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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!!

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!! 

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!!

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!! (cue Aerosmith "Back in the Saddle Again)
Oh Ho Ho. It is SO GOOD to be back. Honestly. I LOVE the city!! And we're going to KILL IT this transfer.
I'm down Mom. I'll sing it when I come back. Only like a dozen people there will understand it, but heh, that's life. Sounds like life is just one big party over there. Yeah, here too. ;)
Woohoo!! Good work Sophie!!! That's SO COOL!! Why is the Flint family just unfairly talented. It makes everyone else look like a fool! I can't wait to see you ice skate when I get back Soph. Maybe we can do a partner ice skate. I'll use my strong muscles to lift you up and I'll skate around. Then you can lift me up. ;) No way?? I didn't even think Rhys had graduated from elementary school yet. Haha. That's SO cool though. I'm sure he'll have fun learning Japanese. Racist Mom. Not ALL Japanese people are small. Just 99% of them. :}
This week was off the charts. So I just won't write about it and tell you all when I get home. SIKE! Buckle up.
So last Monday (P-Day), we celebrated our last transfer as a District and had a District lunch at an All-You-Can-Eat Chinese Restaurant called the Mandarin. It was SWEET!! After we stuffed ourselves, I surprised one of the Sisters in the District, Sister Spencer, with a Surprise Birthday Chocolate Cheesecake (she had previously told me that was her favorite type of cake). It honestly was one of THE best cakes I've ever made. She was very appreciative. So we had a delicious time eating that cake, and then we went home and packed up our bags and cleaned up the apartment.
Tuesday (Transfer Day). After the zipper of my overfilled suitcase popped and I had to ingeniously put together a makeshift zipper to fix it. We met up with a bunch of other missionaries at Brampton, said goodbye to many (including the infamous Elder Kylan Erickson :), then we went to our new areas and got Right to work. My new companion, Elder Kyle Staheli is from Enterprise, Utah (yeah Utah, cream of the crop!!). Enterprise is down South by St. George, but close to the border with Nevada. He has twelve siblings I believe. He's a pretty quite guy, but we've already had a ton of fun and we get along great together. We met up with my favorite blind Mexican, Adalberto right after we lunched and then later that night, you guessed it, I taught MORE Portuguese people. It never ends for me. After English Classes, we gave a chapel tour to two new Brazilian students because the Portugues Elders (Zone Leaders) had to leave. I'm convinced that President Shields is going to put me in Portuguese work sooner or later. Revelation! Write it down.
The rest of the week consisted of me meeting the returning members we're working with and reuniting with other ward members I knew in the days. All we do now is work with inactive members. I just want to TEACH and BAPTIZE!!! It'll happen. Oh ho. It'll happen. We've been talking with a bunch of Spanish people and finding potential investigators that hopefully we'll start teaching soon. I contacted a Colombian family on the bus who said they weren't very religious (which is great because usually they're die hard Catholics). Hopefully we'll be able to teach them this week and baptize them the next one ;)
Yesterday, Sunday, was quite a day. After all the meetings and what not, we went over to a member family's house named the Lugos. He's the Ward Missionary Leader so he had all the Spanish/Portuguese missionaries over along with some RMs and a soon to leave missionary in the ward. It was a BLAST!! We had some delicious dinner and played lots of fun games, like Chubby Bunny (don't know what it is?? look it up ;) Kimbery Trujillo (a famous RM in Toronto), dared me to chug this sketchy bowl a Salad Dressing that was on the table in front of me. There really wasn't all that much so I asked her what she'd give me for it. She eventually promised to buy me a Soccer Jersey from Ecuador (which is where she's from), so I took the offer and chugged it. The dressing consisted of olive oil, salt, and an amount of vinegar that should never be consumed by the human body. I don't understand why my body didn't reject it and throw it up, but it didn't!! But the rest of that day my chest burned like crazy. Worth it?? Absolutely. And I'm excited to get my Ecuadorian Jersey very soon. 
Oh, and another great thing that happened this week was we were able to see a Prophet!! M. Russell Ballard, the man, the legend. Also Randall K Bennet, of the 70 was there accompanying him. I was playing the Organ for the meeting and as I was finishing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" (for Prelude music), everyone started standing up because he walked in the door RIGHT next to me. He looked at me and said "Hey Elder." I so ingeniously said "Hey." Then he said "That sounded good." I again with my witty replies said "Thank you." Then he sat down. Before the meeting he wanted to shake everyone's hand, so the missionaries went up by rows (depending on where they were sitting) and shook his hand. Me, being on the stand, wasn't really sure where to go. So I didn't go anywhere. And by the time I was like "Maybe I should go now," he was already sitting down, so I thought "Eh, too late. That's life kid." But don't you worry. I got my handshake. Halfway through the meeting we took a break, which President Shields asked me to play some intermediate organ for, and once again Elder Ballard came in and finally came over and shook my hand. Last but not least. Not at all. ;) Later that day he gave another meeting to Ward Councils and we were able to watch that Broadcasted to our chapel, along with his Broadcast he gave Sunday morning to all of Ontario.
One of the things I really liked that Elder M. Russell Ballard said is that "It is impossible for the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to lead this church astray." Impossible. He talked about how this world has many different ideas and views and that even in the church there are some weird ideas and false doctrine floating around. He said that we MUST look to the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. They are our source of true doctrine and they will never lie to us. It was incredible to listen to the experiences he shared about his time with the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles. I've read their talks and I can testify that they are called of God. They are inspired and they are incredible, intelligent men that will never lead this church in the wrong direction. I invite you all to read or listen to their talks and follow their council. It's SO true. I love you all and hope you have a great week. Chao!!

