Well, It's all over...

Elder Liechty,

I am sorry to report that your driving privileges have been suspended for the remainder of your mission. If missionaries are involved in any preventable accident that requires a claims adjuster or that could lead to litigation or action against the Church, they automatically lose their driver certification and are not allowed to drive again during their mission. Any exceptions must be approved by the Missionary Department after all the facts have been reviewed. Your certification has been revoked as of 22Dec2010.

While you are waiting for your car to be repaired, no car will be reassigned!!* While waiting for the repair of your vehicle, you and your companion are essentially walking*. Once the vehicle is repaired, Elder Stokes will be the designated driver.

Elder Paulson

*Emphasis added

Sooo.. while driving down a unlit gravel road covered in snow and ice, late at night, somewhere on a farm in backwoods Saskatcha'bush'... I some how crashed our car in a ditch. Oh yeah. And it was overcast too.

And now that its happened, and I have officially lost my driving privileges and every ounce of pride I once had... I have nothing to do but laugh with 'em.

It was stupid. But it makes a GREAT story.

We got stuck. We got REAL stuck. Not just "grab your ford pick up and a ratchet tie" stuck. Im talking tow-truck-rocking, more-damage-getting-out-than-

in stuck. It was bad... I mean good! Stuck real good.

I tend to exaggerate, I know. But trust me, although I AM exaggerating, im doing it that much.

And yes we caught air. At LEAST a few inches.

I told the police i was going about 50-60 ks. (not to fast.. for a back road) But that was just a guess. I had no idea how fast I was going. Probably closer to 60 than 50.

Anyway. We were coming back from a lesson that lasted far too long, with a less active member who lives much to far away from our home. The only reason we were visiting him was because it was on our way back from the baptism.

It was about 9:00 and we still had 45 min till we would be home. Anyway. He lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere. And we were driving down his... driveway? (its like a road leading to his house, but its half a mile long." Well, thats supposed to lead us back to the road that takes us to the main road. Problem is, his driveway? "T"s when it comes to this road. I didnt see the "T" soon enough. And... Breaks... Slide... Ditch... Crash...

You get it.

many phone calls later we were on our way home. The member and his wife were SO helpful and I will always be grateful. We were given permission to drive one of their cars home, after a failed attempt to get our car out. He even went to get his bobcat.. and he got it stuck! there is a LOT of snow out in the middle of nowhere.

So. the next day we came and got everything sorted out and got the tow guy and figured out a ride for us and it took the whole day. Super lame, and gave me a head ache.

So the week was lame. Because we had to walk.. But we were still able to do a bunch of stuff for Christmas and people have been nice to take us places. Its been good. I feel bad.. but not that much.

We will see what happens

I told all the youth in the branch (there are a TON) to read the Book of Mormon, and whoever does it the fastest gets a prize. Some of them are competing for my name tag. One of their friends, who is not a member, is doing it too. We really want to teach her soon. How cool would that be if she has already read the BOM.

They all started THAT day! One of the kids was on like 2 Nephi that night! Crazy. If only it was that easy to get investigators to read.

Love Melville

The Gerstners were wonderful. You walk into their home, and you would never guess they were less active. Pictures of the prophet on the wall, "Ensigns" all over. We talked forever about heart surgery, pork pie and a vision Sister gerstner had about a naked man on an alabaster stone bench (?). So funny. I could not stop smiling the whole visit. They all talk over eachother (brother and sister Gerstner and their 40 year old son that lives with them) So hilarious. I got a picture with them after. I love them. They gave us REAL scottish shortbread afterwards. So sweet.

More

This man we have been teaching, named Chuck (who is the funniest guy ever) came up to me in church and said, "I want to be baptized. when can we do it." We have been working with him for about 3 months, and he always said he wasnt ready, but he has been reading the BOM everyday. He is saying morning prayers and he is coming to church whenever he can. He is ready.

Then he said "Are you gonna be able to hold me? I'm like 250 pounds!" I was shocked. He is a big guy, but i was shocked because he wanted ME to baptize him.. I amlost started to cry (and I kinda did later that night, reflecting on it) I have never been asked to baptize anyone before. And I love Chuck so much. He is so funny. And Brenda (his Girl) is so hilarious to talk to. I love every moment I get to spend with them. But also... transfers are comming up, so I may not be able to do this one.. its bitter sweet. But im just glad he is doing it.

