Friends and Family,
Hey! Thank you so much for the great emails and pictures!! It is so weird that the 4th of July has come and gone! Canada Day (Canadian equivalent) was so weird. For one, it made me homesick! It was sooooo hot and humid!! I sweat like crazy! We did service a lot of the day and a lot of street contacting, but man it was weird! I was putting in my papers a year ago, this next week! It’s just so unreal because everything feels like a big crazy dream! After working all day on Canada Day, we were in bed and the fireworks started going off! They didn’t hold a candle to the Melaluca show! haha But they were super lame, but just enough of an annoyance to keep us up! It’s funny how holidays can pull out a bit of homesickness. But it’s crazy how it is nothing like I thought it would be! It’s also so weird when I think that a year ago I was down at the river at the fireworks with a girl and family! haha Man life is crazy!!
Dad, congrats on the pizza oven! I can’t wait to try one! It sounds like you once again threw the best 4th of July party in town!
So this week was good, even though we had crazy holiday stuff going on! Chris got baptized on Saturday and it went great! Tyler Archambow, a great member that is only 17, really has helped to fellowship Chris and he ended up baptizing him! It was so great for both of them! President Paulson came up for the baptism and he gave us our transfer calls a day early, at the baptism! Me and Elder Platt are staying, again! He said that we are too good of a combo to split up! haha We are now considered ‘common law’ in Canada! ha ha ha just kidding. But it’s crazy! It’ll be four and a half months with him! All he knows about missionary work is Elder Smith and Selkirk! I’ve also been asked to be the new district leader of our district. I’m super excited, but hopefully it all goes well. Everyone in my district has been out longer than me or just as long, except for Elder Platt and Elder Green! I’m pretty excited about it but hopefully I do a good job. Now I have to teach district meetings every week and I get to do exchanges with everyone in my district and the zone leaders. It’s crazy because we are clear out in Selkirk, so they are going to have to give us a ton of kilometers! I will have served in Selkirk for six months, after this transfer! It’s crazy!!
Elder Willardson got transfered and now he is serving with Elder Ewell as the Winnipeg South Zone Leaders, but get this! Elder Leonard is the new Zone Leader in our zone! So I will get to work with him again and I’m so excited! There are 3 districts in the north zone.
So Karl got the Priesthood and he will get a calling this next week! Chris talked to President Anderson and they are working on a calling for him too! It was a hard, stressful week though because after Chris's baptism he had some issues that I’ll tell you about some other time. It was pretty stressful, but hopefully everything will work itself out.
We had a couple new people to church this week so that is good. Missions are so crazy because you start to care about people more and more and it makes things so much harder and more stressful! I’ve definitely faced my hardest trials on my mission, but I have learned so much and I am so grateful for the experiences I have had! I honestly never thought that I would see so much on my mission! It’s so crazy because I have met people that are in such a deep hole that it looks impossible for them to get out. It’s amazing because when you start to care about these people you can start to feel the way that they do and it is so overwhelming. It has given me so much more appreciation for the Savior and the Atonement! Any trials I have faced before seem like nothing compared to some of the things that people face. I had a great testimony before my mission, that the gospel could help people, but it has grown so much! Through the Atonement and living the gospel we really can find comfort and we can get out of these big holes that we dig for ourselves.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so great! I am so grateful that I have it in my life!! I love all of you so much and I am so grateful for all that you do for me! Keep up the great work and keep me updated! I love you all so much! Have a great week! Love every day and be safe!!!
Love Elder Smith
