Tuesday, April 22, 2025

He Is Risen!

 祂复活了!He is Risen!

It's been a good week! Highlight reel is as follows:
- We had an epic lesson with Challeah where she was thrilled about the Book of Mormon!
- Exchange with Elder Murdock! He is from England/South Africa, and he's also cool
- Saw Lamb of God by Rob Gardener (I don't know how we got away with that as a mission, but it was nice.)
- Went Easter Caroling! That was the highlight of Easter for sure! We met some pleasantly surprised people and some very grouchy people. Super fun.

I studied Doctrine and Covenants 76 and it blew my mind! There are several pivotal Scriptures that are often quoted from this revelation, but the entire section is incredible! Give it a read and let me know what you learn. I was particularly fascinated by the verses about ministering and its purpose. The chapters of Jesus Christ's ministry in America are also super good to read after Easter!

Stay cool everyone! Love you all!
Elder Baer 熊长老

照片:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yBaTy1Mc3BcoogrG6 

Donair Dinner [Happy Birthday, Elder Baer!]



Double rainbow! (Double Covenants!)



Easter Caroling!



Sri Lankan Easter Dinner





Wednesday, April 16, 2025

"There Is No Secret Ingredient"

 [Title refers to this clip from Kung Fu Panda. (Caution:  spoilers!)]

大家好!Hello Friends!

Sorry for no email last week! I'll make up for it with a bunch of nonsense pictures.

Remember that time I was in Lethbridge, and things were starting to go smooth? Not anymore! We're starting over in a new area, but more on that later. First things first:

DAT GENERAL CONFERENCE THO!!

Holy Smokes! I don't know what it was, but this weekend was just an absolutely elite experience! Several messages just shook me like a dog. The music had me weeping! I don't know quite how else to describe it, other than to say the veil between us and the heavens felt a lot thinner the last two days. In one moment at the end of the conference, when the organist was shredding the postlude in the background, I looked at the faces on the stand and in the crowd and thought, “These are the kind of people I want to be with…these are Saints I hope to call my neighbors in Zion.” Thanks for being a good neighbor everyone!

The rest of the week was good:

  • Had a goofy exchange with Elder Holland! Providence forever!
  • Found Vietnamese Subs in Lethbridge!
  • TAUGHT A GUY IN CHINESE! He made an incredible parallel between covenants and the 5 societal relationships in Confucianism! He is incredibly prepared to hear the good news of Jesus.
  • ¡¡¡FURAHA WAS BAPTIZED!!! I actually might not have written about her much. Her whole family is from Rwanda and her kids were all recently baptized. We had a member translating in Kinyarwandan for several lessons. She quit drinking, cold turkey, for God! We scrambled to pull a baptism together for her the day before transfers, but miraculously the small group of members there said they felt the Spirit, so I guess it was okay. Elder Ferrin got to confirm.
  • I got transferred. Woot. I'm back in Calgary, in a former Mandarin apartment, but not in the Mandarin ward. We're double covering one ward and we have NOTHING in our area book to go off of. Our dragon scroll is blank, so we're doing all of our work by the guidance of the spirit and by the seat of our pants. We did have a cool miracle when we met a lady who said to us “I've actually been looking for a church around here.” *What?!* and then she showed up at church. *Double what?!!* Her name is Challeah, and we found her when we knocked on the doors of an incredible ghetto housing complex. The area has some incredible potential!

EASTER IS ON SUNDAY!! Everyone get your Jesus Jerseys on and your hymn-leader pom-poms, this week is going to be EPIC! Check out the church's Holy week study guide and other resources surrounding Christ during Easter and Passover. These are the greatest holidays ever! I’ll just add my testimony here that I know of a surety that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is THE flock of saints led by Jesus Christ Himself. He truly rose from the dead, so that we could all rise from our pain in this life.

Stay Warm Everyone! Love you all!

Elder Baer 熊长老

照片:
 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yBaTy1Mc3BcoogrG6

Exchange with Elder Holland



also Elder Holland



General Conference With Spanish Elders


 "Pluto you're rrrripped!"




my kind of ride



paintings at a Bob Ross youth activity



At transfers (featuring Elders Holland, Aniel, and Roberts)






New Apartment before and after our giant cleaning block




Furaha's baptism









Monday, April 7, 2025

Eat, Drink, and be Merry, for tomorrow is P-day

This is what was said after Elder Ferrin and I were battling to see who could eat the most raspberry mousse tarts. I won, but only because he had one more plate of ribs than I did.

31 March 2025


大家好!Hello Friends!

It snowed again, and within three hours the snow melted. It looks like it'll be that way for some time. Here's the futbol highlight reel for this week (you'll just have to imagine the dubstep background music yourself)

  • Went on an exchange with Elder Roberts again! I don't know how but he's the only one that can make me laugh by saying stuff like, “Yo, that puppy's dope as freak!” I also had a good time watching him try and figure out how to pack 247 Hotwheels cars into a box to bring home.
  • Discovered first hand that serving in the YSA ward is a vacation, not a real mission.
  • Zone Conference was this week and it was 6 hours of “You need the Spirit with you, so let's flip to page 181 again and read…” We got some great sweet pork salads tho, and I got to chat with Elder Kim again! As the Tech missionary he drove 2.5 hours so he could watch as everyone's new sim card didn't work and complain about being at the mission office all week.
  • Went on an exchange with Elder Koloamatangi! He's a super cool Elder and definitely helped me learn the same thing we knew all along, that I gotta be more confident 😂
  • MET A MAN FROM CHINA IN LETHBRIDGE!!! And he came to ¡¡¡Church!!! Maybe there is a reason I'm here after all.
  • Got talked at for an hour and a half by a Recent Convert about…the Bible? Church? Hard to say but he said a few relatable comments about church culture is not church doctrine. Amen.


I had some unusually good experiences at members houses! Get this: On Saturday I was fed eggplant parmesan on the mission!!! The family also had purple ribbons on the door that said “He is risen” to which I thought to myself “The church really Is true!” On Saturday we stepped into a home that was covered in either Chinese traditional paintings or James C. Christensen art. They also made some familiar snarky comments, hence the title. Some people here are very cool.

Easter is in 20 DAYS!!! General Conference is coming up this weekend and it's a great way to prepare! I'd challenge you to read a talk from the previous Conference each day this week to get in the groove for conference.

Stay Warm Everyone! Love you all!
Elder Baer 熊长老

照片:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yBaTy1Mc3BcoogrG6

[Good friends -- and raspberry mousse tarts]


 [Exchange with Elder Roberts]