Week 32 - Bonjour!

That is just about all the French I know so far, I am working on it though! How is everyone doing down there in the beautiful U.S.A? It was for sure weird leaving behind the old area of Barrhead and coming down here to Rocky Mountain House. It was even more weird to see President and Sister Campbell at their last transfer meeting just this last week. It'll be interesting to see what changes with the new mission president's arrival just this week. I definitely have a lot of memories from the Barrhead area, lots of friendships I was able to make, but now we are moving along. Rocky Mountain house is a nice area, I think so at least. It is down in the more southern part of our mission, and actually close to the mountains like I said. I can actually see the mountains from the town! There are only around 3000 more people than Barrhead, but it feels much, much bigger! The ward isn't a ton bigger, but definitely can tell the difference.

The work here is going pretty well I would say. Just recently they got an investigator on date. Her name is Alanna. The date right now is Aug. 24, we can move it up though as she works on getting work off. She said she talked to her managers and they said not this, but next week she should have it off. Hopefully that will follow through. We have another investigator who actually lives out in the woods! It's pretty cool! We went there to go see her and meet her, and let me first say it's like a mile walk on a dirt path, but she wasn't home. Oh well! On the walk back though it just started to pour! It was crazy! Good times though. We went to go visit her the other day, but because all of the rain the river had overflowed all the way up to her place. Which initially is like 75 yards or something away from the edge of the river bank, not just where the water is. We tried to make it just by following game trails through the thick of it, but we ended up just turning back realizing that it was not going to work! We will try again tomorrow! That day we went to go see her though we did see her like live-in partner, Jack. Oh, her name is Mary by the way! And anyways we saw him just sitting down there by the river. So I literally have talked to someone, while sitting next to a bridge, down by the river now!

We have an investigator who is from Africa, his name is Kambo! He is a tough one. He asks some tough questions, but for some reason I love those types. We taught him the one time, and he has the hardest time with the Spirit World. We will be teaching him again tonight, so hopefully we can make some progress. It's been like this same problem for the last year.. we shall see!

One really cool thing since being here is we have this less-active guy is actually deaf. At first when I heard that I was overwhelmed. Like what am I going to do! So you know what I did, I started to learn sign language. I study every morning for like 15 mins before personal study. I can now say basic things, and can say a really basic prayer, along with the alphabet and stuff of course. It is hard, but it seems like the right thing to do! He is a super awesome guy though!

Oh, I have now tried something new again. Mountain Sheep! One of the members up here hunts a ton, and so he fed us some mountain sheep the other day. I told him it is his responsibility to keep me full of wild game now. I also have some bear Jerky that Bro. Swan gave me back up in Barrhead! It's actually pretty good!

Yesterday, my first Sunday was sweet! I got on a good start it seems like in the ward. The rumor about the bishop was he was super hard to befriend, and kinda a quiet guy. But at church and everything he came up to me introduced himself with a big smile on his face, but before that imitated this golf swing! It was hilarious! Apparently word got around before I was here that I love to golf! We had supper with the Bishop and his family yesterday and it was awesome! So maybe we have turned a new leaf there! 

Last night we had quite the experience too as we had two suppers. Our ward mission leader and his wife are from the Philippines, they are hilarious! Well, they took us out to their friends place where we had some Pilipino food, It's called panchit! It's basically stirfry, and then like a few other things. We well talked about the gospel and they are super interested and want to come to church next week! So we will see how that goes! The Duran's, our ward mission leader, said they are going to cook me goat in July, along with Belout, which is a half developed chicken fetus..so we will see how that goes!

Life is good though! I am loving it! Today is actually blue skies too! I hope all is well with you! I love you all!

Love, Elder McFall

Welcome to Rocky Mountain House!

President and Sister Campbell at our last transfer meeting! They will be missed!

This is Elder Simmons, actually from Lehi! He is one of my pals up here for sure!

Probably the coolest pumpjack ever. It is right off one of the highways leaving town.

This is actually back up in Barrhead. It's like 20 yards into the bush! We were tracting up in here for like half a day in this subdivision.

Week 31 - Hello one and all!

I can't believe the amount of things that can be done in one week as a missionary! The weeks have honestly just been flying by. It's so much fun though! This week we weren't able to have a ton of lessons with our investigators, which is frustrating and rather sad. However, we still were able to chat with them and have good conversations. I know things will move along eventually with each of them. They will all come to realize that the gospel is what they need, it just takes time though. I feel as though I was able to be a part of their journey for simply planting the seed and getting things in motion, and then time will allow things to progress. We did have one lesson this week with our investigator Maryann. It was so great! It was a super solid lesson all about how the Book of Mormon is essential to us in our conversions and how we need it to find the greatest happiness. We emphasized how it is one of the most crucial points in getting a testimony of the gospel, and how to heed the promptings of the spirit. The Book of Mormon, coupled with an understanding of how the Holy Ghost is working within you, is what makes everything click. She has been able to see Satan working against her and she recognizes what he has been doing to try and dissuade her from further progressing. At the same time she has been seeing how the way is being prepared for her to investigate the gospel! It has been a cool conversion to be a part of! 

