Staying in Trois Rivieres

Hey everybody,

We had quite an eventful week. There was a lot more going on than usual. We had a good zone conference on Thursday as well as interviews with President Patrick. He's got quite the prowess. He just seems like such a powerful man haha. It's cool but a bit intimidating in an interview setting. I learned a lot from the trainings which were given. We also found out we'll have a visit from one of the apostles next month! That will be an awesome experience.

Thursday night and all of Friday it dumped snow like crazy. Our weekly planning day turned into snow shoveling day. It was worth it since we were able to strengthen our relations with the members as well as show our investigators we care about them. We were pretty sore the next day though. Saturday was a big day... Marcel Croteau has been working super hard to get back into the church got baptized! He was pretty emotional as were the rest of the people there. We had a hockey game before the baptism (in the parking lot, no ice-skates) and it was the Trois Rivières branch vs the Shawinigan branch. We ended up losing by 1 but it was only because their goalie was so good. That night was transfer calls! They are supposed to start at 8:00 but ours came about ten minutes early and we were still in a lesson with Stéphane. He was freaking out when we got the call because he had been telling me for a couple weeks that he was afraid I'd be leaving. When they told us we'd be staying here Stéphane starting celebrating and clapping his hands haha. It was pretty funny. I'm excited to spend at least six more weeks here. The people are wonderful and the area is making great progress.

Sunday we had an awesome lesson with Williane, Alvanie, and Aïsha. They are the sisters from Cameroon. They are progressing super well! We brought our branch president with us to teach them and they invited us over to have a big African meal on Friday. I think they'll get baptized (knock on wood). Sunday we'll be walking with them to church to make sure they get there haha.

I'm doing well and I'm excited to keep working here. Hope everything is going well back home! Already more than half way done with February... Time flies!

Love, Elder Oxborrow

Transfers coming

Hey everybody!

It's crazy that transfer calls are already coming up again. This transfer has flown by. A mission is like a roll of toilet paper- the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes!

We had a good week this week including splits with the zone leaders, a lot of lessons with less-actives, and a lot of personal lessons as well. We've also come to a realization this week that our branch needs a lot of work and a lot of help. We've realized that before we put a lot of focus on bringing others into the church, we need to strengthen the members we already have. We've been trying to focus on that more. The branch council is strong which is a good base. It wasn't very long ago that the branch divided in two so it's still a bit of an adjustment phase (and we don't even have our own building yet). I'm enjoying Trois Rivières and I think I'll end up finishing my mission here. If I don't get transferred next week, there's no way president would transfer me when I only have 6 weeks left. We'll see what happens.

Today the senior couple took me and Elder Read out to a buffet for lunch which was pretty good. Since I'm still on my sugar fast I didn't have any dessert which made the buffet experience just a little less satisfying but it's worth it in the end!

Not a ton to report on this week but still just trucking along. Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

February in Canada!

Hey everybody!

I was sad to hear the news that Grandma Toni, probably the most loving and caring person I ever knew passed away this week. :( She was always going so strong I always just thought she'd be around forever. I wish I had been able to see her again before she passed but it'll just be a short time apart before I see her again for eternity. :) Sometimes I wonder what we'd do without the knowledge we have from the gospel.

We had a great week this week. Between working with addiction recovery, teaching lots of Africans (who have beautiful French), and being used as a psychiatrist by one of our less-actives, we have stayed pretty busy.

We have started to see a lot more real progress from some of our investigators. Yesterday we had an awesome lesson with Williane and Alvanie, two girls from Cameroon. They are so prepared to receive the Gospel it's crazy. During the lesson, they asked "Is there a church you go to or do you just do home visits?" we told them we meet at the cegep building and they are excited to come. We will be setting up baptism a date with them soon. They read multiple chapters in the Book of Mormon since the last time we were there and they're starting to recognize the spirit testifying of it. Another good lesson this week was with Pierre who is Anita's husband I wrote about last week. She was the referral we had gotten through mormon.org. He loves the spirit we bring and is willing to keep commitments but the main struggle for him is going to be coming to church since he's pretty involved in the church he's going to.

One person I who I've been working with since I got here in September is Stéphane. He's the less-active we've been working with on cigarettes and other things pretty much since I got here. He is an awesome guy and I've really come to love him a lot, but I didn't realize quite how much until we were at church on Sunday. He told me he didn't want me to get transferred any time soon and I told him there's a chance I'll stay here for the rest of my mission until May. He asked me for the President's phone number so he could call him and tell him to keep me here. I told him it didn't really work that way haha. It made me realize how many awesome friends I've made and how many awesome experiences I've had and really how much a mission is worth it. It's hard at times, but the lessons learned far outweigh the sacrifice. I love these people! I've made some friends who will never fade for sure.

Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

p.s. Sometimes batman swings into our apartment.

News from Trois Rivieres

Hey family!

