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!!