The weeks here in Coquitlam just keep on getting better and better! To start off we have 2 progressing investigators! SO EXCITING!!! Wayne has made progress since last week in reading the Book of Mormon. He also jumped through hoops to try and convince himself that it was possible for Joseph Smith to see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He researched it and kept on researching it and found the evidence for himself! He is so good! Great intent! The only struggle is getting this guy to church...He had throat surgery about 1 1/2 months ago and is still recovering. He is also on a fixed schedule so him changing it to come to church is really hard for him because he works a late shift and does not normally wake up until 12.
Jack has progressed! We met with him this past week and he had read the Restoration pamphlet two times before we came over! He was prepared with questions and his progress is going smoothly! As we were there we retaught the restoration and he readily agreed with it all, even saying that he knew that it was all true! The invitation to be baptized made sense to him, and it was all flawless up until the point that he gave us his concern, and that is that he had a childhood experience with water, and has never gone fully under ever since. So hopefully that hurdle is overcome soon!
Crazy cool miracle we had as well! We were meeting up with a less active named Brian. Super nice guy but is not in the best place. He basically got thrown into a house with 8 other people who do drugs and drink all the time. Anyway, we go and knock on the door and this guy answers, tells us straight up that we are at the wrong place, and he was being a bit of a jerk about it, and is about to close the door. That’s when I put my foot in the door, tell him off for being a jerk about it and ask him where Brian is. Well...that, did not happen...I was a good Mormon boy and took it and politely asked where he was, and he kind of stood there, and said to hang on so he could go get him. So Brian comes out and we start talking outside, and I notice that the guy at the door is out on the balcony listening to what we were saying. I reached out and asked what his name was and, cause I could not hear him, he decided to come down and talk with us. Well we figure out that this guy’s name is Ernie...Well Ernie just goes off about the bible, the trinity, and how he just loves God and, he even kind of bashed on us. Can I just say that I love Brian? Once Ernie calmed down and spilled his beans, Brian straight up told him to listen to what we had to say...So he shut up and listened! Long story short, after numerous bible references and teaching the most beast restoration lesson, this guy, who readily admitted at the end of our discussion that he did not want to talk to us even though he did not know anything about us, hugged us, and now has a Book of Mormon and a restoration pamphlet, is excited to read it, and says to come by whenever! BAM! God is just so good!
So yeah beast week! God is great, the book of Mormon is good, and people are crazy.
Love yall!
Elder McCown
Monday, July 25, 2016
Monday, July 18, 2016
Cloud 9
We had a great week this past week! It was great to hear from you last night, as it always is, and we are just more and more excited for the upcoming week! We were able to make some headway in finding people to CONSISTENTLY teach...that’s been our problem lately and it finally is seeming to work out! Our progressing investigator at this moment is Wayne. He has not made it out to church yet but he is progressing fairly well! He has read the resto pamphlet and understands it, and even quotes scriptures that support what we say! He has a kind heart and will get baptized! When? Trying to figure that out, but once he figures out it is true, he says he is ready to change and get tized.
We were also able to meet with this man named Jack Ward. He is a very social guy with quite a few stories to tell. He told us of how he almost died in a plane. Well, he at least thought he was. Told us of how his wife is a diehard alcoholic, and basically how his life has been the most interesting life ever. The first time we met with him just tells you how much he trusts us. He told us that he had never told anyone this before; but that he basically had an evil spirit in his home and that it haunted him. Well we were able to teach him about those kinds of things and just from what I was able to pull together, because we answered his questions, he trusted us enough to come back and teach him what we are all about! God is just so good!
Overall the week was great! We taught quite a bit more, which was great, even though quite a few of the people we found were not full of the greatest intent. So much more improvement has been made this past week and we have been doing it for the past couple transfers but we have been earnestly doing it even more, and that is giving more and more time, whether it be combining lunch with language study, packing lunch/dinner, etc, you name it and we are doing it, just trying to become so consecrated. The spirit has been there even though it’s hard. It’s been so good though!
