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| Calvin even Skyped with Midnight |
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| Sophie was SO happy to see Calvin. He's been gone since she was 2, so pretty much half her life so far. |
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| Nope, not happy at all to Skype with Calvin. |
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| Nope. Not happy at all. |
I can't believe it has been over a month since I updated. I am so sorry! Life has been hectic and crazy these last few weeks. Plus I have been lamenting that if plans had continued as we set them up at Christmas, Calvin would be home as of yesterday. But I have always taught my children to listen to Heavenly Father, and to be obedient, and Calvin was obedient to the Lord and extended his mission another transfer. Sometimes teaching your children about faith and obedience, takes a lot of faith and obedience yourself!
12 May, 2014
Hellloooooooo Momm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, seeing you all on Skype was super awesome!!!!!! I am so glad I didnt cry, not that I was close or anything, but I did spill some tears during the mothers day celebration in sacrament meeting. I feel so at home here in this area, its like being in the Greene Branch again!!
i had a super cool profound thought yesterday. we were on the phone with a lady who is having a tough time. her daughter hasnt spoken to her in a long time, and her husband left her, and she is really hurt from all of that. She has really clung to the branch here, and has clung to the members ever since she was introduced to the church. I thought about her life, how lonely it mush bee, and then I thought about my family whom I saw not a half an hour earlier. as i pondered on all the light, both physical and spiritual, and the warmth, happiness and love that I felt from all of you, all the life, as we all talked at the same time, told jokes, and shared stories, i thought about how many people want that in their lives. Heck, it was my family, and I wanted more of it!!! I began to think about the families that i have seen on my missions who have influenced my outlook on family, and i have found the same basic principles shared throughout all of them, serving others, love one with another, and most of all, a love for the Lord. So, if you could, think about someone this week we can share our family's light and warmth with. Someone qwho might be lonely at this point and time. I thought that would be a neat idea, and it would really help someone out!
So that was just a thought that ran through my head this week.
Well, love you all lots!!!!!!!! Cant wait to see you soon, but until then, DUTY CALLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( or call of duty, whichever works)
Love
Calvin
5 May, 2014
Momm,
I think from now on I am going to have the most horrible time spelling mom for the rest of my life. What a great curse to have! Well, i will probably be skyping at 3ish, give or take an hour or so (my companion might win the arm wrestle on who will go first). Momm, I am so excited to continue working here in this area. I am excited to come home as well, but the Lord needs me here first. I have learned so much here that i can apply to help the Greene Branch for as long as I am going to stay there. Still not sure what to do after that. Oh well figure that out in 7ish weeks.
Oh, dont worry, i got the connection with the watermelon as well!
Well, this week, we have been having lots of miracles, from GIANT pots of African food, to investigators and less actives coming to church and bearing INCREDIBLE testimonies, all has been going super well! I was wondering, how well do we know the less or inactive members in our branch at home?
Other than that not much going on. My companion is a SUPER BOSS. I cant wait for you all to meet him! He likes all the same music as me, is really sportif, and is really fun. He's pretty chill too, so that helps out a lot.
I wish you all could be here, as mice in my pockets to see and expirience all that I am seeing and expiriencing! So many inside jokes that only make sense to us two, and the people are incredible. I dont know who to introduce you all to, if you can understand them.
Looking forward to Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE
your son
Calvin
28 April, 2014
Hello WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, this week has been good! TONS of miracles!! We were fed [so well]!!! We ate Haitian rice with plantin and fried porc (SOOOO INCREDIBLE!!!) and we ate some super delicious african rice with a super good sauce. We were in heaven! Other than our incredible members feeding us, we contacted a woman who refferred herself online to us. AND, she took a Book of Mormon, and has begun to read it!! Then she sent us a text that basically explained that her father in law recently passed away, and they are having a hard time to explain death to their kids, and asked if we could come and teach her about it. They have tried Jehovahs Witnesses, and other religions, but they just arent feeling it. So, she remembered that one of her friends had been taught by the missionaries, so they gave it a go! so we are trying to set up an appointment with them right now. Its going to be awesome once we get that going! Oh yeah, then we accidentally broke our phone. Happily we have a backup, but what happened was i had it in my pocket, and it slipped out of my pocket as I was getting into the car, and we ran over it with the truck, totally on accident. And that's not even the best part! We didnt realize that we had dropped the phone until the end of our half an hour journey home!!! So, we ended up calling the appointment from a members house, and they found the phone, and brought it to us the next day, so we could transfer the card to the other phone. That stunk. Then, later that week, we had a dinner appointment with a less active couple, and they came to church the next day!! Both of them!! So that was great! We had a lot of less actives and recent converts at church This week, the Lord really blessed us!
Right now, our work is primarily composed of Passing by peoples houses to say hi and try to share/set up a lesson, as well as strengthening relationships with some potentials that we have.
