Blog of Elder Hamish Macpherson

Hey everybody! I’m back! Yup, I made it through TWO whole weeks. Sorry about the lack of a blog post last time. I was emailing at the library in Tracy and all the other elders finished really quick and they wanted to go to Bass Pro Shop, so I finished after writing a few quick emails. By the way, Bass Pro Shop is like Disneyland for anyone into hunting or camping. It’s HUGE. They’ve got everything from boats… to guns… to pools full of real bass swimming around, not to mention all the.. uh taxidermy-ized animals in locations they have throughout the store. Anyway, you really just have to see it! I made sure to buy a cool shirt as a souvenir.

Well, that week went by really quick, as many do… and before we knew it the very day of transfer calls had come. Again, since we’re in Manteca, we’re basically the last Zone to be called. As 10:30pm approached we all waited anxiously with our phones nearby. My prediction was that Elder Deason was gone… and that I would probably stay a District Leader in Tracy. Elder Deason felt like he was gone too — Well, as it turns out we were both right, Elder Deason got his call and was transferred to Lodi, maybe about 30mins north of Tracy. But then President spoke to me, and said something I did NOT expect quite yet, “Elder Macpherson”, he said, “I’d like to call you up to be an Office Elder” … * short pause * … “Well, that sounds great President!”, I said — and the rest is history! Haha. But yup, they shotgunned the Tracy Ward, as we say. Ironically the two new missionaries there are Elder Groshong (me AND Elder Deason’s trainer, remember?) and Elder Seigfried, a missionary brand new from the MTC — Elder Groshong is training for the 3rd time! Well, the ward will be in good hands, though I’m sad to go. I’ve come to love all the wonderful people there, especially the people I taught, I guess it’s good to know those friendships will never end. I’ll definitely be coming back to to Tracy after the mission.

So here I am in the mission office now, up in Fair Oaks California (basically a suburb of Sacramento). It’s been almost a week… and it’s been great! We do so many different things, it’s almost overwhelming. I do enjoy working on a computer again. It’s definitely my natural habitat. The really cool part is being able to use my abilities for the benefit of this wonderful mission. My new companion is Elder Collett from Cincinatti Ohio. This is his 4th transfer in the office now, so he pretty much knows everything, he’ll probably leave at the end of this transfer and I’ll get a new companion. We live with the Assistants to the President (Elder Webber and Elder Thompson) in the Lembi House; named thus because it’s on a street called Lembi, and it is in fact a house! It’s actually really big for just four missionaries. But the important thing to remember is that all the arriving and departing missionaries stay the night there before they go to their new areas, or fly home, respectively. I witnessed a group going home the first night I was there, and it was crazy! There were probably about 12 or so missionaries in the group and mattresses, blankets, and pillows were all over the place, downstairs and upstairs. But we had a lot of fun. I had the chance to serve around a lot of the missionaries in that group… they will be missed! Oh and before we were even at the Lembi house, there was a dinner and testimony meeting at the mission home (where President lives with his wife) — that was really powerful! I’m so glad we can go to those.

We cover the College Oak YSA ward in the Carmichael Stake (yay, my first YSA ward!) — it’s lots of fun. Despite being busy with office work almost all the time, we still have a few people we’re teaching. One is named Cyanne (pronounced “Kie-anna”, though we just call her Cy). She’s really cool, and has some great member friends. She’s not sure about baptism yet, though we’ve talked about it a lot. She’s afraid of making the wrong choice and just jumping into something. So we’re going to keep helping and encouraging her. She went to a Cottage Meeting last night with her friend and had a great time, so we’re hoping things will all work out.

Well, that’s all I can think of writing for now. Thanks everyone for your emails and letters. I want to end by saying, I know the church is true. I know that God lives. I’ve seen the things we share change the lives of people completely around… opening there eyes to a better way! I look forward to serving faithfully and dilligently in the Mission Office of the California Sacramento Mission! Till next week…

Love,
Elder Macpherson