I'm so done

So I think the usual thing that missionaries do when they're doing their last email is something spiritual or something like that.. I'm not sure how well I'll be able to do that because I was straight up awake till 2 in the morning just laying there because I was just thinking about home. I'm not sure if my level of trunkiness could get more extreme. But, I will do my best.

So I guess before I get to that a few points of interest for this week. 

1. tracting and lots of it. I figured I better do the thing that we do most in this mission for my last week. 

2. You could say I accomplished the task that President Craig sent me to do when I got to Prince Albert. That is get the member missionary home teaching set up

3. While doing that the Bishop (not sure if the spirit moved upon him to say this) said that this was preparing me to go home and be an Elders quorum president..

4. had another cat follow me while tracting. 

So as I've been thinking about home like crazy I found a nice scripture for coming home. It's the first and last verses of Isaiah 35. "1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

Well this is it. It's been real and it's been fun. Not sure if it's been real fun yet until I get home but, I'll keep you informed. Shout out to all the people who read my blog. It's been great having supporters from everywhere. Hope you've enjoyed reading about my crazy mission because I've appreciated the unseen support from all of you. There's a thing in the gospel where the faith of others can help make miracles happen. I'm sure that's been the case with the miracle of me completing my mission. Thank you all. 

I know this work is the work of the Lord. I know this church is directed and supported by him. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of the Lord. Because Joseph was a prophet, I've been blessed with the opportunity of sharing this. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. 

See you in 5 days

-Elder CALVIN Mikesell

Baptism!

So before I get to the baptism part of the email I just wanted to relay a few fun facts. This coming week will be the week where I'll have been a missionary for two years straight. I'm super trunked out right now because this week is also the final full week of my mission. Nuff said.

Now this last week was mainly consumed preparing for a baptism. The last baptism that I participated in the other Elders took care of the planning and preparing so I had an easy ride. But, it was not so this time. We did have another set of Elders with us for half of the week so that helped but, it was a long weeks nonetheless. Some of the activities included having my first district meeting with six Elders there. Having six Elders in our apartment and making sure everything worked well for that. Going on exchanges for two days in a row. Making yogurt for two nights in a row. Planning an interview (the reason why we had another set with us for most of the week) Planning out the baptism. Inviting a lot of people to do things for the baptism. Helping out with moving things for a wedding (a small side job) Having the baptism. 

So overall a lot of things happened. But, it was a good week. The baptism itself was really nice. We had a lot more people show up than we were expecting. Half of the people there were also non members so that was nice. Brother Moore did a great job baptizing him. #onedunk The talks were great. #igaveone #soofcourseitwasgreat Just a nice experience for the last part of my mission. Now it's back to pounding the pavement so Elder Santos can have a good transfer with his trainee. 

But, I'm super trunked out so I don't know what else to say other than I hope youz have a great week. And pray for me so I can have a great last full week in the mission. 

Melfort

So to be honest not a lot happened this week. I guess I could say meeting the second practicing wiccan on my mission was a thing that happened this week. Other than that we went down to Melfort for our first and last in person district meeting there. Not because we don't want to go there again but, because an Elder from my group went home early from there for school. So I'm now back in the good old Meadow Lake, Battleford district :D It's nice to be back in it for the last few weeks of my mission. I've basically spent almost half of my mission in that district so it has some good memories. But, while down in Melfort I got super trunky because like I was saying that Elder from my group was going home and we were talking about that a lot. We also got to do service at a Salvation army there which was fun. We found a baskteball card with Jimmer Fredette on it. It was fun to be in the back and see what all they had around.

The other news for this week was it was my last Fast and Testimony meeting on my mission. I had a lot of thought going through my head at that. One of which was how everyone was saying they didn't have many people at church (like twenty people) that day because everyone was out vacationing. And I was just thinking back to when I was in testimony meeting of seven people including the missionaries. I've seen a lot over my mission. Church is still true everywhere even if it's more true in Alberta ;) 

Finally we're going to be having a baptism this week :) They decided that this week was the best time so it's happening. I should have pictures to send after it's all over :) 

I hope youz have a great week. Just think I'm only going to be sending two more of these mass emails. It's getting real. But, I'm too busy to think about that ;)

The Picnic...

dun dun duuuunnn

So this week was a good one. Let me tell you why.

So first of all I had my final Zone Conference. If that's not enough this week is my final fast sunday in the mission. It's getting close to go time. But, we had a great Zone Conference. I'm glad I was able to have it in the promised land of Saskatoon. It was nice. I gave my final zone conference testimony. I didn't cry. The crisis was averted. Also we had another Zone Conference where we took videos of ourselves doing contacts and it was a good time. Sadly we didn't have a missionary looking like he was twerking at the beginning of the video this time. Probably a good thing ;) But, afterwards I went to "Go for Sushi" It was a good time. It was all you can eat sushi and I ate and ate. I tried some new things like octopus tentacle. It was kindof spikey so that wasn't too fun. But, after that experience I've decided if I'm going to be doing another thing like that I'm going to bring someone experienced and do a better job of planning what to eat. It was a mess and we were getting close to the end and everybody was getting stuffed and we still had food on the table. I did it though. I stuffed another sushi roll down my throat and I didn't die. 10 out of 10 would do again.

Another great thing that happened this week was we got to help someone move. It was a quick move. Not much to pack up and unpack. And we made some new friendships with the niece of a member here. Also to top things off this member was sooooo excited to hear that we, as missionaries, could come back any time. Which we did the next day and got some nice refreshing water in the heat of the day. It was a good experience. 

