the whole time, though...so "N" and "K" and us were laughing super hard. They're hilarious. We had our district meeting on Wednesday and it was awesome. We had the coveted McNasty at McDonald's and it was truly epic. (I was emailing back and forth with Colton today and had to ask him what the McNasty was.  This was his reply. McNasty=McDouble + McChicken. You tear the McDouble patties apart and put the McChicken in the middle. Mega sandwich! It's delicious!!!! Oh Colton, you will be ready for college when you get home!)  We had a great lesson with an investigator named "S", etc. It's raining super hard here, now. And it's pretty cold. It's like, Canada, or something! ;) I'm loving it, though. We have gotten a lot of chances to talk with everyone we can see, and that is awesome. We met a man named "J" who doesn't like God because of what his life has ended up as, etc. We are meeting with him on Tuesday to discuss the plan of salvation. He seems really interested in what we have to say. He's feeling that Spirit! We had to walk on Saturday, and so we did. It was pouring rain. There's no protection at that point. It's just pure wet...all over! We ate at a member's home--the Zeck's--that day, and it was super good. Spare ribs, potatoes, etc. They gave me some blackberry juice to pour in my cup. I did so. Then, I discovered that my cup was upside down.... Blackberry juice everywhere! Oh, man, living up to my father's legacy! ;) My companion can't stop laughing still! It was pretty embarrassingly funny. Then, we went to church and "N" asked us if we wanted to see the handcuffs. We were a little confused, and then he pulled out these handcuffs out of his jacket pocket.

"What are you doin' with those, "N"?" we asked.
"Don't ask me!" said "N".
"Are you going to take over the ward today?"
"Yeah..." said "N" with a creepy grin. Oh, man. It was pretty funny. So yeah, we're having a great time up here! The church is true! The gospel of Jesus Christ is literally flawless. I love it! As long as we live as the lord would have us live, we will find peace in this life and a fullness of joy in the life to come.

Elder Stock

 

I think someone might be missing the desert.

 New haircut!

 He's never needed a coat and beanie to keep warm at home....and it's only fall!  Can't wait to see him all bundled up in the winter.

 

10/20/14 - 7th LETTER FROM DUNCAN

Another great Monday....it's Missionary Mail time!!!!!

 

Dear Missionary Stalkers:

Hello! It's rainy in Duncan! As an Arizonan, I love it! Well, the mission is awesome. As usual! This week, I don't necessarily have too many crazy spiritual experiences. Or maybe I do, but I've gotten so used to them that they're normal... Either way, it was great week and more than that: this week was actually FUN! What?! Fun and mission in the same e-mail?! Yeah, I went there. Let's divulge:
So, Monday was great. P-Day...is fantastic. We ended the day by teaching some investigators about baptism and 2 Nephi 31, etc. Which was awesome. Oh, and now we have sister missionaries in our area. Translation: Elder Orr and I have to start working SUPER hard now to keep up with their work. Man, just when you get into a groove, the Lord kicks it up a notch. What the heck? Does he want us to improve and learn from challenges in order to grow and become like Him someday or something?! Anyways, we then saw our recent converts N and K on Tuesday. These guys are hilarious! We watched a bunch of LDS videos with them to keep them entertained, and then we asked them if they wanted to start to prepare to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. They said that that would be too hard. They just want to sit there in church. Wow! Well, at least they're honest! I wish I was courageous enough to say that back when I was twelve! "Yeah, bishop...if I get the priesthood...I'll just have even MORE responsibility...so....yeah...I'll take a rain check." Kidding! Love the priesthood! We also saw a crazy Celtic guy that has a ton of stained glass in his house and a cat the size of a small child!

 

He was hilarious to talk to. And we're going back around Halloween to see his decorations.

