WELL...it snowed. Finally, just so you're all wondering. And it came down hard. We probably got a foot in total. LOVE IT!!!

WELL...it snowed.

Finally, just so you're all wondering. And it came down hard. We probably got a foot in total. LOVE IT!!! ALSO, transfer calls were last night and........I'M STAYING IN LEAMINGTON!!! WOOHOO!!!! I'm super happy. BUT! President did call last night, and told me that I'm going to be District Leader again. BBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I'll live though. It's fun to be District Leader around Christmas time, I just have to make a lot of Christmas Treats. I'm trying to get President to make my companion District Leader. He'd do a lot better than me. So we'll see how that goes. :)

I'm glad you're all pumped for Christmas. 11 Doo Rags!?!?! (I think that's what they're called) That's awesome, Mom. I'm sure he'll love them. And trying hard in school is good, just remember, "it is not requisite that a man (or a mom) should run faster than he (or she) has strength" -Mosiah 4:27 ;) Good work on the paper.  Good luck with keeping everyone "under ball and chain." ;) So yes, I got the package from you and someone else. Don't know who. Neither were damaged. Funny story though, Abigail saw the unknown package (while in Brampton) and slapped a note on it saying "Merry Christmas Cousin." I was super confused at first and thought it was from her. But someone told me it was a joke. Ha ha. :) We don't have a family to Skype from, yet. So I'll let you all know when we do.

This week has been truly magical though.

On Monday, we went to a town called Windsor, which is RIGHT across from Detroit, Michigan; and I saw the USofA for the first time in one and a half years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cried. It was quite beautiful.

Wednesday, we taught two super solid investigators. Irma, the Venezuelan. She SO solid. She wants to get baptized and confirmed, we just need to get her to quit smoking. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she understood it perfectly. It's quite incredible how much of the Plan of Salvation is in the Bible. Mormonism proved. The other lesson was with a 15 year-old girl named Mackenzie, who is also very prepared. Later that day, we ate Pupusas (just to let you know ;). While at the Pupuseria, we ran into two members there (one working and one eating). Funny stuff.

Friday, I drove. A lot. We went to and from a town called Tilbury which is about 30 minutes out. Then we taught some lessons, went to a Mexican Restaurant (average), then I drive to Chatam to pick up two Elders, which is an hour away, then to London, which is another hour away. So yeah. We stayed the night in London because we had a missionary meeting the next morning.

Saturday, the missionary meeting went well. Lots of Christmas spirit. Afterwards, we went to the closest Smoke's to us (in London). 'Twas delicious. I then drove 2 hours back to Leamington. Then I drove 45 minutes to Windsor (got to see the USA at night) which was SWEET!!! and drove back that night to Leamington. SO, basically I've driven more last week than I have in my whole life. We're probably going to drive to London again today. Tack on 4 more hours. Because why not?? I have gone from not liking to driving to being content with it. Maybe even happy with it. We'll see. :)

Sunday was great. That was when it poured buckets of snow on us. After a wonderful church, we went and found another new investigator, then we went and taught Irma!! We taught her the third lesson, The Gospel of Jesus Christ. She's SO good!! Afterwards, she asked if we wanted juice, then she asked if we wanted food. I hadn't had dinner, so I was like YES! She ended up making us rice and beans and platanos and it was SO good!!! She is a Celestial Investigator. And so is her food.SO... last Thursday, we were out knocking some doors that a member told us were some people that just moved in, and we ran into Kendall. She is actually the great niece of an active member and she is a single mother with a new born. She told us that she has been trying to get back into religion and she had gone to church before (with her great-aunt). She is so solid and we're excited to meet with her next week. We've been finding so many people here in Leamington. I have NEVER found this many solid people just opening my mouth in my whole mission. It's AWESOME!! It has just grown my testimony so much that the Lord puts prepared people in your path to teach. We're hoping to see a few baptisms from this this transfer. I hope you all have a stellar week. Enjoy the snow!! I am.

It's a Christmas Miracle!!!