We were also able to help Matthew clean his apartment again! He has been working at cleaning it up and I think that this is the 3rd or 4th time that I have helped him. Anyway, that apartment if SPOTLESSSSSS!!! He can actually walk down his hallway, his kitchen is clean, his bedroom is clean, everything, cleaning to dusting to sweeping to mopping you name it, it was done and he was screaming "HALLELUJAH!" by the end of it all! YOU KNOW WHAT IS EVEN BETTER!!! HOLY FREAK!!! I almost did a backflip! Matthew has literally taken leaps and bounds and he had an interview with the stake president about his temple recommend anddddddddd.....HE PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS!!! GAHHHH!!!!! He is so good!
So basically I have been on cloud 9 for the past little while and it has been great! Matthew is going to the temple soon and is going to take the mantle that his father has carried for years, which is going to the temple consistently because he can no longer go because he is so old, and we have been able to find people to teach! GAH GOD IS SO GOOD!
Sure love and miss you all!
Love
Elder McCown
We were also able to meet with this man named Jack Ward. He is a very social guy with quite a few stories to tell. He told us of how he almost died in a plane. Well, he at least thought he was. Told us of how his wife is a diehard alcoholic, and basically how his life has been the most interesting life ever. The first time we met with him just tells you how much he trusts us. He told us that he had never told anyone this before; but that he basically had an evil spirit in his home and that it haunted him. Well we were able to teach him about those kinds of things and just from what I was able to pull together, because we answered his questions, he trusted us enough to come back and teach him what we are all about! God is just so good!
Overall the week was great! We taught quite a bit more, which was great, even though quite a few of the people we found were not full of the greatest intent. So much more improvement has been made this past week and we have been doing it for the past couple transfers but we have been earnestly doing it even more, and that is giving more and more time, whether it be combining lunch with language study, packing lunch/dinner, etc, you name it and we are doing it, just trying to become so consecrated. The spirit has been there even though it’s hard. It’s been so good though!
We were also able to help Matthew clean his apartment again! He has been working at cleaning it up and I think that this is the 3rd or 4th time that I have helped him. Anyway, that apartment if SPOTLESSSSSS!!! He can actually walk down his hallway, his kitchen is clean, his bedroom is clean, everything, cleaning to dusting to sweeping to mopping you name it, it was done and he was screaming "HALLELUJAH!" by the end of it all! YOU KNOW WHAT IS EVEN BETTER!!! HOLY FREAK!!! I almost did a backflip! Matthew has literally taken leaps and bounds and he had an interview with the stake president about his temple recommend anddddddddd.....HE PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS!!! GAHHHH!!!!! He is so good!
So basically I have been on cloud 9 for the past little while and it has been great! Matthew is going to the temple soon and is going to take the mantle that his father has carried for years, which is going to the temple consistently because he can no longer go because he is so old, and we have been able to find people to teach! GAH GOD IS SO GOOD!
Sure love and miss you all!
Love
Elder McCown
Monday, July 11, 2016
It Is Possible
So this has been a fantastic week in comparison to the rest of the time that I have been able to spend here! We were able to see many people coming out of nowhere wanting to learn more about the gospel and we were able to see 6 new investigators this week! A couple of them have been handed off, or have been reflected because of on the spot interest that has died out, but it has been great! It all came from a good district meeting and we have just eaten it up since then!
We have someone who we are consistently teaching now which is fantastic! His name is Wayne and it has been a struggle setting a time to meet with him because he had throat surgery but we were able to teach the Restoration this past week! It was so good! He was attentive and learned a lot from it! He is so good! He also came to the ward activity and was able to make quite a few new friends! We just can’t wait to be able to bring them to the lessons!
We also had a great zone meeting this past week! Something that hit me that I learned while I was in that meeting was not necessarily something that I heard, but something that the spirit told me. While we were in there this thought came to mind...and it was that "it is possible, very hard, but possible, to memorize all of the recordings of the miracles that Jesus Christ performed. However it is impossible for us to understand the depth of love in each miracle, or act of kindness that he performed. It is impossible to measure or even imagine of measuring the amount of grace and love that is intertwined with each simple act." As I have reflected on this over and over again, I have come to recognize more and more of the love of the Savior, and helped me truly realize what is helping me keep going throughout the whole week.
