Yay Stress!

Hello Family!!

This week was really good but kind of a blur. It feels like a long time but a short time at the same time...time. A lot happened and I have a short time and will do my best. :) First an update on Javid! He is getting baptized next week!!! I am so excited!! He came to church yesterday despite being sick again and was just beaming. He is so excited and was all smiles when we met with him. It is so good to see people with that desire to make a covenant with God. He is going to be a really great member of the church. Yay Baptism!

As for the rest of our teaching pool, it is pretty empty. We are teaching two part member families but its slow going. One needs to be less busy and the other needs more of a pull from his wife and from the ward. We are working on finding solutions to their concerns but it isn't an easy fix...sigh. It's fun but is stressful.

In other stressful news, at the Leadership Training last week I was asked LAST minute to participate in the musical number. It went really well and was relatively stress free: not too many missionaries, not too much time to worry about it, two other Elders singing. Easy. So when the call came two days later for me to sing in Zone Conference on Wednesday, there was a lot more stress: three time the missionaries, two weeks to worry about it, and just me singing. I am more than a little nervous. No matter how many times I sing in front of people I still get SUPER nervous. You would think with all my practice it would get easier...alas it has not. So we will see how that goes. And to add to the fun, the Sisters Missionaries serving in the ward with me think it is funny to volunteer me for singing things. So I am singing in Sacrament meeting on the 8th and in the musical fireside that night before the Christmas Devotional and at a wedding. That's right. A wedding. There is a member of the ward getting married and she thought it would be a great idea to have the missionaries sing "Love at Home" at her wedding. There will be a large number of non-members there and she thinks it'll be a great missionary opportunity. So I got "voluntold" that I would be singing. Yay. So yeah. Lots of stress. :)

On Tuesday I went to Barrie on an exchange with Elder Thompson. We had a great time and worked super hard. I had a sweet experience contacting. I walked up to a lady who was walking her dog and started a conversation. She was really friendly and seemed open. I was going to lead in with a classic "Families can be together forever" but I felt the Spirit whisper "What are you here to talk about. Our unique message to the world is a prophet on the earth. Testify of prophets." It was clear and direct and super strong. So I did. She loved it and was really excited to meet and talk about it. We set an appointment and I haven't followed up to know how it went. But was really cool to see how the Spirit guided me and it was just what that person wanted to hear. Neat. 

On Thursday we had American Thanksgiving with a great family from Oregon. They have four ADORABLE kids all under 8. FUN!! It was a great night and super fun to be with a family for Thanksgiving. Hooray America!!

As my "spiritual thought" I would like to share an experience that I had with fasting yesterday. For the past few months, I haven't had anything really pressing to fast for. I fasted for my investigators and for general things but nothing specific. Not surprisingly I have had some mediocre fasting experiences. This week I had a concern on my mind all week. I really "wrestled" with it and could not think of a solution. So you can imagine how happy I was that it fell on a Fast Sunday. Answer=Extremely. So I fasted and prayed. I studied it out in my mind. All day people would say things that really had nothing to do with my concern but answered my questions perfectly. I ended the day with solutions and a plan to use them. It was incredible. I felt so guided and directed and learned how much God cared about me. Though my concern was small and really insignificant, my Father in Heaven helped me to figure things out. It is so great to know that He cares for me and loves me and is willing to help. What a great blessing to have. We are so lucky! So, if you have a difficult problem or concern: Take it to God. He can and will help you. All you need to do is listen. Truth.

I love you all and I hope that everything goes well.  

Love,

Elder E. Smith  

Because of the Brave

Today's post comes to you in two parts....

Happy Independence Day Everyone!!

I hope it was a splendid day for all and that you all appreciate living in such a wonderful country. We are greatly, greatly blessed.

This week was rather short seeing as I just emailed last Wednesday and there wasn't much that happened since. We had a great 4th of July. We had district meeting and sang the National Anthem and I conducted the music with my American flag. Awesome. The rest of the day was really, really warm. Because Elder Cowley is new his bus pass money didn't come in until friday and as such we had to limit our travel to save on single fare tokens. So we didn't get to drop our suit coats off at home and spent the whole hot day in our suit coats. Looked boss. Felt sweaty. Just how I like it. :) We had a day packed with teaching for the first time in a long time but two of the appointments cancelled last minute. Oh well. It was still a great day.

