Still In Burnaby !

Hey everyone!

 How is everyone doing? Well transfers were last week and once again, I'm staying in Burnaby! So by the time this transfer is over I will be here nine months! That's crazy and your right it's total opposite from last year me being transferred all over the place now I get to stay in one area for a really long time. Anyway I'm really happy that I get to stay in Burnaby for another transfer, it's weird everyone here treats me like another member in the ward, it's great! Plus I know everyone I practically know every street and I don't think there's ever been an English Elder that's served here for as long as I have. The work here is going great.

 We also got moved out of our old apartment, our new address is 5460 Hardy Court Burnaby, B.C. V5G 1R2

 It's a really nice apartment, we are truly blessed to be living there! I was sick this past week, pretty much the most sick that I've been my entire mission. But I'm better now and everything is okay, I had to stay home and sleep for two days though. It was really weird I'm happy it's over because I felt really uncomfortable not being able to do anything.

 Yesterday we were out in New Westminster, and there has been this less active member that we've been trying to get in contact with for the past few months but every time we try to drop by he's never home! He never answers his calls to so he's a really hard guy to get a hold of Bishop feels that we should work with him so we were doing everything we could to help. Anyway we were driving by his house on our way to go a visit another member, when I get this impression that we need to go and visit him. Without hesitation I pulled over and Elder Henderson asked what are you doing? I said I feel like we need to stop by this member, we went to his apartment and buzzed his number there was no answer. I said a prayer in my heart and asked Heavenly Father to give us a chance to help him, we tried one more time no answer again. So we turned around to leave and I see this man walking towards us in the dark, then I recognized that it was the man who we were trying to get in contact with! We talked for about 5 minutes and he told us how he thought it was so crazy that he ran into us and that he was thinking about us quite a bit the past few days. I told him that Heavenly Father wanted us to meet tonight and that we were here to help him. He's been trying to come back to church for a really long time now. So we set up a time to go and visit him and we'll be going on Saturday night. I'm so excited!

 I'm always so happy to be able to help someone accept the blessings of the Gospel. I know that the spirit inspires us as we listen and are humble. The spirit guides us in everything we do, I don't know what I would do if it wasn't for the gift of the Holy Ghost. We might start taking the bus here and give our car to someone who needs it more than us, I think it would be awesome we would get to talk to so many people and the public transportation here is really great too.

 So last week I borrow someone's jacket to go snow shoeing it was about -6 degrees not to cold. It was pretty much that cold here all week last week, but this past weekend everything warmed up and all the snow that we had melted away.

 Tell Doda that I received her card as well

Love you have a great week!

Love,

 Elder Kameron Lahache

Transfers Tomorrow

 Hello everyone!


 How is everyone doing today! We just got back from hiking on this mountain named Cyprus mountain, it's the mountain where they had the snowboarding events in the Vancouver 2010 winter Olympics. We went hiking right next to the ski runs, oh man it was nice! Cody would have been going crazy and saying "Sonny boy I wanna go snowboarding!" It was really nice. The snow was fresh powder which I honestly wasn't expecting because of how humid it gets here. Seeing the mountains helped me to make my decision that we are going to come back after my mission and go skiing/snowboarding here together.

View From Top Of Cyprus Mountain

 So we haven't moved apartments yet, we are starting to move all our furniture today so hopefully we'll be able to get it all done in time. I can't wait to get it out of the way so we can be 100% focused on the work here. Brother Ostertag one of the awesome members in Burnaby, he's in one of the pictures with me, is going to borrow his friends suburban so we can move all our beds and big pieces of furniture that we have. The new apartment that we're moving to is really nice, it's less than a year and a half old and the floors are all hardwood which is great for cleaning. It's a good size I'm really happy I found it, I don't remember the address right now, so for the birthday cards, I would say the best thing to do would be just to mail it to the mission office (8440 Williams road, Richmond B.C. V7A 1G6). We're going to be going there this week regardless of whether or not I get transferred because there is going to a be a training for all new missionaries and their trainers on transfer day.

Nations PRIDE!

