Howdy,
Everything sounds very fun back home. I hope Idaho is fun, if you all end up going there. And Dad's finally about to get over that hill. Woowoo!! The Sunday Family Dinner sounds AWESOME. Maybe I'll talk to my president and see if I can make it. Jajaja. And I had no idea that the Lockhart Family moved TO California?? I'm so out of the loop, and out of the country. Was up Micah. I am having a good time right now.
This week was pretty chill. My companion and I are having pretty bad luck right now finding people to teach that will actually follow up on their appointments. We've been having a lot of people cancel on us, but we Keep Pressing On!! Elder Johnson and I made deep-fried Oreos the other day which was pretty fun. Next time we're going to try with Double Stuff though. Single Stuff is just never enough... Yep. Obviously, I don't have to much to write so I'm just going to tell you all some interesting facts about living in Canada:
All the stereotypes of Canada are definitely true. Everyone does say "Eh." And I've met a man who sounds EXACTLY like the two moose off of Brother Bear. That was really funny.
Their milk comes in BAGS?!?!?! You buy one big bag with three smaller bags, and then you cut off the corner and stick a smaller bag in a pitcher. It's super weird.
I'm not sure I had ever seen their money before, Loonies and Toonies are dollar (Loonie) and two-dollar (Toonie) coins. And then they have bills starting at five dollars.
EVERYONE calls the bathroom a washroom.
The stoplight circles get bigger when going from green to red.
In Toronto, Baseball is huge. And when I say Baseball, I mean the Toronto Blue Jays.
No one pays attention to Canada Politics, but everyone knows the Donald Trump is about to become the next American President.
At least in Spanish work here, if you don't like hot sauce on EVERYTHING. No one likes you. :)
That does remind me of a funny story:
So last Saturday, we went over to a members house to talk with them and share a message. I wasn't expecting dinner, but when we got there, dinner was brought out to us. And on the plate before me, was a hot dog and a hamburger SMOTHERED IN KETCHUP!!!!!! Now, I don't know if you all remember, but I DON'T LIKE KETCHUP!!! So I buckled down and ate the whole meal. It was rough, I may have cried, but I did it. End of story.
Another struggle I've been having this week, is something that I absolutely despise. I've been dwelling on the past and thinking a little too much about the future. I've found that when we do that, we, for obvious purposes, tend to forgot to live in the present. This concept is something that EVERYONE is guilty of, and I can't stand it, because then life passes us by and we realize that we spent all of our past focusing on the future. Something that I've learned this last week and have been trying to adapt it to my life is LIVE IN THE MOMENT!!!!! You Can't Change the Past and If You Live NOW, the Future Will Probably Be A Lot Better. Of course, don't make choices that will negatively affect the future, but make sure you can look back with NO REGRETS. That's how life is meant to be lived. So there's my motivational speech for the week. Love you all.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
GOOD MORNING FROM CANADA!!!!!!!!!!
GOOD MORNING FROM CANADA!!!!!!!!!!
This week has probably been the shortest and easiest of my life!!! No, I kid, but things have definitely gotten better here. Sorry about last week, it was really rough for me the first week. But now, I'm high flying. I decided that it takes about a week to adapt to any different atmosphere, then, as long as you can find joy in different things, you'll be alright (hopefully). So I'm doing great. So, we are pretty sparse with work, but things are definitely picking up. We have two investigators that we have taught, but NEITHER OF THEM CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!!! So that was pretty upsetting. But in the words of the Beatles, "DON'T LET ME DOOOOOOWWWWWNNN!!!!" Love that song.
So my mission is actually very different from most. We have started this new way of work (which actually started the DAY I got there), so it's new for everybody here. The idea is that we not only want to put the emphasis on getting our investigators into the waters of baptism, but we're putting a HUGE emphasis on helping New Converts and Inactive or Active members progressing to their next covenant (ex. Priesthood, Endowments, Marriage, Family History, Temple Work), which I LOVE!!! I'M OBSESSED WITH TEMPLES!!! But I'll talk about that later. One of our statements is that Reactivation is JUST as important as Baptism. So it's so awesome.
