I just really like being a missionary even though it is easily the hardest thing that I have had to do

This week has been pretty crazy mostly because of transfers which always makes a normal week very unknown because of all the things that happen with transfers especially this week with what happened on Saturday which will actually affect this coming week more than last week. So we got transfer calls and found out that Elder Ringheim is going to Delta, which is right next to where I was when I was in Surrey, and that I am going to be training a new missionary. Which means I will have no companion for two days and have to ferry to Vancouver to go pick him up so I am not sure what this week is going to look like but it should be exciting!

  Back to this last week which was really good and we have been able to see a lot of progression in some of our investigators. Ryan who we have been meeting with for the last 4 weeks has been doing really good! He has gone from smoking 40 cigarettes a day to 5! which is amazing and he has been coming to church every week! He has been doing so good and told us he wants to be Baptized and he set a date for July 22 just so he has time to completely quit smoking and so he can be ready to be baptized and he is doing really great and he has been reading the Book of Mormon and has really been applying what he learns, like he started to cut down his smoking even before we taught him the Word of Wisdom because he felt that was something he needed to do before he is Baptized so he is Pretty Awesome!! We are also working with a guy named Lief. Lief, who we met a couple weeks ago and he is doing good he came to church for the first time last week and really liked it and when we met with him after he told us he feels like he should be baptized so we set a date with him as well for June 25th! He really wants to be baptized so he is progressing to it!

  Elder Ringheim and I have really been able to see a lot of cool miracles this transfer and I am really sad to see him leave but it has been a good time and I got to learn a little bit of Danish but I can not pronounce anything right so it probably will not be much help but it sounds cool! I am really excited to stay here in Victoria! The weather here is Amazing and the people we are working with are doing really good. I just really like being a missionary even though it is easily the hardest thing that I have had to do and it has made me change a lot but it has been a good change and that change really comes from applying the Gospel of Jesus Christ into our lives and seeing the miracles that can happen from it. Sometimes that change is really hard and is something that we do not think we can do and that's probably right if it was just us but its not we have Christ on our side and through Christ anything that we are asked to do can be done! I have learned that personally and am still learning it everyday that I have to go talk to people on the street in Downtown Victoria but some how each day I do it and it is because Christ is there every step of the way through anything!

Love Elder Slack

Coolest experience of my mission to see how big of a help members are to this work

     This week has been really amazing and as you can see by the subject line, which I usually never use, but I felt it was appropriate for this occasion. So I will start this story with last Sunday. So we went to visit a couple, The Merretts, and we followed up on someone that they had talked about at a cottage meeting we had my first Sunday here where they talked about a guy in their building named Peter. They told us how they had been talking to Peter and had told him a little about the church; about how they just returned from a mission in England. As we were talking to them and how they could help Peter more they told us how they had planned to have us over for dinner the next Sunday; so they told us that they would invite Peter to come as well and they did!! On Sunday we went over for dinner and Peter and his wife came and we were able to talk a lot about the church and what we believe and what we, as missionaries, do and it was great! At the end of the meeting Brother Merrett asked if we could come visit them again and they said yes so we got their phone number and are going to be seeing them this week or next week! It was one of the coolest experience that I have had on my mission and to see how big of a help members are to this work because they know people and talk to people that we never could as missionaries and people can see members and see how they are just normal people. It also helped me see that I need to do that when I get home, to continue to be a missionary even though I do not have the nametag anymore.

      We have also been working with a guy named Ryan and we have seen him four or five times and he has been coming to church and is really solid! We saw him on Thursday and we had planned to teach him about the word of wisdom and before we started to do anything he asked about the word of wisdom because he had heard about it a little bit at church and from members so we were able to teach him the word of wisdom and he took it so well! He told us how the blessings that come from the word of wisdom are exactly what he wants and he has already been trying to cut down on smoking and in the last 2 weeks he has gone from forty cigarettes a day to ten a day which is amazing especially for not even knowing about the word of wisdom! It was so amazing to see how prepared he is and how much he has changed by himself because he is reading the Book of Mormon daily and comes to church almost every week! He has changed so much since we have been meeting with him and it mostly has come from himself applying what he has been learning, which is something that we should all be doing. He has told us that he does want to be baptized and that he feels that this is where Gods is telling him to be and he has such a good testimony of the Book of Mormon so once he quits smoking he wants to be baptized! Also he was member referral from someone in the YSA so yeah member work is the way to go!