So. Now for the picnic. So our loving relief society president decided that in order to form a more perfect union we would have a picnic. She had it planned to the t and it was all going to go perfectly fine. Sadly a few of the key people she invited didn't show up but, that was probably for the better. As Elder Santos and I were walking up to the bench in the park with brownies in hand this poor intoxicated man came up to us and begged us to let him use our phone. His dad had died and the funeral was the day before and it seemed like he had got left in Prince Albert where everyone else went back to La ronge. So he was begging us to let him use our phone. He actually got down on his knees and grovelled. So we figuring that this situation could turn for the worse resisted for a time. But, we ended up allowing him to try and call someone. Which didn't work... But, it didn't seem to be getting in his head that it wasn't working and he kept persisting that we call again and again. After a time I figured, since my companion is a phillipino, that I better end this and go to the picnic. So we did. Soon other people showed up and we started picnicking. After a time however he came over to all of us and asked to use a phone. And for the next 30-45 minutes we tried every number he could think of and none of them worked. We fed him and the whole nine yards but, he did not understand that it wouldn't work. So again I decided that I would "end the conflict". Bad idea. I said no to him a few times. Which I later found out the word "no" is like a catalyst in situations like this. So to make things short a few seconds later an arm was swept across the table destroying a crock pot and scattering everything else. Angry words were said by both parties. I sat in shock and was speechless. And again to make things short the RCMP were called so nothing else like this happened. We had super nice RCMP officers come. They were bantering with eachother, making sure that we were all ok, and helping clean up the mess. It was a good counterbalance. I was still in shock but, overall things seemed to be doing better. I'll just say that when I told president that I hadn't served in a city yet, I think I got what I asked for. 

So on that bombshell. Things are still going well in P.A. It looks like there'll be a few baptisms in the next weeks. Life is good. I'm waking up at 6:00 in the morning now to see if that shakes up my schedule enough. Overall things seem to be leading up to me going home. I gave my last official talk in church. It wasn't 40 minutes. The members were happy about that. Anywho I hope you have a great week. Love youz

 

Elder C Mikesell: So my brother challenged my "heat of the day". For the record it's not Georgia surface of the sun with an ocean evaporating around you heat but, it was as I checked, about 90 degrees with a similar humidity. So for a desert UT boy like me who has dealt with unbelievable cold it's a bit hot for me

 

Elder S Mikesell:  You're right.

 

Tangalo

So this week we found out that Elder Santos can read Lingala out loud to native Lingala speakers and be understood. Thus Tagalog + Lingala = Tangalo. So now for the story. We're teaching this man who is from The Congo who does not speak much English at all. Luckily for us he's super interested so he's patient. Also luckily for us there is some recent converts who are also from The Congo who act as an interpreter for us. But, not so luckily for us neither families can read Lingala. And the Book of Mormon is not in the dialect of Swahili that He normally speaks or hopefully can read. So right before the lesson Elder Santos checked to see if the vowels for Lingala are the same as in Tagalog. Let's just say we make a good team. I was sitting just basking in the reality of Elder Santos reading Lingala to someone while I teach and our recent convert translates what I say to a language they both understand. It's pretty unique because without each other we wouldn't be able to do as much. Elder Santos's english isn't the best but, he can read Lingala. I can't speak Lingala but, my english is good enough for our recent convert to translate and be understood. #thegospelwillbepreached #ineverytongue

Otherwise things are moving forward here in P.A. We're getting more familiar with the city and with the people we're visiting. Things are coming together. 

For a funny story this week. (though it wasn't funny in the moment or I should say hours) I was hanging up a few things in the shower to let the steam "iron" them for me. And as I was doing that I decided to brush my teeth as well. Well when I closed the door to make sure the steam did not escape somehow the door got locked. I still don't know how it got locked but, it did. So after I disposed of the tooth paste in my mouth I began searching for the key to the door. We couldn't find it anywhere and when we called the Elder who we replaced he said there wasn't a key...... So luckily I had a few bobby pins in my wallet for this purpose. I began the process of trying to pick the lock. But, using Skyrim terms my level of lockpicking was lvl 2 and this door required at least a lvl 20 lockpicking skill. Needless to say we were in a pinch. And the shower was still going.. One thing I forgot to mention is that this shower gets it's waters straight from Mordor and is magma hot. It also is pretty high powered coming out of the head. So I was concerned that everything was going to be soaked. Which it was.. But, earlier that day I found out that we have a number for apartment emergencies because there was a guy sleeping in the hallways of our apartments and I decided to call that. They patched us to the on call after hours handy man. He arrived drilled out the lock and replaced our door knob. It was quite the experience and I was not too happy. But, it all worked out and I had been prepared earlier to know what to do. 

I hope youz have a great week and great pioneer days. I watched Legacy just recently so I'm in the Pioneer spirit as well ;) Anywho love yous

Ako po si Elder Mikesell

So the transfer has officially begun. I'm now serving with a Filipino and already getting acquainted with his ways. Elder Nielson prepared me well because he had just come from Neepawa which is the Filipino part of the mission. One of the first things we did today was find the Asian store in town so we could buy Toyomansi. Which is Soy sauce mixed with calamansi extract. Calamansi: a Philippine native citrus fruit (basically, like the people of the Philippines, a smaller form of a lime).

But, Now for the area. I'm blown away with how big of an area it is. There is definitely a good reason I stayed in smaller places for my entire mission before this. But, it's also super nice because I have it all here. Also I found out that this city is known as the city of prisons. Today we drove past two of the three penitentiaries. One of them looked like a castle and was absolutely massive. I think it's one of the largest walls I've seen in my life. 

But, otherwise not much else has happened this week besides me getting the trunkiest I've been on my mission. When you pack for the second to last time on your mission it gets really tough. But, I survived and now I'm doing better ;) 

That's all I've got for now but, I hope youz have a great week.

