Driving, The New Year Fireside, and Success

This week has been a very good week for Elder Liu and myself.  We found out this week we have 3 new people we will start meeting with in the next 3 weeks.  Which is pretty great since we haven't had a really solid new investigator since I got here.  I have no doubt this is connected to our renewed effort to be more obedient and work together as a companionship.

This week we had our Chinese New Year Fireside, which was great.  There were so many people there, it was great.  Lots of people I had met through English class, and they brought friends.  It was a great chance for all our members and investigators to get together, which was awesome.  And I got to watch Elder Liu give a talk again (this time in Mandarin).  And then we had food afterwards.  It was very good, but I didn't get to see everything, I was caught up talking to people for most of the time.  But it was a great experience.

Other than that, I have been driving this week, during snow.  It is difficult, but not as bad as I may have thought.  It was fun to be out during some of the storms, although I didn't particularly want to go fast when I was.  Not that that bothers me or the vehicle coordinator.  Elder Liu will just have to learn to live with it.

Anyway, I'm grateful for all the prayers, and all the support of everyone.  It makes a huge difference in the experience I am having.  Hope you are all doing fantastic!

New Year Fireside

Driving and More Snow

This week has been a good week.  With transfers, there are a few familiar faces that are gone now.  Elder Nelson, one of the Londonderry Elders, left to a new area and so asked for us to help him with getting ready for that on Tuesday.  We were able to, and then we had to go to an appointment with Helen.  Helen is doing really well, she is starting to show more and more interest in things about the Book of Mormon and other things.  Which is really exciting for us.

This week we are gearing up for our Chinese New Year fireside, which is set to be lots of fun.  Elder Liu will give a talk, and so I'm excited to see how he does this time.  But we have been giving out lots of flyers to anyone who speaks Chinese.  Its nice to have a specific activity to invite these people to rather than an English Church meeting...  I think the work here will accelerate rapidly, so I am excited for that.  We are gathering members, and we are still waiting for what I see as the critical mass.  But when it happens, its going to go so big.  I get really excited for it.

This week I started driving, and thats a totally new experience.  I am constantly reminded (mostly by family) how little I know about driving on the snow.  So, needless to say, I am trying to take it very carefully.

Other than that, yesterday we helped an investigator who had badly sprained his leg to go to the hospital and see a doctor.  When he went to actually talk to the doctor, the security asked Elder Liu and I to stay behind, and we did.  We stayed for quite a while.  And in the waiting room there was a TV playing the Super Bowl.  Its weird to think the only time I've watched part the Super Bowl on Sunday was on my mission....  But really, I tried not to watch.  And I realized why we can't, its too dang distracting!

But it has been a good week.  We are doing well in Edmonton, surviving in the snowy flatlands.  I truly miss the mountains in Arizona, and the beauty of the desert, but I am getting used to the beauty of the North.

Elder Nelson (not T.J.'s companion)  taking pictures of the river view

River View

Downtown Edmonton

Transfers (The Second Round)

So as we eagerly awaited transfer calls this morning, I dealt with a nervous Elder Liu, who would not stop asking me for the phone.  Until I hid it under my leg.  He didn't want it after that for some reason.  But the big news of the week: We're both staying right where we are.  So that's our big news.  Elder Liu is excited, he really didn't want to leave the North.  Which is probably good, we have a few investigators and people we meet with that don't like my Mandarin, so they need him around.

This week has been pretty good though.  A few highlights:  Elder Liu hit a light pole.  On Wednesday, there was freezing rain, that left the streets like an ice rink.  It was really bad.  And we decided to drive around doing finding.  Not our best idea.  Needless to say, we were rewarded for our decision.  It's not very bad, its more a pain to deal with than anything else.  Also, I may start driving soon because of this.  So there's something new.

Elder Liu has been a little sick this week, so we spent a lot of time in the apartment again.  I've tried to help him wake up (I squirted him in the face with my squirt bottle one day just to mix things up, and he hated it) but he still has problems with sleep and health in general.

