March 18th, 2013 - First week in Cardston West Stake

Saying good-bye to Sister Lamb Leaving Magrath! The Zobel Family The Jinkins Family The Spackman Family The Roberts Family The Cardston Temple The Cardston Temple Hi Family! Yep I got transferred to the Cardston West Stake and I love it here because it's where we usually spent our p-days when I was in Magrath. The first thing I did the morning of my first full day was call the Jensens and get invited over for dinner, it was fun getting to see them again. Kris has a bunch of jobs lined up for him in Mountain View. I'm happy for him and the family, they have such strong faith. Oh yea we also cover a couple of other small areas. One being Mountain View and Waterton, Leavitt and Beazer. Leavitt has weird Sundays, it doesn't start off with the usual sacrament meeting, Gospel Doc, and Priesthood. Instead it's completely the opposite. What's really nice is that we have the Cardston Alberta temple near by and it looks so nice. I'll send some pictures of it today. I got here though and realized that the work here was almost dead. First thing I did was look at our teaching pool and there was like no one, so I went to the area book and picked up a bunch of less active families and nearly doubled our teaching pool this past week. So now we're booked up with some lessons this week. My new companion is Elder Wilson from Vernal, Utah and I'm hoping to pick up a lot more people to add to the teaching pool and possibly find some investigators to pick up because right now we have only 1. Pat Bulluck is her name and I visited her when we set up splits with some young men. When we visited her the first thing she told me was that all I wanted to do was convert her and I had to explain to her that I'm just here to share what makes my life as happy as it is and you can choose to accept our message or reject it and she said that she liked us and hopes that we come by more often. We also have a recent convert that we work out with every morning at 6. So I'm looking to get a lot more fit being in this area. Tell Dad that I started a good work out routine now that I'm in Cardston. It wasn't so hard to leave Magrath though because it's still so close by. I'm still in the same district though and what's really cool is that our mission got 31 new missionaries this past transfer in the mission. What an exciting time to be a missionary! Love you guys Elder Justin Gagnon Pics include what I get to gaze at every night and the Roberts family from Magrath.

March 12th, 2013 - Transferred from Macgrath

Saying good-bye to Brother Holder The Quickenden Family The Beres Family The O'Neil Family The Miller Family The Blackwell Family whose son will be serving a mission in Guam Hey Family, There has been some big changes this past week, one of them being that our mission president sent us an e-mail I was really shocked to see! It reminded us of some mission rules and policies and then he told us that we could e-mail FRIENDS! I was so shocked when I saw this and I almost don't want to do it cause I'm scared about how many e-mails I'll receive, but I'll always remember that family comes first and that's all that matters. I also got a ton of people to sign and write something in my journal and I kept it organized by putting a table of contents in the beginning of the book so I can find what people wrote quickly. One entry was actually super spiritual and I shed a couple of tears reading it. It talked about thanking me for sharing the messages with him and how I "shed a new light on his life that he had little knowledge of" and he said he doesn't get missionaries like me and said he will miss me. It's weird getting transferred because it feels like my mission has come to an end but it's not, it's only done in Magrath. But I don't want it to be. LOL! It's been fun though and I managed to get about 40 names and writings in my journal this past week. As far as transfers go I will only know where I'm going when I get to the transfer station in Lethbridge tomorrow. I know what a tease, I do know that I'll be in the southern zones though but that's all they tell me as far as where I'm going. So hows everything going at home? I see that you are doing well in your calling which is good, but yea you can post on my blog and Facebook that I can receive emails now and send me everyone who puts their email in so I can sent some love to everyone! Love you guys Elder Gagnon Pics this week consist of Brother Holder who is the biggest goon I ever met, But I love him. The Quickendens who are a family I just love to death, and the Beres Family.

March 4th, 2013

Oh man, sorry mom! I just got your e-mail and my time is almost up. I did send an e-mail to Chris though so you can ask him and I know where I can get a really nice pic 4 my plaque. I'll send it next week and i think you will like it. Sorry I couldn't write more cause my time is almost up. Love you guys Elder Justin Gagnon

