AIEEE!!!!
What a trip. We just got back from a Costco trip. SO intense. And we went out and bought some Christmas gear at a super cheap store. I got a sweet Canada hoodie, a sweater, and a Canada t-shirt. They're sweet souveniers.
To correct your story, Mother, her name is Sister Jordahn Nabhan. She's the only Sister I've sang a duet with (that is home). And I wasn't her Zone Leader. I'm still not a Zone Leader, but my Zone Leaders right now are trying really hard to make me one. We'll see.Yeah Mom!! Sleepin' in the car. Love it!! Sophie's Victory really doesn't surprise me. What will surprise me is when someone beats her and takes the Ice Queen (or Princess) off of her throne. ;) Love you Soph!! Halloween sounds fun. I want to see pictures of Micah as the future President. Haha. Sad but true.
AW LOGAN!!! You Should have gone with the cake answer!!! So much better than those silly puns. Too many puns. Or you should have gone with Micah's idea. Haha. Watch her come to school and hit you because she was so upset that she didn't flip over the box. Heehee.
Good choice Skyler. One of the best things you could have chosen to learn. I want to learn all the instruments in the world!! Why not?? Also good choice on "Let it Be."
Have fun, Dad, competing in the Special Olympics. I know you'll show all those Autism patients whose got the real mental illness!! (thumbs up emogi) ;)
Yeah, you've left me home alone many times. Logan is trustable. pssst. Logan, send me pictures on how the party goes. DON'T LET THEM GO IN MY OLD ROOM!!! OR TOUCH MY INSTRUMENTS!!!! I mean...shhh don't let them touch my instruments. What the heck is the Billster doing?? 850 bucks for San Francisco?? If you're flying planes, GO TO NEW YORK!!! It would be SO GOOD!!!
Well, my week was absolutely wonderful. Tuesday and Wednesday we decided to try something new for our area (due to some personal revelation), so I cooked a few dozen batches of chocolate chip cookies and we went around to a lot of the less actives in our ward (which there are a LOT) and gave them the cookies. Now as a missionary, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are usually slump days. But these were some of the best Tuesdays and Wednesdays I've ever had. We saw many miracles, ran into many potentiel investigators, got to know a lot of ward members, and blessed many people with delicious treats.
On Thursday, we had a big missionary meeting where on of my good friends (Elder Brett Babbel) and I got paired up to give an instruction. It went really well: we popped balloons, spoke different languages, cracked jokes, it was great. Later in the meeting I was interviewed by Presidnet Shields. The interview was very short: Mainly talking about my sickly companion and I learned that I can now play my instruments whenever I want, as long as it doesn't intefere with the work. SWEET STUFF!!! Later that day, we had a surpirse appointment in which we ended up getting two new solid people to teach and baptise. Then we flew to two dinner appointments (with less-active members). It was NUTS!! We had like NO time, but with the Lords hand, we got to each appointment and ate two dinners.
Friday, we helped with a baptism in our ward. Very nice.
Saturday, we had a Venezuelan Chinese woman walk into our English classes (born in China, raised in Venezuela). And her Spanish was far better than her Chinese, so we're teaching her now. Woo hoo!! Never thought I'd baptize a Chinese Woman on my mission.
Sunday was great, because I got the sacrament.
Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving and we celebrated HARD!!! Our first meal appointment was with a Dominican Family that always feeds us on Mondays. We had a huge lunch, played Mormon Charades, watched video performances of "The Prayer," and the 12 Step Videos. It was super fun. Then, my companions and I went on a walk in the brisk weather, through a park, putting up fliers to advertise our English Classes. Quite nice. Then, at 7, all the missionaries met up at the Sifuentes (the Mexicans that always feed us on Sunday), for a HUGE Thanksgiving Dinner. It was DELICIOUS!!! A HUGE Turkey. Mexican Food. I brought 2 liters of Chocolate Milk. IN A GALLON!!! I FOUND MILK (CHOCLATE AND WHITE) IN A GALLON HERE!!! I'm never drinking bagged milk again!!!!!!
All in all, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving. And all the good food gave me terrible heart burn. :)
I know I should probably say something about Giving Thanks, but I want to talk about something else. Fine! I'm grateful for my whole life. My life is honestly perfect. Absolutely perfect. BUT! I want to talk about Personal Revelation. During this last Conference, and through lots of missionary meetings, and through some intense personal prayers; God gave me a lot of personal revelation on how to make my area better, and like I mentioned above, IT WORKED!! I can testify that when we receive suggestions from God, DO IT!!! You may not know or understand how it'll work, but it will. Because God knows. Elder Lawrence's General Conference talk from a couple Conferences ago gives many great examples of that (if mine's not good enough for you ;). Well, I love you all and hope you're enjoying milk in Gallons, because I AM!!!! Chao!!!
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
What a Week!!
I'm glad everything is going great back home and that you all enjoyed conference. Wow, good work Logan on the accompanying job. That's super sweet. Where and what exactly are you doing?? And good work on the lady slaying. I have no idea who Olivia is though. Send me a pic of her or her social security number or something. I want to KNOW who's taking my bro on a date. I'm already suspicious with the stereotypical way she asked you "Of all the fish in the sea." Hot dang though that she asked you two months early. That just shows that e'rybody wants to get dibs on you early. It makes you feel real special when you have to tell multiple girls "No" to dances because you've already got a date. Answering her though...just write "yes" on a big rock and shatter her bedroom window with it, then run. No. I don't know, you could always ask her in a way that correlates with stuff she likes: Music, dancing, Fashion, World of Warcraft (Whatever she's into). Or use my cake idea, where you put a paper IN the cake saying "Look at bottom of plate" and there's a paper taped there that says "No." I mean "Yes." Whatever you want to do.
I hope all goes well with Halloween and the wings and what not.
Well, this week has actually seemed really long, but it's a good long. On Wednesday, we had District Meeting, and the only other new person in the District is the Grandson of Elder Ballard the Apostle, Elder Ballard. He's fun and really normal, so that's good. It was funny to see him get all excited when his Grandpa got up to talk. And it was funnier when we had him and Elder Monson (President Monson's great nephew, another missionary in our area) shake hands. Wednesday and Thursday I was able to go on exchanges with my black Zone Leader, Elder Paul. He's from Haiti and speaks 5 languages and is going home in 5 weeks so he's SUPER trunky. The exchanges were a lot of fun. I drove, a lot, Downtown. And we taught a few lessons in Portuguese. I was quite impressed with myself. I feel like my Portuguese right now is as good as my Spanish was when I began the mission. Jacare. We then ended Thursday by having a sleepover with Elder Babbel and Ballard, because we were going to the temple the next morning.
Then, the next morning, we went to the temple ;) It was quite nice. Afterwards, a lot of missionaries were greeting and saying goodbye outside of the temple. One of the sister missionaries told me Abigail was looking for me, but she had a meeting she had to go, so we didn't get to see each other. Bummer. But I got to see a lot of old friends and what not. After the temple, a bunch of us missionaries decided to go to Smokes to get some Poutine, and I was so hungry that I decided to try and eat a whole Wow Size again. Along with Elder Valliere. About 9/10ths of the way through the Poutine I felt like I was about to throw up, and almost did, but Elder Babbel, being the good friend he was, told me to take a short break, buy another drink, and then motivated me through the rest of the Poutine, and after four failed attempts, I finished it. Accomplishment!!! My body hurt so bad after that and I had to cleanse the next morning to clean out my system. :) Worth it?? I say yes.
