Life Really Can Be as Sweet as Potatoes and Molasses

[Title references this song from Over the Garden Wall.]

28 October 2024

大家好！Hey Everyone!

This week made me want to barf until it suddenly made me want to sing. Here are some highlights:

• Our mission president surprised us by coming to Tuesday's district meeting and also interviewing everyone afterward. It seemed SO stressful for both the missionaries and the mission president for no good reason, but this interview was the best I've had with him so far, so that's neat.
• We wrote a big apology for a dinner we missed. This was the 4th time in a row the missionaries hadn’t come for dinner, so we dropped off cookies, since they were not home, on Wednesday. On Thursday when we drove past on our way home, I had an inclination to visit again. My companion and I both rationalized not going, but I got up the guts to tell him to turn the car around. It ended up being a great visit! And now we have two more names for other missionaries to contact!
• We performed at a ward supper on Friday! Everyone said they were really touched, even though most of the night everyone looked like they were everything but a fun time (I was pained a bit when I saw so many blank stares in reaction to a dude pouring his soul into the piano, singing “Great Balls of Fire.”)

…And this is when the Spirit of God came into the area like a flash flood from a monsoon storm….

• We got a chance to meet with Cody again!! He hasn't had a lick of alcohol for a few weeks, and he made a goal with us to be baptized at the end of November!!! Please pray for Cody! He’ll need some rides to church for this to happen!
• On Saturday night we met a new Filipino family that had been to church twice. When we knocked on the door, the first thing they said was, “So you come back every weekend, good?” Crazy!!!
• On Sunday we get a call in the middle of one meeting from a lady saying, “Where are you!? I have a friend at church I need you need to meet!” So we raced over there and arranged to meet with Bro. & Sis. Fox in their home with their new friend Diddy. Absolute mayhem of a lesson:  the first 25 minutes was Sis. Fox reading a random Wikipedia article word for word, and then we introduced Diddy to the Book of Mormon, talked over some questions, and NOW SHE'S ON DATE FOR BAPTISM!!!?!? WHAT!!!

I now have a testimony that Satan really throws opposition in full force when he knows something good is coming. Joseph Smith experienced frightening darkness and power immediately before seeing God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This week seemed at times like a series of discouraging and exhausting events. After another derailed morning on Saturday, I felt really pressed down and all around just horrible. But we stuck it out; Elder Kim and I continued in the endeavor to do something in the service of God, and He shocked us by letting us witness events that were nothing short of divine miracles!

This Thursday is Halloween! It is the evening before the Hallowed Day, the evening when the spirits from beyond the veil are closer to the earth. It also happens to be transfer day for us :P but that's beside the point. The point is that your family who has passed away will most likely be closer to you this week if you let them. Take some time and think of something you can do to remember your family this week: sharing stories, helping them in the temple, or even spending time with family physically here, etc. etc. As we turn our hearts to [our] fathers, we truly can have a “Happy” Hallowe'en!

Also I say this all the time, if you want a GREAT show for the holidays, check out Over the Garden Wall.  [Editor's note:  For our deeper thinkers, Over the Garden Wall is a modernization of Dante's Inferno.]  I think the themes of family and the conflict of good and evil are pretty sound.

Stay warm everyone! And Happy Samhain!

-Elder Baer (熊长老）

照片：

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

Elder Pannell went home for medical treatment! He gave a sweet goodbye to the district.

The chickens did get to the other side!

Cool Landscapes

Dat You Coz?

Honestly what an incredible name

Through It Thick and Thin

大家好！Hey Everyone!

I'm gonna be 100% real with you for a minute:

Sometimes the mission just sucks. We heard several return missionaries make comments about this, like Elder Shipley, who just came back to Alberta from his mission and put it this way:  “Before I left everyone was telling me the mission was going to be super hard, and then I got to the mission field and said, ‘Dang, why didn't anyone tell me this was going to be hard!’”

