MY LAST EMAIL!!

MY LAST EMAIL!!

Well. Tell Sister Warr she's missing out on my beautiful voice. But yeah, I'll play. That is, if I'm still active in the church. Haha. Just kidding. I'll always be active in the church...i hope...

I'm glad I'll be able to sleep in the Radon filled basement. If it hasn't messed me up enough yet, it'll have it's chance to mess me up more.

I'm glad to hear about Dad. Well, if I don't have Cancer from the Radon, I'll definitely be getting it from Dad.

NO NO NO!! You should wait for me to do the live temple session. We can do it on Wednesday when I get back. I want to go to one so bad!! Can missionaries do that?? Whatever. I'll take off my name tag if I have to. ;) Just wait one day!!

Why is Logan in the closet?? He needs to come out of the closet. And go on some dates with some girls.

Well this week has been a lot of Lasts. Let's see how many I can come up with:

My last time at Smokes (for a while) - Elder Babbel and I went. Like always, it was delicious (I'll send some pics). We then went with some missionaries to a Bowling Alley nearby. It was very fun.

 My last dinner with the Acosta Family - It started out by me sight reading a bunch of piano songs for them. The Mom told me later that I inspired them to practice the piano more, so that was great.

My last day in Black Creek.

My last day serving with Elder Hansen.

My last exchange - I got to see a bunch of people in Black Creek for my last time. 'Twas very nice.

My last sports night - Played soccer on exchanges.

My last time serving on Toronto Temple grounds - There were a lot of Spiders in the flower beds, so I got bit a bunch. Now I'm Spiderman.

My last time serving for Knight's Table - I said goodbye to all the workers there. Here's a pic of me and Johnathan. He was kind of our Supervisor. We called him Captain.

My last District Meeting - Well, I had three this week. They were all interesting. There's some pictures from one of them I'm trying to get a hold of. I'll send them if I can find them.

My last time doing Daily Dose - The English Classes. We had a party afterwards with the students and one of the Old Indian Ladies I helped came and gave me a hug. It was very sweet.

My last few times with the Chatters - We ate with the Chatters Wednesday and Sunday. We helped stain their deck on Saturday. It was so much fun. One of my favorite families in the world.

My first and last time at Carabram - So we helped with this big Celebration in Brampton Thursday - Sunday. It's a big Caribbean thing where people set up booths in this big City Center and sell stuff like food, clothes, or for us...Salvation! We helped with a Family History booth, and let me tell you, it was awesome. We handed out like a hundred pamphlets and met a lot of people interested in Family History. We took some screen shots on some iPads, of our own Family History counts to show people what it's like. So I guess my first and last time being an iPad missionary. ;) Blew some peoples' minds about how big my family tree is. Shout out to Mom for doing all the work!! We met a lot of awesome people, ate a lot of good food, and had a lot of fun.

My last barbecue with the APs - Last Saturday was our third Saturday in a row that we barbecued. It was simple. Jerk Chicken and S'mores. So if I didn't get enough Caribbean food at Carabram, I definitely got some at the Barbecue.

My last Sacrament Meeting as a Missionary - At the beginning of Sacrament meeting, Bishop invited me to give my testimony for the last time and I bawled my eyes out and told them how much I was going to miss the whole Ward. There were a bunch of people in the congregation crying too. I basically cried through my whole testimony and through the rest of Sacrament Meeting. I was sitting up by the Organ, so everyone could see me struggle. Later on Sunday, I was invited to Primary and all the Primary students and teachers signed this sign for me and then they sang "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus" for me, while I played the piano. A few Primary kids were even crying. And so, of course, I cried. Then we took some pictures. Then I said goodbye to basically everyone. Then we went home.

My last church meeting as a missionary - It was a missionary meeting with all the Bishops, Ward Mission Leaders, and Ward Missionaries in the Stake. So I got to see some of my old Bishops and Ward Mission Leaders and Members. It was sweet. One member from Black Creek brought me a hat from the Dominican Republic and a tie (probably from Canada).

My last time teaching the Mexican Migrant Workers - We went and I taught the English Class. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards, I realized that that was my last full day of missionary work. So that was pretty weird.