Extras from Mom's Email

July 3, 2017

That's not too fun that you had a bummer week. If if makes you feel any better I did have a bit of a bummer week as well in a lot of different ways but, this last week has been great in a lot of ways as well. I'll start with some of the bummers and then I'll say how they turned out ok. So at the beginning of the week we had a family drop us pretty hard. They were pretty good but, they were not prepared so some future missionaries will find them when they're willing to change. There was also a day that Elder Nielson and I were not doing too well and I had a bit of an emotional moment. Then the next day I got a nasty cold that lasted a few days. So looking at it that way I had a pretty crappy week. But, now for the positive things. So to counteract the investigators dropping us, Elder Nielson and I had a great talk on the preparedness of investigators. We're still diligent and obedient. Although that family wasn't prepared we were able to give them a wonderful first impression of the Mormon church.  After the nasty cold I had a couple really good things happen. Yesterday I felt done. I felt like I couldn't go any longer but, we decided to keep on going. We had a great time tracting and I felt like I can still do hard things. Plus I could feel help keeping me going. Also for some reason the cold mixed with the medication and fasting did something to me and I'm thinking up to speed again for the most part. I'm pretty sure there was divine intervention but, I'm thinking much faster now :) So if going through Hell gives me blessings like that then give me more. I probably shouldn't say that because I might break a limb this week because of that but, I'm sure there would be something I would need to learn from it. Also for the waking up on time I'm finally feeling awake in the morning. The cold threw me off but, we had a good morning this morning. I've committed myself to living this way and the Lord is providing a way for me to do what he asks me to do. I don't know why it's taken this so long to be resolved in this way but, I've learned so much more by doing it this way.

July 10, 2017

Something that's become apparent for the last year of my mission but, has really stuck out recently. We were talking about what missionaries went through when the church was started in Sunday school yesterday and I'm glad I wasn't a missionary then. I also have lots of thoughts of my ancestors crossing the plains when I have hard times and when I don't want to go out. We've been doing lots of walking this last week in plus 40 degree weather and I've had lots of thoughts of the pioneers crossing the plains. I think I can walk a little bit longer because they survived ;) I've also been reading a lot in the Book of Mormon and I think remembering their ancestors was to them like having a testimony of the gospel is to us sometimes. It's kind of funny how often they talk about remembering the captivity of their fathers. But, it's something that's needed even if it does sound like they're bearing their testimony about how they remember their ancestors.

The Final Stand

So this is it. This is the final stand of Elder Mikesell as an Elder. I'm going to Prince Albert SK to die. But, that's alright because dying brings new life back in good old UT. I'll also be whitewashing in with Elder Santos an Elder From the Philippines.

First of all we had a great America Day (as Elder Nielson calls it because he's Canadian and celebrates Canada Day) I don't think I did very much other than go on a rant in the morning about the greatness of America.

So for this week. It's been a week of walking in the heat of Northern Saskatchewan. Which comparitively is probably not as hot as the boys down in the Southern States right now. But, it's been quite the change. There was one day that I was a bit tired of the doldrums we were in so we made a goal to have some funny stories. We were not disappointed.

First of all we had this super native guy who was on his way to Sarcan to get some money for bottles he had. He told us he respected what we did and he had no problem with "our guy" because he's the only guy who answers his prayers. He said he prayed to Buddha and Confucius and a couple other guys but our guy was the one who answered his prayers. That was quite the encounter :)

Another thing was that we ran across a lady who told us that she believes the part of the bible that if anyone adds to the Bible they'll get the plagues. To which we said so you believe that we've got the plagues. And she was like "well everyone gets plagues" to which we said "but especially the Mormons they get the plagues". Afterwards I was like "I don't know about you but I've never seen any plagues in my life but, it would be freaky if locusts started attacking. "THEY'VE GOT FACES OF MEN!!"

Another time that day there was this guy who was super down to bash with us. So he said "I think you guys believe in a different Jesus, there's lots of Jesus's and you guys believe in a different one than me" To which we said "ok" "do you know anyone who would like to hear from us" he said "if I did I wouldn't tell you guys" To which we said "alright have a wonderful day" and walked away. He was super surprised that we didn't even flinch at what he said. #worth Needless to say we (especially Elder Nielson) have had enough of those people.

Overall it was a good week. Lots of walking and talking but a good week. I hope youz have a great week

BTW this will be the first and the last ward I'll have served in. #outlyingforlife

Oh! CANADA!!

I hope y'all have a wonderful freedom filled Fourth of July. However even though I will be singing the Star Spangled banner as much as I can I'm enjoying Canada this year. Something many of you may not know is this years Canada Day is for the 150th anniversary. So apparently everyone went super hard on their celebrations. However I did not do much to participate in the celebration because I had a nasty cold. But, I'm sure it was fun even without one American celebrating with them ;) Anyways because it never gets dark now they had the fireworks at close to midnight and I needed that precious sleep. p.s. Just so no one worries we did get fed on Canada day and it was one of the best barbecues I've been to in a long time.

Otherwise it was a fairly uneventful eventful week. One funny thing that happened while trackting is we met an atheist who "knew more than us about our church" He surely got sassinated. 

Sassination: a term developed by Elder Nielson and Elder Blommeart to denote an encounter where someone is being very irrational about our church and other things in general and the only way to deal with them is by sassing them so much that they either realize their irrationality or realize that the said missionaries don't really care that their adversary knows more about "seer stones", "that we don't believe in Grace", "that we are ignorantly following our parents" or "wasting our time" than we do.  

Well I've got a few more emails I need to write out. I still love y'all but, the computers are still not up and running at the church. So limited time yet again. I hope youz have a great week with much sound of firework.

Lots happened I promise

So yet again the computers are down at the church so that means limited emailing time. However I don't have much to say about this week.

The highlights this week were trackting, going down to Battlefords to talk with President, trackting, and having branch conference.