Wednesday, we helped someone move into their home, and we talked with our recent convert, J, about the concerns she still has. Her testimony is growing so powerfully and she can literally feel the Holy Ghost in her life. That's awesome! We ended the night by talking about skinwalkers and ghost stories over the phone with Elder Gawrys from Campbell River.... Scary stuff! Thursday was awesome. We helped a potential investigator plant some trees in his yard, and he was super appreciative. He's looking for a church, but he's still not too sure yet. Boy, he's so ready! I love seeing how the Lord literally prepares people to receive this gospel. We went with our awesome bishop to contact some former investigators, and ran into this crazy guy with beer cans and cigarettes COVERING his floor. The gospel's for everybody! So we went in and got into a huge discussion about God with Him. He told us we were pretty nice for being open minded, but he's already figured out what God wants for him. So he kicked us out. Yeah, man...I'm not sure God WANTS you to have addictions to nasty substances, but, you know, who am I to judge? ;) 
Friday was the day that we were compelled to be humble. All of our plans fell through, and so we were finding (tracting, street contacting, etc.) all day. It was nuts. We saw literally no success. So, we had a super spiritual companionship inventory where we set major goals for this next transfer of how we are going to become awesome missionaries and consecrate ourselves to  the work. It was awesome. We then met with Big Papa, one of our investigators, and we drove to Nanaimo for stake conference. The whole zone went to the meeting because President Burt was there. As I was sitting there, some guy taps my shoulder. I turned around and BOOM!

Elder McCown, in the flesh!

 

Whoa! He's being trained in Port Alberni, so he's in my zone! It was awesome to see him and his excitement for the work. I'm so pumped to be serving in the same zone as him. We stayed the night in Nanaimo South's apartment. Me and Elders Orr, Burns, Durfee, Gawrys, and Briscoe all in the same apartment,. We PT'd (Pillow Talk), like, all night haha. It was nuts. But it was super fun. I love being surrounded by missionaries and that we each have that same goal of inviting others to come unto Christ. It's awesome. Then, we went to stake conference on Sunday after we all made heavenly breakfast burritos, and President Burt interviewed our investigator, S, and cleared her for baptism! Miracles! So, Duncan will have another baptism soon! Man, the work is hastening. I am so glad. I love this gospel, and I love the Book of Mormon. It is truly the keystone of our religion, and of the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What a joy and a peace that that brings into our lives. I love it! I hope you're all having a wonderful week, and remember: everyone's a missionary! Share this gospel out of a pure love for everyone you see!

That One Guy,

Elder Stock

 

We finally have missionaries on our bulletin board!!!!  Elder Blake Sanders is serving in South Africa.  His family just moved into our ward this summer.  Then Colton!!!  It's not quite the 16x20 he envisioned, but it works ;-)

 

10/13/14 - 6th LETTER FROM DUNCAN

I can't believe I didn't get this letter up last week!  Life is busy.  Enjoy another great letter from Elder Stock.

 

Dear Fans and Everyone Else,

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!! Yep, Canada, man. They celebrate Thanksgiving now because it's too cold to celebrate the harvest meaningfully in November up here, so they do it in mid-October! And there's not really a special Canadian twist on it, either, it's just a carbon-copy of American Thanksgiving, but without any mention of Mayflowers or Native Americans, pilgrims, etc. I kind of liked it better that way, though, because as we sat down with a family in our ward called the Lusts (don't worry, we didn't seek after them ;), we basically just had a huge turkey dinner and said what we're thankful for, and there was more focus on that simply, underlying exercise than the whole laborious story of the purpose of Thanksgiving. It was interesting and above all, super tasty. As a missionary living at the mercy of Great Value macaroni and cheese and whatever the microwave doesn't consume first, we were especially thankful for this feast. And plus, the family we were with was awesome. They had three boys, too, and so watching them fight each other and do crazy stuff together reminded me a lot of home, but not in a depressing way. Instead I truly thought of how thankful I was to have such an astounding family to raise me up in this gospel, to deal with me through my life and to help me become something better. That's what I was mainly thankful for this Thanksgiving: my family, and the importance of families in our Heavenly Father's plan for our individual salvation. 
So, I guess I'll just recount how my week went! First off, the second after I e-mailed you all last Monday, Elder Orr and I tore off down the road in our Chevy Cruze (#MormonLyfe) and headed into Wal-mart to buy our groceries for the week! And you can imagine how that goes when two 18-20 year old missionaries buy food. Don't worry, mom: I got the essentials! Toaster waffles, the coveted perogy, Great value mac and cheese, etc. And, of course, the mandatory Kinder Egg! After grocery shopping, we went to Boston Pizza and celebrated Elder Orr's birthday in style: with Spicy Perogy Burgers!!!! That was delicious! We took care of some stuff for the week, like washing our car, etc. It was a great P-Day that ended with some tracting and a new member lesson with Judith! 
Then, on Tuesday, I went on an exchange with Elder Burns from Nanaimo (it's a small little harbor city on the coast of Vancouver Island). We headed off to some teaching appointments there and had a lot of fun with some crazy people. For lunch, Elder Burns took some East Indian food he was given by their neighbor and cooked it on the stove. It looked nasty!