My last Transfer Calls - I'm going home!!

My last time packing my bags on the mission - I finished this morning.

My last P-Day - Today. We're going to Toronto to say goodbye to some members. Then we're going to Bishop's house to have a Barbecue and say goodbye to his family. Then we're meeting with Victor and Hillary later tonight to say goodbye. Then tomorrow, I say goodbye to some missionaries. And the rest is History.

This will be my last Group Email as a missionary. I could go into tons of details about how much I've learned on my mission and how I feel like I gave it my all. But that would take a long time. So if you really want to talk about it. Ask me later and I'd be happy to give you a play-by-play of the last two years. ;) I will always say though, the biggest thing I learned on my mission is how to have Charity and what Charity is. Leaving my family, friends, and loved ones was the hardest thing for me to do, when coming out on the mission. And now, going home, leaving the members: my family, friends, and loved ones is definitely the hardest thing for me right now to do. I love you all and hope to see you all soon!!

Hasta Luego

Elder Ammon Joseph Flint

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!yes.. im excited.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes.. im excited.

The Cancer Trip sounds fun. That's fun that Grandma, Tammy, and Steve are coming down. I guess I'll be sleeping on the floor my first night back. :|

This week was exciting.

Tuesday we had a barbecue with the whole zone at President Shield's house. We later went fishing with the APs and then checked out this sweet abandoned Factory. I'll send some pics.

Wednesday, we had my last big Missionary Meeting. I was in charge of the musical number, so I had all the departing missionaries sing "I Am A Poor Wayfaring Stranger." It went super well. I'm trying to get my hands on the video of it, we shall see. The meeting was super good. A lot of the stuff they talked about didn't apply to me, because I'll be gone by the time it all happens. Weird stuff. Later that day, we had a fun Dinner with the Chatter family, then we taught a doorway lesson to Hillary, about the Book of Mormon.

Thursday we did a lot of service, had a sweet dinner with a member family, then I gave probably my last baptismal interview to a Venezuelan Man in Black Creek. It went over 2 hours long. It got pretty deep. He passed though, so that was good.

Friday, we did lots of service. We introduced our Ward Mission Leader to Victor and Hillary. They clicked so well. Our Ward Mission Leader is a boss. Colombian Power!!

Saturday, the Stake asked us to have all the missionaries make a choir so we could sing in the Ontario Family History Conference. It was supposedly a pretty big deal. Brother Turley, the Public Affairs Representative for the church, came and spoke. We sang what was the Canada Toronto Mission Song, when Thomas S Monson was Mission President here; "One Day He'll Make It Plain." I directed the choir and it went super well. We then had English classes and our Mexican squad came. So that was good. We taught a bunch of lessons Saturday and they all went decently well. Saturday night, we decided to have another barbecue at our house, to welcome the new AP coming in, Elder McBride. It was super fun and delicious.

Sunday we had an investigator come to church and she loved it. The Ward fellowshipped her super well. She's one of our Mexican English students. Her name is Mercedes. Later on Sunday, we had dinner with Bishop and his family, which is always a good time. We then went to teach English to the Mexican Migrant Workers. It went super well and we're going over two more times this week to do it. It was super cool to see because most of these workers weren't interested in the Gospel, but they're interested in learning English. So one way or another we're able to serve them. They're a lot of fun too.

This week, we've been focusing a lot on the Book of Mormon and teaching it and inviting members to share a copy with others. In doing so, my testimony of the Book of Mormon has really grown. In the baptismal interview, the Venezuelan, Guillermo, said to me that the Book of Mormon is written for children. I asked him what he meant by that and he told me it is written so softly and lovingly. The Bible is very informative and strict, but the Book of Mormon is soft, kind, and inviting (apart from Moroni 9 ;). And it's so true. The Book of Mormon invites the Spirit so strong that by just reading a verse of it, it fills your heart with happiness. I know that that's true. I know that it is a book of God and that all the things in it did happen. I've read it a few times and will never stop reading it, for the rest of my life. I invite you all to not only read it, but really study it. Know the Book of Mormon. Make it a part of your everyday lives. Share it with those around you. No fear!! I love you all and will see you in 9 DAYS!!!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

Oh, please. We're celebrating the 4th of July today. No moose nor mountie nor mariposa here in Canada is going to stop us. President Shields is having a Barbecue at his house and a bunch of missionaries are going over today, to celebrate. Yeah, I got the email about Lord, I Would Follow Thee. I thought I responded, but yeah, it sounds great. That's one of my favorites.