The branch conference was quite fun just because we about doubled in size and most of the people who regularly come came. Plus we had a killer potluck after. Overall would do again. Mainly because the stake presidency are the best in the mission ;)

Like I said a lot happened this week. I promise ;) It was a good one. Love yous. have a great week

Scary

So I'll make this quick but I thought I would send out a mass email because I promised to tell you about two experiences this week.

First of all we've been in a lot of rain this last week. I don't think I've seen this much rain since my time in the Battlefords. But, tracting in the rain works just as well as any other tracting ;) However one night was particularly stormy and there was one thunder crack that woke both of us up. I don't think I've had an experience like that since my time at the scout camp where we met the Mccougar. 

The other experience in spite of being startled awake by thunder was much scarier to me. Because as I was peacefully sleeping Elder Nielson was not. I got woke up to somebody touching my arm and telling me that I need to wake up the phone was for me and then speed walking out of the room. I followed him because of the urgency that he was displaying. He was waiting for me at the doorway of the study room and as soon as I got to him he went to the window and was just looking out. I then asked him where the phone was and all he responded was a quick shrug. I then asked him what was going on and again he responded with a quick shrug. After that he passed by me quickly. As I followed him out back to the room he jumped in bed and very efficiently put his covers back on and rolled over. At that point I realized it was all just a dream of his and he pulled me out of sleep for some reason because of that. It was freaky. The thing was is when I looked at the phone somebody had called that night after I fell asleep. So whatever was going on he needed to tell me before the morning :) 

That's all I've got. We've been doing lots of tracting and teaching. Most of which has been good. Overall a good week. 

Love, Elder Mikesell

p.s. shout out to Connor and Madi receiving a saving ordinance this week 

Exchanges in Stoon Round 4

So one word that would sum up this week is Trackting but, there's much more that happened than that. However this week was so much trackting :)

The first big thing that happened this week was we went out to Saskatoon for Zone Conference. It was one of the more engaging zone conferences I've been to in a while. There were also three Elders that it was their last zone conference. Which made me realize it was my second to last zone conference and at this point Elder Nielson would tell me "three months" you can wait three months. But, it was pretty good. President Craig gave a wonderful portion on studies. We can all tell he follows what he preaches as well because he is a very well versed man. It was really nice to hear him talk about it. 

After Zone Conference I got to go on Exchanges with Elder Beus who is a new Zone Leader. It was nice to exchange with him because he's from Tremonton area. So basically cache valley except not :) For our exchange we went straight trackting as well. We had a few lessons planned but they didn't work out. But, We got Five Guys so it was worth it ;) It was also super nice to be in Stoon. I love that city

So the next exciting thing that happened was I gave a talk on Sunday. I know that doesn't usually seem like an exciting thing but I got to talk about Commitment and Goals. So I was excited. But, because this was the first talk I was explicitly told to prepare a 15 minute talk and I was worried. So I went hard on preparation and I abated that fear. I still, however, felt like I was going to only talk for 15 minutes max. I was expecting to go under. Before we got up to talk, Elder Nielson was asked to talk as well, I told him to prepare to make sure he had a talk that could last for all the remainder of the time. So I got up and was just excited to talk about what I had prepared. And it was going good. And then towards the end of the talk one of the Branch Presidency got up (I thought he was going to tell me to cut it short) and went and sat by my companion and said something to him. At that moment I was like "oh no.." "What did I do?" So I wrapped up my talk and sat down. As I was sitting down I noticed that the Branch Presidency was all smiling and I was super embarrassed because I realized I had talked for way too long. Elder Nielson, after it was all over, told me that the final time was 35 minutes. I could've gone longer.. I was so surprised I talked for that long. I guess that's what happens when you get me to talk on something I enjoy :) 

One of the tender mercies for the week was we had an appointment with someone who we had been meeting with for a while. We asked the branch if there was anyone who could come and one guy who hadn't really done much with the missionaries for a long while (to my knowledge) said he could come. It was amazing how well he was able to connect with her. It definitely was meant to be. 

Overall it was quite the week. I'm ready for more 

Staying in Stoon

So the highlight of this week rotated around being in Saskatoon for half the week. At the beginning of the week were Elder Nielsons last few days and at the end of the week were Elder Nielsons first few days. So basically my week was a form of Chiasmus. Either way it was a good time.

So not too much happened at the beginning of the week except for the power of prayer and faith being applied. I was not thinking and we didn't fill up on gas before we went down to Battleford at the beginning of the week. I'm used to driving gas efficient subarus so the small tank and not much gas efficiency of the RAV is going to throw me off for the rest of the mission. Anywho so we made it halfway to Battleford and the low gas light came on. It was also the time of the evening where small towns only have Cardlock gas stations open. So we were pretty done for. We actually ended up calling the NB elders and telling them to pray for us because we were just going to give'r till we dropped. The point we were at was the car telling us we only had 14 kilometers left and the next town that would have a gas bar would be 20 to 25 kilometers away. We just about didn't make it. But, somehow someway we made it to Cochin. And a gas bar was open. It was amazing. 

Next part of the week was spent with Elder Griffin for my second exchange with him. It was super good to be with him again and I got to be a Zone leader for the day. We went pretty hard that day and got a lot of good stuff done. Also there's a unique culture in our mission where a lot of people who serve in Winnipeg learn ASL because there's a massive deaf community there. So I got in the club and learned how to finger spell. I've got it pretty down already after a few days. I'll probably try to teach Elder Nielson so we can send secret messages during church or when we can't speak. :) 

Then I got Elder Nielson Senior. We hit it off pretty well because we both served in Portage and there's lots of good stories from portage. It's been a pretty good first few days and I hope to see more coming. Other than that I can't think of too much that happened this week. 

