Missionary Letter #17

I find this past week has been a wonderful series of contradictions and oppositions. Let me explain.

1rst: Is the fact that at the beginning of the week I made a goal to not only work out like a mad-man but to also start eating healthier. (Which helps when your companion is a wonderful chef) So I thought I was all set and things were going to go great until the week began.
I could not have been more totally unprepared.
First off is that my dear, sweet and adoring mother sent me a package (hooray!!!) and so I was super stoked to get some things I desperately needed and a few things on the side (Remember that green yarn? That's going to be a scarf for Tommy). However my dear sweet mother also had the wonderful idea to put Oreo's and Reese's into the package.  Disclaimer: The following is not for the light of heart or of stomach. Some people have an addiction to cocaine... I have an addiction to Oreo's. I thought I was practicing self-control very well until I realized the package was gone and there were cookie crumbs all over my face as if I had just participated in sweet Oreo genocide.

 2nd is that we had a stirring speech in elder's quorum about opposition in all things. Did it keep me awake? Yes. Did it stir my soul? Definitely. Did the zeal and passion of the narration make me just a little nervous that it might chase off some of our LA's and INV's with fiery indignation? Just a little bit.
That's ok though! I realized during the lesson that if you're going to talk about the gospel to be passionate about it.

To some up the base events of our week I and my fearless companion Elder Cruz:
Visited a member who I've never seen happier in a nursing home.
Fought through the black Friday mob that was even further enraged at the sight of name tags (that's a week earlier here in Canada, for those of you U.S people)
And did a lot of preparation for a nativity festival that's coming up soon in December.

For those of you clever folk who have noticed that my spelling is much more Canadian than it normally I send my congratulations. The spell check on these computers doesn't know proper 'merican spelling so that's why I say realised instead of realized. I realize that you can't see them but there are red squiggly lines all over the place on my emails. It makes me want to go just a little bit crazy...

Just a little bit though.

Anyways I suppose that as you're reading this from your comfy chairs I should share something with you.

In Jesus the Christ ( a must-read) The Pharisees ask Christ if it is lawful to pay taxes unto Ceasar (not the salad dressing). It's a double edged questions. If he had answered 'yes' they would have accused him of being unfaithful to the law of Moses and the Jewish nation. If he had said 'no' they would have accused him with treason against the Romans. However after asking for a penny he answered "Who's inscription is on the penny?" They answered him Ceasar. To which he replied "Render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's and unto God that which is God's".

This lesson that I love is this. That each coin has the face and shape of a person or nation, and to that nation we obey the law of the land and pay what they have asked. "Render unto God that which is God's" Means the same thing. As children of God we have the inscription of a divine being and the potential to become like Him. With that in mind we must follow His laws and pay what He has asked of us.

Great stuff, Jesus really knew how to throw down on false doctrine.

Anywho I'll chat with ya'll later.

Elder Wolford.

P.S The snow's gone but it's still cold.

Missionary Comics for Letter #17

Missionary Comics for Letter #16

Missionary Letter #16 - Driving in Snow

Once upon time in a mounty land called Canada there was peace.


Then the snows came.


I kid you not, the snow came in the relatively quick sense of about twelve hours. One minute it's light rain, the next every car above the border line is doing doughnuts in every available parking lot. Although who am I to complain. My companion ( who is the driver) is from California so every ride is a wonderful adventure filled with much screaming (on his part) about how he doesn't know what this 'white stuff' is. I would try to console his fears but I'm afraid I'm to busy holding on for dear life.


Mostly kidding about that last part, now that the roads are salted it's much more panic free. Although I realised while driving how strange this was to my companion, he had never driven in snow. Never shoveled a driveway or worked in snow so it really was a shock for him. It gave me a lot of funny giggles as things that seemed so ordinary like a snowplow were so alien to him. He's mostly over it now, but we'll take things slow on the road to be safe.

For those of you asking what I'm doing on Thanksgiving I answer... "Nothing, that holiday was last month for Canada." It's a government conspiracy in Canada to allow the populace to decorate for Christmas a month earlier than is socially acceptable. It keeps everyone in the "I've got to buy gifts for everyone I know and their dogs pronto" panic.


Perhaps the most exciting thing though was the fact we got to dress up as shepherds for a parade, we weren't actually in the parade but we did look strikingly good as nomadic sheep herders for a nativity scene. Pictures will follow...


To finish with a spiritual thought I'll leave with you Alma 36. Read it through and through and you may recognise that not only is it a wonderful passage with much doctrinal truth but also that it's an ancient form of poetry. It gives me an appreciation for it that makes it one of my favorite scriptures to read.


Loves :)


Elder Wolford.


P.S It's cold.

Missionary Comics for Letter #15

Missionary Letter #15 - New Companion and Lumberjack Service

This week was transfers, and in a suitably suitable fashion we drove with a car packed full of brief cases and bags of a thousand different varieties. If I had to describe the journey I would use words like squished, squashed, smashed and discombobulated.  It was awesome, especially changing the music on the cd player, it was like doing P 90 X in a collapsed cave.

