Monday, February 29, 2016

Dear All,
Things are going great for me. The weather has been Super Bipolar. One day, it's a spring day, the next day it's a huge snowstorm. It's so fun. Man. So much good food. It almost makes me want to come home. ;) But we have plenty enough food, thanks to Costco, and it helps that I can cook. Good work on the musical number. Sounds like it went fantastically. There's a guitar piece that Elder Cox had of "Be Still My Soul/I Feel My Savior's Love" and it's SO great. I'm trying to learn it, and since I fixed my guitarra, I can get some practice in. But man, the guitar is such a good missionary tool. There's this one family who has met with missionaries in the past. We have stopped by their place many times trying to teach them a lesson, but they're always super busy or not home. Finally, we met with the mother and when she found out that both Elder Cox and I play the guitar, she was super excited to have a come back and play the guitar with their family. And that's not the first time something like that's happened. Everyone love guitars, and babies, so many babies.
Keep living in the moment Mom. It's fantastic. Oh, and my camera is a Pentax Optio S40. It's number is 7313194 and it was assembled in the Philippines. That's all I got. And keep cooking Micah. It all looks Super Delicious. And it will come in handy SO MUCH!!! Last week, I made Tomato Soup from a can, a burnt Grilled Cheese Sandwich, a quesadilla, and spaghetti with grilled onions, ground beef, and 2 cheeses. That last one was quite good. Good work playing Logan, basketball and piano. And yes, I am still having to play piano a lot. Start practicing the organ, because you really get good at playing with your feet. The only problem is when you mess up in sacrament meeting on the organ, Everybody Knows. Supposedly I'm also playing AND singing Glorious for a baptismal service this Sunday. We'll see how that goes.
This week was pretty great. Lots of teaching. Lots of planning. Jose and Estefany, the two getting married real soon (April 1), bought her wedding dress and lots of decorations. I'm SUPER excited because that means that we'll be able to attend their wedding AND his baptism before the transfer ends. Also, I'm planning his Bachelor's Party. :} We're going back to the restaurant, Montana's, where he proposed to her and we're going to eat ribs to our hearts delight. That's probably the most exciting thing happening this transfer. 5 Baptisms?? A wedding?? A temple trip?? Nah, man. ALL YOU CAN EAT RIBS!!!! JUST KIDDING! Wow, you guys actually thought I was being serious?? Spiritual things are so much better than temporal things. Other than that, this week has been pretty chill. Ate some Poutine today (don't tell Dad), fixed my guitar, partied with Colombians. Life is real good.
But what I said about Spiritual Things being better than Temporal Things is SO TRUE!! One thing that we try to do as missionaries is called a Language of Faith. It's basically just making sure that you're talking all the time about missionary work, or about the church, or other Spiritual things, and let me tell you. It's SO GOOD!! Nothing makes me more spiritually happy than talking about our investigators, or talking about temples, or the Book of Mormon, or really deep Gospel Doctrine. :) Sure, it's nice to have a conversation about sports, or music, or how Donald Trump is going to be the next US President, but when you talk about Gospel related things, the Spirit is already there to accompany you. It really makes your days brighter and makes you more excited for the future...the Celestial Future. ;) Well, a huge storm just came in so I have to go run in it. I love you all and hope everything is well. Ciao.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