Friday was graced with surprise interviews with President. We were told Thursday that interviews were Friday. Those went well and the rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Just tracting and street contacting. Elder Cowley is getting back into the swing of things pretty quick. He has a little bit too much of the laid back, Australian way of missionary work that I am working out of him. Haha. Its been a fun week. We get along super great and I love him tons.

Saturday was cool. We are starting a new ESL class at a new building and it is taking quite some time for it to pick up. I didn't realize how much I dislike goofing off now until we had to sit at the chapel and wait for students who rarely show. I just feel so unproductive. My goal for tomorrow is to get something done with that time. Wish me luck. :)

Sunday was great. Jessica was confirmed and it was a super powerful experience. Elder MacMillan (who got transferred but is still in the ward) gave a beautiful blessing and the Spirit was super strong. I love to see the ordinances of salvation performed. It is always a great experience.

We witnessed/participated in a miracle this week. that I will try to explain later. I'm getting kicked off.

Love you all.

Love,

Elder Smith 

So I believe it was Wednesday night. Elder Cowley's first real day in Canada. We had finished our appointments for the night and decided to street contact until the end of the night. Convenient that there are tons of people outside our apartment at almost all times. It is pretty crazy really. As we were walking down this street, joking and laughing about of latest rejection and randomly Elder Cowley says, "We should talk to that guy." Pointing at a man a little further down the street. I don't question promptings so we made a beeline for this guy. We talked to him, he seemed pretty interested, we got his number and gave him our card. The usual. Then comes Thursday morning and we get a call from Alex, the man from the day before, calling to see if the number we gave him was active. We invited him to church and then made arrangements to ride the subway there with him. He came to church, loved it and during one of the classes he shared part of his story. He had been separated from his kids for 12 years and had been moving around for work trying to get his mind off missing them. He moved back to Toronto and began looking for a place to live. Prayed. Found an apartment. Prayed to meet good people who could help him. Talked to us on the street. Wanted to know if God still talked to His children today. Loved the Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Wants to learn more and keep coming to church. Lives in the Sisters area. Hrmpf. We're stoked because he is super prepared. We just wish we could teach him. No biggie. At least we'll see him at church.

Well that is all the time that I have and I have to go! Love you all tons and I'll talk to you next week!!

Work hard, study hard, pray hard!

Love,

Elder Smith

He is Number Four

Happy Canada Day!!!

I hope you all enjoyed the magical holiday that is Canada Day. The day here was celebrated by copious amounts of both fireworks and alcohol. My favorite part of the festivities was talking to all the grumpy, tired, hung-over people the next day. I don't think we talked to one friendly person the whole day. Okay there were a few but man, you'd think they'd learn. Guess not. :)

In other news. Tomorrow is Independence Day which is great because my new companion is also American! That means lots of national anthem singing in companion study. So yeah. I got a new companion. And by new I mean fresh out of the MTC new. But he is a little....a lot different then my last three trainees. His name is Elder Cowley and he is super sweet. He is 21 and has already served a mission. Well 6 months of a mission. He was originally called to Australia in like 2011 but came home early due to medical reasons. Like random seizures and stuff. Super crazy. He has been working on coming back for a long time and then it has finally happened. He got his reassignment June 20, was in the MTC June 24 and now he is in the field. Things happened way fast. I am super glad to have him here and I am way excited to be his companion. He is ready to work and is a great missionary. Love him already. :)

Elder MacMillan got transferred to Don Mills North so he is still in our ward, just on the North side of the boundaries. Hahaha. He literally moved like ten minutes away. So I won't really miss him because I'll see him at church and coordination meeting and we'll go on exchanges. Which is good because I like him. It was a great transfer with him and we saw a ton of miracles. This Sunday we were both able to help our friend Jessica into the waters of baptism. She hurt her ankle really severely a few months back and was EXTREMELY worried about slipping in the font so we both got in with her and made sure she was safe. She got up after the baptism and bore her testimony and she said, "I was so nervous all day about the baptism but as soon as I stepped in the water I felt so safe and all my fear was gone." She thanked us for helping her and was so very excited. ElderMacMillan will be confirming her this Sunday at church. The whole experience has been a miracle.

The week since I have emailed has been pretty eventful. On Tuesday we met with a family of four and they agreed to be baptized. It was a great lesson and the Spirit was really strong. But, Satan is very real and he worked really hard and they have decided not to learn anymore. It was really sad to get that news but we know that God's plan is perfect and that he will provide a way.

