Innisfail chapter 9

Wow this past week was really amazing. The work is really starting to move forward.

Monday

Today was pretty uneventful. We were able to teach a couple Charlie and Lee. They are the couple from friday. They are really willing to learn and are willing to follow the commitments that we give them. It is truly amazing. We actually have progressing investigators!!

Tuesday

Today was a crazy day. We went over to the McLean's for Lunch and continued with YLM with them. We are continuing to learn more about how to best teach it to everyone. We are trying different ideas until one finally works. The whole lesson idea is still really helpful to people, it's just how to present it. We then went and stopped by Todd. We haven't seen him in a while. He hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon, but is still willing for us to teach him. We then went and helped the Ellis'. They are finally moving into their house. It has taken a year of construction and they are finally moving in. It's exciting. We then had dinner with the Hallman's. Their kids are so much fun. Bro. Hallman served in Provo. I don't know how long ago, but his last area was AF. It was cool. We then went and helped Josh with Bro Day's fence some more. We are pretty much done. It was just some more clean up.

Wednesday

Today was a lot of service. Todd was working on his gate and we went to help him. We spent about 2 and 1/2 hours helping him before we had to leave for lunch and then see the Blanchards. The Blanchards are a real help with YLM. They gave us a great idea that we are going to start trying. It simply is to go through each of the lessons in PMG and find 3-5 main points. We are making flashcards for some people to show them the points. We are going to give them a few of the principles and then have them finish the other principles on their own. We are really getting people into PMG. Elder Marsh had started digging a post hole for Todd and so after the Blanchards we went back to help Todd. We were there for another 2 and 1/2 hours until we had to go to dinner. We never got to read the BOM with him, but were able to talk about it. We then went to Sister LeBlanc's house for dinner. She is so great, but holy cow can she talk. We then went with Bishop to visit Mary and let him get to know her. It was a great visit. Then we had Ward Corelation.

Thursday

Today was great. We started off with going to the Stonehockers and continuing the member lesson with them. We didn't have the main points ready yet so we just continued on with helping them learn what the principles are. We then went and had a district meeting. It was really good and Elder Marsh was able to give some great ideas of how to help our areas. We then went and had mormon.org time. Mom after what you told me about Thomas I'm starting to wonder if I was finding the right people. I found some records about one of Thomas' daughters and found her, her husband and kids. Whatever Thomas that is, I'm able to find a lot about his family. Well I might step back and try another line. maybe start a little lower and reach out. It is hard to do when there isn't much information about some of the people. Anyways, We then went to Bro. Young's house and then had dinner with the Kirkpatricks. They are such great people. They are wanting to move but don't know where and no one has even come to look at their house now. It's a tough situation. We then went and saw Jeff. He is so fun to visit with.

Friday

We had weekly planning today. It took a long time, but we were able to really plan out our week and get a lot of things accomplished. We always end weekly planning with Comp I (companionship inventory). It is pretty much to address any problems with your companion. It was really good. We have been a little tense this last week and it really helped to relieve that and figure out how to make our companionship stronger. It took a while, but it really helped. We then went and met with Bro Crawford. We gave him the first of the flashcards. We then went and had dinner at the Woodruff's. We went to pull up and found a surprise. The Mcphails were coming for dinner. We haven't seen them in a while and had to quickly think about a different lesson plan. It still worked out really great.

Saturday

Today was a great day. We went over to help the Ellis' some more. We went and helped him mount his new TV on a wall mount. That was a lot of work. We also helped them move their treadmill. It is really similar to ours, so I pretty well knew how to move it. Bro Ellis didn't know where it was supposed to go so when everything was said and done, it was back where it was. Oh the joys of moving. Glad we never moved. We then went and visited Bro McLeod. Then we picked up Bro Ellis and took him with us to a lesson down in Bowden.  We first stopped by Sam. He is a LA that we stopped by a few weeks ago and Bro Ellis knew him really well. We went to see if there was anything that we could do for him and had an interesting run in. Apparently, Elder Marsh was too "pushy" for him. He ripped into him and pretty much told him to never come back. He said he had no problem with me. Well that was because I really didn't say much to him. As long as we are companions we aren't going back. We then went and had a lesson with Shauna. It went really well. Bro Ellis was great. They had a lot in common and were able to talk about work. As we were teaching her Bro Ellis invited her to church. It was great that he invited her. She accepted. As we continued on toward the end of the lesson we invited her to be baptized. SHE ACCEPTED :D. It is our first investigator with a baptismal date. It took a little bit. We set a date for later in September. It is about a month away. Well it seems like a long time away for us, but Bro Ellis was shocked it was so soon. We had to come back and say that it was a goal that could be adjusted, but we would like to keep it there. It was incredible. After we left, Bro Ellis was amazed at how bold we were. It was no big deal for us. The 7 Habits of a Baptizing Missionary: 1 Invite investigators to be baptized on every visit, including the first lesson. We are used to it and were prepared. We then went back to our apartment and had dinner then we drove out to Springbrook. It was a last minute change, but We took it as a prompting and followed it. I'm glad we did. We went out to try by Jackie. She sells antique-ish furniture at the Red Deer market. It is the furniture that she paints with some color and then beats it to make it look older. Mom you will understand. We were able to talk to her, but wasn't able to set anything up. We then went to see the Kachor's. They were supposed to be coming home from their vacation and so we wanted to see them. We had a great conversation with them. They drove down to California and while they were in Salt Lake they went to the temple. She is a LA member and the rest of the family aren't. She had a great experience at the Visitor's Center and was holding back tears as she tried to tell us about it. We then set up an appointment to start teaching them. He is interested in learning but not much more. She wants the kids to understand what she believes. So we set a time to go back Sunday. Elder Marsh has been waiting the whole time he has been in Innisfail to start teaching them.

Sunday

Today was pretty incredible. We went to church. While we were there there was a sister there that had served in Innisfail a little while ago. Sister Atkinson. She went home in May and came back up with her family. They were touring around and today they were in Innisfail. Elder Marsh and her were in the same zone when he was in Beaumont. So they knew each other. It was the third Sunday so that meant Pot-luck. We were out talking to some people and so by the time that we went in most of the food was gone. We got enough, but couldn't stay long. We then headed off to teach the Kachors. We had a great lesson about the Godhead with them. It was super cool. We then went to see the Mendenhalls. We were going to go with Bishop, but he wasn't able to come. We were able to understand why they don't come to church. It might take some time, but I'm pretty sure they will come back. We then went and had dinner with the Mower's. Well guess who was staying with the Mower's that night. The Atkinsons. So we had dinner with the Mowers and Atkinsons. It was fun. They were all going to go over to the Ellis' for dessert. We went and dropped by some people and then went over. The funniest thing about the night came from Bro Atkinson. The ward keeps in contact with most of the missionaries that have served in the area. It has been sisters for a while and the Elders that have recently served are still serving. They said they had a bet going on who the first to be married would be of those who have gone home. A lot have said Sister Atkinson. Bro Atkinson was great. "I'd put my bet on Elder O'Neill." It was great. I've now been out for a little over 2 months. We were all dying over that. I'm still laughing at it. We had a cool discussion with them and then went to see some more people. Well we had like 15 minutes until we had to be in. We went and stopped by a potential Darren. We weren't able to set up a specific return appointment, but we got his number to try by him later on this week.

Well that was my week. It was pretty incredible. We have really been guided by the hand of the Lord in everything that we do. We are loving the work and loving the people even more. The work is continuing to move forward.

I love and miss you all. Don't worry I'll be back in only 22 months.

Elder O'Neill