Hardest part of the week was getting sick. Saturday was alright but progressively got worse, then waking up Sunday and resting the whole day was the hardest. I never thought I was going to say this, but I don't think I like orange juice anymore haha! It was rough!
But in the end it’s all good! Sure love and miss yall!
Love
Elder McCown
We have someone who we are consistently teaching now which is fantastic! His name is Wayne and it has been a struggle setting a time to meet with him because he had throat surgery but we were able to teach the Restoration this past week! It was so good! He was attentive and learned a lot from it! He is so good! He also came to the ward activity and was able to make quite a few new friends! We just can’t wait to be able to bring them to the lessons!
We also had a great zone meeting this past week! Something that hit me that I learned while I was in that meeting was not necessarily something that I heard, but something that the spirit told me. While we were in there this thought came to mind...and it was that "it is possible, very hard, but possible, to memorize all of the recordings of the miracles that Jesus Christ performed. However it is impossible for us to understand the depth of love in each miracle, or act of kindness that he performed. It is impossible to measure or even imagine of measuring the amount of grace and love that is intertwined with each simple act." As I have reflected on this over and over again, I have come to recognize more and more of the love of the Savior, and helped me truly realize what is helping me keep going throughout the whole week.
Hardest part of the week was getting sick. Saturday was alright but progressively got worse, then waking up Sunday and resting the whole day was the hardest. I never thought I was going to say this, but I don't think I like orange juice anymore haha! It was rough!
But in the end it’s all good! Sure love and miss yall!
Love
Elder McCown
Monday, July 4, 2016
Game Day
So this has been another great week here in Coquitlam! The ball is starting to roll here which is even better!
I guess starting off with the highlight of the week would be best. So, we have been working really hard with this man named Matthew for the past couple months. He has skyrocketed in his progression, making friends that become family in the ward. Well, in sacrament meeting this past week he got up and blessed it with his home teacher again! Not to mention what happened after! We were waiting for him to come to gospel principle because he was in a meeting with the bishop. Well he sits right next to us right after his interview and flashes out his new temple recommend! I almost fell out of my chair! The members have seen a new joy and light in this guy and he has absorbed the light of Christ into his life! God is just so good! He has been working hard to get that and to see him at this point in his life is just so good!
We were also able to see one of our investigators progressing well! He has not come to church yet but he has gotten through some of the Book of Mormon with him. He has some disabilities but that has not hindered his progress! We were able to teach him the Restoration thoroughly but slowly this past week, and he really understood the pattern of apostasy. Once he understood that he looked at us and said, "Well I guess I better get baptized then."
Well, let’s see, what else? We had a great district meeting. We are calling it game day from now on which makes it fun! Really gets us pumped up for the week! All in all it was just such a good week! It was hard, it was hot, but it was worth it.
Sure love and miss you all!
Love
Elder McCown
I guess starting off with the highlight of the week would be best. So, we have been working really hard with this man named Matthew for the past couple months. He has skyrocketed in his progression, making friends that become family in the ward. Well, in sacrament meeting this past week he got up and blessed it with his home teacher again! Not to mention what happened after! We were waiting for him to come to gospel principle because he was in a meeting with the bishop. Well he sits right next to us right after his interview and flashes out his new temple recommend! I almost fell out of my chair! The members have seen a new joy and light in this guy and he has absorbed the light of Christ into his life! God is just so good! He has been working hard to get that and to see him at this point in his life is just so good!
We were also able to see one of our investigators progressing well! He has not come to church yet but he has gotten through some of the Book of Mormon with him. He has some disabilities but that has not hindered his progress! We were able to teach him the Restoration thoroughly but slowly this past week, and he really understood the pattern of apostasy. Once he understood that he looked at us and said, "Well I guess I better get baptized then."
Well, let’s see, what else? We had a great district meeting. We are calling it game day from now on which makes it fun! Really gets us pumped up for the week! All in all it was just such a good week! It was hard, it was hot, but it was worth it.
Sure love and miss you all!
