Two Times Devoured

[Title refers to this clip from "Horton Hears a Who."]

 大家好！Hey Everyone!

Is school already out? Or almost out? Get this, the schools in Canada don't start summer break until the end of June! 💀 Crazy!

This week our district launched our reorganized online English class, and boy it's been a lot of work. We're doing about 1½ hours every day of some sort of class-related work, whether it's teaching the class, holding 1-on-1 lessons, contacting students, or grading homework we give them (gross). Even with all of this it's looking to be very successful — as a district we had 7 friends come to church, and most of them came as a result of our recent class revisions.

Tuesday was a bit crazy. Our Mission President came to DCM and gave us all interviews afterward. One of the Elders persuaded the Mission President and his wife to take us out to dinner that evening. It was great . . . except for the part where we also had a scheduled member dinner as well as a 1-on-1 lesson. Miraculously, we managed to make all of them by chowing down food at untold speeds as well as receiving many a “check your speed” warning from the car. It was a great 1-time experience (hopefully 🙏).

A cool miracle happened on Wednesday! We showed up to the in-person English class on Wednesday and Elder Scoresby and I had 4 people in our room. Our English lesson went well, and then right as we were about to end our friend Lundy asked a question in Mandarin along the lines of, “If Christians have such high expectations, how do you meet up to that when you make mistakes?” That got us talking about repentance and about the need for a Christ. At about that time everyone in the room was begging to learn more, and before we knew it we were teaching the whole Restoration to four different people! Elder Scoresby said he had never spoken such good Chinese as in that hour! This also led to a good lesson with our friend Liu!

Saturday brought us a wonderful opportunity to go hiking with some friends and members in BANFF!!!! It was good. I got to share a little bit of gospel, I learned all about Tibetan burial rituals for monks, and we got a bunch of good pictures. We also found a great Indian buffet for really cheap right after the hike! It was awesome . . . except for the part where we also had a scheduled member dinner right after that. (Not a 1-time experience I guess, it just keeps happening!!)

I've been thinking a lot this week about a synonym of faith: confidence. This week I learned that the more confident we are, the better our relationship with others is. If we are not “assertive,” so to speak, we may tend to become far more passive or aggressive—little confidence may lead us to compare ourselves and put others down, or we may tend to put ourselves down. When we have complete faith in ourselves, our worth and our abilities, we also gain great faith in others. The best way we develop faith in ourselves is by growing putting faith in Jesus Christ and taking actions to become like him. My invitation this week is a little vague, but I invite you all to find a small opportunity to build or share your faith, and notice what happens as consequence. I know that as we have confidence in God, our confidence and love in ourselves and in others increases.

Stay cool everyone! Love you all!

爱你们！

–熊长老

Photos

Dinner with the Mission President

An extremely entertaining moment in the car

Hiking + Banff photos in no particular order

Chapter 41, In Which Elder Baer Spends an Obscene Amount of Time at the Church Building and Experiences Some Changes Within the Work

20 May 2024

 大家好！Hey Everyone!

Everyone surviving alright? I hope so! Prayers to you if you're going through it right now! Hopefully the weather is at least treating you alright.

Big Highlight of the week:
Our friend Jem GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! It was an extremely chaotic baptism if you can believe it, and the new bishop of the ward mentioned a lot of ways we could improve our missionary-member coordination, but overall it was successful. It was also a little because of Highlight of the week #2 which is…

Transfers Happened! Unfortunately, Elder Tang is leaving the trio :( But I am staying in the South of Calgary with Elder Scoresby! It’s also a 5 week transfer, so we’re about to go crazy with the work!

Highlight #3 (If you can call it a highlight): We’ve been doing h*cka English class slides to prep for a transition into a more “serious” English class. We’ve been at the church basically all the time just prepping stuff. It’s also exciting, because I get to do more phone calls—something I do not thoroughly enjoy but is kinda necessary for my development as a human being. Growth is a good thing, painful but good.

Fun fact, I had an out-of-body inception moment this morning. I took a nap and dreamed that I walked to the living room, and fell asleep, and started almost dreaming about some rock band going on. Once I woke up from my living room nap, I meandered back into bed so I could wake up from my bedroom nap. . . weird. Story by Elder Baer, you're welcome.

