Transfer Week!

* Apparently I forgot to post this letter last week. Here it is! *

I'm not sure how many weeks I've been out, but it is transfer #1. Since I'm still being trained it's unlikely anything will change here in Aurora.

 

Big shout out to Grannie Annie and Papa Todd. Happy mothers day to all! It was really special being able to Skype with mom on mom's day.

 

So, tuesday... Couple of lessons during the day, exchanges that night.

 

Wednesday I got to work with Elder Anderson from Orangeville. Like any exchange day it was magical. Had three and a half appointments, picked up two new investigators (Darryl and Caleb) then slept like rocks.

 

Darryl is an interesting man. Had a stepfather named Al who meant worlds to him. Al died in a car accident. Whether due to this or if it was before this, I don't know, but Darryl contracted bi-polar disorder. He also has delusions that he is Jesus. Literally. Despite the meds he takes, he still has that thought. He knows it's not true, but part of him thinks, what if? We're using that to feed a natural desire to be like Christ and be baptized etc. He accepted the invitation to be baptized so we're excited about that.

 

Caleb is an Obese man who practised reformed Judaism. Whatever that means. He said something like he still eats kosher and stuff. Made it sound more modern and stuff.

 

Thursday we had meetings and interviews with president Scott. Meetings were about having faith and they gave a metaphor for how to extend baptismal invitation. Treat baptism like a chocolate bar. Teach them about the chocolate bar to make them want it. Then we were supposed to practise. As the Sister was practising on me I had a thought to use an example from Lehi's dream, not two seconds later, she referred to Lehi's dream.... color me erked. After an interview with president Scott, where we discussed water and whether we aren't allowed to go in water because of a mission rumor involving Satan and whether or not he has dominion over water. We concluded that it says not to in the handbook and so I will be obedient and it doesn't really matter why other than it's obedient. He said that that was a sacrifise I was going to have to put on the altar and I would be blessed for it. We also talked about how it was super hard for Abraham to sacrifise Isaac because Abraham's father was the one who volunteered Abraham to be sacrificed by the wicked priest of Elknah. It tore him.

 

Friday, it was pouring, but we still managed to get a few phone numbers, schedule an appointment and pick up a new investigator Pete. (people here hate rain. Hate talking in it.)

 

Pete, is a conspiracy theorist \ musician. He boycotts big "monopolies" like walmart mcDonalds etc... He has a website with a cure for cancer. He thinks pharmacutical companies are nickle and dimeing us. Keeping us just alive enough to stay sick and buy more drugs. He also has beef with banks. Complicated guy eh? He accepted our invitation to be baptized once he learns more and decides it's the right thing for him. So, we'll tolerate his idiosyncracies (spell check?) i suppose.

 

Saturday we spent most of the day doing service around the church building. Most of what I worked on was uprooting a massive tree stump. there's still another to do. Later that Day, Elder Binford and I got a little tired and miscommunicated and had a little row about it. Which basically means we sulked off, got our heads put on straight silently, then talked it out. We did a good job, i think.

 

Sunday, we got to call home, and that took up most of the day. Only other exciting news is that a family in the ward brought a non-member family and they might let us teach them next week! so there you have it.

 

I love you all and promise to keep up the good work if you will!

Talk to you soon!

Love,

Elder T

Earthquakes, Tornados, Daylight... Wild Weather in Canada

Some of you may have noticed that this week's letter did not come on it's normal monday. This is because Monday was a Canadian national holiday so all the stores were closed so President decided to bump P day to Wednesday, today. sorry I'm late.

 

This week's adventures mostly include stories of homesickness... but that's boring and over. Let's talk about fun stuff, eh?

 

Matthew and Mark have done lovely jobs keeping me up to date on various sporting activities across the world. BUT they FAILED let me say it again FAILED to keep me updated on MY sport. For those who don't know, there have been unconfirmed reports that Michael Phelps will return to the lanes and go for a threepeat in Rio de Janero in 2016! Matt, Mark. Repent Ye! Thus saith thine elder brother! If ye love me, Keep me updated on these things!!!... that is all. I know you would've gotten around to it. I was just excited and had to share my excitement. Love you two. Hope that made you laugh because that was all it was intended to do.

 

Last week was crazy. We picked up four new investigators! One lady we're particularly excited about is called Lucy.