Love
Elder McCown
Monday, June 27, 2016
His Name On Our Chest
So this has been fantastic week! I would have to say that it all came at the end of the week though. The beginning was more of a drought. Lots of walking and talking and just trying to follow the spirit so closely! Wellllll...it was all worth it! It was an awesome zone conference this past week and I learned a lot from it. One of the questions that really struck me, that really dug deep into me was "Why did I come out?" and "Why am I still out here?" Really just pierced straight into me and I reflected upon it again and again after zone conference. It was the following day that I got my answer. As we were driving away from our exchanges, I don’t entirely remember the entire conversation with Elder Hsu, something along the lines of what we learned from the exchange. Really ended up on leading to Jesus Christ. Well, I made the remark that that was the reason why we were out here and why we wear his name on our chest. Well the spirit just struck me hard when I said that!
Sunday, I would have to say, was the greatest day we had this past week! This lady named Lisa, that we had only been able to meet with once came to church! She absolutely LOVED IT! She was only able to stay the first hour, but she said, in a very matter of fact way, that she was going to be here next week and try to stay the whole time! God is just so good! She wants to change! Preceding the actual sacrament meeting, we explained a couple things to her, and really going into the sacrament and how it is a renewal of our baptismal covenants! Well, she was really paying attention because she leaned over and whispered to me while the sacrament was being passed and asked, "Can I eat the bread and water even though I have not been baptized?" I of course happily said yes! She has such a great desire to find that greater light in her life! We will be passing her off to the sisters this coming week! No doubts about it, it may take some time because of smoking, but she will get baptized!
That sacrament meeting was honestly the best. As I was sitting next to Lisa, I looked up and saw Matthew Blanks, (the less active that we have been working with), get up and bless the sacrament! You know what is even better?!? HIS HOMETEACHER WAS STANDING NEXT TO HIM!!! It was so good! He is doing great! We have been able to set up family home evenings with him and his home teacher and he absolutely loves it! God is just so good!
Another great thing I learned this past week was the 7 minute lessons! We had a great lesson with a member this past weekend, and Elder Hsu is just so inspired! We have been going around and committing all of our members to memorize the first vision. Well it has gone so well! No better way to bring the spirit into a member’s home than to commit them to memorize the most crucial turning point in history!
All in all I am doing great! This past week was a game changer for me! A combination of zone conference, people coming to church, and a less active that has turned his life around has brought a brighter light into my life! I just have to carry it on throughout the rest of my mission!
Sure love and miss yall!
Love
Elder McCown
Sunday, I would have to say, was the greatest day we had this past week! This lady named Lisa, that we had only been able to meet with once came to church! She absolutely LOVED IT! She was only able to stay the first hour, but she said, in a very matter of fact way, that she was going to be here next week and try to stay the whole time! God is just so good! She wants to change! Preceding the actual sacrament meeting, we explained a couple things to her, and really going into the sacrament and how it is a renewal of our baptismal covenants! Well, she was really paying attention because she leaned over and whispered to me while the sacrament was being passed and asked, "Can I eat the bread and water even though I have not been baptized?" I of course happily said yes! She has such a great desire to find that greater light in her life! We will be passing her off to the sisters this coming week! No doubts about it, it may take some time because of smoking, but she will get baptized!
That sacrament meeting was honestly the best. As I was sitting next to Lisa, I looked up and saw Matthew Blanks, (the less active that we have been working with), get up and bless the sacrament! You know what is even better?!? HIS HOMETEACHER WAS STANDING NEXT TO HIM!!! It was so good! He is doing great! We have been able to set up family home evenings with him and his home teacher and he absolutely loves it! God is just so good!
Another great thing I learned this past week was the 7 minute lessons! We had a great lesson with a member this past weekend, and Elder Hsu is just so inspired! We have been going around and committing all of our members to memorize the first vision. Well it has gone so well! No better way to bring the spirit into a member’s home than to commit them to memorize the most crucial turning point in history!
All in all I am doing great! This past week was a game changer for me! A combination of zone conference, people coming to church, and a less active that has turned his life around has brought a brighter light into my life! I just have to carry it on throughout the rest of my mission!
Sure love and miss yall!
