August 18, 2013

August 18, 2013

Salut everyone!

We had a good week this week. on Wednsday we went on exchanges with the zone leaders and I went to work in Longuiel for a day. We have spent quite a bit of time at the James Family's home this week. Their son Scott just reactivated himself after several years and moved back in with them (he was in Ontario). He had a really good relationship with the Elders there and his parents desperately want that with us. He is planning on going on a mission in a year, so we are working with him to help him prepare. We've eaten at their house 4 times now as a result, and it has been awesome to get to know Scott and see how the Gospel has re-kindled his faith and desire to follow Christ.

Wow a family reunion! i didn't even remember that that was happening. I hope that you guys are having a good time. Yeah I would probably whine about camping, but inside I would still be very happy about spending time with my extended family. 

I'm still wondering if Eric is serving English or Spanish? You might have already answered that, but I can't remember. it's so crazy that everyone in my peer group is leaving on missions. Could you guys find Eric's (or Elder Larson's) e-mail for me? I want to be able to communicate with him. 

This week we lost Junior, who was progressing very well. He moved back to Montreal suddenly and we have no idea where he is so we can't refer him to other missionaries. All we can do is pray that he finds the Church again. Gabrielle, who just married Jeremy Bergeron (a member) is extremely close to baptism. She is completely ready, but is afraid that she isn't ready yet. We visited her on Thursday and brought along Aubert, a 17 year-old recent convert who is the only member in his family; he is awesome. We talked about testimonies and the need to grow our faith through action. We left her with Alma 32 and a commitment to pray individually and with her husband to help strengthen her assurance that this is the right path. On the way home afterwards (it was nine o'clock) Aubert suddenly told us to turn around. He felt that we needed to commit her to baptism. We stopped and prayed, and we decided to do it. We turned around, went back into the building, knocked on their door, and commited Gabrielle to be baptized in three weeks. The spirit was extremely powerful. She said, we think for the first time, that she wants to be baptized. She is still pondering the date, but we have every confidence in her. A love of the Gospel and a testimony by the spirit shines in her eyes.

We also started teaching Mike this week. He is a middle aged firefighter turned administrator in the fire-department (due to cancer in his lymph nodes. His left lung was damaged by the radiation therapy) who already intends to get baptized. He is divorced from his first wife and is dating a member down in South Carolina. He intends to marry her, and wants to be a part of the same church as her. Now all he needs is a testimony that it is true. He is a self-described workaholic and his schedule is insane. He speaks English and French perfectly, and fed us Tim Horton's doughnuts (seriously there are about ten Tim Horton's in Sherbrooke alone. Apparently their goal in Canada is one Tim Horton's for every 500 residents. Everyone here likes Tim Horton's). He has a hard time coming to Church here in Sherbrooke because he only gets to see his kids on weekends, and they aren't terribly interested in the Church (they are older teen-agers and he doesn't want to force them to do anything). Also he is in South Carolina a lot.

That is just some of the stuff that has been going on this week. I hope you guys are doing well. I know this gospel is true. There is no where that I would rather be right now than on my mission. I love you guys!

Also is Dylan's e-mail d.young@myldsmail.net? I'm not sure if I have the right one.