Elder Evan Baer: Canada Calgary Mission: Sine Waves

January 29, 2024

大家好！Hi Everyone!

W O W ! This was one of the most wild weeks I’ve ever had! Or, as the understated snob in me would put it, this week had quite the emotional amplitude!

Let’s start with the highlights:

The Big news this week. . . RODA IS ON DATE FOR BAPTISM!!!! We met with her on Wednesday and she started asking some questions about baptism, but they were questions like, “So will the church provide a hairdryer or will I need to bring my own?” She has amazing faith and we are SUPER hyped for her! We’ve got a baptism lined up for about two weeks from now, and we are also kinda stressed because we still have a lot of principles to cover before baptism, so we’re praying we can pull it off!

A friend we stopped teaching earlier said they now had a driver's license and wanted to come to church! They were present at sacrament meeting, and I talked to them briefly before they were helping their son to Primary, but I didn’t get to see them again. Hopefully we can get some more contact with them again and see what their interests in the Church are.

I had a cool conversation with a guy named Benjamin at the train station who received a copy of the Book of Mormon, and had some interest in coming to church in a week or two once he’s done with some tests. At the same station we met an older lady who was super cheerful and so happy to talk to us (and maybe a little bit high on something?)

We had the thrilling opportunity of serving at the Calgary Food Bank, where we showed up quite a bit late due to a prior lunch appointment, which meant that we had to wait an hour for some people to get out of a meeting so they could tell us some “Safety Protocol” (aka don’t use your phone when you’re serving). I don’t know about my companion, but I thought it was kind of cool when all was said and done–which is great because we’re serving again this week (woot)

Remember the amplitude I talked about earlier? These past few weeks I learned a fun fact: training is kinda stressful, *insert Pablo panic attack from Backyardigans*, and I was definitely feeling a lot of that stress these past few weeks. However, I had a really cool epiphany during our last District Council that was super impactful to me. We occasionally hear a phrase in the Book of Mormon referring to us as members and missionaries as an “instrument in the hands of God,” and I've been worrying so much about whether I’m being an effective instrument or not. Then I realized a truth I’d been missing: a musician can play the same music on a $1,000,000 Stradivarius as they can on a $250 factory-made violin. Even though a cheaper violin doesn’t yet have the same capabilities as the Strad, that doesn’t prevent the musician from creating beautiful music for his audience. Similarly, it’s unnecessary for me to worry about if I’m a good enough instrument. God is an omniscient, omnipotent “Musician,” if you will, and no flaws in an instrument can prohibit Him from performing His music, which is perhaps the “Song of Redeeming Love.”

[....also another fun fact, the Mission President said I needed a chill pill in an interview, so I assume he'll be sending me some now :]

That’s all I’ve got for now.

[Many prayers for the Beazers from Southern Alberta]

爱你们!

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