Love
Elder McCown
Monday, June 20, 2016
I Promise, It Does Work
So crazy awesome week! This has to be the best week I have had so far in Coquitlam! So much fun!
Wellll, for starters, do you guys remember that lady that I ended up on singing the spirit of god as well as Joseph Smiths first Prayer with? Wellllllll, SHE GOT BAPTIZED THIS PAST WEEK!!! Gah!!! It makes me so happy! She is so good! Talk about awesome member work! It’s all because this member was so on about doing his missionary work that this happened! I PROMISE!!! IT DOES WORK!!! Besides the baptism, which is by far the best thing that could possibly ever happen, we were able to see a lot of progress in the area! We made huge leaps and bounds from last week!
Lisa is one of them! She is this super cool single mom that was just waiting for us to come to her door! She had just recently lost her mother, wants to find a purpose in life, and even wants to come to church! Sad part was that she was not able to make it this past week because of work but she is so GOOD!!!!
Another is this guy named Andrew and we are still determining his accountability, but he is so nice! Has a good heart and wants to change! We only got to see Greg once this past week...our poor member though. We were meeting Greg at Como Lake and there really is not any protection there. So we forgot to tell our member (Freyden) that we would be outside and all he had on were shorts and a t shirt. Well, he basically froze to death almost. It was windy and pouring rain out, and we taught almost half of the plan of salvation, so that takes a little bit haha!
Well, freaky part of the week...after that lesson with Greg we had a return appointment set up right after with this guy named Ed. Earlier that day I had mass texted everyone in our phone if they were down to meet. Well he had called us back saying that he wanted to. So Freyden came with us, and we got lost along the way. Well we finally get there and the place is like super quiet....like creepy quiet. Well, we go to Ed’s house, and he told us to go and meet him at the gazebo behind it. Well there is this guy smoking up a storm on his e-cig sittin there...We started talking to him for a little bit and he was acting kind of funny, but, he said we could sit down, but before we do that, we have to sign in at some house....We thought that that was kind of weird, but we go and do it anyway. Well, long story short, we figure out why we did not feel the spirit there..... WE ARE IN A FREAKING INSANE CLINIC!!! GAH!!! So we think of what we should do and all and that’s when this big really nice guy pops out of the building that we were walking by and shouted out that he was Ed! So that was a fun lesson...
It was still a good week though! I may be hungry. And I may be tired all the time, but it is so worth it! AND I CANT BELIEVE THAT BRENDA GOT BAPTIZED!! GAH!!! SO GOOD!!!
Sure love yalll!
Love
Elder McCown
Wellll, for starters, do you guys remember that lady that I ended up on singing the spirit of god as well as Joseph Smiths first Prayer with? Wellllllll, SHE GOT BAPTIZED THIS PAST WEEK!!! Gah!!! It makes me so happy! She is so good! Talk about awesome member work! It’s all because this member was so on about doing his missionary work that this happened! I PROMISE!!! IT DOES WORK!!! Besides the baptism, which is by far the best thing that could possibly ever happen, we were able to see a lot of progress in the area! We made huge leaps and bounds from last week!
Lisa is one of them! She is this super cool single mom that was just waiting for us to come to her door! She had just recently lost her mother, wants to find a purpose in life, and even wants to come to church! Sad part was that she was not able to make it this past week because of work but she is so GOOD!!!!
Another is this guy named Andrew and we are still determining his accountability, but he is so nice! Has a good heart and wants to change! We only got to see Greg once this past week...our poor member though. We were meeting Greg at Como Lake and there really is not any protection there. So we forgot to tell our member (Freyden) that we would be outside and all he had on were shorts and a t shirt. Well, he basically froze to death almost. It was windy and pouring rain out, and we taught almost half of the plan of salvation, so that takes a little bit haha!
