[Title references this song.]
December 4, 2023
大家好！Hey Everyone!
December has Arrived! Which mean snow will also soon arrive . . . I think. The people here say this has been a surprisingly warm autumn so far—we’ve had snow twice (around Halloween) and it’s always melted within a couple days, so I believe it. Logan already has snow right? Weird.
There’s some big news this week! This one was quite a big one so hang on to your rears!
I bought a Violin! I’d been trying some out a week or two ago, and I got too impatient or impulsive or something cuz I decided to buy this ancient fiddle from a Facebook listing that seemed pretty cheap for the instrument quality! It’s not quite what I had at home, but I was pretty satisfied with it, so now it’s at our apartment :)) I’m still missing a bunch of specs like a shoulder rest, rosin, and a case that the bow can actually fit in (yikes), so hopefully I’ll get some of those today.
Transfers were this week. . . aaaand I got a NEW COMPANION!! My trainer Elder McAfee wasn’t too pleased with where he was going with transfers, which is always sad. (I don’t see a transfer outcome that he wouldn’t be sad about though, so hopefully it turns out to be good!) I’m staying in the same area, but I now have Elder Labrum as my comp! He’s a really hard worker and he’s only one transfer ahead of me so both of us speak 不好的中文 (really bad Chinese). We’ve had a couple lessons and English class meetings, and no one can understand us that well…so I’m predicting this is gonna be a really fun/funny transfer!!!
One of my new favorite moments of the mission happened this week when we were teaching a new friend for the second time. We already explained the Godhead to her last week, and we got talking about the restoration and Christ’s ministry. Elder Labrum was explaining how Christ was killed, and then three days later he was resurrected . . . and her eyes got really wide as if to say “He did what?? We will all do that???” It’s no wonder the truth of God is called “gospel” or “good news!”
We’ve also had another Korean Elder join us for a bit this week since his new companion has Covid. :P It’s been fun though because we’ve gotten to meet a lot of members he works with. For example, yesterday we had dinner at a member’s house up at the north end of Calgary, and they were absolutely LOADED but they were also super humble and sweet about everything. It was fun to get to know them.
Right after that, we and some older members in the area had the opportunity to watch the Christmas Devotional at a house of 5 Afghan immigrants who just got baptized on Saturday!! They were so polite, so hospitable, and so cheerful! It really added to the messages about Christmas joy.
Somewhat along with that, I found an interesting thought during personal study. Somehow in studying Preach My Gospel, I got lost and found myself in a church pamphlet all about Muslims and Latter-day Saints. I was yet again surprised at how much truth is shared between the two and how many beliefs are similar. Somehow I hadn’t really put into perspective how, just like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Islam also believes in a prophet who saw God and was led to a new book of scripture to clarify God’s word. Right after that I took a look in 2 Nephi 25 based on a comment from our branch mission leader (which was cool since I’ve also been thinking about tackling some Isaiah) and I found a very interesting and helpful point in verse 5: “and I know that the Jews do understand the things of the prophets (Isaiah, etc.), and there is none other people that understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things of the Jews.” Nephi seems to say the more we learn about other religions, the more we can understand the truths of this gospel. The more we learn about Judaism, the more we can understand Isaiah’s prophecies for our day. The more we learn about Islam, the more we can understand the Restoration, or perhaps the need for Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer.
A story by Elder Baer. You’re welcome. Hope you guys have a wonderful week prepping for Christmas! Let me know how you’re doing!
愛你們！
–熊長老
photos:
New Fiddle!! (+ Elder Labrum taking a try)
Top Dog getaway driver
I think his name is missing a few consonants
a good and healthy mission breakfast
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