Snow-pocalypse

Awesome elbow bruise from ice skating incident!

This week has been the snowiest week in 15 years of Vancouver weather. All common sense was thrown out the door for the drivers of the northwest due to the snowfall.  For a couple days we were grounded from our endeavors (as in we couldn't drive). We trenched it on foot which was fun we embarked to the Walmart parking lot in hopes of finding the elect.  We did find out many people still need to go to Walmart even during the snow pocalypse.  We taught about five lessons while wearing beanies.  No slips only a few close calls.  Elder Pabst stinks at driving on the snow however.  Sometimes I fear for my life as I listen closely to Mormon tabernacle choir jams.  A few miracles occurred as usual and I have a few things I would like to say during this electronic mail letter.  This was a cool miracle...we set a goal to talk to twenty people on Saturday in the ice.  We embarked and at around 6 o'clock we were only at 5... the teaching was just so good all day we sat down for lessons.  Anyway, we suited up in 15 degrees and hit the streets talking to everyone that could stand the snow apocalypse and pretty soon we found some of the elect.  We were about to head home at 8:55 & as I backed Elder Pabst out of his parking stall I saw a man having a little puff of nicotine standing on the sidewalk.  I ran up to Elder Pabst because I felt we should talk to him and he said he would roll down the window to hear / watch.  I ran over to meet Arthur and figured out he just moved here from Sacramento and needs to find a church.  :). Little miracle. Big miracle. Same thing.  Round 2 baby.  Miracle #2:  We felt prompted a couple weeks ago to call some active members in the ward and Get to know them better.  We called and told them we felt really strongly about coming over and we set up a time to visit.  The minute we met them they had a referral for us.  & we figured out he (the husband) should be our new Ward homie and come out with us more often.  We have been praying & searching for someone to help us fellowship our Phillipino friend Fred Manlulu.  Our new Ward homie accepted the challenge and was actually pretty stoked to help out.  Little miracle.  Big miracle.  Same THING!  Miracle  #3:  Heck yeah!  Let's talk about something really helping us.  That would be commitment.  We decided we ought to be more committed to things.  Just those little rules you don't think very much about.  We figured if we want our investigators to commit we best be all in with this.  We decided to change a few things and then within a week we have realized why those "little rules" are there.  I guess that's why they call it faith.  WE DIDN’T know until we tried it sincerely.  We have been teaching our investigators the same thing and we are finding success!  Big time! If you don't think roller coasters are fun?  YOU SHOULD RIDE ONE.  If you don't think WWII history will excite your very core?  WATCH YouTube documentaries.  Anyway, it was just one of those A - HA moments for us because everyone we teach says "I don't believe in organized religion" or "I don't believe in the BOM" or "I don't believe I need to stop smoking". We reply... "Well of course you don't because you haven't fully tried what we are going to teach you yet". I have never met someone that is coming to church every week, reading the scriptures & keeping the commandments that didn't feel his/her life improved.  You just gotta try it and keep trying it and your life will improve.  I’m getting a haircut now.  On Tuesday night the trainer in the MTC for President McAteer came to visit the mission.  He took us out to Olive Garden and helped us teach for the evening.  He wasn't scary and didn't look into our souls and read our minds.  He was hilarious and it dropped 16 inches of snow when he arrived.  We didn't get home that night until 11:30 because every exit we took people were stuck in the snow and we very muscularly had to help push them out before we could even drive by!  I sent a pic of my huge elbow bruise which happened because of my ice skating incident.  I am much less coordinated in ice skates with an ice pick on the front.  Must have got it from my Dad.