Other than that I'll let you in on the det's of my new companion. His name is Elder Cruz. He's 6' 2'', born and raised in the land where traffic lights are suggestions (california) and is 100 percent a missionary. He's pretty awesome. If I had to describe him using a picture it would be this one.
⊂_ヽ
　 ＼＼ ＿
　　 ＼(　•_•) F
　　　 <　⌒ヽ A
　　　/ 　 へ＼ B
　　 /　　/　＼＼ U
　　 ﾚ　ノ　　 ヽ_つ L
　　/　/ O
　 /　/ U
　(　(ヽ S
　|　|、＼.
　| 丿 ＼ ⌒)
　| |　　) /
ノ )　　Lﾉ__
(／___


Some people say it expresses a thousand words but I can only think of one when I see it.

So let's talk about the daring do I managed to get myself into this week. One of things we did was a lot of planning for the week for member service, we figured it would be a wonderful opportunity to help strengthen the members in this part of the frigid north.

Unfortunately we didn't remember that it was the frigid north, and as such the only thing that anyone who didn't live under a rock was doing was preparing for the icy gale of winter. This, by default, meant that we were then assigned to chop down an entire forest, thereby exposing the fluffy woodland creatures to the void of cold that is Canadian winters.

So basically we chopped wood. A lot of wood. With an ax, a wood splitter and yes even once or twice (when we were feeling especially manly) with our bare hands.  If you want a more visual perspective then take the scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron where Captain America splits a piece of wood with his bare hands, put a missionary tag on him and that's basically what we looked like.

Afterwards I realized a very valuable lesson, all ten fingers aren't really necessary for eternal salvation (justkiddingpleasedon'tpassoutmom)
But 'wood' I really joke about such a thing? I'm sorry I'll just 'leaf' that up to ya'll. Shoot now I'm just 'bark'ing.

Do you wanna guess how I knew the outcome of our presidential election? Well one morning we woke up and we had ten thousand messages from members of our branch all saying the same thing "Guess who your new president is?"
(Groan)

Anyways I'll polish this email off with a scripture.

D&C 124: 106, it's some pretty intensive stuff but there's a lot of good insight that the Lord reveals to the Prophet Joseph. I also think it was a prediction.

And in all his journeyings let him lift up his voice as with the sound of a trump, and warn the inhabitants of the earth to flee the wrath  to come.

Feel free to come to Canada, I hear Alberta's a good place to stay this time of year.

But in all seriousness this week has been pretty amazing because we're baptizing an investigator we've been teaching for what seems like forever. She's finally ready to make covenants with the Lord and she's excited about it. I've come to see her grow and progress so much in the gospel and I've seen her faith increase and that has been both a blessing and a joy to me. I know with all my heart that this church is true and that Christ stands at the head of it.

Elder Wolford

Missionary Letter #14 - Solicitation for Jokes and Wellsbottom.

I'm afraid I've got to ask for forgiveness from  you all, I didn't get much time last week because Halloween was kind of a crazy day because we were supposed to be in earlier. Nevertheless let me make up for it here.

I feel I've missed out on the fufu experience. The first week I was here I had some but because the sister who served us was single we had to bring a third male and he didn't like spicy food so she toned it way down for him. It was, however, quite delicious...

...Quite....

As this week is transfers I told my companion that he was leaving and going as a Zone Leader to his next area. He shook his head and laughed but his eyes got big when the Mission President called last night and told him he was going to Hamilton as a Zone Leader. Nailed it. (Hamilton is where Batman was filmed so ever since then I've been calling him Batman (which I guess makes me Boy Wonder... Not sure how I feel about that))

This week we went up to a little city north of Belleville called Cambellford (it's the city where everyone who's old and wants to fish everyday lives) to help out some of the members up there. It was a good day although the highlight is when we were helping out a  member on his farm and he pulled open his well. For a while we peered over the edge and looked down into the never ending abyss that was his source of life through the necessity for water. The old farmer  in question looked down with us for about a minute of silence, then said something along the lines of:

"Alright if I fall I'll need you to pull me up."

After pondering if me and my companion were strong enough to do it I said seriously:

"Don't fall."

I stun myself with my own wisdom.

He's fine though... we think...

So I've got a favor to ask, among the elders in the Kingston Zone we're having a competition for the best joke. I need help because the only good ones I've got are about a blind man and his dog and another about 'what's red and bad for you teeth'. So I really need help.

Puns do count.

We're about to baptize one of our investigators. The interview is this week and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll follow through. She's super shy so the fact that I will be getting a new companion scares her a little bit. Although she does have a testimony and does want to be baptized I'm so thankful that members of the branch have extended such a warm love and kindness for her or else I don't think she ever would have considered it.

So anyways, life's good, sometimes just for fun I quote Way of Kings (which makes me happy).
It's just for fun. (say it like Nacho Libre)

Elder Wolford

Missionary Comics for Week 14