Saturday was a great day. It started out by me going on another quick exchange with Zone Leader Paul and driving a lot more. Then we got back to our chapel RIGHT as Conference started. All of Conference on Saturday was great, and exhausting. I've been so tired this week even though all I've really done is drive around a lot and sit down and watch Conference. Weird stuff.
Sunday was also great watching Conference. For the second session, we went to a member's house and ate dinner with them afterwards. It was very nice.
One of my absolute favorite things was the GREENIE POWER!!! Many of the new Seventy Members that we got last Conference gave some of the most powerful talks. Although, Elder Weatherfold T. Clayton didn't speak, I was still very impressed with them all. Two of my favorite talks were by Elder W Mark Basset on obtaining knowledge through the Holy Ghost, and by Elder K Brett Nattress on Mothers and Children. Mom, you really are an angel (I have to say that, you're my Mom ;). But really, you've worked miracles to get me where I'm at right now and you're continuing to work miracles to help support the family. Another thing I really got out of the talk was one of the purposes of parenthood. My favorite quote, that always brings tears to my eyes was when Elder Nattress was talking about how incredible it would be to have your kids turn to you and say "Mom, Dad, it's really Him." THAT! is the purpose of parenthood: to have your children be able to receive their own testimony of Jesus Christ and his restored church. Parents are crucial to helping their children receive the testimonies that will get them through life and into the Celestial Kingdom in the next life. I know I'm not a parent yet, but I'm excited to be one...in time. ;) I hope you all enjoyed conference and if you didn't watch it. WATCH IT!!!!! Nough said. I love you all. Chao!!!
I'm glad everything is going great back home and that you all enjoyed conference. Wow, good work Logan on the accompanying job. That's super sweet. Where and what exactly are you doing?? And good work on the lady slaying. I have no idea who Olivia is though. Send me a pic of her or her social security number or something. I want to KNOW who's taking my bro on a date. I'm already suspicious with the stereotypical way she asked you "Of all the fish in the sea." Hot dang though that she asked you two months early. That just shows that e'rybody wants to get dibs on you early. It makes you feel real special when you have to tell multiple girls "No" to dances because you've already got a date. Answering her though...just write "yes" on a big rock and shatter her bedroom window with it, then run. No. I don't know, you could always ask her in a way that correlates with stuff she likes: Music, dancing, Fashion, World of Warcraft (Whatever she's into). Or use my cake idea, where you put a paper IN the cake saying "Look at bottom of plate" and there's a paper taped there that says "No." I mean "Yes." Whatever you want to do.
I hope all goes well with Halloween and the wings and what not.
Well, this week has actually seemed really long, but it's a good long. On Wednesday, we had District Meeting, and the only other new person in the District is the Grandson of Elder Ballard the Apostle, Elder Ballard. He's fun and really normal, so that's good. It was funny to see him get all excited when his Grandpa got up to talk. And it was funnier when we had him and Elder Monson (President Monson's great nephew, another missionary in our area) shake hands. Wednesday and Thursday I was able to go on exchanges with my black Zone Leader, Elder Paul. He's from Haiti and speaks 5 languages and is going home in 5 weeks so he's SUPER trunky. The exchanges were a lot of fun. I drove, a lot, Downtown. And we taught a few lessons in Portuguese. I was quite impressed with myself. I feel like my Portuguese right now is as good as my Spanish was when I began the mission. Jacare. We then ended Thursday by having a sleepover with Elder Babbel and Ballard, because we were going to the temple the next morning.
Then, the next morning, we went to the temple ;) It was quite nice. Afterwards, a lot of missionaries were greeting and saying goodbye outside of the temple. One of the sister missionaries told me Abigail was looking for me, but she had a meeting she had to go, so we didn't get to see each other. Bummer. But I got to see a lot of old friends and what not. After the temple, a bunch of us missionaries decided to go to Smokes to get some Poutine, and I was so hungry that I decided to try and eat a whole Wow Size again. Along with Elder Valliere. About 9/10ths of the way through the Poutine I felt like I was about to throw up, and almost did, but Elder Babbel, being the good friend he was, told me to take a short break, buy another drink, and then motivated me through the rest of the Poutine, and after four failed attempts, I finished it. Accomplishment!!! My body hurt so bad after that and I had to cleanse the next morning to clean out my system. :) Worth it?? I say yes.
Saturday was a great day. It started out by me going on another quick exchange with Zone Leader Paul and driving a lot more. Then we got back to our chapel RIGHT as Conference started. All of Conference on Saturday was great, and exhausting. I've been so tired this week even though all I've really done is drive around a lot and sit down and watch Conference. Weird stuff.
Sunday was also great watching Conference. For the second session, we went to a member's house and ate dinner with them afterwards. It was very nice.
One of my absolute favorite things was the GREENIE POWER!!! Many of the new Seventy Members that we got last Conference gave some of the most powerful talks. Although, Elder Weatherfold T. Clayton didn't speak, I was still very impressed with them all. Two of my favorite talks were by Elder W Mark Basset on obtaining knowledge through the Holy Ghost, and by Elder K Brett Nattress on Mothers and Children. Mom, you really are an angel (I have to say that, you're my Mom ;). But really, you've worked miracles to get me where I'm at right now and you're continuing to work miracles to help support the family. Another thing I really got out of the talk was one of the purposes of parenthood. My favorite quote, that always brings tears to my eyes was when Elder Nattress was talking about how incredible it would be to have your kids turn to you and say "Mom, Dad, it's really Him." THAT! is the purpose of parenthood: to have your children be able to receive their own testimony of Jesus Christ and his restored church. Parents are crucial to helping their children receive the testimonies that will get them through life and into the Celestial Kingdom in the next life. I know I'm not a parent yet, but I'm excited to be one...in time. ;) I hope you all enjoyed conference and if you didn't watch it. WATCH IT!!!!! Nough said. I love you all. Chao!!!
Saturday, October 1, 2016
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABIGAIL!!!! or sister allred.
Just had to shout out to my cousin in the Mish. I feel bad, I should have called her. Haha. There's a member, Jimmy, who has all the missionaries' phone numbers and sometimes I invite him to come teaching with us and I tell him to call her so I can talk to her. Haha. Nothing wrong with that right?? No. I'm glad you're feeling better now, Mom. And yeah, I doubt Elder Arnold will speak again so soon. He was so nice and gentle during Conference. If only people could meet the real him. :) Woot Woot!!! Those shirts look SWEET!!! I was a little bummed because I did play beater for Hufflepuff back in Hogwarts and I saw that Savannah is getting the Beater Jersey, BUT I was team captain for that team also, so all is well. I'M PUMPED for that though. Super Trunky. And MAN! The Claytons are hosting the CTM Reunion?!?! And I checked the sign up list and already recognized a bunch of names. MORE TRUNKY! AND you want' to know when I'm coming home?? Sheesh!! Ya tryin' ta kill mee?? Well, because I got an extra week added on to my mission, it should Thursday, August 3rd. I know President Shields has the authority to change it if I have to leave early for school or what not. But honestly, I just want to get exactly 2 years in. A 2 year mission. July 29th 2015 to July 29th, 2017. If anyone tries to send me home before that, I'll tell them to take a hike. Oooohhhh. A Puertorrican Christmas. What fun.