This week was very much less stressful. Actually, right after I emailed you all last Monday, my Companion and I went to Downtown Toronto. It reminded me of how much I LOVE the CITY!!!! We walked by the CN Tower, and the Blue Jays Stadium, and tons of tall buildings. And the people are all so cold. I LOVE IT!!!! I definitely need to send you all some pictures, forgot today. Sorry. Other than that, this week, I went on a Companion Exchange with another companionship which was a lot of fun, we schwarmed again. And I got to do a lot of English work. yipee...Spanish is better. :)
I have eaten some good food lately. Last Tuesday we went to a member’s house for dinner, and she served us a Peruvian dish called Lomos Saltados. It is steak strips fried with potatoes, onions, and tomatoes, served with rice. It's probably the best thing I've had in months. Also yesterday, the Portuguese Elders had an Octopus Pasta dish and I ate some of that. The Octopus was delicious, the Pasta was average. Other than that, we've gone to a Portuguese Bakery a few times and gotten Chocolate Salami and some other things. I definitely need to get out more and try out some other dishes because there's SO MUCH different stuff here.
I did bring almost all my language books. I'm learning Portuguese a little and brushing up on my Arabic (which is the one book I didn't bring). I'll probably come home knowing English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Farsi, Japanese, Korean, Punjabi, and Hindi. Give or take a few. Funny story, I was reading today that the original Gold Plates were a mix of Egyptian, Chaldean, Assyrian, and Arabic. So if I can get those four down, I’m set for life.
The Harp concert sounds incredible!!! Looks like Sophie slipped right in to the famous Flint family. Before, you know it Soph, people are going to start wanting your autograph. Has it happened to me before??...Yes it has. Get better Logan, you also can't afford to get sick, because the public is waiting for YOU. And you can't keep them waiting. Otherwise they'll be an angry mob that starts burning down the city. Has it happened to me before??... Okay, maybe not that one. And good work Micah, with Football. Make sure those Payson Lions know their place. And that's underneath Salem Hills. WAY underneath. Hopefully everybody is getting better at home.
Like I said before in my email, I have a problem. And that problem is my obsession with temples. It's bad, but in a good way. :) The rule about our area is that we have temple days after every transfer I believe, but you can only go if you have a member going with you, for the first time, with their own names. So if I want to go to the temple, I have to help someone else get to the temple. That is very good motivation for me. Because I start to have withdrawals if I don't go to the temple. Not only that though, I see these people who haven't experienced the awesome things I've experienced in these Houses of the Lord and it makes me really sad. They don't understand the joy that they could have and that they haven't filled their full potential. I try not to think about it too much, but one of the main things I have to look forward to in life is Marriage, and seeing these people that have the ability and opportunity to be married and do not seize that opportunity makes me a little bit upset, because THEY DON'T REALIZE THE OPPORTUNITY THEY HAVE!!!! So DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED!!! The temples are the best places on Earth and NOTHING else on Earth is closer to Heaven than the temples. That's the truth. So don't wait, don't procrastinate, GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!! Right now. Get in the car. GO! It's SO WORTH IT!!!
Love you all.
This week has probably been the shortest and easiest of my life!!! No, I kid, but things have definitely gotten better here. Sorry about last week, it was really rough for me the first week. But now, I'm high flying. I decided that it takes about a week to adapt to any different atmosphere, then, as long as you can find joy in different things, you'll be alright (hopefully). So I'm doing great. So, we are pretty sparse with work, but things are definitely picking up. We have two investigators that we have taught, but NEITHER OF THEM CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!!! So that was pretty upsetting. But in the words of the Beatles, "DON'T LET ME DOOOOOOWWWWWNNN!!!!" Love that song.