I can't believe it's already been another week. Time is flying by. We stayed pretty busy this week. We helped a lady in the branch install a floor in her basement. That was the first time I've used power tools on my mission haha. The next day I went on a split with Elder Boscan the new missionary in our apartment. He's a good worker and is a natural with French (plus he already speaks English and Spanish). We had some good appointments. On Thursday we had to drive into Montréal for Elder Read's doctor appointment. He has some knee troubles. He started his mission in Africa but had to go home for knee surgery. He got reassigned to Montréal and has been here since October but now it's looking like he's going to need another surgery. I feel bad for him. It would be hard with so much pulling your attention away.

Lately we have been finding and teaching tons of Africans. It's awesome how humble, open, and faithful they are. We got a Mormon.org referral this week for a lady named Anita from Ivory Coast. We passed by and found out her mom is a member in France. She lives with her husband Pierre and their 3 kids. They already had a Book of Mormon, a bunch of pamphlets and we also found out they used to get the Ensign. These people have been living in Trois Rivières just around the corner from where we have our church meetings for over 6 months and we didn't even know about it. The power of a referral. We had even knocked her street before but they most not have been home when we were there. Moral of the story: if you know someone who should be in contact with the missionaries who's not, refer them! We had a good lesson and we brought one of our less-actives with us to teach them. It was a good appointment and the member was strengthened as well. I'm starting to wonder if I'll finish my mission in this area. If I don't get transfer with the next transfer I'm pretty sure I'll finish here. That would mean I was here for over 8 months. We'll see what happens.

Anyway, I'm doing and feeling well and just trying to make the most of every day. Thanks for all the support! It comes from so many different people in so many different ways. Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

January in Canada

Hey everybody!

We had a fun week this week for sure. It's been weird as I get closer and closer to the end. I try not to think about it too much. It has, however, helped me really focus on the work and have a deeper desire to give it my all. Recently I've gained a testimony of not having "one foot on the boat and one on the dock". Often on my mission I've spent time thinking about what I missed from back home and how I was excited to do those things when I get home but lately I've just realized that thinking about it too much is a waste of time and it'll all be there when the time comes. For now, I'm just trying to focus on giving it my all.

My area is doing alright. We're having success in finding people to teach, but the challenge comes in helping them to keep commitments, progress, and take steps in the gospel. This week we set up an appointment to go visit a former investigator, Julie from Cameroon, and her three sisters were there too. We ended up having a great lesson with 4 very spiritual African sisters. I'm gonna miss meeting people from all over the world when I come home to Utah. It's not quite as diverse over there.

So we've been working with our less active Stéphane for a good while and helping him to quit smoking certain things. The church has published an awesome addiction recovery program to help people overcome their addictions. Elder Read and I thought it would be cool if the three of us did it together instead of just him doing it alone. I decided that at least for the rest of my mission I'm going to try to give up sweets, desserts, soda, and candy. So far it's been about a week and it's been a bit of a challenge but I've been doing alright so far. Even though our "addictions" aren't quite equal in extremity, it still gives us the opportunity to discuss our experiences together and it's been helping him out a lot. And to my family members who are doubting my ability to not eat sugar: this time it's for real! Haha.

Anyway, I'm doing well and enjoying the work. Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Oxborrow

January news from T.R.

Hey everybody!

It's warm up here! After some killer cold we've been on a warm spell. It's been nice cause it's taken down some of the snow pack and melted some of the ice. I heard it's supposed to get super cold again soon though. Last year at this time I just remember pretty much freezing everytime I stepped outside and today I was ready to switch to a lighter jacket. We'll enjoy it while it lasts I guess.

So this past week was transfers! I successfully dropped off Elder Yan (it was sad) and picked up my new companion. Elder Read is from San Diego. He's a stud. He started his mission in Africa but tore his maniscus so had to go home for surgery. He got reassigned and spent 2 transfers in the YSA branch in Montréal and now he's here with me. We've been enjoying it. I'll have to write more about the area next week.

Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow

News and New Year from Trois Rivieres

Hey everybody!

I'm doing great even after a bit of a down week. We had some drama among members in the branch which caused 2 recent converts as well as an investigator to not make it to church on Sunday, but other than that we had a good week and some good lessons with our investigators.

We had transfer calls Saturday and I'm staying here but losing Elder Yan. I've loved this guy since we first met back in September and I'm a bit sad to be losing a good companion but we knew it would happen eventually. He's going to a Chinese area where his language skills are needed. He's a bit nervous since he'll be senior companion and he doesn't know how to read Chinese, just speak it. It'll be a good learning experience for him though. As for our apartment I'll be receiving Elder Read (who I don't know) as well as another team who will be joining the apartment, making it a 4-man again. Transfers are always full of mixed feelings.

I got the package from you dad, as well as a bunch of Christmas cards from family and friends. Better late than never. :)

Today the weather is pretty crummy. We had a warm spell last night and it's been raining for hours which has just put a layer of water on top of all the ice which is pretty scary.

I'm doing and feeling well. Love you all!

Elder Oxborrow