Sooo, I am cold...I literally have never been so cold in my life! Just kidding it’s not too bad! Not yet at least! This place is known for getting overnight dumps of snow all the time. FREAKY! Besides that, for those who don’t know, I am serving in an area that has about 3000 people, with miles upon miles in between most of the people out here! Tracting is fun. Rolling hill after rolling hill. I swear there is not a spot of flat ground here...
I love it though! Sure every door has been knocked on 500 times in that past 20 years but that doesn’t worry me! I’m just worried whether I will be able to get out the door or not in the next couple months. I have heard that they have had overnight snow dumps of about 5 feet give or take, and it is not uncommon for it to be -40 degrees here either. So, needless to say, I feel like I am going to be carrying a shovel around this area. I heard that in years past missionaries would just go door to door all day shoveling snow off of peoples driveways.
My last area is so different from Burns Lake though. In Surrey there were thousands of people to talk to, and a lot of them had not talked to the missionaries before. Whereas in Burns Lake, everyone recognizes the missionaries, and they all know our purpose.
So, needless to say I have probably tracted out a good percentage of the town. It’s awesome though looking at how many members there are here! Out of the 3000 here in Burns Lake, there are about 70 members that attend regularly! Crazy eh?? So awesome!
Our week has been interesting though. Everyone that we had been teaching has either had babies or getting sick! I sure love the place though! Too much fun!
Love you guys so much!
Love
Elder McCown
Monday, October 26, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
-40 degrees
So, I knew it! I just knew it! I am literally going to freeze my butt off...I am getting transferred to Burns lake! So, Burns Lake....it’s cold...coldest place in the mission! From what I have heard, it gets down to -40 degrees...nothing an Arizona boy CAN handle! My new companion is Elder Westerguard, and I have absolutely no clue who he is by the way!
Well, besides the bitter freezing cold news, we had an awesome week! So, Yemi is honestly the coolest guy ever! He just moved from Nigeria a month ago, is looking for a job, and taking care of his family all at the same time! If I were to be in that situation, I would be freaking out! That is so much stress going on all at the same time! But, we have been able to help him get started with his job searching through the employment center and he is just so happy! Anyway, I called him up one night. When we had met him we had given him a restoration pamphlet! Well, turns out that he had been going through it a couple times and he wants us to be able to teach it to him! He also called us this past Saturday saying that he will be coming to church! That never happens!
We were also able to teach Harry this week! He is so cool! Taught the word of wisdom and he said he would also come to church!
It was such a good week though! A lot of tracking, a lot of it! It was awesome though!
Pretty sad saying goodbye to Surrey though! I am literally going to freeze though! This is going to be fun!
Love you all though!
Love Elder McCown
Well, besides the bitter freezing cold news, we had an awesome week! So, Yemi is honestly the coolest guy ever! He just moved from Nigeria a month ago, is looking for a job, and taking care of his family all at the same time! If I were to be in that situation, I would be freaking out! That is so much stress going on all at the same time! But, we have been able to help him get started with his job searching through the employment center and he is just so happy! Anyway, I called him up one night. When we had met him we had given him a restoration pamphlet! Well, turns out that he had been going through it a couple times and he wants us to be able to teach it to him! He also called us this past Saturday saying that he will be coming to church! That never happens!
We were also able to teach Harry this week! He is so cool! Taught the word of wisdom and he said he would also come to church!
It was such a good week though! A lot of tracking, a lot of it! It was awesome though!
Pretty sad saying goodbye to Surrey though! I am literally going to freeze though! This is going to be fun!
Love you all though!
Love Elder McCown
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Weekly Planning
So, this week...we...haha...it was crazy...
To basically just start it all off, we will start with weekly planning. Weekly planning is by far one of the most grueling, most tiring and most mind numbing things when I first started out. I absolutely disliked it with a passion. We had to plan for a whole week, planning in something for each hour, with back up plans to each of them for 3 hours. I have gotten used to it though, kind of. This week was a little different though. So, the struggle we have had is getting our investigators to church.