 

Lucy only has about two years left to live. Max. She had stomach cancer so bad that her entire stomach had to be removed. She is catholic but I'm told that she is very promising. (I haven't met her yet, first meet was while I was away on exchanges.) She accepted a date to be baptized June 16. Odds are she'll hit it. Call me an optimist.

 

Other than that, I don't remember a whole lot.. It's been too long...

 

Hillary requested a funny story. Here it goes...

 

I don't remember which day it was, but there was an earthquake here last week.

 

We were sitting having personal study time and I was bouncing my knee. Like I always do when I sit. The floor started shaking, so Elder Binford kind of half-told me to quit bouncing my leg or the man downstairs would get upset with us. So I stopped... But the floor didn't. It wasn't big enough to do much more than make the clocks on the walls shake or rattle some dishes. But it was definitely an earthquake. Apparently they're fairly common up here. Either way. We panicked. We were like, "that was just a foreshock, we gotta get downstairs and find an open field! Hug the walls hug the walls!" we looked like proper fools haha.

 

Apparently Tornados are fairly common up here too. We almost had one yesterday. Lots of rain, really dark. Lightning. Hail. Temperature drops... Close, but no cigar. Maybe next time.

 

Maybe one of my less favorite parts about canada is how long the sun is up. It gets light at around 3:45 am and doesn't get dark until 9:30. So every morning we wake with the sun, go back to sleep, panick that we over slept, then fall back asleet again. I usually have more than just one morning prayer.

 

Played Hockey for the first time on saturday. Got stomped by a 12 year old. He's crazy good though...

 

Other than that, I don't know what to tell you. Enjoy the pictures.

 

I love you all and hope that all is well down south!

 

Love,

T the Elder.

*Note: He was not able to include any pictures. He will send his SD card home and i will post some later*

Address and Email

If you would like to know, here is Elder Whiting's physical address:

Elder Trent Whiting

14 Wellington #310

Aurora, ON

L4G 1H5

He is also allowed email from family and friends:

twhiting@myldsmail.net

Todays letter sponsored by the letter B for Bold

Family and friends,

Firstly, a word about my companion. He played soccer in california. Was really good. His team beat LA Galaxy's academy team. He could play at a few different college schools, but he wants the Y. He was a missionary before he was a missionary. Back in Fresno Cali, there was a missionary who went home, they needed a replacement, so for a few weeks, Elder Binford got to work as a Fresno Missionary. Spent a lot of time with Larry Gelwix. Color me green and call me jealous. That's most of what I know about him, because that's most of what he talks about. He's a good guy.

Also, Persians have it rough. There are quite a few here and some of the stories that they tell make me shudder. That's all I'll say about that, maybe some other time.

On tuesday we had Zone conference. Basically a ton of meetings about how to be better missionary's. Learned a lot. The best part was that I got to see Elder Karl! Elder Karl was supposed to be my MTC companion, but there was a difficulty in another companionship and we didn't get the pleasure. But luckily at the MTC, your companionship is basically your district. You go everywhere with each other, and he and I hit it off like Babe Ruth and a baseball bat. So we had an emotional reunion. (He's an emotional guy) Nice long chat. Turns out our MTC district leader had to go home for health reasons... Sad stuff. But that is all from Zone Conference.

The rest of the week was basically just work. We stopped by a potential investigator we had run into while I was away on exchanges, she agreed to listen to us again so that makes her investigator number 3! This is our problem, so many potentials, but so few are convenient enough to run into again.

A big thing that I learned this week was how to be Bold. We were talking to a lady outside of her house when a bigger fellow walked by, turned, looked at us and said, "are you guys the mormons?" "yes sir, we are" "awe, that's terrible" He then proceeded to rip on us saying, "I'm not trying to de-convert you or whatever" "yeah right" (that's what I thought) "but I actually kind of am" (humph, there it is). He kept insisting on us giving him proof, we said the bible and BOM are our proof, "unfortunately that is invalid" he spoke like a computer, but was pretty thick i'm sorry to say. So, I got bold, bore my testimony, gave him a mormon.org card told him he could get a copy of the book of mormon on there and if he ever wanted to talk, we would be around. Said our good day sir's and bid adieu.

Later that night I looked up Bold in Preach My Gospel. It gave a reference to Alma, talking about after Alma and the sons of Mosiah had served missions. They were reunited and Alma was super happy because they were still bretheren in the lord. It then goes on to talk about how the sons of Mosiah had converted many through the spirit because of the boldness of their words. I figure, if it works for them, why not me.