On Wednesday we stumbled upon a TV show shoot. We were visiting a woman in the hospital and there were big trucks everywhere and extras all over and hummers and military stuff and it was crazy. So watch Covert Affairs Season 4 and there might be two missionaries sauntering about it the background somewhere. I think they were done filming when we got there but you never know. :) it was pretty exciting.

The rest of the week was same old, same old but Sunday was great. Jessica's baptism went fairly smoothly but they never go according to plan. :) To add to the miracle of an ordinance being performed Helena and her daughters came to church! Helena is the Swedish woman with the two unbaptized daughters and it was a total miracle! We did not expect it at all and they loved church. Hopefully they will continue to be able to come. Please keep praying for them specifically. They need a miracle very much and are extremely deserving. Please, please pray for them.

Lindsey is doing alright. She has slipped back into old habits. We haven't met with her in a while and she hasn't been coming to church. As such the Spirit is not able to influence her and it becomes easier and easier to slip. This experience has taught me that the Spirit's influence can leave very easily and that we need to attended church, read the scriptures and keep our guard up continually. We will be meeting with her this week and hope to get her back on the path.

As for everything else, we continued to find new people and we are working hard. I feel really good right now and I am very excited for the coming weeks and the wonderful blessings they will bring.

In other extremely exciting news our mission saw miracles this month. From the time I arrived in the mission we have been praying as a mission to achieve the Standards of Excellence as a mission. That means 12 baptism a week. This has been the focus for a very very long time. As we approached 2013 we began to pray specifically for this baptismal goal as well as 60 baptisms in the month of June which would mean getting at least 12 baptisms each week. Brothers and Sisters, I am extremely excited to inform you that we reached our goal and then thrashed it. We had 78 baptisms in June!! This is historic. The highest our mission has seen in recent memory. It has been incredible to see the mission come together for this goal and to work in unity for it. It is super exciting. Miracles.

Anyway. I will end because this is long. I love this work and I love being a missionary. I would invite you all to be missionaries now. Share the gospel with those you know and with those you love. God has prepared a way for you and he has asked you, through his holy Prophet to take that path and lead others to Christ. Remember that God loves them just as much as he loves you. :) Work hard, study hard, pray hard. Do good things!!

Love,

Elder Smith

The going gets tough

You know that feeling when you walk into the washroom right after someone takes a long hot shower? When its sticky and hot and you can see them water in the air?

Yeah. Try that every time you leave the apartment. It has been wicked hot the past few days. It was 28 and humid at 8 in the morning. The temperature has hovered at 30 for the past two days and the whole week is forecast above that....Woof. And I thought that I had escaped the heat by coming to Canada. Ha.

In addition to being sweltering, this week has been brutal. We work incredibly hard and got....minimal results. I have determined that God has grown to expect much more of us now and is just waiting until we do ALL that we can to bless us. There is so much I can work on and do that I don't know where to start. I don't know if I mentioned but for the past three ish weeks my district and I have been participating in what they call "The Purification Challenge." For this challenge we start with prayer and fasting to determine a list of things we can lay on the "alter of sacrifice" in order to purify ourselves and really devote our efforts and thoughts to the work of the ministry. After the initial fast you then "fast" for 40 days, removing the things on the list from your life. Needless to say, my list was long and there was a lot of fasting to do. The challenge has promised blessing that come from it and we are definitely seeing them. Some are too sacred to share but I can feel a change in my spirit and my soul as I change myself into what God intends me to be. It has been a wonderful blessing and I am so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord.

As stated above this week was kinda lack luster. We busted our behinds setting up lessons with investigators, new and old alike, only to have them cancel last minute. Often when we are at the door. The most frustrating part is that we will get members to come with us and the person will cancel but when we can't find a member it will go through....grrrr! I just feel bad for essentially wasting these members time. The hardest part of this work sometimes is finding people to come with us so is stinks when they cancel on us. But, its all part of the job. I feel lucky to be serving where I am and to be learning these lessons. I would not trade my mission for anyone else's. I know that this is where I need to be and I relish these learning opportunities.

On that note of Member missionary work, I hope you ALL had the chance to watch the Work of Salvation broadcast last night. If you didn't I plead with you to watch it and to take the message that was shared to heart. This is direct revelation from our Father in Heaven to you. He is asking you and me and everyone else to step up. To sacrifice your time. To put it on the line and share this gospel. Brothers and Sisters this is the gathering of Israel and we have been called to do this work. As I watched last night I could envision the work of God rolling forth. If we would all do our part and share this gospel to all those within our sphere of influence, the building of the Kingdom would not and could not be stopped. The early Saints were asked to sacrifice everything for this gospel and all God is asking for now is a few hours a week and your love for your fellow men. God has placed people in your path for His purpose. Don't let him down.