 

But, we ate it. Yikes. Bad mistake. That stuff was weird lol. So, there's my first weird food experience of the mission! Our night in Nanaimo culminated in the weirdest experience of the mission thus far. Some crazy drunk guy by the 7 Eleven yelled at us to come and pray with him. We weren't gonna turn down a potential investigator! So, we did. He grabbed our hands, and started chanting some crazy stuff about the Lord and then knelt before us and put Elder Burns' hands on his head, and said, "Do it! Do the special prayer!" Woah. I wasn't about to do a priesthood blessing right then and there, especially to this man... But we listened to the Spirit, and sure enough, the Spirit said, "No." We just said a regular prayer with Elder Burns' hand on his head, and as he did, this drunk guy started rising from his knees and chanting stuff. We got out of there fast! But, maybe when he's sober one day, he'll remember us and give us a call? The Lord works in mysterious ways, and alcohol doesn't help people come closer to Christ... 
Wednesday was our zone meeting with President Burt. He's awesome and super inspired. Truly called of God! Anyways, he gave us some awesome instruction on what we need to be doing in our areas to hasten His work. And it was awesome. The love he has for each of us as missionaries is truly astounding. 

Thursday was great! I went on exchange with Elder Huni from Nanaimo as well. He's my zone leader and we worked in Duncan for the day. We did a ton of street contacting in downtown Duncan, and that was awesome! Talking to people in a natural setting is super cool and way less awkward than tracting. But they're both vital for this work to move forward! We placed a Book of Mormon with our neighbor, Colleen. I love that book!!! You never really, truly realize the sheer awesomeness of the Book of Mormon until you're out here, doing the Lord's work. It is truly God's word. It is evidence that Joseph Smith was and is the restorative prophet of this dispensation, and the testament of Jesus Christ that, combined with the Bible, give us the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ! It is evidence of continued revelation from a loving Heavenly Father, and I love it's healing effects in the lives of our investigators. It speaks to your soul in a way that no other book can, and as I continue to study it throughout my mission, I am gaining a stronger and stronger testimony of just how true it is and just how powerful it is. Without the Book of Mormon, then The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not exist. And without this Church, we cannot enter the kingdom of God and live with Him after this life, we cannot gain exaltation. Man, this gospel is TOO cool! 

Friday was pretty cool. We taught an investigator with the Book of Mormon and she really got a lot out of it. She's planning on working towards baptism, but isn't sure about a specific date just yet. But hey, she's realizing the importance of the doctrine of Christ and of taking that step towards Him! 

on Saturday, we had a powerful lesson with a First Nations couple, R and K. We taught them about the Restoration, and helped them recognize that the good feeling they had while we taught was the Spirit of God testifying to them that what we were sharing is true. We invited them to read and ponder and pray about the Book of Mormon, and then I asked them how they were feeling right at that very moment. They responded, "Good. I feel intrigued." Boom. That was my chance! As soon as your investigators feel the Spirit, so within the first lesson, you invite them to be baptized! That's how Christ taught, and that's who we represent, and so I invited them to, when they knew this gospel was true, to be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. And they said they would. No hesitation. THAT'S the Spirit! Not me or Elder Orr! It was super awesome! So they're planning on being baptized around November 8th. It's a goal they'll work towards. I love it. 

Sunday was Thanksgiving, and so we were in members' homes, teaching them principles and getting referrals, etc.
I love the mish!!! The Church is true, the Book of Mormon is the keystone of it, and as Joseph Smith said, we will "get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." I know this to be true. This is the Lord's work. Not ours. So pray all the time, read your scriptures, and read Preach My Gospel! I love you all!!!!