There’s been a little debate among our district about the idea of revelation—how much of the missionary standards are inspired, how much of the prophet’s words are inspired, etc. Last week I decided that rather than argue my opinion with others, I can find a witness for myself through some prayer and some faith. . . and over the course of the week I forgot to do that (oops). But I’m re-committing myself to do that this week! I’d invite all of you to follow the guidance of James 1:5 with me and “ask of God” about some wisdom you might be lacking. I know for a fact that God always answers prayers, and that those who diligently seek will always find, according to God's timing.

Stay cool Everyone! Love you all!
爱你们！

–熊长老



照片

English class slides

A sign of God's Covenant

Snow

Mega Catan

Member meal

Jem's Baptism

"I'm not dead yet"

[Title references this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.]

May 13, 2024

大家好！Hey Everyone!

You'll never guess what happened this week. . .

My companions and I got Covid! :P So naturally, this week was not our most productive week, but it might have been our least productive. It was alright though. It left me a Lotttt of time to study the scriptures and to play the violin!

I made a crazy discovery while reading the Book of Mormon! There's a big chiasmus in 2 Nephi 4 verses 17-35 inclusive! For anyone who is unfamiliar with the term, this article has some great explanations and examples of what I'd call a poetic mirror sandwich. Here's the pattern I found:

A) “nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted”

B) “why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow…

C) “and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?”

D) “Why am I angry because of mine enemy?”

E) “Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin…

-

E) “Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul”

D) “Do not anger again because of mine enemies…

C) “Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions”

B) “Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord…yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.”

A) “O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever”

What a powerful way to write! Nephi builds up a series of questions and problems he faces that all lead up to this turning point: “Rejoice,” and these questions are now put in a higher perspective.

Now there's a lot I missed in here, so if any of you are looking for a puzzle or a challenge, I'd invite you to to read 2 Nephi 4 and see if you can find more matching parts of this chiasmus. You can also turn to your favorite passage of scripture and look for patterns like this as well.

For those of you who haven't been blessed with as much time to study, I'd invite you help someone out this week! After a week of bumming around I'm finally starting to see more than before how service is the best way to find purpose and happiness. (Thanks to my mom and my grandparents for helping me learn that producing is a higher joy than consuming - always). So go do something cool for a friend, a family member, or a stranger!

Hope you all have a fantastic week and find a lot of joy! Love you all!

爱你们！

–熊长老



Photos:

Chiasmus

Me being sick

Cool Sunset

Less cool attempt at seeing Aurora Borealis

[Note: A newer phone camera would probably have done the trick, but you can still see hints of the magenta and green coloring from the solar storm in the edges of the lens flare.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Stranger In a Foreign Land

May 6, 2024

 大家好！Hey Everyone!

We’re finally starting to see some tulip buds in Calgary which is cool! And it’s been raining a lot more than usual! Has your spring been pretty good?

Not a lot happened this week. . . that is until Saturday, when we had an opportunity to hear from the one and only:

ELDER PATRICK KEARON!!!!!

I can’t tell you how excited I was after hearing that he was coming to speak to the mission! We all met up in the wilderness of Magrath and got to shake his hand before an absolutely fire meeting. There were some other great speakers there as well, such as Elder Kearon’s wife, Elder Bennett of the Area Seventy, and Sister Kristin Yee of the General Relief Society Presidency.

Here’s just a few takeaways front the meeting listed below.

Some cool thoughts from Sister Yee:

• When the Lord moves/answers quickly, it’s with a purpose
• When the Lord moves/answers slowly, there is a purpose for the pause
• The Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached to the one; it is for each individual. Each and every individual will receive the opportunity to hear of Him and to know Him.
• God wants you to be happy now!

Some cool thoughts from Sister Kearon:

• What would happen if Abinadi didn’t have the same integrity? Where would the second half of the Book of Mormon be?
• What would happen if Moroni didn’t have the integrity to “not deny the Christ”? Sometimes we must be as Moroni, as pictured on top of each temple, and do what he does best - stand alone.

