-40 C day

At -40 they always issue a frost bite warning. Frostbite within mintues! Sometimes seconds, if the wind is blowin' hard. This winter has been SO crazy! We have about 4 feet of snow outside right now. I haven't seen the ground in a long time. And People are running out of places to put it all! Their driveways are PILED on either side. Some of the piles are as tall as me. And people are on their roofs shoveling them off, for fear that they will collapse.

According to the farmers almanac, we have less than HALF of the snow we are expected to get this year.... 8 feet! HOLY JUNK! That is a butt load of snow... Lucky the farmers almanac is a load of garbage. No one can predict the weather that far in advance... or at all, for that matter. But who knows. Its been right before (probably).

Mom said something about winter only being 4 months long... its starts snowing in october here, and ends about april... hopefully. It should all be melted in may. How long is that?

this year may be a bit different. late May, early June. thats when I expect all THIS snow to melt.

My mission is so cool. (no pun intended)

CWM's finest!

Prez told us a while back that he might pull us out. Then this week, we were on exchanges, and I was with our (former AP) DL. And Prez called to tell me, he was pulling us out.. for sure.

I was freaking, because (A) We had been doing really good this week, but he didnt know, cause he dosent find out till the end. And (B) How were we going to find the motivation to go out and find people.. when 2 weeks into the transfer Prez basically says "Dont Bother"..

Well our DL didnt like the idea of us leaving, So that night he calls up the APs and gives them a talking to. I wasnt there for the convo, but one of our ZLs (Elder O'driscoll, He's super great) told us he was telling them it was a 'Poor Decision' and he wanted to know why. Crazy. He was defending our area hard core.

Then he talked to Prez and Prez basically said "Find them an apartment or their out". He really dosent like us living in the church... So the next day he tells that to Prez Harrold (BP) and he is like... "Oh.. ok.." Its sad, because he talks all about how the missionaries are the blood of this branch.. and if they left... it would kill them... sad.. and when Prez told me we were outta here, he said I had to tell everyone! I was scared. I didnt want them to think we werent doing work or something..

Well, we went and talked to this realestate guy, and we hadnt really found a suitable apartment in the past, but this guys says that one just opened for cheap and is 2 bedroom and refurbished and is on a month to month lease! Just perfect for Prez!

So we check it out and it is great! We aren't getting it though, We are waiting till one upstairs in the same place opens up. It is it a better location i guess, but is not as nice looking.. but missionary apartments are supposed to be I guess..

So God wants us in Melville. That is all there is to it. And we killed it this week. Prez called to congratulate us. I once had the AP's call to tell me i did good, but never Prez. Man, So good.

I'm goin' to the Jo-Ho's

We met a lot of Jo-Ho's (Jehovah's Witnesses) this week. We had one invite us in the other day. She was SO nice. She was super great and just wanted to talk about the bible and was genuinely interested in what we believe, not because she wanted to join, but because she was curious. So its wasnt all the normal JW junk about trying to convert us and stuff. She was SO animated.. almost comically so.. you would have been good friends. her name was Bunny..

We talked with them about how we believe Jehovah is Jesus. They thought we were crazy. She offered us tea, and we said we didnt drink tea. She said "Oh, thats right, you dont drink anything black." Then she asked if Hot chocolate was ok. we said yes.. But I was confused about what she said about "black drinks". Turns out they thought that we didnt drink anything black, because Cain was cursed to be black... haha! oh boy. Never heard that one before. She thought we were raciest against drinks! bwaaha! We taught them the WOW.

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..