Oh yes. We got transfer calls last night. Elder Staheli, my companion, is pulling an "Elder Flint" and going from Chritstie North to Black Creek Central. And I and Elder Valliere are staying here!! AND! my first son (trainee) is coming to serve with us in a trio. Yipee! I'm SO old. I'm like a father having to babysit his two sons. :| All I know is that I'm going to be wiped after this next transfer. I thought one of them was a handful.... BUT! I'm happy to be staying here in Toronto. I'm going to really try to be a better example this transfer and help out my two trainees.
Well this week was pretty nuts. To give an example, it's POURING rain right now. LOVE IT!!
Actually, to be frank. This week was pretty below par for me. But I saw a lot of other peoples' lives blessed. So that makes me happy. One of my favorite families in the ward just had a new baby, so I was able to see it and hold and tickle it (kidding, that's illegal for missionaries) yesterday. But it was quite cute. Along with that, I made another Chocolate Cheesecake for the Birthday of Elder Paul, my Haitian Zone Leader that speaks five different langauges. I also helped a lot of families out doing Family History work. I've decided that I'm going to have three automatic callings when I get home: Family History Consultant, Ward Organist, and Bishop. jeje ;) I had lots of good Hispanic Food (I made Tostones with this giant deep-fryer we have in our apartment. Tostones are fried green plantains, SUPER GOOD). Other fun things that happened this week is finally we had an investigator come to church last Sunday, and we were able to meet a lot of interesting people. And let me tell you, there's a lot of interesting people in Toronto. A story?? Fine, I'll tell you one.
So, one of the other Spanish Missionaries in Toronto is Elder Babbel. He is one of my favorite missionaries and my brother by birth (mission birth). For the longest time he'd always say, "I'm Lucy." In the girliest, high, girly voice (for an example, have Dad say it :). One day I asked Elder Babbel who "Lucy" is. He told me "he" is a transvestite (or a man that dresses and acts like a woman) from El Salvador, that one sent in a referral for the missionaries to come over, basically so "he" could flirt with them and probably other things (luckily they fled quickly). So yesterday, a woman from Salt Lake City called us to give us an online referral. We were excited because as Spanish missionaries, we don't get online referrals AND we had gotten another one a few days ago which turned out to be super solid. The lady on the phone was describing this lady who just asked for a visit from the missionaries and her name was Lucy Hernandez. She then gave us her phone number and address. My first thought was, "Lucy" isn't really a Spanish name, then my next thought was the Holy Ghost impersonating Elder Babbel saying "I'm Lucy." So I immediately called Elder Babbel and asked him what THE Lucy's last name was and he said he thinks it was "Hernandez." So we all started freaking out. Elder Babbel said he'd call her because he'd know his voice right off the bat. So he calls him and it goes straight to voice mail. Then Lucy calls Elder Babbel back and Elder Babbel makes the mistake of saying, "Hello, this is the Missionaries." Lucy then says, "Hello," then Elder Babbel hangs up the phone because he knows it's him. "Lucy," now knowing it's a missionary's number, calls him back like a dozen times and leaves a couple of voice mails talking about how he wants the handsome Elders to come over to his house and all this crap. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy stuff!! The adventures we have in Toronto.
Well on a happier note. One thing I have been talking about with a lot of people is the reason for church and church attendance. One of our solid members told us that he feels like his testimony deteriorates while at church because he's not in what he calls the "elite" group of members and people sometimes say mean things about others at church. When he said that, I thought, "Who Cares?! Church isn't about socialization, it's about the Sacrament!!" Luckily after talking with the Bishop, the member came this last Sunday. And later this week, I was talking with an older woman on the Subway and she told me that church is all about socialization and she doesn't need that anymore. I paused and thought. Then I said "Although socialization is a plus, our church focuses on Ordinances and Covenants, or ways we can come close to God and make it back to Heaven." And it's true. But sometimes we need to realize that. We need to realize that church is not about meeting our group of friends and forming cliques, but "everything we do in this church is to help people get to the temple" (quote from an apostle). Everything. It's all for Salvation. Not Popularity. I LOVE our church because it is so focused on Eternal Life. It really is the goal for everyone. I Love you all and hope to see you all in the Celestial Kingdom. :) Chao!!
Just had to shout out to my cousin in the Mish. I feel bad, I should have called her. Haha. There's a member, Jimmy, who has all the missionaries' phone numbers and sometimes I invite him to come teaching with us and I tell him to call her so I can talk to her. Haha. Nothing wrong with that right?? No. I'm glad you're feeling better now, Mom. And yeah, I doubt Elder Arnold will speak again so soon. He was so nice and gentle during Conference. If only people could meet the real him. :) Woot Woot!!! Those shirts look SWEET!!! I was a little bummed because I did play beater for Hufflepuff back in Hogwarts and I saw that Savannah is getting the Beater Jersey, BUT I was team captain for that team also, so all is well. I'M PUMPED for that though. Super Trunky. And MAN! The Claytons are hosting the CTM Reunion?!?! And I checked the sign up list and already recognized a bunch of names. MORE TRUNKY! AND you want' to know when I'm coming home?? Sheesh!! Ya tryin' ta kill mee?? Well, because I got an extra week added on to my mission, it should Thursday, August 3rd. I know President Shields has the authority to change it if I have to leave early for school or what not. But honestly, I just want to get exactly 2 years in. A 2 year mission. July 29th 2015 to July 29th, 2017. If anyone tries to send me home before that, I'll tell them to take a hike. Oooohhhh. A Puertorrican Christmas. What fun.
Oh yes. We got transfer calls last night. Elder Staheli, my companion, is pulling an "Elder Flint" and going from Chritstie North to Black Creek Central. And I and Elder Valliere are staying here!! AND! my first son (trainee) is coming to serve with us in a trio. Yipee! I'm SO old. I'm like a father having to babysit his two sons. :| All I know is that I'm going to be wiped after this next transfer. I thought one of them was a handful.... BUT! I'm happy to be staying here in Toronto. I'm going to really try to be a better example this transfer and help out my two trainees.
Well this week was pretty nuts. To give an example, it's POURING rain right now. LOVE IT!!
Actually, to be frank. This week was pretty below par for me. But I saw a lot of other peoples' lives blessed. So that makes me happy. One of my favorite families in the ward just had a new baby, so I was able to see it and hold and tickle it (kidding, that's illegal for missionaries) yesterday. But it was quite cute. Along with that, I made another Chocolate Cheesecake for the Birthday of Elder Paul, my Haitian Zone Leader that speaks five different langauges. I also helped a lot of families out doing Family History work. I've decided that I'm going to have three automatic callings when I get home: Family History Consultant, Ward Organist, and Bishop. jeje ;) I had lots of good Hispanic Food (I made Tostones with this giant deep-fryer we have in our apartment. Tostones are fried green plantains, SUPER GOOD). Other fun things that happened this week is finally we had an investigator come to church last Sunday, and we were able to meet a lot of interesting people. And let me tell you, there's a lot of interesting people in Toronto. A story?? Fine, I'll tell you one.