(Sister Kearon referred to the week of the Savior’s Atonement as the Passion, a title of many musical settings for the event. It made me think a lot about how Christ feels about each one of us, how the redemption of mankind is literally His Passion.)

Some cool things from Elder Kearon:

(If there’s one thing I learned about Elder Kearon, he’s a very righteous, intelligent goofball. I was surprised by his quick wit, his plethora of movie references, and a very accurate impression of Elder Dallin H. Oaks.)

• We, as missionaries, have been set apart to proclaim “Glad Tidings of Great Joy.” We must become the message and be cheerful.
• We thrive on opposition, hunt for stretching opportunities

There’s a small summary for you. Besides that, we mostly had a few lessons with some curious friends, where we taught them about prayer. We'll be trying to meet with them more this week.

Roda attended the temple to perform baptisms for the dead on Friday! We’re excited for the coming years when Ernest gets a temple recommend!

I’d invite you all to think a little bit about integrity and think about something small you can do to show your integrity this week. As promised, when we live with integrity, we gain greater self-respect and inner peace.

Stay cool Everyone!

爱你们！

–熊长老

Evan Baer


Photos:

Calgary

Temple Trip

Fancy Member meal

Fields to Magrath

Missionaries in Magrath

 Sand raiders

Subs with the District

An AI depiction of me brought to you by the Mandarin District

"Tony A-ward winning moment"

[Title references a skit from the high school improv troop, Wingin' It.]

April 29, 2024

 Ladies and Gentleman. . . .

. . .

WE'VE DONE IT!!!
Through the grace and mercy of the Lord, the Calgary Varsity Mandarin Branch has now become the Varsity Mandarin 

W A R D ! ! !

This transition took place in the looooongest sacrament meeting I've ever had (approx. 1.5 hours) and we have a new bishop now! Everyone's super excited about it! We're also hoping some of the other Elders don't quit doing missionary work after this. lol

The Lord really has a way with timing, too. Roda's son Ernest was the first baptism of the Mandarin ward, and one of the other Elders commented on how valuable children are in the eyes of God. I had the privilege of confirming Ernest a member! Very nerve-wracking, but very cool.

We asked a friend named Ryan to pray this week, and he said he felt as if someone was guiding him. That was pretty epic!

We went on a hike on Saturday with some members and friends to the Canyon Creek Ice Caves. It was Soooo long but really cool! I got a lot of Chinese practice, plus some caving practice.

Zone Conference happened this Wednesday, and I got some cool ideas from that. We were reading a lot in John 15 and discussing what the word “abide” means, and I realized that if you change one letter in the word it becomes “abode.” It made me think again about how both a temple and the sacrament represent Jesus Christ, the temple being His house or His “abode” and the sacrament being how we let Him “abide with us.”

This week I noticed what is perhaps the great miracle of the Calgary mission. We are soon saying goodbye to our good member Lucy, since she is moving back to China (and no, that's NOT the miracle). She came to Canada a year and a half ago, was baptized, and made further covenants in the temple within that time. The ward is helping her find a church building in China, just as we did with Mr. Zuo. So many others have been led to Canada to find the Tree of Life, and then led back to China to build up the congregations there. Thus, even in China, against the odds of restricted speech, the Gathering of Israel is continuing. Truly, nothing can stop the Lord from accomplishing His work and His glory.

I'm going to relay an invitation from our district leader to you all, and invite you to look for one small miracle or a tender mercy every day this week! Our prophet has emphasized how seeking and expecting miracles will make life better.

Keep it up everyone! Love you all! 爱你们！
–熊长老

Photos:

Ernest's Baptism

Pics from the hike (including The Tick! But not his fearless sidekick, Arthur)

Random pictures from walking around the week before

Our district celebration

"Let me introduce you to my little friend"

April 22, 2024

大家好！Hey Everyone!