        We were able to teach quite a bit this week and have been seeing a lot of success and a lot of progression from the people that we are working with! Being on a mission has been a pretty amazing experience and I am very grateful that I still have some time to be here in Canada eh! I have really learned that as we share the Gospel our testimony grows and as we learn more about the gospel and apply it our desire to share the Gospel will increase!

Love Elder Slack

Sometimes we like to just have some poutine :)

Elder Ringheim is a pretty great cook! 

Look at our sweet new Car! runs pretty good:)

{Mar 29 '16} God has truly helped us to bless the lives of others

These last two Weeks have been really good. The work here has picked up a lot and we finally have more people to teach so it is really looking up here in Kelowna. This last week we have been able to teach a lot more and have some really good people that we are working with. We have been working with Lillian's friend Rob, Lillian is a recent Convert of about a month, Rob is doing good he has a lot of good questions and really is seeking to know the truth and to find out. He tells us that he has a long way to go but we have had some really good lessons about the Atonement and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they have been really good. Testifying of how Christ is there to help us no matter what situation we are in or where we are at in life. He seems to be doing good but he is taking it slow but Lillian is Awesome and is a very good true friend she has been talking to him a lot and helping him answer his questions. Then we had a former investigator come to church on Sunday! Her name is Radmila and she has really changed from how she used to be and has a strong desire to learn more and to continue to change and figure out how she can find more happiness in life because she told us that she has a big house and a really good paying job and a family but she just does not feel that happy so we were able to tell her what she is missing in life and it is obviously the Gospel so we are really excited to see where it goes with her.

   Another really Sweet Miracle that we saw this week was we decided to go out to this small town that we cover outside of Kelowna called Lake Country to do some finding because missionaries never go out there and we went to the street that we had planned and knocked on a few houses and it just did not feel right so we went to a back up street that we planned and the first door that we knocked on we talked to a Mom named Amy and we talked to her for about 20 minutes about families and how this gospel blesses families and how we believe that families can be together forever and it was such a good conversation and she told us that we could come back to teach her family more. Then the next door that we knock on we meet a Lady named Tina and talked to her and she told us that we should comeback to teach her and her family more. So we where pretty excited and thought that maybe we should go and end on a high note but we both felt like we should stay and so we kept knocking and the next 15 houses there was no luck but then we knocked on this house and we thought there was no one home but a little kid answered the door and his mom was right behind him and we were able to talk to the mom, Gale, and teach her about the Book of Mormon and she told us how she had always wanted to read it and find out what it is all about and she told us how she really admired missionaries on how we go around and teach people and offer to help people and she told us to come back and we could talk to her and her family more about the Book and where it came from! It was such an Awesome Day! We found three really cool solid families to teach. We have really seen a lot of Miracles this week which is really nice and has shown me that God really does have a plan and that he is always preparing his children to hear this Message because before this week we had not seen much success but this week it just did a 180 and is going really well. We have not been doing anything dramatically different but Elder Frye and I have been trying to make little changes in our lives to help us be more obedient  and God has truly helped us to bless the lives of others. 

  I really love my mission and what it has taught me about being a follower of Chirst and I am so grateful for all that I have learned and that I still need to learn but this week I have been able to see how as we just continue to do what the Lord has asked of us he will bless us. He is bound by his word to bless us!

Love Elder Slack

It is a lot easier to do the hard things that are required of us from our Father in Heaven when we truly love the Lord and love the people that we are serving

This week has been really good! The weather is finally starting to get better, it has been raining less and not as hard so I have been enjoying walking around a lot more than the last couple of weeks. Our teaching pool has been shrinking a little bit just because people are not progressing right now and some of our investigators are out of town for a while and a bunch of other reasons so we have really been trying to focus on find new people to teach and to really share the Gospel with people because we love them and because it truly is something that we love and cherish and something that will help others in their lives. I have found that when I really talk to people and share this unique message that we have out of love and because I love the Lord and the Gospel and want others to have the Joy that I have had come from it that people. It is a lot easier to do the hard things that are required of us from our Father in Heaven when we truly love the Lord and love the people that we are serving. 