I love youz have a great week

p.s. We saw a bear cross the road in front of us #threebears

Back to Back Elder Nielsons

So there's a saying in missions that there's always crazier things that could happen. I think this transfer qualifies as one of those. So I'm currently serving with Elder Nielson who is going just down to the Battlefords. So he's still in my district. But, I'm also getting Elder Nielson who started his mission the same time I did. Also I'm now the District leader over this district that has two Elder Nielsons. I think President has a sense of humor with all this :)

Other than that this week has been quite out of ordinary again. 

So instead of having district meeting at the beginning of the week we had it midweek. The reason being is that President came to Battlefords to have interviews and drop of a Rav4 for us to drive up here. That was nice of him :) We then had exchanges down there. Which was a good time. We finished it with late night pizza. When you get hungry in the evening and you can't go out to grab something you just order pizza. Which was a first for me. I don't think I've ever payed for a pizza delivery before. The deliverer was pretty nice so that was fun. 

Then we spent the next two days working with one guy. 

So it all begins back when I got in the area. Elder Nielson told me that there was an investigator of the Battleford Elders that was going to be walking back to his home reserve 45 minutes north of us here in Meadow. I of course did not believe that he would be walking all the way back up here from the Battlefords. But, he made it some how. So Tuesday or someday last week we get a call from him wanting to meet with us. (We had tried calling him a few times to no avail) So we said we might as well try meeting with you out on Waterhen because we go out there every week. (later we find out that that's probably not going to happen) So, after we do some service out on Waterhen. In the which we about got taken away by rabid sand flies, thousands of them. Anywho not important to the plot. But, we follow Cecile out to the part of the rez that he lives in. 

This part took a lot longer than we imagined it would. We also found ourselves deep into the forest with hundreds of thousands of really tall trees. I felt like I was in a different part of the world. But, we finally find the house he told us he would be at. Turns out he's not there. So were like "we can't just come all this way just to find out we didn't have to come all this way" so we knock on the closest house and ask them if they would know where Jeremiah is. Turns out he's the one who comes to the door. Neato. 

So we teach him for a bit. And then I'm thinking "hmmm we have a fireside tonight that we've been invited to but we don't have anyone planning on being there with us.. hmm should we invite him?" So I invited him. The next problem that we had to face was: are we going to have him sleep outside when he comes? This is not very respectable so we had to make a few calls and we found a potential place for him to stay. Turns out he didn't stay there but, that's a teaser to the story ;) We end up taking him back to Meadow Lake on a leap of faith. Not knowing where he's going to stay or how he's going to get back to Waterhen which is like an hour away. But, "there can be miracles if you believe" So that's what we did. We get to meadow lake grab a bite to eat and then it's time for the fireside. It was an excellent fireside on likening the scriptures to ourselves. I found out my mission is like Nephi's boat. Jeremiah had already been likening the scriptures so this was super good. After the fireside we still had not found a place for him to stay. We actually had to get home before that all got figured out. But, he knew a guy who knew a guy who he could stay with. So it all worked out. #nativesarenomads 

The next morning we get to the church building and the powers out. Just our luck. For you future missionaries whenever somebody you invite to come to church for the first time finally comes. Expect something to go wrong. Nothing terrible but, something will go wrong. That was our thing. We had no power in the church. So we all crowded to the side that had windows and made do. Power turned back on at twelve. We were set. It was a great meeting. 

After the meeting we met with Jeremiah at somebodies house. Answered a few questions. Had a wonderful meal. Talked about evil spirits. Good times. And then he was on his way. Back to Waterhen. He made it somehow. JK our branch president drove him back. And I was tired. I had one of the better nights of sleep than I've had in a while last night. 

So that was the week. Still can't believe that all happened in this last week. We were talking about something that happened on Tuesday and we were like "that really happened this week? now way" It was a legit week. 7 days. a full week. 

Anywho I love you all. Wish me luck. I don't want my district dying again. Love youz

Sundance Feast Round Two

For another week in the mission it was quite the week. We had three major divides to this week. The middle one I'll choose to not disclose ;)

But, the beginning of the week was pretty good. Made it back to NB to have family home evening with a family and the other Elders in North Battleford. That was pretty fun. I got to have balut again (I think I total 5 duck embryos that I've eaten now). Also Elder Morrill got to eat balut for the first time as well as Elder Nielson, due to not wanting to barf, ate a small piece of the egg. Good times :) 

The next day after District Meeting we tried out a barbecue that the Battleford Elders got. It was probably the best burger I've had in a long time. We sauteed up some veggies to go with it and it was just soo good. 

Then we got back up to Meadow lake and that's where I'll skip to the end of the week. 

So because the Sundance Feast was going to happen on the property that we do service on a lot up in Waterhen First Nation. We spent some of Friday helping get things ready. Mainly chopping up wood in preparation for the fires. It was nice to get out and do some hard work that day. 

The next day we went up early to do some more prep for the feast. The highlight of that was helping them move teepee poles and help build a giant teepee. (I'll have to get some pictures later) But, it ended up taking about six of us to set this teepee up. The way that they did it was also symbolic of a few things. They first took four "forked" poles and set them in the directions of the four directions, North East West South, and we took two of them and pushed and pulled them up until they were standing in the air. Then we took a third "forked" pole and Stuck it in there so we had a tripod. After that we took the final direction and stabilized it. Finally we took the rest of the poles and set them up "in the order that the sun goes" so around the circle of the four directions. It was a lot of work but, it was nice to see the final product. 

Later that day we had the sundance feast again. The Elders were in the teepee this time doing the songs and ceremonies. The entire day there was so much Cree being spoken as well. It was good to see these people keeping on a dying tradition. 

Sunday was also a good day. We were able to go out to one of the members farms to talk about home teaching stuff. Out there we found out we were the first Elders to visit their farm for the first time in two years. That was a special thing. It was also fun to be out on the farm. Their kids had bought Ewes to help pay for missions in the future and they had named all of them. It was a pretty legit place. It was pretty nice to be out on a farm away from civilization. 