So! WE HAVE SEEN SOME AWESOME MIRACLES! We did quite a few drop-bys yesterday and we have talked to EVERYONE! Our goal is to just talk to everyone that we see on site, even if it means yelling at them! We have found some awesome people to teach because of it!
Well, other than that, it has been raining like crazy! The rainiest day thought was when it was park the car day. Everyone in the mission literally parks their car for a whole day and we just go out and walk everywhere. We walked for about 8 hours in the rain which was crazy!
Everything is going good though! I think I will get transferred this week! Can only imagine where I will be going! Hate it and love it all at the same time! Love you guys though!
Love
Elder McCown
To basically just start it all off, we will start with weekly planning. Weekly planning is by far one of the most grueling, most tiring and most mind numbing things when I first started out. I absolutely disliked it with a passion. We had to plan for a whole week, planning in something for each hour, with back up plans to each of them for 3 hours. I have gotten used to it though, kind of. This week was a little different though. So, the struggle we have had is getting our investigators to church.
So! WE HAVE SEEN SOME AWESOME MIRACLES! We did quite a few drop-bys yesterday and we have talked to EVERYONE! Our goal is to just talk to everyone that we see on site, even if it means yelling at them! We have found some awesome people to teach because of it!
Well, other than that, it has been raining like crazy! The rainiest day thought was when it was park the car day. Everyone in the mission literally parks their car for a whole day and we just go out and walk everywhere. We walked for about 8 hours in the rain which was crazy!
Everything is going good though! I think I will get transferred this week! Can only imagine where I will be going! Hate it and love it all at the same time! Love you guys though!
Love
Elder McCown
Monday, October 5, 2015
Mass Text
I am at my mid-life crisis...So, this was the week, where I just emotionally and physically brokedown because I have no idea what I am going to do. I literally, only have 358 days left to be out here, but ya know what? I have absolutely no time to even think about that!
This week was a montage of walking, walking, and walking some more! And then general conference got thrown in there somehow, and then some more walking!
It was pretty sad this week though. None of our investigators were able to see us because they are all either too busy or sick:(. So sad... BUT! We were able to find some awesome people along the way! And even some of them are families! So exciting! And guess what is even better?!?! WE FINALLY GET OUR CAR TODAY! So yeah, we will be burning some of our P-Day to drive all the way to Richmond to get our car, but I am so happy! We will finally be able to get around because everyone in the ward is absolutely busy, or they don't have a car.
General conference was awesome though! May or may not have passed out during one, or two, or maybe even three of the talks. President Monson did freak me out though...I thought he was going to fall over during his talk...crazy how we got 3 new apostles though. Can’t believe that all those beloved brethren passed away so recently.
The coolest miracle this week though had to be when we sent out a mass text to everyone in our phone. Potentials, Investigators, and Former investigators, and what’s so cool is that this guy named Tony came to both of the morning sessions of general conference! Gotta love those miracles!
So everything is going great! Can’t wait to finally get some teaching in this week! Gotta love the car though! Makes things so much easier!
Sure love and miss you all!
Love
Elder McCown
This week was a montage of walking, walking, and walking some more! And then general conference got thrown in there somehow, and then some more walking!
It was pretty sad this week though. None of our investigators were able to see us because they are all either too busy or sick:(. So sad... BUT! We were able to find some awesome people along the way! And even some of them are families! So exciting! And guess what is even better?!?! WE FINALLY GET OUR CAR TODAY! So yeah, we will be burning some of our P-Day to drive all the way to Richmond to get our car, but I am so happy! We will finally be able to get around because everyone in the ward is absolutely busy, or they don't have a car.
General conference was awesome though! May or may not have passed out during one, or two, or maybe even three of the talks. President Monson did freak me out though...I thought he was going to fall over during his talk...crazy how we got 3 new apostles though. Can’t believe that all those beloved brethren passed away so recently.