Also we find out what's happening with transfers yet again, calls come on Tuesday night. We'll see if I get to stay in Burnaby for another transfer or not, if I do stay I will be here for a total of 9 months, that is incredibly rare in English work! I would like to serve in the north though I think it would be great, I'll be happy with wherever the Lord needs me to be!

This week has been awesome for the work here in Burnaby. We're so busy it's great, we received a referral from our bishop this week on Sunday, so we went a paid a visit to the family who he referred us to and they are PREPARED! We sat down and started to talk about what our purpose is as missionaries and how our message helps people come closer to Jesus Christ. The couple told us that they use to live in Guatemala, and they arrived in B.C. a little under 4 months ago. The wife's best friend was a member of the church there and because of that they have had much exposure to what we believe and they were impressed with it. They said that they are thinking about starting a family soon and they want to be involved with a church to give their children a strong foundation. They said that they feel that this is the right church for them and their future family they just feel they need to pray and ask God if this is what he wants for them. I was so happy because they were so opened and so willing to learn, it really makes you happy when you find someone who is genuinely interested in learning about the Gospel. I know that the Gospel does give us that sure foundation to build our lives upon and those who put their trust in Heavenly Father are blessed. So that's two new investigators this week and we've been finding 2 new consistently which is the best I've ever done on my mission. I know that Heavenly Father is leading us here. If the work continues to progress the way it has for the past
few weeks they might need to send in another set of Elders to help us keep up with everything that is going on here.

Elder Lahache and Elder Henderson

We started working with many part member families a few weeks ago and already we are starting to see the fruits of the labor. Families who haven't come to church in years are starting to come back! I am so grateful for the spirit which accompanies us as we teach these wonderful people because the spirit bear witness to them and teaches them that going to church is what they need to do. It's a wonderful feeling helping people come back, it's pretty much the same for me as helping people accept the covenants of baptism. I am truly beginning to feel the love that Heavenly Father has for all of his children. I know I still have alot to work on but I know that as long as I am humble and teachable that Heavenly Father will continue to shape me into the person that he wants me to be.

The scones that we made were delicious, but your right they don't even come close to being as good as mom's are. Those jams are amazing though! Harry and David's is the best, I got Elder Henderson addicted to Mose Munch and he is even more addicted to Arrowhead Sauce! He tries it with everything and he says that the sauce goes good with everything it doesn't matter what it is, the sauce makes it better. So we got people in B.C. and Utah who are interested in it now!

Elder Lahache and Brother Ostertag

Anyway for my birthday it was another day to work, we're going to eat out today for my birthday though so I'm excited for that.



 I love you!

 Elder Kameron Lahache

Crazy Busy

 Hey everyone! Man! I just feel like I have to apologize again for last week. We literally sat down to do e-mails and I wrote just a few sentences then I just remember that we had that appointment scheduled that day.

 So anyway this week has been crazy. We have so many appointments that we're going to everyday it's difficult to stay on top of things. Then when we get back at night we do our nightly planning then I lie down on my bed that night and I'm OUT! Then next thing I know it's 6:30 and the new day is already started.

 But it's great I love being a missionary. We have so many amazing experiences and I am learning to recognize the spirit more and more everyday. I act on any prompting I receive and the Lord is blessing us as we are being exactly obedient.

I went to the Wal-mart in Burnaby today and I picked up the pictures and I also exchanged for the new razor. They almost didn't let me do it, but then the lady decided that it would be okay so I was happy about that. I haven't had time to look at the pictures we've been trying to get everything done early today so that Elder Henderson and I would have time to write letters. I'm way behind on my letter writing so today is going to be catch up day.

 We're also moving to a new apartment this week. We've been looking for a new one for the past few week and we found one that we really like and to top it off it's only 2 minutes away from the church so we should be moving in either by the end of this week or early next week.

