Last Week

This is the last email which I will be sending home. I guess I'll be there soon enough that I can probably keep it short and just fill you all in when I touch down in Canada, but for the benefit of those who wont be in Calgary, I'll give an accounting of my final days in the Mission. 

Last Week was incredible! We had some great lessons, Wonderful Sacrament meetings, Fabulous meals, and 2 beautiful Baptisms! It was a huge blessings to be able to have both Jack and Sunny enter into the covenant of Baptism on November 10th. Strange to think that 2 years ago from that day I was entering the MTC with dreams of doing that very thing. Jack's Baptism was well attended by the YSA's and the spirit was so strong. It was amazing to think that his whole life has change in just the past 5 weeks. But he was prepared and happy to receive our message. His parents and grandmother drove up to see it and it was wonderful to me to see how his bold choice has had such an overwhelming effect on them. The Gospel of Jesus Christ Blesses Families. This I know without a doubt. Though we work with only singles here, we've seen how their families have grown with them. I'm so grateful that because my family has been so blessed that I've been able to help others experience the happiness that has meant so much to me. 

Yesterday we continued to teach. I'll admit its getting more distracting. Everyone knows I'm going home and many goodbyes are being said. I love the people here. One of the reasons its so tempting to come back to SVU is simply because of how great everyone I've met are. The Bishops, teachers, Students, and locals have won a huge piece of my heart. I will always miss this place.

Now I think I must come to an end. I'll put it in the words of the Apostle John in his Second Epistle:

 12 Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

And now I bid unto all Farewell. I loved my mission. I love The Lord, and I love each of you.

Elder Sunada

Word.

This week History has been made. We finally achieved the Missions Standard of Excellence! This is a first not only for this area, but the zone, as well as a new personal record. The Standard of Excellence are the base goals that we strive for as set by President Pitt in the areas of Finding, teaching and setting people with Baptismal dates. Not only did we meet it, but we exceeded it. But it was not so much that we are any good, rather that we were favoured and blessed of the Lord this week. We picked up and taught 4 new people, each with a strong desire to learn more and feel closer to God. At the start of the week we had set up 3 of these people to begin teaching. Then one day while we were filling time during a missed appointment I spotted a student who I knew wasn't a member. It'd been the first time I'd seen her since the beginning of the school year so I struck up a conversation. Assuming that she was a member, Elder Holder straight out asked if we could meet with her. Without missing a beat she agreed! Without knowing it, she'd also attended General Conference and felt really good about going. Somethings you just can't plan out that well, but The Lord is pretty darn good at it. Its so exciting to be serving right now. 

This morning we Got up early to go to the Butler home where newly called "ELDER Wesley Butler" was getting his suitcases together for his flight to Salt Lake City. He reports to the MTC on Wednesday. He gave a stellar talk yesterday. Elder Holder and I talked before him but he straight up blew us out of the Water. I'm excited to hear what great things he'll do as he serves in the Los Angeles Mission, Spanish speaking. It almost makes me wish I was just going out instead of going home. 

I did celebrate a little bit of Canadian Thanksgiving. One of our ward mission leaders is Canadian and after our Coordination on Monday he took us down to Subway where I got a Turkey Sandwich. Even with that I still felt pretty Grateful for everything God's given me. 

It looks like this week shouldn't be too out of the ordinary. We have a zone meeting but we're holding it in Buena Vista and afterwards I'm going on exchanges but staying here. The following week however is pretty messed up. We have President interviews on Monday, which means P-Day and emails will be pushed till Tuesday, then on Wednesday half the mission is meeting in Roanoke to hear Elder Scott D. Whitting of the 70 to speak to us. I'm pretty stoked. He spoke in General conference about Temples. Then in the following weeks will be more exchanges and at the end of the month another trip to Charleston for what will be my last Zone Leaders Council. Its going to be a wild ride to the end and I'm going to love every minute of it!

Love Yall,

Elder Sunada

Called to Serve Him‏

Holly Hannah What a Weekend!