Perfect. 8:00 PM is the perfect time. And then after that, we can watch whatever movie you all want to.

The wedding sounds like it was nice. And that's super awesome that Ashton is engaged. Is it to the girl he's been dating for a while??

Congratulations on the new calling!! That's super sweet.

Finally. Now you and Dad have confessed that I'm the best child. I always new it, I just needed it in writing. Now I can take the whole inheritance. Haw Haw Haw!!!

Logan!!

Your cliff diving experience. You should of ripped off your life jacket, AND your clothes, and then ran to the huge cliff and jumped off of it while flipping. That would have been LEGENDARY!! But yeah, that's why I jumped off that cliff when I did. I thought the leaders would be super stiff about it, so I jumped before I could ask them. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission right?? The best part about it is, I didn't even have to ask for forgiveness!!

It sounds like it was all fun though. The Vernal Temple is SUPER cool. And way out of the way too, so you're lucky you were able to go to it.

I didn't know Adam was going to Malaysia/Singapore. That's dope!! I don't know the Sontagg Brothers, but  Brazil is awesome. Oregon will be super cool for Joseph too. Lots of hippies and Mary Jane.

Micah. We're definitely going to party.

Well, this week was bumpin'.

Monday, I made a cheesecake and brought it to a Birthday lunch with the Senior Missionaries who work in the office. It was a lot of fun and they loved the cheesecake. Success. Later that day we played sports and had some fun.

Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Gomez to Mississauga. It was super sweet to be able to say goodbye to a lot of people there. We had dinner with the Beltran Family, and at they end they made a toast for me and gave me some departing words. It was so sweet. Then we visited Jherowi, a young man who I helped baptize while I was there. It was so good to see him. It was also really cool to get to know Elder Gomez. We've known each other for most of our missions, but we've never really had the chance to bond. So we became pretty good friends, and he'll be coming to UVU after he ends his mission in a few months. So that'll be sweet.

Wednesday, we had a District Meeting, did some service and had dinner with our ward mission leader and his family. It was nice.

Thursday we went on exchanges with Elder Shu, one of the APs. He really just came into our area and worked with us, which was fun. We did service, had an awesome dinner with a fun family, and taught Hillary that night. She is doing awesome and is reading the Book of Mormon, so we hope to help her progress towards baptism soon!! I mean probably after I leave, but still!!

Friday I went on exchanges with Elder Skarstedt. They were fun. We got invited to a Peruvian Birthday Party where we went and had barbecue. There were a few non-members there, so I hope we made a good impression on them and hopefully we'll see them at church soon. Later we talked to these people who were trying to push a car into a trailer. So we helped them out, it was a lot of fun.

Saturday we had 9 new students come to our English Classes. And 6 of them were Mexicans!! So I gave them a chapel tour after class and they said they were interested in coming to church. It was so sweet!!

Later in the day we stopped by a Part-Member family and had a good talk with the father and the son.

Saturday was also Canada Day, so we decided to have a Barbecue with the APs. Now, unlike the US, EVERY store closes on the holidays here in Canada. Except one called Shoppers, which is super expensive. So, because it was pretty last minute, we bought a bunch of stuff at Shoppers and had a sweet Barbecue. It was delicious. We also tried to watch the fireworks from our house, but to no avail. :( It was still super fun though.

Sunday, none of our investigators came to church, Again! I don't know what is up with them. They're missing out. Sunday evening we went with a member and gave out free bread to the Mexican Migrant workers we visited, it was a lot of fun and we're going to be going back this Saturday to visit with them!