We did teach a referral we received from the Londonderry Sisters this week.  His name is Steven and he is interested in learning about the cultures of religion.  And he was really willing to meet with us, and to start reading the Book of Mormon.  We are so excited for him.  Other than this, we are working on inviting people to our Chinese New Year Fireside, but most people already have a celebration they are going to, so that has been a little frustrating.  Still, we are working on getting people there. 

One thing I've learned to appreciate and use more this week is planning.  I've seen a huge difference in the last little bit as I've made and stuck to plans.  It is truly an inspired pattern of missionary work and living.

That's pretty much my week.  I hope everyone is doing well.   I love and miss you all!

Elder Ethington

Cookies, Toilets, and Warmer Temperatures

So this week has been really good.  On Last P-Day, Elder Liu and I decided to use a gift card someone had given us after we had done some service for them.  We quickly found out that it had more than the $20 the lady who had given it to us had thought. It instead had the full $50 that was on it.  So we got a week of free groceries.  In light of this, I determined to buy some ingredients for making cookies.  So I made two batches of cookies this week.  Both turned out all right, although the dough for the second batch was sketchy.  But it was alright. 

This week we tried to help an investigator family for another set of Elders as they prepared their basement for someone to move into it.  But we had issues with scheduling and dinners and were only able to help a little.  But it was good to offer service.

I also learned this week how to take apart a stretchy watch band.  Our Less Active Member has one that is too big, so I experimented on mine, and found out how to make it shorter, so I will do that for her this week.  And I will fix an issue she is having with her toilet.  So, lots of service recently.

Elder Liu and I are still trying to find more people to teach, but this Saturday, sisters in one of the wards found a Chinese man named Steven who was interested in learning about religion.  We will meet with him this week, probably on Saturday, and we are really excited.  We are still trying to find good ways to tract or to talk to those Chinese people that live in the Northern end of Edmonton.  I think this has been the most frustrating for me, not experiencing lots of success this way. 

We did meet with President Manion and the language missionaries for a language meeting this week, and he told us there is another Mandarin Elder coming soon, who is from China, and can speak both Mandarin and Cantonese.  I've told President I'd like to try to learn Cantonese, so I am really excited for Elder Wu to get here.  Anyway, I've got to go, I love and miss you all! 

Studying in his new hat.

Crumbly Cookie Dough

Cookies!

Dinner at the Jensen's with seven other elders.

Another Week Down

So here I am at the end of another week.  With Hugh's baptism last week, we haven't had any consistent investigators, so we have been on full finding detail. But we are still working on finding people to teach.  We do have a few less actives to work with, and definitely Hugh.  We did receive happy news from him, he found a job this week!  In a sushi restaurant.  With sharp knives.  That he got a nasty cut from on the first day.  But he was totally excited for work.

Its been a warm week, but we did get some snow, which we always enjoy.  It makes driving a little more fun at least.  I am teaching Elder Liu how to properly respond to skidding to a stop with a car in front of us.  I realized he didn't know when he grabbed and yanked the emergency brake....  Fortunately, no accidents.  But I am still on watch.
In other news, we officially are allowed to start using Facebook in our finding and teaching efforts!  So that's really exciting for us.  Some of the missionaries here have been hearing that would happen for their whole mission, so we are still a little skeptical on iPads, but we do have Facebook.

Other than that, there hasn't been a lot going on here.   I got a new hat and gloves, pictures when I can get to a computer with a working USB port.  Also, this week was good when we had a lesson with Hugh, and I felt  prompted to share a certain video with him, that I feel helped and made a big impact on him.  Just another testimony building moment.

Anyway, missing you all!  Have a great winter!

New Year's and the Temple

Happy New Years Everyone!  This week has been great!  Hugh was baptized on Saturday, and that was a great experience for everyone involved.  Elder Liu was able to baptize him, and Todd Oliver, the Elders Quorum President in the Kingsway YSA ward confirmed him on Sunday.  It was a great chance, and I loved talking to Hugh afterwards about how he felt and the whole experience.  I am so excited for the journey he has started.