So my mission is actually very different from most. We have started this new way of work (which actually started the DAY I got there), so it's new for everybody here. The idea is that we not only want to put the emphasis on getting our investigators into the waters of baptism, but we're putting a HUGE emphasis on helping New Converts and Inactive or Active members progressing to their next covenant (ex. Priesthood, Endowments, Marriage, Family History, Temple Work), which I LOVE!!! I'M OBSESSED WITH TEMPLES!!! But I'll talk about that later. One of our statements is that Reactivation is JUST as important as Baptism. So it's so awesome.
This week was very much less stressful. Actually, right after I emailed you all last Monday, my Companion and I went to Downtown Toronto. It reminded me of how much I LOVE the CITY!!!! We walked by the CN Tower, and the Blue Jays Stadium, and tons of tall buildings. And the people are all so cold. I LOVE IT!!!! I definitely need to send you all some pictures, forgot today. Sorry. Other than that, this week, I went on a Companion Exchange with another companionship which was a lot of fun, we schwarmed again. And I got to do a lot of English work. yipee...Spanish is better. :)
I have eaten some good food lately. Last Tuesday we went to a member’s house for dinner, and she served us a Peruvian dish called Lomos Saltados. It is steak strips fried with potatoes, onions, and tomatoes, served with rice. It's probably the best thing I've had in months. Also yesterday, the Portuguese Elders had an Octopus Pasta dish and I ate some of that. The Octopus was delicious, the Pasta was average. Other than that, we've gone to a Portuguese Bakery a few times and gotten Chocolate Salami and some other things. I definitely need to get out more and try out some other dishes because there's SO MUCH different stuff here.
I did bring almost all my language books. I'm learning Portuguese a little and brushing up on my Arabic (which is the one book I didn't bring). I'll probably come home knowing English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Farsi, Japanese, Korean, Punjabi, and Hindi. Give or take a few. Funny story, I was reading today that the original Gold Plates were a mix of Egyptian, Chaldean, Assyrian, and Arabic. So if I can get those four down, I’m set for life.
The Harp concert sounds incredible!!! Looks like Sophie slipped right in to the famous Flint family. Before, you know it Soph, people are going to start wanting your autograph. Has it happened to me before??...Yes it has. Get better Logan, you also can't afford to get sick, because the public is waiting for YOU. And you can't keep them waiting. Otherwise they'll be an angry mob that starts burning down the city. Has it happened to me before??... Okay, maybe not that one. And good work Micah, with Football. Make sure those Payson Lions know their place. And that's underneath Salem Hills. WAY underneath. Hopefully everybody is getting better at home.
Like I said before in my email, I have a problem. And that problem is my obsession with temples. It's bad, but in a good way. :) The rule about our area is that we have temple days after every transfer I believe, but you can only go if you have a member going with you, for the first time, with their own names. So if I want to go to the temple, I have to help someone else get to the temple. That is very good motivation for me. Because I start to have withdrawals if I don't go to the temple. Not only that though, I see these people who haven't experienced the awesome things I've experienced in these Houses of the Lord and it makes me really sad. They don't understand the joy that they could have and that they haven't filled their full potential. I try not to think about it too much, but one of the main things I have to look forward to in life is Marriage, and seeing these people that have the ability and opportunity to be married and do not seize that opportunity makes me a little bit upset, because THEY DON'T REALIZE THE OPPORTUNITY THEY HAVE!!!! So DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED!!! The temples are the best places on Earth and NOTHING else on Earth is closer to Heaven than the temples. That's the truth. So don't wait, don't procrastinate, GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!! Right now. Get in the car. GO! It's SO WORTH IT!!!
Love you all.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Hello from Toronto!!!!!!
Hello from Toronto!!!!!!