So that is happening in January, after he gets married. . We meet some wonderfully prepared people.

It's a Wonderful Life.

We watch a Christmas movie every year for Christmas Zone Conference.

I was pretty excited. I grew up watching that movie! I love it. I love all the old movies and their over-glamorous actors and actresses and perfect camera shots and crummy special effects. It just makes me smile the whole time.

I felt like a little kid again. In my Christmas PJ's snuggled up and the foot of the couch (their was never room for me ON the couch when all the older kids were there), eating very sticky homemade caramel popcorn.

Everyone around me was upset that we had to watch another OLD movie and I was just beaming.

I don't know what their problem was.. at least it was in color.

I Bring The Party

We did not get invited to a members home for Thanksgiving. And thats just fine by me. They wouldn't have known how to do it right anyway. Last year was good, the Craigs and the Zaharchucks fed us and all the other missionaries in Brandon. They did a wonderful job, and I knew we wouldn't get that kind of treatment this time around. So I was fine by myself. I have become quite the self proclaimed chef on my mission. I made us a pork roast and pork ribs. we have lemon barbecue chicken and mashed potatoes. We also had salad and cooked pees and carrots. Not bad for just grabbing everything i could find in our freezer. It looked like a feast! and it was! I loved it.

No stuffing or turkey, but we did our best.

We Will Get Along

So we had to drive to Regina to drop off Elder Mitton and to pick up Elder Stokes. The roads were SO bad. I dont know why, but that always seems to happen when we have to drive in. There was an ice storm that morning in Melville and a snow storm in Regina. We had to chip off half an inch of ice from out windshield before we could even leave.

So, somewhere along the road, the two storms met, and it was just chaos. We were stuck behind a snow plow going 30ks for about 30 min... ahh! But we made it alive.

But on our way back... no so lucky...................... We died..

no, just kidding. But we did get stuck.. our front right tire caught the side of a snow bank and it just pulled us right off the road. I tried to avoid it, but the car didnt want to turn. So we went in. It actually wasn't bad. It was just like parking on the side of the road. Very smooth. And we weren't even that far off. But there was no way we were getting back.

Luckily we were only about 30 min out of Regina, and we still had service. We had to wait about 2 hrs for the ZLs to come pull us out with their truck. But the tire pressure on our front right was really low. So we decided not to continue. And we headed back to regina.

Walmart said their was no leak... but it was still leaking.. (idiots) So we didnt drive back. that night.

I got to see Sister Horning and Elder Christensen because we met the other missionaries being transfered. It was great.

The next morning.. our tired had stopped leaking. So... We drove home.

Well we stopped in Fort Qu'Appelle (which is about 45 min from Melville) to check our tire, and it was still fine. So we kept going.... It wasnt until we got back that Elder Stokes realized he didnt have the phone...

He dropped it in the snow in Fort Qu'Appelle... AHHH!! They told us they would send us a new phone.. it would be 75 bucks each... yeah right!

We asked Prez Harrold if he would drive us to Fort Qu'Appelle to see if we could find it. He did. And not only that he bought us doughnuts and hot chocolate! He is a great man.

And we found the phone. great!

But thats not all. We went tracting in Yorkton. It was about 7:00, so pretty dark. And as we are walking around.. this cop car pulls up. The guy gets out of his car and comes right up to us. "Are you the ones knocking on peoples doors and ringing their doorbells?" "....yes...." "Come have a seat." He has us sit on a bench for a while. he sees our tags and our ties and we show him our license and our ministerial certificate. Then he is all nice to us and says "I dont think many B&E's wear white shirts and ties."

He was actually pretty funny. He let us sit in the back of his cop car. He told us that some one called the cops on us. Jerks... But thats the first time that has ever happened on my mission. After he said. "Im not gonna tell you to stop.. because its your job and you have the right." it was great.

So... Crazy. And all in the first couple days...

Whats in store..

Its a Halloween Miracle!

We taught the Littletents for the FIRST time since I've been here. They are a Less Active family, and only the dad and one of his little girls have been baptized. And I feel like they have been avoiding us like the plague! But yesterday Justine (the Little girl that was just baptized (14)) came to church, which wasn't surprising because she LOVES church and will come whenever she can, But her little sister Shynika came (also not too surprising) and her brother Kellie. And (this is the surprising part) her older sister Morning Dove came! (they are Native American, hence the name Littletent) Well that was great! So we tried to set an appointment up, but we called the parents and they said they would call back, but they didn't.. so we didn't think it would happen. But we saw them walking around Melville, so we stopped to talk with them, and they said come by at 7:00.