I think life is the same way. Life is beautiful, but sometimes it just sucks. Sometimes we experience first hand "That awful monster, death and hell." But it's the long and painful stretches of time when we are so beat up that a marvelous thing can happen if we allow it! We can allow Jesus Christ into our lives to make things better. As we make and keep covenants with Him, we allow him to bring power into our lives. And in effect He says to us, “This is super hard. I know because I've been through it. You don't have to do this alone. I'll be here with you. Let's Go!"

In retrospect, I see that Jesus Christ truly has lifted me in times of desperation when I had no one else to turn to but Him. When I felt like I couldn't keep going in the same situation with the people around me, He changed me and He opened my eyes to see tender mercies regularly. He will do the same as you put in the spiritual effort to consistently pray and study His word. He always reaches your reaching. He WILL work wonders in your life!

Anyways I kinda burned out my email this week, but here's a good summary:
- A Native guy offered us a handful of bones when we knocked on his door, no explanation.
- Clarence is a new friend who has been inactive but has interest in coming back to church.
- Sister Street met with us on Wednesday and did come to church after a long time of staying home! The members said that was truly a miracle!
- The prelude to Bach Cello Sonata no. 5 in C minor is one of my new favorite pieces of music, along with the St. John's Passion by Arvo Pärt.
- Went to Waterton today and it snowed the whole time. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Take care everyone and enjoy your Harvest!fam
Love you all! 爱你们！
-Elder Baer 熊长老

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

 

[Windows of heaven]

 

 

[Wateron waterfall]

 

[Oh, deer!]

[Waterton Opera House]

 

 

 

 

[Inspiring messages]

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Now It's Time for Silly Songs with Larry

[Title references songs from Veggie Tales.]

14 October 2024

大家好！Hey Everyone!

I'm starting to lose the little Chinese I was able to speak. Language studies have been getting eaten up by other random stuff and I haven't been keeping it up very well. Also a couple people in my district are experiencing a “mid-mission crisis” and it’s been rubbing off slightly *gulp* but I’ll get over it, and I think God will help me and the others get over it too.

Zone Conference happened yet again. Our beloved mission president is still figuring out how to make more interesting training discussions. We found out that the Book of Mormon musical will be in Calgary for a bit at the end of the year. . . sooo. . . that will be fun to deal with. We did a musical number that will be recorded in a couple weeks.  [Editor's note:  we don't think the musical number had anything to do with the Book of Mormon musical.]

We had a fun exchange on Friday with the Zone Leaders and Elder Tang who is also in that companionship. They came and blitzed our area, so we were basically on different sides of the reserve. The side I was on involved a goose chase for some guy we never found, but we did get to share some cool truths with a recently widowed lady. We helped serve some food at a wedding as well. We had a fun time singing some hymns and other silly songs together at night!  [Editor's note:  we don't think Elder Baer meant to imply that hymns are silly.]

I totally failed to remind everyone about the holidays this week! We had Rosh Hashanah a little while ago and Yom Kippur on Saturday. Yom Kippur is a super cool holiday focused on Jesus Christ. Its English name is “Day of Atonement.” The purpose of the rituals in Yom Kippur are to clean the community of sin and reconcile everyone with God. However, Atonement (or At-one-ment with God) is something we can strive for every day! I’d invite you all to find something you can do to develop At-one-ment with God. Whether that involves a friend, family member, or just you and your Father in Heaven, I promise that as you strive for greater unity with God, you will find more peace of mind and you won’t feel alone in what you’re doing.

Carry On! Stay cool everyone!

-Elder Baer (

照片：

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

Hymns

Northern Lights! Crazy!

