It has been very hot here! Thursday and Friday it was hot
and Saturday it rained in the morning a ton and then the rest of the day it was
so humid. 35 without the humidex but with the humidity it was said that it felt
like 45 and then yesterday, it was even worse. The humidity was said to be at
73% but it could have been worse! We were at the Dryden fair Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday so we had a booth inside a metal building with no air conditioning
so it was quite warm and sticky to say the least!
I kind of had to laugh when I read about those guys going to Boise
Idaho and Salt Lake because those are the two missions that people always laugh
at, and then I am here in the Winnipeg Mission, but yeah I think you know what I
mean.
So, here is my week:
Monday was p-day so we shopped, washed the
car, prepared for the week etc., had dinner, and then went to FHE with the
T's. J came and we watched a movie about a guy who found a Book of
Mormon and took almost his whole life to be able to get in contact with someone
who had the priesthood and get baptized. It was really good though and was true
story. J loved it and afterwards we had pie and ice cream.
Tuesday we went and worked at community gardens,
filling in some more garden plots with soil. We had one of the wheelbarrow
tires get completely flattened by a tack that was on the ground, which slowed
us down a bit. We went and helped hang up some shelves at the Dryden Native
Friendship Center and after lunch we helped J at the Dryden Mission for a few
hours and then he took us to A&W. Later that night we did some stop bys and
got in contact with some of our investigators and did some street contacting.
Wednesday we had a great district meeting over Skype
again and had some good practices. Later we went to the food bank and helped
out there. We had a good conversation with the guy who manages it there. He is
a pastor at another church. We then met G in the park again and taught another
great lesson with him. He lights up every time we explain things to him and
when he learns more. We can tell, and he can tell, that the spirit is really
working through him. It’s fantastic! So excited for him!
Thursday we woke up and helped J at the
Mission again take a bunch of garbage out from the Dryden Mission and he prayed
for/with us. We have been praying that his heart will soften and it continually
has been every day. We then had a great service opportunity with N at Aarons
Park. We had previously not been able to work with him or talk to him too much,
but we prayed that we would be able to talk more with him this time, so we went
out there, and the whole time we were there we were working with him, cutting
brush and trees and we had a great conversation and really broke down some
barriers between us. We are now a lot better acquainted and he is way more open
with us now. Then we had lunch and were able to meet with the N family for a
while, which was great. They invited us to one of the kid’s birthdays on Friday,
so we went there. We then went to the fair for the rest of the day at the booth
and it was great. J came. Even though she originally signed up for 2 hours,
she was probably at the booth helping out for around 10 hours total. She
recently read overt the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and really loved it and told
us of the great spiritual experience it was for her and how she really believes
it and how it all makes more sense now! Her testimony is growing so fast. She
was even testifying to people of different faiths who came by the booth and would
tell them that this was the church where she had found the most truth! It was
so great. We also ran into others at the fair who are investigators or people
we knew who we hadn't seen in while and we had a great time talking with them.
Then that night, the district president in our branch gave us two referrals.
One was to go and help out a new couple prepare their yard for their wedding,
and then he said he was having another person over at his house and that we
were going to come over and teach them the plan of salvation. He also invited
us to his retirement party where he is going to bear his testimony at the end
and give all of his colleagues copies of the standard works with their names
embossed on them. It will be great to be there and a great opportunity to find.
Friday we did our weekly planning and were at the
booth the rest of the day. We got to know some of the members better and ran
into G and he introduced us to his brother. Then we came home and finished
our planning.
Saturday we went to the Birthday party
for a bit and got to meet the rest of her family. We then went to the fair and
J came again. We had lots of opportunities to talk to people and share the
gospel with some and we just got ourselves more recognition out in the
community.
Sunday J came to church again. This will
have been the 4th week in a row and she stayed all three hours for the first
time. Later, we were at her house teaching her and we asked how she liked
church and she loved it and said she can see herself coming every week! Earlier
in the day we were able to come across two families we have been trying to get
in contact with ever since I have been here and they were both home (because
everyone was home Sunday except us because it was extremely hot outside with
humidity at 73%) and we were able to set a service opportunity with one and the
other set up a dinner appointment with us for later in the week! We also ran into J, who just decided to randomly drive down the random street we were
on. We had a great conversation with him again and he told us he
really would like to take us to dinner some time this week and then have a
serious talk about the gospel with us afterwards, which is great and was exactly
what we were hoping for and he just asked us!
But overall it was another fantastic week here.
I love it still! The Lord continues to bless us with miracles and service
opportunities continually!
-Love Elder Shane Dola