This week we were finally able to meet with that miracle lady Betty from a couple of months ago. I just kept feeling that I shouldn't give up on her so I kept calling and whenever we would call she would talk to us for at least 15 minutes with all these questions. Which is great because that shows that they are sincere and are interested in learning. So after many conversations on the phone and after overcoming a few barriers we met her and it was great. I would say that the highlight of the lesson was when we taught her about prayer. We taught her the steps to pray and the whole time we were able to tell that she was listening intently, at the end of the lesson we invited her to offer the closing prayer. After she finished praying she wrote in the pages of the copy of the Book of Mormon that she found on the ground and wrote "first real prayer" and then put the date and all who were present.

 It's so cool to see how Heavenly Father prepares people who are ready to receive this gospel. It just feels so great to share it, I know this will help her greatly in her life in every way possible. Sister Kane (Sister Ross' friend) bore her testimony on Sunday and spoke about the Gospel of Jesus Christ has enriched her life. I know that is true I was able to feel the spirit confirm to me what she said. That's why our job is so important, we help people to truly bring Christ into their lives.

 This week on Tuesday we are going to be having a mission training session from our area 70 Elder Christianson, I heard it's all about member work so I'm excited for that.

 Missionary work is awesome, I am so grateful for the experiences that we have everyday!

Tell Kelsey that I wish her a very happy happy birthday and that I love her!

 
 Have a great day!

 Love,

 Elder Kameron Lahache

Happy New Years!

Christmas Caroling with a member family

 Hey everyone

 It sounds like New Years was awesome this year again, were you there until super late cleaning up? We didn't get to do anything really for new years, we had to be in our apartments by 6:00. Then at 6:00 we did what's called weekly planning, basically we go through our week and make plans so that we can have an effective week.  I just realized that we have an appointment in 10 minutes. So I have to go! I'm sorry, my letter will be longer next week.

I cant wait to open my present!

I wonder what is in here its KILLING me

Our Christmas tree!

This is the last time to open my mission presents

 If anyone asks about what I need for b-day new black shoes would be good. Mine are wrecked. I'll have to take a pic with the new suit that I bought on boxing day and send it.

 Ok Love you!

 Elder Kameron Lahache

Elders Lahache and Henderson at Ward Christmas Party

 Hey everyone!

 Christmas is just around the corner, I can't believe it already! Everyone at home must be so excited to get together with the family! So first thing is I forgot my camera, but I brought my cable for it! I'm sorry! If I have time during the week I'll come and send you pictures, we're just so busy as missionaries I really don't have time to take any pictures. We're always working, we can't really afford to slow down for 2 minutes there's always so much to do. Always one more person to talk to one more door to knock one more person to call or one more record to fill out.

Burnaby really picked up in these last few weeks and we need to be organized and be on the ball all the time to make sure that everything continues to run smooth. This is all about the people and we cannot afford to let them down. That being said I've had to become much more organized which I am now, luckily I've had many good companions in the past that I've been able to learn much from and they have helped shape me into the missionary that I am today! It's important to always be doing to BEST things especially as a missionary. It's like in the talk that dad wrote there are good choices, better choices and the best choices.

 I will definitely make time to take pictures in the future, pictures that I'm in. I'm honestly lost in the work and it's crazy because I'm constantly thinking about people and what they need. It's when I'm thinking about these people early in the morning or late at night that Heavenly Father often blesses me with the inspiration that I need to help these people out. I rely so much on receiving answers from Heavenly Father, I don't know what I would do if it wasn't for the gift of the Holy Ghost as a missionary.

 We are continuing to find people who are prepared, we have been steadily finding 1-2 new investigators a week. Not many of them get past the first lesson, but it's good to always be finding new people to teach.

 Elder Henderson is a great missionary, he's from Bountiful Utah! He's super excited to be on in mission, and always carries the spirit with him when he speaks. I can feel it and I'm excited to see that spirit that he will continue to bring into lessons as we teach in unity together.

 This week is going to be great were going caroling with the Kutney family on Friday night, and we're going to be going to visit some of their friends as well as some less active members in the ward. I'm excited we went caroling last year in Delta and it was great!

 So on Christmas day, we have church, I believe from 9:30-10:30 A.M. So I think I would call after church so probably around 11:00 here so 2:00 around at home. Hopefully that works, if it doesn't just call the mission office and tell them to send me the message. We're planning on working pretty much the whole day, someone has invited us over for Christmas dinner so that will be great! But I'm excited to go out and meet some people on 

Christmas, it's going to be just another work day as a missionary.

