Harlem Globetrotter in Port Alberni

So, guess what? IM STILL IN PORT ALBERNI!!! I got a new companion. He’s pretty cool. His name is Elder Hansen. ANOTHER Utah missionary. Who would have guessed.... Anyway, crazy but fun week! And SOOOO many miracles! This past week after Elder Zieler was gone and after visiting with all of the members to say good bye, I picked up Elder Hansen in Nanaimo, and we went straight to work. Elder Hansen is such a good missionary already though. He’s 15 months out and he SOMEHOW puts up with me already. Anyway, we go straight to work. We wind up on running into this guy named Bill who Elder Zieler and I knocked into a couple days earlier. Anyway, we set up a return appointment for a couple hours later, and he just seemed to soak it up. We did however, figure out that he has dementia, so he has trouble remembering things, but he does feel the spirit. We just keep hoping and praying that he remembers the things we share with him.

We met with Marilyn this past week. We unfortunately had to move her baptismal date back, and, we figured out today that we are going to have to move it back further. The progress is slow and steady though.

We didn't get to share a lesson with Francois this past week which was a bummer. We did see him though and just let him know that we are there for him and that if he needs anything, we are willing to help him to the best of our abilities.

So, crazy thing happened this past week. We were knocking doors and we come up to this house. Of course, we naturally knock on it because that's what missionaries do. Anyway, when the door opened, this giant guy opened the door. This guy was huge! We start talking, and then it took a split second for me to realize who this guy really was. I remember seeing these posters for a charity event from a church here in town. I also remember reading the details on who was going to be there to sponsor the event and who was helping and all that sort of stuff. It all came rushing back to me, and I remembered the name. THIS GUY WAS LEFTY WILLIAMS who played for the Harlem Globetrotters!!! Out of all places in the world to wind up, he was in Port Alberni! Turns out he was a pastor for one of the churches. We talked about how people needed God and stuff while I just kind of stood in awe of this guy. Anyway, he complimented us very heavily on us knocking doors and doing the hard work. I have to admit, I felt so cool.

Let’s see, what else, oh yeah, we have a baptism this Saturday!!! So, there is this girl named Ivy Nelson in the ward, and she is about 9 years old. Her parents are divorced, so her dad lives in Utah. Anyway, turns out her dad is coming to visit for a couple weeks and he really wants to baptize her. Even better, she wants to get baptized! We went and taught her yesterday, and I could not believe the knowledge this little girl has. She knew so much! We breezed through the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, 10 Commandments and Word of Wisdom, in about an hour, and she taught about 60% of it! I learned so much from this little girl! I didn't even know as much as she did before my mission. Kind of embarrassing actually, but SO COOL! We are going to go see her tonight and, instead of teaching, I think we will be learning.

So everything has been going great! The new companion is awesome! So easy going and fun! The area is still good same old Port Alberni! I am just so happy to be able to serve here for another 6 weeks. I can almost guarantee that I will be getting transferred next transfer. "I can feel it...in my belly"

P- day was awesome. We played pool, did our laundry, got our groceries, bought a native tie which is AWESOME! We also went up to this lookout which was pretty sweet. Got to see all of Port Alberni from the top of this mountain.

I sure love and miss all of you though! Just keep being SUPER AWESOME!

Love,

Elder McCown