I was able to have a very neat experience with the Holy Ghost this week. We were having a regular meal and lesson with one of the member families here in the ward last Wednesday. As it goes, we go from supper (dinner) and then we share our message. That morning we had planned this lesson we thought would be super solid and what the family needed to hear. When we sat down to do the lesson, my comp and I both opened to a scripture in D&C 84, where initially our scripture was in Mathew 7. We didn't notice it at the time though. Anyways, we both opened up thinking it was the exact message we had prepared, it was the lesson for them, and neither of us questioned it. We had our message/lesson, and it went so well! It was exactly what they needed. We answered some questions they had about missionary work, gave direction, motivation, the works! It was a super sweet lesson. Now fast forward to that night when we were planning for the next day and talking about our lessons that day. We looked in our planners and realized we shared a completely different message without realizing it! It was so cool! The Holy Ghost is always at work; often times when we don't even realize it! I was so grateful to heed to the prompting that we were able to receive at that time. The Holy Ghost allows us to bless other people's lives more than I think we do realize.

Another awesome experience this week was with a less-active family that really does not come to church, nor plans on it. Well you know, we had a supper with them! It was a great experience! It has been a blessing in this area for me because I've realized I have been able to get friendships with some of the members that missionaries haven't been able to get in for a while. I've been a part of them reopening their lives to the gospel, and I am so grateful for that!

Now I will bear the bittersweet news, I got the transfer call this morning and I will be headed down to Rocky Mountain House! It is in the southern part of our mission, actually over by the mountains too! I am stoked for that! Another outlying smaller area, apparently it's sort of in the middle of nowhere, but I am excited. It's been the greatest blessing to be up here in the Barrhead area. I love the people up here and they have greatly influenced my life. It's the greatest blessing! I have made friendships with some of these people that I will never forget! I will be with Elder Coombs, the same fellow I served with in the tripanionship! It is close to the mountains there too, which is sweet! I will enjoy it I’m sure. It will be tough leaving behind Barrhead, but I feel at peace with the area and feel as though I accomplished what I was here to do, and learned (or as the Canadians say, learnt) what I was supposed to learn!

I hope you all have a wonderful week this week. The scripture in D&C that I mentioned is one you should all look up. It says, "And whose receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." I hope you can all think about that and realize that when we are in the work of our Lord and spreading the gospel as we are constantly told to do, he has prepared the way. He is there to guide us along the way. It is the greatest blessing we could ever have. He is always there to help us; we need to allow Him to be a part of the work that we are so eagerly endeavoring on. 

 
I love you all! I hope to hear from you all soon!

Love, Elder McFall

 

 

 

Week 30 - Hello Family & Friends!

The life of Elder McFall is a good one! I mean really, what does a missionary have to complain about? Okay there is a lot of things, but I'll be honest, the joys of serving a mission are irreplaceable. I can't believe I have been able to experience all of the things I have, and I am only 7 months away from home! The journey of a missionary is one that I think you would be hard pressed not to find excitement and joy in! This week was a good one! Not for really any specific reason, just for the fact that I am choosing to be positive about it no matter what! 

We did have a great opportunity to teach Maryann, our new investigator from Hinton, this week. She is doing quite well. We went over there with the Waggoners and really just got to know her more on the spiritual level and see what she is truly looking for in this gospel. It's nice to be able to see someone with that great desire. She came to church yesterday and she had a great reception with the ward. It is good to see someone like that too in the ward, because it plays a great role in getting everyone else excited about missionary work! Hopefully it will jumpstart a new wave of investigators here in the Barrhead area!

We had exchanges this week; I was in Barrhead with Elder Burnside. He went to Brighton High, and so it was fun to see how many people we knew in common! We came out together, but I didn't really know that until I met him when he got transferred up to Athabasca. I guess I didn't pay much attention at the MTC! Our plan for Barrhead was pretty much street contact, tract, and a few lessons on the day he was here. It was a good time though as we found one lady who we mowed her lawn and then set up a tent in her backyard for her. We even got invited to have supper with her and her family that night, it was saurkraut and sausage though, so I said we had an appt! haha that is bad I know..but that nasty cabbage is bad for the soul. Then later we were walking around and saw this guy sitting on his porch, so we naturally just talk to him, and get talking and talking and before you know it we are sittin up on his porch have a water and just talking to him. It was an awesome experience! It is moments like that where I realize how cool it is to be a missionary and how we are able to meet so many different cool people! We talked a bit about gospel, but I think more importantly the next time missionaries knock on their door they will invite them in and talk to them even more. We are like Johnny Appleseed, but instead we plant seeds of the gospel! (I am going crazy, I realize this.)

