HAPPY EASTER MONDAY!!!

HAPPY EASTER MONDAY!!!

Yes. I am excited to start college.

Where is the location of the housing for the honors scholarship?? And how much rent would I pay if I was living with Skyler ?? I just want to have all the facts before I make a decision. I just want somewhere that's in a good location, cheaper, and where I can be happy. Honestly, it doesn't really matter to me who I live with, as long as I have my personal space.

So this week was pretty great/different.

Monday, we went to our Bishop's house and practiced, with his wife, for a musical number we performed yesterday.

Tuesday, Romeo finally let us help him help with his house. So we painted primer on his walls while we talked about Missionary Work. Then we had lunch with a great old Guatemalan lady. While there, it started pouring rain. Pretty great. We then had interviews with President Shields, in which we talked about missionaries "Locking Their Hearts." Despite the rain, we got two new students in our English Classes and had a great class.

Wednesday, we did some service, went back to our "Mexican Minefield" where we found a man name Carlos, home alone. So we taught him the first lesson and he was Super Solid. It was pretty great. We then had a great dinner with the Chatter Family (the one's that took us to Niagara Falls).

Thursday we had a great lunch with our investigator. She is preparing for baptism (hopefully soon), so we were pretty excited to meet with her and teach her. It went well. We had some Indian Food.

Later, we did more service and then had dinner with another member family, then we had to run to another Music Practice.

Friday, I directed another District Meeting. It went really well. We had a Sister Bingham visiting, so I asked her if she was related to Erastus Bingham? And she was like "The one who has a monument in Lagoon??" And I said, "Yeah." Then she said "Yeah." Distant Cousins! So I took a picture with her (see below). I also made lot of cookies for District Meeting. So that was pretty fun.

Later on Friday, I went on exchanges with an Elder. He speaks little English, and even less Spanish. So I talked for the majority of the lessons we had. Which was great because I love to talk, especially in Spanish.

Saturday we taught English Classes again. Then we had Missionary Coordination. Then dinner with a fun Peruvian Couple. Later that evening we passed by some Less-Active, Part-Member families and we met a lot of really nice people. So hopefully we'll be able to work with them soon.

Sunday was a great Easter Day. Sadly, none of our Investigators came to church. :( But just about all of the members did, so that was good. We killed it on our musical number. I played "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" on the piano while three sisters in the Ward sang in Spanish. Later on Sunday, we had a really long dinner with some members and their friends. It was pretty bizarre. They just talked about politics (especially Donald Trump) and the most BORING stuff for about two hours while my companion and I just sat there and cried. :) We didn't really cry...at least not on the outside. Luckily, the Spirit saved us that night and we later on had an INCREDIBLE lesson with an investigator we've been trying to meet with a lot. She's living with an awesome less-active member (one of my close friends) and she's very interested in coming to church and everything. So we taught the first lesson (the Joseph Smith story) and it went SUPER well.

My perspective on life has really changed on my mission. It was honestly a very strange Easter I had yesterday. First off, it was sad to see that none of our Investigators came to church at all. Thankfully, most all of them members did; and it made me think how sad but incredible it is how different normal people verses members view these holidays. The world has taken such a "pagan" view on these Holidays and even the norm of "going to church on Easter and Christmas" is starting to diminish away. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, on the other hand, get the picture. We realize how important the life, death, and resurrection of Christ was and how we need to celebrate it and remember him, not only on Easter, but every day of our lives. Another thing that struck me yesterday was how sad and boring the world has become. The best part and the least depressing part of the dinner appointment we had on Easter Day, was when we shared the Church's Easter Video of Jesus Christ. The contrast was so obvious. The whole appointment went from sad and wordly to beautiful and filled with the Spirit. I was able to finish my Easter by reading some pages of the book Jesus the Christ. It was wonderful and it helped me realize even more how important Jesus Christ is. Just speaking of him brings so much life and happiness into our lives. He's so important and I know that he lives. He is. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!!

100 Days???

100 Days??? Oh no.

Well, with such little time, we're having a lot of success.

I'm very shocked and sorry to hear about Brother Lauritzen. Let them know, especially Liz, that they're in my prayers and I'm thinking about them.

Sounds like Disneyland was a blast. Super funny that it snowed when you got home, because it did here too. Basically it was Springtime, then last Thursday night/Friday Morning it snowed a bunch and completely turned into Winter. I was super worried because we had planned to have a barbecue on Saturday; but by Friday Afternoon, EVERYTHING had melted and it was Springtime again. Oh Mother Nature.

This week was pretty awesome.

Monday we went and celebrated the Birthday of Elder Valliere, my son in the mission, by going and getting Korean Barbecue. 'Twas delicious. Then, later that day, I went on exchanges with Elder Babbel and we taught some lessons and saw a lot of success. It was pretty great. And fun! We're both praying that we become Companions before we go home. He goes home four weeks after I do, so we both keep each other pretty trunky. ;)

Tuesday, we taught a few lessons and then taught English Class.

