Week 17 - Here it is everyone!

Good afternoon to you all!! I hope it's yet another great week for all of you. It's been a good time up here in Alberta, a lot going on, but that means a lot of experiences and lot of learning is taking place, right? It was the first full week of splitting the work in the two areas, it went pretty well. I can now talk more about it.

So down in Parkland I have been meeting all sorts of members and their investigators. It's been crazy to meet them all and try and get to know them. It can be hard though because they know I will be leaving at the end of the month. Kind of hard for them to fall in love with the new guy/temp. I have had awesome experiences with the members though, and some people I have been able to have awesome chats with due to me being who I am. You can see how each missionary is so different, and because of who they are they are able to connect with others on different levels. We have taught a few investigators down here this last week. They went well. Before I got here their investigator pool was starting to shrink, and still doing that a little bit. Nobody is really progressing like we would desire. A lot of people can't seem to put the world aside and actually give themselves the time to study the gospel. It's frustrating because we want them to see that they are so closely related! You must have that balance in order to find true happiness. There comes peace as you balance the gospel and the world. In the end they are things that directly complement one another. 

We were able to spend in all about 2.5 days up in Barrhead/Westlock this week. I loved it! It was like I was going back home! On Wednesday we were able to meet with a couple of the less-actives we have been working with a ton. First with Eric, our guy from Taiwan. He is doing really good, finally got his visa to be here legally working haha but with that we have been talking over JSH and all about Joseph's life. It is so interesting. I love studying the life of the prophet himself. An interesting thing I got talking to a member (the Uwazny's) about though yesterday. The prophet really is what the church needs at the present time. The prophet may not be a perfect person and he may do things we disagree with, but we need to remember that it's not exactly who we individually need every time. The prophet is who the church needs to progress at the time. If you look at the history of the prophets, each one is so different and because of that they are able to accomplish very unique things. You may not agree with this entirely, but that is my stand on that! haha anywho, other things that happened in Westlock were we taught Shirley M. again. She is a less-active, hasn't gone to church in roughly 30 years. She is awesome though. She has a great testimony of prayer. I love the chats we have with her and her husband (a non-member) because they are open to what we are talking about. It also allows me to stretch and see my skills grow as a teacher, which is something I always need help with. 

Back in Barrhead for Saturday and Sunday this week! We got in with a few less-actives which hasn't been done since I’ve been here with these particular families. But one that meant a lot to me on Saturday was with Sister Juba. She is like this 80 something old lady, now she is in the hospital. She is the sweetest old lady. I am so happy I've gotten to know her. I always love visiting her and every time we go in I have the biggest smile and no matter the pain she is in she always shoots me back a big grin. It warms me! But as we talked with her this week, she was sitting there in the hospital and she just stopped and told me that, "we are very precious to her". It was simple words, but she struggles to speak as it is. You saw that she had to gather her strength just to say those few words. It truly went straight to my heart. I realize that the work we do is not just for others and bringing them to Christ, but it's being Christlike in all that we do. It's reaching out to those in need and uplifting their spirits no matter what. She may not be with us much longer as her health has been decreasing. But I will always hold the time I have had with her very near and dear to my heart. Sunday was so good to be back in the Barrhead ward. It feels good to have members come up to you and say that they missed you and that they are very glad I am back. And to have someone specifically tell me how happy they are I didn't get transferred. I've had the whole bishopric tell me that they hope that I don't get transferred because they want to keep me around as long as possible. It gives me hope! They work with us so closely with our investigators and they are so on board with everything that we do. They call me during the week and I talk to them frequently to see how we can see things progress. Something that wasn't that way before I got into the area..so that is a good sign! ha on Sunday we also got to teach our investigator Susan! It was great! We had planned to talk about the restoration of the gospel, but as we got to talking I felt prompted to share the chapter in Alma 32..about our faith and it being compared to a seed. We must exercise our faith to allow it to grow. It was a great lesson, the spirit was so strong. At the end of the lesson she just said that that was the perfect lesson for her that day. The exact message she needed to hear. It was fulfilling to feel like a true instrument in the Lord's hands. Hopefully things with her will continue to progress, she is going to Belize for 10 days though! Gosh, that will make it tough. But we left on a great note and should pick up right where we left off. 

It was good this week with teaching overall. We got 10 lessons in the 2.5 days we were up there, which is really good for that area. I mean we got only 9 the rest of the time in Parkland. It feels good to see that maybe I do know that I am doing when it comes to planning and everything! ha anyways I hope you all have a wonderful week. You are all in my prayers constantly. I'll talk to you all soon!

Love, Elder McFall

Here is a photo of our Riverbend Zone: