MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

This is coming late because the libraries were all closed for Boxing Day today, and we had to wait until we got to the office tonight to shoot a quick email to ya'll. So this one is going to be super short.

This week was great! We had a visit with Bala and Smita, and they're doing well. We brought a member with us, and she made dinner for them! We got to share a Christmas video with them and talk about Christmas a little. It was really cool!

I got to volunteer at the Calgary Live Nativity that the church put's on every year! It was really neat. If you want to see pictures of that, you can look for the Calgary Nativity on Facebook. See if you can find me in the pictures!

Christmas eve was sweet! We got permission to see our recent convert, Ben! He's doing great! We saw him over at the Humphrey's house (His fellowship) and Martine (our old investigator) was there too! She's actually planning on getting baptized in January!!!! We're pumped!!!! We got to be with them for a while, and it was so good to just catch up and see how everyone was doing. That night we went over to a member's house for dinner, and we got to have an island themed dinner with dishes from all over the place, and then we got to put on a nativity with the kids. Elder Stringam and I were shepherds. We're basically pro actors, so it was pretty much the best nativity that anyone ever did see.

Christmas day was just the best ever! So I got to talk to my family which was definitely the highlight! We also got to have lunch with President and Sister Miles, and then spent the rest of the day with the McLachlans. They're recent converts in our ward, and they have the coolest story ever, but sadly I don't have time to tell it all today.

So for the spiritual thought today, I just wanted to let you all know how grateful I am for our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that when I've struggled in my life, especially the times I've struggled on my mission, that he's been there to lift me up, and to help share my burden. I've felt His love in my life, and I know that he cares deeply for each of us. He suffered for each of us willingly, so that He could know what we will go through in this life. I love my Savior, and I'm forever grateful for the sacrifice that He made.

I love each of you, and hope that you each had a great Christmas!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

♪♫♪ I'm Dreaming of a Warm Christmas ♪♫♪

Merry Christmas Everyone! Well almost.

This week was jam packed with good stuff! We were out of our area a lot again, but we had some amazing experiences. The first miracle of the week was having a blessed Chinook roll through! The temperature has gotten all the way up to positive 1! Time to break out the short sleeves am I right!?

This week we were on exchanges in Cardston and Lethbridge, so we were down there for a few days. On Tuesday I got to be companions with Elder Linford again! What a great guy. We had a fun time tearing up the streets of Lethbridge together! We had some good lessons that day. One was with a YSA (young single adult) kid who was coming back to the church. It was neat to ask him about his testimony and see what a difference the gospel has made in his life. He told us that he recognized how only the gospel brings true joy into our lives, and he wanted to feel that again. You could tell that his testimony was so strong after going through some of the experiences that he did. It's so true though, the gospel brings us lasting joy in this life. That's why as missionaries we get so sad when people won't listen to our message, or choose to leave the church. They just miss out on so much.

On Wednesday we had exchanges with some other Elders, and I was with Elder Murdock again. We did some tracting and some stop bys for most of the day. One really cool thing we got to do was help out at the nativity exhibit they were doing. Holy cow, they went all out. Easily the coolest nativity exhibit I've ever seen. I love the spirit at those things. Christmas is such an awesome time that we have to reflect on the birth of Christ. What a spirit this time of year brings!

On Thursday we got to go to Cardston, and I was with Elder Todd! Man that's a fun exchange with those two. We had a great time together! We got to teach one of their recent converts whose solid. It's neat to see how the gospel has changed her life. She's done a complete 180 turn in the past little bit. That day we also got to do some service for a member of one of their wards. We got to knock down some walls and a chimney, it was great! Hopefully I'll be able to send some videos of that some time. That night we also got to go caroling to some people in rest homes and in the hospital. It was so much fun! I love caroling.

On Friday we got to go to our Christmas devotional with a couple other zones in Calgary. It was great! There was an awesome musical program, and the spirit there was strong.

Saturday was definitely the highlight of the week. We got to go and see the McLachlan family be sealed in the temple. They're a family of recent converts and they're so awesome! It was incredible to see them sealed together with all of their kids. Guys, the gospel is so true, and I'm so grateful that we have the opportunity to live with our families forever!

Well for a spiritual thought I'll leave you with Isaiah 9:6

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

I think my favorite name for Christ here is the Prince of Peace. He really does bring peace into our lives. I'm so grateful that Christ came down to earth to perform the Atonement for us. I know that he lives today, and I'm grateful for that.

Love ya'll, and I hope that everyone has an amazing Christmas!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

 

Beautiful British Colombia Pt. 2

How's everyone doing this sunny and warm afternoon? It warmed up to -10 Celsius here! This past week our high has been about -18 Celsius (0 Fahrenheit) and has gotten as low as -25 Celsius before the wind chill. So It's been pretty cold.

Well we had some more great experiences this week! We weren't able to spend too much time in our area, but some really neat things happened.

We got to go out teaching with Elder Weatherford Clayton of the seventy this week! That was a really really cool experience. Both of our appointments for that evening fell through, but we were able to have some good lessons with members, and have a great talk with Elder Clayton about missionary work and about the gospel in general. It was so cool to be able to learn from him in a one on one (well, two I guess) setting. He has such a great spirit about him, and you could tell that when he spoke, he would pause and listen to the spirit, and then start talking. It was amazing to watch.

We also got to go on exchanges in BC this week! We had a fun road trip down to Cranbrook, BC (I've gotten a lot better at winter driving!) and got to spend some time with Elder Ajeman and Elder Robbins. Those two are complete red necks living out in the bush haha. I love them so much! We had lots of good teaching appointments with them, and just a grand old time in general! Elder Ajeman and I did quite a bit of walking, and ran into this guy on the street that we decided to contact. He told us that a while back, the earth was falling off of its axis, and that there was going to be a second Ice Age, but then he prayed really hard, and he fixed it! So we all owe this guy a big thanks! Then he took our pass along card, gave me a hug, took another puff of his cigarette, and went inside. BC is something special, let me tell you. It was great being in the mountains though!

I also got to go on exchanges out in West Calgary this week, and had a really cool experience there. We went to the hospital to give someone a blessing, and while we were there, another guy recognized us as missionaries and asked us to come back later to talk to him. When we came back later that day, he told us about his life, and about how he had gone through some depression and some addictions, and then was able to feel the love of God in his life, and had some spiritual experiences. We taught him a little bit about the restoration, and he was excited to learn more! We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he said that he'd read and pray about it. He was a super cool guy, and to make him even cooler, he looked like Neil Patrick Harris but he was bald and had an awesome beard! But in all seriousness, it's really cool to see how the Lord reaches out to his children and helps them feel of the love that he has for them. I hope that Devon continues to learn about the restored gospel and strengthen his relationship with his father in heaven.

We also got a 10 on cleaning inspections so I'm pumped about that!

Spiritual thought! This is something that our Mission President shared with us last night. In Alma 34:10-14, they talk about the Atonement as being infinite. Do we sometimes in our lives make the Atonement finite instead of infinite? Do we not allow the Atonement to change us? Do we not draw upon it for strength in times of need? We shouldn't limit it, we should use it. I'm so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the impact that it's had on my life. I know that each of you can use it, and in each of our lives, we can make it an infinite Atonement.

Love ya'll!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

The String Theory

Elder Stringam enjoying the beautiful scenery on the way home from Rosemary

Hey everyone!

So this was a pretty solid week with some great experiences.

The highlight of the week was definitely teaching at Eston College. Our Mission President gave Elder Stringam and I the opportunity to go and teach a group of college students for their world religions class. They were all about our age, and had spent the past week in Calgary listening to representatives of other faiths explain their beliefs in a classroom setting, and Elder Stringam and I were invited to teach them about Mormonism! It was so cool! We were pretty excited about it but stressed at the same time because we weren't sure what to teach. They had given us 2 hours to speak, and we had no idea what to do with all that time. But we planned something out, and then right before we went over there we met with President Miles and went over it. He gave us some more direction and suggestions, and we basically ended up scrapping what we had 30 minutes before the class started. So we decided to go in there with a few topics to talk about that we thought they might be interested in, and then just follow the spirit. So we get in there, and it's about a class of 18 students, and we just kinda started going. We did a get to know you thing so we could get to know all of the students in the class, and then we started talking about who we were and what we did, and about our belief in Jesus Christ. From that point on, the spirit took over. These students were all pretty religious, and had a lot of really good questions for us, so we used our time to basically answer questions that they had, and teach to needs. The cool thing about this was that nobody was there to be contentious or try and disprove us (except for maybe one kid) but simply to learn. We were able to clear up a lot of misconceptions about who we are and what we believe which was really cool, and by answering their questions, we ended up teaching the first three discussions! Once we started getting into the grove of it, we were really just able to be ourselves. We were joking around and cracking jokes and having a ton of fun just being our goofy selves, and because of that we were really able to connect with everyone! We were able to be serious when we needed too, but we were all having a great time too! They told us that we were their favorite group yet just because of how much fun we had, and they said that they were really impressed with how we handled all of their questions. Because we were having so much fun, we ended up being there for 3 hours just answering questions and teaching doctrine! We were able to leave each of them with a Book of Mormon, a restoration pamphlet, and a pass along card for the Light the World initiative. It was so cool! Definitely an experience I'll remember forever.