Overall a good week. Not sure if I would do it again but, it was a good week :) Hopefully those of you in Northern Utah don't freeze too much. I'm enjoying some nice weather and you guys get snow. A bit ironic considering I'm in the great white North ;) Anywho I hope youz have great week

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

Well if all goes to plan the next time that I see my family is at the airport. Crap got real yesterday ;) But, until then I'll try to hold back the tide of trunkiness ;)

So now for the week. I now have a three inch long green streak in my elbow pit. So that was fun. One thing about that is that I now know this was all meant to happen again because they still had my records from about a year ago. So when they took my blood this time they could look for other things. But, things are looking up. I'm doing super well even though my arm still hurts from that ;) 

Another exciting thing that happened was that one of our investigators brought his friend to an appointment. This said friend was the one who helped this investigator get off the hard drugs and clean up his life. He also brought him to church for the first time. So it was super nice to meet him. We were honestly expecting a low key bible bash but instead he just asked us what we were all about. So we gave him the low down and he's like "this is all stuff I believe" also something that I found hilarious is that he said "it didn't seem too sacrilegious" So that was fun

One other fun thing that happened was I got to learn more about the native ways. And I totally forgot to tell my family about this yesterday but, I Made Bannock for the first time. It didn't turn out too bad for a mooniyaw (white man in Cree) But, we got to learn more about the native way during that day while we helped them out. It was a good day. 

Finally I'm in Saskatoon right now. #ticketsneedtobepayed 

But, I hope youz have a great week. Love you all

"Time"

ELO

Well this week has been quite the week. It was definitely a week. 7 days. Just the week. But, I survived ;) Some big things that happened were Zone Conference on Friday with Gladys from Portal being installed in our car and service on Saturday. Also we had a break the fast potluck this Sunday. I think that's a first. It was super nice. 

But, first for the prep for Zone conference. I don't think I've spent so much time cleaning a vehicle in my life. To give a bit of a backdrop why let me list a few things that's led up to this. A year ago when the Meadow Lake Elders first got this car (which I was around for) They had just got it from CTK. The only area in the mission that the Elders live on the Rez. This vehicle had been driving dusty roads for quite a time before that without washing it that much. So the insides of the doors were caked with dust it seemed at least an inch thick. Luckily that had been cleaned a bit. Elder Bassett who was serving in Meadow Lake while I was serving in North Battleford and is now serving in North Battleford told me that part. But, the worst was yet to come. Because we Meadow Lake Elders pass through NB on our way to Saskatoon we just carpool with them all the time. So the car thus needs not to be cleaned as often because no one ever sees it. So here it is romping around on the rez up here for at least 6-8 months not getting cleaned. And I come into the scene and Gladys needs to be installed so we have to have the car sparkling for the guy coming from headquarters. Lets just say I would rather spend a few hours cleaning rather than losing a lot of time in the future in case the car got taken away. And that's what we did. I think the floor mats are secretly bags of holding (from dungeons and dragons for those of you who don't know what that is) because whenever we beat them against the ground there's still a layer of dust comes out.

But, we didn't lose the car privilege at Zone Conference and it was one of the better Zone Conferences I've been to. Learned lots of stuff and had a generally good time. Sidenote that I should add: the night before Elder Morrill brought some wax and now part of one of Elder Mikesell's legs is hairless and theirs a patch missing from the other. Good times. To add to that I got to billet with Elder Lee one last time. I also got to meet my other brother from Elder Lee. It was nice. The next day Elder Lee also gave his last testimony at a Zone Conference and I'm super happy I got to be around for that. It gets real when your first companion is finally going home. 

While all of this was happening Gladys was being installed. I must say it's not as bad as I was expecting. It's still a robot telling you how to drive every once and a while but, if you're already a good driver you don't need to worry. I think Gladys has only got mad at me once so far.

Finally for excitement this week. We got to do service up on waterhen again. This time we were preparing for a Sweat lodge. I'll have to get into what a Sweat Lodge is some other time but, to be basic it's another Native thing that you go into this hut and sweat your face off because there is rocks that just got taken off of a fire, flaming red, and water that's splashed on them every once and a while. It's like church for them. 

But, While there we had a good time. I got to carry around a hatchet for a while and chop up trees. I also got to try and use a bull whip. I'm not very good still. One of the highlights however was we had an Otter run through camp. On the day I decided to have a camera along and be taking pictures. I got some really good pictures of it while I was chasing it. So yoked about that :) I don't have my camera on me right now but, when I do get it I'll try and send some pics. 

Thank you for all of your love and support. Love youz  

- Elder Mikesell

P.s. Shoutout to Brady and Emily for going to be receiving a saving ordinance this week ;)

"Fairly Local"

So this week I got to spend my first most of a day in North Battleford for almost ten months. It was super nice to go around and recall all the good memories there. I got pretty blessed as well because most of the people I wanted to see were home and around. It was super nice :)

I'll be honest not much else happened other than going down to the Battlefords at the beginning of the week. It was a pretty slow week. 

One thing that did happen which was a lot of fun was getting to visit a family that lives near Dorintosh. I was really able to hit it off well with this family and I hope to be able to go back soon. While there their two kids were playing Breath of the Wild on the Switch. It was pretty neat to see that. Sadly they spoiled some of it for us but, hey it's all good :) I'm pretty sure the Switch is the future because when people need to use the room that the kids are playing in then you just tell them to take it with them and boom. No more problems dealing with kids complaining they didn't get their full time. However it does pose a few problems when they're actually supposed to be done and they just peace out and continue playing :) 

Other than that we're getting the infamous TIWI attached to our car this week. We had to get our windshield replaced before zone conference and we only found that out yesterday. But, because Elder Mikesell doesn't know how that works he was pleasantly surprised to find out that we could just call this morning and as of now it is replaced. Not even 24 hours passed and it's all good. Now we just hope and pray that it doesn't get broken again like it has so many times. 

