PEACE RIVER, AB, WELCOMES ELDER WEBB

A lost P-Day (we thought) turned into Bonus-Email Tuesday. We’ll let him get right to it:

Hello everyone!


Finally made it to Canada! It’s surprisingly lush here, I guess they get a lot of rain!

I’m really not sure where to start. So much has happened in this last week. My area is Peace River, which is about six hours north of Edmonton. My companion is Elder Hunsaker, from Idaho. Great guy, hard worker. We get along really well. There are about 6,000 people in Peace River. It’s a gorgeous area. We do a lot of driving. The teaching is going well, and we’ve got a feeling the area is about to take off. 

Peace River is the area closest to Yellowknife — and it’s still not even close. (Yellowknife is about a three-day drive north.) For most of the elders, Yellowknife is “the promised land,” a little mining town in the Canadian wilderness. You basically say goodbye and don’t see anyone from the mission for six months. So cool. We were all speculating about the two elders there right now (they only send two at a time), and we’re convinced they have beards and ride huge white horses. So I’m guessing/hoping that Peace River is like a stepping stone to Yellowknife. 

11:00pm

Berta’s first reaction: “What are they doing up at 11:00pm?” 

Second reaction: “No, really: What are those missionaries doing up at 11:00pm?!” 

It’s really great here. We email on Tuesdays because the library is closed on Mondays, which is our P-Day. Also, if you’ve sent mail to me, I won’t get it for 3-6 weeks, because the address I gave is for the mission office in Edmonton, and a previous elder lost the key to our mailbox here. We don’t really go down to Edmonton, so we have to wait until other elders get it from transfer meetings or trainings. Do not let that stop you from writing. I still have email. 

So far, I’ve seen a fox, a deer, a coyote, and A BEAR. All of them super-close, too. Waiting for a moose, but I know it’ll come. Super-excited about the bear, though. 

Went golfing with a member yesterday for P-Day. Got dumped on by rain. Now, I was never a good golfer to begin with, but it really doesn’t help when the member you played with was a collegiate golfer, and when your companion played on his high school’s three-state-championships-in-a-row team (he took state individually his senior year also). So there was a lot of time spent waiting for Elder Webb while he looked for his ball in the trees and while he had to hit three times to catch up to their first drives. I had one good hole though (and by “good” I mean that after I drove it into a pond, I made it to the hole pretty quick). My only saving grace was my putting. I still had a blast though, and it was nice to have a break. 

The apartment is great:
 

When I walked in and looked around I saw that my desk had a big bear head on it. No joke. A real bear head. I guess his name is Theodore, and the missionaries try to steal him from each others’ apartments. No one really comes to Peace River, though, so I’m guessing we’ve got him for a while. I’m using him to hold my pens.
 

In Peace River there is a little store, “Custom Computers and Music,” owned by 62-year-old twins Ron and Don. They sell guitars and computer accessories, and they repair computers. They love the missionaries (Ron is an inactive member). We spent a lot of time there the other day, talking music and things like that (Ron loves Allen Stone!!!). Elder Hunsaker had told me that he had been wanting to learn the banjo, so he asked Ron if they could order one in and how cheap he could get one for. Ron sat there for a second, then said, “I’m about to save you a lot of money.” He went into the back room and came out with a banjo. He then gave it to Elder Hunsaker. For free. It’s hard for me to think of a time when I’ve been more jealous. Suffice to say, I play a lot of banjo now (never in place of study; just when I have free time). 

Before I sign off, I need to make it very clear how important it is that you write. If you are reading this, you are already on the computer:

• Open a new tab.

• Sign onto your email.

• Compose an email to elijah.webb@myldsmail.net.

• If you have questions, ask them.

• Send it.

I want to hear from anyone who is reading this. Please. It’s so nice hearing from people. 

Love you all. The Church is true. If you don’t believe me, pray about it. I dare you. Excited to be here and excited to serve. (Please write.) 

Love,Elder Webb

with Pres. & Sis. Campbell

friends in the MTC