This week we also went on two exchanges, one with the Elders in Medicine Hat, and the other with the Queensland Elders. I stayed in our area for both of them. We got to make the beautiful drive out to Rosemary Alberta two days in a row though! (It's actually not that pretty) We had some fun on exchanges! It's been hard to meet with our investigators recently, but we'll keep trying. We're working a lot on finding right now too, so we got a fair bit of tracting done this past week. It's also been really cold here. Winter is definitely upon us. We got a lot of snow in the past couple of days, like more than I've ever seen in my life. So we've also spent a good amount of time shoveling peoples walks for them! Oh and for those of you that aren't aware, ice is really slippery. I had to find that out the hard way.

The spiritual thought for today is a verse I came across in studies that goes along perfectly with the Light the World initiative that's going on. It's in 3 Nephi 18 and it's verse 24
Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed.
Christ is the light that we are to hold up! We do that by living a life like he did. We must do our best to keep the commandments, and to reach out and help others. I know that as we strive to hold up the light of Christ, he will make us the means by which he blesses his children.

Well, till next week!

Love you guys!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

The class we got to teach!

THE BOYS ARE BRACK-IN TOWN

Us teaching at the airport!

Happy Monday everyone!

I know you are all probably just waking up from your turkey and pie induced comas, so I'll keep this short.

Man what a busy week! It was transfer week, so kind of hectic for us. It's fun being with my old new companion, ELDER STRINGAM!!! So some of you might remember him. We served together for three months in the Queensland and Chaparral wards which is literally down the street from where we are now haha. It's fun being back together! Usually there's this awkward couple of weeks where you're trying to get to know your companions, but we don't have that! We were able to just get right to work!

So this week we got to pick up the new missionaries from the airport which is always super fun! While waiting for them, Elder Lee, Elder Stringam and I got to teach this lady sitting next to us about the gospel! My first airport lesson! Check that one off the bucket list.

I always love getting to see the new missionaries, they're all so excited but nervous, and don't really know what to expect. It's fun talking with them and getting to know everyone. We got to have dinner with them that night, and then do some training. Definitely my favorite day of transfer week!

So Elder Lee got a training call, which means that on Wednesday he got to pick up his new companion! He didn't go to his new area until Thursday, so they spent the day with us! His new companion is Elder Del Molino from Spain! We filled that night up with teaching appointments so that Elder Del Molino could get out in the field. I actually got to go with him to teach the Romo family! We had a pretty good lesson! Well at least I think we did. 75% of it was in Spanish, so I could only loosely follow the conversation haha. But they read the first bit of the Book of Mormon since last time, so they're coming along!

This week we also got permission to watch a movie, weird right? So our ward mission leader, who is the bomb by the way, put on this movie called Screenagers (you can google it to find out more) and used it as a cool activity to invite people too. It was hosted at a local theater used for small productions, and lots of nonmembers came! It was a documentary about the dangers of technology in our homes, and what we can do to help. It was all based around families, so we put some Family Proclamations to the World out, as well as some other pamphlets on families that people could take as they left. It was a neat activity, and I think it was a good point of contact with people.

For today's spiritual thought, I want to share with you the new Christmas initiative put out by the church! It's super cool, so if you haven't seen it, you should go check it out. Just go to Mormon.org, and it's the first thing there. It's all about serving as Christ did, and gives suggestions on things you can do every day of December leading up to Christmas. It awesome and once you check it out, you should share it with your friends! #LightTheWorld

Love you all! Happy late Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

Leeving on a jet plane (or in a charcoal gray Rav 4)

So sadly this week marks the end of my companionship with Elder Lee. We've had a good run. We've both grown a ton, the work in the area has come a long way, and we're really become good friends. But that's the way the mission goes I guess. The only constant is change. Just when you're really getting used to things, they change. I'm sad to see him go, but I'm excited for what's to come! Right now I'm in a three leg with Elder Lee and my new companion, and it's been a blast!

So a lot happened this week, but I'll just hit a few things.

I got to go on exchanges with the Mandarin elders! I was with Elder Hatch, and was a mandarin elder for the day. I even got to wear the mandarin name tag they made me! It was super fun! I had no idea what anyone was saying! We got to run a table at a chapel tour that they were having, and we talked to some non members about our beliefs. It was really cool!

Probably one of the highlights of the week was stake conference. It was so good! We learned so much, and the spirit was so strong. Elder Brian L. Rossin, an area seventy, came and spake, and everything he said was just amazing. We had one whole session focused on the Atonement, and it was so neat to just feel of the spirit that the speakers brought. The power of the atonement is real, and I'm so grateful for it. I know that my Redeemer lives. That was powerfully affirmed to me during that meeting. The Atonement isn't just for our sins, but for every aspect of our lives. Do we use it everyday? We should. Do we ever go a day without thinking of the Savior? That can sometimes be easy to do with all of the distractions that we face in our lives. However, we shouldn't let anything in our lives pull our focus from the Savior. He is the only way to receive lasting joy in our lives. I'm so grateful for Him, and for the strength that he has given me, and for the healing power that he offers. Holy cow, that was such a powerful meeting.

