Singing?

That’s another week gone by...which is just nuts!  So this week was just chock full of miracles! Best ones yet!  We were able to teach this guy named Brent! Literally the coolest native guy ever! We had called him up last week and he is just so solid! He believed in God when he was younger, and then rejected him for about 10 years, got into some things, and just recently was able to get out of some them! Well, all but one...he knows drinking and smoking is wrong and has been able to conquer both of them except for some slight drinking. The one hole he can’t get out of though, is that hole with God. Of course, THATS WHEN WE COME IN!!! He loves and believes everything we teach him! The week before we talked about baptism and set that expectation with him. Well he thought about it and yesterday we were able to teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he just soaked it up like a sponge! Literally just ate it up! Most sincere guy ever, and has noticed the impact it has had on his life so far! After teaching him the lesson he found that baptism was the way and said he would "meditate on it". SO GOOD! He just so awesome!

We were also able to teach this guy named Allen too. So we leave behind stuff all the time, and something that we left behind with him the first time we met him was a pamphlet. Well, apparently he went to the back of the pamphlet and answered the questions in the back and said that "it all just makes sense!"

We have also been able to just see a ton of miracles all around us!  We were invited over by sister Bonion and she is the sweetest lady ever! SHE COOKS SO MUCH FOOD TOO! She invited us as well as the Carullos and we just got stuffed! Every time, before something could disappear on my plate, she would ask "Elder, you have no more (rice, adobo, pizza, beans, etc.)" and before I could say anything, she would put another helping on my plate! Literally so full! Then, to top it off, she gave us fried banana and ice cream...so good!

Other than that things have been just going great up here! The Sisters had a baptism as well and all the missionaries that were there got to sing...and that is just a scary thought in itself...

And guess what?!? My companion (Elder Ushio) is famous! He played the bass for his band back in Japan and also wrote the lyrics to the songs that his band now sings. His bands name is My First Story and they are just starting up. Pretty cool eh? My comps famous....
Sure love and miss yall!

Love

Elder McCown

Jumping through Hoops

So, ya know how last week was just a rough week and all...WELL IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!

So we kicked butt this week! Literally just worked our butts off, had an awesome zone conference with President Burt, (even though it was 7 hours of straight sittin). But it was so good!

So there is this guy. His name is Jerry Joy. But, anyway interesting story on how he was found by the missionaries. He was actually talking to a member and said that he wanted the missionaries to come by because he remembered them from about 40 years ago give or take. So, when you tell a member that you want the missionaries to come by, you better expect 2 guys in white shirt and ties to be there shortly.
So he let in Elder Robinson and Elder Ushio and they figure out that he is a less active.  Wellllll, interesting story, this guy literally does not remember his baptism. His ex-wife got baptized, and so did his son, but he does not remember it at all. He can literally remember the type of car he drove as well as the interior of the car way before his wife and son got baptized...so we have been jumping through hoops and bending over backwards through the bishop, to stake president, back to bishop, then to SLC, and then back...well, we just got back from bishop on Sunday, and you bet we were screaming like little girls in ward council! Well...not really...I screamed like a little girl on the inside, but anyway, JERRY IS GOING TO GET BAPTIZED! Literally! Miracles! Dont know when but he is!

I was also able to hear about this family that I found in Surrey. Elder Anderson and I were just working hard out there in the sun and we knocked into this less active mother and she said we could come back! So, I never saw her again after I left but her kids just got baptized! Crazy eh!?!? I literally thought I left Surrey with nothing but it’s been crazy being able to hear about how Gus, Esperanza, Jerry, Jassly Ja, and now two kids named Jattinder and Jasleen! CRAZY!!!

Well God has just been so good! It’s been crazy up here in Kelowna and we have been just going hard, hittin the grind every day! We were able to teach this guy named Allen and his dad named Harold. Harold is the coolest old guy ever, (besides you dad). He’s like 94 and served on the beaches of Normandy back in WWII...nuts eh? Well Allen is super down!