So we did! And we had a really good time getting to know them and talking about the Book of Mormon. Then we talked about why Justine Decided to be Baptized... I have never heard a testimony like that for ANY 14 year old. She talked about how she wanted to belong to the church and that she heard from her friends about how good it felt to be Baptized. Then she talked about how she felt so clean after baptism and that she gets this warm feeling every time she prays and she cant describe it. But what she said that i think was most impressive.. she said she wanted to be an example to her brother and sisters...

Justine is a quiet girl.. this was completely out of character.. and heartfelt.

We talked with Morning Dove (17) and Shynika (11) and their mom about how they were feeling about baptism. They just said they were thinking about it. So we talked a bit about prayer and about how they would get an answer if they asked if they should be baptized. I felt bad, because i thought it would have been good to be more bold, But their dad is still really into the traditional ways, and i didn't want to offend them. I wanted them to like me so i could come back!

So we just left it at that.

Then we asked who wanted to give the closing prayer. Justine offered it. At the end, we were standing up to leave, and no more than 5 seconds after we said amen, Morning Dove says "I want to be baptized." We sat back down! She said it again "I want to be baptized. I dont know... I just feel something inside me. Its, like, screaming. I want to be baptized.... i cant explain it..."

Shocked. Needless to say...

"I want to be baptized."

...The Spirit ROCKS!

I love my mission.

Love It

We met this family tracting. Total miracle! We knock on this door, one of the last ones we were going to do, and the lady comes out and looks shocked... It was really weird at first, but then shes like "Mormons!" Which is weird because lots of people think we are Jehovah Witnesses. (the Church isn't very big in this mission)

Then she goes on to tell us that she is a member! she was baptized in Winnipeg and she moved to Cardston. She went to the temple (for baptisms i believe) and she got her patriarchal blessing. She moved to Yorkton.. and soon after, the branch there closed and moved to a town called "Carry the Kettle". She had no idea there was a church in Melville.

None of her family are members. She wants us to come teach them...

The biggest miracle of my mission!

The Temple

YES! I was so excited! my first time to the temple in 15 months!

Well... we woke up in the morning.. and the snow was still going and the wind was still blowing... we tried to get the other elders truck going.. but it got stuck in the middle of the parking lot... So we go for our car, which is in a better location.

Well we got out ok.. but the street were crazy.. I will never forget that night. It was dark and there was like 6 inches of snow on the roads. Everywhere we went people were getting stuck. The normal road we would take to get to the temple was not accessible.. it was about 5:20 at this point. our session was starting at 6:00.

We tried to drive around a different way. When the weather is this bad, traffic rules no longer apply. People are parked in the intersection and flipping U-ies where ever they can. no one pays attention to what color the traffic lights are. certain streets are blocked off.. your in a maze, and you are just trying to find your way out.

Well, the other route we wanted to take was also blocked. 5:30.

We turn around and try the last possible way.. and we find all the other Elders parked on a bridge. Someone got stuck in the middle. and they were trying to move them...

We get out and see what is going on. There is no way anyone is getting through... 5:45 We were within walking distance of the temple.. but not that quick.. Darn you Satan!

There were some people parked behind us, so I thought I better go tell them that no one was getting through any time soon. I talked to this lady, and she told me that she had already made it through on the other side when she was going the other way.. I was so excited! We might make it!

She said she was going to try it.. (driving on the wrong side of the road.. again. no traffic rules) so we watched her. And she made it!

5:50. We jump in our car and follow her tracks. It looked like really deep snow. It was really scary... But we mad it too!

We park and run back to tell the other Elders we were going. We get back in the car and drive as fast as we can on slippery snowy roads.... but.... when we pull into the temple parking lot.. 6:10..

We walk inside. It felt so good to be in a temple. Even the waiting room. It felt like home. Canada is crazy.. And for the first time, everything just felt normal again... One of the temple workers comes up to us and tells us they held the session for 5 min... but it had already started and they couldn't let us in... No session for us.

Everyone looks at me.. I am the only one that hasn't been to the temple yet...

But I was ok.

What an adventure!

I'll never forget it.