This week has probably been the craziest in my life, and most definitely the hardest. So after we landed in Toronto, we met our Mission President, who seems like an awesome guy, and we went to the mission home for dinner. Afterwards, the Elders in my travel group went to a hotel and stayed the night there. The next day, we came to the church building right next to the temple, where we met our new companions. My new companion is Elder Johnson. He's from Alberta, he's 20 and he's super on top of things. He's very structured which is great because he's also our District leader. After we got our new companions, we were assigned to our areas and sent out. My new area is the Christie North area, I believe it's the closest area to the center of Toronto so we are literally right in the city. Our apartment is on the 19th floor so our view of the city is INCREDIBLE!!!!!! Definitely one of my favorite things about living here. So when we first got to our apartment, it was pretty much trashed. :| We had reopened this area so no missionaries had been living there for about six weeks. The last missionaries that were living there didn't bother to clean it up before they left and other missionaries in the building had raided it and taken what they wanted. We spent about three hours cleaning the room in the burning humid heat. So that was a rough welcome. :( Things have definitely been better since then. Since we opened the area, we don't have a lot of investigators to work off of. But we're slowly making progress.
To answer all your questions, Mom. The weirdest food I've eaten is Shwarma. Last Tuesday we Shwarmed for the first time, at a restaurant called Alvions. It was pretty good. Not to different, though. We have not eaten at any members' houses yet, be we have some appointments set up for this week. We've eaten out once (Shwarming). For the most part we eat at the apartment. PB&J Sandwiches and Life cereal for days!!! I've cooked a little bit, but I don't have to much time or money to cook, which makes me very sad sometimes. Only my companion and I live in our apartment, there are two other companionships living in our building though, so sometimes we party hard. Ha! Not really. We have done some house to house tracting which I really enjoyed minus the fact that everyone we talked to was Italian and didn't want to speak to us. :) We have had about zero referrals. We do not do the Facebook thing here. :) We do have a cellphone, but my companion carries it on him, because he uses it a lot, and I hate technology. Except emailing and Skype of course. We do do our own shopping, which everything in Canada is super expensive so that's fun. So far, I haven't tried Poutine yet, or Panimo Bars, or even Maple Syrup, but that is plentiful here, so we'll see.
Honestly, everything people told me about Toronto was very true and very false. It is a HUGE melting pot and there's lots of people here that don't speak English; but there's really no French speakers here, just a TON of Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Italian, African, African-American, and Eastern European people here. Oh, and some white and Hispanic people. We take buses and the subway everywhere which I very much enjoy. Every says it's very clean here, which isn't all that true. Just like any city, there's always people smoking and cars honking and what not. But there's not really any homeless people here and the noise does die down at night, so that's good. Honestly though, it's a beautiful city full of different people and adventure.
Like I said before, this week was probably the hardest week of my entire life. Homesickness and fatigue and hopelessness does not hit you hard at all at the MTC. If it does, the mission will eat you alive. It's been really hard for me getting into the swing of things, but through much prayer and fasting (honestly though), I'm slowly getting better. The mission honestly is all about focusing on others, because if you focus on yourself AT ALL, you start wanting to come home. Getting lost in the work is the only way to get through the mission. Last Sunday, was my first time at church in this ward, and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! Unlike all the people on the streets (who I've found to be very afraid of missionaries, don't know why, we're a friendly people), the people at church have so much happiness in their lives because of the Gospel. It's amazing how much the Gospel can change lives. Don't take it for granted. And remember that through God, you can do ALL THINGS!!!! Love you all and I miss you more than any of you can imagine. Bye!!!
This week has probably been the craziest in my life, and most definitely the hardest. So after we landed in Toronto, we met our Mission President, who seems like an awesome guy, and we went to the mission home for dinner. Afterwards, the Elders in my travel group went to a hotel and stayed the night there. The next day, we came to the church building right next to the temple, where we met our new companions. My new companion is Elder Johnson. He's from Alberta, he's 20 and he's super on top of things. He's very structured which is great because he's also our District leader. After we got our new companions, we were assigned to our areas and sent out. My new area is the Christie North area, I believe it's the closest area to the center of Toronto so we are literally right in the city. Our apartment is on the 19th floor so our view of the city is INCREDIBLE!!!!!! Definitely one of my favorite things about living here. So when we first got to our apartment, it was pretty much trashed. :| We had reopened this area so no missionaries had been living there for about six weeks. The last missionaries that were living there didn't bother to clean it up before they left and other missionaries in the building had raided it and taken what they wanted. We spent about three hours cleaning the room in the burning humid heat. So that was a rough welcome. :( Things have definitely been better since then. Since we opened the area, we don't have a lot of investigators to work off of. But we're slowly making progress.