What a strange week! We started off the week struggling to contact a lot of our friends we’ve been teaching, and then we ended the week with 4 completely new friends coming to church and a lesson with 3 of them immediately after. So as you can imagine, church this week went like this: *Internal Screaming*

Here’s a quick update on the friends though:

    MingMing said she’s busy, and her son has got some stuff going on with band? She hasn’t been to church yet and couldn’t meet with us this last week, but we’re hoping she can meet and come to church this coming week.

    Jem is still on date for baptism and still doing good. She was out of town this weekend, but she’s making good progress towards baptism.

    We met with a young college student named Ryan, who’s reeeeeeeally shy but kept showing up to random stuff this week, so that’s a good sign!

    Liu and Lundy attended in-person English class and then said they’d come to church. Liu seems more interested, so we’re gonna meet with him more this week.


Other highlights of this week include Elder Tang made me a cake which was super nice! It was made from scratch, too! (The cake was not even a lie!)

In other news, we drove all over the place this week and now we have little to no kilometers left for this month, so this week is gonna be really exciting.

I've been thinking this week about prayer, and how there are blessings that God can grant us conditional on our praying for them (see Prayer in the Bible Dictionary). So this week, pray for something specific that you need, or something specific that you would like God to help you with. Then look for the small, detailed ways that He’ll answer your prayers. I promise God always does answer prayers, and as you pray for blessings we will receive them.

Aight, that's it today. Stay cool guys!

Love you all! 爱你们！

–熊长老

So There I Was . . .

[Title refers to the way Evan's Uncle Steve begins every story.]

April 15, 2024

大家好！Hey Everyone!

Things are getting warmer! It’s super nice! Maybe Canada believes in Spring after all!

Since being in the South, I’ve seen a bunch of people I’ve met before! While walking around SAIT campus I ran into Danny, a guy I met at a train station way in the northwest of Calgary. While handing out fliers at the supermarket I saw Miya, a lady to whom we gave a tour of our church. The biggest surprise though came last week on the day of transfers.

So there I was . . .  buying some small groceries for the weekend, when I saw Randy! Randy is a guy that I had seen a few weeks earlier when Elder Bigler and I decided to tract in a little neighborhood I hadn’t been to. We met him while walking back to the car and he seemed really down. In talking to him, we discovered that he had no money, no job, and was on his way to go beg for food at a convenience store. This is the part where I failed as a representative of Christ, and instead of doing something really loving like buying him a sandwich and eating dinner with him, I just got his number and told him God loved him. Real helpful. Fast forward to Walmart, I saw him in the aisles still begging. . . for some dog food? He had a job this time and just didn’t have enough to keep his dog going for another week until he got a paycheck, so we helped purchase some goods for him. (I got him that sandwich this time!) There are reasons we’re led to people more than once, and God knows exactly what’s needed. I now have a testimony that the Lord’s servants truly are being led by Him, especially when it’s hard to tell.

A BIG miracle from this week is our friend Ming Ming. 

So there I was . . . on lesson 2 with her, she told us she had been baptized in a different church on a whim based on a suggestion from a friend (oof). Kinda weird especially since she knew hardly anything about God or Jesus Christ. We then got a text a day or two later saying she looked up the Church and noticed how everyone was saying it’s an “Evil Cult,” but disagreed and said she wanted to keep meeting because she felt good. BUT THEN when we sent her the Prophet’s message, “Think Celestial,” she replied with THIS HUGE Golden Nugget of truth:

“Only in the Celestial kingdom can one inherit Eternal Life, while in the Telestial Kingdom one can only have immortality. That’s why it makes sense that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are separate entities”

. . . . .to which, after picking my jaw off the floor, the only reaction I could articulate was “EYYYOOOOOOWHAAT!!!!”

I now have a stronger testimony that the Prophet truly speaks the word of the Lord, and His word will bring revelation, clarity, and strength to your life!

We went on a Hike this Saturday in Kananaskis! I discovered a few interesting things, such as just how much I missed mountains and how much more beautiful Canada is once you leave Calgary.  :P

We had Stake Conference this weekend, and boy was it wild! They pulled a fast one on us and switched up the Stake Presidency! I got to play the violin too!! It was a good time!