I'm happy that last Sunday was my last Fast Sunday as a missionary. Honestly, Fast Sunday's as a missionary are not fun. You're hungry, but you still have to work hard and do all this stuff. No rest for the wicked. So I won't be missing that. :)

Monday, we had another District Meeting. Later we had a delicious Salmon dinner with a nice Chilean Family. Then our appointments canceled, so we stopped by a lot of people and talked with a ton of really cool people, that hopefully we'll be teaching soon.

Today we'll be going over to President's for a 4th of July Barbecue, then we're going to go fishing with the APs. I'm pretty pumped!!

I'd just like to share my appreciation for the blessed land of America. We're so blessed to live in a country where we are free. Especially Freedom of Religion. I've met a lot of people on my mission that didn't have that freedom in their country, or can't change their ways because their government would hunt them down if they did. It just goes to show how blessed our country is. 1 Nephi 13 is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon because it goes to show how the founding of our Country was so important to bring to pass the Gospel in our Dispensation. Doctrine and Covenants 109:54 reads "Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principles, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever." No matter who is governing our land or in whatever circumstance our countries in, this land will always be a blessed land. I know that that's true. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Independence Day!!

21 CLUB!!!

21 CLUB!!!

That's an inside joke with some of the missionaries. But it applies well to how much time I have left.

So in American Culture, a Barbecue is hamburgers, hot dogs, maybe some chicken and pork.

In Latin Culture, Barbecue means steak, ribs, maybe some chicken and pork.

I honestly would absolutely love either one. Obviously the first one's a little cheaper. But, do with that what you will.

Side Dishes for Barbecues?? The norm. Potato Salad, normal Salad, chips, Canada Dry (everyone here drinks Canada Dry).

It's good to hear everyone's keeping busy over there. This week has been super crazy packed:

Monday, we played lots of soccer. It was a lot of fun. We later had dinner with a sweet Colombian family whom we love.

Tuesday, we did service at Knight's Table. One of the volunteers there asked us why we were speaking Spanish (because Elder Babbel and I speak Spanish when we want to speak secretly) and we explained to him what we do, why we're out here, and about the church. He really wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon, so we brought him one in English and Urdu (because he's from Pakistan). He was super surprised we had one in Urdu, but he told us that his English is better than his Urdu, so he took the English one. It was super cool. Later on Tuesday we had a great dinner with an El Salvadorian family, and we helped with English Classes. A bunch of missionaries came over that night, because we had Zone Conference the next day...my last Zone Conference.

So to start off Zone Conference, a bunch of the missionaries got together early in the morning and played some Basketball, it was really fun. The Conference was really great; I got to play the piano, lead the missionaries in a few musical numbers, act in a skit that the APs put on, and give my dying testimony. It was pretty funny. During my testimony, I said that I can't lie and that I'm super pumped to go home. Everyone kind of chuckled and I was like "I mean, 28 days and counting." It was silent for a split second and then everyone started laughing pretty hard. I guess no one was expecting me to say that. Of a truth, I am really excited to go home, but I'm also very excited to finish the work here that I have to do. Later that day we had a great dinner with the Chatters, one of our favorite families.

Thursday we taught some people and did a lot of service at the Temple and at Knight's Table. It was one of our investigator's Birthdays that night, so I told her I'd make her a cake. The cake was quite awful, but I made it and it's the thought that counts right?? Well, we celebrated with her and then talked with her a lot about temples. She loves the church and will most likely get baptized. Just not while I'm here. :'(

Friday was a day of little remembrance.

Saturday we helped out with English Classes. Most of Saturday was spent doing MCCs. Which is Elder Babbel and I sitting in front of computers, calling missionaries, and punching in numbers for like 6 hours. It was great!! :|

Sunday, we had a Multi-Stake Spanish Conference. It was super cool. Hispanics from all across Ontario came. I got to see a lot of people there that I haven't seen in...two years! It was crazy. I played the organ for it, and accompanied the choir. There were a few little blips, but all turned out great. I was so exhausted during the meeting, that I fell asleep for the last speaker and when everyone said Amen, it woke me up and I instantly jumped on the Organ to play the last song. The Conductor looked at me and was like "Elder Flint, are you alright??" and I was like "Oh yeah! Let's do this song!" So we rocked it and all turned out great.