The coolest miracle this week though had to be when we sent out a mass text to everyone in our phone. Potentials, Investigators, and Former investigators, and what’s so cool is that this guy named Tony came to both of the morning sessions of general conference! Gotta love those miracles!
So everything is going great! Can’t wait to finally get some teaching in this week! Gotta love the car though! Makes things so much easier!
Sure love and miss you all!
Love
Elder McCown
Monday, September 28, 2015
We Walked and Wallllked
Wow, this simply just blows my mind...starting today, I literally have a year left on the mission....FREAKY!
So, a year has gone by and I sincerely have no idea where the heck it went! I have never been so mentally, spiritually, and of course physically tired, as well as hungry...BUT ITS THE BEST THING EVER! No matter how tired I get, it just keeps on getting better and better!
So this week, we started off strong with dropping the car off in Richmond for repairs, and hitting the pavement. After P-Day we went over to Elder and Sister Johnsons for dinner. Best food ever! It did not help that I did not have any food that day, so needless to say, we may have imagined that chicken to be a lot tastier than it actually was...That night we were also able to go out with our Bro. Rosales to go give a blessing to a less active in the ward. So awesome!
So, you know that primary song about the pioneers and "how they walked, and walked, and wallllllked." Well, that’s what we did on Tuesday, "we walked, and walked, and wallllllked...and walked some more..." It’s been so long since I have walked to so many places, but we had some awesome miracles along the way! We were able to run into this guy named Mengistu. Freaking cool name to start off with! He’s from Africa and he was so down to meet with us! Just wish he would pick up his phone...I honestly wish I could go around and just tape peoples phones to their foreheads. Would make things so much easier haha!
So Wednesday rolls around and we had the best district meeting ever! Elder Maluse is honestly the coolest guy ever! He is from this little tiny island off the coast of the Philippines! He got baptized like 2 years ago and learned English on his mission, and it’s awesome! He is the most humble guy ever! He bore the most beautiful and most humble testimony of how we need to anchor our faith in Christ! So awesome! Later that day, after an awesome district meeting we met with this guy Harry! Harry is so awesome! He lives in a half-way home, which means he just got out of jail recently. While he was in jail though he found God! He read the Bible 7 times in the 18 years that he was in there! We were able to teach him the restoration of the gospel and all about Joseph Smith, and he just soaked it all up! So cool! He wanted to share it all with his inmates which is even cooler!
We were also able to meet with Gus and the Martinez family! Haha! Helped Sister Martinez with her homework which was interesting! Going back to connotations and all that fun stuff! She came to Canada a couple years back she wants to get her degree which was awesome!
The rest of the week "we walked, and walked, and walllllllked." That is until Sunday night! We met this cool couple a couple weeks ago and they asked us if we could help them move some stuff for them. Had a good conversation with them and they were so thankful for us helping them! It was so cool though, because we were able to make that transition from becoming friends to being their missionaries, and we are going to share about the Book of Mormon with them this coming week! So cool! So excited!
So miracle upon miracles this week. God can help us most when we are on our feet though! He really can’t put people in our car for us to teach, but he sure can put people in our path as we are on foot!
Sure love you all!
Love
Elder McCown!
So, a year has gone by and I sincerely have no idea where the heck it went! I have never been so mentally, spiritually, and of course physically tired, as well as hungry...BUT ITS THE BEST THING EVER! No matter how tired I get, it just keeps on getting better and better!
So this week, we started off strong with dropping the car off in Richmond for repairs, and hitting the pavement. After P-Day we went over to Elder and Sister Johnsons for dinner. Best food ever! It did not help that I did not have any food that day, so needless to say, we may have imagined that chicken to be a lot tastier than it actually was...That night we were also able to go out with our Bro. Rosales to go give a blessing to a less active in the ward. So awesome!