Is it just me or does General Conference just keep getting better? The Lord surely is hastening His work with the announcement of missionary service now available to 18 year old Men and 19 year old Women!!! The ramifications of this will be huge! I can think of no better time in all the ages of the world to be a missionary than to be one in this present day. Sadly I will not be in the field to see these youngsters make their debut. However, I'm really excited to use these last few weeks to prepare as many as I can. We have a meeting with the Stake President and President Pitt later this week and I hope that they decide to let us focus even more on the Prospective missionaries here at SVU. At the time of the announcement Saturday morning the building erupted. Many men, including myself, sat in awe. Mouths gaping. Many Women Burst into tears and clung to each other. Now more Sisters than ever will have the opportunity to serve, and I believe the quality of those sisters will help to increase this work traumatically. I will always remember that day. I feel very blessed to be able to be here at this time with these people. 

The rest of conference was likewise inspiring. Addressing things that reduce members commitment to the Gospel Elder Cook said:

 "The first is unkindness, violence and domestic abuse. The second is sexual immorality and impure thoughts. These often precede and are at the root of the choice to be less committed."

 Elder Oaks spoke out strongly against abuses to children in all and anyway imaginable. He emphasized that 

“Children need the emotional and personal strength that comes from being raised by two parents who are united in their marriage and their goals.”

Though those talks outlined many evils we face in the world, I found it comforting that Elder Anderson then spoke on "How do we maintain our Faith" and Elder Bednar concerning "Testimony and Conversion." 

As if Conference wasn't enough to make my weekend, We also have 3 new investigators lined up for lessons this week!! One at least directly from conference. I feel like the Lord was waiting for this week to bless us. I'll be honest, hitting the last transfer of the mission was tough. It was worse that I expected by far. But Conference is just what I needed to buoy me up and help my resolve to work hard till the end. 

Oh! I forgot also that we had a Zone Leader Council on Friday. Also a spiritual Highlight. I didn't have to drive which allowed me to sleep the way up so I didn't fall asleep this time in the meeting (a first). It was a great meeting in which I was truly enlightened. Learning from President Pitt shows me just how many more of the Mysteries of Heaven I have yet to learn. A life long process indeed. 

Well I don't think It gets any better than that. FALSE. I made Crepes this morning :)

Sure Love Yall!
Elder Sunada

PS I can't believe I almost forgot this part!! Sister Covington took Elder Wilder and I out for Lunch!! So Awesome!!

Four Strong Winds‏

Hey Folks!

Good Gracious I love being a missionary. It always seems to be getting better. Or maybe its because I'm getting so old in the field that these days just seem to be golden. 

I'm starting to feel a little bit like a traveling missionary as well. Lynchburg one week. Then Charleston. Roanoke this past week. And Blacksburg tomorrow! Yup. Found out that 2 new areas have been unofficially added to the YSA Zone. The Blacksburg YSA Elders and the Morgantown University Elders now fall into our jurisdiction for spiritual guidance and direction in the work of Young Single Adults. The best part? They still report their numbers to their local zone leaders. More connections without the added responsibility of tedious administrative work! :) I'm a happy camper about that. 

We decided to hold our next district/zone meeting in Roanoke tomorrow, so that afterwards I could do an exchange to Blacksburg. I've only ever been there in passing so this will be my first experience with the city. For those of you who don't know, Blacksburg is the home of Virginia Tech. Go Hokkies! Sadly Morgantown (West Virginia University--Go Couch Burning?) is nearly 7 hours away so no exchanges planned there anytime soon. However we are looking into meeting with them Via Skype. Pretty sweet stuff. But with all of this going on it will also mean Elder Holder and I will have to sacrifice part of our P-day to prepare. 

As for the work in our area, we picked up a new investigator. Greg is a 6"8 african american who plays ball at the school and beat boxes for the schools featured singing group "Fading Point". You betcha bottom Dollar I'm loving it! He could seriously facepalm my entire head with his hands. 