This week we have been pretty cold, which presents some challenges to proselyting.  It is not very safe to be outside for very long sometimes, and that can be a big concern when we don't have set appointments.  But having the car permanently does decrease that... a little bit.  Elder Liu and I have been doing lots of finding.  After we teach Hugh all of the Recent Convert lessons, we will not have anyone left to teach!  Well, hopefully we get in  contact with a few of the people Elder Liu was teaching before I got here and be able to meet with them.  But I am really hoping that we can find a family to teach.  We have run into a few while doing phone book finding, so that has been fun, but no one to accept return appointments.  So hopefully that changes pretty quick.  Other than that, not a terrible lot has happened this week.  I was on exchanges with Elder Jeffs again, which I enjoyed.  But we keep doing exchanges on Tuesday-Wednesday, which means that language study messes things up.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great start to their new year.  Miss you all!

Elder Ethington

Hugh was baptized January 3, by Elder Liu

This picture was taken New Year's Eve at 4pm. The days are short!

On Monday, January 5, the whole mission attended the temple with President and Sister Manion

Holidays and Skype Fun

This week has been great, we had a great time and we've really been able to help Hugh get ready for Baptism.  He is still getting ready for the 3rd, which is this Saturday. This week he has his interview, and I'm going to go through the questions with him, in English so he has a chance to say and kind of practice his English with it.  So that is pretty exciting. 

This week Elder Liu and I were really excited to Skype.  And then we found out on Wednesday that Elder Liu had made a miscalculation on the time zone differences for when he would Skype home.  So there was a period of time we spent stressing about a few different skype tasks.  1. Getting Elder Liu onto skype.  He had forgot something about the account and couldn't get into it. 2. Telling his parents about the new plan.  3. Getting his new Skype account connected to his parents.  So it was a lot of fun that night, as I sat trying to help Elder Liu create his new account and calling members to try and help us find a way to get a hold of his parents.

But it all worked out really well.  We had Christmas Eve dinner with the Oviatts, who have been super great about feeding us, and Sister Oviatt had already planned on Elder Liu needing to skype, so he was able to get that done, and overall it all just kind of fell into place.  The tender mercies of the Lord.

Christmas and Christmas Eve were so great.  I was amazed at how much love was shown by all the people we saw that day.  We spent Christmas Eve with the Oviatts, who had a great tradition of make your own sub for dinner.  It was delicious.  And then we had a Christmas program, and they sent us away with a stocking of goodies.  Christmas morning the Doreys had us over for breakfast and games, and they were so nice.  All of their kids were there, and it was really fun.  That evening we went to dinner with the Stewarts, where I was able to skype, and where we had a Turkey dinner and talked with Brother and Sister Stewart, who were so awesome, and so very nice to us.  It was just a great day to see how nice people could be. 

The rest of the week has felt slow.  A lot of the people we were talking to have gone home to China for Christmas, so we are feeling a little pressed for appointments.  Lots of finding, but even then, most people were gone, or at home with family.  But we keep on trying.  We also went caroling, and we caroled to Hugh, Helen, Christine, and the lady that doesn't speak English.  We sang an English song, but she still seemed really grateful.  So that was pretty great.

This week I also finished reading the Book of Mormon.  It was actually Christmas Eve that I finished, in the morning.  So that was actually pretty great for me, this time, as I finished, it was more than just a feeling of "Oh great, I am glad that's over with," and more of a feeling of peace, and being ready to start reading it again.  So that's something that has really been new for me.  I would invite anyone who hasn't read, or read earnestly and prayerfully, to do so, and to really seek for help from that book, and to see it for what it is, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

I'll See you all next week!  and hopefully I can attach pictures....  Anyway, Happy New Year!  And Merry Christmas!

Elder Ethington

PS  Also, thank you so much to those who sent me Christmas packages.  I loved having things from home and they have made it much more comfortable and warm in the Northern Tundra.  Thank you so much!