Wednesday, we went over to a city called Vaughn, found a strange painting of this alien looking lady on the side of the road, took it, worked in the area, then went home. Later on, we did some service, ate dinner, and then met with our Bishop and talked about Missionary Work.

Thursday we met with Romeo and planned everything for the Barbecue that we had last Saturday. We then taught some more people, did some service, and ate dinner.

Friday we had Zone Council. It was REALLY good. We had a lot of discussion on Jesus Christ and the new Easter Video (which I'll talk about later). We also talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and how the most important thing the Book of Mormon does is testify of Jesus Christ. Super good. We then drove some Elders back to their area (in Black Creek). I used to serve there so I decided to take them out to one of my favorite Pupusas places. 'Twas delicious.

I was on exchanges with Elder Valliere that day so we had a lot of fun. We taught some awesome lessons and almost got into a Car Crash!!!!

It was super fun. We we're driving to our Dinner Appointment and some Indian Guy, turning right, totally skipped over the first lane and started turning into my lane (the far lane). I slammed on my horn and my brakes and veered left (as much as I could with the median there). The cars touched, but no crash occurred. We turned off onto a side street and I got out of our car and saw that some of his white paint rubbed off on our car, but no damage was done. The guy then came out and said that he was so sorry and that he was just super exasperated and tired and that he just wasn't paying attention. I was like "OBVIOUSLY NOT!!!!" Just kidding. I was super nice. I told him it's all fine because there was no damage and only a little paint of his car rubbed off on ours. We then introduced ourselves to him, gave him a card with Jesus Christ on it, and told him to go watch the new Easter Video. He was super nice. He told us that he'll definitely go watch it and that his faith in God grew from the fact that we didn't get in a crash. So that's good. It was super exhilarating.

On Saturday, we had the Barbecue with Romeo. It was SO good. A few Brothers from the Ward came over and we Barbecued and had a great time. 'Twas delicious. Our main goal of it was to get Romeo some friends and fellowshipping in the ward. Mission Accomplished. Later that day, after we were stuffed from the Barbecue, we had another dinner appointment with some members. Luckily, they didn't feed us that much, so we survived. We then went and taught some more lessons.

Sunday was a crazy miraculous day. We had a great time at church. A couple of our investigators came (including Romeo). After church, an Uruguayan family had us over for another Barbecue. 'Twas even more delicious. Later that day, a Mexican member of the Mississauga Ward (where I used to serve), got in contact with us and invited us to come meet some of her friends up in Georgetown (a town in our area). We went and found this Plant Farm kind of deal, where there are a bunch of Mexican migrant workers working and living there. The member took us around to two of the houses (bunkers) and we ended up teaching the Restoration to 11 of them!!!! It was crazy.  We gave nine of them a copy of the Book of Mormon (because we ran out). We're going back over this Wednesday and we'll probably try to teach all the Mexicans over there. They told us that there are about 70 living around the plantation. So we're planning on baptizing them all and starting a Mexican Branch over there. Haha!!! We were SUPER excited and Super Blessed.

So basically. This was one of the most successful weeks of my mission.

SOOO. If you haven't heard, the church just came out with the new Easter Video, "The Prince of Peace." If you haven't watched it yet, watch it!!!! It's SO good. It's awesome the direction the church is taking to focus everything on Jesus Christ. The new Easter Cards that are in Correlation with the video are just pictures of Jesus Christ on them. Nothing more. Because who doesn't want a free picture of Jesus Christ that they can easily carry around with them everywhere?? So my invitation to all of you is to watch the video, share it with your friends (online and in person), and get some cards from the missionaries and pass them out to EVERYONE!!! Let's spread the Spirit of Jesus Christ around for this Holy Week/Easter Week!!! I love you all!!!

Whoops!!! Last weeks letter. :)

I'm so sorry. I just found this in my drafts and realized that I didn't send it. Whoops!!! Last weeks letter. :)

"There Is Sunshine In My Soul Today!!" Quote Jefferey R Holland, Quote Eliza E. Hewitt
That sounds awesome Sophie!! I'm glad your shredding it up in Ice Skating. Wow, I hope the skate move you're learning isn't as hard to execute as it is to say. Sorry to hear about your teeth. My teeth are doing great. I miss you too!!

Great work Savannah!! I'm glad you got some delicious treats and a t-shirt. Everything's worth it if you get a t-shirt. Remember that. Sorry to hear about your finger. You should probably just cut it off. ;) I can't wait to see your bubble gun!!

Good Work LOGAN!!!! Way to kill it in the Knowledge Bowl. And HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Wow. 17 Years Old. That's how old I was when I kissed my first girl. That's how old you will be when you kiss you're first girl, if you haven't already yet. Prophesy made. Get it done.