It's a Christmas Miracle!!!
Things are going absolutely wonderful here. It hasn't snowed at all. It's kind of getting cold. It rained last night. This is my life now. I can't tell you when I can email because I don't know if I'll be here in Leamington until next Sunday, so I'll give you some more information then. It's good to know when you can though. 10:30 AM?? Are they only doing sacrament on Christmas?? The train sounds like a lot of fun. And Temple Square. Jealous. CCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHEEEEEEEESSSSSCCCCCCCAAAAAAKKKKKKEEEEEEE FFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAACCCTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOORRRRRRRYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?! I'm so jealous. That's probably one of the things I miss most about back home. I LOVE the Cheesecake Factory. The food, the service, the atmosphere, and of COURSE, the Cheesecake. We don't have any of those in Ontario (or even in Canada, I think). Sadness. Cheesecake Factory and Temple Square definitely trump Ward Party. ;)
I'll know if I got the packages this Saturday (that's when a big missionary meeting is). If not then, December 23rd is our Christmas Missionary Meeting where we'll get more mail. And yeah, Aunt Terri told me she was sending me a package. Yay! So this week basically went from bad to good to better to best. So buckle up Buttercup...
Bad: We drove two hours to go play sports with missionaries in London, Ontario last Monday. And no one really came to play sports. BOO!!!! Never trust a missionary. Just kidding, don't listen to me, trust missionaries, get baptized. But yeah, at least we were able to meet some of the other missionaries in our Zone. Then we drove two hours back to our area had a sweet dinner and a great FHE with the Velazquez family. That was good.
Better: Tuesday we met with one of our regular investigators. She had said earlier that she didn't remember getting taught about Joseph Smith. So we started from the beginning and taught her the Restoration. It was probably the second BEST Restoration lessons I've ever taught (second only to the legend, Jose Manuel). The Spirit was so strong and we committed her to baptism when she knows it's true. I started crying in the middle of the lesson. I'm such a baby. A sugar baby. ;)
Thursday, since it was the church's "Worldwide Day of Service," we put on our normal clothes, grabbed some rakes, and went to work. We met a little Venezuelan Lady last Tuesday our in her yard and asked her if she needed any help. She said she didn't want us to get our white shirts dirty, so we came back Thursday and raked her lawn. And he neighbors lawn. And their neighbors lawn. We got an appointment set up with her, a thanks from her neighbor, and about 15 cucumbers from the other neighbors. We then raked a members yard and her neighbors (of whom the husband has Cancer) and we were able rake probably about a million leaves from their yard. They were SO grateful and we going to go back there and baptize them.
Friday, I went on exchanges with one of our leaders to a little town called Chatam. I learned something really interesting about Charity. You really can have Charity and Love for people you have never met. True story.
BEST!!: We have been trying really hard to get new people to teach. On exchanges, my companion found two new investigators in our area. Then on Saturday, we were sitting down to do some planning, and we get a phone call from a less-active Mexican member. He was at his Brother's house and needed help with a broken thermostat (because all the instructions were in English). We came over, didn't fix the thermostat (because we weren't able to), but more importantly we ended up sitting down with his brother, teaching him the Restoration (well, I taught it all, because he doesn't speak English, unimportant), and he got super excited to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. Then we set up another appointment for this Wednesday. Solid!!
THEN! On Sunday, we went over to the little Venezuelan lady's house (Irma is her name) and we got in to teach her. She is SUPER prepared. Basically already a member. At first she said she's Catholic, then later on (talking about Joseph Smith) she opened up and said she's really confused about religion, too, and wants to know what the true church is. When we brought up the Book of Mormon she got super excited and started going off about when she reads the Book of Mormon and when the Holy Ghost tells her it's true, she'll know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that this is the true church and that she'll no longer be confused and she'll be in the right path. And we were like...uh...yeah. That's exactly correct. Then we asked her to pray and she said she'll do it, but we might not like the way she prayed. She gave one of the BEST, MOST PERFECT prayers I have EVER heard. Better than what most active members give. She prayed to God in the name of Jesus Christ and in the prayer she asked if the book she "is holding in her hands" is true. I was in tears. Again. That Restoration lesson bumped the one I taught on Tuesday to number 3 "Best Restoration Lesson." Twas a Christmas miracle.
I love you all and hope you watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. If you didn't, REPENT! Chao!!

LIGHT THE WORLD!!!!!!!