We weren't able to teach really any of our other investigators this week, which is a bummer. people just are too busy for the gospel apparently? Which is tough to see. I wish they would see that their life would be so much easier, their sorrows and pains would go away if they would allow Christ into their lives. They just need to experience it, and try it out, and I know they will see the difference. This week we are hoping to be back on track and at it again. 

We were able to go to the ward campout this last Friday night. It was a blast! It was fun to get out there with the ward and have a little bit of fun! We shared a message with them around the campfire too which was actually a pretty neat experience! We talked about how we need to not let others bring our testimonies down, and not let the distractions of life deter us from thriving in the gospel. It was a fun little object lesson we did, that would be difficult to explain via email, but know it was good! 

Saturday we did all sorts of service again! Split wood for just about 3 hours...we used this homemade wood splitter, which is a lot less sketchy then it sounds, but we got it done! It was a lot of work, but it made me realize how much I appreciate and how thankful I am that I have been blessed with an able body that I can help people out like we have. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week though! It has been rainy and stormy here for just about the last two weeks, it is driving me crazy! I want the sun! It only gets to like 75 degrees at the most, but apparently it's still not summer, so I have no reason to worry. It will hopefully be a great week up here! We will make it great either way! Could be my last week as next week I could be transferred! Who knows! Until then! I'll talk to you soon!

Love, Elder McFall

Week 29 - Good Afternoon!

I hope you all have had an awesome week! This week was another week that just flew by! It seems to be going that way lately. We hardly have time to breathe before we are off and about trying to get something else done. I did enjoy everything this week. We did a lot of service, lots of lessons, a bit of tracting, and a bit of everything in between. That is definitely one of the nice things about serving here in this area. 

I will just get right to the meat & potatoes of the week...So this week we had an awesome lesson with Shirley. (She is one of the less-actives we have been working with). We went over there and we taught all about Faith. A simple principle at the surface, but after that it gets so much better. My focus in the lesson was trying to answer every question through a scripture, and I was doing that, but then it got to this point where I felt like we should just stop and bear testimony on a few of the things that we were talking about. Her question that caused that was basically like, `have you not questioned all of this before? We then bore testimony on basically how we got to where we were and she was almost floored with seeing that we had the same questions she is having now about everything. We have asked her and she really sees us as these people who are practically perfect and have everything figured. (How wrong she is..)  But we were able to explain that what she is going through is completely normal. She should have these questions, and it turned out to be an awesome lesson that I do believe helped her so much. We have been able to see such a change in her life over the last couple months, it`s been so neat to be a part of! 

On Thursday we had a meal with the Stephenson family. They are relatively new to the ward, but they are a less-active family. We got up there and had a great time with them, a great message, and just an enjoyable time. She said at the end that this is the first time in 20 years she has had the missionaries in her home for supper...so that was pretty neat! That night we then went over to the Schallocks, where we taught the family, this is the family that includes Madi. It was a lesson about allowing the gospel to be our Liahona. It is a lesson that bases out of Alma, and relates the Liahona they used to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives now. It is one that really does make you think a little bit. It`s lessons like that where I have to ask myself questions and then set goals for my life in the future. I do that hoping that I will never stray from this gospel that I have found out to be such a great direction in my life. 

We were able to have a lesson with the Lungers this week which was good. It had been a while since an actual sit down lesson. We talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. It was one where they seemed to really understand and agree, committed to being there on Sunday, and yet they were nowhere to be seen. That is one of the most frustrating things that can happen in a missionaries life I am pretty sure. 

We had something good happen this week though! We had an investigator that has been living in Hinton, a couple hours away towards BC, move into our ward boundaries! We helped her move on Saturday a bit, then a little more on Sunday. (just think, Ox and the Mire).. And so it has been really good to see that maybe a new face into the ward. She is close to being baptized, just has to work out some details in regards to a common-law husband and things like that. She has such a great desire though! We are supposed to be meeting with her this Thursday. 

We had a good experience with a Jehovah`s witness this week, which is a first!  We were tracting and we came up and just chatted with this lady for the longest time. It was different than most because usually they just try to bash and try to prove you wrong. Well I actually was able to have a good conversation where I learned a lot more about what they believe, and answered a lot of questions for her on what we believe! So that was good! There was also a little street fair on Saturday we just walked around and talked to people! Pretty sure that is the biggest event in Barrhead! Good times though! 

I will try and accomplish many great things this week! I love you all very much! Have an awesome week down there in the U.S.A.!

Love, Elder McFall