And no, Mom, the member said that HE had the gift of prophesy and that I was going to become a General Authority. I don't often tell people that I have the gift of Prophesy. And be careful with what you say, Mom, there's no need for my head to get any bigger than it is. First, I have to become a Free Mason, THEN I can work towards being a General Authority. ;) And don't worry, living worthily and marrying the right person is the easy part. Now finding someone person that I can live with and love for the eternity. That'll take some time.

Great work on the Manicotti. You should send me some for my Birthday. :) I really don't care what kind of electric razor. I've never actually used one before, so I couldn't tell you the differences. My neck size is still 16 1/2 (luckily) and my arm length I believe is 32 or 36. Thanks!!

Well, this was a week. Pretty crazy stuff.

Monday we met with some awesome member families and helped them with their own personal missionary work.

It was really cool on Tuesday, because we were meeting with an investigator and teaching him about Apostles and Prophets. In the past, he had some doubts on the Prophet before, but while we were teaching about him, Elder Hansen bore strong testimony on the reality of the calling of the Prophet. I then said "I know that that is true." And then he said, oh so quietly, but audibly "I know it's true too." It was SO GOOD!!!!! He's so ready for baptism. His wife and kid just need to get back. Later Tuesday night we had two missionaries stay over, because they had a big meeting the next day. One missionary, Elder Dardon, has been out in the mission a little longer than I have, so we were able to kick it back to the old days. It was really fun.

Wednesday Morning, our Zone Leaders called us and asked us to trash our apartment so they could take some pictures of a "dirty apartment" to show as an example for other missionaries. It was very ironic that they asked two missionaries with probably one of the cleanest apartments in the mission to trash theirs'. :| Of course, I guess they wouldn't ask missionaries with a dirty apartment if they could come take pictures of it, because then the missionaries would feel really bad. That's not a bad idea though. Needless to say, we TRASHED our apartment. Luckily we had the help of the other two Elders. (I'll send some pics) Thankfully the Zone Leaders helped us clean it up afterwards.

Thursday, one of our investigators took us out to a delicious lunch and we had a great conversation with her about the Book of Mormon and Temples. She is so ready for baptism also. Hopefully that will come soon.

Friday we had the Temple Trip!!! It was pretty great. I got to see a lot of missionaries in the mission. Directly afterwards I had my District Meeting where I made like a hundred Brownies and gave everyone the "Lock Your Heart" Missionary Talk by Spencer W Kimball to read. I recommend it to everyone: Missionaries (Of Course) and Non-Missionaries (So they can rebuke missionaries who don't do it).

Later on Friday, I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Leung. He's such a great guy. I've been in the same zone as him for 5/6 of his mission. So we're pretty close. We had a great time and met with some really great people.

Saturday and Sunday we GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!

Apart from listening to the words of the Prophets, on Saturday, a bunch of us missionaries went out to Five Guys for lunch and later (to keep the Flint Family Tradition alive) we went and got Blizzards at Dairy Queen! I committed to Elder Babbel that that will be the last ice cream I eat until I get home (other than on my Birthday, or if a member offers it to me), so I got a large. Most of it is still in our freezer. :)

Sunday was a pretty crazy day. We went by an investigator's in the morning and he told us that he was coming to Conference and a baptism that was happening between sessions. Then he didn't come. So we called him and told him to come to the last session. He said he would, then he didn't. So we were pretty bummed out. On the contrary!! Another investigator came to both the first session and the baptism and she LOVED THEM!!!!!!!!!!!! Us and her RM son are both trying to invite her to get baptized as soon as possible because she is SO ready!! Later on Sunday, we met with our Bishop and his six year-old daughter told me that my Spanish isn't good, so I challenged her to a Spanish Talk-Off. I'll let you know how that goes later on.

One of my favorite Conference Talks was by Joy D Jones. The one woman who gave a talk in Conference. Although most of the talk made me trunky about have kids, I really liked the point she made about how people need to keep their commitments. As a missionary, it is honestly one of the most frustrating things, for missionaries, when Investigators don't keep their commitments. In the world we're living in, people are become worse and worse at keeping their commitments, promises, oaths, vows, etc. One thing I have been focusing on more in my life is being trustworthy with my commitments. If I truly tell someone I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it!! As Joy D Jones says, it is not only a great thing we should practice, it's a great thing to teach to the next generation. We do this by helping them to keep "simple promises." Because with practice comes perfection. :) So that's my invitation to you all, not only to teach the next generation how to keep commitments and promises, but to keep them yourselves!! I commit you to doing that. ;) Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