Well I'm going to count that for my spiritual thought this week. I'll update ya'll a little more on the happenings of things next week!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

Our New Fearless LEEder!

Hey Everyone!

So I'm guessing you've all heard about the election. Well so has every single Canadian, and they absolutely love talking about it. I don't think that we had a meal this week where the US Election wasn't brought up. Man, Canadians really love US Politics.

Anyways, lets talk about some more important things, like the great work of salvation!

So this week was a busy one! Monday was really good. We got to go to the hospital to give a blessing to the non-member sister of a less active member in our ward. It was really cool. I always love participating in blessings, it's neat to see how the Lord leads you in what you say. After that we went to dinner with an awesome new couple in our ward, and they're less active sister who we've been trying to meet with forever! It was good to get to know them better, they're an awesome family! After dinner we ran over to a lesson with the Romos. They're doing really well. They expressed a sincere desire to come to know that the church is true. We challenged them to really commit to reading the Book of Mormon, explaining that reading and praying about the Book of Mormon is the best way to come to know that the church is true. They seemed sincere in their desire to start reading, so we'll follow up with them about it this week! We really think that they'll progress a lot in the next little while.

On Tuesday we had to go and get the windshield on our truck replaced, so while it was in the shop, Elder Lee and I went contacting in a nearby park. It was super cool! We learned that a jogging trail is not the best place to contact people haha. However, we had a couple of solid contacts, so we think that it was time well spent! That night we drove down to Cardston to start our long week of exchanges.

Wednesday was exchanges with Cardston. I love those guys! I was with Elder Browning, and Elder Lee was with Elder Todd. Elder Browning is from Texas! So we were basically the most free companionship that day. He also lived in Hawaii for a number of years, so it was fun talking about that! We got to have a neat lesson with one of their recent converts. It was cool to see how much the gospel had effected her life. She loves the Lord, and loves the gospel so much, and it has really turned her life around.

Thursday was exchanges on the west side of Lethbridge. I was with Elder Murdock, and Elder Lee was with Elder Dredge. We had a pretty good day. We stopped by a lot of potentials, and had some lessons with members. It was good to be back in Lethbridge!

Friday we had exchanges with the missionaries on the East side of Lethbridge. I was with Elder Linford, and Elder Lee was with Elder Owens. What a couple of great guys! We had a fun day with them! We got to do some service, and some finding and contacting. That night Elder Linford and I went to the small town of Magrath to try and find some of the Less active YSA that live there. It was a good exchange!

On Saturday we drove from Lethbridge down to Cardston to go to the temple. A couple of recent converts from Elder Lee's first area was going through the temple to take out their endowments and to be sealed! It was really cool for him. It was good to be at the temple again. The spirit there is always so strong. It was a good reminder for me of why I'm here on a mission. I'm not here to get people to join some church, I'm here to help bring people to Christ, and experience the blessings of the restored gospel in their lives. I love the gospel, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here in Canada sharing it with people!

That was pretty much our week. It was a long a tiring one, but a great one!

Spiritual thought! I'm going to steal a quote that my Mom sent me today, Thanks Mom! "When someone does something wrong, don't forget about all the things they did right." I love that! I think that we need to see people through Heavenly Father's eyes! Everyone is a son or daughter of God, and we need to love them! Don't judge others for mistakes that they've made, see them for the child of God that they are.

Love you guys!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

Exchanges in Cardston!

Elder Browning and I reppin' Texas!

Exchanges in Lethbridge!

Exchanges in Lethbridge!

FamiLee History, I Am Doing It!!!

Aloha!

Well this email might be a bit shorter than the past few, but let's get to it! Que the highlight reel!

So Wednesday was our Missionary Leadership council! We had a good time gathered together learning about how to be more effective leaders and having our testimonies of Christ strengthened. Those are seriously some of the most spiritual meetings in the mission. We talked about developing greater faith to find (Elder Lee and I got to give that training) and then we talked about setting goals and how we can help bring more people to Christ. It was awesome. Then we had pizza for lunch. Day made.

That night we had exchanges. I was with Elder Crump in our area. We had a good time! We got to have a lesson with the Romos. Right now we're really focusing on the Book of Mormon, and trying to help them gain their testimony of it. We have another lesson with them tonight, so we'll follow up and see how they did! We also went to see a less active member out on the Reserve, and we got lost. The GPS wont really find anything out on the reserve, and most of them don't have real addresses on the ward list. But we eventually found it! We had a good lesson with him. He's doing pretty well. We just encouraged him to make scripture study a bigger part of his life. Then to end the exchange, Elder Crump and I quoted Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite back and forth. Tender Mercies.

On Friday we did some planning, and we also had a family history consultant from our ward teach us some family history! We want to start using it as a contacting approach. Lots of people are interested in learning more about their ancestors, and now we know how to help them get started! It was really fun, and Family History is something that I want to get into more when I get home.

