November in Trois Rivieres

Hey everybody!

Hope you all had as good of a week as I did! Sorry for the unexpected change of P-day this week. We had a conference yesterday from 8:00-16:00. It was pretty long but awesome and I learned a lot. We had Elder Peiper from the 70 come and train us (parents: he told me I have to thank you from him for raising me right).

So last week we did service at a family's house where we raked and moved like billions of leaves. While we were having lunch the sister said how she thought it was so cool how we do the same work that the apostles did in the time of the New Testament. Her sincerity and conviction touched me and it reminded me what an important work I'm involved in.

On Thursday we had interviews with President Patrick. He came to our apartment (we were sure to clean it) and used one of the rooms to interview us. He always has good insights. I think he'll be a general authority one day haha. On Friday night a member had set up a time when we could go play basketball with his son who is inactive in the church. It was cool and we got to know him whereas in another situation he may not have been as open to spending some time with us.

On Saturday I had the privilege of interviewing Nick, who is an investigator from the Phillippines that the sisters have been teaching, for baptism. It was cool how he had had experiences which helped him gained a testimony for nearly every baptismal question. He's been being prepared for a while. His baptism is this Saturday. It will be awesome.

As for weather, it snowed for a couple days straight but then it had crept back up above freezing. Today it is very cold but no precipitation.

Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

News from Quebec!

Hey everybody!

We had an awesome week this week full of miracles and awesome contacts! Last Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving (Action de grâce in French) and one of the sisters in the ward prepared an awesome meal and invited a group of people over to enjoy it. On Wednesday we contacted a guy on the street named Gabriel. He's from Rwanda and is here for studies. We set up a lesson with him on Saturday, and on Sunday he came out to church! It was awesome. He seemed to enjoy it. It was the primary program and some of the kids were a bit misbehaven but he seemed to enjoy it nonetheless. There were a total of 11 non-members as well as a good amount of less-actives at church on Sunday. The work here is going amazing. Through the members as well as our own efforts, we've been finding some really cool people who are interested in learning. It's awesome how the Lord has been preparing the hearts of the people in our area.

This morning we got up a half hour early and went to the park by our house to play tennis and basketball and it was a balmy 36 degrees. It's starting to come haha. I'm not sure if it's better or worse this year knowing what to expect of winter. No snow so far though, just cool winds and frosty mornings. Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

October News from Trois Rivieres!

Hey everyone!

This was a pretty awesome week. We stayed pretty busy. I went on splits with the zone leaders up in Québec City so it was cool being next to my old area for the day. I was with Elder Olsen from Idaho for the day. We actually both had the same trainer so that was fun to talk about. Plus I trained his MTC companion back in Ottawa so we have a lot of mutual companions. On Friday there was a meeting in Montréal for all the trainers. It was pretty good but a lot of driving. I think Saturday was the biggest day this week since there was a... baptism! The other elders in our area had been working with an excommunicated member and his daughter and they were both baptized on Saturday... but it was no everyday occurence... After he was baptized, he got out of the water, was confirmed, ordained a priest, then he got back in the water and baptized his daughter! It was sweet! That night we had transfer calls (I can't believe it's already been 6 weeks!). Our whole 4 man apartment in staying the same so I'm pumped for that. Our district is awesome. This morning the four of us went bowling. I was a little rusty but happy to say that at least I scored over 100 both games.

The work is going well and we're finding some cool people! Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

News from Quebec!

Hey everybody,

Not much time this week to write. We did have a great week though. Two less-active members we've been working with made it out to conference! I loved all of the sessions. We mostly watched it in English but watched one session in French at a member's home. I took a lot from it and ended up with a lot of notes. It was Elder Francois' birthday on Saturday! He got like 3 cakes all from different people haha so he was well taken care of. We also did some service this week. I'll write more next week, but I'm doing well and enjoying every second here!

Love, Elder Oxborrow

News from Quebec!

Dear everyone who reads this,

We had a fun week this week. Time is going faster than it ever has for me on my mission so far. It's crazy. I feel like I just found out I was coming to Trois Rivières and now transfer calls are a week from Saturday. It's probably because it's an awesome area and I'm in a 4-man appartment with 3 other awesome missionaries.

This week was good because we met a few of the people that the sisters had been teaching who we had previously had a hard time getting a hold of. We also had some great lessons with a member who is returning to activity (and I gave him a haircut haha). We did a lot of service this week which was good. Sometimes it scares me when I see how quickly my mission is slipping away. Time flies.

So I think my favorite story from this week comes from when we were doing service in our branch mission leader's yard and these 2 little girls from the neighbor's house came out and started pestering us. Their main target quickly became Elder Yan. After trying to attack him for a few minutes, they went home and came back out with some combination of water, soy sauce, and who knows what else. When they got to where we were they said "Où est le Chinois?" which means where is the Chinese one? When they found him they started trying to throw the Soy Sauce concoction at him and even though he's quick he wasn't able to avoid the flying sauce. After they left, he said in anger, "They attacked me with my own food!" Haha it was pretty hilarious. To make matters worse, he is a germophobe (or as he calls it, "cautious") and since a couple drops of the stuff got in his mouth, the whole way home he kept telling us he thought he was sick. After reassuring him that he would be ok, the last thing he said was "Ok, maybe if I survive this then I will feel safe washing my hands a little bit less frequently." Haha so that's my story for the week. Hope you're all enjoying fall! Canadian fall colors are awesome.

Love, Elder Oxborrow

News from Trois Rivières

Hey everyone!

It was a pretty intense and exciting week. Last Monday night I ended up getting food poisoning so that was no fun at all. It was the first (and second) time I've thrown up on my mission. I was feeling quite a bit better in the morning though. We saw some really good progress from our investigators this week and two of them came to church. A large majority of our investigators are Africans and they are awesome. They all have such strong faith in the saviour. We had a ward acivity on Saturday at the chapel (L'Épluchette de blé d'inde) and we had our investigator from Madagascar there. On Sunday all the missionaries sang "Come, thou fount of every blessing" two verses in english and two in french. I sang base, and I had to practice a lot to get it down ha. The finished product sounded pretty good though. We had two investigators at church, the one from Madagascar and the other one is from Martinique. Tonight we've got a dinner appointment and a FHE planned. It's starting to get cool again... today is a jacket day (I'll probably have to buy some winter gear soon just so you know). Hope you're all enjoying school and stuff! I'll try to make another recording next week.

Love, Elder Oxborrow

September News

Sorry this e-mail is a day late, p-day got pushed again due to labor day. Transfer calls came in on Saturday and... I'm leaving Petawawa! It gets better though... I'm flushing into Trois Rivieres (French) with a greenie! I'm super excited but a bit nervous. It's been a few months since I was serving in French. I'm pretty sure I will be in a 4 missionary apartment. That should be a good time. It will be a challenge knowing nothing about the area but that's how we learn. I've said goodbye to a lot of good friends this past weekend. We're heading for Ottawa today so we can be at the train station in the morning. I've gotta finish preparing to go so that's about all the time I have I'll write more next week. Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

P.S. Photos are:

Brother Andrews!

Stevenson Family

Stevenson Family's awesome cat