Reflecting a little bit back on last week, I invite all of you to find one thing you can do this week to bring the temple into your life. Something simple -- I, myself, am going to help clean our apartment today. I promise that as we do this we’ll experience more peace, the peace that comes from the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ (See John 14:27).

Love you all! 爱你们！

–熊长老


Photos:
 

Some Pasta

Pics from the Hike

 

 

 

 

 

The weather. Neat.

Savior Redeemer of My Soul

"Savior Redeemer of My Soul"

April 14, 2024,  Calgary West Stake Conference

Trans-Conferential Railroad

April 8, 2024

大家好！Hey Everyone!

How was conference? Any favorite talks? Any favorite conference jokes?

To everyone that sent me an email in the last little bit, Imma really try and get back to you...it may just take another 6-7 days since this was a challenging P-day for communication. Thus this email is going to be very small and dry… just like the climate of Alberta…except the small part.

Transfers were on Friday! After a good 6 months in the northwest of Calgary, it is time to say goodbye for just a minute, cuz I'm moving down south! I’m in a trio with Elder Scoresby and Elder Tang!!! They’re awesome! I’m still trying to get my stuff situated, but it’ll work out.

The work already seems really good! The south area has a lot of friends being taught, and a friend on date. Elder Scoresby also got someone to meet with us by cold-calling them on Facebook messenger! Wild!

Conference weekend was fun! We watched as a district at the church with all the sofas in the building put in one room. Our trio also went to Calgary Tower and got a bite to eat from the restaurant up there.

Soooo, y’all probably remember a lot of the stuff from conference, and if you’re anything like me, you probably don’t remember a lot more stuff from conference. They should be posting talks sometime soon, though, so stay tuned. I’m excited to re-read the words of the modern day prophet, President Russel M. Nelson. I’m really impressed with his words relating to the events of the Kirtland temple and the Priesthood keys given there, mainly the keys of the Gathering of Israel, the keys of the Gospel of Abraham, and the keys of the Sealing Power.

Today I’ll extend the same invitation President Nelson did, and invite you to read the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple offered by Joseph Smith (D&C 109) and consider

• how your life would be different without these keys, and
• how Christ manifests himself in your daily life.

The Prophet has stated that these keys mentioned in D&C 109 are evidence that God loves all of his children. I promise that as you read this section, you will gain a greater understanding of God's love and the benefits of the temple.

Have a week! Find yourself some good art, food, and music for me

Love you all! 爱你们！
–熊长老


Photos (good luck :)

[The new companionship: Elders Baer, Scoresby, and Tang]

[General Conference scene]

I got a call to be AP

1 April 2024

 大家好！Hey Everyone!

HAPPY EASTER!!! How was everyone's Holiday? I hope it was not as snowy as ours.

Quick Friend Update: Ernest said he wants to be baptized next month! We helped him resolve a concern about the baptism water temperature. Evidently we filled the font too early for Roda’s baptism, so the water went cold for her, and she didn’t want Ernest to get sick after being immersed in cold water. We promised Ernest that God loves him and won’t let him get sick because of being baptized, and he seemed more relieved.

We had three new faces at church yesterday! The branch members were wonderful fellowshippers for new friends. One lady told us she really liked the atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the members.

We also had the longest lesson ever with a member who kept going off in Chinese about something. I think it was successful, though; the guy we taught seemed to feel more that God loved him.

...also April Fools! What you see in the subject line [being called as AP] definitely did not happen, don't worry.

Luke 24 has caught my attention with some cool scriptures regarding Christ’s resurrection. Shortly after Christ’s resurrection, He appeared and talked with two other disciples, on their way to Emmaus, who invited Him to stay for the evening. Only after He abided with them were their eyes opened to understanding that he was Jesus the Christ.

This week I invite you to think of one small thing you can do to let the Savior’s influence abide with you, and act on it. I, myself, am going to put a picture of the Savior somewhere recognizable in my apartment. I promise that as we let the savior “abide with us,” our eyes will be opened, and we will come to know him even better.

Have a great week! Love you all! 爱你们！
–熊长老


Photos:

Temple Pics from Tuesday 

Me making a dumb face in front of a mural 

Spring???