Elder Evan Baer: Canada Calgary Mission: Happy Spanksgiving!!

November 27, 2023

感恩節快樂！

How was Everyone's family get together? I always love the end of the year because of how much we gather as families, most times over some delicious food. We couldn't find a good turkey dinner here so our district went out for Vietnamese food which was a yummy substitute. I think the spirit of joy is often felt most easily when there's good food and good music shared among good friends/family. That's also what makes Church so cool because it often has all three!

This week was epic! We found two new people this week that both seemed really happy and interested in the Church! We had a good introductory lesson with one of them and another one came to a cool stake event! (More on that event later.) Our friend Jing has started bringing his daughter to church, so we hope the branch is a good environment for both of them! Jun said he would pray this week about a baptismal date which is huge ‘cause he's been so hesitant for so long! (Hopefully he actually follows through with that though and actually prays about it)

On Friday I got to do small exchanges with one of the APs!! (Assistants to the President.) I went with Elder White and he is by far one of the most fun missionaries I've met in the mission! He was super relatable as far as his taste in movies and music, but more than that he was really personable and a pretty disciplined hard worker. He put some true principles in a new perspective for me when he would say silly things like, “Satan is such a punk, isn't he?” I learned a lot and had an absolute blast!

Last night we invited some new contacts to the Calgary Stake Extravaganza featuring some sing alongs, instrumental numbers, stake choir numbers, and some songs from the University of Calgary mixed and chamber choirs??? They were pretty good, low key though USU choirs are definitely better (and maybe even Ridgeline's choirs too

) but they might not have prepped a ton for this performance. Highlights include "Glow" by Eric Whitacre and a children's chorus of "Still, Still, Still" (but without any interrupting singers this time).

We're getting transfers this Friday! Some cool things I've learned looking back at this transfer include:

While circumstances may be difficult, our misery is largely our own choice. If we choose to do things that make us miserable, we will be; but if we choose to focus on things that bring us joy, we can find it.
Somewhat related to the point above, I actually do like cooking!
There is always something in common you can find with someone else, always.

Other than that there's not much to write home about. As I was philosophizing this week though, I thought a lot about prayer and got thinking about how Jesus gave us good examples of prayer, and then I thought, “Wait, did Jesus ever pray for divine help for himself?” And as far as I can tell he rarely did, so I wondered if we too should only pray for others since our “Father knoweth what things [we] have need of, before [we] ask him.” . . .after about a day of trying some mostly selfless prayers I stumbled upon other scriptures about how “God will give liberally to him that asketh” or how we also ought to “cry unto him over the crops of [our] fields, that [we] may prosper in them.” So even though we are trying to become more like Jesus and develop his selfless character, it's apparently still important to pray for our own wellbeing.

Welp, that's this week! Let me know if you had any fun Thanksgiving happenings, or not fun happenings either way. December's almost here! We can make it!

愛你們！

–熊長老

Photos：

Pho with the district

AKA Thanksgiving Dinner