So, one of the other Spanish Missionaries in Toronto is Elder Babbel. He is one of my favorite missionaries and my brother by birth (mission birth). For the longest time he'd always say, "I'm Lucy." In the girliest, high, girly voice (for an example, have Dad say it :). One day I asked Elder Babbel who "Lucy" is. He told me "he" is a transvestite (or a man that dresses and acts like a woman) from El Salvador, that one sent in a referral for the missionaries to come over, basically so "he" could flirt with them and probably other things (luckily they fled quickly). So yesterday, a woman from Salt Lake City called us to give us an online referral. We were excited because as Spanish missionaries, we don't get online referrals AND we had gotten another one a few days ago which turned out to be super solid. The lady on the phone was describing this lady who just asked for a visit from the missionaries and her name was Lucy Hernandez. She then gave us her phone number and address. My first thought was, "Lucy" isn't really a Spanish name, then my next thought was the Holy Ghost impersonating Elder Babbel saying "I'm Lucy." So I immediately called Elder Babbel and asked him what THE Lucy's last name was and he said he thinks it was "Hernandez." So we all started freaking out. Elder Babbel said he'd call her because he'd know his voice right off the bat. So he calls him and it goes straight to voice mail. Then Lucy calls Elder Babbel back and Elder Babbel makes the mistake of saying, "Hello, this is the Missionaries." Lucy then says, "Hello," then Elder Babbel hangs up the phone because he knows it's him. "Lucy," now knowing it's a missionary's number, calls him back like a dozen times and leaves a couple of voice mails talking about how he wants the handsome Elders to come over to his house and all this crap. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy stuff!! The adventures we have in Toronto.
Well on a happier note. One thing I have been talking about with a lot of people is the reason for church and church attendance. One of our solid members told us that he feels like his testimony deteriorates while at church because he's not in what he calls the "elite" group of members and people sometimes say mean things about others at church. When he said that, I thought, "Who Cares?! Church isn't about socialization, it's about the Sacrament!!" Luckily after talking with the Bishop, the member came this last Sunday. And later this week, I was talking with an older woman on the Subway and she told me that church is all about socialization and she doesn't need that anymore. I paused and thought. Then I said "Although socialization is a plus, our church focuses on Ordinances and Covenants, or ways we can come close to God and make it back to Heaven." And it's true. But sometimes we need to realize that. We need to realize that church is not about meeting our group of friends and forming cliques, but "everything we do in this church is to help people get to the temple" (quote from an apostle). Everything. It's all for Salvation. Not Popularity. I LOVE our church because it is so focused on Eternal Life. It really is the goal for everyone. I Love you all and hope to see you all in the Celestial Kingdom. :) Chao!!
Monday, September 26, 2016
I had most of an email written up last week, but our leaders were going to drive us somewhere to play sports with a big group of missionaries so I wasn't able to finish it. I was going to finish it later last Monday and send it, but I forgot...
I'm sorry to hear about all the jerks in works. I'm glad you didn't quit though because 1. Flint's aren't quitters and integrity is an incredible quality to have. 2. We read in D&C 122 "that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." I invite you to read that whole section. It's short but intense. and 3. Both of you working means more money means more inheritance for Ammon. :) How Was Hunchback?!?!? I LOVE that show. It's super crazy that it is now a staged musical. It hasn't been for the longest time (apart from in Disneyland). Tell me how it was!!! I'm glad you all had a fun time in all your shinanagans.
HAHA! I'm so popular. ;) That's a funny story though, Mom. I really want to know who it was now. I'm trying to think of some names, Crippen maybe??
MOM! Stop making me trunky. Especially for Christmas. It's SO far away, don't make me think about it. Honestly though, I can't really think of anything I really want. I don't want anything that I'm going to have a hassle bringing home. I've collected some things here on the mission, but when I come back, I'm going to try and leave a lot of things here (especially clothes, because by the end of the mission, most of my clothes are going to be trashed). Maybe some sheet music (piano/organ/guitar). Chocolate. Money. That's all I really desire in life. :)
I'll ponder more on it. HAHA!!!! HUFFLEPUFFS RULE!!!! Don't do DARE be ashamed to be a Hufflepuff, Savannah. Own It!! Well, if you want to know EXACTLY what my wand is. It has a Phoenix Feather Core, it's made of Elm, it is approximately 14 1/2 inches long, it is slightly flexible, dark, straight, and round. Anything else?? Of course Dad is a squib. Why don't you get some QuickSpell ya squib!? Good Work Soph!! I feel like I'm saying that in all of my emails. And good job Savannah on typing your name. ;) And no, Mom, you're not a failure. And I forgive you. That was the first time in over a year that you didn't email me, it was bound to happen. Don't worry about it. I only cried for 2 hours. ;)
SO! I'll just add on to what I wrote last week.
So last week started out with me making a boob mistake of buying a new pair of winter boots at Walmart (for about 45$) and coming back to the apartment to realize that another missionary left basically the EXACT same pair of boots, same company, same size; in the apartment. Going back to Walmart!!
Last week was great though. The weather started out hot, humid, and terrible; but now it rained the last few days and the weather is starting to cool down. Can't wait for Winter!!! Last (last) Thursday, we had the incredible opportunity to have Elder Mervyn B. Arnold come to Toronto to Tour the Mission. And let me tell you HE IS FIRE!!!!! So we started out having a leadership meeting before the general missionary meeting and for the most part, he rebuked us on EVERYTHING wrong we've been doing. It was SO intense. He definitely showed what it means in D&C 121 to "reprove betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost." Let me tell you, if the other missionaries were in that meeting, MANY sister missionaries would have broken down in tears and some ELDERS would have also. True story.
Being me, I was keeping eye contact with him while he was "thrashing us" and when he sees someone looking him in the eyes, he stares into your very soul. I feel like more than half of that meeting was him and I staring at each other and he analyzing me from the inside out. At one part of the meeting, I chuckled at something he said, and he called me out by saying "I like you Elder, come up to the front." Then he had me come to the front of all the leaders and smile at them. Then he said "You can go sit down now." Super funny.
Later, to begin the general missionary meeting, we started with a musical number I had to put together with missionaries from all over the mission singing the EFY Medley (We'll Bring the World His Truth and As Sisters in Zion). With very little practice and lots of prayer, we actually did very good. After that, I went and sat down and Elder Arnold got up again, looked at me, and asked me if I want to help him again. I said sure and he once again, called me up to the front. He then told me to hold up my arms and stand there, which I did for about ten minutes. He then asked me how I felt and I said "I can't feel my arms anymore." He told the APs to come up and hold my arms up, which they did (not very well) and he talked about how we need to "Help each other in the work." We than stood up there for another ten minutes, with them holding my arms up. Finally he looked at us and said "All right Elders, give him a huge, then send him home." So while I was giving the second Elder a hug, I whispered, "all right, now send me home." We laughed and he said "Give me your name tag." It was all very funny.
The rest of the meeting was great. Abigail was there and I got to practice role plays with her, fun stuff!!
The rest of last week was pretty average. Some fun things that happened were we went to this authentic Mexican Restaurant called "King's Tacos." The food was very authentic and all the waitresses (and waiters) spoke Spanish. 'Twas a blast. Also, we helped paint a house, sang a musical number in Sacrament meeting (Lord, I Would Follow Thee), and yeah.
So last week seemed to go by super fast, so this email shouldn't be too much longer. ;)
Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with my brotha', Elder Brett Babbel. He reminds a TON of my best friend, Elder Joseph Shearer, so appropriately, we get along. We had a good time, and visited an El Savladorian member who fed us delicious food.
On Thursday, (you'll be proud of me for this, Mom) we went to the house of some of my favorite members the Genoas/Trujillos, and I made and brought Chocolate Decadence. They, appropriately, fell in love with it. Sister Genoa wanted the recipe, but I told her it was a secret recipe, so she went through and asked me if a bunch of different ingredients were in it. She didn't get much out of me.
On Friday, we had a Zone Council which was a lot of fun. Our whole Zone ate breakfast together, then had a meeting where we played some games and recieved instruction on different things. It was very fun.