Temple

[Message for you]

The Wasps

7 October 2024

Hey Everyone

So there I was. . . doing some personal study of the holy writ when I heard a noise. . . and I perceived it not. . . and then I heard it again, a low melodic humming. It sounded faintly like an orchestra, perhaps an overture by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Could it be? It was! The Wasps!! Several of them inside our house by the window!!! But there was no time to take care of them, because we had to go to our District Council Meeting! And so around 3:00, we finally got some time to buy a can of Raid and go back to our apartment, which now had seven wasps inside. So we took a minute to gas out the house and vacuum them all up. We’ve now got our house cleaned out to an average of 3 wasps per day, and we’ve already got the queen in the vacuum so it’s all downhill from here. We found one nest by the roof of our house but we think they’ve been coming from the ventilation system. *gulp* We’ll let you know how the battle goes on the front this coming week.

In other silly news, we helped an old and kind of crazy lady move furniture in her house. We had to be very careful to maneuver around her ultra-realistic-looking baby dolls. . . definitely not horrifying. My companion also might’ve been cursed after stepping into that house, since he had his first asthma attack in 7 years, and his allergies have been going wild in the last couple days. Prayers up for Elder Kim.

Over the weekend we had the pleasure of watching General Conference with several members of the wards we cover. Saturday therefore gave us the great blessing of what was perhaps the best meal I’ve had in the mission, and also what was perhaps the worst meal I’ve had in this mission so far. Both felt like somewhat foreign experiences. The afternoon session was spent at a huge house in the middle of a dirt field with a family that made comments to each other in French. They gave us a taste of some pasta with an amazing sausage and tomato sauce all from scratch! We then drove up to our actual dinner in Glenwood, in a super old house, where we experienced a cool pizza with mushrooms and thick pineapple slices on a soggy bread crust. That was a pretty big switch, but at least they were both homemade!

What was your favorite message from General Conference? There were several good ones that really touched me and answered some big questions. I was especially impressed by several messages that held a message Elder Soares summed up well: “What works for thee works for me.” That really hit me, that if I let go of a few things I want to do “my way” and do a few things God’s Way, I’ll find even more joy from blessings I can receive. Change takes painful sacrifice, but it is well worth the change. I’d invite you all to look back over your favorite conference message and think about how you can use what you learned this week.


Stay cool everyone!

-Elder Baer

照片：

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

Wasps (vacuum)

Service at a kids center

Nest

kittens at an unsuccessful stop by

weird school assembly??

Harvest material

Windows 93 background [does he mean the last-century gray screen behind the ASL signer?] Conference Sunday

 [Cardston at night]

 [Canadian Gold]

 

"You make me tired all over when you talk like that"

[Title references this scene from Support Your Local Sheriff.]

30 September 2024

Welcome to Episode 12 of Bonanza, 2024 reboot.

Quick updates for all of you. I've literally been in a western movie for the past week and a half. Everyone and their mom owns a farm and some horses in Southern Alberta. I have a suspicion that I've met half the cast of "High Noon" already, based just on the accent. The water here still tastes a bit like dirt, so I'm glad its really authentic. I’ve had about 5 pounds of hot dogs in the last three days and more meals with members than I've had all summer, or so it feels.

One of the great characters we met this week was Tinker Tim! Tim is a friend of one of the older members that lives in Glenwood. We were over at Marty's house for dinner, and Tim was just parked outside, so he was invited in. He then started talking a mile a minute about how he had been born again, and was positionally perfect, and God willing, and don't think but pray, and dreams about crying, and a bunch of other mumbo jumbo that would always end up about a great big fish that he caught once or something. It was exhausting! That was all that came out of his mouth for all of dinner, and all of the next day when we went to Help Marty build the deck. It was a kind of inspiring experience though! I've never seen two guys disagree so much and still be such good friends!

All of our friends currently live on the reservation, so we’re out there quite a bit. Not many of them can drive, so getting them to church is in question right now. Cody says he wants to be baptized once he’s gotten over his alcohol addiction. We met with Chauncey for the first time, and he says things are tough because the reservation is full of druggies and corruption amongst the Chief in Council. It seems like both of them are looking for a different environment to be in. The reservation also has some pretty mean looking dogs, so that will be fun to get used to. Our area book only records one skinwalker sighting though, so we're pretty sure that most of these dogs aren't Satanic :)

While trying to stop by some older folks in Aetna, we met their son Rodger (he has a Lee van Cleef mustache and all), and he invited us to his home down the gravel road. We were able to chat for a while, and he pointed out the violin that I was carrying around, so I played him a little tune. The next day was an Elders Quorum barbecue, complete with husbands grilling even more hot dogs, and their wives on the other side of the field in the middle of a shotgun skeet shoot. Before I knew it Rodger brought me up, and I was playing for most of the ward.