I am very out of time. The library is super busy today so that is it! Talk to you next week!! Probably on Wednesday due to Canada Day but we'll see. Love you tons!!

Love,

Elder Smith  

The Kingdom of God or Nothing

Salaam Khubid!!

 

Impressed with my Persian skills? You should be. Haha. Jokes. I am super bad at Farsi and only pretend to know it. I convinced some Sisters at Zone Conference that I knew it but that was easy. Too easy. :)

This week was long and humbling. We had Zone Conference this week which is always super inspiring and great but always messes up the schedule. We had to move our weekly planning around and we ended up splitting it into two days. Woof. I hate to say it but I hate weekly planning. Don't get me wrong, I know how important planning is and it really is necessary but I hate sitting inside all day. It makes me feel lazy and its hard to get back to work. I feel best when we can just get outside and work and three days of sitting and planning are not my favorite.

Zone Conference was great and I loved it. We learned a ton and gained inspiration for our investigators. One of my favorite parts of missionary work is role plays because it is a time to receive revelation for investigators needs and how we can help them progress. We did a lot of role plays and I gained so much insight into how my investigators feel and what THEY need to feel and what THEY need to hear not what I think they need. It was wonderful and such a great time. I had the opportunity to share my talents and sing at this Zone Conference. I love getting the chance to use what God has given me. I neglected it before my mission and want to make up for lost time. :)

Side note: I am working on my Christ-like love for people. It is tried and tested heavily every time we come to the library to do emails. I just get sick of getting kicked off the computer so that people can play Farmville and watch Jeopardy Season 7 highlights on YouTube. I realize now more and more that the Internet is a MASSIVE waste of time. So much time just thrown away....so sad. So frustrating...okay. I'm over it. Moving on!

Despite a lack luster effort on our part we saw some sweet miracles this week. On Monday on our way home from an appointment I talked to a guy on the subway named Abey. He was super interested and asked if we had time right then and there to teach him. So we got off the train, walked up the street and sat down in a coffee shop and taught him. He said that he believed we were sent from God and that what we said was true. He accepted a return appointment and a Book of Mormon and we were so excited. He bombed his appointment and has no phone and we have no way to contact him......harrumph. I guess God just knew that we were going to be lazy that week and so he rebuked and chastened us in advance. I feel very much like the Nephites in that I am so quick to forget the many blessings of God and to take them for granted. Pride Cycled.

Tuesday and Wednesday we were a lazy due in part to planning for so long and the rest is just us being complacent. They were bad days.

Thursday was Zone Conference and it was super inspiring and we felt really good after but it took most of the day and all that spiritual fire was doused by the humidity and more weekly planning on Friday.

Friday night we got rebuked hard core by the Spirit and vowed to do better. Saturday was a real test of our strength. We got rejected again and again. The whole day was just bad.

But unfazed by the hail and storm of the adversary we soldiered through to Sunday, were 100% Obedient and got 100% blessed. We were walking down the street heading to drop by an old investigator and some guy waiting to turn at the light just started honking. I am pretty used to this and even better at ignoring it. He persisted and just waited at the light until we looked over. I made eye contact with the driver (waving frantically to get my attention)  and when he knew he had my attention he pointed at me and pointed at the side of the road and then pulled over. Needless to say, Elder MacMillan and I were a little nervous about what was about to go down but we walked over anyway. He got out of his car and asked, "Are you with the Church?!" We said yes and he said something to the affect of, "Oh good. I want to go to church and stay on the path to God. Can we meet sometime and you can teach me more?" We were in shock. Usually we pull teeth to get numbers but this guy handed us his business card and asked when we would be calling. Supa sweet. We are calling him tonight and so I guess you'll hear about it next week. :)

I am about out of time so I will finish with a funny story and some quotes.

Yesterday in Sacrament the 1st Counselor got up to conduct the meeting and he is really...dry. He is kinda awkward and irreverent and just says weird stuff. We love him. Anyway. He gets up, tells a super lame joke about fathers day and gets basically no response, maybe a pity laugh or two and then the congregation goes silent. Right then this adorable little Filipino boy erupts into hysterical laughter. The timing was PERFECT and the entire congregation bursts up too. It was great. I'm giggling just writing it. Now everyone thinks I'm crazy....oh well.

Here are a couple good quotes that have helped Elder MacMillan and I in our quest to be better missionaries.