To answer all your questions, Mom. The weirdest food I've eaten is Shwarma. Last Tuesday we Shwarmed for the first time, at a restaurant called Alvions. It was pretty good. Not to different, though. We have not eaten at any members' houses yet, be we have some appointments set up for this week. We've eaten out once (Shwarming). For the most part we eat at the apartment. PB&J Sandwiches and Life cereal for days!!! I've cooked a little bit, but I don't have to much time or money to cook, which makes me very sad sometimes. Only my companion and I live in our apartment, there are two other companionships living in our building though, so sometimes we party hard. Ha! Not really. We have done some house to house tracting which I really enjoyed minus the fact that everyone we talked to was Italian and didn't want to speak to us. :) We have had about zero referrals. We do not do the Facebook thing here. :) We do have a cellphone, but my companion carries it on him, because he uses it a lot, and I hate technology. Except emailing and Skype of course. We do do our own shopping, which everything in Canada is super expensive so that's fun. So far, I haven't tried Poutine yet, or Panimo Bars, or even Maple Syrup, but that is plentiful here, so we'll see.
Honestly, everything people told me about Toronto was very true and very false. It is a HUGE melting pot and there's lots of people here that don't speak English; but there's really no French speakers here, just a TON of Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Italian, African, African-American, and Eastern European people here. Oh, and some white and Hispanic people. We take buses and the subway everywhere which I very much enjoy. Every says it's very clean here, which isn't all that true. Just like any city, there's always people smoking and cars honking and what not. But there's not really any homeless people here and the noise does die down at night, so that's good. Honestly though, it's a beautiful city full of different people and adventure.
Like I said before, this week was probably the hardest week of my entire life. Homesickness and fatigue and hopelessness does not hit you hard at all at the MTC. If it does, the mission will eat you alive. It's been really hard for me getting into the swing of things, but through much prayer and fasting (honestly though), I'm slowly getting better. The mission honestly is all about focusing on others, because if you focus on yourself AT ALL, you start wanting to come home. Getting lost in the work is the only way to get through the mission. Last Sunday, was my first time at church in this ward, and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! Unlike all the people on the streets (who I've found to be very afraid of missionaries, don't know why, we're a friendly people), the people at church have so much happiness in their lives because of the Gospel. It's amazing how much the Gospel can change lives. Don't take it for granted. And remember that through God, you can do ALL THINGS!!!! Love you all and I miss you more than any of you can imagine. Bye!!!
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
TWO DAYS!!!!! I'm so pumped.
TWO DAYS!!!!! I'm so pumped. So expect the phone call between 12 PM and 1 PM on Monday (because I have a layover in Minneapolis). Joey also is coming over I believe. Maybe because I invited him to. :) I did receive a phone card from a friend, so hopefully that will all work out great. I'm glad Charlie's birthday was fun, and that college life is treating Skyler well. I do remember watching the Ring for family home evening about 9 or 8 years ago. So I know the feeling Sophie. WHAT!?!?!?!?! Girl, Logan, girl, Ginger, kissing??? Finally, Logan's started liking girls. I'm so happy now. You really are taking all my jobs Logan. ;) $30. Sweet sweet. I guess I'll be going out to sushi with my new companion once we land in Toronto. ;) I don't know if you guys will pay my tithing on that or I have to or what but I'm confused. I guess it all goes back to me anyway. :) Everything else sounds great at home. You guys almost make me homesick telling all these fun things. Almost. B) And Logan. Why didn't you complete your past mission?? But honest to goodness. Some nights the only way I can get to sleep is by singing that Abbey Road medley in my head, and I've forgotten like half the song. So if you guys want to send me at least the lyrics, that could be great. Because it really helps me out. If not I understand. I'll just go through my whole mission in the dark remembering only half the song. The Curse of the Missionary. But if you could. Happiness.