General Conference is this weekend! General Conference is awesome, because we get to hear from living Prophets and Apostles! This week I'd invite you to write down three questions or concerns that you would like God's Guidance on, and then look for them in conference. I've really found that when I do that, I have a more enriching experience and Hear God's voice clearer.

Stay cool everyone!
-Elder Baer

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

Country Views

Mural

Vid from the road

 

 

 

 

 

"Riddle Me This. . . What Just Happened?"

[Title references Batman's The Riddler.  We prefer the 1966 version.]

23 September 2024

That is exactly what I said on Monday after a surprise call from president, where he said my mission [should I choose to accept it]. . . .  He told me I'm going to be DL [District Leader] in an undisclosed location for an unknown amount of time…and then said that the phone recording would self-destruct in 30 seconds…jk   The next day was largely uneventful and mostly consisted of me definitely not stressing about where and who I was going to go with. It’s kind of weird experiencing for the first time what most missionaries experience every six weeks. They’re also mashing my Calgary west area with the north east area into one, so this is kind of the second time that they’ve “whitewashed” the area after I’ve been there. (Now we know what we always knew, as stated in the ancient psalm, “I’m the problem, it’s me.”) I then found out that I was being booted out to Cardston, Alberta, where I would cover three wards and the Blood Reserve of the Blackfoot nation. [Editor's note: it appears to be the Kainai Nation.]

Wednesday was a wonderful mix of pure chaos and also living the principle “Endure to the End” (R.I.P. my dear Mandarin West area, I really tried, I promise). Elder Wilson took us out to Peter’s since this might be the last time I see him ever…. before I inevitably bump into him at BYU lol. We had a great dinner with Natalie's family, all of whom we’ve been teaching, as well as their octogenarian friend from Lorraine, who introduced them to the church. Right as we were wrapping up our spiritual thought, Natalie burst into tears and told us all about how scary and lonely it was to move into Canada, and Antoinette was making helpful comments such as, “You need to have more faith! You can’t go back!” So we delicately tried to share a helpful scripture and pray and then leave to go visit our dear member friend Lucia, who is moving to Colombia due to an order from her work. I’ll miss her a lot.

Thursday involved a lot of running around frantically, shoving stuff in the car, and making our apartment ““spotless”” (R.I.P. my dear Mandarin West Apartment, I really…didn’t actually try that hard). Before I knew it, I was in a truck for two hours driving through the wilderness to Lethbridge, where I met my companion Elder Kim, who was also booted out of the Korean branch three weeks earlier. I later found out that he and one other missionary were assigned to Cardston three weeks before, and that we were all brand new, because that whole part of the Mission basically got nuked by Pres, due to some ““Medical issues”” 😏three weeks prior.

So long story short, Thursday afternoon was when I entered….The Village. (if ya know, ya know.)

The apartment we live in is an old pioneer home that’s all one floor and right next to the temple. Super nice. We have a truck that’s reliable to get us to any appointment we have, which is usually 30 minutes away on a gravel road. For example, we went out to the Blood Reserve on Friday to stop by a new friend, Cody, who requested to meet with missionaries. He lives in a cool looking shack and has a long history with missionaries before. We were there again after our 5 hours of church to drop off some food for the guy. This is a super intriguing community, and the dynamic is really strange, but the countryside views are STUNNING! I’m loving it so far, and I haven’t even been shanked yet, so things are looking up.

