Ben's Mission to Toronto

From Ben - Land of Giants I love writing about my weaknesses!  Not to demean myself, nor to show others how humble I am (though I do sometimes fall into this latter trap ), but to see my own self with clarity, to be able to diagnose the issue correctly so I can apply the right choices to change (as the ideal goal at least) And my recurring thorn continous to be pride. I think.  It's either pride, or incorrect priorities which then leads toward pride. (Or I'm overthinking everything, and should just start praying like mad)  In the moments when I am motivated by charity, and my "eye is single", absolute invincibility follows. Absolute. Fearlessness is my mantle, joy reigns as a core emotion, and even the intelligence of a undistracted, uncluttered mind welcomes itself.  However, when little selfishnesses, micro-grudges, and half given efforts are chosen, amen to any credible, difference making power on my end.  (This is a slight exaggeration, but just slightl...

From Ben - God Science Trying to be awesome is so flippin' hard if you're trying to be awesome for the wrong reason.  I'm coming to realize that doing anything to up my clout amongst fellow missionaries is a horrible motive that stresses me out, and wipes out legitimate spiritual power.  Soapboxing too. It's an accidental form of teaching that us missionaries can default to that makes us seem way greater than we actually are, and in a subtle way puts down those we are trying to lift up.  On the flip side though!  Teaching someone with their best interest in mind, and with the hope to help them see and know Jesus Christ for themselves is far more rewarding and powerful.  I read a document this week created by a missionary who said (paraphrased) "We as missionaries are not equipped in any way to help people with their personal problems.  What we have to offer is our sincere testimony, and the invitation to help them build a relationship with God, which actual...

From Ben - Love at first sight's for suckers ... at least it used to be :) We had a real cool opportunity to meet with our local politician this week!  I found him on Instagram and thought  "Well, invite everybody I guess" So I attempted a conversation and we quite unexpectedly got a meeting set up. Me and Elder Durant got to enter into his office and we were seated in a small but nice conference room.  Our friend Faisal joined us and we started talking.  He detailed his political career and his current plans while in office (which was WAY interesting) and the conversation gradually moved its way towards our beliefs.  He was Muslim and so the topic focused mainly on the Divinity of Christ, and whether or not He was the Son of God and actually suffered an Atonement.  It was a super interesting and enlightening conversation but we tragically didn't get anywhere.  In the end, we gifted him a Book of Mormon and in return he gave us some cool Ontario pins....

From Ben - Run Forest, Run! Unexpected adventures usually yield the greatest stories :) But it usually includes moments of stress, or unexpected obstacles  Couple of unexpected adventures this week.  On Thursday we got to go on an exchanges! Elder Durant went an Elder Christensen, and I stayed in Weston with an Elder Jensen.  He's so chill   Despite having the personality of a gentle, quieter individual, he has some serious power and competence behind both his actions and his words.  We got to drop a Book of Mormon and Bible off to some seekers of truth.  It was something like a 50 minute bus ride, so it was a golden opportunity to bus contact. Despite having Google maps and the phone with data (and my innate exceptional directional ability of course) we missed our first bus stop by five stops and had to take a smaller, in-the neighborhood kind of bus to get back on track. On this bus, my attempted start of a conversation awkwardly flopped as the perso...