 I have a couple of good ideas to do that will make contacting more effective on Christmas, we're going to sing a song and share with them Luke 2 or maybe the Joy to the World DVD. Then ask them if we can come back another day. I'm excited to see how it will work. I haven't received the Christmas package that is wrapped yet, but when it gets to the mission office I will go pick it up for sure!

 Thanks for the socks and jams and the scones too. I really needed those socks I only had 1 good pair of socks left!

 I am so grateful for my mission, because I feel that I am becoming the person that Heavenly Father wants me to be. I get to help so many other people too and that brings me great happiness. I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm not a missionary anymore. Luckily it's still far away so I get to focus on this work which I love.

 I'm super proud and happy for Cody and the decision that he's made to go on a mission. I know that the Lord will bless him and he will be a great missionary.

Have a great week! I love you guys I'll talk to you on Sunday!

Love
Elder Kameron Lahache

Staying In Burnaby !

Hello everyone!
 
 So I have big news, as everyone knows last week was transfers, now we all now that I wasn't expecting to be transferred. However We also know that President Tilleman is known to be unpredictable. This transfer was crazy, there were many changes in the mission the Vancouver Zone (the zone that I'm currently in was divided into two zones). Plus 20 new missionaries arrived, as a result many new areas have been opened. So just so you know, we did get a call from President Tilleman on Transfer calls night. Turns out that...... I am .......staying in Burnaby! Elder McGahan got transferred to Vancouver YSA, and I received a new companion. His name is Elder Henderson and he is from Bountiful Utah! So I've been in Burnaby since June, but all the members in the ward are happy that I'm staying here for Christmas.
 
 So this week was crazy! Thursday was transfers, so we went to Richmond and I picked up my new companion, it was the biggest transfer that we had in a really long time, almost the whole mission was there for transfer lunch! It was nice to see many of my mission friends. We got to our area later that night and Elder Henderson and I decided that we would go out and do some street contacting. 


So we were walking around and I saw this one man in the corner of my eye and he had his hood up and headphones on and at first I thought that he wouldn't be too interested to talk to him. Just as I was about to pass him by, I got this impression, you need to talk to this guy. So I stopped called him from across the street and told him that we wanted to talk with him. At first he looked at us like we were crazy, and then he said you know I'm in a hurry right, and I said no problem we can walk with you. So we started to talk with him about what he believed and how God has made an impact on his life. He just completely opened up to us, it was really cool to see, then he paused and just asked us randomly, so what's going through your mind right now I'm sure you thinking about what your going to say to me. I just turned to him and I said honestly nothing, I'm just concentrating on what you saying so I will be able to understand you! He thought that was really cool and he said that he respected us because we were doing that. Then he continued walking and showed us to his home and he said he never does that with people but he felt that he would be able to trust us. So we talked with him for a few more minutes and got his phone number and told him we would be giving him a call soon. It was cool because it helped me to me to understand the importance of listening. When we really listen to people because we love them they open up to us and the spirit can be there.

 Also on Saturday Elder Henderson and I attended our ward Christmas party, which was cool. We had over 200 people show up it was a great success, there were so many non members there so Elder Henderson and I were so busy talking with everyone we barely even had time to eat. We also had the chance to sing a song, we Elder Henderson and I sang Oh Holy Night, it was great!
 
 So I also forgot to tell you last week that in our apartment we have a legit Christmas setup, we have a legit Christmas tree, with a legit electric fireplace, legit stockings and sweet Christmas music that we play every morning! I'll have to send you a picture to show you what it looks like. I keep forgetting to, then we get to that library and I always tell myself I'll remember for next week. But I'll get it to you. Crazy to think that in less than two weeks it's going to be Christmas right?! We need to start talking about when I'm going to be calling home, should I call Doda's like I did last year? We might be able to do video calls again, not sure yet but I will tell you as we get more details.
 
 The Christmas season is really opening doors to us, and we're planning on working all day Christmas too! I figure I have the rest of my life to relax and be with family on Christmas day, but this is my last Christmas as a missionary so I want to make the best of my time!
 