Later on Sunday, there was a Latin Festival going on in Downtown Brampton, so us, Bishop, a senior missionary couple, and a couple of members all went Downtown and passed out Fliers for our English Class. It was going well for about an hour, and then the Security there told us we weren't allowed to pass out fliers there. So we stopped. Elder Babbel and I stayed there and talked with some people about the Gospel. We met a bunch of sweet people that us and other missionaries will hopefully teach this week. It was super cool, so as we were walking to our car, we stopped and talked with this couple with a newborn and they were super nice and sweet. While we were talking with them, three young adults passed us by. The couple was already religious, so we gave them a couple of cards and started walking to our car again. The three adults that passed us were walking the same direction, in front of us, but super slow. They were basically lingering. So I asked them how they were doing and they all turned around and were like "We were hoping you would talk to us." At first we were super skeptical, thinking they were Jehovah's Witness and they just wanted to bash with us. But they ended up being just very spiritual and they said they loved to pray for people. They had seen us talking to people at the Latin Fest, so they followed us because they wanted to know what we did. They asked us a bunch of questions about our church and they were super willing to learn. One, maybe two, were Hispanic, so hopefully we'll be able to meet up with them this week. They were super awesome!!

This week, I've been reading about the Atonement, Trial, and Death of Jesus Christ in the book Jesus the Christ. It has amazed me how patient and humble Jesus was throughout all that. He had such patience and such charity for everyone. This last week, we had this guy try to bash with us really hard and let me tell you, it's SUPER hard to have patience and love for someone when they're yelling at you and telling you that you're wrong. So I'm just super amazed and inspired by how loving and patient Jesus was. I'm trying to be like Him each and every day. I hope you all have a great week and enjoy life. Chao!!

ONE MONTH LEFT!!! Time to get Sushi!!!

ONE MONTH LEFT!!! Time to get Sushi!!!

Don't worry Mom. I'll get Dad to sing with us. I'll guilt trip him into it somehow.

One possible idea for my Homecoming is a Barbecue. Just an idea. Barbecues are dericious. 

I'm down for Sandwiches though. Maybe have a little more variety than just Chicken Salad Sandwiches, because some people don't fancy them too much...like me. :)

You should also tell everyone that there's going to be a Cheesecake Competition, so everyone should bring their best Cheesecake. AND I'LL BE THE JUDGE!!!! YAHOO!!! CHEESECAKE!!!!

Sounds like things are kickin' over there. It all sounds super fun. The Virtual Reality place sounds intense. Just don't let it confuse you with the Actual Reality. 8|

So this week was pretty average. Not too many exciting things. But I'll try to pick the best thing from each day.

Monday, we had dinner with the Acosta family. They a big El Salvadorian family with five kids from like 9-17. They're always super fun and we had salmon and shrimp and 'twas delicious.

Tuesday, we met with Romeo and Carla. We were going to have a very Spiritual Lesson, but Romeo started voicing some deep questions and concerns about the temple (specifically Garments). We did well at explaining it, but it was funny because his wife started rebuking him and saying "Why is is such a big deal?? Almost every church has some sort of Religious Apparel!! Look at where we live!! Everyone wears a Turban or a Hijab!! I don't know why you're freaking out about it!!." It was pretty funny. We gave them the link to the church's video they made about Garments. So hopefully all went well.

Wednesday we had a super fun time doing service at the Food Bank at Knight's Table. There was a lot of new people there we met that day. So it was pretty great. The workers there LOVE us. One time, Elder Babbel jokingly said that he was ugly and they thought he was serious and were like "No Way!!" So now, one of the workers there always calls us "Hubba Hubbas!" It's pretty funny.

Thursday we helped one of our Investigators move to Mississauga. She was super grateful for the help and we were able to get the Mississauga Spanish Elders to help her move into her house down there. So everything worked out super well. And she invited us to a Barbecue in a few weeks. Success!!

