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!

Oh Lee of LIttle Faith

Howdy!

So Elder Lee doesn't think I can write this email in 15 minutes. Let's prove him wrong. 

Monday: After Pday we went to dinner with the Ockey's! Brother Ockey took us on a crazy mountain bike ride in fish Creek Park (which is basically their back yard. They have a really nice home) Neither of us died or suffered major injury. Success! I also found out that they both work with the Enactus program at BYU-Hawaii. Shout out to you Ethan! I think you actually get to see them this week while they're on-island! Anyways. After a great dinner, we saw Bala and Smita. They're going through a lot right now, so we left them with a message about Jesus Christ, and shared how His Atonement can bless our lives through times of trial. Man they both have so much faith, and now they're putting their faith in Jesus Christ which is so cool! Keep them in your prayers!

Tuesday: We were on exchanges and I got to go with Elder Ajeman for the day! We had a grand old time, and it was great just talking about old times together. I love that kid, and he's a solid missionary! We had some great lessons with some recent converts and some investigators. It was an awesome day!

Wednesday: We were on exchanges again, and I was with Elder Ince in our area. We contacted a lot of less actives that day, and got into a lot of doors! We had a lesson with Heather Littlelight, a recent convert in our ward, and she's doing great! We had another lesson with Brother Pantherbone, a semi-active member that's also had a lot of struggles recently. I actually got to teach his grandma in lethbrigdge, sister MorningOwl! We saw sister Pollard again as well, and she said that she's been doing a lot better since we were able to give her a blessing. The Priesthood is real! 

Thrusday: We were on exchanges, and I was with Elder Shah in North East Calgary. We had some service in the morning where we helped dock a sailboat, so that was cool! Don't worry, we didn't break any rules and get in it, we just helped out from shore. Then we did some service for a lady that I knew when I was in the Sunridge ward. It was neat seeing her and getting to catch up! Then we did some street contacting and stop bys for the rest of the day. 

Friday: We had the new trainers meeting in the morning where we both got to give some trainings, and get these new trainers excited to help teach their new companions! We also helped out at a move for a less active lady's daughter. And then we had a lesson with Joe Mesa, a less active in our ward. He's doing really well, and when we taught him about the Book of Mormon he got really excited, so we're hoping that he accepts our invitation to begin reading it because we know if he does that he'll feel the spirit in that book!

Saturday: Conference! 

Sunday: Conference! Lunch with President! Conference! and then dinner with President!

Spiritual thought: Watch Conference! I love Elder Oaks talk, and I encourage all of you to begin praying for a desire to share the gospel with others, and then to pray for the opportunity to do so with real intent! 

Love you all and hope you have great week!

Love, 

Elder Moffitt

P.S. 15 minutes and 50 seconds!