Saturday was quite the day. We had a ward picnic planned at a park nearby, at 2:00 PM. But it was raining ALL DAY, so we had to change the location to the chapel. So at 2:00, all the missionaries were there with a few members waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Some members had the hamburger meat and were stuck in traffic. They didn't show up until about 3 hours later. It was rough. Luckily, our appointment at 5:00 PM canceled. But the food came, more members came, and then a homeless man came. So there's this fat, balding, Italian man (some people say he's homeless, some say he has a home), but he's been known for coming into our church, yelling things in Italian, stealing a lamp or something, then running out. He showed up at the picnic, and our bishop invited him to come sit down and served him some food and drink. The man was being very rude and demanding and Elder Babbel was super upset because he himself hadn't had a hamburger yet, but this man was served one made personally for him. It was pretty funny. Eventually, this man gets up and walks out of the gym and Elder Babbel, Elder Staheli, and I all get up and bee-line in to the door he walked out of. We find that he had gone into the kitchen and was now fighting with one of the member ladies in their cooking and going through the drawers (probably looking for something to steal). We were about to grab him and throw him out, but Bishop flies by us and grabs him himself and throws him out of the chapel. The whole time, this man is yelling in a high pitched, girly, Italian voice. Jesu Cristo!! Jesu Cristo!! Todo bene!! Todo bene!! Which means "Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, It's Okay, It's Okay!!!" So we threw him out and locked all the doors. It was great.
Yesterday, Sunday, was also a nice day. All the missionaries sang "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul," while I played the piano, for a Missionary's Farewell in the English Ward. We also had dinner with one of my favorite Mexican Families, the Sifuentes. It's a single mom with her four kids and she is SO funny. She's like Dad in Mexican Mom form. We had a lot of fun there.
One thing I've been studying a lot lately, and we talked about at Zone Council, is having charity. I ended up giving a talk two Sundays ago, about Charity, in Sacrament meeting and I quoted 1 Corinthians 13 and the talk "Charity Never Faileth" by Thomas S. Monson in the October General Conference of 2010. I invite you all to read both of those. 1 Corinthinas 13 makes it very clear that Charity will never end. Paus says many things will fade away or dissapear, but charity, the pure love of Christ, no. I, and my Zone Leader, quoted verse 11 in 1 Corinthians 13 saying "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." As missionaries, we sometimes do dumb things and forget that we're examples of Jesus Christ, so our zone needed a little reminder of that. But, even as people, we honestly sometimes do "childish" things. We just need to remember that we are children of God and that our goal in life is to become like him. So have charity and put away childish things. That is my invitation to you. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. Chao!!
I'm sorry to hear about all the jerks in works. I'm glad you didn't quit though because 1. Flint's aren't quitters and integrity is an incredible quality to have. 2. We read in D&C 122 "that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." I invite you to read that whole section. It's short but intense. and 3. Both of you working means more money means more inheritance for Ammon. :) How Was Hunchback?!?!? I LOVE that show. It's super crazy that it is now a staged musical. It hasn't been for the longest time (apart from in Disneyland). Tell me how it was!!! I'm glad you all had a fun time in all your shinanagans.
HAHA! I'm so popular. ;) That's a funny story though, Mom. I really want to know who it was now. I'm trying to think of some names, Crippen maybe??
MOM! Stop making me trunky. Especially for Christmas. It's SO far away, don't make me think about it. Honestly though, I can't really think of anything I really want. I don't want anything that I'm going to have a hassle bringing home. I've collected some things here on the mission, but when I come back, I'm going to try and leave a lot of things here (especially clothes, because by the end of the mission, most of my clothes are going to be trashed). Maybe some sheet music (piano/organ/guitar). Chocolate. Money. That's all I really desire in life. :)
I'll ponder more on it. HAHA!!!! HUFFLEPUFFS RULE!!!! Don't do DARE be ashamed to be a Hufflepuff, Savannah. Own It!! Well, if you want to know EXACTLY what my wand is. It has a Phoenix Feather Core, it's made of Elm, it is approximately 14 1/2 inches long, it is slightly flexible, dark, straight, and round. Anything else?? Of course Dad is a squib. Why don't you get some QuickSpell ya squib!? Good Work Soph!! I feel like I'm saying that in all of my emails. And good job Savannah on typing your name. ;) And no, Mom, you're not a failure. And I forgive you. That was the first time in over a year that you didn't email me, it was bound to happen. Don't worry about it. I only cried for 2 hours. ;)
SO! I'll just add on to what I wrote last week.
So last week started out with me making a boob mistake of buying a new pair of winter boots at Walmart (for about 45$) and coming back to the apartment to realize that another missionary left basically the EXACT same pair of boots, same company, same size; in the apartment. Going back to Walmart!!
Last week was great though. The weather started out hot, humid, and terrible; but now it rained the last few days and the weather is starting to cool down. Can't wait for Winter!!! Last (last) Thursday, we had the incredible opportunity to have Elder Mervyn B. Arnold come to Toronto to Tour the Mission. And let me tell you HE IS FIRE!!!!! So we started out having a leadership meeting before the general missionary meeting and for the most part, he rebuked us on EVERYTHING wrong we've been doing. It was SO intense. He definitely showed what it means in D&C 121 to "reprove betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost." Let me tell you, if the other missionaries were in that meeting, MANY sister missionaries would have broken down in tears and some ELDERS would have also. True story.
Being me, I was keeping eye contact with him while he was "thrashing us" and when he sees someone looking him in the eyes, he stares into your very soul. I feel like more than half of that meeting was him and I staring at each other and he analyzing me from the inside out. At one part of the meeting, I chuckled at something he said, and he called me out by saying "I like you Elder, come up to the front." Then he had me come to the front of all the leaders and smile at them. Then he said "You can go sit down now." Super funny.
Later, to begin the general missionary meeting, we started with a musical number I had to put together with missionaries from all over the mission singing the EFY Medley (We'll Bring the World His Truth and As Sisters in Zion). With very little practice and lots of prayer, we actually did very good. After that, I went and sat down and Elder Arnold got up again, looked at me, and asked me if I want to help him again. I said sure and he once again, called me up to the front. He then told me to hold up my arms and stand there, which I did for about ten minutes. He then asked me how I felt and I said "I can't feel my arms anymore." He told the APs to come up and hold my arms up, which they did (not very well) and he talked about how we need to "Help each other in the work." We than stood up there for another ten minutes, with them holding my arms up. Finally he looked at us and said "All right Elders, give him a huge, then send him home." So while I was giving the second Elder a hug, I whispered, "all right, now send me home." We laughed and he said "Give me your name tag." It was all very funny.
The rest of the meeting was great. Abigail was there and I got to practice role plays with her, fun stuff!!
The rest of last week was pretty average. Some fun things that happened were we went to this authentic Mexican Restaurant called "King's Tacos." The food was very authentic and all the waitresses (and waiters) spoke Spanish. 'Twas a blast. Also, we helped paint a house, sang a musical number in Sacrament meeting (Lord, I Would Follow Thee), and yeah.
So last week seemed to go by super fast, so this email shouldn't be too much longer. ;)
Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with my brotha', Elder Brett Babbel. He reminds a TON of my best friend, Elder Joseph Shearer, so appropriately, we get along. We had a good time, and visited an El Savladorian member who fed us delicious food.