Friday we had Missionary Coordination and our Ward Mission Leader was hungry, so he took us out to eat. We went to his place called Popeyes. I don't know if it's in the States, but it a Louisiana Based Fried Chicken Fast Food Restaurant, so it probably is. It's huge here in Ontario. 'Twas delicious. Later that night we had a Choir Practice for the Spanish Conference that is coming up. Then it rained super hard. It was awesome.

Saturday was a sweet day because we at first had no lesson planned and no dinner with any family, and then we had it all. We gave Daniel (I think I mentioned him last week) a Book of Mormon and read some with him and talked about it. He's SUPER willing to read and learn more. His parents are members, his daughter's a member, and his girlfriend is a dry member. The only reason she's not baptized is because he still needs to get divorced from his previous wife. The missionaries have never really taught or focused on him before, so we're going to do that and convert him, so him and his wife can get baptized. We're super pumped.

Later on Saturday, we were reminded that one of the Young Men in the Ward was having his Mission Farewell and they had invited us to the Barbecue. So we got to stop by there and we had a good time.

After that we met with Hillary and Victor (the Colombians that came to church last Sunday) and she was on fire with the Spirit. She loved church and was going off on everything that she had learned from us and from Victor and from the Joseph Smith Movie (which she had watched) and how the Piano Guys was one of her favorite bands for like five years and she didn't know they were Mormons until a week or so ago. It was super awesome. So we invited her to get baptized and she said she'll work towards it. Then we met with Kevin, who is another young Colombian that basically tried to tell us the Book of Mormon was written by Joseph Smith. So that was fun. :| 

Sunday, everyone that said they were coming to church didn't come. So that was a bummer. But we got food during Elder's Quorum, because of Father's Day. And I accompanied the Primary for their Father's Day Song in Sacrament Meeting. It was super fun. The rest of Sunday was Lunch, Dinner, and stopping by Investigators.

Also, Elder Babbel and I made a board of all of the missionaries in our Zone and what house they are in. I'll send  you the pictures. The "M" on their forwards stands for Muggle. And the Head Boy and Head Girl of each house are farthest to the left. We got pretty into it yesterday. The things you do as Zone Leaders. 

It's funny how when people try to convince you of how the Book of Mormon or how our church isn't true, it only strengthens my testimony of those things. And of God. So with Kevin, he basically pulled out a bunch of scriptures that Nephi wrote and said "These are all exact quotes from the New Testament, which happened way after Nephi's time, so someone had to have the New Testament when they wrote this book. We basically told him that that's true; either the Book of Mormon was written Joseph Smith who had the New Testament, or it was translated by the power of God. One or the other. Elder Babbel shared with Kevin his testimony and how awesome it is that God is a True God and He is One God and how awesome it is that what he revealed to Prophets in the Bible, he also revealed to prophets in the Book of Mormon. We told him to pray about the Book of Mormon and ask God if it really is from him. Hopefully he does.

Well, I hope you all have a great week and I'll see you in a month. Enjoy the Pictures!!

Time is a Ticking

Time is a Ticking

We haven't done any pranks lately, I believe. Just had a lot of fun. We took some really funny pictures last night. I'll send them. Yeah, it's crazy how little time I have.

Sounds like things are kickin' over there. I've never heard of that method before (the Jon Schmidt method). It sounds sweet. It'll be interesting to see how it changes things.

Congrats Sophie, on passing your test. And good work, Micah, with your Lacrosse Team. I'm glad you had fun on Brandon's Birthday and your Anniversary. Those are some sweet plans too. I'm going to try my hardest to attend the temple regularly when I get back. It shouldn't be too hard. I'll have two within walking distance. I'm excited for everything!! And yeah, I think it's a great idea if I can get with a School Counselor ASAP, when I get back.

Glorious in Spanish would be sweet too. I'll send you the lyrics. The accompaniment I have is good, but super confusing. If you could find one (it's the same in English), it'd probably be better. Especially if you can find one where you sing parts. That would be SUPER sweet. Because mine's just a solo.

This week has been a pretty crazy one.

Monday, we played some sports.

