Blog of Elder Hamish Macpherson » Pre-mission

Finally!!!!

admin — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:49:28 +0000

He’s leaving. After the confusion at the border it looks like everything has worked out. We are crossing our fingers and hoping all goes well. This is a big step for Hamish and we will all miss him. Derek is happy to be getting his cell phone and Dad is getting his Ipod touch and Olivia, William and Mom are getting a new school room and his computer. We will take good care of all of them. He needs to focus on other things. He will be busy working with investigators and new members sharing his testimony and love for the gospel. We are so excited to be going to our Stake Presidents home this evening where Hamish will be set apart as a missionary. We are happy to be his parents. He is a good son and we love him. Watch out Sacramento here he comes! Jilleen and Stephen

Finally Leaving

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:30:38 +0000

I leave this coming Monday. My flight is at 1pm and I arrive in Salt Lake City at 6:30pm. I’ll be staying with some friends over night, and then I finally enter the MTC on Tuesday the 24th of February. Assuming I get the visa I need of course. But I’m certain I won’t have any problems with that, now that I have new papers and forms. My setting apart will likely happen Sunday night. I’m almost there guys!

Till next time,
Hamish

Still here, still waiting

admin — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:42:46 +0000

If you haven’t seen me around, and are wondering what’s going on, well I’m still here in Montreal, and I’m still waiting. Though word on the street is that I’ll be getting some information this week. Perhaps if I’m really lucky I’ll even be able to leave this week too. Only time will tell.

Till next time,
Hamish

Unforseen Consequences

admin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:34:06 +0000

Sometimes things don’t happen like you expect them too. My current circumstances are a perfect illustration. On Monday of this week I heard from a fellow missionary named Patrick. He along with his parents had tried to fly into Utah to so Patrick could enter the MTC on Wednesday, that is, today.

The keyword here is tried. They didn’t make it through. They were refused the appropriate visa at the airport, and were forced to return home the same day. It seems this is due to a fairly recently policy change in regards to the R-1 (Religious Worker) visa.

I don’t really have anymore details. At this point I’m waiting. My setting apart has been postponed, and my flights canceled. I’m really quite disappointed about this, but there’s little I can do. I know the church is working to figure this out. I just hope it doesn’t take too long.

I’ll be sure to keep you all up to date.

Sincerely,
Hamish Macpherson

Hamish teaches his mom how to blog

admin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:43:43 +0000

Hi, This is Hamish’s mom. I’m a little nervous to be doing this job. It is such a great responsibility. I have been given the job of updating the blog while Hamish is gone. I’m not techie at all so please bear with me. I’m so happy and excited to hear about Hamish’s adventures in sunny California. Remember you can email Hamish he would love to hear from you.

3 days til take off!

– Jilleen

Nine, Ten

admin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 01:08:32 +0000

In nine days (January 28th) I will be set apart as a missionary. Right now I’m just like anyone else, but the setting apart is the last step. I find this quote from Spencer W. Kimball, one of our churches late presidents, very nice;

The setting apart may be taken literally; it is a setting apart from sin, apart from the carnal; apart from everything which is crude, low, vicious, cheap, or vulgar; set apart from the world to a higher plane of thought and activity.

I’m very much looking forward to it.

The day after that (January 29th) I’ll be flying to Utah, saying my final goodbyes to Montreal and friends for two years. I’m not jumping into the MTC on arrival though. As you’ll recall, I report on the 4th of February. So from the 29th until then I’ll be staying with some good friends in the Utah area, seeing the sites for the first time.

For the curious, the last few weeks have been fairly eventful. I’ve been buying more of the clothing and supplies that I’ll need. My Grandfather has come to visit, and last Friday we had the wonderful opportunity to go through the temple here in Montreal. This past Sunday I also gave my farewell talk along with my friend Rachel (who has been called to the Hong Kong, China mission!)

There’s less than two weeks to go now, but still more work to be done. Till next time!

I bought a bike!

admin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:57:26 +0000

One of the requirements for my mission was to purchase I bike. Just last week I finally got around to doing so.

It’s a Trek 3700.

Looks just like that, except mine’s black. Oh, and if you’re curious, I bought it from CTRBikes. It’s being shipped straight to my mission office.

Just one step closer!

Best Year of my Life

admin — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:57:40 +0000

I’ll never forget 2008, ever. It really has been the best year of my life. It was amazing; full of achievement, discovery, learning, and adventure. There are so many parts I wish I could re-experience, and I’m sure there are many I someday will. I won’t try and recount it all here, but I do want to express my thanks. So thank you 2008! Thank you for the wonderful year that I’ve had, for the friends that I’ve made, for all the beautiful and interesting places I’ve been, for my fantastic job and coworkers, and finally for the mission call that I received just two months ago.

I’ll tell you, this year hasn’t exactly been a breeze, but I can see now that every hard experience has made me stronger, smarter, and better prepared for the future.

I’d like to wish every one of you a happy new year! It’s my sincere hope that 2009 will be as good (or even better) as 2008, for me, and for everyone!

Sincerely,
Hamish Macpherson

Silver Bells

admin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:41:18 +0000

It’s everywhere now. All the lights, trees, snow, and crazed shoppers trying to buy last minute gifts for that special someone. Yup, Christmas is almost here.

Oh and it’s also bitter cold.

But I’m enjoying it. My sister has flown out from Alberta for the holidays, which is wonderful. And I’m looking forward to a nice few weeks of vacation starting next Tuesday. As I said before, this will be my last white Christmas with the family for a while, so I’m going to make the most of it.

Tomorrow should be a fun day. I’m heading out with the missionaries to help teach at least one of their investigators. And later in the evening we’re having a ward Christmas party. I hear Santa’s going to be there! maybe I can sit on his knee, haha.

In other news, I finally got our Christmas letter all written up and sent out to our far-away family and friends. Quite an achievement for us. Though I’ve got no idea what’ll happen next year when I’m gone. Hopefully someone will take the initiative to send another one. Mind you, I don’t think it’ll look quite so nice if yours truly didn’t design it — but you can be the judge. (Assuming you get a letter…)

My mission preparation and study is moving along. Though I’ve still got lots to do! Including:

Buy suits/clothing
Buy a bike
Get tickets to Utah
Fill out and send back the forms from my mission president

That last one should be done very soon, I’ve put it off a little too long methinks.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sixty-five

admin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:08:05 +0000

Sixty-five. That’s how many days I have until I enter the MTC. And I really can’t believe it’s coming so soon.

This will also be my last Christmas here in Montreal for another two years. I tell myself I won’t miss it, but a part of me thinks I will. (Well at the very least, I won’t miss the cold!)

This blog will be maintained by me for now, and once I leave, by my parents. I’ll talk about the things I’m doing to prepare, share whatever information I can, and try by best to entertain, so I hope it will be interesting to some. No promises, but I’ll try my best, mmkay?

So on that note, let me tell you about what I’m doing this month. I’ve decided to repeat the same reading I did in August of this year, with a few changes. When I did it then, it was a great experience, and I know it can turn out likewise this month.

This month, the plan is to read the following (links are to online versions of the texts):

It’s 2310 pages total, and 77 pages per day. That’s a lot, no doubt, but it’s notably less than the 104 pages I had in August, so it’s perfectly doable.

Now you’ll have to excuse me, I’ve got some reading to do! Check out the links on the home page to find out more about me and my mission, if you’re interested.