On Thursday, (you'll be proud of me for this, Mom) we went to the house of some of my favorite members the Genoas/Trujillos, and I made and brought Chocolate Decadence. They, appropriately, fell in love with it. Sister Genoa wanted the recipe, but I told her it was a secret recipe, so she went through and asked me if a bunch of different ingredients were in it. She didn't get much out of me.
On Friday, we had a Zone Council which was a lot of fun. Our whole Zone ate breakfast together, then had a meeting where we played some games and recieved instruction on different things. It was very fun.
Saturday was quite the day. We had a ward picnic planned at a park nearby, at 2:00 PM. But it was raining ALL DAY, so we had to change the location to the chapel. So at 2:00, all the missionaries were there with a few members waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Some members had the hamburger meat and were stuck in traffic. They didn't show up until about 3 hours later. It was rough. Luckily, our appointment at 5:00 PM canceled. But the food came, more members came, and then a homeless man came. So there's this fat, balding, Italian man (some people say he's homeless, some say he has a home), but he's been known for coming into our church, yelling things in Italian, stealing a lamp or something, then running out. He showed up at the picnic, and our bishop invited him to come sit down and served him some food and drink. The man was being very rude and demanding and Elder Babbel was super upset because he himself hadn't had a hamburger yet, but this man was served one made personally for him. It was pretty funny. Eventually, this man gets up and walks out of the gym and Elder Babbel, Elder Staheli, and I all get up and bee-line in to the door he walked out of. We find that he had gone into the kitchen and was now fighting with one of the member ladies in their cooking and going through the drawers (probably looking for something to steal). We were about to grab him and throw him out, but Bishop flies by us and grabs him himself and throws him out of the chapel. The whole time, this man is yelling in a high pitched, girly, Italian voice. Jesu Cristo!! Jesu Cristo!! Todo bene!! Todo bene!! Which means "Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, It's Okay, It's Okay!!!" So we threw him out and locked all the doors. It was great.
Yesterday, Sunday, was also a nice day. All the missionaries sang "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul," while I played the piano, for a Missionary's Farewell in the English Ward. We also had dinner with one of my favorite Mexican Families, the Sifuentes. It's a single mom with her four kids and she is SO funny. She's like Dad in Mexican Mom form. We had a lot of fun there.
One thing I've been studying a lot lately, and we talked about at Zone Council, is having charity. I ended up giving a talk two Sundays ago, about Charity, in Sacrament meeting and I quoted 1 Corinthians 13 and the talk "Charity Never Faileth" by Thomas S. Monson in the October General Conference of 2010. I invite you all to read both of those. 1 Corinthinas 13 makes it very clear that Charity will never end. Paus says many things will fade away or dissapear, but charity, the pure love of Christ, no. I, and my Zone Leader, quoted verse 11 in 1 Corinthians 13 saying "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." As missionaries, we sometimes do dumb things and forget that we're examples of Jesus Christ, so our zone needed a little reminder of that. But, even as people, we honestly sometimes do "childish" things. We just need to remember that we are children of God and that our goal in life is to become like him. So have charity and put away childish things. That is my invitation to you. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. Chao!!
Oye! (That's Spanish for...well, for a lot of things, but in this context it means "I'm tired physically, mentally, and emotionally" ;)
That's great, Mom, that all is going a lot better. I think studies show that if you keep up a different schedule for like 2-3 weeks straight, your body will adapt and it will become the norm for you. Not sure, but I'm glad all is working out. And attitude really does make all the difference. Haha! Yeah, Hispanics eat a lot of potatoes (especially in French Fry form). Another popular snack food, you could say, that all Hispanics eat is called Salchipapas. I can assure you Dad knows what they are. Basically it's just fried french fries and hot dog bits thrown together and it's SUPER popular in Spanish countries. The other day, we were eating with a Peruvian member (the one who introduced me to Lomos Saltados), and she made us Salchipapas with...get this...FRY SAUCE!! She had this pink sauce drizzled on top of it all and I asked her (in Spanish) "What is this sauce??" and she said (in French ;) "It's basically ketchup, mayonaisse, some pepper and other things." So I told her (in Elvish) "This sauce is SUPER famous in Utah, we basically invented it." It was very funny. So yes, I am a pro at making french fries now.
This week...went. If I remembered what happened I'd tell you. Kidding, I'll pull out my planner to see what we did. :)
Ahhh yes. Last Monday was a very fun P-Day. A few weeks ago, we found a random teddy bear in Walmart that had a tag on it that said "Take me to the Photo Place (I forgot the name) and you can get a free photo shoot." So we did, and last Monday us three and two other missionaries dressed up in bowler hats, top hats, cowboy hats, and fake mustaches and wait and had a free photo shoot. It was SWEET!!! I basically looked exactly like Charlie Chaplin except for with brown hair and missionary clothes. The pictures were great but we learned we only get one for free and if we want all of them (like 30) even digitally, we have to pay a hundred bucks. So forget that idea!! The experience was great and we'll get a big black-and-white group picture pretty soon here (I'll send the picture). Later that day we went to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) and we were lucky to have a member that could get us in for free. We went because there were two exibits going on there (a tattoo exhibit and a glass nature exhibit called Chihuly) going on at the same time and the tattoo one ended yesterday. Chihuly for some dumb reason was temporarily closed when we were there, bummer. But we went to the tattoo exhibit, which was pretty good. A lot of mens' butts covered in tattoos which didn't really tickle my fancy. There was a lot of really cool tattoo art, but I couldn't help but think Why?? Art is incredible and wonderful and I love and respect it with all my heart, but on your body, your temple from God. Not really my cup of tea. We went to other parts of the museum which was a ton of fun.
Other than that, this week was kind of a slump. We've been trying hard to work with the members to find more investigators to teach, and we've seen a lot of miracles and gotten lots of members willing to invite their friends. They just need to start inviting their friends. :)
Yesterday (Happy Belated Labor Day by-the-by, yes we do celebrate it here in Canada) I was able to see a principle put into action at the outcomes of it. I've been trying a lot harder lately to be more bold and not sugar-coat everything to try and make the Gospel seem to adaptable to people. I've fallen guilty of that many times when people state their beliefs, and when they aren't exactly the same as ours, me trying to re-word and contort our beliefs to make them more accepting of it. And that's not good. The Gospel is truth and if people aren't willing to accept it, stinks to be them. But we, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, need not fear what others have to say about the Gospel. And we must not fear speaking the truth in all times and in all things and in all places. We shouldn't be ashamed of what we believe. Yesterday, we were in a area with a lot of crackheads, crazies, and homeless people, and a man confronted me and asked me my opinion on some questions. I decided to be very blunt with him and tell him what I thought. And for the most part, he agreed with me (except that beer makes you live longer :). He later when on to say that he used to come to our church in Calgary and we were able to invite him to church here and gave him our contact information. It was a great experience. On the other hand, my companion, Elder Staheli, was talking to three Lesbians on a bus and they asked him what our churches belief on homosexuality was. He told them that we believe in marriage between a man and a woman. They weren't too happy. Luckily we were leaving the bus at that time, but they got some choice words in their before we left. Nevertheless, in both of those situations we did not fear man, but God, and we were not afraid to speak the truth and stand up for our church, no matter the cost. The Gospel is a wonderful thing and it is so true. I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week!!