Tuesday was transfers. The Brampton Zone Leaders are in charge of supervising transfers. So we we're pretty busy all day. I got to see lots of my friends in the mission and said goodbye to a lot of them. :( I also said goodbye to Abigail. It's weird to think that that was probably the last time I'll see her in the mission. The next time I'll see her will be in Utah...in 5 weeks!! Craziness. The rest of the day was good. We had a choir practice for a number I accompanied last Sunday. And yeah.

Wednesday we had District Meeting. 'Twas good. Then we did some service, ate some dinner, and taught some people. Pretty exciting stuff, eh?

Thursday we had a big Leadership Meeting, for the majority of the day. It was a lot of fun and very spiritual. It was also very hot. I was exhausted the rest of the day and almost fell asleep at our dinner appointment with a member couple. Luckily the Spirit prevailed.

Friday, another District Meeting. It was a lot of fun. We then had dinner with a sweet member family and then we taught some lessons. You can tell my life is very exciting right now by how detailed my days are. :)

Saturday, we had a bunch of Meetings, then we did service for one of our part-member families. The father then invited us back over for a Barbecue that night, which was SUPER good. He's a professional chef, so obviously 'twas delicious. It was a really good time and it was so spiritual at the end. After the prayer, he was crying and he told us that something's going to change in the families' life, because we're there. Something good.

Sunday we had a great Sabbath Day. I played the Organ and accompanied a musical number (actually, that Spanish Quartet) and it went Super well. One of our investigators who we haven't met with in a while came, with her less-active boyfriend and they Loved it. Hopefully they'll start coming out regularly and we can baptize her. They're both Colombian. :)
Later on Sunday we had an awesome dinner and a sweet Family Home Evening with Romeo and Carla, at our Bishop's House. It was super sweet and the message at the end was super spiritual. We talked about Eternal Families and Bishop and his wife and his Mom all testified on Eternal Families. Very spiritual. They're so getting baptized. So all in all, it was a pretty good week. SUPER HOT!! I've been very tired lately because of how hot it is. I'm not going to miss the humid heat here in Canada, that's for sure.

One thing we talked about in the Leadership Meeting last Thursday was Building Our Foundation. Sister Shields (President's Wife) gave us a few minutes to find scriptures on building our foundations. We had started out the meeting singing "How Firm A Foundation," so I flipped to that Hymn and checked out the Scripture References. Isaiah 41:10 reads "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." That scripture hit me really hard. Not only is it SO true. It's just so cool how the Hymn book connects with the Scriptures. I've sang that line like a hundred times. But I never knew that it was from a verse in Isaiah. I've been studying the Hymn book a lot, and it has grown my testimony of not only how beautiful the Hymns are, but how beautiful and inspired the Scriptures are too. I know that that's true and I hope you all take time to enjoy them both. I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

My Week of Pranks

My Week of Pranks

That's SO funny about their wisdom teeth!!! I wish I could have been there. No more drugs for those two, they obviously can't handle them. Me on the other hand...

Sounds like everyone is keeping pretty busy and having fun. That's great. Here too.

This week has been a week of less miracles and more pranks. But it has still been a great week.

Monday we played ping pong and sports with some other missionaries.

Tuesday, we had interviews with President Shields. I only have two more interviews now. They went well, it was funny because he basically told us everyone who was getting transferred in our zone. Elder Babbel and I are staying, no surprise. Later on Tuesday, I had fun teaching English Classes.

Wednesday, we had a fun District Meeting where we bought and brought Krispy Kreme Donuts. (As far as I know) There are only three Krispy Kremes in Ontario. Two are in Downtown Toronto. And one is really close to our house, in Mississauga. It was Sweet!! Later on Wednesday we did some service.
Thursday we did a ton of service. We helped this sweet Italian/Peruvian Investigator Family move into another house, we planted flowers on Temple Grounds, and we worked in a Food Bank. We were pretty tired at the end of the day.

