Week 20 - Farewell Flin Flon
Yep, transfer news came, and it's time for me to leave Flin Flon. I love Flin Flon, and I'll miss it dearly. The branch is so friendly, the town is so charming, and Josiah Flintabety Flonatin continues to stand strong. It's very sad to leave, but I'm also very excited for where I'm going! Funny enough, we're already on the road. Usually transfer day is on Friday, giving us time to pack, make carpool arrangements, etc. But last night President Carr announced that transfer day is now Wednesday. So let me paint the picture for you: we knew Elder Lamb (one of the Thompson Elders) and I both had decent chances of leaving. So, a few days ago we talked and planned out what we'd do in any scenario. We figured we'd drive to Thompson Wednesday, have a final district council, say our goodbyes, and whoever is leaving can drive to Winnipeg the next day. Then President Carr said "psych! Gotta be here by Wednesday now. So, after all the transfers were announced this morning, I had to speed run my packing so that we could get on the road today and leave Thompson with Elder Lamb tomorrow. So that's fun. I didn't get to give a proper goodbye to all the friends I made in Flin Flon, but maybe I'll have a chance to see them again in the future. It'd be fun to visit Flin Flon again after the mission. As for where I'm going… well how about some fun stories from the past week first?
On Wednesday we got to volunteer at a Jim Cuddy concert!! It was SO COOL. We helped scan tickets, and helped people find their seats, and afterwards we got to stay and watch the show! They opened with performances from local artists that were SO TALENTED. Holy cow for such a small town there is so much musical talent. Then the main performance, Jim Cuddy and his son who's name I can't remember, was absolutely amazing. We didn't get to watch the whole thing because of our curfew but that's ok. Also, during one of the songs there was a drunk Native American guy that started dancing just a little past our chairs to the side and it was so funny!! He was very very drunk and was bumping into people as he danced. We basically got 2 shows in 1.
On Friday the Thompson Elders came over for an exchange which was super fun too. I did some door knocking with Elder Conrad, we did a live stream that night that was pretty fun, we played Pokémon before bed, got a picture next to Josiah Flintabety Flonatin the next morning, and had a pretty good time in general! Although, on the way to the statue, Elder Lamb tried to drive on one of the snowmobile roads thinking it was a normal road, and he got the Thompson truck stuck in the snow. We tried to push it, which saw very little success. Another truck saw us and came to hook up his tow rope and get us out, but then his truck got stuck too!! After a while, and a quick prayer, ANOTHER another truck came, and got both of us out. Quite the adventure and added a lot more value to this picture.
Later that day, we had the most successful game night ever. We had a huge turnout, young and old, and it was so much fun! One guy who came, I have a little story to tell about just him. His name is Brett. No, not you Brett Montgomery, I know you're reading this, different Brett. I was looking for people to talk to on Facebook, as we do, and I found this guy. After just seeing his profile picture, small voice in my head said, "This is who you're looking for." So, I sent him a friend request, he accepted, and we started chatting. Turns out, we have a ton of common interests! He's a musician, and he's starting a YouTube channel! He has 3 stepdaughters that he loves so so much and is constantly trying to be the best father he can be to them. And get this, he made the commitment to go sober THREE MONTHS AGO! So now I'm thinking, "this guy's basically ready to be baptized, along with his kids." So, I asked if he was interested in learning more about the Gospel, to which he politely declined.
After that I figured I'd stop bothering him, since he didn't seem interested, but the next day the spirit was yelling at me to message him again. So I did, I mentioned his most recent YouTube video, had some good conversation, and found out he likes nerd stuff! Recognizing the opportunity, I asked if he likes Pokémon, which he does, and I invited him to games night! He said it sounded fun, and that he'd come if he had spare time. The next day, I made a post on Facebook titled "Family Game Night!" And he messaged me to ask if any kids come. Which, yes, we have 3 lovely kids in the branch ages 6-11 that have started coming. He told me he was looking for things to do with his daughters, and asked if he could bring them, to which of course I said yes! He came, his daughters where so cute, they had so much fun, and he told me about how his daughters were still talking about it the next day! He even posted on Facebook about how awesome it was! And he told us he'd be down to come to church!!! It was awesome. Unfortunately, now I'm leaving Flin Flon, I won't be able to see him anymore, but hopefully the missionaries after me continue to work with him and teach him. He was unsure at first but after meeting us and playing some games he seems like he's ready to learn more.
That's it for this week! Oh and where I'm going? I'll be serving in Steinbach with Elder Sylvester! I've heard great things about Steinbach, Elder Sylvester, and the district I'll be in so I'm pretty excited! It's a great day to be a missionary!
Fred Hays
-Elder Hays