That's great, Mom, that all is going a lot better. I think studies show that if you keep up a different schedule for like 2-3 weeks straight, your body will adapt and it will become the norm for you. Not sure, but I'm glad all is working out. And attitude really does make all the difference. Haha! Yeah, Hispanics eat a lot of potatoes (especially in French Fry form). Another popular snack food, you could say, that all Hispanics eat is called Salchipapas. I can assure you Dad knows what they are. Basically it's just fried french fries and hot dog bits thrown together and it's SUPER popular in Spanish countries. The other day, we were eating with a Peruvian member (the one who introduced me to Lomos Saltados), and she made us Salchipapas with...get this...FRY SAUCE!! She had this pink sauce drizzled on top of it all and I asked her (in Spanish) "What is this sauce??" and she said (in French ;) "It's basically ketchup, mayonaisse, some pepper and other things." So I told her (in Elvish) "This sauce is SUPER famous in Utah, we basically invented it." It was very funny. So yes, I am a pro at making french fries now.
This week...went. If I remembered what happened I'd tell you. Kidding, I'll pull out my planner to see what we did. :)
Ahhh yes. Last Monday was a very fun P-Day. A few weeks ago, we found a random teddy bear in Walmart that had a tag on it that said "Take me to the Photo Place (I forgot the name) and you can get a free photo shoot." So we did, and last Monday us three and two other missionaries dressed up in bowler hats, top hats, cowboy hats, and fake mustaches and wait and had a free photo shoot. It was SWEET!!! I basically looked exactly like Charlie Chaplin except for with brown hair and missionary clothes. The pictures were great but we learned we only get one for free and if we want all of them (like 30) even digitally, we have to pay a hundred bucks. So forget that idea!! The experience was great and we'll get a big black-and-white group picture pretty soon here (I'll send the picture). Later that day we went to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) and we were lucky to have a member that could get us in for free. We went because there were two exibits going on there (a tattoo exhibit and a glass nature exhibit called Chihuly) going on at the same time and the tattoo one ended yesterday. Chihuly for some dumb reason was temporarily closed when we were there, bummer. But we went to the tattoo exhibit, which was pretty good. A lot of mens' butts covered in tattoos which didn't really tickle my fancy. There was a lot of really cool tattoo art, but I couldn't help but think Why?? Art is incredible and wonderful and I love and respect it with all my heart, but on your body, your temple from God. Not really my cup of tea. We went to other parts of the museum which was a ton of fun.
Other than that, this week was kind of a slump. We've been trying hard to work with the members to find more investigators to teach, and we've seen a lot of miracles and gotten lots of members willing to invite their friends. They just need to start inviting their friends. :)
Yesterday (Happy Belated Labor Day by-the-by, yes we do celebrate it here in Canada) I was able to see a principle put into action at the outcomes of it. I've been trying a lot harder lately to be more bold and not sugar-coat everything to try and make the Gospel seem to adaptable to people. I've fallen guilty of that many times when people state their beliefs, and when they aren't exactly the same as ours, me trying to re-word and contort our beliefs to make them more accepting of it. And that's not good. The Gospel is truth and if people aren't willing to accept it, stinks to be them. But we, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, need not fear what others have to say about the Gospel. And we must not fear speaking the truth in all times and in all things and in all places. We shouldn't be ashamed of what we believe. Yesterday, we were in a area with a lot of crackheads, crazies, and homeless people, and a man confronted me and asked me my opinion on some questions. I decided to be very blunt with him and tell him what I thought. And for the most part, he agreed with me (except that beer makes you live longer :). He later when on to say that he used to come to our church in Calgary and we were able to invite him to church here and gave him our contact information. It was a great experience. On the other hand, my companion, Elder Staheli, was talking to three Lesbians on a bus and they asked him what our churches belief on homosexuality was. He told them that we believe in marriage between a man and a woman. They weren't too happy. Luckily we were leaving the bus at that time, but they got some choice words in their before we left. Nevertheless, in both of those situations we did not fear man, but God, and we were not afraid to speak the truth and stand up for our church, no matter the cost. The Gospel is a wonderful thing and it is so true. I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week!!
Sunday, September 4, 2016
WOOO HOOO!!!!
GO LOGAN!!! FINALLY!!!!
That sounds like a pretty good first date (that you planned). A romantic walk through the trees. Feeding each other cookies and watermelon in the candle light. Watching the sunset and the stars. SO ROMANTIC!!!! And I know exactly what you're talking about when you say "we stalled them" aka "making out." HA HA!!!! Don't worry Logan, I won't tell Mom. ;) Good work though kiddo. I'm proud of you. Sorry about the musical number, learn now that using loose sheets of paper is absolutely the WORST way you could play a song. Either stick them in plastic sheets, three whole punch them and put them in a binder, or stick them in plastic sheets and stick those in a binder. Loose sheets suck. I know. I've done what you just did probably a dozen times. What's even worse is when you have a hymn book and it closes AND falls off the piano in the middle of the song. Yikes. Also, sorry about the ankle. Milk it for what it is because girls in high school LOVE playing nurse and helping out the wounded. Look at Mom, she's far out of High School and she's still playing that game. ;)
HI Mom. Heh heh. How's school?? Sorry to hear about all the craziness.
That's SWEET that Nick's going to Barcelona and Nathan going's to Brazil. I'm glad he's finally going out after putting it off for so long. Honestly, one of the best decisions I've ever made is going out RIGHT after my 18th birthday. No waiting. But it's good he's going out and I'm SUPER jealous that he's going to Sao Paulo. I've met SO many people here from there. Everyone here downtown speaks Portuguese. I LOVE Brazilian people. In my free time I study Portuguese so for my homecoming talk, I'll bear my testimony in Portuguese. Ha ha! Dulce de Leche (or Arequipa as Dad and I like to call it) Cake shouldn't be too hard to make. You just have to layer a normal cake with Dulce de Leche and then pour some more over the top of it. Good luck!!
Sophie, if you can lift me up by the time I get back, you're like an ant. Ant-Woman is what I'll call you. You may be getting stronger, but I'm getting fatter. ;) Once the holidays end though, I'm Cleanse Dieting!!
Savannah, I like Chocolate Salami (see below) and Schwarma (also chicken). I had a baby this week. My baby is Elder Valliere. Love, Ammon.
Wait WHAT!?!?! A BABY?!?! HA HAAA!!!
So, last Monday, during P-Day, our Zone Leaders told us that the Assistants to the President told them that Elder Staheli and I are going to be taking their van and going up to Brampton the next day. That night, President Shields called us and told us that we're getting a new missionary to train!! Elder Valliere came to the mission last December, but because of some complications at home, he had to return after about two weeks in the field. Now he's out again and we're training him. Having had to go home and come back, we were worried that he was going to be a weirdo or have some weird problems, but this Elder is a STUD!! His Spanish is already pretty good and he's very open, fast-learning, and a hard-working guy. He's from Layton, Utah, which makes us a trio of Utah Missionaries!! Woot woot!! Cream of the Crop!! I love telling people, "Yep, all three of us are from Utah. Three white, teenager Mormon boys. Can't get any more stereotypical than that." :)
This Thursday, we went over to visit one of my favorite families in the ward, the Trujillo/Genoa family. Kelly Genoa, a young woman who just got off her mission in Peru and I planned on making Lomos Saltados for the rest of the family. Lomos Saltado is one of my favorite dishes in the WORLD!! It's Peruvian and it was the first Hispanic dish I had on my mission. If you don't know, it consists of steak strips, french fries, tomatoes, onions, rice, and other stuff if you desire. So we went over, they gave me an Ecuadorian apron (because that's where they're from) and we got cooking. It was SUPER fun. And afterwards, it was super delicious. I'll bring that recipe home and make some for all y'all. Kelly got some pictures of me cooking, so I'll have to get them an send them to you. She's applying to a college up here called "George Brown" with is prominent for it's incredible cooking program. I'm very much considering studying there after a couple years in UVU. I've already had MANY member families offer me a place in their house. So we'll see. :)
The rest of this week consisted of me giving my first District Meeting in Spanish, us eating chocolate Salami, meeting with a blind Mexican, me getting a stellar organ lesson from a missionary (who's father is an organist know world wide, Welch is the last name), getting two new Dominican Investigators through our English class (gonna baptize them), contacting lots of people in Portuguese, and eating lots of Spanish food. It's the good life.
