Week 3 - Flin Flon Edition

The last week has been incredible. I'm in Flin Flon!! In case you haven't already heard me talk about it, I've wanted to visit Flin Flon for ages. Me and my friends have joked about coming here for years, and here I am! It's a dream come true. It's funny, our mission president Elder Carr, he wasn't originally planning on sending me here! He picks where people go based on who they'll be with more than where they're going. When deciding who to pair me with, his first prompting was Elder Mendenhall. But he dismissed it because Flin Flon is a "difficult" area. But then when he heard that I WANTED to go to Flin Flon (which is a first apparently) he decided I would in fact go to Flin Flon to be with Elder Mendenhall. And I love it here!

Elder Mendenhall is the perfect person for me to be with. He's super into Pokémon, especially the cards, he loves music, guitar, and other nerd stuff like Star Wars and Marvel. We get along so well! He has a collection of about 6,000 Pokémon cards here in Flin Flon, and is really good at making competitive decks. I might have bought some cards for myself today while we were out doing grocery shopping and what not :3

Don't worry, I won't buy 6,000 cards while I'm here... 1,000 tops... but probably more like a few hundred... or maybe I should stop at the one deck I got lol.

Oh, and Elder Mendenhall is a really good cook too! Haven't had any problems with food so far.

I think it's funny people call Flin Flon a difficult area. I mean, sure there's only like 7 active members, and the chapel is basically a big shed, but that doesn't make being here difficult. I actually loved our Sunday meeting; I thought it was very sweet and charming to have such a small group. It's very small, but their faith is very big. It's not a difficult area, it's just a different area. I might not baptize anyone, but that doesn't mean I'm failing as a missionary. I'm still going to do everything I can to spread love and joy and invite others to come unto Christ. Me and Elder Mendenhall are going to do great things here in Flin Flon.

Some other things to know about Flin Flon:

• There's not a lot of people. Around 3-4k. Fairly small town.
• There's a lot of rocks. Big rocks, small rocks, shiny rocks, etc. Apparently geologists love this place.
• We get to see the northern lights here! The past couple nights have been cloudy, so I haven't seen them yet, but Elder Mendenhall says that they're visible here ALL THE TIME!
• We get to walk dogs for the local animal shelter every Saturday! I'm Super excited to do that!!!
• Did I mention there's a lot of rocks? There's a LOT of rocks. Even a few in the apartment that missionaries have collected over the years
  
• There's a gang that hangs out on main street, and apparently some missionaries got jumped a little while back, so we're not allowed to go street contacting on main street anymore.

That's just about everything I have to share so far. I'm loving it here though. It's never been clearer to me that I'm where I'm supposed to be, and with the people I'm supposed to be with. I love Elder Mendenhall and I love all the people here in Flin Flon. Me and Elder Mendenhall are going to do so much good.

It's a great day to be a missionary!

Love,
Elder Hays

P.S. - I have come down with a bit of a cold unfortunately, so lots of rest today and hopefully I'll be up and serving tomorrow or the day after.