Well, it's going well! Just keeping on, and trying my best.
Love you aLL!!!!!!!!
Calvin
P.S. oh, I probably will be skyping on sunday the 11th it will probably be at 3 o' clock. We will confirm next email, but thats what its looking like right now.
21 April, 2014
Hello!!!
Well, this week was super great!!!!!!!
First off, i cant write too much because my companion got to go to the TEMPLE this weekend, so we switched our preperation days, so today I have only a little time to write because we have a lot to do today!!
So what happened this week was MIRACLES!!!!!! We had a Mormon.org refferral who is SO GOLDEN!!! She asked us for a Book of Mormon before our first rendez-vous because she wanted to prepare herself for it. Then she said she wants to come to church, but couldnt come this week because she was going down to Quebec city. We were STUNNED!!!!!!!! like WOW!! Then we had an appointment with this less active in our ward to cut our hair, because she does it for free, and we wanted to get in contact with them. That rendez vous went well! Then this sunday, the branch is Alma came to be in the sacrament meeting with us, because it was the visit from the stake president, and they re organized the branch in Alma, the man they called literally has been home from his mission for less than a year. Its incredible!!!!!! And we had some really cool part member families and less active people show up to church! It was so cool!!!!! This truly is the Lords work, and we truly are His children, and He truly takes care of us!!!!!!!!!!
love you all!!!!
Calvin
14 April, 2014
Hello EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, this week was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am soooooooooo happy to be in this area with all these people that I know and love!! So I have to let you all know that I have been taken care of very well! Last week, we had helped clear the last bit of ice off this lady"s driveway that the other missionaries had started earlier this winter. So we got done with that, and the lady"s son in law drove up next to us and was like " hey thanks for doing that. You are awefully dilligent!" So we were like yeah, any time anyone needs help we are there to help them out!! well, that sunday of General Conference, the lady came to church, which was awesome because she is less active and she was like " You need to stop by my daughter's house later today! We have a surprize for you!" So we stopped by and that guy was there with her daughter ( they were married) and the lady was there as well, and they had 2 big bags and one HUGE box in front of them, and they were like " You have done so much for us this winter, we wnated to do a little something for you in return!!" We were floored!!!! Not just because they were doing this , but because they are nonmembers. This means they now know that we are super nice people! So we were really happy about that! [yes, I cried when I read this part. I am so very grateful for those angels who watch over and take care of my son!]
This week was BUSY. we did a lot of passbyes as well as lessons with people. Our missionary correlation meeting was super good too, we are going to be visiting the members this month and over the course of the upcoming months to pass out "plans Missionaire familliale" to all the members so they can start sharing the Gospel with those who are around them.
From Conference I liked the talk from the priesthood session by President Uchtdorf on Dont sleep through the Restoration, and I liked the one by eler d todd Christopherson on Jesus christ. It was cool how all of these talks talked about courage. I think that the Lord is trying to tell us to prepare for something large that is coming soon.
Well, I love you all!!!!!!!!!!
Calvin
7 April, 2014
Hello all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I have been ecstatic this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chicoutimi is exactly as I remember it, but better!! A few new people had gotten baptized, a few investigators whom I have taught are coming to church functions, adding to our little family here!! I think thats why I like it up here, its like a big family, reminding me of the Greene branch, and how we were all so close together. That is super important, to be close to each other in whatever unit we are in, because it is this closeness that enriches our lives, and makes it all worth it. This week, due to General Conference, I asked myself a question. This question was directly linked to the fresh experience of packing my bags to go to chuicoutimi. I wanted to pack a little lighter, so I had to get rid of some stuff. So I asked myself, what did I need and what did I not need. I found myself saying the same thing as that woman in the Phillippinnes, I have aquired a lot of garbage over my time as a missionary. And it helped me think of what is truly important, my family and friends. Being here in Chicoutimi has shown to me how important these relationships are. They are the treasure of heaven. Its been a powerful lesson the Lord has taught me this week.
Well, we had a funny expirience this week. We had parked our truck, and a young woman had parked her car right next to us. Walking away I had a feeling that we needed to talk to her. So, we decided to go and talk to her. So, my companion jumps in the bed of the truck to act as if he's organizing or doing something similar. leaving me to contact her. So, I walk up, and ask the first question I can come up with " Excuse me m' am, do you know where I can get another one of.......... " and I totally drew a blank on the word for shovel. So, she hearing my anglephone accent, asked me to show her the thing I was asking for. So I brought her over to the truck to show her the shovels. Upon further talking and questioning about what we want the shovel for, we said we are full time service volonteers, and we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to my utter surprize, she said she was interested!! The Lord DOES lead us, if we will simply listen to His whisperings.
I love you all!!!!!!
Calvin