Elder Staheli and I after we bought some Hispanic Caps. Viva Colombia!!

Yeah!! Free stuff and small cabins!!
That sounds fun. Man! if it was like Nancy's bunkhouse than that thing was REALLY small. Not like the Briggs' Cabin. I'm glad the lake was fun and the hotel was also. Sweet stuff!! Ragtime at the Eccles Theater. Jealous!! Did you guys end up going to Tomato Street also?? So what's your new calling Mom?? Relief Society President!!! Yeah yeah!! Yeah school!! Not for me. BUT I also have a big change coming up in the mission. Because we got transfer calls last night. Ooooohhhh.
SO. I, Elder Ammon Flint, have been called to RETURN to Downtown Toronto!!! Woot woot!! I'm going back to the area I started in!! I'm SUPER PUMPED!!!!!! My new companion will be Elder Staheli. He came out a few months ago (like 6). He's from Utah (the cream of the crop). Elder Delap is also leaving Mississauga. He's going to a town called London (yes in Ontario). So we're "white-washing" out (or they're putting two new Elders into our area). It's gunna be intense!! And I'm SO excited to be going back home to the Christie Ward. I've missed those kids. I hope I stay downtown until after the holidays. It's three trasfers (4 1/2 months), so keep you fingers crossed!! BUT! We of course HAD to have a baptism before they kicked us out of Mississauga. So we did.
Jherouoi Fotine (we found out we've been spelling his name wrong this whole time) was baptized YESTERDAY!!!! It was SO good!! For the baptismal service, I played (the piano) and sang "Glorious" (made famous by David Archuleta) in Spanish. I looked up while I was performing to see Jherouoi crying in his seat. SUCCESS!!! After the baptism, we went to their house and had dinner and said goodbye to them all. I cried. Appropriately. Pictures will follow (not of me crying).
Other than that, this week has been a montage of saying goodbye to lots of people. Sad days. BUT, we ended up going to the Colombia Mia (my favorite Colombian Restaurant). And something really funny happened. So our waitress started speaking with us in Spanish and then she asked us where we were from and I said the United States, and she said yeah, you don't look like Hispanics (this is all in Spanish by the by). I asked her where she was from and she said Cuba. Hmmm...unique. I flashed back to this time I was sitting in the library, emailing my family, and I heard this young woman speaking on the phone in really fast Spanish. At first I wasn't sure if it was Spanish or not. So after I finished emailing, I asked her where she was from and she told me Cuba. Hmmm...unique. Flash forward to the restaurant, and I'm turning to Elder Delap saying "That's the girl that we met in the library a few weeks ago." When the waitress (her name is Lizi) returns I tell her that I met her in the library weeks back. At first she's confused (C'MON! missionaries stick out like sore thumbs, how did you forget??) but then she remembered. It was super fun. We talked with her a little bit more and invited her to the baptism of Jherouoi. She didn't come. BUT! The new Elders coming in will baptize her.
Last Saturday, Elder Delap and I decided to go to this All You Can Eat Korean BBQ Restaurant that we had been eyeing a few weeks back. It was SO GOOD!!! It brought me back to the days when we ate Korean BBQ. TRUNKY!!!! They literally brought out raw meat and we ate it!! AFTER we cooked it on a BBQ/Stove that was IN our table. Gotcha! It was SO cool!! This was all happening while Toronto was getting a HUGE Flash Flood and supposedly a Tornado touched down somewhere also. Crazy stuff. I LOVED the rain though.
This week was an absolutely incredible and I think one thing that has just made it a little better is I've been watching the Bible Videos the church came out with, of Christ. I invite you all to watch those, and watch them again if you already have. They are SO good. My testimony of Jesus Christ has grown immensely. I had the great opportunity to bear that testimony at the baptism yesterday and I would like to bear it to all of you. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. He is the Son of God and he is my older brother. "He is the Jehovah of the Olde Testament and the Messiah of the New" (The Living Christ). He is the bread of life and the water of life. He atoned for our sins, pains, sufferings, and afflictions. Through him we can repent, be clean, and start a new life. He lived a perfect life and he loves us perfectly because he has a perfect body. He was the first to rise from the dead with a resurrected body. He established his church on the earth and that church has been restored through modern day prophets. I know this to be true. This is the true church, The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day States. I know it to be true. I love you all and hope that you all have a good week. Chao!!