General Conference

Dearest Familia,

I am glad that Grandma had such a great Birthday. I'm SUPER Jealous that you guys had a huge family party without me. I'm sorry that you won't be seeing Dad for a while, I haven't seen him for a while either. :'( I hope that Disneyland is fun, and I'm sure that Logan will end up ditching Micah. He would. We were over at our Bishop's house for dinner and his daughters were watching "Sing" in the other room. It looks pretty decent. I heard one of my favorite Beatles songs being sung on it (which is one of their not-well-known songs) and I got pretty excited. I'm sure I'll see it soon enough. I'm glad you got the one night shift, Mom. Don't vomit. And don't worry about me eating too much ice cream. Elder Babbel has made it his job to make sure I don't eat ice cream or bad things. And trust me, this is the guy that pep talked me through eating a WOW size Poutine. He can make me do incredible things. Haha.

I do however, have to get Dairy Queen this Saturday, because of the family tradition for General Conference. But Elder Babbel will allow that. TRADITION!!

The only things I can think about wanting you to send me, is an electrical razor and a French-Cuff White Shirt. My only cuff-link shirt has gone to shreds and I'm going to turn it into a short-sleeve shirt. Other than that, if you want to buy me anything for my birthday, I would advise you to keep it at home and give it too me for a late birthday/coming home gift; because I do NOT want to have extra stuff to pack. I'm probably already bringing a bunch of things home for all of you. Also, I probably won't be bringing much clothes home, because most of my missionary clothes are just about done for, so I'm going to wear them out in the next few months, and then either leave them or throw them away. The only clothes I'll bring home will probably be the ones I'll wear on the plane. And then I'll probably burn all that once I get released. So new church clothes for when I get home might be nice. :) Also, for my Birthday Dinner this year, I would like to go to the Cheesecake Factory. :) That's basically the first thing I want to do when I get back: go to Temple Square and to the Cheesecake Factory with all of you. So let's make that happen!!

Holo Logan. Good luck with the ACT. That's weird that they're having you do it on the computer. Lucky. If you can get 30 or higher, I'll be proud of you. That was my dream. But then I woke up. :| What AP Tests are you taking?? APUSH, what else?? Remember Logan: SCOL IS 4 CHUMPS!! Way To Go Sophie!! Nice job holding things for ransom. That's my girl!! And I'm glad you can stop worshiping Satan now, Logan. I can tell you stories about why you shouldn't do that... I think the two worst things in the world you could possibly lose are your Wallet and your USB (or other Storage Device). I lost my USB last week and I'm pretty distraught about it. Mainly because I lost a TON of pictures I've collected on the mission. I bought a new USB today and have salvaged most of the pictures I've sent you all or other people, but that's not even half of what I had. I'll find my other USB though. I have the faith.  Sorry about Preference and all the food. It's just preparing you for the mission life. I'm telling you, some days, you eat All-You-Can-Eat Sushi, and then a few hours later you go to a member's house where they feed you a feast! It's awful. But beautiful.

Now Logan. I'm happy for your new friend. But let me give you a few scriptures to warn you about the Canadian type:

Deuteronomy 7: 1 When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the CANADIANITES, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

2 And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

I don't know what to tell you Logan. Just be careful with those Canadians. Now, if she was Hispanic, I wouldn't be worried about you at all, but she's not.

Yeah, that's basically what I did during the Knowledge Bowl (answer all the questions). I remember the day we lost, I ended that round getting 40 points in a row. We knew before those points that we were going to lose, but I decided to go out with a bang anyways. So good luck. And you better send me more emails before the end of my mission. And one more thing. Ouagadougou. Nice Try.

Lacrosse sounds sweet, Micah. Honestly, it's just as popular here in Canada than it is in the United States. I'm glad you're making a lot of friends and having Logan chauffeur you around. Fun stuff. The temple trip you and Logan are planning sounds SWEET! You should wait a few months to go on it and I'll go with you kids. Like an End of Summer Road Trip. That'd be DOPE!! Believe you me Micah, 9th 10th and 11th grades are what matters. And part of 12th grade. 12th grade is when you start applying for Scholarships, so after that, nothing matters. ;) Let me know when you get the Book of Mormon done.

So this week was pretty above average.

Monday we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for the Birthday of Elder Bahr. It was super fun. There wasn't very many people there so it was great. Our waitress was from El Salvador so it was double great. Afterwards, we played sports with the Zone. One of our Zone Leaders challenged me to race him from and to the stage in the gym. So I did. And I totally won, then I lost. I had planned on jumping on the stage at the end of the race and sliding on my belly, but I jumped too late and ran full speed right into the stage. I have a HUGE bruise on my stomach right now and it hurt SO bad. So that's fun. Later on Monday we had a sweet Family Home Evening with an Uruguatian family. They remind me SO much of you guys it hurts. A lot of fighting, a lot of "Shut Ups," a lot of "Idiots," the works.

