Howdy friends! :)
It has been a pretty stressful week. But super fun.
The first part of the week was spent driving all over the
city so Elder Peery could say goodbye to everyone. The second half of the week
was spent driving all over the city again so that Elder Blackwelder could say
hello to everyone. It's been kind of insane. The most crazy day was definitely
Wednesday. Let me give you the run down.
So Elder Peery's bus left at 8:30. We got ready and left at
7:45 to get to the Sainte-Foy bus station by about 8. Nice and early and on
time and everything. As we were pulling off the freeway near the station, all
of a sudden Elder Peery said, "SHOOT." Naturally, I assumed we were
about to be totaled by an incoming semi. So I tensed up and prepared to go into
evasive maneuvers. Only to find that he was just looking at his ticket with a
very confused face.
See, normally, when missionaries leave/arrive in Quebec
City, we meet them at the Sainte-Foy station. It's super close to the bridge
across the river, which is pretty much the only way to get to Quebec City
within a long distance. There is, however, another station, called the Quebec
Centreville station, right in the middle of downtown. The office had bought the
ticket to leave from the Quebec Centreville station. And we both had only just
then noticed this rather important fact. So we picked up the Sainte-Foy elders
at MacDo and hopped back on the freeway... just in time to hit traffic. We were
still a good 20 minutes away from the Centreville station as the clock ticked
past 8:30. So we decided to flip a U turn and fly back down the freeway to the
Sainte-Foy station, just in time to catch the same bus as it stopped by the
station on its way to the bridge. So Elder Peery ran in and hopped on the bus
just before it left. Craziness.
After he'd left, we drove up north about 30 minutes to help
our bishop move some furniture (turns out he's moving to Arizona... like 10
minutes away from my house! What?? :)). We spent the next couple hours moving
couches and boxes and stuff. Elder Blackwelder was supposed to get in at around
12:15, so we went back to the institute in Sainte-Foy and for their correlation
meeting. We stayed for a short time before we had to hop back in the car to
pick up Elder Blackwelder. So where do we, as intelligent elders, go to pick
him up? Obviously the Sainte-Foy station! :)
We're not very bright. :P
So we finally managed to get down to the Quebec Centreville
station at around 1:00 to pick him up. He'd been waiting there for about 45
minutes. Don't I make a great first impression? :P
Anyways. Other than that, we've spent the majority of the
week driving around introducing Elder Blackwelder. It's been pretty fun. He's a
super chill missionary and works really hard. We're gonna have a great time! :)
One thing I've been thinking about this week is the
importance of listening.
For those of you who know me well... you may have noticed
(and been too polite to tell me) that I'm not really the best at listening.
I've been known to hear problems and simply want to run in and fix them at the
first moment's notice. When people have come to me to talk about a problem they
have, my first instinct has always been to simply tell them how I think they
should fix it. I rarely have been inclined to listen carefully to everything
someone has to say.
I've been thinking about how our Heavenly Father
communicates with us. When we speak with Him in prayer, it is pretty rare that
in the middle of talking about our problems, an angel from heaven shows up to
say, "Hey, look, all you have to do is this." (If this is what
happens with one of you... please let me know your method. And maybe write a
book about it. 'Cause that's pretty extraordinary.)
As I have prayed about my problems and questions and joys
and failures and successes, the majority of answers that I've received have not
been immediate. The only immediate response I receive most often is the feeling
of love and care from my Father in Heaven. My most memorable and sacred
moments, those times when I have felt closest to Him, have been those moments
where I have felt simply that He is listening. Where I have felt as if He stood
just beside me as I prayed. Where I have felt as if no matter how silly or
foolish or guilty or annoying I think I may sound, He just loves me and cares
about me and wants to hear everything I have to say.
I am convinced that one of the defining characteristics of
pure love is the ability to listen. And if we desire to be as our Heavenly
Father and His Son are, how important it is that we master this virtue.
God is our Heavenly Father. He loves us and He wants each
one of us to talk with Him. We are never, ever so far from Him that He cannot
or will not hear us. He is real, and He cares. I know it!
En avant!
Elder Bryan McOmber
Driving to Trois-Rivieres this week, Elder Peery got a hold
of my camera, and this is what happened...
More of Elder Peery's antics...
My personal favorite...
WE ALSO DROVE BY A TANK. Like what??
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