The rest of the Elders have been picking up new investigators as well. During my Exchange with Elder Raffenspargar, who's still in his first transfer of the mission, we saw huge success in Roanoke. I was able to to teach with him to a Recent Convert, a golden Self Referral, a member who's going to hook them up with some more referrals, and setting up another appointment to pick up a former. Its happened time and time again. The Lord Uses exchanges to get missionaries excited for the work to keep em going strong. He was almost bouncing in his seat by the end of our exchange yelling "I love being a missionary"!! I do too. Its hard to count how many ways being here has blessed my life. I hope that others will be able to see the changes that I feel. Don't worry, there's still plenty enough of the old me that I wont be hard to recognize. Just less of the junk in the mind and a little more in the trunk. JUST KIDDING.

Anyways, one more week left in the transfer. One more Transfer left in the mission. And every day I still think to myself,

ITS A GREAT DAY IN THE KINGDOM!

Elder Sunada

Week in Review

Its been another great week here in the BV YSA. Lots to do yet. I'm still always tired. Maybe this is just the pattern of my life. This past week we had an exchange with Lynchburg where I got to spend time with Elder Johnson. He's a pretty cool cat and we had a great time teaching together. There are so many good missionaries I'm serving around I feel pretty blessed. 

The member work is coming along pretty nicely. We now have ward mission leaders in every ward to help assist us in the work. Hopefully this will also mean my head will stop spinning as much as they will help us prioritize who needs help. One of them served as an Assistant to the President in the Salt Lake City mission. He told stories of how they'd always run into General Authorities and even the Prophet! Pretty Crazy. He's one on the ball guy and has experience in working a YSA ward. Actually at one point he Covered 41 YSA wards... what a headache! I can barely manage three! So his skills will be invaluable to the work. 

We had a great Specialized training meeting on Thursday and got to meet with President for a while. Its always nice to feel his love and see his example. Friday was our weekly planning and the evening was Bishop Walkers open house for the 2nd ward. He lives way out in the boons but has an amazing house. Probably most impressive is his sports memorabilia displays. 2 rooms filled wall to wall with autographed cards, posters, pictures, baseballs hats and anything else. Some of the greatest names in any game have their signature hanging from his walls. It was pretty impressive. 

Saturday was a Stake Luau, and they had a roast pig to boot! Cooked for nearly 20 hours in preparation for the feast. The activity was well planned and executed and everyone had a great time. Sunday night was the third Fireside we'd had in a row. This was a stake Fireside and it was way powerful. Wish I had time to go into more detail but Its time to go shopping and get on with P-Day so I'll say Adieu.

Love yall!

Elder Sunada

Good Day in the Woodshed.

Howdy Yall,

Another Great, busy, tiring week down here in good ole Buena Vista VA. I'm so tired all the time...haha but that's ok because we are getting work done! In one day we were able to teach over 20 students individually and combined. Its wild. I've never been able to get anywhere close to that in any other area in the mission. 

School is now back in full swing with the second week of classes now underway and kids are starting to get back in routine. For the most part that works ok though its hard to schedule appointments in the morning when most of them have classes. Most of last week was just spent working and teaching locally, which is great because this week is going to be more meetings and travels and whatnot. Leadership can be a bit of a drag sometimes because of how much things get shaken around. You have to have more things planned out in the weeks and months as opposed to the hours and days ahead. If I could I would have my own personal secretary to keep things straight for me and I'd just follow the program. But it seems that much of the purpose of all this is that I learn to do it. Or at least try. Remind me when I get home I don't want an office job. 