#missionislife

RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGTTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you're killin' me. What theater is that in?? I'm decently familiar with the ones in Logan. Well, jokes on you. Matilda the Musical is here in Toronto and I got President Shield's permission to go. Ha ha. Not really. I wonder if I could get that though. Hmmmm??? Ay!! And Tomato Street Garlic Bread too?? You WANT me to come home early. Jokes on you, I'm not falling for it. I honestly couldn't even fathom the idea of coming home early. It's unfathomable...or without fathom. It's so surreal to me. #missionislife
Yes, the camera cord works. But no, I don't think it will fix my camera. It's pretty out of whack. The pictures I sent were from Elder Delap's Camera. I'll keep working on mine though. And no, Russell M Ballard hasn't come yet. August 20th. I'll get that tie. ALSO, I was asked to play the piano/organ for that meeting, so I'll be right up there on the stage with him. Cool Beans!! Have fun at Couer d' Alene. That's French No?? Everything's French here in Canada. So annoying. HEY LOGAN!!! WHY DON'T YOU CRAM ONE MORE DATE INTO THIS SUMMER!!!! Or one date at all!! You've blatantly ignored me enough!!!! BUT! Since the school year is coming up, you will be forced to ask girls to dances. HAHA!! And if you don't, everyone (girls and boys alike) will hate you and bully you!! Including Me!! Just kidding (kind of). I love you bro. BUT! My rule for you is that you must go on AT LEAST one date in between dances. AT LEAST ONE!!! That is SO easy!! JUST DO IT!!
I apologize ahead of time for the long letter. This week was quite eventful.
So last Tuesday, we went over to the Black Creek Central Elders' house to sleep over before District Meeting the next day. It was pretty good. And then we had District Meeting. Which was more than pretty good. SO, this was our last District Meeting in Jolly July, so I had everyone bring all their Christmas decorations and apparel and we had a BLAST!! Other than singing Christmas songs and sharing Christmas stories, I planned an activity where we did "role plays" of contacting different Christmas Characters (Santa, Ebeneezer Scrooge, Rudolph, and of course, Buddy the Elf). It was so fun. And then we took some toffee I made and went to carol to the other District. What happened though, was the other District ended their District Meeting WAY early and some of them had already left. Losers. BUT we sang to a few championships in the hallway and afterwards, we took a Jolly July Christmas Picture. Hopefully later today, or next week. I'll have some Jolly July Christmas Cards for all of you!!!
Later that day I went on exchanges with Elder Anthony Martin Leyton Rivera, from Peru. One of my BEST Friends in the mission. We had a super fun day where we got fed a TON by the members. He's such a stellar missionary and I love going throughout the day only speaking Spanish.
Thursday was good. We found two new people to teach. Yay! Also, we made cookies and I wrote a letter of encouragement and we brought them over to Jeroe's house. We luckily caught him just leaving and gave him the cookies and the letter (which he both loved).