LIGHT THE WORLD!!!!!!!
Before I get into that...my Thanksgiving was pretty great!! A stellar couple in Branch named the Fiss's made us American Thanksgiving Dinner. They're both incredible cooks and they made us some of the best Glazed Ham I've ever had, and a lot of other great things. Yeah, no turkey, but hey, nobody's perfect. The husband used to be a Mennonite, which is the prominent religion here in Leamington, but now he's a rock-solid Mormon with a huge build and a huge white beard and he speaks German. AND he just got called to be our Branch Mission Leader, so we're pumped. After Thanksgiving Dinner, we helped a member move Food Storage from a Members house to his parents house, because he's moving. I LOVE doing Service. Especially as a missionary. So twas a good Thanksgiving. I'm glad you all ate enough turkey to cover for me. Sounds like you had a lot of fun.
SOPHIE!! Shreddin' up the ice GIRL!!! That's killer diller!!! You keep perfecting your Axel and I'll keep perfecting my "Blue Steel." And good luck on your ice skating test. Not like you need it. ;)
WHO IS OLIVIA CHRISTENSEN!?!?! LOGAN!! Send me pictures of Sadie Hawkins!! But not the ones of you kissing her (come on, I'm a missionary). Just Kidding...send me those ones too. ;) Sounds like it was a sweet date though. That'd be an awesome Eagle Scout Project too. And you best believe I've still got all the capitals memorized. Someone from every country in the world is here in Toronto, so I get lots of practice. It's funny, when people tell me where they're from, I say "Oh? Are you from (then I say the capital of that country). Then after saying "yes" or "no," they say "Have you been there before??" Then I say "No, I'm just super smart." ;) Or something like that, just more humble. I'm so pumped that you're going to Temple Square again to sing. Wish I could be there Bro.
This week started our great with a wonderful Family Home Evening with the Velasquez Family. I brought my collection of temple pictures, which has now grown to about 200+ pictures. And we played a temple naming/matching game. It was super fun. Gotta love those houses of the Lord.
Tuesday we had a lot of great and weird lessons where we talked about Phillipians 4, why Blacks didn't have the Priesthood for a while, we ate A&W, and we tried to commit a lady who likes to smoke to live the Word of Wisdom, with little success. Of course, these were all different lessons. ;)
Wednesday, I went on exchanges with Elder Matthewson, who is a great new missionary from Calgary, Alberta. He's a good guy and we taught a lot of good lessons.
Thursday, Thanksgiving. See Above.
Thursday night, we had some Elders stay the night, for we were car pooling to District Meeting the next day. And guess who got to be the Chauffeur?? Me of course. So much driving here in Leamington. And after driving in Toronto, my driving has improved a lot. And gotten a lot more aggressive. :) Luckily, here in Leamington, you have to be really bad at driving to get in a crash. And the only things you can crash into are the Green Houses. So yeah. District Meeting was good and we had Pizza Hut afterwards. Yum.
Saturday was a stellar day. The same man we helped move food storage on Thursday, we helped move the rest of the things in his house into storage or to his parents. We worked from about 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Twas nuts. Afterwards, we helped a stellar less-active member named Doug with his Family History (after he graciously took us out to Arbys). He's such a solid guy (other than the fact he misses sacrament meeting to play the piano for the Salvation Army's church services). He plays the piano like a champ, the guitar very well, he loves singing, and he super spiritual and pure in heart. So while working on Family History, we helped him find family ties that go back... (now don't get jealous, Mom)... 32 generations. Into the 1000s. It was INSANE!!! The church is true. We also found his last name, going back 13 generations. We were all super amazed. Later that night, there was a Santa Claus Parade in Leamington. So we went and passed out TONS of "Light the World" cards. It was SO fun. On Sunday, we also passed a lot of cards out to members and houses we knocked on.
For those of you who don't know what "Light The World" is. GET A LIFE!!! Just kidding. But seriously...let me tell you. Light the World, or Ilumina el Mundo (spanish), or Seja a Luz do Mondo (portuguese) or Si I Una Luce (italian) (did that all from memory ;)...is the church's new Christmas Initiative. Go to momon.org and WATCH THE VIDEO!!!! It's beyond words to describe. Just watch it. On December 1st, the church is doing a Worldwide Day of Service, so lace up your boots, pick up your shovels or rakes, and get serving!! There's also a calendar on mormon.org for the first 25 days of December, giving you ideas for doing service everyday and becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. That's what this is all about. Becoming like Jesus Christ. He really was the greatest example and leader in the world. And in addition to that, He is our Savior!! He atoned for our sins, pains, and sufferings. I know he did. I've felt his love and the power of the Atonement in my life. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. LIGHT THE WORLD!!!!