February 25th, 2013

Hey family, This week was super good, we picked up a new investigator this week and he's pretty solid. I hope I don't leave this next transfer because this area is just booming. Dana harker (the person who held off on baptism for a bit) is coming back from her trip to Mexico this week so we're going to get right back to work with her. Also our new investigator accepted the invite to baptism on the first lesson which was good cause now we just have to prep him. He told us that lesson that he already believed a lot of stuff that we already believe and he said he really likes the standards we keep with the word of wisdom and all that. It just goes to show you how the Lord prepares these people for us to guide them to come unto Christ. We also have this other family who moved here from Montreal. They used to go to the french ward but moved here. They are the Jenkins family and they're super fun. They also have this plan that they're going to have a family games night and invite some of their non member friends over and we'll share a spiritual message, so we might get some investigators out of that. So Cody is going to Colorado, that's sweet! I've got to start sending letters soon before he leaves. So Sherece must be out of the MTC. Did you see her on her mission yet? The missionary boom is starting to come into effect, we might be getting another set of missionaries here in Magrath and there's been new areas opening up this past transfer. Oh and things with the new companion are good, I sent you most of his info in the last e-mail. There was also rumours not too long ago about splitting this mission. So there was going to be a Canada Calgary mission and a Canada Lethbridge mission which would have been interesting because Lethbridge would be a really small mission. But it didn't end up happening. There were new missions opening up though around the world but I was suprised that the Winnipeg mission didn't split because that is a huge mission. I think it covers all of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and parts of Ontario. But I do know it covers all of those two provinces though. It's crazy! But I'm doing well and the people here are great as always. Love you guys Elder Gagnon

February 18th, 2013

Hey fam, Everything is going good in good old Magrath! We had our baptism yesterday and it was pretty cool. His name is Kyler Lybert and he is an adopted child so his foster parents wanted us to teach him the missionary discussions. So we did and his father ended up baptising him. Apparently his birth mother is now looking into the church and is looking for missionaries to teach her. We also might be picking up a new investigator this week. his name is Jammy Loose and he seems like he wants to know about the gospel which is great. I can't wait to teach him and his family. We also might be going out to Spring Coulie (which is also part of our area ) to pick up some new investigators. Our teaching pool is just getting bigger and bigger and I love it. So, I think Cody is going to the Edmonton Mission just because no one was called there yet and it's just north of my mission. I can't wait to see where he actually is going though. So how's Nathaniel doing with his papers? Is he still working at Wendy's? Can you sent me his and the Lahache's mailing info so i can send some more letters. I also need Chris's email address because his mission email shuts down after a week of being home. Don't forget to tell me how Vegas is, it sounds like it's going to be fun. I'll send you a pic of the baptism next week. Love you guys Elder Justin Gagnon Oh and my companion has been out for 15 months. He served in Taber, Calgery Heritage in 1 ward, Med hat, and Drumheller.

February 11th, 2013

Hey Fam, This week was transfers so Elder Jones got transferred to Calgary and the baptism ended up not happening this week because she felt rushed a little. I think it was because Elder Jones was leaving soon so he wanted to get a baptism in Magrath before he left. So she said she's still going to read and pray and live the gopel principles while she's in Mexico. But we still have a baptism coming up this week. His name is Kyler Lybert and he was adopted so he's not a child of record, so it counts as a convert baptism. Robbie, the guy who was going to go to the temple is actually only allowed to go to the temple in about 18 more days. He called me this morning and told me that. My new companion is good. His name is Elder Byer and he's from Lynden, Utah. So he's my first Utah companion. He's been out about 15 months and he likes Magrath so far. This week we might be picking up a new investigator whose name is Jammy Loose and he agreed to meet with us. We also have a lot of potential investigators which we're trying to get to take the discussions so were really working hard these next few weeks. So how are things going at home? I hope you and Dad have a fun time in Vegas. There's actually a member we met not too long ago who served there and he says he misses it a lot. Well that's about it for this week and yes we're helping Sister Lamb with a lot of house work during the week. Love you guys. Elder Justin Gagnon

February 5th, 2013

Hey Fam, Well it's that time again! It's transfers and I'm staying here in Magrath, but my companion is moving but I won't know where he's going till we get to the transfer station on Wednesday. I also have no clue who my new companion will be, but I know I'm not training so I might just get another senior comp. This week coming up is going to be a good one because I got my first convert baptism coming up and her name is Dana Harker. My companion is a little sad because he is not going to be there for it. We also managed to get one of our less actives to the temple and he'll be going next Wednesday and he said he wants me to come to do the baptisms! I just need permission to go to the Cardston temple from my president, I can't wait to go though! I can't wait to send all kinds of pictures from this week. The work here in Magrath is finally progressing. we also have a lot of potential investigators which is good but we just need them to let us in to teach... Grr! Oh well, as long as we keep working through the members we will find many people to teach. Oh and if your wondering why I'm sending this on Tuesday, it's because today is transfer p-day. We also did a lot of stop bys the last few days because Elder Jones wanted to say bye to some people here in Magrath. Oh and I'm also done the 12 week program and I'll tell you who my companion is next week. Oh and don't forget to send me Chris's email so I can keep in touch with him. Love you guys Elder Justin Gagnon