So, we went to visit a less active lady and were trying to set up a time where we could come back and visit. She kept dodging our suggestions and I decided that the only reason we wanted another visit was so we could get her to come to church. Which is interesting because during dinner we had listened to a talk by Elder Bednar called something like, "and none shall offend them" He talks about how he sould bring less actives back to church. He was super bold when he did it. So I was inspired. So as we were trying to set up another time to meet with this lady, I said, "Or you could come to church and we'll see you there." To which she agreed. She didn't come to church, but I was bold.

Since all of these experiences, I have noticed myself being more bold with my testimony, not quite for my teachings but we'll get there. It's payed off so far!

That's most of what I wanted to talk about. Just know that I love you all, Canada is deceptively warm. (I thought it would be rather cool since we're north-ish) and I will see you all in about 22 fast sundays! :)

Love,
Elder T

this is week four... I think.

So, I may not know how many weeks I've been out. But I know It's been 32 days! I think...

 

First things first, Happy Birthday tomorrow to Matthew! 15 is a good age to be. Don't waste it!

Next, Happy Birthday in two days to Hillary the Graduate with a job! Don't stress kiddo, it only makes things harder.

 

 

So, this week was a little bit shorter because on Tuesday I was smitten with a terrible cough. We decided that it would be detrimental to our efforts if people thought that we didn't care enough to keep our germs to ourselves thank you very much.

 

Also, I believe I mentioned that We would be having dinner with a certain person who in my opinion is completely awesome. This did not happen because he had to be away on business. What a champ.

 

Basically the whole week was spent trying to find people to teach. We did teach a lesson to our Irish investigator: George. That's about it.

 

Some of our finding efforts turned us to people who had met with the missionaries in the past but were taking a break for a while. Chris was one of those people. We had an interesting discussion about the three degrees of heaven on his doorstep and encouraged him to read D & C 76 if he wanted answers. Knowing full well that it would only raise more questions than it will answer. He is an interesting character. He likes reading the Koran and Bible and comparing them for fun.

 

Earlier we had stopped by Chris' next door neighbor, whose parents are members. We think he will want to talk to us. As soon as he heals up enough, maybe next weekend. Stay tuned for the story of John.

 

Now we get to the part of the story that I really want to talk about.

 

We were at a dinner last night out in the middle of nowhere. Except unlike in Utah, the middle of nowhere is in the middle of a forest. With massive hills that our TIWI yells at us for a lot. (TIWI is a box in our car that yells at us when we drive naughty. He especially doesn't like it when we go too fast. Which is hard not to do when you are driving down hills that would be better suited at a ski resort.) Such a beautiful place I live in. I would seriously consider living somewhere very similar when I am old and wealthy. VERY WEALTHY. These houses and properties are rediculous.

 

Anyways, we stopped by a former who lived on the other side of a particularly large hill. She's not been home very often when we try to stop by, but we use her as an excuse to drive these hills.

 

Last night, she was home. She is a devout Catholic, like she goes to DAILY Mass. We had a half hour discussion with her about what she believes will happen in the last days. She referenced a lot of people on the internet who supposedly predicted things like the last pope being german and then his retirement and this lady has other predictions which sound an aweful lot like some things that we believe will happen. I.E. The great and abominable church and so forth.

 

I tell you this to tell you that she is an interesting lady who wants to know what our take is. We mentioned the D & C and she asked for a copy, so we have a return visit with her... Sort of...

 

The reason I tell you this story is so that I can exhort Matt and Mark to get patriarchal blessings. Everything it says in there pertains to this life.

To everyone else, read yours. They will help you, even if you didn't know you needed help.

 

Mine helped me yesterday.

 

I was having some questions and doubts and even though I didn't look at it, it gave me some advice for what I should do when in those situations. So i did, and all my doubts went away.

 

A big thing that I learned from this experience is to BE PATIENT. What's sad is that this is the second time that I've learned this lesson on my mission. Things don't happen right when you want them to all the time. Do your best, the Lord will take care of the rest. Keep your chin up. Do work!

 

I love and miss you all! Don't look foreward to the days, minutes, hours, weeks, months, years to come. Look foreward to the moments that take your breath away!

 

These words of wisdom are funded in part by

The Elder T

Love you all:

T Whiting, the Elder.