December 27, 2021
From Ben - Spic and Span
Last Zone Conference, I swore in my wrath that it would never happen again.
Us Elders in Timmins were going to strike fear into every companionship in Ontario, our name was going to be known.
In the clean vehicle competition. We were never going to lose again.
Every Zone Conference the Vehicle coordinator gives out gift cards to the cleanest vehicles in the mission.
I've never won.
Because we're in Timmins, it's also way harder to win because we drive 7 hours and have to bring all of our sleepover belongings.
But this time it was different, the day before we drove down, I looked at Elder Heggie, he looked at me, then we both looked at Elder Hartman and he looked at us, and we decided that we were gonna take the cake this time.
We cleaned the car spik and span the day before we left; I washed the car mats in the tub while E. Hartman and Heggie cleaned the car and got the garbage out.
We left our belongings in a Barrie apartment so the car would be completely clean.
We washed and vacuumed our car after we drove the 7 hours to make sure it was on fleek before Zone Conference.
We bought from Dollerama some clean wipes and wipes every possible surface in our car and re-cleaned the mats.
It was perfect.
Turns out however, the STL's in Barrie (where the Zone Conference was being held) were also gunning for the title.
We happenchance met them at the Church parking lot the night before ZC (we had to park our car there then get picked up by other Elders and brought to their apartment) and I made the unfortunate mistake about boasting about the many efforts we had undertook to claim title of the cleanest car.
When we made a quick restroom break in the Church, one of the STL's (whom I actually really love, she was the first sister I ever met on the field) launched a giant snowball at our perfectly clean car!!!
Oh snap.
We realized that victory never comes easy, so the next morning, we got up way early and brought our car to another car wash.
Then came back to the Church and re-wiped everything.
But wait, it's not the end.
When we got into the church we saw the Vehicle Coordinators wife, Sister Moore.
We casually mentioned our efforts to her, and pled that they really looked at the Timmins vehicle (at this point we had put some personal funds into the effort as our missionary funds were slim) and she said that she would
Unexpectedly, there was a problem that the Assistants to the President needed solving. And it needed solving 45 minutes south.
President asked Elder Hartman and one of the AP's to go. So we were down Elder Hartman.
But finally, in Zone Conference, the time was come. The Vehicle Coordinator stood up to announce the cleanest car.
To our surprise, he said three had achieved a perfect score.
One by one he listed the license plates.
The first two weren't ours.
Then finally, the third cleanest license plate got announced.
And it belonged to the BARRIE STL'S! (Remember the STL's that threw the snowball on our car?)
We were simply devastated.
We had legit spent real money and real time to conquer this title.
THEN SUDDENLY. An angel appeared. In the form of Sister Moore.
She piped up from the back of the Chapel and said
"Elder Moore, those three Elders (Elder Hartman was back at this point) in the back over there (pointing to us in our tear filled and dejected state)
got a perfect score on their vehicle"
Turns out! The vehicle that the AP took with Elder Hartman to solve that problem south was ours.
When the vehicles were being inspected, Timmin's Vehicle wasn't even there.
But Sister Moore inspected ours first, before anyone else because we had asked (We love Sister Moore and praise her name from here on out)
We got our Tim Hortons gift card. And got our social clout. :)
It was an awesome adventure.
And to clarify, we totally love the STL's. We had a great laugh with them about the whole thing after.
There's a Gospel analogy in here somewhere, but I'll let you guys make it up
(What efforts do we put in to clean up our own lives? What if challenges do come? Do we use "unprecedented measures, for unprecedented times?"
What if someone else's choices affect your efforts? Do we ask for help from people that can help us? What are we willing to sacrifice?)
Sorry, you can fill in the rest
Zone Conference was stellar per the norm.
I came to the realization that I still need to improve my ability to embrace conflict while avoiding contention.
Something I have struggled with since the day I was born.
We had a giant marshmallow snowball fight as the Christmas zone activity and wow. Some people THROW.
I got beaned on the lip by a marshmallow that really quite hurt!
Got some good insights from it. Learned where some improvement could be made.
And realized that Christmas is such a unique and remarkable opportunity to develop a personal relationship with Christ. Wild how that's always been the name of the game. It just took 20 years to internalize it. (More insights will come as years go on for sure. Kinda exciting)
After we got back in Timmins, we didn't do our usual proselytizing work but tried to get creative in a way that wouldn't make people angry that we interrupted their family times.
We delivered a huge bag of bread to a homeless shelter.
We wrote a huge amount of Christmas cards and delivered them out.
We visited some lonely members of the ward and sang with one of them.
And ate large Christmas dinners that the old angels of the ward delivered to us.
On Christmas morning, we opened our gifts.
The ultimate gift was simply the letter I got from home.
As Sam and Josh have explained a whole bunch, these letters are straight up worth more than gold.
I teared up while reading it, but they were the good tears.
That families are Eternal is truly something that makes sense. I am so grateful for that truth.
We're going to have to move Robin's Baptismal date back because her mother got Covid. So keep her in your prayers still.
Aila is still on track for the 8th of January, but there is still a lot to go through with her.
Life in Timmins is challenging, but worthwhile. I know that I'm going to look back on these days with joy.
The Church is still true, the Book of Mormon is truly of God and brings us closer to Christ, and we are still agents unto ourselves, to choose the right, and to get our own personal conversion.
What an ultimate adventure.