HELLOO
It is looking like a wonderful summer day, here in Toronto. What's the weather like there because winter is basically completely over here. No snow, green grass, lots of sun. Craziness. I am doing wonderful. We got transfer calls last night and................................................ I'M STAYING HERE!!!! WITH ELDER COX!!!! Which is SO good because we have a marriage, at least 2 baptisms, at least one temple trip, and a funeral to attend (Elder Cox's funeral, because he's just about dead!) Also, Abigail didn't get transferred, so I'll be seeing her in the next few weeks!! This transfer will be different though, because it's 7 weeks long (opposed to 6 weeks). But it will be filled with fun, and the spirit. The spirit of fun. :)
I'm SO jealous that you all get to go to the Provo City Temple, it looks SO BEAUTIFUL!! Luckily, on March 12 we get to go with our new convert to the Toronto Temple. So I'll get my temple fill for a while. Give my regards to the Bingham family. It's good we have the knowledge we do in this church, otherwise death would be very depressing. Good luck with Basketball Logan, and let me tell you that you probably wouldn't be able to play the Organ with that foot of yours. I played for Sacrament Meeting yesterday and I decided to go crazy on the feet. It’s super intense.
This week was pretty Fantastic. We've been planning weddings, baptisms, temple trips, so many things. We had an English Class Party last Saturday where we made homemade ice cream (my idea :). Yesterday, Jay, our new convert got the Aaronic Priesthood and we set his dad with a baptismal date. We've been teaching people Family History like crazy. Thank you Mom for all the Family History work you made me do. Really paid off. Other than that, this week was pretty chill. Lots of Lessons. Hot Chocolate. Poutine. Mmmmmm.....
I'd like to challenge everyone, if they haven't already, to open up accounts on familysearch.org and do your Family History work. This last week, it has amazed me how many people up here (even members) haven't done their Family History work. It's something SO easy and SO Helpful. Even just putting in yourself, your parents, and your grandparents, will help future generations SO MUCH. Many past generations have been lost because of people who haven't kept any records of their family, and millions of spirits are waiting in the spirit world for their work to be done in the temples. We are so blessed to have temples, and the opportunity to do the work for the dead in them. I for one absolutely love the temples, the beauty and the work in them, and there's no place on Earth I'd rather be than in the temples. So I challenge you all to do you Family History work and GO TO THE TEMPLES!!!! In this life, we wont' fully understand the importance of this work. It's so easy yet so very important. I love you all and hope life is treating you well. Ciao.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

pictures

                                                   Ammon and Florrencia








                                               Tracting the Hindi Temple
Hola Hola Hola!!!!
Canada does celebrate Valentine's Day, but missionaries don't. Just Kidding. Elder Cox and I wore matching pink ties to church last Sunday. Haw Awdorable. On President's Day, Canada had Family Day. So both countries were celebrating!! Sounds like you all had a fun long weekend. Also, forgive me but I forgot to bring the camera again. Next week. Micah, I've never heard of Was Soup before. Is it short for Wasabi Soup?? I'll have to try that sometime. I'm sorry that you're out in nowhere's land. Honestly, you'd probably hate it where I am. Lots of scary before and trash everywhere, and everyone smokes. SO MUCH!! LOGAN! You're doing it all wrong. You must charge at least 5 dollars a performance. They don't get the Flints for free. You're letting the business go down the drain!!! But get used to it brotha'. Really hard songs the day, or the hour before you have to play them is all part of the occupation. Good to hear about the crutches. Endure to the End, that's the last part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Have you read the missionary pamphlets?? If not, get them from the ward missionaries and have the whole family learn them and how to teach them. That's what we're doing here with the members, making them missionaries. And it will be a HUGE help for the mission.
This week was pretty good and busy. We taught a lot of lessons this week and went on a lot of adventures. Last Monday, we went to a Hindi Temple. It was HUGE and super pretty. We took a tour of it and can I just say, our church is SO true. Everything in there was super strange and confusing...and false (cough, cough). But the Temple was Magnificent. Also, yesterday, we went to a members house because the father wanted us to show the kids how to play the guitar for Family Home Evening. So we went and played a lot. One of the strings on my guitar broke off, but the father said he'll buy me a new string (because it was technically his son who broke it), but no big deal, it'll fix fine. And then today, I got a haircut and we got A TON OF SNOW!!!!! Finalmente!!! The temperatures have dropped SUPER low, -30s. It's fantastic. Other than that, we prepared a lot of people for baptism and some people for marriage. Nothing TOO big. ;) But, I'll admit, I'm terrified because transfers are next week and I really want to stay. Mainly I want to kill Elder Cox (send him home) go to Jose's & Estefany's Wedding (and baptism), and baptize a bunch more. That would make me SO happy.
On Valentine's Day, last Sunday, in Elders Quorum we talked about how we can use Adversity help us Progress Eternally. I got thinking that a lot of times in life, we look at adversity and get SUPER stressed out. Sometimes, we don't even have the power to do anything about it. One thing I've learned in life is that if you aren't able to change something... Don't worry about it. Too many times in life we freak out about things we have absolutely no control over. It's Pointless. Focus on the things you can change, and when you reach the point when all is done, step back and let God work out the rest. We do what we can, and he does the rest. If you listen to this counsel, I can promise you that your life will be SO MUCH easier. Stop worrying when worrying is useless. I Love You All and Hope that Life is Treating You Well. 