I know the prophet was just talking about this recently, but if there’s anyone near you who seems really different or unfamiliar, I’d invite y’all to pray about a way to reach out to them. I’ve been really touched by the care in the community here, and how they put aside differences.

I'll try to add some more details next week, but until then, have a flantastic week!

熊长老 Elder Baer

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

CALGARY:

Elder Wilson and Peter's

Natalie and Antoinette

 

CARDSTON:

Random pictures of Cardston area [zoom in to see the temple]

[Cardston Alberta Temple]

[Lethbridge Bridge - railway trestle over Oldman River]

[Cardston environs]

[fields outside Cardston, and view of Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada]

[more fields, more view]

Views from/of the house

[the backyard view]

[inside view]

 

 

[kitchen window view -- it's a Northern Flicker, just like a regular visitor to our yard in Providence!]

Random pictures of the reserve

Weird store we came across [best eats on the reserve]

Cardston and Fort Mac [Fort MacLeod] Districts

"Everyone knows the moon is made of Cheese"

[Title may reference this scene from Wallace & Grommit.]

16 September 2024

 大家好！Hey Everyone!

We get transfer news tomorrow which is pretty exciting! My companion is pretty checked right now after being in the same area for four transfers and a little more, if you count the English area that covers the same chapel. Prayers up for him for the next day or so till we get news.

What do I even say in emails anymore? I can’t be certain, but here are some good moments as they come to mind:

We had a potluck after church and a BUNCH of people showed up. The second hour had a class for new members and people being taught, and it was chock full of people!! Crazy.

We met this new family of three. The mom’s name is Natalie, and she’s pretty committed to reading the Book of Mormon! Super cool! They go to an English ward at the moment with some Mandarin speaking members, and the English Elders were trying to help them out, but had a bit of language barrier and didn’t realize that we already gave them some copies of the scriptures.

We had an English class party, and a bunch of people came to that as well! It was a good opportunity to relate well to a lot of the students.

Tomorrow is the start of Mid-Autumn Festival! This happens when the moon is at its most full in the year, and the Chinese believe that the round shape of the moon represents unity and harmony, especially family unity. To celebrate a little, I'd invite all of you to think of something you can do for your family, whether that's something you can give, or some time to spend with them, etc. Harmony in the family brings harmony to all other aspects of life. Also check out some moon cakes if you can!

熊长老

照片：

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

church friends

random vid I submitted for the mission talent show, you're welcome

100 Days, 100 Nights

 [Title references this Sharon Jones song.]

 9 September 2024

大家好！Hey Everyone!

P-day got munched by a bunch of cleaning and also by the Prophet's 100th BIRTHDAY!!! This may have been written [with little P-day remaining] after watching the celebratory broadcast, which was *spoiler alert* pretty cool. Y'all should give it a watch if you haven't already.

Highlights from this week:

• Shoveling rocks out of a church members’ backyard—again
•  Talked to a Chinese Muslim lady in the park for an hour, super epic! We actually tried to teach her a few weeks ago and she didn't want to meet anymore, but we got a text on Friday from her and she said she had some thoughts recently she wanted to share, and my companion and I still didn't understand a lot of what she was saying besides that the people at Christian churches are more friendly…. She didn't want any books of scripture still, but we'll let her keep thinking about it
•  A family came to church on Sunday and seemed to really enjoy it; they said “see you next week,” so we really hope that's true
• Saw some crazy old cars, pretty cool

If you haven't watched the birthday broadcast, I'd suggest you give it a watch! It was pretty cool! I was reading over his talk “Peacemakers Needed” again, and I found a cool footnote that said “Being a peacemaker does not require us to agree with the beliefs or ideas of others” …kind of an eye opener for me.

Hope you all have a fantastic week! And remember 没有任何的家庭都不能你不成功的失败 [translation: "no family can fail if you don't succeed" -- a terrible mistranslation of "no success can compensate for failure in the home."]

熊长老

照片：

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

[Olympic ski jump site]

 

 

[Chinatown]

 

 

[Cute little roadster]