IT'S BEGINNING TO FEEL A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!!!! EXCEPT WHEN YOU'RE IN A SAUNA!!!!
HA HA!!! I'll get to that part later. The week has been great for me. That's super sweet, Micah, that you're getting recognized. That's a huge honor. And one thing I learned in High School, Mom, is that sometimes your grades don't represent very well all the hard work you put in. I feel like in High School I put in a lot of hard work, I tried my hardest, but I didn't get straight As, or As for that matter. But I was content because I worked my hardest and I felt like I really tried my best. And I think that's the most important thing. To put in our best.
This Thursday. A member family invited us over for American Thanksgiving (well, two member families did, but one let the other family feed us). I'm so excited. The husband is an ex-Mennonite (there are TONS of Mennonites here in Leamington) (they're like Amish people) and he's HUGE and has a HUGE beard. They are SUPER excited to have us over and we are PUMPED to go over there at eat with them.
Okay, well $475 US dollars is like $1000 Canadian. ;) and with $300 more it's like $2000!! No, I'm kidding. I'll definitely not use my card much anymore. If at all. I have lots of souvenirs already and have done all the fun things in Toronto. When did you stop talking out money?? I would like to keep putting in $100 each month. If that means I'll only have the $300 when I get home, I'm fine with that. I'll get a job fast. Also, by the way. I have 200 American Dollars on me for emergency. But don't ask me how much I want! That's a dangerous question and it should be a surprise. SURPRISE!! You get $10!!! YAY!! Haha. Hopefully more than that though. :)
So this week has been a blast. Elder Olson and I are getting along just like Nephi and Laman, or better yet Cain and Abel. Haha! No, we get along great. And we're getting a lot of work done. Some highlights of the week: Last Tuesday, I took Elder Olson to get Pupusas for his first time and let me tell you, they make some of the best Pupusas here in Leamington. SUPER GOOD! Later than day we taught an investigator who believes the Book of Mormon to be true (because why not?) but can't come out to church because she takes care of her sick, member, mother. So we're just trying to have her get a solid testimony of the BOM and quit her bad habits. She's solid though.
We've been helping TONS of members set up Family History accounts, from Burmese members who speak little English to Irish members with whom we made a sweet discovery on his Grandma's side of the family.
The members are GREAT here. We've had many meal appointments this last week and the members are SUPER nice.
I've been trying to work with a lot of Spanish people so I don't lose my Spanish. We have a Mexican investigator who loves meeting with us. So we'll be going over there a lot. His names Felipe and he's sweet, he just doesn't have a strong desire to read the Book of Mormon...not yet.
Our most recent member that was baptized, we work with a lot. Her name is Maxine and she's SO NICE! She call herself the missionaries mother, so I now have a mother here in Leamington also. She tells us to just come into her house whenever we want to and she's super solid. She hasn't been able to come to church recently because she's been taking care of here Aunt with Dementia. But she came yesterday!!! Woot woot!!
Last Saturday, there was a Christmas parade in a little city called Kingsville. So we went and in the middle of the parade, it started SNOWING!!!!! A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!! While there we passed out TONS of Christmas cards. The church has a new Christmas initiative coming up called #LightTheWorld and it's SO SWEET!! But I won't fan girl about it just yet, because we still have Thanksgiving this week.
The weather is weird here. Last Friday, it was like 20 degrees Celsius (which is really hot). Then on Saturday, it dropped to like 3 degrees Celsius and it snowed. It was nuts. But no matter...because we have a sauna. OH HO HO HO! YES WE DO!!
So, we found out that our apartment complex has a sauna which NO ONE actually uses. So these last couple nights, we used it. And it's super nice. So, this is Elder Flint, emailing you from the beach town Leamington, while chilling in a sauna, drinking a Pina Colada. Haha, I wish. Oh, I got a hair cut too. My curls are temporarily gone.
One thing I've been studying a lot about this week is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Yesterday, at church, I was able to teach a Spanish class to the ONE Spanish member that stayed after sacrament meeting. He a solid member. So we talked about the signs of the Second Coming. It's honestly kind of a scary thing, because in Thessalonians 1:5 it says that "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." So we don't know when Jesus will come. Jesus doesn't even know that. Only God knows. BUT, we can see that many of the signs of his Second Coming our happening, especially the scary. I will make no political statement except the fact that I don't like the fact that there are tons of riots and civil unrest in the US. When Christ first came to the Americas, he basically destroyed all the wicked people before coming down. So we must be ready. The coming of Christ will be a beautiful and glorious thing. We need not be afraid if we are worthy. So prepare yourselves now because we don't know how soon it will happen. Repent. Be the elect. Don't get destroyed. Because that would stink. ;) I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Elder Flint
Canada Toronto Mission