Overall this week has been a good week. Some good things are coming

Natives doing Native things

So out of all of my areas this one has the highest concentration of First Nations people. That being said these last few months are going to include a LOT of native things. This week being no exception.

So the beginning of the week we did lots of finding and teaching. The amount of people we're meeting with here is very comparable to some of my most successful transfers in that aspect. It's been wild. Especially because the size of this town is comparable to Melville and I think we can all say Elder Mikesell probably taught 3 lessons there. BUT, anyways, That was the beginning of the week. I'm finally getting the hang of getting around Ghetto Lake. (Sidenote on Meadow Lake: the nickname I have for it I'm realizing is apt for what it's like. I don't think there's a section of road here that doesn't have a hole in it or have dirt trying to fill up a hole. It's rough on the car. (there are other factors in this but this is one of the most prominent)) 

Moving on. One of the wildest things happened this week. To really give the full import it needs some back story. About a year ago. Elder Tippets and Peck decided they were going to go out on the back roads to trackt. While doing this they found Walter  (I don't usually use people actual names but, I'm going to be attaching a news story that has his name) When they found him it seems like they became good friends with him or something along the lines because they told us down in Battleford all about him. Fast forward 8 months. He's been in the hospital this entire time because when Tippets and Peck found him he had a mechanical heart. That got infected and he miraculously was able to get a heart transplant. Thus, being in the hospital for more than six months. Anyways Elder Peck told me I needed to go find him. And so we did. He had gotten out of the hospital not too long before then. It was almost coincidental. But, Shout out to Elder Thompson, it turns out its a Godcidence. Because not only had I caught him right as soon as I got back to the area and he miraculously survived. But, I found out on Sunday from a members mother Who Usually Isn't In Town but was because of a unknown allergic reaction. He had been worked on by her to look at the church. Coincidence? Nay nay Godcidence? Yea yea. 

 Now for the Natives doing native things. One of the big things we do here in Meadow Lake is do service for this lady that is the mother of a member here. She is very native and still is fluent in her native Cree language. But, Anyways we went up to her land in Waterhen F.N. and helped out with whatever she needed help with. This time it was repairing roads. I suddenly had much more of an appreciation for ancient civilizations that built roads out of rock. They didn't have a truck and all the fancy things that help us now to repair and build roads. So a lot of that day was spent taking 5 truck loads of old Sweat lodge rocks and dropping them in muddy tracks so that it wouldn't be so mushy. It was good hard work. 

The next day she invited us to a Sundance feast. For those of you who don't know what that is. I didn't either. But, I now know. Basically there's a few Sundance feasts that happen from winter to summer before the Sundances happen. At the feast you sit in rows males with males and females with females with all the Elders sitting together. (not us Elders. Native Elders) And while you're sitting on your mat, or as a lot of them brought: couch cushions, you get a bunch of food placed in front of you by these guys who come around with their big pot of whatever they have or with bannock pieces. And you just eat and eat. it was nice. But, after that's all over they get out the drums and sing for each Elder there. They would sing the same 4 or 5 songs and each Elder in turn would lead them. I forgot to mention. While this is all happening they've got sweat grass burning like incense and the peace pipes are going around. For those, like us, who don't smoke we just touched the mouth part to our chest around the heart area. So after that I was smelling like a Native for sure. It was a good time. We were pretty lucky to get invited to that because I don't think there was a single member there. It was an interesting experience. 

I think this is all I've got time for. But, thank you all for your support. I love you all.

love, Elder Mikesell

 https://northernprideml.com/2017/03/heart-recipient-heading-home/

"Stand Up Inside and Be All In"

So I found out why in Conference Elder Sabin talked about "when possible, make a legal U-turn."

Apparently in Saskatchewan U-turns except at stop signs are illegal.

Whoops... 

Unfortunately playing the dumb, doesn't know what's going on American did not work. 

Well... I guess 230 bucks is enough to make sure Elder Mikesell never U-turns again in his life. Amazing how General Conference talks have universal application ;) The Church is true. The Book is blue. I watched Gen Con and so should you.

Anyways rant over. I'm hopefully going to get that price tag dropped from that unseemly amount to a more reasonable amount. Welcome to Canada where tickets destroy you financially ;) Ok I guess my rant wasn't completely over but now it is. 

I've got to say it's super super weird being back in Ghetto Lake. Beyond weird. But, it's been super good so far. I feel like this last little bit of my mission will be good. Elder Nielson is a good little greenie and I'm sure we'll go far together. Some super exciting things so far has been seeing people I met a year ago again. It was super good to go around North Battleford remembering all the good times I had down there. 

You know you're an older missionary in this mission when they ask you to drive a vehicle on the transfer train. Which is probably the most fun I've had driving a vehicle on the mission. Probably because it brought back memories of driving the silver bullet back home. It was a dodge van as well except 2017 version. I may have accidentally spun out the tires a couple times. It's got some kick to it ;) Another thing that makes you realize that you're an older missionary is when you're in a room full of Elders younger than yourself and when they look to you and pay a lot more attention to you. Time has changed things up. 

Overall this week has been super weird. Especially when the trip to Meadow Lake started. Just a bunch of super weird things happening. I'm not sure if I like it yet. But, We'll see :) I think this is all the time I've got but I should hopefully be able to send off a few pictures. 