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

From Ammon's cousin Abigail's letter...

Our STLs aren't actually in the Brampton Zone, but are in the Weston Zone - AMMON'S ZONE. SO basically everyone knows him and he is a legend (Ammon if you are reading this - you are a legend. Everyone asks me if I play instruments as well as you. EVERYONE. And I have to tell them I don't and it is all very sad). It is kind of AWESOME having a cousin in the same mission. I just tell everyone I know Ammon and it is basically an IN with them. Cousin perks.

-Speaking of Ammon. There is this SUPER AWESOME guy named Jimmy who talks to all of the missionaries. He calls Sister Wilson and I a solid 3 times a week. He also told us that we are his favorite sister missionaries. We were pretty pumped about that. It is an HONOR. So Jimmy left us a message the other day and guess who he was with? AMMON.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

OH WHAT A WEEK!!!
Oh, the Superbowl. I heard that it's the Panthers and the Broncos. Broncos won right?? Of course they did. Mmmm...muddy buddies. I need to make those soon. I've been cooking like crazy lately. So much fun. You got the NICU Mom. YAY Babies!!! That's so exciting. Don't Drop 'Em, 'eh. Also, I forgot this week, but I'll get the camera information to you. Also, my leather bag has fallen apart...completely. I'll probably go shopping for a new one, but if you see any good deals on one, I am in need. Also question, someone told me that if you send a picture (to the company [Propet] of the slip on shoes I have) of holes in your shoes, they'll send you free new ones. Do you know if that's true?? Because there’s many holes in my shoes. :) Good Work Soph on 1st place!!! I wish that I could go ice skating up here. I miss it. I didn't know parents threw stuffed animals at their kids. That sounds fun. I hope everything is well back home. So funny story, there's a man named Jimmy in our mission. He’s autistic and all he does is go with missionaries to appointments, and memorize what missionaries are where, and go to leadership meetings (and basically all the missionary meetings) and he’s one of the funniest guys I've ever met. I was talking with him about Abigail and after we went to a lunch appointment with him, we were waiting at a bus stop with him and he started calling missionaries (which is what he always does in his free time). And I told him, "Hey Jimmy, you should call Sister Allred." So he did!!!! It went to their message machine and he left a message saying I was there. I was laughing the whole time and at one point I was like "Hey Cousin! Love Ya!" Abigail later mentioned that experience in her weekly letter, and talked about how she went on exchanges with a Sister in my Zone. Supposedly they talked about me a lot. Supposedly I'm a legend here in the Canada Toronto Mission, or so Abigail says. Who knows. I just do what I can. But I'm so pumped to see her.
So this week was absolutely fantastic!! Lots of miracles. The highlight of the week, and possibly my life, was when we went to dinner with our investigator, Jose, and his fiance and her father. We found out last week that his divorce will be official on February 12th (with his past wife). They were planning a wedding in July, but his fiance said that if he gets on it, they'll think about it sooner. So we were planning on pulling him aside during this dinner and helping him plan his proposal. So we went to this restaurant called Montanas. And Elder Cox, the father, and I all ordered all you can eat ribs. SO MANY RIBS!!! We ate 48 combined, and of that I ate 18. At one point during the dinner, Jose Manuel gets up goes over to his finace, and gets on one knee and proposes to her... We were like WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!? IT WAS SO CRAZY AWESOME!!!! They later got a big cookie w/ice cream on the house, and Elder Cox and I got a chocolate cake, not on the house :( But later they told us that they want us to be at the wedding (because they really like us :) and they know that in a couple of weeks one of us might get transferred. So, they are really trying to get going on this wedding. So I'm PUMPED!!!! It was one of the greatest moments in my life. Hands down. Then a week after their wedding...Baptism. He's so ready and we're SO Excited!!!! We're hopefully going over to their house tonight to talk more about it.
One thing that I learned from that experience and I am always trying to work on in my life, is taking the opportunity NOW. Jose decided to take charge and do something, and in result of that he's going to have a complete family very soon, get baptized very soon, and in a year, be able to be sealed to his family for time and all eternity. Look at how many blessings come from one action!!!!! I can promise you that you’re going to always have doubts in life, or reasons why you can justify procrastinating or slacking off, but I tell you: If you have a strong, righteous desire to do something, DO IT NOW!!!! NO REGRETS!!! You're probably never going to get that opportunity again. So Seize the Day. ;) I love you all and hope that everything back home is wonderful and white, because it's not here. Ciao!!!