We had another exchange this week where I got to go with Elder Henry. We stayed in my area. We had a pretty good day together! We visited a community center in our area to try and see if we could volunteer at all in the community, but they were closed. However, we got to meet Barb! She was a super nice lady that we contacted out front of the community center. She wasn't super interested in learning more, but she did need some help being pushed back to her apartment (she was in a wheelchair). So we got to do a little bit of service! It was super fun to talk to her all about her kids and family. She had actually met with sister Missionaries before! So we gave her our number and told her that she could let us know if she ever needed anything!

On Sunday we had a regional broadcast, and it was really good! We got to learn about temples and teaching in the saviors way. Super spiritual meeting! That night we had dinner and interviews with President Miles. I love interviews. We just got to talk about all sorts of things, and he gave great advice on how to strengthen my testimony, and how to become a better missionary. You always leave those meetings inspired to be better.

Sunday night was the highlight of my week. We had a fireside with the youth from our ward at the mission home. It was super cool. Elder Lee and I got to teach the first discussion to them, and then President Miles got to talk to them, and it was just spirit packed. I loved it so much! Then Sister Miles gave the youth a tour of the mission home and we ate cookies.

So spiritual thought for today, I want you all to read through the first vision and reflect on it. Think about what it means in your life, and the impact that it has had. Allow the spirit to teach you as you ponder.

Love ya'll and hope that everyone is doing well!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

Picture:  Youth fireside at the mission home!

Just a Leetle Bit Farther!

Hello!

So I have to start off by explaining the subject line for this one. Yesterday evening, the fuel light came on in our truck, but we figured we could make it until today to fill up. So as soon as we left the apartment in the morning, we drove to the gas station nearest to our house. Well we pull up into the intersection, we just have to make a left hand turn and then we're at the gas station, we can literally see the gas station right in front of us and then . . . we ran out of gas. So there we were, stuck in the turn lane, car refusing to start, just feet from salvation. Elder Lee got so flustered that he popped the hood of the truck for no apparent reason! So we ended up having to walk to the gas station, get a Gerry Can, and fill up the car so that we could drive across the intersection to the gas station and fill up. It was great. Then we get all filled up and start driving over to the Library to email, and the hood starts bouncing up and down BECAUSE WE NEVER CLOSED IT ALL THE WAY. So when we got to a red light I hopped out and tried shutting it but couldn't find the latch, and was flailing around, and then the light turned green and so I just shoved it down with all my might and hopped back in the car just in time. We looked like the two stooges out there. What an eventful morning.

I hope that you don't think less of me now.

Well on to the week!

Let's start with a MIRACLE! The YSA sisters told us about this less active girl in their ward that was living with her boyfriend that they thought we should work with, so they gave us her information and told us to go see her. We met her a week or two ago, and she said she wanted to have us over for dinner. We went over for dinner last Monday, and they were great! Her boyfriend is Jamaican, so he made us some Jamaican fried chicken! Danielle, the girl, told us that she wanted to start coming back to church! She said she's been trying to read the Book of Mormon every night! And so we taught about the first vision and the Book of Mormon, and we invited her boyfriend, Keno, to take the discussions, and he said he would! He seems like an awesome guy, and we're excited to get to teach the both of them, and help them grow closer to Christ!

This week we also got to take a road trip out to Beautiful British Columbia! We went on exchanges with the Elders in Cranbrook, so we had to drive about 5 hours to get down there. On the way there, we drove south out of Calgary, and went out along the base of the mountains, close to the border of the two provinces, and then cut through a place called the Crowsnest Pass. That town was in my district while I was in my first area, so I'd actually been out hiking there before. While we were driving through, we stopped off to meet President and Sister Miles for dinner as they were driving back to Calgary after doing interviews in BC. We had a great time at dinner with them! I love those two so much! Our waitress told us that she was out here so that she could be a hunting guide, and you should have seen Presidents jaw drop haha, it was awesome! Then he smoothly invited her to listen to the missionaries, and got her contact information to pass on to the Elders serving there. It was great! We rolled into Cranbrook BC around 9PM, and the Elders we were meeting there weren't home yet, so we found some nerf guns in their apartment, and then went and hid, and ambushed them when they got home. Classic. We had a good time with those two hooligans. Elder Lee was with Elder Ajeman the next day, and I was with Elder Robbins. We both had great days. Elder Robbins and I got to teach an Investigator named Rob about gratitude. Rob's an awesome guy that has met with missionaries for quite a while, but suffers from bad social anxiety that keeps him from coming to church. Then we drove out to a town called Kimberly and met a crazy less active guy named Terry and his son-in-law Garred. They're a hoot. Just a couple of the nicest red-neck Canadians you'll ever meet, bless their hearts. They were fun to chat with. Then we got to teach an investigator, Tracy, about the Word of Wisdom, and committed her to stop smoking! That was a really good lesson. Then in the evening we met with another Less active member and started to read the Book of Mormon with him. We also found this awesome pizza place for dinner, and we wolfed down 3 pizzas in about 5 minutes. It was crazy. It was a super fun exchange! The next morning we headed out of Cranbrook, and took the Banff way home. We got to drive through the rockies pretty much the whole way home. It was beautiful! We drove through Radium Hot Springs, and Banff, and a bunch of other awesome places. It was a fun trip!