 

This was Asher's birthday gift from Colton. 

 

10/06/14 - 5th LETTER FROM DUNCAN

Dear Loyal Fans and Internet Stalkers Alike,

Well, this marks another fantastic week here in Duncan, BC! Elder Orr and I are like two peas in a pod, two buns on a burger, two seats on a see-saw... Wow. Those were ALL super weird and creepy. But yeah, we're doin' good. ;) We're like brothers now. Well, technically, he's my dad (You're missionary trainer is nicknamed your dad). You better believe I have fun with that! Jokes like, "Tracting with dad," and "Dunkin' in Duncan with dad," are constantly being said. It's hilarious. To me, at least. Anyways, it's Elder Orr's birthday!!!!! Happy Birthday with dad!!! Gonna have to go eat something awesome after we e-mail!
So, this week, as usual on the mish, has been full of miracles and pure spiritual awesomeness. Not only was this weekend a super spiritual recharge with the pure awesomeness that was general conference, but we had our first baptism last night!!!! {:D
So, the week was awesome. We met with our investigator, Judith, almost everyday this week to prepare her for her baptism this Sunday. And those meetings were great. She has such a desire to follow the example of Christ and be baptized and work toward a more faithful life of service to Him. It's so awesome to see. We had awesome spiritual experiences this week. We met with some born-again Christian guy to do service for him (move some logs and stuff in his yard) and he gave us lunch. Little did we know was that it was a trap. Well, the food was super good so we stayed anyways, but this guy goes on and on about how we're being deceived by the devil "disguised as an angel of light", etc. It was hilarious to watch. We kind of just ate our bratwursts and let him drone on. He told us that heaven is gonna be awesome, and the purpose of Captain America and the Hulk is that we are supposed to be like them in heaven. Haha... He'll believe THAT, but not that God caleld another prophet...just like He's done throughout the beginning of the Earth.... Riiiiiighhtt.... Anyways, it's crazy to see how lost people are and how hard Satan works at people to try to turn them away from the truth: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is Jesus Christ's church, reestablished on the Earth through a modern-day prophet Joseph Smith. I know this through the Holy Ghost. It has born witness to me of its truthfulness, and as President Uchtdorf said two days ago, the truths that the Spirit teaches you are more valuable than the highest education on Earth. It's so true. Heavenly Father wants us to know all, and He can give us knowledge through His Spirit. It's so awesome!
So, then we got to meet with another investigator, A. This guy has been through some ridiculously hard times, and wants to follow Christ, and he says that whenever we meet with him, he feels this spiritual recharge that last for a while, then dwindles and is recharged again when we come back to him. We told him that this was the Holy Ghost, which we have access to through ordinances like baptism and confirmation. We asked him if he wanted the constant companionship of this "spiritual recharge", and he said, more than anything. We committed him to baptism and he said he needs to think about it, but he said he'd like to soon! Miracles have not ceased!!!!
Anyways, general conference was SUPER awesome. Every speaker had with them such a wondrous Spirit. I got so much out of this conference, and I look forward to applying it to my life this week as I go out and represent Jesus Christ and minister to His children, and invite them to join His fold. This work is not ours, it is His. He is with us on our left and on our right.
After conference, we had a baptismal service for Judith Shaw..... Guess who got baptize her?
...

ME! It was crazy awesome. The Spirit was so strong at the service, and I was so grateful that I am able to use my priesthood to help bless the lives of others. She said that as she was under the water, she felt this indescribable feeling. She said it felt really good. Elder Orr and I told her that some people have described it as a warm blanket being wrapped around you. She said that was a good way to put it. And the difference in her countenance before and after the baptism was staggering. She's a new person. She has truly been born again in Christ (and not in the weird Captain-America-heaven way, but in the correct way, by His sacred priesthood authority!) Oh, man, this weekend was tremendous. Easily the best of my life thus far, as far as just feeling that Spirit and and having Him testify and confirm to me the wonderful truths of this gospel.

I love you all. You seriously all rock. This Church is true. Jesus Christ lives. He is with us now. And he is at the helm of this great work. I know this to be true.

-Elder Stock