   We have had some really cool miracles that happened is that we got some really good referrals from our members! One of our members called us and asked if we had a dinner appointment and invited us over for dinner and one of their friends that just moved into their basement was talking to one of the people that she works with and she was telling him about the church and what she does there and he was asking her why she was so happy and she told him it was because of what she believed and he is really looking for something in his life so she told him about us and how we love to share a message of happiness and she asked if we could come over to tell him more about it and he said we could. So we went over there yesterday and told him about the Atonement and Repentance and how he can find that happiness in his life. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon and he was very eager to read and to see if this is something that can help him in his life. It was so cool and he is someone who is definatly prepared by the Lord to hear the Gospel. His name is Dan.

  Then we got another awesome referral that we are going to see this week. The family that gave it to us, the Adams, told us how they met RJ and he actually came up to them and asked if they where religious because he noticed that they were different and he told them that he is looking for a church and can't seem to find the right one and he wants to learn more about what we believe. 

 It has been such a good week but transfers are next week and we get calls this Saturday so hopefully I can stay in Abby for another transfer. I guess I'll find out this week.

Love Elder Slack

I know that I am just a 19 year old punk who probably does not know what he is talking about most of the time but this is something that I do know that this message that we carry as members of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints is true and is meant for everyone!

This Week has been really cold and when I say cold I mean like -2 Celsius which is a lot colder when you are walking around in it all day. It has not rained all week and it has been very sunny too but it has been very cold and we have had some bad luck in the cold, like on Saturday we did not drive our car so we took the bus to our dinner appointment in Cloverdale which is like 20 blocks from where we live and when left our appointment we ran to the bus stop because we thought we might miss it but we got there and we saw the Bus, but the bus just drove right past us and did not even stop so we had to wait for 30 minutes for the next one and so we went and knocked on doors and when we were heading back we decided to take a way we thought would be faster but it ended up not going anywhere so we were running back the way we came and we were 50 feet away when the bus drove by us so we had to walk home and it took like an hour so it was a pretty interesting night but we ended up getting back in time for an appointment we had at 8 with a less active. So there is the crazy story for the week.

  

  We have seen a lot of cool experiences lately like we were dropping by someone and decide to knock on a door and this really old man answered and let us in and we found out that he fought in World War 2 and was one of the first on the ground right after D Day and that he had just received a  metal of honor from the French government. We also knocked on a less active's door and his room mate answered and let us in and told us that the member had passed away a few days ago and then we found out that the guy we were talking to was also a less active member so we have been teaching him. 

  We have also been teaching Barry and he has been doing really good but he is just struggling with quitting smoking but he has been reading and has been consistantly coming to church so he has been doing good. Him and his wife are planning on moving in January so they probably will not be in our ward for much longer and will probably will get baptized in the ward they move into. 

 Not too much else has happened this week but I have been studying in Mosiah and about Abinadi. I don't know if you remember but last year when I was first out I had just learned about Abinadi and it blew my mind! and its doing it again. I love the Book of Mormon. When I was home I thought it was boring and I got nothing out if it but on my mission I think that has been what's changed me the most and what I have seen change others the most. The Book of Mormon is more than just another book or something that we have added to the Bible. It is revelation that our loving Father in Heaven has saved for us in this time so that we may know where to look for a remission of our sins, so that we can know that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is a prophet that was called by God that that there is still a prophet on the Earth today and that God still speaks to his Children because he loves us so much. This Gospel is a gospel of Love and it was given to us because our Father in Heaven loves us and cares what happens to us and where we go. I am so grateful for this gospel and for what it has brought me. I don't want to sound cheesy but it is something that has changed me and it has changed many others! I know that I am just a 19 year old punk who probably does not know what he is talking about most of the time but this is something that I do know that this message that we carry as members of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints is true and is meant for everyone! 