Dad I read your talk it's awesome! I wish I could have been there to see it. Thank you for sending it to me though. We have such an awesome family, I tell the missionaries here all the time and everyone wants to come and meet you all when I get back. Especially this one missionary names Elder Cielo he's one of the Spanish missionaries that live with us in our apartment!
 
Hope everyone at home is enjoying the Christmas season!
 
 Love,
 Elder Kameron Lahache

MIRACLES ARE HAPPENING IN BURNABY!

Hey everyone!

 The Christmas season has officially begun! Isn't it awesome, I love seeing all the lights and everyone is happy to see each other the music is heartwarming. It's truly one of the most wonderful times of the year! 

 So first of all I have to say, and I know this e-mail won't do justice, but WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

First snowfall in Burnaby and our  haggard snowman

 Thank you so much for that package that you sent me. I wasn't expecting to get anything this early. I love the ties, I've worn them both already and everyone has been complimenting them. They're really nice. Thank you also for the iPod it's funny because I was debating whether or not I was going to buy an MP3 player soon, because it's become a pain to carry all my CD's that I've acquired on my mission. I was so surprised and so shocked. Elder McGahan and I were at home we were doing our weekly planning, and we just finished and were getting ready to eat lunch when I hear the doorbell ring. So I ran to the door because I always do it's just exciting the get visitors to our house. I open the door and the first thing I see is the UPS truck, then I notice that the UPS man is standing right in front of me. He said hi does Kameron Lahache live here, it was weird because I didn't recognize my name for like half a second. But then I said yes that's me, and he told me that the package was for me. So I grabbed it but I didn't open it for another hour at least. I was wondering the whole time what it could possibly be. I thought it was the razors for my shaver or something so I was like sweet. Then I opened the package read the letter and I figured that you sent me Dad's old creative MP3 which was still sweet. But then I opened more and I was like WOW!!!!!!!! Thank you I bought a cable to connect it with the car today and we're listening to awesome Christmas music.

 Well I hope that no one is sick of me saying this, but MIRACLES ARE HAPPENING IN BURNABY! Left and right I honestly can't believe how blessed Elder McGahan and I have been in our area. So on Friday night I think it was Elder McGahan and I were out tracting on a street. We got to this one house and a lady answers the door. We start to explain to her that we're the missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She said that she knew who we were and that surprised us because not too many people just come out and tell us that. So we asked her how she knows us and she said that she used to meet with sister missionaries. She then went on to tell us that she appreciated what we were doing but she felt that she learned enough and that she felt that she needed to learn more about the bible before she would start to investigate The Book of Mormon further. That made me sad, but we do have to respect people's free will. So we went to the next house and knocked on the door. No one answered then we felt like we should go back to that ladies house again and ask her if she knew anyone we would be able to teach. So we went back and asked her and she said that she knew of this one person only she didn't really remember where she lived. So we gave her our card with our phone number on it and we said that if she remembers to please call us. She said she would and that was it. We got back to our apartment and we noticed that we had a voice mail, so we checked it and it was the lady who we gave our card to! She said that she had some questions for us and if we had time the next day she wanted to meet us to talk. Elder McGahan and I both freaked! So we went back the next night and we got to meet up with The Lady (Shannon) and her daughter Maria. It was a great lesson, we brought Brother Poetker and he shared his testimony it was great. We'll be hopefully going back later this week.

 The first Presidency devotional was great. We got John Wuttunee to come to church and he thought it was great. He loved the devotional too, I'm so excited for the wonderful things that have been happening here. It must be the awesome Christmas spirit. 

One HUGE Shar Pei like Shawn H's Congi away mon chienne

 Oh dad I was just thinking about you eggplant parmigiana this week. I smelt something similar this week, I was just dying for it! So I look forward to having it again in the future.

 Hope everyone has a great week.

 Tell everyone at home I love them, and I miss them especially around Christmas time. I know that this work is worth it though, we are helping people have better lives by coming unto Christ.

 Love,
 Elder Kameron Lahache