Love you all!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
- Elder Smith
1) Cleaning our car after the seven hour drive
2) President Ensign going full beast mode in the marshmallow fight
3) Elder Heggie, the Chef, making delicious food
4) During that one Christmas game where you put on mittens and have to unwrap a present
5) A picture with our non-member Gisele
6) A picture with member Gisele
7) Yep, the classic Smith curse strikes again.
From Mom - The Power of a Word
Dear Ben,
I have to admit … in the busy-ness of Christmas, I have the capacity to forget what it’s really all about. Luckily I received a small gift from the Relief Society this year that was surprisingly helpful in keeping an uplifting focus.
One experience: On the day we were going to the temple with Benson, we were still waiting for my parents’ family history names to come in the mail. There seemed to be a million last-minute things to do before Christmas and I was feeling rushed and cranky. I flipped over the word of the day and it was Music. I rolled my eyes a little because you know how too much noise makes me even more overstimulated and miserable so I thought I would ignore that word. But as we were driving around, Abby and Benson were taking turns with Spotify with all their tunes, the word-of-the-day popped in my mind and I requested something Christmas-sy. Benson put on some classic Burl Ives which is so nostalgic and calming, I was surprised at the sudden switch from a stressed to a positive mood. Plus, we know all the words and it’s easy to sing along. I loved it! Stress disappeared … and in spite of those temple names not coming in the mail in time, it motivated Benson and Mia to get on the computer and find their own names.
Kurri received a call from Benson requesting her help on how to get on to Family Search. Once that was accomplished he said, “Thanks, Mom! Mia can help me with rest!” And he promptly hung up. Kurri said she couldn’t help shedding a small tear in Gratitude for the good influence of cousins.
Despite the rush, we had a lovely, unifying and snowy time at the temple. Such a perfect way to spend the Christmas season …
Also, another plug for music … we were reading the Saviour’s birth story in Luke on Christmas Eve and when we got to the scripture that says, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men,” Dad says, “should we sing?” (He grew up with that and I didn’t so I always inwardly roll my eyes a little), but we haltingly started singing Angels We Have Heard on High. A beautiful and calming spirit entered the room as we sang. Soon we were singing more songs and the girls started harmonizing and you know the rest. I’m grateful to your father who patiently endures my eye-rolling. He’s *almost* always right . Josh said, “suddenly in the middle of all our singing I was hit hard by the Spirit and had to stop to wipe a tear away.” Josh invited Madisen for Christmas Eve and she said it was perfect, even though she detests ham and that is what we had for supper .
The chocolate fondu turned out though.
A few highlights from the season …
We (Mia) traded goodies with our neighbours over the fence (-35°C) so the bad feelings from the dog attack are slowly dissipating.
She convinced Dad and Josh to go tobogganing at the Wizard Lake embankment (it was -30 and the rest of us just couldn’t face it) with the new sleds she got for Christmas. Dad says it was the best part of his day.
We convinced Abby to play traditional Scrabble with the board and keeping score. She blew us out of the water and now she’s hooked. Haha.
As always, it’s SO nice having Josh and Sam home. They add such a helpful and calming dimension to our home. I snapped this shot of Sam helping Mia set up her smart lamp, but they’re always available in every moment to pitch in, add a joke, play a game and laugh. We love having them home even though it makes us miss you even more.
Church was really good yesterday although there were only about 25 people there. The weather was truly frightful and almost everyone stayed home. But Sheena spoke about stewardships and something really struck me. She said, “some of my children struggle with diagnosed depression. I tell them that is a stewardship for them to manage. Weaknesses can become strengths.” And I had never before considered that our weaknesses are a stewardship for us to manage. We talked about it when we got home.
Also Jared Townsend spoke. He shared a mission story. They tracted into a woman who had been given a Book of Mormon from a co-worker a decade before. She never got rid of it, so when the missionaries showed up, she let them in. They taught her a few lessons when she agreed to come to church. It was fast and testimony meeting and she got up and shared how good she felt whenever she was around members of the church. Later, she dropped the missionaries because her fiancé told her it was him or the church. Jared was sad about it. Around this same time, they were meeting with a man who was a member but hadn’t been to church for years. Every two weeks for nine months the missionaries would go to his house and visit in his driveway because this man’s wife was against the church. Unbeknownst to the missionaries, the wife was noticing the care and concern the missionaries showed and how it lifted her husband. Her heart softened and she agreed to go to church with him. It so happened that the day she went to church also happen to be the day that the first woman investigator bore her testimony. It affected her deeply. Jared was transferred. Months later he received a call from that man requesting Jared to come to the baptism of his two daughters.
So it turns out that a Book of Mormon given to co-worker allowed for her to let missionaries in ten years later and prompted her to bear a simple testimony which affected the heart of a different woman going to church for the first time just enough to be taught herself and affecting an entire family. And woven in and around that are the missionaries, quietly going around doing good with no clue how much good they are actually doing.
It’s magestic, don’t you think?
I think this is why we should never be discouraging in doing good.
Jared asked about you afterwards and told me he’s really hoping you get to Niagra Falls and can meet his family. He also said, “I just love Ben. I was struggling to run the Young Men’s program. I just couldn’t motivate the youth to do anything! Then Ben would walk in and everything changed. His enthusiasm is so contagious! I was so grateful for him.”
So keep on keeping on, my son. I’m not sure we ever fully realize the good we do, the light we spread, the hearts we lift. It’s an awesome way to live.
But, we get to talk to you again today.
So lucky.
We love you so much and miss you always but we wouldn’t have you be anywhere else.
Forever,
Mom
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