Wednesday, January 29, 2014

EVERY DROP OF WATER

This week’s News from the North:

Greetings loved ones!

This week was great. There was a baptism in the ward of a man the Sisters taught named Chai. He’s amazing. One day, the Sisters were finding and they went up to a man smoking on his porch. He wasn’t interested, but he said his sister was looking for a church. His sister came out and was very nice and accepting, then another woman came outside and saw the missionaries. She said, “Sisters!” then started crying and hugging them. Apparently, she was a member from Cambodia who had been praying for Elders or Sisters to come by (so close!). Her name is Sotheary (pronounced So-teary [when she cries, she’s so teary]), and she hadn’t been to church since she’d been to Canada.

She got to know the Sisters and introduced them to her non-member husband, Chai (also from Cambodia. Phnom Penh, to be exact). He came to church with her for the first time hungover. But, he was very interested in what we had to offer.

Between that week and the next, we witnessed a complete turnaround. He came to church clean-shaven and sober, wearing a white shirt and tie. He basically taught himself the Gospel. He didn’t even believe in God or religion before. He loved smoking and drinking and partying, and he and his wife had agreed just not to talk about religion.

After he started taking the lessons from the Sisters, he commented on how much closer he and his wife had become, how much healthier he felt, how much happier he was, and how much more of an understanding and purpose he had.

One day, after he had committed to be baptized, he went outside for his last smoke. He lit it, took a puff, and as he was holding it a drop of water fell from the gutter and extinguished his cigarette. He quit cold turkey after that. Miracles are happening, people! They’re happening every day, all around us. If you aren’t noticing them, you aren’t looking, because I guarantee they’re there. Now Chai is baptized and confirmed, and he and his wife are working towards the temple. When I look at what he overcame, I know that our Heavenly Father is watching out for us and that he wants us to succeed.

C’mon folks! Let’s all agree to be a lot happier, healthier, and full of purpose by living the Gospel. I can’t see who wouldn’t want to do everything they could to have that! I love all of you, and so does our Heavenly Father! What a blessing.

Thanks for reading and showing you care. I’d love your prayers!

Keep the faith,
Elder Webb
Elder Eli recently was called to serve as a district leader — which may account for that prayers request!

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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

MUSIC HATH CHARMS

Elder Webb with the Youngs, who facilitated our Christmas-day call.
THANKS, Youngs!

After editing away some references to babies and gastrointestinal distress (sadly, they weren’t the same story: one story was about babies, and the other about...the other), we’re pleased to bring you this week’s News from the North:


Hello family! Happy 2014! It’s strange how time presses on. Actually, it’s kind of flying at this point. I’m seven months out! That’s wild. It’s gone by unbelievably fast (the Canadian winter makes it go by just a tad slower, especially when I’m waiting for a bus).

I’m doing well! This week was pretty good. Ups and downs. Eddie couldn’t make it to church, but he said he’d be there next week, and he wants to meet this week. We’ve still got high hopes for him.

Last Friday, we met with a potential investigator. The sisters passed him over to us, and they said he was a little bit off. We stopped by, and they were totally right. Definitely some issues. I don’t know if it was mental or drugs or both, but it was a but disconcerting. He was nice, though, so we sat down and got into the lesson. We didn’t get two sentences in before the guy breaks down. He just starts sobbing and hyperventilating. Then he started kind of rambling and saying some questionable things about how he hated his life and how he wasn’t a bad person.

He’s a musician, and we had talked a little bit about music before we started the lesson. I mentioned that I had picked up harmonica, and he thought that was cool. As he was sobbing and rambling (we weren’t getting anywhere and we were kind of worried), I asked him if he would like to hear me play a hymn on my harmonica. He said yes, so I pulled it out of my bag and started to play “How Great Thou Art”. I had my eye on him as I played, and it was amazing to see him calm down as I played. He had his eyes closed, he started breathing normally, and then he sat back in the couch and smiled.

He thanked me for playing, then we offered to come back another time. He said yes and we started to head out. He mentioned again that he wasn’t a bad person, and I said I knew he wasn’t. He was very grateful we came over, and he hugged us right as we left. We heard him crying as we were walking down the hall. All in all, a pretty crazy situation. We want to help him, so we’re going to try to meet with him again with a psychologist member in our ward.

That was probably the most exciting part of the week. I’ll write Godwin’s experience next week.

I love you all! Thanks for reading and writing!

Keep the faith,
Elder Webb

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Friday, January 3, 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The venerable weather.com reports -25° for Edmonton’s low tomorrow. If you can’t trust the internet, maybe you can trust the image of lash-cicles upon dear Elder Webb’s face:



Greetings loved ones!

First things first, it was wonderful to see you all [at FaceTime Christmas]! I’m glad you’re all doing well! What sort of fun Christmas things were received? That pen really is the coolest thing. I’m totally cool with you guys going to San Francisco. Give the Woydziaks my love, and squeeze and kiss that baby lots and lots and lots (I can’t squeeze or kiss ANY babies. More on that in a moment).

Remember how I told you about that couple and how they were kind of flaking? Well, we met with a man named Eddie on Saturday. He’s from Nigeria, and the Sisters passed him over to us. We talked and taught, and he’s amazing. We got along really well, and at the end of the lesson, we committed him to baptism on January 25 and he said yes! It really was incredible. He said everything we were saying resonated with him. 
That was on Saturday, then he got a ride and came to church on Sunday! He was so nice and the ward did a fantastic job with being warm and welcoming. He said he loved the atmosphere and the closeness, and that that was what he missed about his church back in Nigeria. 
It’s strange, but I’ve actually been able to teach multiple Nigerians, and they are just good people! Godwin, the man we baptized in Peace River, was from Nigeria, and they are so similar. I now have a goal to baptize a Nigerian in every area I serve in (is that okay?). Eddie is amazing, and we’re meeting with him again this week.

For a little something on Coronation Park, I’d like to address the baby situation. We met with some members last night, and they told us they’re pregnant. That started a conversation on who should be having babies during my projected time here (approx. through June). People, my ward will have at least SEVEN new babies before May, in addition to the three newborns that came in December. That’s just newborns! There are other babies still, including the not-so-new baby from Haiti. HAITI! What on earth is this Webb supposed to do? I am being tested, and I don’t really appreciate it (kidding, tests are good).

Thanks for all of your love and support! Happy New Year!

Elder Webb

P.S. I have not slipped on the ice yet.

For the uninitiated, not slipping means he hasn’t yet had to purchase Tim Hortons donuts for his district. It’s such an accomplishment, we’re including a picture of one of Elder Webb’s proudest feats, his deer-antler knife:


Seriously — we get more pictures of the knife (2) than of the boy (1). One day, years from now, he’ll read this post, and he’ll understand. Then he’ll run to find us, and he’ll apologize profusely, and can we ever forgive him, etc. Yes, Eli... yes, we can. (But only barely.)

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