"If you are called upon to lay down your lives: Die like men. Should you have to walk right into danger and even the jaws of death: Fear no evil. Jesus Christ has died for you." -Joseph Smith

"External service is useless where there is no devotion of heart and life"-Whoever wrote the Bible dictionary

"Elder. Are you even thinking about Jesus right now?" Jared. Our Ward Mission Leader.

I'll save some for next week. :)

I love you all and want you to know that this church is true. Christ died for you and he will always welcome you with open arms when you turn to him.

Remember. The kingdom of God or nothing.

Love,

Elder Smit

Exhausted.

Dearest Family,

Before I left on my mission Melissa gave me some good advice. She said, "If you aren't tired as a missionary, you're doing something wrong."

I'm not saying I am the best missionary ever but I am exhausted. Like really. But I don't think I've ever had as much fun. Weird how that works out eh?

This week was great! Best part about it was the weather. It has been hot and muggy or hot and rainy since I got to Toronto but this week it was pleasantly warm and sunny. Quite enjoyable. In addition we have just had a great week. Finding new people and talking with lots and lots of people, meeting really interesting people, I love Toronto! Here are fun things that happened this week in no particular order.

We were riding in the elevator after tracting a floor of an apartment building when this African family gets on. There were two little girls and they were adorable! One of them came and stood next to me and just stared at me and smiled. I smiled back and she grinned and then looked down at my arm. She stared at it for a second and then started to gently stroke my arm....weird. What makes the story more strange is that her mom just sat there and watched her....Odd. They got off and left like nothing happened and despite our efforts would not accept our invitation to learn more. All the mom did was smile and wave goodbye....Such an interesting experience.

On Monday night we taught Lindsey the Law of Chastity. This lesson is always fun to teach and always has the Spirit but this time was incredible. The whole thing was great. We felt super inspired to share it in a particular way and to bring a particular member and everything went perfectly.The Spirit bore witness extremely powerfully of the truthfulness of the words we were saying and she agreed to live it. Incredible lesson. Definitely a highlight of my mission. Teaching with the Spirit is always a wonderful experience.

On Friday we crashed the Book of Mormon play again and it was so much fun. It is also terrifying. There more than anywhere I feel the Lord's promise that "You shall not be confounded before men." While there we are very much exposed to the outside world and the heckling and rejection gets pretty heavy. But without fail, no matter what they say and how funny they think they are, I am given what to say in this "hostile venue" and I can feel the Spirit testifying through me. One moment in particular this time around caught my attention. I approached a group of older people standing around smoking and waiting to go into the play. I said something sappy and invited them to read the Book of Mormon and then it began. They started to go off on me and tell me how dumb I was and asked me why I would waste my time doing something "silly." Oh boy. What happened next I can only attribute to the Spirit and the guiding influence of our Heavenly Father. When I started speaking, I was given what to say. I bore testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the divinity of our missionary purpose. I don't remember exactly what I said but it was awesome. The most surprising part was the absolutely humbled look on the faces of this group. One man in particular seemed most touched. I gave him a Book of Mormon and told him to read and pray about its truth. Who knows if he will but he has the chance now. The whole night had experiences like that and it was sweet.

 We are working with a Less Active member Helena and her two non-member daughters, 10 and 13. The mother is from Sweden and is super nice and the daughters really want to come to church and to get baptized but the ex-husband is....a really bad guy. He just makes life miserable for the mom and won't let the girls go to church and all sorts of great things that make Christ-like love a difficult thing to have. We are hoping for a miracle and will need one. As soon as he stops being a loser, the girls will get baptized and they can move on with their lives but until then....we wait. This family needs a lot of prayers. Lots and lots.

We have been doing a lot of finding this week and it is exhausting without a car. We walk around all day long and get home and crash. Its crazy but super rewarding. We have a bunch of great investigators and one should be getting baptized soon. Her name is Jessica and she is sweet. She grew up with a lot of Mormon friends and liked them and when she was looking for a church she looked us up. She met with missionaries online and has been taught everything and is all set to get baptized she just wants to finish the Book of Mormon first and then she says she'd be ready. We have helped her to set up a reading schedule and she should finish soon and get baptized on the 30th!! Too exciting. We are really blessed to work with her.

I am so blessed to be a missionary and especially to be serving here in the Canada Toronto Mission. I love it hear and could not imagine serving anywhere else. I have learned so so much and I have grown a strong testimony of this church, this gospel and this work that we do. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything!