There were some cool events this past week however. Of course the Parade on Monday. There was a institute social on Friday which was well attended and allowed us to serve even more. We have several good looking potential investigators lined up (and by good looking I mean promising, they're all guys so far). And last night was Elder Hollands Church educational Services Broadcast. It was the Best!!! Maybe not as good as General Conference but just as cool because he can say things in a way that he couldn't at Conference. I highly recommend checking out the Broadcast if anyone who missed it has time. Pretty Powerful Stuff!

https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/watch/ces-devotionals/2012/09?lang=eng

Anyways. I don't have much more in the way of big events or announcements but I do feel impressed to share how much serving a mission has meant to me. Its changed me in ways that I don't think any other experience could have. It continues to change me into someone better. I may not know what I want to do for the rest of my life, but I do know who I want to be and how I want to live. I'm come to understand to an even greater degree how serving others will always bring me more happiness that serving myself. Living the Gospel is the secret to happiness, the one thing that all the world is searching for, and its free for all. I'm sad that its getting so close to the end. I try not to think of it too much. Going home will be much harder than coming out. Yet I know the Lord will support me as He always has. I feel His love and I know with Him I can do all things.

I love you all very much.

Elder Sunada

Back to School!‏

Hey Everybody! 

Its been a pretty action packed week. Every first week of the month is usually pretty busy anyways and there's always something that makes it crazy. This week was no exception. Monday's Family Home Evening in YSA wards was a Marshmallow battle using cut up lengths of PVC pipes. Needless to say the Elders Dominated though I had several sticky spots which I had to clean off afterwards (The only way to get the marshmallows to fly well is to give them a slight lubricant...). Then It was early to bed, and much earlier to rise. We got up at 4:30 am to make the 400 mile round trip to Charleston for our Monthly Zone Leader Council. This time I was actually a Zone leader instead of a guest.  I also meant that Both Elder Holder and I had to do a heck of a lot more. 

Wednesday we had booked up almost full from appointments set on Sunday and we ended up teaching 7-8 lessons throughout the day. By this point many of the students, especially the freshmans, had signed into their dorms. Thursday was a painfully long day of planning. There is even more to plan for now. We had to prepare for our area, as well as for our Zone/District meeting the following day. Three hours directed between the two of us. There was a lot to cover and I was pretty nervous about going into it. But Friday morning we got up early again and made the trip to Lynchburg to meet with the other Elders. Surprisingly I think it went pretty well. I was much relieved when it was over. It was also helpful to get to know the new Elders in the Zone. We have pretty solid bunch and I'm excited to know I can trust them to work well in the area's they've been assigned too. That evening was SVU's freshman welcome party. This included many booths, an mechanical bull, Roof repelling, karaoke, blow up Sumo Suits, and many other stations. It was great to finally see the campus bustling again with students. 

Saturday we packed up early again to make our way over to the Washington & Lee campus in Lexington. It was their freshman check-in and the school had set up a local religious area where we were invited to set up a booth and make the students aware of our presence. The booth was kinda slow, Maybe we should have parked farther away from the Jehovah's Witnesses. But Elder Holder and I Reverted to the Ammon Approach by helping students carry baggage up to their dorms. We were able to talk to many more people this way. That night we had a great lesson with Navi. We'll get him one of these days!

Sunday was just as busy as all the other days combined. I think it will be a common occurrence for us to be at church from 8AM to 4:30 PM. Our evenings have been equally as busy with many appointments and firesides. 

Monday was Labour day. Apparently that has been a historically significant day for Buena Vista, particularly in an election year. Back in the Day, BV used to be a bustling little town where politicians started their political campaigns. Now years later, The glory of the town has passed, but the people still seem to make a big day of it and have a parade and fireworks. We used to opportunity to get some cards passed out seeing as the local politicians were passing out so many of their own tracts. It was crazy to see how many thousands of signs (and thousands is no exaggeration) were posted along the parade route and around the town. American Politics... Thank heavens I don't have to pick sides or vote here. It was pretty wild. But we got through it and spent the rest of the day visiting students and bishops. 

One Crazy Week. I need a nap. But I'm grateful to be so busy and to be so useful to the Lord here. I couldn't think of a better cause to wear myself out in. 

I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Sunada

Amish Cupboard...yum!

GAHHHH MIND MELTING.