Love Elder Slack

None of the work for salvation we do is about us...it's about helping others.

  Well this week has been a bit of a gong show. It has been really crazy because it has been kind of difficult to meet with some of our investigators; like Sheila and Leaf and Eric but we were able to see Sheila and Eric yesterday when we dropped by and we had a really good lesson with Sheila and figured out some of her concerns about being baptized and are really helping her through them so it was really good to see her again.

    The best thing that has been happening this week is probably that Ken is really progressing and is getting baptized this Sunday!! It has been so cool to see how much he has progressed in the last month since we found him. He came to Conference and really liked it! He is doing so good and really wants to be baptized and really wants to get the Holy Ghost so he can have it to help him in his life. Elder Mattingley and I are just really excited for him!!

  One thing we also figured out is that this transfer is going to be a shorter transfer than normal and will only be 5 weeks so on the 21st will be transfer day so we are not sure who will be leaving but it could be either one of us. Just a heads up. 

Well, I do not have a lot of time to talk about conference because the computer i am using only has 6 minutes on it before it shuts down so I am not sure what my favorite talk was but I really liked Elder Dale G Renlund's testimony and how he said something to the effect that this work is not about me it's about the Lord and Heavenly Fathers children. That really hit me because it's true. None of the work for salvation we do is about us; it's about helping others. That is what Christ did; none of the things he did were ever about him, the healings, the atonement, none of it; it was all for others.

well I have to go

Love Elder Slack

"Even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you" -Alma 32

     Well, this week has been crazy busy! We have been teaching a lot more the last couple of weeks, which is awesome because I like teaching a lot more than anything else. It has been a really good week because we have been able to help a lot of our investigators progress and slowly change their lives; so it has been really awesome!

      One thing that I have learned on my mission that really came to me this morning is how little I knew when I came out and how I had a pretty good testimony of a few things but just never really gained a strong testimony of a lot of things or studied the Gospel that much. Because of that I have really seen how real and true Alma 32:27-28 are. Just having that desire to believe, to have a testimony will grow and has help to gain of a lot of things and I still have a long way to go but learning the gospel and teaching the gospel has helped me a lot. I am so glad that I came on a mission and that I did not go home like I thought about on my first day in the field because I thought it was hard, which, it's hard but most things that are right are not easy. I have learned so much, especially about doubting doubts before doubting faith. I have ran into and talked to a lot of people who have told me that the church is a lie and false and that Joseph Smith is a liar and the Book of Mormon was written by the devil and people have even showed me anti to try to prove to me that the church is false. I am sure that most members have gone through this a few times, I have learned that I do not know everything but neither do the people that tell us these things. I only know of one person that does and that is our Father in Heaven and conveniently we can always ask him questions and he will help us answer them. Isn't that pretty sweet! What is even cooler is that he doesn't answer just some people but everyone! He loves us all and desperately wants to hear from us all no matter what we feel like or what we have done. His love is unconditional, we are never unworthy to pray or to receive answers.

       Enough about me ranting. We were able to see one of our newer investigators, Ken, and talked to him a lot about baptism and priesthood Authority and he accepted an invitation to be baptized on October 4th! He is very cool and really wants to learn and find out for him self so hopefully we can continue to help him to be ready for that day. We were also able to see Sheila and go help her at her farm which was pretty sweet and she gave us a bunch of food! Which was awesome! She is so close to getting baptized too and she should be baptized within this transfer. Oh, I forgot to tell you I am staying in Brookswood with Elder Mattingley until the end of October at least.

      Well, I have to go. We got our email time cut a half an hour because the library is really busy so I'll talk to you next week and send you some pics of the border...Yeah the US and Canada border because our area goes all way to the border and we went to a member's house who live like a mile from the border so we went and took pictures and saw freedom!

