10/30/2024
Thompson
The last week Tyler was in Thompson he finally got to see the northern lights. They were amazing to see he says. The senior couple feed the boys and they all got to enjoy a wonderful site.

Regina
Tyler was transferred to Regina on October 10. There are so many more missionaries in this area than in his last area. Most of their Saturdays and Mondays are filled with playing sports and games. Saturdays are for inviting friends out to and introducing them to the church members while Mondays are for all the missionaries in the area to get together and bond. Tyler and Elder Johnson are the district leaders for the area. There are 10 Elders and 6 Sisters. They play games and eat together. They had Canadian Thanksgiving and 6 of the Elders went out to eat at a restaurant. Their apartments are new to the mission so they had to dedicate their apartment as well as the Sisters apartment. The Sisters had to wait outside because of the mission rules.

They have a few investigators and a lot of "dotes" on the records. Slowly they are making contact with them or taking them off of the records. They have three investigators who haven't taken the discussions but hopefully that will change this week. One of them his father who lives in England told him to go to this church, so he went to an activity or two and has come to church. Another asked about the church because he wants to find a place to raise a family even though he is still single.

Tyler has changed time zones, so he is calling us later at night. We got to say our family night prayers together for two weeks in a row while Tyler was still on the phone. Those prayer felt so special, I could feel the spirit in the room. Our time will change this week so there will again be 2 hours between us next week.

They have already gotten their first snow in Regina.

http://www.mymission.com
Elder Tyler Pehrson

9/26/2024 - Tyler was transferred to Thompson in August and has enjoyed it a lot. It is the highest north that the mission goes. Thompson is 8 hours north of Winnipeg so when they need to go to District Meetings they will spend 2 days in Winnipeg. His companion was Elder Remple and he is from British Columbia. He and his companion seem to get along really well. They teach an English class where they get the opportunity to share the gospel. One of the couples speaks Spanish and the husband translates for his wife. The other man speaks French and is from Africa. He is starting to study the Book of Mormon and so they are hopping he will continue to gain a testimony. There is large number of First Nation People in Thompson and as often as they can they drive to Nelson House and teach the people in the ATec center. One of the ward members is from Nelson House and introduced the elders to the ATec center. It is an employment training center for the first nations people in the area. They are teaching a man lessons from the center.

The branch is small like most branches in Canada and the members band together with the missionaries to keep the branch working. Last Sunday they had 7 adults 3 kids and 3 friends. Work is progressing and Tyler enjoys teaching the gospel.

Thompson is rougher than his last area with more unemployed and inebriated people. The Walmart has their carts locked up so that you have to put a loonie in to get one. There are men who sit next to the loonie return expecting you to give them the money.

Tyler has seen two bodies that were hit by cars thus far. The first one was in front of an ambulance trying to get to an emergency from Walmart and the other one was in front of a police car. Tyler says he feels safe and as long as you are not out late at night.

Their apartment has a pay washer and dryer in the basement and has 2 bedrooms. The boys sleep on two mattresses each and when the Elders in FlinFlon come to their apartment for zone conferences they all sleep in the front room on the mattresses. 

The senior couples apartment is in the same area. The Taylors were living there but were asked to continue their work with the "Stories of Faith" from the chosen frozen https://myfaithstory.org/ . Elder and Sister Taylor have been collecting faith stories from around Canada and are now in Winnipeg sharing these stories with others. A new mission couple now lives in the apartments.

He got a new companion Elder Juho Jäkkö on August 29. He is from Finland and knows English because they teach it in elementary school. He has been out for a while and will return home in January. He plans on this being his last area. The work has been slow with all of the "friends" not progressing in the gospel they have been filling their time doing service. Most of the service is lawn care for elderly people in Thompson. Elder Jäkkö shared some black licorice from Finland with Tyler and he says it is the best thing he has ever tasted. This last week the boys were almost in bed when they looked out the window and saw the northern lights. This is the first time either one of them have seen them.  

7/11/2024 - Elder Pehrson and Elder LeBaron have been companions for two transfers now. They have worked to teach the gospel in Dryden with very small progress.  At the end of June they said goodbye to their mission President Carr and welcomed in President Barnes. They have meet with him last week in Winnipeg and enjoyed the visit. They drove up to Winnipeg on Monday had their district meeting with the new president on Tuesday and drove home on Wednesday. While there they went on a Blitz with the missionaries in the London ward and while in the park got two contacts.  This week was Tyler's birthday and he and his companion were able to spend it teaching. The branch president drove them to Sioux Lookout (about an hour away) to meet with three referrals. The lessons went very well and they spent a couple of hours in each home. Tyler was very excited to be teaching.  Tyler was able to call us in Monday for his P-Day and then the next day for his birthday. It was really good to hear from him. We sent him two tie clips and a pocket watch. He really seems to love the pocket watch and wears it all the time.

Tyler is doing really well and loves his area and LOVES the members there in Dryden. 

5/21/2024 - When transfers happened Tyler and Elder Rance traveled to Kenora.  Tyler and Elder LeBaron then drove to Dryden. Elder LeBaron is now the driver and is close to going home in a few months. He and Tyler get along very well and are able to communicate very easily. Stake Conference was that same weekend and was held in Winnipeg, a four-hour drive. The elders were not able to attend due to mileage. The ward left before they were back from Kenora on Friday morning.  On Saturday the ward went to the temple and then enjoyed Stake Conference. Tyler and his companion travel to the Zone Leader's apartment often, a two- hour drive to Kenora.  They are teaching a few people who are interested in the Gospel, and I hope are able to feel of the Spirit when they have the lessons. Tyler is the financial clerk now and is able to help with tithing. He is excited to serve. The work is slow and they are continuing to find. A lot of the time is spent driving. They have been to Kenora every week so far and then on Monday, May 15, they went to Zone Conference in Winnipeg. The snow has melted and things are green again. Tyler says that they have big rain and thunderstorms. He is very positive and really wants to be out serving the Lord.

4/2/2024 - Tyler and His companion drove 4 hours last week on Monday to Winnipeg for a zone conference on Tuesday. The boys left on Wednesday to return back home to Dryden.  Along the way there was a snow storm that shut down the freeway and so they had to make a detour in Kenora. They spent the night at the district leader's apartment. Luckily they had extra beds for just this occasion. Thursday morning they saw so many deer right outside the apartment. Such a beautiful place to visit. At about 9:00, Elder Pehrson and Elder Rance left once the freeways were reopened. The drive, which was only 138km and should have taken them only 2 hours, instead took them 5 hours. The boys were exhausted from their adventures.

Tyler is doing well and is ready for spring to come. He says that they have 4 seasons in Canada; Summer, Fall, Winter, and Betrayal. He calls Spring "betrayal" because the weather there is not spring.