Tuesday we taught people and English (except not English because we didn't have any students :(

Wednesday we had Zone Conference in Hamilton (a city not too far from us). I had to prepare another Musical Number. This time we rocked it. We did the song "Dear To The Heart Of The Shepherd," and supposedly it was fantastic (I just played the piano). So yeah. The rest of the Conference was really good. President Shields has challenged all the missionaries to read the book "Jesus The Christ" before the end of their mission. AH!! I'm totally going to do it though. We also talked about good music and a lot of things about Jesus Christ and his Gospel. It was a really good conference.

Thursday we taught people and did service.

Friday we taught people.

WAIT! Friday was actually a stellar day. Other than the fact that one of our big appointments bombed. Elder Babbel and one of our APs, Elder Taylor were going to Buffalo Wild Wings to do the Blazin' Challenge for lunch; so we decided to join them. So the Blazin' Challenge. At Buffalo Wild Wings they have their hottest sauce called the Blazin' sauce. The challenge is that you have to eat 10 Chicken Wings in five minutes or shorter. You can not take any drink or wipe your face and hands. It was SO...easy.

Yeah, it was pretty easy. The hardest part was how hot the wings were, not how spicy. I got them done in like three and a half minutes. Elder Babbel got it done in two minutes and 11 seconds. Once the sauce touches your outer skin, though, it burns pretty bad for a while. So that was fun. We got shirts for it though. I'll send you a picture once I get them. And the video of me eating the wings. It was super fun and definitely one of the highs of the week.

Saturday we taught English Classes, and then we were supposed to go with our Investigator to a baptism Downtown in the Christie Ward (which I was pretty excited about) but he bailed on us to go to his cousin's bachelor party or something, so that was pretty upsetting. So we taught the people that live in his basement instead and committed them to coming to church. So that was good.

Sunday I gave a talk in church and I did a pretty stellar job. I made a joke about how I messed up on the piano in Sacrament Meeting and lots of people laughed. So it was good to be able to laugh at myself. I'll talk about what I talked about later. A member told me today that while I was giving a talk, he received revelation that I'm going to become a General Authority. And then he told me that he has the gift of prophecy and during my talk there was a light glowing around me. So that was pretty funny... I guess. The rest of Sunday was us running around inviting people to General Conference, so that was pretty fun.

They had me give my talk on General Conference and the Prophet during Church. So I shared a talk and story by the Prophet that changed my life and my mission. In the 2015 October General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson gave the talk "Be an Example of Light," in which he shared the following account. "At that time, leaders of the Church met with officials in Jerusalem to work out a lease agreement for land on which the Church’s Jerusalem Center would be built. In order to obtain the permissions needed, the Church had to agree that no proselyting would be undertaken by our members who would occupy the center. After that agreement had been made, one of the Israeli officials, who was well acquainted with the Church and its members, remarked that he knew the Church would honor the no-proselyting agreement. “But,” he said, referring to the students who would attend there, “what are we going to do about the light that is in their eyes?” For may that special light ever shine within us, that it might be recognized and appreciated by others." I echo what the Prophet says. I heard that talk my first few weeks in the mission, which was the hardest time I've ever had in my life. I decided to take it to heart and probably the biggest change I've experienced on my mission is the changed I've felt in myself in my love for other people. My charity in the mission has grown ten fold. Now, as I go to watch my final General Conference in the mission, I can't help but feel appreciation for the Prophet, Thomas S Monson. I know that he is a Prophet called of God and the he leads the church today. Due to his medical condition, we might not have him for very much longer, so Go, listen to him, sustain him, remember him as the Prophet he is. I love you all and hope you all LOVE General Conference. I know I WILL!!

I had too much Ice Cream this last week. Wait?? Did I just say too much Ice Cream. I'm sorry. I'm really tired right now. ;)

LOGAN!!!! Send me pictures of Preference!! And all the dates you have been on!! And all the girls you have kissed!!! And don't touch my White Tuxedo!! She's off limits until I get home, unless you send me pictures and tell me your kissing stories (if you even have them).

I hope Grandma likes the surprise. Good luck!!

So this week...pretty average.

Monday we played sports and I drank a Shamrock Shake.

Tuesday it snowed. So we shoveled some peoples' driveways. We also had no students at our English Classes. :(

Wednesday we taught some people, did some service, and ate dinner with the couple that took us to Niagara Falls. We talked with them about getting sealed in the temple (because they haven't yet), and we're all hoping that they can get sealed within the next month and a half, so we can be there too. That would be SO cool!!!

Thursday we taught more people and did more service. We also went on splits with the Priests in our ward, taught some more people, then got Dairy Queen afterwards. Delicious!