Prank 1. Thursday night, we get home to find these two notes on our door. So we come into the house PUMPED!!!! Ready to destroy. We follow the instructions, I grab my spray bottle (that I always carry on me), and we first head upstairs. There was a mattress barricade upstairs which we busted through, but nobody was behind it, so we grabbed the mattress and headed to the basement (because we heard the Elder laughing maniacally down there). Right when we get down there everything is dark (except a strobe light flashing) and we hear this HUGE BANG. Then we start getting pelted with water balloons. Elder Babbel had the mattress, so we used it as a shield and charged them. We stole their water balloons and started pelting them with them, then Elder Babbel wrestled Elder Taylor, and put him in a hold while I grabbed my spray bottle, uncapped it, and poured it all over Elder Taylor's face. Our retaliation was a success. Later, while we were cleaning up, Elder Babbel and I found two water balloons that hadn't popped, so we pocketed them, and after we had all changed into dry clothes we threw them at the APs (the other Elders). I drenched Elder Shu and Elder Babbel completely missed Elder Taylor. It was mostly successful. Afterwards, Elder Babbel and I went downstairs to continue cleaning up, and the APs come downstairs smirking so we ask "What??" And Elder Taylor says "The balloon you threw at me never popped." Then he took out the balloon and drenched Elder Babbel with it. Then we got Elder Taylor to lose a couple of bets, so we got to spank him (after my Birthday Spankings, Spanking has been a big thing here in our place). I ended up breaking a Ping-Pong paddle over Elder Taylor's Behind. It was a success.

Friday Morning we met with Romeo and Carla, then they invited us back over for lunch. So we went to District Meeting, then we went back for lunch. It was awesome.

Prank 2. Friday night, the APs got home around 12:30 AM (because they were out late helping President Shields with Transfers). And I hear them come in and tell Elder Babbel that our house and our car got Toilet Papered and EGGED!! I was super tired and too lazy to get up and check. But the next morning, I saw the damage. It was pretty bad. I honestly have NO respect for ANYONE that Eggs someone's house. It is disgusting, disrespectful, destructive, immature, and all around mean. We spent a good portion of Saturday Pressure Washing the Egg off of our Driveway and House. We did find out who it was, and things happened. All in all, it was very disappointing. But fun!! :)

Saturday, I taught English Class again. Then I played the piano for about an hour for a Relief Society Activity (it was worth it because we got fed...and service :).

Sunday, none of our Investigators came to church :(. But, I got to play the Organ for Sacrament, which was fun.

 

And now, the Prank of all pranks. Last night, Elder Babbel and I decided to get back for the Water Balloon incident. So on Transfer Sundays the APs are out really late, because they call everyone to tell them where they are going, and then they do some things with President. The tradition is, is that when the APs come home, the Zone Leaders are hiding from them, and the APs have to find them. So we got them SUPER pumped to come and find us, but this is what actually happened: We bought about 800 yards of white yarn and we basically made a HUGE spider web scene in our basement. We then filled up three HUGE water balloons and put one on the ground in the Spider Web and one IN the Spider Web and one in our fort (which was on the other side of the basement behind the Web). We killed the breaker in the house (to turn off all the lights) and put on the strobe light. They come in around 11:30 PM ready to find us. Eventually they come downstairs and are SUPER confused. Especially when we start throwing mini frozen pickles at them, from on the other side of the Spider Web. They were EXTREMELY confused at that point!! It was so funny. So they run upstairs, grab a huge knife and start hacking at the web to get to us. Somehow, they did not see the HUGE water balloon entangled in the web. Watching and listening to that balloon fall and drench them with water was one of the greatest experiences of my life. At that point, they were freaking out. So I threw the other HUGE water balloon at them and drenched them some more. Eventually, they got through the web, so we started hitting them with pillows and wrestling them and of course, we continued throwing pickles at them (we had about 100 mini frozen pickles). Elder Babbel once again got Elder Taylor in a hold, so I got my water bottle and dumped all the water on his head...again. I then grabbed a pickle and tried to stuff it in Elder Taylor's mouth. I then turned the breaker back on and we cleaned up the wreckage. It was probably the best prank/attack in the history of ever. So that was the highlight of my week.

This email is pretty long, so I'll share a short thought. And that really is just to go out and Live Life!!! Life is too short to let pass you by. Go out and make some memories. I promise you that you'll never regret it. Unless it's something illegal and you get thrown into jail (like egging people :). I love you all and hope you have an incredible week!!