Love Elder Slack

The Book of Mormon is so powerful and I have seen how it can change peoples lives

     Well this week was really good and very interesting, just like every other week in Surrey. We have been able to talk to a lot of people and we were able to see Sonny a few times this week and he has been reading the Book of Mormon and has had a lot of questions about it and about our beliefs. It was really good and he told us how he really likes to visit with us and how it really gives him a spiritual boost when we meet with him. He called us last night and told us some of the insights that he had while reading the Book of Mormon and studying the Plan of Salvation that we taught him yesterday and he told us how he was really grateful that we came and visited with him and are helping him come closer to God and to not give up on him. It was so cool to see how he has changed from the things that we have taught him and how grateful he is for it. The thing that really helped him was the Book of Mormon. When we first were meeting with him he was smoking and drinking but when we gave him the book of Mormon and he started reading & he has changed. He has not drank and he is working on quitting smoking.

  

      The Book of Mormon is so powerful and I have seen how it can change peoples lives and really does help everyone grow closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon also helps us overcome other things that we face in life like addiction and just trials that hit us in life with no fault of our own. How it does that is it helps us understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ better to know how we can overcome anything in this life and that is through Jesus Christ. Ultimately that is what the Book of Mormon is for, to testify of Christ and to help us gain a testimony of him and to also help us know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. 

     We also got to see Gus this week and we watched the movie On the Lords Errand. It's about Thomas S Monson and his life; because Gus wanted to know more about the current Prophet. The movie is so awesome and powerful. It shows how great of an example President Monson is of someone who devotes his life to the Lord. I love watching it because when I watch it the spirit testifies to me that Thomas S Monson is a Prophet of God and a follower of Christ. I am so grateful to be apart of this church and to have this Gospel in my life  and for the Book of Mormon and how it has changed me and helps me to become the Disciple that God needs and wants me to be.

Love Elder Slack

There are souls out there searching for the gospel...we need to be ready to share it

     Well this week has been really interesting but really just a typical week in Surrey. On Monday we ended p-day early because we couldn't email because it was Victoria Day and everything was closed so we went to a barbecue that a member was having so we went to eat some food and see Elder Bonfield's recent convert Roko, who is really cool and is Fijian and is crazy smart and knows a ton about the gospel even though he has only been a member for 3 months. So, that was really cool and the member who was having the barbecue is also Fijian and Fijians love to eat and so we got stuffed so that was awesome until we realized that we had to go out and work for another 2 hours. 

      One of the coolest things that happened was while I was on exchanges with Elder Green, our zone leader, we were at a bus loop and I started to talk to a lady named Preety and she was really interested in what we believed so I asked her when we could meet again to share more of our message and she said, "right now", so we taught her the restoration at the bus loop and she agreed with everything and believed that there could be a prophet on the earth today, which is awesome because usually people get hung up on that. That just showed me that there are people being prepared by the Lord and that we just need to talk to them. Because they are just waiting for the gospel and are seeking it. 

      That is one of the biggest things that has surprised me since I have been on a mission is how many people are looking for the gospel intentionally or unintentionally. I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to serve the Lord for the past 7 months, which doesn't feel like 7 months at all, and to learn and grow in the gospel and to go through all the trials and challenges that I have faced on my mission and throughout my life because they are what have helped me know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and that The Atonement is real and so is the Plan of Happiness. The way to feel eternal lasting joy is through Jesus Christ. I have come to really love sharing the Gospel with others because I know that it is true and is what everyone needs in their life. Even though they may not think that.

 Love, Elder Slack

Crazy but awesome!

This week has been crazy and really awesome! So we got transfer calls last Sunday and got told that Elder Johnson was going to Burns Lake , which is way up North and that I was staying in Clearbrook and Elder Boehmer was going to be my new companion. 

 On Wednesday the Zone Leaders came and picked up Elder Johnson to take him to the Vancouver airport to fly up and they dropped off Elder Moran, who was also waiting for his companion to come in. So, we had a pretty normal day but we did meet a guy named Greg who is from Haiti and we taught him the restoration and he was really interested and had a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon and where it came from. So we had a really good lesson with him. Then later that night we went and meet up with the Zone Leaders who had Elder Moran's new companion who is Elder Jang! (refer back to the old MTC photos)  Elder Jang came out with me and he is really awesome. So it was really cool to see him again! Then we went to Langley to pick up Elder Boehmer at the greyhound station. Elder Boehmer is awesome! He's from Calgary and came out a transfer after me so he has been out 4 1/2 months and the craziest thing is that we have the exact same Birthday!! 