Friday I had a huge District Meeting (because the APs and a Senior Missionary decided to come, in addition to my already overly large District). So we had some fun and did it like a Zone Meeting: Intermediate Hymns, Paperwork Stuff, etc. Then afterwards I set up an Ice Cream Bar for everyone, so it was pretty fun. I had too much Ice Cream this last week. Wait?? Did I just say too much Ice Cream. I'm sorry. I'm really tired right now. ;)

Also on Friday, I went on exchanges with THE Elder Bahr. My companion from the MTC with whom I served with for another two transfers. They were pretty great. And strange. A less-active member whom we're trying to teach his family asked us for a ride to his house, but when we went to pick him up, he was drunk (in addition to his already mental issues) and was covered in alcohol. It was quite the hullabaloo. He wouldn't get in the car, so we drove away. :}

Later Friday, we did some service and had an awesome dinner with Bishop Limon and his family. The Bishop here in Chinguacousy is one of the best men I've ever met, so it was a really fun night.

Saturday we actually had students at our English Classes. Then we taught some people and ate some lasagna.

Sunday was a pretty great/crazy day. So to start off. I was asked to play the piano/organ for Sacrament Meeting, because the girl who usually plays wasn't there. I wanted to play the organ, because it's better for Sacrament Meeting, but we find out that the girl who usually plays has the keys, and she wasn't there. So I figured I'd be playing the piano, but one of the members was able to get a key to the organ from the Bishop of another ward. So we unlock the organ, they run off, and a few minutes later, I realize that I need another key to turn the organ on. Sadly, we were not able to find that Bishop or the member who found that Bishop, so I was stuck on the piano. Which is fine...or so I thought.

During that Sacrament Meeting, Maribel was Confirmed and got the Gift of the Holy Ghost. But while we were standing in the circle, while Bishop was confirming her, somebody in the circle's phone went off. And it kept ringing. And it kept ringing. And ringing. Eventually Bishop paused. It was mid-Confirmation so no one wanted to take their hands off her head, so we just waited for the phone to stop ringing. But it didn't. It kept ringing. And ringing. Eventually Bishop tried to reach into the pocket of the person with the phone, with his free hand (left hand), but the person just took his right hand off her head and turned it off. We then continued the Confirmation and all went well. It was pretty bad. And then that person (I'm trying to be as ambiguous as I can) had to leave Sacrament meeting after the Confirmation, and as he was leaving, his phone went off AGAIN! So everyone knew who it was. So that was pretty funny. And embarrassing. Now it's my turn to be embarrassed.

So, while accompanying Sacrament Meeting, I was using an English Spiral-Bound Hymn Book to play, but I had marked all the songs in English and I knew which one's I was supposed to play (even though they were using Spanish Hymn Books). So all is going well until the Intermediate Hymn. Both the Music Conductor and I thought the Councilor Directing the meeting was going to announce the song, so we waited a second, but he didn't. So we both hopped up as fast as we could. I couldn't recall him announcing what song we were going to sing before, and for some reason, I decided not to look at the Hymn Numbers up on the wall. So I flipped to the song I though I was supposed to be playing and started pounding out the Introduction. The Bishopric is looking over in my direction, so at first I think I'm doing something wrong, but then the Music Conductor motions for everyone to stand up (like we do for the Intermediate Hymn). So I think I'm fine, but once I start playing the actual song, I hear a few voice, but realize that no one is really singing. I look around kind of confused and decide to just play the introduction again, because I think that maybe they just missed coming in. I once again start playing the song, and no one is singing. So I stop cold. And look around at everyone looking at me. Then I realize I'M PLAYING THE WRONG SONG!!!!!! I had flipped to what was supposed to be the closing song. So the Bishopric member conducting hops up and says, "I'll guess we'll be singing Hymn number nine." The WHOLE Congregation lets out this "OH" of realization, then they flip to Hymn Nine, I play the introduction again (for like the fifth time), and then we all sing the song. On a scale from one to extremely embarrassed, I was an Eleven. We rocked the closing song though. And now I'm over it. It was pretty hilarious all in all and I was able to joke around about it with a few members. Good times.

The rest of Sunday was pretty average. We visited with some people, taught some people. Had an awesome lunch with a Peruvian Family. There are a TON of Peruvian family's in this Ward.

I can't think of anything too applicable that I learned from this last week (other than turn off your cellphones during Sacrament Meeting and look at the Hymn Numbers on the wall :). So I'd like to take the opportunity to bear my Testimony of Jesus Christ. I've been reading the book Jesus the Christ a lot lately and I've always questioned myself what I would have done if I had lived in his time period. I always ask myself "Would I have tried to stop his Crucifixion?? Would I have fought to the tooth and nail to make sure he didn't die??" And I always want to say yes, but I've learned that Jesus Christ HAD to go through the things he went through. To the Tee. There were SO many prophecies on his life, his Atonement, his death, and his Resurrection; that if he didn't suffer and die exactly how he did, he would not have been the Prophesied Messiah. BUT, he did do all of that. He did Atone for not only our sins, but for our pains, our afflictions, our infirmities; so that he can understand EXACTLY what we're going through. He allowed himself to be mocked, beaten, and crucified. And then he rose from the grave, so that we may do the same. I know that he did all of these things. I know that he is our Savior and our God. He loves us so much and will ALWAYS be there for us. In our times of trouble and pain, and also in our times of joy and gladness. He is our Eldest Brother and he loves us so. And his love is Perfect. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week.

