Missionary Letter #81

This week we had an exceptional miracle occur. When I first came to Lindsay we had one new convert named Alex. Alex hadn't come to church in months, and despite the efforts of numerous members and the branch presidency, has seemed turned off by the church. It hurt me, mostly because I'd heard stories about how great this guy was and how his conversion to the gospel was nothing short of miraculous.
So after trying to get in contact for weeks we finally sent him this text as a kind of 'last ditch effort'

"Hey Alex, we're heading out to sushi and were wondering if you wanted to come?"


Two months passed, over which time we kept him in our prayers and tried our hardest to at the very least talk to him about his experience and if we could help. I wouldn't want to say I gave up on him, but he certainly wasn't on the radar this week for me. We're letting in a sister to the family history center (because in this branch the missionaries are called family history consultants) and I get a text. From Alex. That says.

"Wait I was offered sushi and it took me two months to reply???"

I called him immediately, and we had a talk for the next ten minutes. He told me he was planning on coming to church, and how he'd been having a rough time and didn't quite feel ready to return. It was a wonderful opportunity to testify via phone to him that he was loved and we would be so happy to see him Sunday. It was then I saw real fellow-shipping in action. When Alex came that Sunday a series of members took the time to talk to him, ask him how he was doing and how his life had been. We had a dinner appointment last night, and totally free of us asking Sister Brennon (the mother of the family we were having the dinner appointment with) asked Alex if he'd like to join us for dinner. That night we had a Sunday -family home evening and it was incredible. The Spirit was felt, Alex had some questions and concerns answered and the Brennons shared their conversion and their struggles after they had become members. It was a spectacular night. I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of it.

In other news we went to the temple this week. I had the wonderful opportunity to stay the night before the temple trip with one of my old companions. We hadn't gotten along famously, but that night we had a fantastic time talking about our missions and what we had learned. He's a great friend, because both he and I realized we made mistakes and we've moved past those.

My companion took a picture of the most celestial restaurant in Canada... Smokes Poutinerie, an elder we traveled with never had had poutine, which offered us a reasonable excuse to go :)

Loves

Elder Wolford