  The coolest thing that happened this week was on Saturday night after the Priesthood session we where on exchanges with the Zone leaders and I was with Elder Mahabeer at some lessons and Elder Boehmer and Elder Camp went store contacting at the mall next to our house and they met a lady named Katrina and invited her to conference and she came to the afternoon session and she said she really enjoyed it especially all the talks about families. She said she was really interested in learning more and really likes it so far. So that was a miracle! She is super solid and is very interested and has a desire to learn.

 Conference was amazing also but really different as a missionary especially with all the talks about families and getting married which were really good but slightly awkward because I am a missionary but I think my favorite talks were Elder Hollands and Elder Nielsons talk. Elder Nelson actually came and spoke when I was in the MTC. I really liked his talk about how we need to sometimes just wait and love people back into the gospel. I feel this spoke to me a lot more as a missionary than it would have before I was a missionary because I actaully know what that is like and how sometimes it is really hard to just wait for people. Sometimes I have felt like dragging people to church and trying to force them to feel the spirit but that is impossible and is taking away one of the greatest gifts God has given us, Agency.

  Conference was so awesome! Just remember what Elder Nielson said " What will you do with what you have learned over the past 2 days?"

Love, Elder Slack

A perfect explanation for why Will chose to serve :)

Repentance is all about change and making things right and better, yeah? So, I am reposting my video now with proper permissions and endorsements. a big thanks to Marshall McDonald:)

Posted by Kallie Clark on Thursday, February 26, 2015

Be happy despite your circumstances...it is our choice whether we are mad or sad :)

      Well this week hasn't been too eventful except that we went and saw Carol, one of our investigators, in the hospital and she has not been doing very well but we did give her a Priesthood blessing and it seemed to help her a lot but she seems to not be getting much better and when we talked to her boyfriend Gary, another of our investigators, he said she is probably going to be in there for a while and he also told us that he has too much to do and is really stressed out right now so he asked if we could take a break for a while and he would call us when he felt like he was ready to meet again. That was really sad because he was our best investigator and he was really solid but it always seems to be when people are really progressing and working towards baptism is when Satan hits his hardest to stop them. Because he knows how important baptism is and how happy it will make people so he does everything in his power to stop us.

       Then On Friday we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders Elder Mahabeer and Elder Camp and I went to mission with Elder Camp and we saw some crazy Miracles!! Our day was pretty much packed with appointments except in the morning so we went street contacting and at first it was like no one wanted to talk to us or even listen to us but after a while we met some really cool people and set up times for us to see them the next day. While we where walking back to the car to go to a lesson, a guy named Dominic, from behind us, yelled at us saying he had a question so we stopped and he asked us what the difference was between us and the JW's so we told him and we asked him if we could meet up with him later that day and he said yes so we went to our appointments and came back later that day to Tim Hortens where he said he would meet us and he wasn't there so we left and went looking for him and while we are walking around we run in to this guy who we ended up talking to for an hour, just about the bible and different things, and while we are talking to this guy Dominic ran buy us and told us that he got jumped while he was coming to Tim Hortens and to try to find him some other time and so we go on our way and go to dinner and after dinner we run into Dominic again like if was meant to be! We talked to him and set up a time to meet him the next day! It was really cool to see how if there are people who we are supposed to meet God makes it happen!!

       Another cool experience that me and Elder Johnson had was yesterday; all of our appointments fell through except our 8 o' clock appointment so we went tracting for a while and when we first left our apartment it was sprinkling and it wasn't too bad but by the time 6:30 rolled around it felt like we were walking through a hurricane and no one was talking to us or letting us in but that's ok because one of the things our Mission President put in his weekly email was about choosing to be happy and just always being happy no matter what your circumstances are because it is our choice if we get mad or sad. So that's what we did we just stayed happy and even though it wasn't the funnest thing to do it was a lot easier. A great example of this is Jesus. He never got mad once and He lived the hardest life anyone has or will ever live and it probably was not a breeze to be the Savior of all mankind but he chose to not let other things affect him and now he’s a glorified resurrected being living with God! That's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me. I feel that I forget that a lot, that if I just do what I know I should do I will receive the greatest blessing that God can give us - Eternal Life. This life is just a short moment and the pains and trials are even shorter so there is really no time to get mad or sad.