Monday, February 1, 2016


Yeah Missionary Work!!!!

Wassup Family?!?! It's good to hear that you are all doing decently well. Mother, I will get that information about the camera to you as soon as possible and no, we don’t have much snow up here. We get a small storm here and there, but basically it's springtime up here now. Today especially was SUPER warm. And I have not seen Abigail yet, but supposedly a bunch of other people in my Zone have, so I'm super pumped. Florrencia is great. She's sitting right here next to me. Right now. Que bonito. My companion plays the guitar really well too, so it gets played quite a bit. I actually played for sacrament last week (I'll mention that later in the email). And good luck with all the nursing stuff.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RON!!! Yeah, now you can go drink and stuff. Woohoo!!! I mean, Word of Wisdom!!! Hope it's a good one.
Dang it Logan, why you got to be going round breaking your right ankle like that. I'm telling you, have girls help you, they'll be more than willing. I definitely was a teacher's pet to Ms. Wright. She was ze best!! You'll find that a lot of your teachers will come to be close friends, because they're a lot more mature than the other chumps in that school. And sucking up to them gets you good grades!! Yeah! Sorry about driving. Driving’s lame anyways, just take the bus and the subway, that’s what I do. :) That’s super cool that you got to play for a piano competition with Tommy. You realize he got superiors because you were there. Jajajaja. Just kidding...maybe. Well, good luck with the ankle and with classes.
Good work Micah. That's more points than I've ever made playing basketball. That's super cool.
So this week was packed with craziness. And miracles. So many miracles. The first miracle happened when we met with Jay, our New Convert, and we found out that he had gone to and did work for the dead at the temple. WHAT?!?!?! He doesn't have the Priesthood and he hadn't gotten a temple recommend yet, but our bishop, being the man he is, said it was alright. So he went and did baptisms for the dead for the first time. It was such a surprise to us when he started asking us questions about the 12 oxen and the baptismal font. CRAZINESS!!! And then the day after that we found out one of our investigators has a divorce date.               YAY DIVORCE!!!...let me explain. He wants to get married to his current girlfriend (and they have a baby boy) but he needed to get divorced from his first wife, first. So he can get married, then baptized!!!!! He's SO solid. He's giving up his current job (a tattoo artist) and a lot of his past habits to be baptized. Such a Man. On top of those, this week we got 6 new people to teach (and baptize) and I gave a talk in sacrament meeting on temple work (in Spanish) and I played the guitar and all the missionaries in our ward sang for that sacrament meeting. It was SUPER FUN!!! Also, today we went to Costco. :) And later we ended up going to a Sheik Temple (a religioun in Punjab, India [break of of the Hindu religion]) and getting a tour and eating delicious Sheik food. It was super different and fun.
One thing that was absolutely fantastic that we did a lot this week was meet with members and help them do missionary work. I really thought about the Spanish phrase "mi casa es tu casa." Roughly translated to "my house is your house." :) And it's SO TRUE!!! Every time we have a dinner appointment, they say, "don't worry, you're in your house, sit down, eat food." Sometimes missionary work is stressful and these times we have to settle down and visit the families in our ward is such a blessing. It reminds me of the theme of my farewell talk about living in the moment with the people around you. It's SO true!!! Just enjoy the moment, when you're in it. Love you all!!!