On Friday we exchanged with the Fish Creek Elders. I was with Elder Forsyth in my old area, Queensland! We got to see the Shiggahiros again, I love that family, they're so great! Then on Saturday we had a lesson with Sister Pawluk. She's been reading the Book of Mormon and seems to be doing well! We also got to see the Choys! I love that family too, it was good to see them. It's weird being in one of your old areas though. You drive around and see people that you used to work with, but then you remember that you don't serve in that area anymore, and it's kinda sad. But we had a fun time on exchanges! Elder Forsyth is an awesome Elder, and I'm glad I got to serve with him for the day!

Last night the Sister Missionaries serving a ward over from us called us up and said that one of their investigators really needed a blessing right then. So we dropped what we were doing, and grabbed a young man from the ward to come with us, and met the sisters to give this lady a blessing. It was a really great experience, and just made me grateful all over again for the power of the Priesthood. I love having the opportunity to help give blessings to God's children when they're in need. It was a great way to end the week.

Spiritual thought! There was a comment in church yesterday that really struck me. A member of the ward was bearing his testimony, and said, "I've been fortunate enough to have many weaknesses in my life that have allowed me to come to know my Savior." I think this is such a true comment. We all have weaknesses in our lives, and hopefully we use those weaknesses as an opportunity to grow close to Christ and find strength through Him. Ether 12:27 says that if we come unto him, he will make weak things become strong. I know that through Christ we can do all things, and if we come unto him, he will lift us up.

I love you all and hope that everyone is doing well!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

Lee-d Thou Me On!

Afternoon my wonderful friends and family!

I'm going to flip things around today and start off with the spiritual thought. So last week I asked ya'll to read and ponder Matthew 22:36-40. Did you do it? Well I hope you did because it makes this next part more meaningful! In these verses, Christ is telling the people about the first great commandments. The first one is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." Why is this commandment so important? Well that one is pretty easy to answer, John 14:15 tells us, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." So if we keep this first great commandment, then we will keep all of the other commandments and follow God. Now that we've got that first one figured out, lets take a look at the next commandment he gives us, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." This takes on more meaning when we read John 13:34, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." So we're supposed to love others as Christ has loved us. How did Christ show his love to us? Well I think that he showed it most by teaching us the gospel, and by performing the Atonement. So what does that teach us about how we should love our neighbor? Well we best show our love for them by sharing with them the gospel, and helping them to experience the Atonement in their lives. How cool is that?! Well sorry for the long spiritual thought, but that hit me last week and I thought it was pretty neat. 

Now onto the week!

So this week we had a pretty awesome Zone Training meeting. We talked all about how we as missionaries can raise our desire to do the work. It was a great meeting, and we focused a lot on the Atonement. After that meeting we got to meet with a less active guy in our ward, Brother Pantherbone. He hasn't been following the standards of the church recently, but he recognized that the things he was doing didn't bring happiness, and he's decided that he needs to make a change. It's really neat to teach him and see how the gospel has affected his life, and see how it brings peace to him and answers questions that he has. We taught him the first part of the Plan of Salvation, and he said that somehow we always taught just what he needed to hear at the right moment. It's great to see the spirit working in peoples lives! Later that night, we also had a lesson with the Romo family, and officially started teaching the Dad and their 16 year old son. We taught the message of the restoration, and about the Book of Mormon. Brother Romo seemed really engaged through the whole lesson, and seemed like he had tons of real intent, and a desire to know if what we taught is true! We're so excited to be teaching their whole family, and we should have another lesson with them tonight! 

We also saw Bala and Smita this week! They're both doing well. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation, and then invited them to baptism. They expressed some concerns because being baptized would mean that they have to give up all of their Hindu traditions, which could possibly alienate them from their family. They still seem to have a lot of desire to learn, and said that it would just take a lot of prayer and pondering. 

We've also been doing a lot of personal finding lately, and have found some good potential investigators! Elder Lee actually street contacted a kid named Daniel while we were on exchanges, and we got to teach him the first discussion on Saturday! He seems like a great kid. He's from Columbia, and he doesn't have much of a religious background. He really seemed like he wanted to learn though! He's 20, so right now we're working on passing him off to the YSA sisters so that they can teach him. But miracles are happening everywhere, and people are being prepared by the Lord!