Toady we're planning on going to the ROM (the Royal Ontario Museum) for P-Day and later this week Elder Mervyn B. Arnold of the Seventy is coming to tour our mission. I'm pumped!! Going to get his tie.
One thing I've been really trying to focus on this week is talking a step back from the hub-a-bub of everything and realizing how great life is. We are SO blessed to be living in this beautiful world, which was created by our Savior Jesus Christ, under the direction of our loving Father in Heaven. And through Jesus Christ, we can repent everyday and partake of the sacrament weekly. Through Him, we can find happiness everyday and freedom from the pains of the world. In addition to that, we have a constant communication with our Father in Heaven through prayer. Every night, before I go to bed, I go out to our porch, look at the beautiful view we have of the skyline of Toronto (best in the mission :) and get on my knees to talk with my Father in Heaven. It is one of the best parts of my days. In the scriptures, we see many prophets that go into the mountains to talk with Heavenly Father, even Jesus Christ himself did it. I invite all of you to find your "mountain." Whether it be a literal mountain, or you porch, or even just a small room where you can converse with Heavenly Father. It really makes all the difference, not just for us, but I know our Loving Father in Heaven will be appreciative of it too. He loves you. I love you too, but more importantly, He loves you. :) I hope you have a wonderful week. CHAO!!
GO LOGAN!!! FINALLY!!!!
That sounds like a pretty good first date (that you planned). A romantic walk through the trees. Feeding each other cookies and watermelon in the candle light. Watching the sunset and the stars. SO ROMANTIC!!!! And I know exactly what you're talking about when you say "we stalled them" aka "making out." HA HA!!!! Don't worry Logan, I won't tell Mom. ;) Good work though kiddo. I'm proud of you. Sorry about the musical number, learn now that using loose sheets of paper is absolutely the WORST way you could play a song. Either stick them in plastic sheets, three whole punch them and put them in a binder, or stick them in plastic sheets and stick those in a binder. Loose sheets suck. I know. I've done what you just did probably a dozen times. What's even worse is when you have a hymn book and it closes AND falls off the piano in the middle of the song. Yikes. Also, sorry about the ankle. Milk it for what it is because girls in high school LOVE playing nurse and helping out the wounded. Look at Mom, she's far out of High School and she's still playing that game. ;)
HI Mom. Heh heh. How's school?? Sorry to hear about all the craziness.
That's SWEET that Nick's going to Barcelona and Nathan going's to Brazil. I'm glad he's finally going out after putting it off for so long. Honestly, one of the best decisions I've ever made is going out RIGHT after my 18th birthday. No waiting. But it's good he's going out and I'm SUPER jealous that he's going to Sao Paulo. I've met SO many people here from there. Everyone here downtown speaks Portuguese. I LOVE Brazilian people. In my free time I study Portuguese so for my homecoming talk, I'll bear my testimony in Portuguese. Ha ha! Dulce de Leche (or Arequipa as Dad and I like to call it) Cake shouldn't be too hard to make. You just have to layer a normal cake with Dulce de Leche and then pour some more over the top of it. Good luck!!
Sophie, if you can lift me up by the time I get back, you're like an ant. Ant-Woman is what I'll call you. You may be getting stronger, but I'm getting fatter. ;) Once the holidays end though, I'm Cleanse Dieting!!
Savannah, I like Chocolate Salami (see below) and Schwarma (also chicken). I had a baby this week. My baby is Elder Valliere. Love, Ammon.
Wait WHAT!?!?! A BABY?!?! HA HAAA!!!
So, last Monday, during P-Day, our Zone Leaders told us that the Assistants to the President told them that Elder Staheli and I are going to be taking their van and going up to Brampton the next day. That night, President Shields called us and told us that we're getting a new missionary to train!! Elder Valliere came to the mission last December, but because of some complications at home, he had to return after about two weeks in the field. Now he's out again and we're training him. Having had to go home and come back, we were worried that he was going to be a weirdo or have some weird problems, but this Elder is a STUD!! His Spanish is already pretty good and he's very open, fast-learning, and a hard-working guy. He's from Layton, Utah, which makes us a trio of Utah Missionaries!! Woot woot!! Cream of the Crop!! I love telling people, "Yep, all three of us are from Utah. Three white, teenager Mormon boys. Can't get any more stereotypical than that." :)
This Thursday, we went over to visit one of my favorite families in the ward, the Trujillo/Genoa family. Kelly Genoa, a young woman who just got off her mission in Peru and I planned on making Lomos Saltados for the rest of the family. Lomos Saltado is one of my favorite dishes in the WORLD!! It's Peruvian and it was the first Hispanic dish I had on my mission. If you don't know, it consists of steak strips, french fries, tomatoes, onions, rice, and other stuff if you desire. So we went over, they gave me an Ecuadorian apron (because that's where they're from) and we got cooking. It was SUPER fun. And afterwards, it was super delicious. I'll bring that recipe home and make some for all y'all. Kelly got some pictures of me cooking, so I'll have to get them an send them to you. She's applying to a college up here called "George Brown" with is prominent for it's incredible cooking program. I'm very much considering studying there after a couple years in UVU. I've already had MANY member families offer me a place in their house. So we'll see. :)
The rest of this week consisted of me giving my first District Meeting in Spanish, us eating chocolate Salami, meeting with a blind Mexican, me getting a stellar organ lesson from a missionary (who's father is an organist know world wide, Welch is the last name), getting two new Dominican Investigators through our English class (gonna baptize them), contacting lots of people in Portuguese, and eating lots of Spanish food. It's the good life.
Toady we're planning on going to the ROM (the Royal Ontario Museum) for P-Day and later this week Elder Mervyn B. Arnold of the Seventy is coming to tour our mission. I'm pumped!! Going to get his tie.
One thing I've been really trying to focus on this week is talking a step back from the hub-a-bub of everything and realizing how great life is. We are SO blessed to be living in this beautiful world, which was created by our Savior Jesus Christ, under the direction of our loving Father in Heaven. And through Jesus Christ, we can repent everyday and partake of the sacrament weekly. Through Him, we can find happiness everyday and freedom from the pains of the world. In addition to that, we have a constant communication with our Father in Heaven through prayer. Every night, before I go to bed, I go out to our porch, look at the beautiful view we have of the skyline of Toronto (best in the mission :) and get on my knees to talk with my Father in Heaven. It is one of the best parts of my days. In the scriptures, we see many prophets that go into the mountains to talk with Heavenly Father, even Jesus Christ himself did it. I invite all of you to find your "mountain." Whether it be a literal mountain, or you porch, or even just a small room where you can converse with Heavenly Father. It really makes all the difference, not just for us, but I know our Loving Father in Heaven will be appreciative of it too. He loves you. I love you too, but more importantly, He loves you. :) I hope you have a wonderful week. CHAO!!
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