This last week was very chill. Elder Dallin H Oaks came last Sunday. So that was pretty fun. He talked a lot on missionary stuff. Yay. As you can tell I'm kind of tired right now. I've been studying a TON. Spanish, French, el Libro de Mormon, etc. Yesterday we had our in-field orientation. A lot of classes and a lot of boring (I promise I'm usually more optimistic than this :) It did get me a little more pumped for going out into the mission field. Other than that, I've been playing a lot of Basketball and Volleyball this week, I got a haircut today and it's pretty different, I had the hair-cutting lady take off all the curls on the sides, so it's very interesting. I like it enough though. I solved a Rubic's Cube for my first time, so I'm pretty much a pro at that. I packed up about 90% today. All ready to go.
I actually bought like 50 pass along cards and 2 paperback Book of Mormons for the plane ride, because I decided that I'm not going to waste any time once I get out of the MTC. I'm a little nervous because, before the mission, I was always a little scared of talking about the Gospel to any nonmembers (friends, family, random strangers). And I think that is the case for all lot of people, missionaries or non-missionaries. But the thing is, what are we trying to invite them to do?? We're honestly trying to bring perfect joy and happiness into there lives by bringing them unto Christ through baptism. WHY WOULDN'T WE WANT TO SHARE THAT?!?!?!? Billions of people in the world our living in darkness and depression, we NEED to bring the Light of Christ to those people. We can't waste any time to invite everyone and anyone into this Gospel. Our lives on Earth are shorter than we think. SO, my invitation to all of you who are reading this, is to Get Off Your High Horse!!! and Invite those friends to church. Give someone a book off Mormon. Or just talk to some lonely kid at school or church. You have NO IDEA the difference that it can make. In the wise words of a wonderful actor, "Just, DO IT!!!!! YES YOU CAN!!!!" So that's my motivational speech for the week. Love you all!!!
This last week was very chill. Elder Dallin H Oaks came last Sunday. So that was pretty fun. He talked a lot on missionary stuff. Yay. As you can tell I'm kind of tired right now. I've been studying a TON. Spanish, French, el Libro de Mormon, etc. Yesterday we had our in-field orientation. A lot of classes and a lot of boring (I promise I'm usually more optimistic than this :) It did get me a little more pumped for going out into the mission field. Other than that, I've been playing a lot of Basketball and Volleyball this week, I got a haircut today and it's pretty different, I had the hair-cutting lady take off all the curls on the sides, so it's very interesting. I like it enough though. I solved a Rubic's Cube for my first time, so I'm pretty much a pro at that. I packed up about 90% today. All ready to go.
I actually bought like 50 pass along cards and 2 paperback Book of Mormons for the plane ride, because I decided that I'm not going to waste any time once I get out of the MTC. I'm a little nervous because, before the mission, I was always a little scared of talking about the Gospel to any nonmembers (friends, family, random strangers). And I think that is the case for all lot of people, missionaries or non-missionaries. But the thing is, what are we trying to invite them to do?? We're honestly trying to bring perfect joy and happiness into there lives by bringing them unto Christ through baptism. WHY WOULDN'T WE WANT TO SHARE THAT?!?!?!? Billions of people in the world our living in darkness and depression, we NEED to bring the Light of Christ to those people. We can't waste any time to invite everyone and anyone into this Gospel. Our lives on Earth are shorter than we think. SO, my invitation to all of you who are reading this, is to Get Off Your High Horse!!! and Invite those friends to church. Give someone a book off Mormon. Or just talk to some lonely kid at school or church. You have NO IDEA the difference that it can make. In the wise words of a wonderful actor, "Just, DO IT!!!!! YES YOU CAN!!!!" So that's my motivational speech for the week. Love you all!!!
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