April 20, 2015
This week was a very blessed week, we were able
to receive 8 new investigators and had many other successes.
Monday we had P-day and visited with some people.
Tuesday we made invites to our potluck dinner
went around handing those out for a while then we saw R. Visited with W and then we were able to start teaching a new family, T who we contacted
coincidentally last week, who is a member, has three kids who she wants to be
baptized. So we got to meet with them that day and had a really good discussion
with them and invited two of them to be baptized and they accepted. Following
that we watched some conference talks with M and had a good discussion with
her and her trying to quit smoking.
Wednesday we were out and about again handing
out invited to potluck and then we saw W and then we were able to start
teaching another part member family and committed all of the kids to be
baptized and they accepted. It was a really great experience to see J,
their father who is a member but has never really attended church, ask some
really great questions.
Thursday we had district meeting over Skype as
per usual then we went over to L's and helped him rake up some leaves in
his yard and then we had a good discussion with him and had dinner with him.
Then we visited with W and then we saw J and he wasn't doing
so well since he is going through Chemotherapy again but we prayed with him and
then rushed back to L's and helped his step-son load a bunch of garbage
into his truck then we rushed back to the church for our youth-night which was
great, we played capture the flag and all had a good time.
Friday we had breakfast at W's and then we
went to the school and helped out in the Cafeteria which is great because we
always get spend time with the workers there who are all less-active members.
We then had lunch, weekly planned and then visited with W and her family
before they headed off to Regina, Then we went over and visited the R's
and played some lacrosse with kids and they had some friends there too and we
then went inside and their friends wanted to come and listen to our message and
we were able to teach them and they all asked if they could be baptized it was
great! Then we had dinner and stopped by KC and saw O and had a really good
conversation with him. Then we stopped by some other investigators and members
but they weren't home.
Saturday we went to the band hall to hang up
some posters and were invited to come to the feast that was to happen in an
hour so we went back and got to experience and spend time with the community as
guests at one of their feasts they put on in remembrance of some of their relatives
who recently passed away. After that we visited with J who is a less active
and her boyfriend who is an investigator. While we were over there her
sister M came who is also less active and we got to teach them and some of
their kids. We then were able to visit with KC and while we were there his
nephew who lives down the road he saw us drive up and came over and
wanted to listen to our message so we got to teach him and committed him to be
baptized and he accepted and wanted to start reading the Book of Mormon
too!
Sunday was good we had a great sacrament
meeting.Unfortunately only had 24 people out but it was great to have L and 6 other less-active members out including both J and her sister who hasn't been to church since T and T got baptized. Had a good
potluck dinner afterwards and then we were surprised by a visit from F and J (taught him in Regina and he got baptized) who were passing
through CTK to go up to Balcarres so we had a good visit with them for a bit
and prayed and shared a quick message with them! Then we saw W and a couple
others before having dinner and then we went to Orson's sweat lodge and it was
different than the others I have been to. C who is a strong member
of the church, beside him never coming to church, was running the ceremony. It
was different because there was no pipe and he basically just prayed and taught
and talked about Jesus Christ and the atonement and he talked about the church as
well! Then we were given the opportunity to teach in the sweat lodge and bear
our testimonies which is a great honor to have. Then after that when we were
leaving O gave me an eagle feather to thank me for the work we have done in
the community. Receiving an Eagle feather is considered a great honor among the
First Nations people as they view the eagles as very sacred. Then K wanted
to give me his hand drum before I left too. Great to see the people and the
respect that keeps growing and them continually growing closer to coming back
to the church!
-Elder Shane Dola