B B B B B B B B B B B BBBBBBBBBAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!

B B B B B B B B B B B BBBBBBBBBAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!

B but I'll talk about that later.

Everything's going great and I'm definitely going to finish SUPER strong, as long as they keep me in Spanish work. Transfers were last night and I'm still kicking it here in Chinguacousy (Brampton) with Elder Hansen. We're both pretty excited because we've got a lot of solid investigators who want to get baptized. Fill up the Font!!!

AH!! I wanted to go to that wedding so bad. I got a wedding invitation and I cried. I can't wait to ice skate when I get home. Being in Canada has made me miss it a lot. And has made me want to play hockey. I'm pretty pumped for college too. :}

LOGAN!!!!!!!!!!! Tell me the details of your love life!!!!!! You're killing me with all these vague comments.

Nice Dad!! I'm not sure what else to say about that. I hope you get what you want, Mom, with the job.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Sophie??? Why are we cursed with strange teeth?? I'm so sorry, but with your pointy teeth, you can bite people and draw blood. That's pretty cool, right?? I'm sorry to hear you're getting braces. But, 'tis better than when you're in High School. Then you hate your life. :) My teeth are doing fine. The one feels kind of loose, but just like it always has. I want these permanent retainers off though. I don't like them. Especially if I do have to get an implant, it'll be easier (and more fun) with a removable retainer. So that's what I'll do.

B B B B B B BBBBBBBIRTHDAY!!!!! Happy Birthday Savannah!!!! Maybe I'll just wait four months and bring you some Kinderbars home, because sending stuff home costs a lot of money that I don't have. I love you!!!! 

Well. This week was pretty awesome.

Monday, we went to NIAGARA FALLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so good. The Chatter Family is definitely one of the best families in the world. They took us there, took us up the Tower there (it's like a mini CN Tower overlooking the Falls) and there we had a SUPER fancy dinner in the revolving restaurant. I ate salmon. And cheesecake. The Salmon was better. Later we went down to the falls and took a lot of sweet pictures. I'll send you them with this email. It was a ton of fun and on the way there and back, their little three-year old kept throwing things at me and showing me games on her iPad and drawing pictures with me. It was a lot of fun. It made me trunky. Fact.

Tuesday through Thursday was alright.

We met with a lot of solid Investigators who want to get baptized (our Investigator said, when talking about him coming to the baptism, "I hope to see my family there as soon as possible." Score!!). Other than that, we got ready for the baptism, we ate some gourmet ice cream, and had delicious dinner with some members.

Friday, I went on exchanges with The Elder Brett Babbel. One of my best friends in the mission. It was super fun, we did a lot of crazy stuff. We did not stay up 'till four in the morning this time. We decided to get some sleep. Also, on Friday, we had a fun District Meeting where we had some very spiritual conversation and we played a fun game. Friday night, we taught a part-member family the Plan of Salvation, while drawing it out on a white board. I did a pretty good job at drawing. They really enjoyed it.

Saturday was a lot of getting ready for the baptism. We had Stake Conference that night and it was super cool because none of our investigators had told us they were coming, but while we were waiting for the meeting to start, one of our Investigators came in with her RM son. She was SUPER excited to be there and it was SO sweet. We took a picture with her, so I'll send that too. It was a REALLY good experience at Stake Conference that night. I saw a lot of close friends in the Stake that I hadn't seen in a while. 'Twas like a family reunion. A lot of them thought I had gone home, so 'twas a fun surprise.

Sunday was Crazy Day. We had to go early to wash the baptismal font, because the meetings kept us from doing that on Saturday. Then we had to fill up the baptismal font WHILE the Stake Conference was happening. We had a few Investigators at Stake Conference, so we were running back and forth. Eventually, Stake Conference ended and we all got into the baptismal room. The service was beautiful and there were LOTS of non-members there. Some of them did not speak Spanish, so there was a lot of confusion and translation going on. Along with that, there were two bishops, two ward mission leaders, ten missionaries, and our mission president there; so it was pretty intense. She did get baptized though. And she will get confirmed next Sunday. So buckle up for that.   