Well, freaky part of the week...after that lesson with Greg we had a return appointment set up right after with this guy named Ed. Earlier that day I had mass texted everyone in our phone if they were down to meet. Well he had called us back saying that he wanted to. So Freyden came with us, and we got lost along the way. Well we finally get there and the place is like super quiet....like creepy quiet. Well, we go to Ed’s house, and he told us to go and meet him at the gazebo behind it. Well there is this guy smoking up a storm on his e-cig sittin there...We started talking to him for a little bit and he was acting kind of funny, but, he said we could sit down, but before we do that, we have to sign in at some house....We thought that that was kind of weird, but we go and do it anyway. Well, long story short, we figure out why we did not feel the spirit there..... WE ARE IN A FREAKING INSANE CLINIC!!! GAH!!! So we think of what we should do and all and that’s when this big really nice guy pops out of the building that we were walking by and shouted out that he was Ed! So that was a fun lesson...
It was still a good week though! I may be hungry. And I may be tired all the time, but it is so worth it! AND I CANT BELIEVE THAT BRENDA GOT BAPTIZED!! GAH!!! SO GOOD!!!
Sure love yalll!
Love
Elder McCown
Monday, June 13, 2016
Catching The Missionary Fire
ANOTHER AWESOME WEEK! So we were able to see some awesome miracles! Finding and teaching and we will be baptizin soon! We were able to find quite a few people to teach, and basically pass them all off or former them right after. All good though! Coolest guy ever we met this past week! It’s this giant dude named Angel! Coolest guy ever! We have been trying to meet up with this guy for who knows how long. He basically found the church himself. He had looked up a Mormon church and he came to the service and that’s when the missionaries met him. Well he is honestly one of the most intimidating, one of the most scariest guys I had ever met, but he has the biggest heart. Getting to know him was like getting to know the dark side of life. Went and played football for college...this guy was a beast. We got on to talking about what we share though and he started to cry almost. He said that he has gone through so much, and that he has so many questions, like why he is here, why he had to go through all the things he had to in his life. After talking about the atonement he started to soften. His heart is so good! He wants to change so badly, he wants to find a purpose. He is just so good. After meeting with him, as were walking away from each other he turned to us and said, "Thank you. I just feel so much better." Breaks my heart to see this guy have to go through what he had to go through. Talk about an awesome lesson! He lives over in Surrey though so we have to pass him off.
We were also able to meet with Greg this past week! Talk about miracle! This guy has committed to live the law of chastity and the word of wisdom, while at the same time, said that he believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the Book of Mormon is true! He is just so good! The only thing that is holding this guy back is work...He is so tied up with financial difficulties that he barely has time to be able meet with us. He is so good though! He is soaking it all up and loves what we are sharing with him! He compared a lot of what we share with him to nature which is even cooler. There was one thing that struck me, was when he compared it to a heron and an eagle. The heron is always patiently waiting, waiting for the fish to come to them, and never bothering or threatening others. The eagle on the other hand, antagonizes and is a natural born predator. He compared this to Jesus Christ and Satan. Jesus is always waiting there patiently, waiting for us to come to him, never forcing His way upon us, whereas Satan comes in and tries to provoke, antagonize and tempt us. I thought that this was such a cool parallel!
All in all, God has been so good to us! The members are catching the missionary fire and I have had so much fun in this area! Sure love and miss all of you and hope for the best for yall!
Love
Elder McCown
We were also able to meet with Greg this past week! Talk about miracle! This guy has committed to live the law of chastity and the word of wisdom, while at the same time, said that he believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the Book of Mormon is true! He is just so good! The only thing that is holding this guy back is work...He is so tied up with financial difficulties that he barely has time to be able meet with us. He is so good though! He is soaking it all up and loves what we are sharing with him! He compared a lot of what we share with him to nature which is even cooler. There was one thing that struck me, was when he compared it to a heron and an eagle. The heron is always patiently waiting, waiting for the fish to come to them, and never bothering or threatening others. The eagle on the other hand, antagonizes and is a natural born predator. He compared this to Jesus Christ and Satan. Jesus is always waiting there patiently, waiting for us to come to him, never forcing His way upon us, whereas Satan comes in and tries to provoke, antagonize and tempt us. I thought that this was such a cool parallel!
All in all, God has been so good to us! The members are catching the missionary fire and I have had so much fun in this area! Sure love and miss all of you and hope for the best for yall!
Love
Elder McCown
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