So Its been a pretty stressful week. But In a good way. Elder Gurney made his rounds and we visited a lot of people (He'd been in the area 9 months) then Got up early Wednesday morning and headed out. Elder Weitz was assigned to me until my future companion showed up. We spent most of the day declutering our apartment. At about 5pm the transfer train arrived and 4 elders got off. Elder Vogl, the new Lexington Zone leader, Elders Turner and Parker, the BV YSA 2 Elders, and finally Elder Holder, My new companion. The first time I saw him he was holding a guitar case and I knew...it was going to be great. Thus far its been amazing!

He's from Southern New Mexico (2 hours south of Silver City) and about 16 months out in the mission. We are going to rock this area. But it was a rough week trying to plan for 2 sets of elders. Thankfully it started working out on Sunday and now the other Elders have a good enough grip on their area to plan on their own so we can focus on ours. It was kinda sad because a lot of my favourite YSA's fell into the other Elders area, but we still have some good ones to work with and we actually Set a baptismal date!!! Its kind of a funny story because she's not living in our area currently but we taught her and she's coming back here to get baptized so we get to count it. Made my week!

We also had a lot of good meetings with the bishops, who are still struggling to staff their auxiliaries with Elders Quorum presidents, relief society presidents, sunday school presidents and ward mission leaders. So its still kinda crazy but theres some exciting news coming up. Orientation for school starts on Friday. We have a booth set up and Washington and Lee University on Saturday, and I might not email till next tuesday due to Labour day weekend and there's a big parade in town we are hoping to be at. 

OH and ZLC tomorrow. They said it might run later than regular so we might be gone from 4:30am-8 or 9 PM. Lots of driving. And Its my turn. Fun. Anyways, I think we want to go shopping now. Mostly they. I'm broke this month. To many going away outtings for Gurney. And trips to the Amish Cupboard for fancy cheese, dips, candy and smoothies mix. 

Well, Hope all is going well back on the Ranch!

Love, 

Elder Sunada

BV YSA ZONE‏

Holy Heck.

What a Week it has been. Probably our best and craziest week yet. We've been able to keep pretty darn busy meeting with people and sharing the gospel. Found 3 new investigators, a first for our area, and had some really great meetings with YSA's returning to activity/looking for a testimony boost. Its been such a blessing to try and help someone, then have them come back in a week and tell you how life's been better. Not only does it feel like I'm doing what I came here to do but for some of those we meet with the choices and changes they're making will effect the rest of their lives on into the eternities! In the process I feel like I am also making some life long friends, even if I never get to see them again. I will always remember the times that I spent with them and the effect they've had on me in return. After a long summer of working our butts off to keep busy, we've finally had things just fall into our laps. 

But now the fun part really begins. This past Sunday I attended 4 sacrament meetings in 7 hours of church. For the first time ever I even played piano in sacrament meeting, actually for 2 of them. The wards have split and our summer ward has become 6. Everything I knew just went out the window haha. Every day I see more new faces that I haven't learned the names of. All the people that I did know are now scattered. The good news is I think everyone is a little bit lost and will be till the semester starts. Even the Bishops are struggling to figure out who's in their wards because everyone is still moving around and their records haven't landed in the right place yet.

But it gets even better. This week, Is TRANSFERS. No worries, I'll be staying here, probably till the end. But Elder Gurney got called to train in Clarksburg. The YSA elders in Roanoke are being doubled out and their area changed (the good news is that Elder Muirbrook whom I've been living with is going there and training a new Missionary so I can trust him). The Lynchburg YSA are getting 2 new elders to serve in a Tri-panionship, but only for 3 weeks as the existing Elder will go home for school then. 2 new Elders will be sent here to BV to become BV YSA 2 and help us out with the wards. I'll be the only one pretty much left in our zone. 

Oh yeah, my new Companion, Elder Holder and I, will have the pleasure of trying to make sense of all this mess as the new Zone Leaders. Yup, they made me a ZL. Don't know what Pres is thinking, but he's got some faith! I'm scratching my head over how we're going to split the wards and share a car here in BV, let alone what the rest of the zone is going to do. I think I'll be spending a lot of time on my knees. I am excited in a way for all this to happen. Its going to be full throttle to the end for me it looks like. And that's a good thing. Some Elders tend to lose their mind in the end thinking about home. I don't think I'll have any time for that. 

