Missionary Work?

If anybody were to think that missionary work in Vancouver, Canada is all about knocking doors and street contacting, think again. Elder Ramsbottom and his new companion, Elder Russel are definately being kept busy, but not with the conventional missionary activities.

The Winter Olympics are going on in Vancouver and the missionaries have been told to try and watch them with investigators!! hard work, huh? Also, the All Native Basketball Tournament is taking place in Prince Rupert, and the Elders have week long passes! They will be handing out programs in the stands, and they will be able to watch some of the investigators who are playing in the tournament.

“It may sound like the wok we are doing is a bit different to any missionary work any where else, but as President Nelson says, Prince Rupert is a very different place” Elder Ramsbottom

Elder Ramsbottom’s Christmas Present

If you had walked past the Ramsbottom house on the evening of Christmas day, you would have seen a family in the front garden, with torches, turning over rocks.

As it was christmas day, Elder Ramsbottom was allowed a telephone call home. He informed the family of a present hidden underneath a rock in the front garden. And so we searched, under every rock in the whole garden. You would have thought we would know TJ well enough to realise it was all a big wind up, huh?  THERE WAS NO PRESENT!

Well done, TJ, you managed to fool us again.

PS David was grateful for his chance to use his new penguin torch.

Christmas

http://www.lds.org/topic/christmas/

This is a nice website, have a look! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Update

Elder Ramsbottom is continuing to enjoy Prince Rupert. It is -10° at the moment but “thankfully the people in Prince Rupert are a lot warmer than the weather and the work is going really well.” His enjoyment of the work may have something to do with the food “The Christmas dinner was really good fun, the food was ridiculosly good! 2 turkeys, a ham, 4 salmon and a truck load of desserts.” All this for (a full chapel) of 50 people.

Well i am sure Elder Ramsbottom would want me to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Remember to write to him!

P.S. Five gold stars for anyone who can guess the significance of this photo taken in Kitimat Chapel, one of the branches in Elder Ramsbottom’s area. (Ramsbottoms should be ashamed if they can’t)…

The Facebook Missionary Challenge

The Arrival

On the 11th November, Elder Ramsbottom arrived in Vancouver and entered into the mission field. 

Elder Ramsbottom was greeted by the mission president and his wife (President and Sister Nelson, shown above with Elder Ramsbottom) and was assigned to his first area, Prince Rupert, a small town 60 miles south of the Alaskan border. His companion is Elder Blazzard from Utah.

But again, flying did not go to plan for him; the 5 hour flight from Vancouver was followed by a 5 hour flight back to Vancouver, due to bad weather which meant the plane couldn’t land. Eventually he arrived in Prince Rupert by the next day’s flight.

The Missionary Training Centre

After finally arriving in Provo, Elder Ramsbottom was free to discover the wonders of the MTC (and that you should never EVER eat american chocolate). No time for recovering from Jet Lag or any of that rubbish, Elder Ramsbottom was straight into it, with a devotional by Elder Lynn G Roberts.

“The MTC is pretty cool, I can’t believe how big it is. I’ve never seen so many church members in my life, let alone missionaries!” 

The food was good and the spirit was strong; just a few of the things that made the MTC such an amazing experience for Elder Ramsbottom.

“Everything’s going really well here. I really didn’t expect to get much from the MTC, I thought it was just an annoying step to the mission field…but i was really wrong. I’ve learnt so much, it’s incredible. This place has a really special spirit, even comparable to the temple. The purpose is the same; bringing people to Christ, giving them the oppurtunity to recieve the Gospel and its saving ordinances.”

18th-19th october: the (eventful) flight

After having been set apart on the evening of the 17th, Elder Ramsbottom arrived nice and early at Heathrow for his flight to Atlanta, where he would change to his flight to Salt Lake City. All did not go to plan, however, as the flight was delayed by 5 hours! Eventually he left sunny old England and was on his way to the MTC.

But Elder Ramsbottom did not intend on waiting until he arrived in Provo to start the work…not that he had much of a choice. On the first flight he had the chance to speak to his neighbour about the gospel (they had no where to run, a rare oppurtunity!), and on the second flight he was asked to give a preisthood blessing to one of the other passengers on his row who was sick.

Finally he arrived in Salt Lake City, most likely exhausted. A very kind family offered to drive him to Provo, and he finally arrived at the Missionary Training Centre… TO BE CONTINUED!!

Hello World!

That is all.