Friday, July 29th 2016, was a memorable day. I hit my mid-life crisis. And it was a wonderful one. SO. To start out. In the middle of our studies, we get a phone call from the vehicle coordinator of the mission, who tells us that he has a new shiny car waiting for us in Brampton. FOR REALS!! Our car had gone over 80,000 kilometers, which is when they switch it out and sell the old one. So we took it to Brampton and got ourselves a Rogue Nissan SUV!!!! Her name is Sylvia. I decided that it's my year mark, they want me to start training to be a father. So they gave me a SUV. :) Makes sense. Later that day, we celebrated at an Italian Restaurant we've been wanting to go to called Goodfellas. The food was quite delicious (and expensive). But it was such a classy place and it was cool being able to order in Italian (because it's VERY similar to Spanish), communicate in Italian with our waiter, AND communicate with another Waitress we had who spoke Portuguese (from Brazil). I LOVE CULTURE!!! It's so good here. The rest of the day was average. ;)
Last Saturday we went with a member to an Ice Cream/Waffle place...again. Which is super delicious. While we were there, there was a family sitting behind me speaking Spanish. Before we left I started talking to them and they told me they're from Bogota, Colombia!!! It was super cool. The mother told me I spoke Spanish very well. Oh yeah. We weren't able to get their information, but we gave them a card and they'll probably be baptized sometime soon. ;)
Sunday was of course wonderful. There's this homeless man named Dennis, from Trinidad and Tobago. That came to church for his second time. We started talking with him and he told us that he's never been baptized before, and he wants to be baptized in our church because he feels the Spirit here!!! So Sweet!!! He's a really great guy. We just need to get him off smoking and alcohol. Not a Problem!!
Yesterday, we celebrated Civic Day here in Canada. I have no idea what that is, but we celebrated it. :) We did a lot of service and work for some members, then we taught this Spanish/Colombian family that we've been trying to teach ever since I've been here. They're a Stellar family, the father just has read a lot of Anti stuff, and is really skeptical about people that have been raised their whole lives in the church. That's why we have members!!! Later that day, Jeroe's family (the Fotines) invited us over for a barbecue. It was super good and we had a really good conversation with Jeroe. His dad, who is a member, just blurted out at the dinner table. "Jeroe, when are you going to get baptized?? Stop waiting." It was SO good. It's funny too because he keeps saying, no one's pressuring you, but he totally is. We later talked about listening during your prayers for the Holy Ghost, which is going to help him out a lot, and we committed him to asking if he should be baptized a week from this Saturday. We'll follow up with that and I hope that everything goes well!!
One thing I've been working on lately, just like Jeroe, is listening for the Spirit after my prayers. A few weeks ago, a missionary came to our ward and he said something that I really liked. He said that after every personal prayer he has, he listens for a few minutes, just in case God has something to say to him. I've started doing that lately, and I've found that God has a lot to say to me. At least a lot more than I expected. Those few minutes after you end your prayers are very sacred and I can honestly testify that I know that the Holy Ghost really does testify to your heart and to your mind (D&C 8:2). I challenge you all to listen after you pray, because Heavenly Father has many things he wants to say to you. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. Ciao!!

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Elder Flint
Canada Toronto Mission