THE BATTLEFORDS PT. II

Well the day has come. I'm going to be almost going back to an area. It's going to be super weird... I never expected this but here we come Meadow Lake :D It's going to be weird being back in that district. To make it even more weird one of the Elders that was in Meadow Lake while I was in Battleford is in Battleford. WE TRADED PLACES!! IT's WEIRD!! But, I'm super excited. Elder Peck told me today that it's his favorite area. And it's likely going to be my last area unless President decides to move me for my last transfer. Which has happened many times before. I don't know but I feel like there's something up there that I didn't finish a year ago so I'm going back. Haha I'll have been to the two opposites of the mission after this :) Oh one other thing that I haven't mentioned to anyone yet. I'll be greenie busting so that should be fun. It'll be a first for me. It should be good :)

Other than my brain being scattered this morning we had a great week this week. I can really only think about going back up North again so bear with me now. 

So Really the exciting things that happened this week were concerning the people we're working with. We were able to start teaching this girl this week and she came to church! We also have a date for the 29th for her as well as the Part member family that we're working with now as well. Some good stuff happening here in Portage. Of course right before I leave ;) 

Another fun thing we did was help the family that has been coming out to church from Long Plain F.N. with building a deck. It was nice to just be out on the rez living the rez life. While we were waiting for them during this we went out and checked out a part of the rez I hadn't been in. It's a lot bigger than I thought it was. I just realized that I had a dream of driving around on that part of the rez. I told that to Elder Dagenais just barely and he was saying he felt like we needed to drive around that part as well... "THE TWILIGHT ZONE" Anywho it was a good time. I was glad to be a part of that families life for a while. It's been good. 

Overall a pretty good week. I LOVE it I hope y'all have a grand week and I'll hopefully be more ready to email next week

The Bees....

Welp. I still don't know what I'm going to do after my mission. just joking but, after every session of Conference I would ask Elder Peck if he knew what he was going to do after his mission now. It started because he told me that the last general conference of the mission is supposed to tell you what to do after the mission. The exchange went like this after every conference "So Elder Peck do you know what you're going to do after your mission now?" 

"Nope" 

"Haha Neither do I" 

After the last one we both decided that what we were supposed to do was not pile out after the mission and still be faithful. So I guess that's what's going to happen. And of course do lots of Family History and contribute to the family history ;) 

Other than that it was a wonderful General Conference. There's going to be lots of reviewing I'm going to be doing. Overall it was an answer to prayers. Plus I had a good time with the members here and just had a generally good time

So now for the rest of the week. I've promised a few people that there was a large mass email coming and I hope to fulfill. 

First of all we had the Winkler Elders over for a large part of the week. They were here at the beginning of the week so they could email. We had a good time on P-day and got lots of good stuff done. It's been a good time this week being able to talk with them and have a good time with them. Tossing it back to the Battlefords I remember why I enjoyed the district up there so much and a large part of it was Elder Peck :) He's still good. I may be getting sick now though because Elder Morales had quite the cold going on.. Still a great time talking to them and having a good time

Next day. Tuesday. We had quite the amazing experience. We found out on the Sunday before that we were going to be wanting some Addiction recovery stuff. We weren't entirely sure what our Branch President was meaning by that but we found out. So, basically there's this Part member family that really wants to change their life. He's trying to kick the bottle and they're both trying to stop smoking. We had a wonderful wonderful lesson with them that night. They've really been prepared for this. One of the highlights of that lesson was him telling us he's never been so excited for something in a long time. I don't know about you but, That's amazing. The guy never really had much Religious background he looks like he's been through punk stages with some interesting tattoos not only to add on that he's struggling with alcoholism. But, he's excited for something that after two meetings with people from our church, one with the branch president and one with us. He's excited. So good :)

Next day. Wednesday. The most frightening service I've ever been through. Alright imagine with me.

Imagine this red lit room. The only light comes from 5 red bulbs. The kind that you would imagine in a submarine to keep your night vision strong. Then imagine a buzzing noise all around you. You see these stacks of boxes in the room and their's crunching under your feet. Then you hear a buzzing get louder near you. and then a buzzing come whipping past your face. There's bees. Millions of them. One of them lands on your arm that's luckily covered by a jacket that has the sleeves Velcro'd up. Looking at the boxes you see bees swarming at the entrance, not flying, but like ants swarming. Then something lands on the back of your neck and as you try and swat it off pain courses into you. 

I was just about done when that bee landed on me and stung me. You know I had my hood on for the rest of that service. We were helping move hives around for him so he could prepare to get them out into the yards. But, I was getting super anxious and scared. I'm sure that was helping a lot because he was talking about how bees go for the CO2 the stuff you breath out. Shout out to the boys who know about my new dance moves I made up when I was like 10 years old. That memory and others of being stung came back to me in there and I was not having a good time. I think I left the room at least five times just to take a breather. You probably won't see me being a bee keeper ever. 

But, the next day we did some of the funnest service I've done on my mission as well for the same guy. We went out to one of his yards to go take down some trees that were blocking the way to get in. Don't worry I never operated the chain saw. But, I got to chuck logs and stick around after he cut them up. It was a good time being out in the bush. It was also the second time I heard gun shots on my mission. For some reason some guy was shooting his gun at something out on his farm. For those of you who know Canadian laws, guns are hard to acquire and harder to legally shoot. So that was really odd. It brought be back to growing up in the U.S. though :) It was a good time. 

The next fun thing that happened was Winkler came back for interviews here in Portage with President. That was a good time and it was great to talk to President again. Overall a good day that day. We were planning on going on exchanges but it didn't work out. Which is all good. It would've meant me staying inside with Elder Morales so he could be sick. Also this day and a few other days during the Gen Con weekend we got fed quite a bit by the Judge and others. It was super nice. I don't think I've been fed this much in a long time. 

Then Back to Gen con which again was a great time. One of the best on the mission. Everyone seemed super happy and there were lots of great talks. Anywho I hope y'all have a great week. Spring is coming up here. We've had so much snow melt. Which I finally took pictures so I'll be sending those.