So, you know that primary song about the pioneers and "how they walked, and walked, and wallllllked." Well, that’s what we did on Tuesday, "we walked, and walked, and wallllllked...and walked some more..." It’s been so long since I have walked to so many places, but we had some awesome miracles along the way! We were able to run into this guy named Mengistu. Freaking cool name to start off with! He’s from Africa and he was so down to meet with us! Just wish he would pick up his phone...I honestly wish I could go around and just tape peoples phones to their foreheads. Would make things so much easier haha!
So Wednesday rolls around and we had the best district meeting ever! Elder Maluse is honestly the coolest guy ever! He is from this little tiny island off the coast of the Philippines! He got baptized like 2 years ago and learned English on his mission, and it’s awesome! He is the most humble guy ever! He bore the most beautiful and most humble testimony of how we need to anchor our faith in Christ! So awesome! Later that day, after an awesome district meeting we met with this guy Harry! Harry is so awesome! He lives in a half-way home, which means he just got out of jail recently. While he was in jail though he found God! He read the Bible 7 times in the 18 years that he was in there! We were able to teach him the restoration of the gospel and all about Joseph Smith, and he just soaked it all up! So cool! He wanted to share it all with his inmates which is even cooler!
We were also able to meet with Gus and the Martinez family! Haha! Helped Sister Martinez with her homework which was interesting! Going back to connotations and all that fun stuff! She came to Canada a couple years back she wants to get her degree which was awesome!
The rest of the week "we walked, and walked, and walllllllked." That is until Sunday night! We met this cool couple a couple weeks ago and they asked us if we could help them move some stuff for them. Had a good conversation with them and they were so thankful for us helping them! It was so cool though, because we were able to make that transition from becoming friends to being their missionaries, and we are going to share about the Book of Mormon with them this coming week! So cool! So excited!
So miracle upon miracles this week. God can help us most when we are on our feet though! He really can’t put people in our car for us to teach, but he sure can put people in our path as we are on foot!
Sure love you all!
Love
Elder McCown!
Monday, September 21, 2015
Talk about Prepared!!
So, long week...I have not been so tired before...Soooo...to start off, I really can't remember anything haha! I have 7 days until I have exactly a year left and I am already forgetting everything! Gah! It’s terrible!
We had some awesome miracles this past week though! We met with Gus and he is just doing so good! Slowly progressing to October 24th which is awesome! He needs all the encouragement he can get to keep him off of smoking and drinking.
So, Floyd is honestly the coolest miracle! He showed up to church randomly last week and we tried to get in contact with him after but he did not answer any of our calls or texts. He told us that he wanted to come to church again though so we banked on that! I absolutely hate banking on that though! Could not do anything about it though! So, we waited, and guess what!? He showed up! He said he would love to meet this week and that he loves church! He has gone through so much though! He has been completely off of drugs and drinking for 7 months though! TALK ABOUT PREPARED!! I literally can’t wait for this coming week when we can meet with him!
Other than that, it has been a struggle. I can only imagine this week though...we finally were able to get the car in...however that means that we will not have the car for 10 days...and our area is huge...I don’t know what we are going to do!!! GAH!!! The rainy season is starting to which makes things a lot more fun! Reminds me of Port Alberni though...we will be driving, and one second it will be sprinkling, and the next we will be getting poured on. The rain comes in waves here! I don’t think I will ever get used to how much it rains!
Sure love and miss you guys though!
Love
Elder McCown
We had some awesome miracles this past week though! We met with Gus and he is just doing so good! Slowly progressing to October 24th which is awesome! He needs all the encouragement he can get to keep him off of smoking and drinking.