We were also able to teach this guy named Rob and he is progressing well! He was taught about 20 years ago when he was going to college, and was close to getting baptized. Kind of broke apart when his girlfriend, died in a car accident. Other than that, things have been just going great! Sure love and miss yall!

Love

Elder McCown

Patience

Soooo, going by formers one day...had an interesting conversation with this one guy. Told us very respectfully that he does not believe the Book of Mormon and that we were damned...yeah I get that everyday...anyway...I learned something new from this guy...In the middle of the conversation. He said "everything is a lie!"   Well, long story short, he told us right after that the world feeds us lies about how the world is a sphere...he said that it is actually flat, that NASA is a hoax, that no astronaut ever landed on the moon, and that God put this invisible dome thingy over the earth and we can’t get past it...He told us we probably thought he was crazy...well...he was right...

So that was the kick off to our week! Just getting told that we were nuts...not new lol  Also hit up some doors...found some cool people...talked to some crazy ones...

Best part of the week? Well, can’t pinpoint that but the weather is up and down here...we were walking around this past Saturday and it was nice out in the morning...then it got hot, like wearing just a sweater was making me sweat like a dog. Then, we went knocking for about ten minutes and all of the sudden it started getting super windy, like pinecones and some branches falling out trees windy. Then, about 20 minutes later it sprinkled, and then 10 minutes later it was pouring...so yeah that was fun!

Thinking about it now, the best part of my week was my studies! I had to give a training in district meeting this past week about patience...never thought I could get that much out of my studies, especially on just one word. The whole focus was on Jesus Christs example of patience. As I dove into it, I began to realize only a fragment of the amount of patience that this man had. It’s crazy how he endured through so many things, just because he loved us so much! I can only imagine the patience he had with his disciples, when they fell asleep during the most critical, and let’s not forget, the most painful event in history. He came back a couple times and I can only imagine the level of patience he had to not look down on his disciples. Not only this event but also, when his beloved apostle Peter had fallen into the trap of fear, denying that he knew Jesus Christ thrice.

After this, I can only merely understand what he did for me. Often times I get frustrated with myself, thinking that I should be doing better, but often times, it is hard not to look over the necessity of patience, and its heavenly virtue. We often times expect instantaneous results to fix our problems, and an answer to our prayer just because we got down on our knees. Much like a seed, it needs nourishment, sunlight, water, and most importantly, time...

God has just been so good to us though! I sure love and miss you all!

Love

Elder McCown

Kelowna Awesome

So this place is so cool! Literally reminds me of Tucson! I’m already walking outside with short sleeves on! To start off, I honestly have some of the coolest companions ever! My new comps are Elder Weingarth and Elder Ushio. Elder Weingarth is from Atlanta, Georgia and Elder Ushio is from Tokyo, Japan. Talk about a melting pot in a tri, eh?

Let’s see, so we have the coolest teaching pool ever! Ranges from Ken who wants to quit smoking and wants to be baptized, to your agriculturalist named Rob who investigated the church with his girlfriend about 25 years ago, to this Vietnamese woman who knows absolutely nothing about God or Jesus Christ.

So we were able to see every one of those people this week and they are so solid! Literally just searching for the gospel!  Coolest miracle this week! Well...one of them!  We were sitting in the mall, just eat'n my good ole KFC... and we see this girl that is like 4'1 with a longboard walk by...she turns around and just looks right at us! She started talking to us saying that she has seen missionaries 3 times in the past two days. So we invite her to sit down with us and she just starts talking about everything that has happened in her life, and said that she feels that she should become a Mormon...weird eh? Wish that happened every day! Anyway, she’s solid.

We were also able to teach this Jamaican family that just had a baby...literally my dream in the mission...to teach someone that is Jamaican...and to teach a family...I can check that off of my bucket list now! So cool!

Other than that Kelowna is awesome! Some members fed us last night and literally, they were our saving grace. We had been fasting all day and I swear that my stomach was going to eat itself!

Well I sure love and miss all of you!

Love

Elder McCown