We also got to go on exchanges with the Calgary West Elders this week! I was with Elder Reynolds up in their area. We had a blast! We got to do some service with the zone for a park in the community. They people there are really appreciative of the help that the missionaries have offered this past year. It's opened more people up to the gospel! We also had a lesson with some members, the Alvares family,and Brother Alvares knew Ben Friend from back home! They served in the same mission. Crazy! It was a super fun day. I got to see a lot of old missionary friends too which is always a blessing!

Oh and one last thing. Our passenger seat in our truck had been broken for the past week or so, and is stuck in recline. It's been a real burden #FirstWorldProbs But we finally got it fixed! Blessings!

Well I love ya'll and hope that everything is just dandy back home!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

♫♪♫ Oh How LoveLee Was the Haircut! ♫♪♫

Morning!

So if you're wondering about the subject line, I've gotten fed up with paying for haircuts recently. It's $20 for a bad haircut here in Canada, and the Sister in our ward that cuts our hair for free left town for the next 4 weeks. So I finally just asked Elder Lee to cut it for me, figuring that if it turned out bad that I only had to live with it for a month or so. So he gave me a haircut, and it actually turned out pretty well! I've gotten a lot of compliments on it! More than any other haircut actually, and it was free! I'm pumped!

So anyways, onto the week! 

On Tuesday, Elder Ajeman and Elder Robbins drove out from Cranbrook BC to come stay the night with us before our MLC meeting on Wednesday. It was a blast! Elder Ajeman and I got to have a lesson with the Romos. Sister Romo agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! And her son came to mutual on Wednesday and had a great time! We're excited for all of them, I really think that they can progress!

MLC on Wednesday was awesome! Man talk about being hit by a spiritual bus. We had a great discussion about how to increase our desire to do missionary work. It was so cool, and really inspiring. That night we went on exchanges, and I went with Elder Jewkes to Medicine Hat. It's a smaller city about 3 hours away from Calgary. We did a lot of driving this week haha. Medicine hat was great! We got to a lesson that night with one of their investigators, and we put her on date for baptism! It was such a cool lesson. We were reading about baptism from 3 Nephi, and she totally felt the spirit! Then we had another lesson with an investigator, and she talked about how she always felt so peaceful after the missionaries came. It was sweet. 

On Thursday we met some less actives, and then did some service before driving to the village of Rosemary Alberta to exchange back. 

Friday was weekly planning. Then we had a lesson with Joe Mesa, and his girlfriend Tammy. They're both less active  members, but our lessons with them have gone really well! We're getting them to read the Book of Mormon now, so that's super exciting! 

On Saturday we went to see Bala and Smita. They're doing well! We talked with them about the Book of Mormon too and are trying to get them to read more of it and pray about it. We'll see them next week, so keep them in your prayers! We also had a good tracting session. We found a few potential investigators, and everyone was really nice to us! Well except one guy, but he wasn't overly rude either! We saw Sister Pollard tonight too. She's doing really well right now, and she even came to church on Sunday! Woo! 

Sunday was great! We had a lesson with Marie Freason, a less active in our ward, and her son Nielson. We had a good lesson, and we're going to go back and see them each week, it'll be great! That night we had dinner with President Miles and his family! His siblings were in town, so we got to meet all of them. His Sister's Husband is Sister Robb's (My old Seminary Teacher) brother! It was great to have connections with people, what a small world, eh? We had such a fun dinner with them, and then got to share a message about love. Man that was a great group of people. 

Spiritual thought: Read Matthew 22:36-40 and ponder it! I'll expound a little bit more on it next week when I have time.

Love you!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

And here's my Mandarin name that the Mandarin Elders gave me!

马长老

I think it means Elder Horse, but it sounds like Elder Ma, so I guess it makes sense.

Dinner with the Miles family!

The Snow is SoftLee Falling! Also Happy Thanksgiving

Morning!

Happy Canadian Turkey Day! I feel like we just had one of these, but I guess it really was last year. Man time flies!

Well this week was pretty crazy. It was transfer week, which means a lot of running around for good ole' Elder Lee and I.

On Monday we had an office staff meeting where we got to discuss all of the logistics of transfers. That's always a good time because I love the office staff so much! Then for our Pday our zone got to go over to a members house in Priddis Valley area. Man that was a nice home. We got to play some ping pong and basketball and such. It was a swell time! Then Monday night we had to go and start typing up transfer drafts that we send out to the Zone Leaders to notify them of who in their zone is getting transferred.

On Tuesday we had a district meeting in the morning, then headed off to the airport to pick up the new missionaries. President Miles bought us Chickfila again #tendermercies, and then we waited for all of the new missionaries. This group wasn't as big as the last one, so they got through customs pretty quick. As soon as they got through we loaded everyone up and headed over to the chapel! This is probably one of my favorite days of transfers. It's so cool to see all of the new missionaries and how excited but scared they are to be in the field. It's a complete role reversal. I remember when I first showed up in the mission like it was just last week, and how anxious I was to meet my trainer and go to my first area. It's weird but neat to be on the other side of that now. We got to have dinner with the new missionaries that night in the Mission Home, and then Elder Lee and I got to talk about the mission and describe the different zones and parts of the mission, and answer any questions that they had. This was a quieter group, but they all seem like such solid missionaries!