So, Floyd is honestly the coolest miracle! He showed up to church randomly last week and we tried to get in contact with him after but he did not answer any of our calls or texts. He told us that he wanted to come to church again though so we banked on that! I absolutely hate banking on that though! Could not do anything about it though! So, we waited, and guess what!? He showed up! He said he would love to meet this week and that he loves church! He has gone through so much though! He has been completely off of drugs and drinking for 7 months though! TALK ABOUT PREPARED!! I literally can’t wait for this coming week when we can meet with him!
Other than that, it has been a struggle. I can only imagine this week though...we finally were able to get the car in...however that means that we will not have the car for 10 days...and our area is huge...I don’t know what we are going to do!!! GAH!!! The rainy season is starting to which makes things a lot more fun! Reminds me of Port Alberni though...we will be driving, and one second it will be sprinkling, and the next we will be getting poured on. The rain comes in waves here! I don’t think I will ever get used to how much it rains!
Sure love and miss you guys though!
Love
Elder McCown
Monday, September 14, 2015
AWESOME MIRACLE
What...the heck...I have 17 days since I am out a whole year on the mission! Isn’t that just super weird?!?!? Anyway! This past week was awesome and tiring all at the same time! I think having P-Day on a Tuesday just threw me off for the whole week...it was so tiring, but what was so awesome was that we were able to pick it all up by the end of the week!
District meeting was awesome this week! A little intimidating when you are the one who has to run the meeting and have President Burt there! It was such a good meeting though! He is just so good on wanting to help us out with our investigators. He just wants to help so badly! Makes me want to work even harder!
The rest of the week was pretty rough though. We had a ton of appointments fall through and we had members coming out with us which makes it look bad on us. I think that was the gist of the week. A TON of appointments that just kept falling through. Kind of rough. But that’s when Satan wants to get down on ya! That or something awesome is just about to happen! We just keep praying and working hard for those miracles! And guess what?!?! They happened! Valentino and Gus both came to church today! And what is even cooler is that we had this guy named Floyd that had been investigating the church over in Coquitlam. I didn’t get to know him that much but I was sitting next to the door and he had just come in. He looked out of place, so, I of course run up to him and ask him to sit next to me. Next thing I know, the guy is crying in sacrament meeting. I talked to him after, just shortly before he left, and he told me that he had a lot on his mind and that he will be back next Sunday. Didn’t seem in the mood to talk, but, IT WAS AN AWESOME MIRACLE!!! He will forever remember that experience!
Other than that, not much happened this week besides talking to a bunch of people and trying to meet with them! God is just so good though! It’s been awesome serving in the area! Surrey is hard, especially trying to keep up with it, but it is SO much fun! Sure love and miss all of you!
Love,
Elder McCown
District meeting was awesome this week! A little intimidating when you are the one who has to run the meeting and have President Burt there! It was such a good meeting though! He is just so good on wanting to help us out with our investigators. He just wants to help so badly! Makes me want to work even harder!
The rest of the week was pretty rough though. We had a ton of appointments fall through and we had members coming out with us which makes it look bad on us. I think that was the gist of the week. A TON of appointments that just kept falling through. Kind of rough. But that’s when Satan wants to get down on ya! That or something awesome is just about to happen! We just keep praying and working hard for those miracles! And guess what?!?! They happened! Valentino and Gus both came to church today! And what is even cooler is that we had this guy named Floyd that had been investigating the church over in Coquitlam. I didn’t get to know him that much but I was sitting next to the door and he had just come in. He looked out of place, so, I of course run up to him and ask him to sit next to me. Next thing I know, the guy is crying in sacrament meeting. I talked to him after, just shortly before he left, and he told me that he had a lot on his mind and that he will be back next Sunday. Didn’t seem in the mood to talk, but, IT WAS AN AWESOME MIRACLE!!! He will forever remember that experience!
Other than that, not much happened this week besides talking to a bunch of people and trying to meet with them! God is just so good though! It’s been awesome serving in the area! Surrey is hard, especially trying to keep up with it, but it is SO much fun! Sure love and miss all of you!
Love,
Elder McCown
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