So I'm pretty pumped to be staying here in the Chinguacousy Ward in the Brampton Stake. This Stake is a family for me here on the mission. While I was sitting there, Saturday night, at Stake Conference, my arm was on the chair of one of my close friends is turning 18 soon and planning on going on a mission, my investigator and other close friends were sitting behind me, one of my "mothers" in the mission was sitting in front of me, and I just took a moment to look around the chapel and see all of these people that I have come to love so dearly. And there were a lot of people there I love. I think sometimes in life, we just need to take a moment and revel in the love and the people that are around us. Life is hectic. Life is crazy. Life is hard sometimes. Those sweet moments pass so fast unless we grab onto them. Enjoy them. So that's my invitation to you all. When in those moments and love and family, take a minute to realize where you are at and how incredible and beautiful life is. That's what Heaven will be like. A never ending feeling of love and family. I love you all. You are all family to me. Have a great week. Chao!!​

 

 

LIFE IS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AH!!!!!

This week has been probably one of the longest on my mission. And the shortest. It was nuts. Needless to say, there hasn't been a baptism yet, but it will come...hopefully.

Thank you much, Mother, for the emails. I've honestly gotten really really really bad about journaling on my mission, so I'm really banking on that Blog. :) I'm pretty open, honest, and detailed in my emails; so I'm not too worried about it. That's sweet though. 2:00 PM in Corvallis. I never knew. Now I do. I would LOVE to see the Broadway Concert. So if you would order a DVD, that'd be great. I am pretty pumped for College too. I have too many options on rooming though. I have that scholarship half-payed rooming that I got, two of my best friends in the mission who (one) wants to buy a house and us three can live in it together and help pay rent (they're both going to BYU), and now Ashton and Skyler, and I'm sure Joey's going to want to do something also. I'm just going to buy a huge house, and we can all live in it together!! Good plan!! haha, I should start figuring things out now because the clock is ticking...

 

This last Monday was SO fun. Our Zone Leaders brought the grill they have at their house, to the church, and everyone brought lots of food and meat, and I grilled it all on a charcoal powered grill. It was so good. I smelt awfully great afterwards, and the food was delicious. First real grilling experience...Success.

 

The fair majority of the week was us trying to get a sister ready for her baptism. Monday we went over the Baptismal Interview Questions with her, and Tuesday, she got her Baptismal Interview. Wednesday we met with her again to plan the details for the baptism. 'Twas also Wednesday that a problem arose about her baptism. There's a specific baptismal rule that she wasn't necessarily able to keep, so we had to get permission from the General Authority Area Seventy, to have that rule overlooked. There was a lot of drama about it all and needless to say, the rule still hasn't been overlooked. Our Mission President will be meeting with her this Tuesday and they should be getting everything straightened out. Sadly, all the drama and confusion made her very unimpressed with Church Leadership and until yesterday, she has decided she didn't want to get baptized at all. It was devastating. BUT! Thanks to many prayers and fasting and wonderful church leaders and time, she gathered her wits together and she wants to get baptized this weekend. So that was a huge miracle that happened yesterday. So NEXT Monday we'll send the baptismal pictures. :)

 

The less important things of this week included helping a member family move out, lots of other service, lots of dinner appointments with solid families. Exchanges with Elder Tanner Bertagnolli. Lots of cold weather, and warm weather. And this brings us now to Sunday.

 

Sunday was a day of MIRACLES!!!! And hunger. Fasting brings SO much miracles. "But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God." -Alma 17:3 So after all the miracles that happened with Maribel, we went to a dinner with a part-member family (non-member mother and RM son). It was incredible because A. We broke our fast and ate food. B. The food was delicious Lasagna. C. The RM son invited his girlfriend and introduced her to his Mom (so it was like a double date the son and his Girlfriend, my companion and the Mom, and me as the fifth wheel! ;). AND D. In the middle of dinner, his Mom, said I want my Son to Baptize Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was SO random and SO good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

So we're super excited for that. She said she wants to take time and prepare and I was like well yeah, we've only taught you the two missionary lessons. ;) It was so miraculous though. After that dinner we went and had a great lesson with our investigator who knows that church and the Book of Mormon are true, he's just waiting for his wife and kid to get back from El Salvador (hopefully soon) so they can all get baptized together. And then after that, a member family made us more Lasagna to take home and eat. I HEART LASAGNA!!!!! 'Twas a blessed day and my testimony of fasting grew tenfold. Honestly, I've had too many experiences on my missions where I've seen so many miracles while fasting to say that it doesn't help. Not only is it a great way to show the Lord we are humble and willing to obey His commandments, IT WORKS!!!! So DO IT!!!! And it doesn't have to be Fast Sunday either. It is whenever you want to. Just don't do it everyday. That's not healthy. ;) Well, that's my Spiritual Rant for the week. This email is a little shorter...BECAUSE I'M GOING TO NIAGARA FALLS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll send you pics of that next Monday, and of the Baptism!!!!! LIFE IS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!