On Wednesday, we had the New Missionary Pick Up Meeting, and introduced all of the new missionaries to their trainers. Such a fun meeting! The rest of that day was just a lot of planning for the upcoming transfer and goal setting for the month. We made a super awesome board to help us with our planning though, we're pumped!

Thursday was transfer day! Transfers are kind of chaotic. Everyone in the North part of the mission (basically all of the areas in Calgary) that is being transferred and their companion show up to a chapel in Calgary in the morning, and find their new companions. It's fun because you get to see a lot of people that you know! Then Elder Lee and I have to herd everyone that is being transferred to the south part of the mission (anywhere in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Cardston, or British Colombia) into the mission van and make sure that all of their luggage is in the trailer so we can send them on their way. Then Elder Lee, Elder Larson, Elder Ajeman and I hopped into a Nissan Rouge that had to be swapped with some missionaries in the south, and headed down to Lethbridge for the south transfer. We stopped in Claresholm on the way to swap out the car. We gave them the rouge and took their Cruz the rest of the way to Lethbridge. Elder Ajeman and I got to ride in the same Cruz we had together a year ago in Claresholm! When we made it to the south transfer, it was pretty much the same routine as the north one. Everyone exchanged companions, and then we headed right back up to Calgary. This time we got to drive a chevy equinox. We drove a lot of different cars this week haha. We were pretty relived that it was all over after we got back to Calgary. Transfer days are long days.

That night we had dinner with Heather Littlelight, and recent convert in the ward. I think I've mentioned her before. She's still doing great! We got to share a message with her about Prophets and talk about General Conference.

On Friday it began snowing! In October! It looks like we're in for a long, cold winter this year. We had a zone goal setting meeting, then weekly planning. We had a good dinner with the Zubels in our ward. Brother Zubel shared with us some of the stuff he's been studying for the past year and a half or so. He's a really knowledgeable guy, and he's actually writing a book right now!

On Saturday we had a meeting with President to discuss our next Mission Leadership Council meeting. We did some planning with him, and figured out what we want to talk about. It's always so neat to council together with President Miles. We always go away having learned so much from him. After meeting with him we saw the Gobles, a part member family in the ward. We shared a message with them about the joy of the gospel, and invited them to take the discussions. But then Sister Goble started talking about all of this anti-mormon literature that she'd read. It was really sad to see that even though she'd never read the Book of Mormon, all of the things that she'd read had already convinced her that it wasn't true, and that it wouldn't help her at all in her life. Elder Lee and I just bore our sincere testimony on the Book of Mormon, and invited them to read it and to sincerely pray about it and ask God if it's true. Sadly I don't think that they will accept our invitation. It breaks my heart to see people not accept the gospel because of what they've heard about it, or pre-conceived notions that they have, and knowing that if they accepted it that it would do nothing but bless their lives. Later that evening we saw sister Pollard again. She's doing well. She's got a lot of faith, and right now she really wants to come to church! I don't think they came this Sunday because of how slick the roads were in the morning, but we're hoping to see them at church soon!

Sunday was good. We had a great sacrament meeting! There was a senior couple that just got back from their mission in Fiji, and they gave talks about their mission. It was so cool to hear about all of their experiences. We had dinner with President that night, and he invited Elder Thomas and Elder Hatch (the mandarin missionaries that live downstairs) over as well! It was a fun dinner with those two haha.

Spiritual thought! I was listening to some more conference talks this morning, and I just really love Elder J. Devn Cornish's talk. He talks about the question, "Are we good enough?" which I think is a questions that we all face at times. Here's his response to this,

Let me be direct and clear. The answers to the questions “Am I good enough?” and “Will I make it?” are “Yes! You are going to be good enough” and “Yes, you are going to make it as long as you keep repenting and do not rationalize or rebel.” The God of heaven is not a heartless referee looking for any excuse to throw us out of the game. He is our perfectly loving Father, who yearns more than anything else to have all of His children come back home and live with Him as families forever. He truly gave His Only Begotten Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life! Please believe, and please take hope and comfort from, this eternal truth. Our Heavenly Father intends for us to make it! That is His work and His glory.

I just want to bear my testimony that the Lord does love all of his children, not just some of them. He wants us all to return to live with Him, and he'll provide us with every opportunity to be successful, we just have to make the choice to follow Him.

Love you and hope everyone has a wonderful Canadian Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Moffitt

Old MTC district reunion!

Putting on the Christmas sweaters for the snow!

Driving in the Snow!!!!

Our beautiful new planning board!

Pday with Elder Hewlett and Elder Cox!

District Photo!

Getting Donairs for lunch!