Week 19

Hey (Canadian line).

Two Fridays ago, we had our Ward Activity that we were so excited to do! We had prepared so much for it and we really felt like it would help the ward so much! We had to make a few last minute changes since we didn't have a Ward Mission leader, but we coordinated with Elder Francis and Elder Gurr, and it was all going to work out. We made the coolest missionary tags for the members, and got all set up and ready to go. The Elders called the first half of the ward to personally invite everyone and we called the second half. It comes to 7:30 and you would never believe how many people were there. 0. Yup. 10 minutes later we had two more people show up. It was super rough! We didn't have a good sized group until after 8, and it was still so small that we had to change everything. We just felt like it was going so bad. At the end though, we had some people in tears, and then for the next couple days, we heard good things about it. But it was just not great. Man.

Last Monday, we taught a potential who we found on the Skytrain the last day before our passes ran out. His name is Cristobal*. He went home and told his roommate about us, and coincidentally, the next day, he met Elder Francis and Gurr. His name is Pedro*. We had the lesson, and Cristobal brought Pedro. We gave a tour of the church and then taught the Restoration. After the first vision, they both sat in silence for a minute and then said, "wow". It was so awesome. I love that reaction. Okay! Love it! We finished up and invited them to baptism. Two dates! But the Elders get Pedro's. They are scheduled for the 31st, although they weren't able to come to church yesterday, so we'll see how it goes.

We were out enjoying the nice weather this week, and all of a sudden it started hailing like crazy. All hail broke loose. Sorry everyone. They were big, cold, and wet. So that was super fun. Got to love Vancouver!

Saturday we had the huge ward dinner for Mother's day. The Hermanos in the ward made the dinner. There was so much preparation into the night and it turned out really nice. We had a lot of potentials and investigators saying they would be there, but in the end, only 2 showed up. Anita* came at the end, so she didn't get to stay very long. But Fernando* came at the beginning. We ate and talked, with the mood set by Spanish music. The primary sang a couple songs, and Andrew (11), the bishop's son sang a song. We had cake at the end. Tradition is that during cleanup, they dance for a couple hours, but we had to leave to be home by 9:00, so we didn't see any of it. 

Transfers are this week! I am staying in Vancouver Spanish and I am finishing Hermana Wilson's training. We're super excited!

We had a potential, Fernando, from last week. He has no spiritual or religious background other than he knows he has been to a church before. He came to church last week, and he came again this week! He fits in so well with the ward and he feels so comfortable there. In Gospel Principles, not only does he pray every week, but he comments and participate in every way. He loves the atmosphere and everything. We taught him Restoration on Thursday last week. He is really open and asks questions and makes comments. And again, after the First Vision he said "wow". Can I tell you enough how much I love that response? Yes! Wow! God the Father and His son, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. What an act of love. After the Restoration, he said, "So I was just wondering. What are your beliefs about where we came from and where we go after this life? And why do you think we are here?" Are you kidding me? He is so prepared! We invited him to baptism, but he wasn't ready to commit. After the lesson, we gave him the rest of the Introduction to read. But he asked if there was something he could read about his questions, so we also gave him the Plan of Salvation pamphlet. He also wanted something about faith, so we gave him Alma 32. Then on Saturday, before the dinner, we taught him the Plan of Salvation. He had been reading from the Book of Mormon and praying, and had read the pamphlet. He loved it. While we were explaining Earth Life, he asked, "What about the people who don't have a chance to learn about the Gospel in this life?" Actually, we would love to answer that question. He asked us if life was easy. We said no, it's still hard, we still have trials. Then Fernando said this: "I think that having a knowledge of this plan really does make life easy. You look at those other people out there (pointing out of the chapel) who don't have a knowledge of this plan. They are drinking and doing drugs and think that it brings them happiness. But these are the real things that bring happiness". Are you kidding me?! We invited him to baptism and he said one day, but he wants to know more first before he commits. He came to church yesterday and loved it again. Keep him in your prayers!

While contacting in Vancouver, it is a lot different than in Surrey or other smaller cities. In Vancouver, everyone is living the city life. Everyone is in a rush from one area to the next and it's hard to get anyone to stop and talk to you. We start a lot of conversations with a compliment. Sometimes we are just walking compliment machines because that is all they have time to listen to. But we do whatever we can to talk to someone about the gospel. The other day, we were contacting. It was super funny, and I'm so glad I was able to watch it because apparently it isn't funny if you weren't there.

Hermana Williamson: "I love your scarf! Where did you get it?"

Lady: (In the biggest rush to get somewhere besides Salvation) Thanks, my mom got it for me from _____ (some country I don't remember).

Hermana Williamson: (As the lady is speed walking away) "MOM GIFTS! I love mom gifts!"

Mom gifts?! Hahahaha

We had exchanges this weekend, and Hermana Hoth came here with Hermana Williamson and I, and Hermana Wilson went with Vancouver YSA Sisters. It was fun.

Language Problems 101: I was talking to a non-member at the Mothers Day dinner on Saturday. She is the mom of a recent convert who just started coming to church last week. She asked me what song I was supposed to be playing. It was Love at Home. I knew that that wasn't how you said it in Spanish, but I couldn't think of what it was called so I just decided to directly translate the title. And as I spoke, I realized why it isn't called Love at Home in Spanish. It was so bad. I dyed laughing and everyone tried to play it cool. But lets just be honest for a second and realize how bad it really was.

Me: "Amor en Casa".

Oh my goodness. I can't get over it. Her face was blank. Hermana Williamson quickly tried to fix it all. Thank goodness for companions!

On that happy note, have a fantastic week!

Hermana Lewis

PS I won't be emailing to next Tuesday most likely because the Libraries are closed next Monday.

Not quite 3/$1... :(

Bienvenidos a Port Moody

Richmond