I am pretty surprised by how few quiet moments I've had over the Christmas "break" to write an email, some of which may or may not be due to my poor time management *gulp* but I've got a second right now to bust out an email. The week has been pretty good.
The pattern of purging my apartment continues! I don't know what the high score is for the mission, but I'd be interested to see how mine would compare by the end of the mission. Elder Kim and I were both exiled from Cardston and sent back to Calgary to our respective language areas. Yay for Mandarin again!
The kicker, though, is that God has a fabulous sense of humor, because he put me back with Elder Bigler, my trainee, for the 3rd transfer or more. This might be an exciting transfer and a very transformative one at that. That said, the past couple days have been going pretty well, and it’s cool because I’ve already seen quite a bit of difference from the experiences last winter with all sorts of criticism and what not. I also got a couple cool encouraging messages, which came in with incredibly inspired timing, and that deserves a huge thank you! You truly capture the charge this season to “Be Someone’s Angel,” and you can count me in as a witness of that! I’ve got the greatest family, the best friends, and the coolest neighbors!
. . . I really don’t have a lot of memories of what happened this week, tho. We said a bunch of goodbyes to people in Cardston. I’ll just list out a few memorable people out there for you to imagine me meeting in Cardston:
Bishop Nish: very successful, and you would never guess it. We told him we were leaving, and he replied with a text saying, “Well, that’s not good.”
Marty: used to be an office missionary in the Calgary mission, had a lot of funny space doctrine that he would tell us very seriously.
Pat: a very old lady that was kind of crazy and intimidating, but also super generous in inviting a homeless native couple to live at her home.
Dave: an absolute stud, who was super actively working with people on the reserve
I’ve been thinking about the wise men as recorded in the New Testament, who looked for signs of Christ, and after seeing them traveled to give Christ gifts. We too can look for the symbols of Christ in the Christmas season, and we can offer something of ourselves to God and to others this Christmas. As you think of gifts to give one another, think of something you’re willing to offer the Lord! He will give you great blessings for every good thing that you offer him.
Five years before the birth of our Lord, a Native American named Samuel boldly proclaimed a message of angels to the opposing tribe:
"And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you." "...then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name."
Several centuries later, the descendants of Samuel's own tribe learned of the same angelic message from a foreign missionary, adapted to the language of the indigenous people. This message was named the Huron Carol, and is the oldest known Canadian Christmas Carol! But whether from the tongue of Angels, Natives, or Europeans, the message is the same to whole world - from the "true north" to the far eastern orient.
"The Holy Child of earth and heaven
Is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant Boy
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy.
Tishya ton tayeson, ahatonhia!
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria!"
Helaman 14:2-8 #GloriaInExcelsisDeo #huron
How will you share the message of Christmas this year?
It’s been forever! [Editor's note: last week's P-day was supplanted by a mission temple day.] Does everyone now have an extra two generations added to their family tree? I wouldn’t be surprised.
I’ve been so selfish, and I haven’t even bothered to tell you about our friends here in Cardston. . .mostly because we have a really difficult time meeting with any of them, which is probably an indication that we should move on. But here are some updates:
Cody has cut off some bad influences in his life and is developing a better relationship with his son & stepson. He is patiently and cheerfully waiting for a group in Standoff, and he calls us when we forget to contact him. We still haven’t taught him in person for a while.
Chauncey is. . .there. He has a habit of cancelling lessons several days in a row.
We met a new friend named Sherry! She asked us to come pray with her, because she has one niece to call family, and she’s trying to escape some evil dudes on the reserve. We had a great opportunity to pray with her and her niece at their house (complete with dark red wallpaper, elk skulls, and cthulhu statues). They seemed really excited about the Book of Mormon and coming to church! They weren’t able to come because of health complications, so we’re praying we can see them next week!
Cara picked up the phone once and listened to a message about the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! When we asked who else could hear this message, she said “Well I think everyone ought to hear this!"
WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE! The Cardston Temple is SOO cool! It really felt a lot like a stark place of worship in ancient civilization, while also having the atmosphere of being in someone's home. Seriously, PLEASE do everything you can to be ready to go to the temple and your life will be so much better!
Other silly and pointless moments from this week
Saw some really cool native hoop dances at a thanksgiving dinner!
Elder Kim pointed out that our neighbor very well could be Jack Black…or Karl Marx
Saw firsthand a bunch of dogs chase a big black cat right up a telephone pole
“King Noah was kind of a chubby biscuit” –Cardston Seminary Teacher
🚨GOT THE COPS CALLED ON US!?!?🚨
….Alright, this one ^ needs some explanation. So there we were in Glenwood and we thought we’d stop by a non-member family. We walked up to the door seeing that the lights were on and the TV was going, so we knocked, rang, knocked once more and left. When we got in the car Elder Kim asked, “Did you see the little girl at the window that sprinted away? I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the only one home, and we scared her.” I hadn’t noticed, so we went on our way to visit their relatives down the street. By the time they came to the door, a pickup truck careened into the driveway, steered by a bewildered driver that said “Our granddaughter’s scared half to death! She phoned the police and told them there were two crazy drunk guys trying to break in!” The truck immediately peeled out, and while I stood there probably a little shaky and white as a ghost, the woman at the door just laughed and said, “She can get quite an imagination worked up, alright.” The good news is I don’t think the cops ever really showed up, but I’m sure we sufficiently ruined someone’s date night. *gulp*
I’ve been memorizing a few verses of scripture this week, and it’s been very helpful and strengthening this week, especially now that I'm starting to realize the time I've had here in Cardston has been a more difficult than I've been telling myself. Memorized scriptures have helped a lot! Here’s one I’ve been working on: “For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.” This verse [Isaiah 54:10] about God’s everlasting love has been really foundational for me this week! I’d challenge all of you to find a new verse of scripture and memorize it this week! If you do this you will truly gain a new friend that will stand with you in the dark moments of the week! The word of God is powerful!
We'll see where I'll be next week after transfers! Stay warm everyone! Love you all!