       This is less important and not relevant to anything but while we were at a members house they have a son who just got back from his mission in Paris France and I told him that I knew someone who is serving in that Mission and his name was Junior Toscano. He told me that he was his companion for the last three months of his mission! That's pretty sweet and crazy to think that someone I knew served with someone that’s in my area now.

       Well I do have to get going but I hope you all have a great Week and Choose to Be Happy!

Love Elder Slack

The humble circumstances of Christ's birth

Well this week has been pretty Awesome!! Because we had a lot of lessons and found a lot of new investigators to teach and we also got some of our current investigators to progress and to help them with some of the things that they are struggling with. It has also been a sad week because one of my best friends on my mission, Elder Wood, and I know you asked about him dad and yes we have a special friendship bond that can never be broken, left Kamloops and is going home on Wednesday so that was kind of sad but that's the mission life. 

Will and Elder Wood in their matching suits "Looking Fresh", farewell Elder Wood!

It was also really awesome because Elder Walker, my MTC companion, is in my District and Elder Kelly is the District Leader so he went on exchanges with Elder Walkers companion and Elder Tolman and I got to go on exchanges with Elder Walker so we reunited the MTC duo. It was awesome to be in the field with Elder Walker because he is awesome and I thought I might never see him in the mission but it was really cool. 

The Dynamic Duo has been reunited! Elder Walker & Will

While we were on exchanges we didn't have a ton of lessons but we did get to have quite a few member visits and they were so great. We went and visited Ray, who is a YSA in our ward, and he served a mission in New York City, Chinese speaking. He was really cool and we taught a really good lesson about the video the church put out "He is the Gift" and we have been committing all of the members that we teach to give a Book of Mormon to someone they know this Christmas season and share with them the same thing that brings them so much joy and peace.

Working out in our apartment

The 'tripanionship' of Will, Tolman and Kelly

One of our trees with our new fireplace, Thanks Mesquite 2nd Ward Relief Society!!

      We also had Zone Meeting on Wednesday and we were told to read the talk by Elder Holland called "Maybe Christmas Doesn't Come From a Store", which is crazy because that is the same talk that my Mom sent me 3 weeks ago. When I read it one thing that he really talks about is how humble the circumstances that Jesus was born into. Which is something that I have never really thought about but as I was studying I realized that Jesus could have been born in to a Kings family and been treated very well and been someone of great importance and still accomplish the Atonement the same but he was born in the most humble of circumstance and probably lived the hardest life that anyone has ever lived so that he would know the pain that everyone goes through in this life so that no one could say they had it worse than Christ did. He literally was born in a stable, was a carpenter, was homeless and went through the Atonement at the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross for all of mankind. There is not one point in Jesus Christ’s life when we can say that he had it pretty good and that life was easy for him. There is no reason for us to be prideful and not use the Atonement because he did it all for us. He lived that life for us. Not for himself because he was perfect and didn't need the Atonement to live with God again but God and He knew that we couldn't accomplish it with out that so he volunteered to give his life so that we may have eternal life. He loved us so much and wanted us to live with him again. This is something that I never really thought about until I came on a mission and started to really discover this gospel and what Christ truly did for us. This time of year is when we should really focus on Christ and what he did for us and it is a time when we should share it with others who do not know it so they may feel the same joy and peace that Christ has brought in to our lives. This is the time to share the true meaning of CHRISTmas and what it is really a holiday for. So during this Christmas season really reflect on the savior and all that he has done for us personally and strengthen your personal relationship with him. This is something that I have really been trying to do over the last few days and it is something that brought me even more joy in my life. This Gospel is the thing on this Earth that can bring us the most joy in this life and this time on earth can be so much more enjoyable if we just put Christ in our lives and truly rely on him and also to share this with others even if it is hard. Trust me I know how hard it can be sometimes but if we rely on Christ we can did it!! Talk to you next week

Love Elder Slack