YSA's keep us pretty busy. For instance, where else can I rip a hole in new pants (sorry, Mom) while playing volleyball and still consider it to be productive to the work? You've got to go where they go and do what they do to build those relations. I know it may seem like we just have fun but that was also a big step in helping a returning less active feel comfortable at an activity. I love being a missionary ;).

Lets see, what else. Too much. My mind is already on overload. Got accepted to BYU-I. Might get accepted to another. Those things are still kinda off in the distance though folks here make it a point to bring it to the forefront. I finally have my camera and a cord so I can upload some pictures! But I think I'll save some news for next week. 

Hope all is going well back home. Ya'll better go check out the temple for me and tell me about the Open House!  http://youtu.be/5MIfPuvzZeM

Love ya Lots!

Elder Sunada

Time is flying

Hey Everybody!

Time really does fly down here in Buena Vista. Next Week is transfers again and everything is going to be turned upside down. Although I'm pretty sure I'll be staying here, it sounds like Elder Gurney will be leaving to train, which means there will be 3 new YSA Missionaries in the area who don't have a clue of whats going on. I'm still pretty clueless as to how its all going to work. Next Sunday the Summer ward splits into 6 wards and We'll have to manage that somehow. Not to mention the number of students coming back. I'm doing my best to meet people and memorize names but there are so many I normally just embarrass myself by calling a Melissa Melanie or a Tami Tina. But Hopefully I'll get that figured out... It is exciting though to see the school get geared up to go again. Our work load should increase and hopefully we'll be busy every day with appointments. 

I've really enjoyed working with the Less Actives especially. Sadly there are a lot. But For most they still welcome missionary visits and are willing to try some of the things we suggest. 

We Picked up a former investigator this past week. She asks a lot of really good questions which make us think hard, but that's ok because it shows that she's also thinking pretty hard about what we teach. It also makes be break habits of just saying what I've always said and force me to tailor a unique message. So we'll pray that we can keep teaching her!

Well, I know there's lots more that's been going on, but my mind just can't get it all out . So I'll have to share it with ya'll later.

Sure Love ya!

Elder Sunada

ZLC 3

Howdy!

This past week has consisted of more meetings and a few exchanges. We had our 3rd ZLC on Tuesday which meant another long day of driving, but this time I didn't have to drive so I just slept in the back. President once again blew our minds with some intense doctrine. It focused a lot on Hope, Faith and Charity but in a way that I'd never comprehended before. He gave us some handouts so we wouldn't have to take notes but I wish I had so I could remember how to relate the points. I've probably now taken more notes during meetings than I did in all 3 years of High school. Following the meeting we went on exchanges with the assistants. I got to go with our newest assistant, ELDER KLAIN!! It was the best exchange ever. The only problem is that it was too short. Elder Klain (From Cardston) had been made an assistant the Sunday prior to ZLC and this was his first exchange in that capacity. He's got a big task ahead of him as both of the other assistants die at the end of this transfer (Aug 22nd) and he'll have the responsibility of learning everything before then and training another assistant. We've already determined that we're going to be friends for life and live up life back in Alberta when our time is up. 

On Friday we had another meeting which lasted 3 hours down in Lynchburg, then I went on exchange with Elder Stoven to Roanoke. Its kinda funny to be back in places that are so familiar. We even got to visit one of the back creek families while doing YSA work which was a pretty sweet treat. I only wish I had more time to see them all but sadly that's not the nature of my current calling. 

Aside from all of that I don't think to much else happened this week. oh! We did meet one less active YSA that we've been trying to contact for a few months. It was awesome because he's a huge out door guy and we were able to talk about crazy mountain adventures and what kind of gear he was rocking. He was excited to take us out in the backwoods here, which I'm way down for. Hopefully Next Monday we'll go out with him and I'll be able to write you about it. 

Well, Sounds like the Crew's ready to rock so we'll catch ya'll later!

Elder Sunada