To close I am going to use a poem that I used in my talk in Windsor the day of transfers. The talk went really well and I was even quoted by some of the members in Gospel Doctrine soooooo I'm pretty much a big deal. :) I talked about the Good Samaritan and how we must play the role that God has asked and give our best no matter what or where that calling is. (Extremely fitting seeing as I was transferred the next day.) The poem is by Mead McGuire or something like that. I got it from a talk that I have recorded and can't just google it...:)

 

Not sure of the Title :)

 

"Father, where may I work today?"

And my love flowed warm and free.

Then He pointed out a tiny spot

And said "Tend that for me."

I answered quickly "Oh no! Not that!

Why, no one would ever see

No matter how well my work was done.

Not that little spot for me!"

And the word he spoke, no it was not stern.

He answered me tenderly.

"Ah little one, search that heart of thine.

Are you working for them or for me?

Nazareth was a little spot

And so was Galilee."

 

I hope this poem speaks to your heart like it did to mine. I invite you to ask yourself the question "Are you working for them or for me?" And for us all to do the will of Him who sent us.

Work hard, study hard, pray hard! Do good things!

Love,

Elder Smith

I got a library card!!

Hello all!!

How is everyone? I hope you are all doing extremely well and that you are all doing the greatest of things! This week has been spectacular and I really have no clue where to start.

Last week we got a media referral requesting a missionary visit but when we dropped by last Sunday she wasn't home and we couldn't meet with her. This week we did meet with her and she, her name is Marcia, was really interested and wanted to change her life. Her friend, Kristal,  was interested too so we picked up two new investigators last Tuesday. But things move extremely fast here in Toronto and by Thursday Kristal had asked us not to talk to her anymore and we lost contact with Marcia. She isn't answering her phone or texts or anything. Sigh. Satan.

Also on Tuesday we got a random text from a random number which turned out to be a former investigator that wanted to learn more again. He texted us and asked what God wanted him to do and we set an appointment and met with him. His name is Kevin and he is sweet. He is extremely prepared and very concerned with following the Spirit. He just wants to do God's will. He has cancelled an appointment since and wasn't at church but we still have high hopes for him. Pray for him!

Tuesday night we did something SUPER fun. The Book of Mormon play is showing in Toronto and so every night that it plays twocompanionships from our zone go and hand out copies of the Book of Mormon to people going into the show. Crazy. There were a lot of people and we handed out tons of copies. We got really into it and started yelling carnival style, "Get your Book of Mormon here! Seeing the play? Why not read the book?" A lot of people didn't believe we were real missionaries, thought we were handing out playbills, and took pictures with us. It was awesome. We are hoping to get to go again and to talk to more people. It was so much fun.

The rest of the week was just busy trying to find people and to teach the people we already found. Lots and lots of work to do and so many people who need this gospel....now if we could only get them to realize it. :)

Other highlights: -Lindsey quit smoking and is doing great. She still wants to get baptized but she isn't sure when. She loves the church and the Book of Mormon she just has a lot of anxiety about what other people think. Sigh. Women. ;)

-We went to the craziest store ever to get some things for the Stop Smoking Workshop that we do as missionaries. The store is called Honest Ed's and it is so cool. It sells everything you can think of and for super cheap. Seriously everything. Its huge and crazy and confusing. The catchphrase is "Come in and GET LOST!" I assure you. I got very lost. If anyone ever visits Toronto put Honest Ed's on the list. That is about it for this week.

My spiritual thought this week comes from Elder Chirstofferson's talk from the last General Conference.

"Inasmuch as we follow Christ, we seek to participate in and further His redemptive work. The greatest service we can provide to others in this life, beginning with those of our own family, is to bring them to Christ through faith and repentance so they may experience His Redemption—peace and joy now and immortality and eternal life in the world to come. The work of our missionaries is a magnificent expression of the Lord’s redeeming love. As His authorized messengers, they offer the incomparable blessings of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, opening the way to spiritual rebirth and redemption." 

I want to highlight the phrase "The greatest service we can provide to others in this life, beginning with those of our own family, is to bring them to Christ" Our purpose as children of God, who have the knowledge that we have, is to share that knowledge and to lift others along the way. We are here to helps others. That is our calling as missionaries and as children of God. We have a divine mandate to bring others with us. There are people who we have been called to help, inside our family and out and God is counting on us to help them. Do not let God down. Live true to the knowledge that you have received.

I love you all and I hope all is well. Work hard, have fun and do good things!!

Love,

Elder E. Smith