February 7, 2022

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 person didn't speak any English. 

Elder Jensen however, started a Spanish conversation with the guy near him and it was going pretty well. 

Our bus stop neared, so I tugged the little bus stopper wire and it slowed to a halt. 

I nudged Elder Jensen on the arm, to signal the fact that we were getting off, and stepped outside the bus door. 

Elder Jensen, in the thick of the conversation and about to get the guys number, needed a couple more moments. 

I tragically waited for Elder Jensen outside the bus, and in the blink of an eye, the bus closed its doors, and started puttering away, with Elder Jensen inside and me, shocked, outside. 

Now, I haven't been by myself, without a missionary companion for 8 months, so for a split second my thought process was

"Freedom... FREEDOM!" 

(just kidding) 

It was actually like 

"Oh heck"

Elder Jensen didn't have a phone at this particular point, so it was a bit of an inconvenient situation as I couldn't get in touch with him, and he didn't know where he was. 

So, I started running. 

The blessings of the Word of Wisdom came to life as I sprinted in my beat up dress shoes holding my missionary bag on slick sidewalks to catch up to the  bus, to save Elder Jensen. 

Amazingly, in time, I actually caught up. 

With some divine intervention, the bus had got held up a long red light. 

I knocked on the window and was able to successfully retrieve Elder Jensen, who had also successfully retrieved the man's number. 

Sisters in a different area found a guy who saw a Temple, and told himself that he would find a way to get inside. 

They taught him a bit, then passed him off to us.

His name is Luis. 

Teaching someone who is sincerely curious and interested is such a blessing, and really fun. 

They ask questions that make you clarify your own thoughts about things you've taken for granted, and will often ask questions you don't know the full answer. (They'll even expose gaps in your teaching abilities, which is humbling, but appreciated) 

So working with him is going to be a delight. 

I'm coming to recognize three major weaknesses of mine that re-appear from time to time.

Pride, complacency, and a fear of man (or, the fear of the opinions of others) 

They compliment each other unexpectedly well, and on days when one of them hesitantly tests the waters, the other two encourage it and cannonball into the lake of my mind, weakening my motivations, desires, and abilities.

Now, it's not a perfect way to describe them as external weaknesses or enemies, because they are apart of me, and they stem from my lack of effort, or my an incorrect understanding. 

Meaning, that I do have the power to overcome these weaknesses, and which dominantly includes relying on Christ's power to do so. 

In Helaman 4, Mormon (I'm pretty sure it's Mormon)

explains exactly why the Nephites begin to struggle,

he records:

And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper...

Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of unbelief...

For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become weak

It's so funny to me because of how relatable it is, how when they boast in their own strength, the Lord leaves them in their own strength, and then they see by what power they had the ability to conquer. 

Pride cripples spiritual power, complacency decreases faith, and a fear of others derails a needed empowering eternal perspective.

On the flip side, 

Humility (not debasement) taps us into God's power, conscious involvement and effort makes everything more exciting, and has us desire more faith, and loving God first ignites a Celestial motivation for every other action we do. 

This is power. The way of Divinity. 

Kindness, long-suffering, pure-love, humility, sincere faith, claiming our perfect brightness of hope through the foundation of Jesus Christ's sacrifice. 

There is nothing timid, weak, blind, foolish, silly, or easy about aiming and fighting for our own Celestial personality.

For doing everything in our power to follow the immutable laws of success and joy given by the Architect of reality. 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just theology, not just PmG chapter 3 lesson 3, not just commandments. 

It is the God given formula for unconditional freedom, His How-To For Heaven prep, it's the process that doesn't eliminate personal suffering, but the one that despite ANY suffering, allows us to find a peace of soul and an unshaken joy.

By faith in a perfect Redeemer.

By repentance through the Atonement of Christ to align ourselves with Celestial law. 

By sacred ordinance and covanent in the name of Christ to commit our souls and life to God and His purposes. 

To receive a companion, the third member of the Godhead to be our support, and the one who guides our hearts to sanctification and souls to purification.

To practice and not give up once the journey has begun. 

This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

And it's not our task to execute a perfect performance, its ours to truly try and learn, and by degrees, line upon line, become as Christ is. 

So, I'll let you know when I've conquered the three weaknesses (check in 100 years from now and I'll let you know if it doesn't still bite me sometimes )

Our friend Etinosa is getting baptized this upcoming Saturday, so send prayers his way. 

The adversary gets scared in the final week and sends serious artillery.

Hope everyone is jammin'

Have a beautiful week! 

- Elder Smith

1) Missionary memes get me. 

2) Some cool steps we found.

The hat gives me a +7 in warmth, but a -2 in fashion

3) Elder Durant, the fly guy he is

4) The lady in our next door apartment has to Quarantine for 5 days, so we're having a conversation with her through notes.

5) Nelson, the member from Ecuador who said I had a big head, sneaking a picture of himself on my phone during Sunday School

6) Elder Jensen, the one we almost lost to the Bus

7) Zone Council

8) The picture we threw in the chat after finding another person to teach

From Mom - Laughing

I had to laugh. 

As I was driving the girls to school this morning, an emergency indicator light flashed on the panel. At 110 km/hr, I wondered if it was a serious indicator light or a just a gentle-warning indicator light. Could I get them to school before the car blew up? I had Mia searching in the car manual to see if we could figure out what it was. Since my children are being raised in the Information Age, navigating the Index and the Table of Contents in an old-school manual wasn’t in her skill set. So, with a prayer I continued, arriving at the school just in time with a rapidly deflating tire. “Huh.” I thought. “I think there’s enough air in there to limp it to the gas station.” Which I did. I decided to fill the tire, but it takes $1.50, at which point I realized I left my wallet at home. 

Dad’s in meetings and won’t get my frantic messages for awhile. I *could* try to figure out how to change it although I’ve never done it in real life, only seen it done. It doesn’t seem that hard, right?

Anyway, I decided to check my phone for inspiration and there is Ben’s email, the first line saying, Unexpected adventures usually yield the greatest stories :)

But it usually includes moments of stress, or unexpected obstacles .”

And why does the cut and paste option change the font size? I did NOT grow up in the Information Age and have no idea how to fix it, so I’ll shrug and keep typing. 

A woman knocked on my window to kindly explain that I wasn’t parked properly. “I have flat tire,” I say. At which point, she apologizes and gives me the advice to get it changed because “those little cars have crappy tires.” Thank you, kind Stranger. 

So, I’ll finish this email and it will become part of the story for later on, if it ever comes up in conversation. 

News this week …

My essay writing skills are rusty and only got a B+ on my first big assignment. I’ll keep trudging … which reminds me, my class starts in an hour and my phone is about to die. I just have to laugh sometimes. I could do my class on my phone, if the battery lasts. Such a miracle in this information/technological age. But it’s only useful if the battery is charged properly, which I’m hopeless at.

Bobby is in hospital from having a surprising four heart attacks in a row. She’s okay but pretty scared. I’m hoping to video chat with her today. Keep her in your prayers along with Grandpa Smith who goes for his second brain surgery on Tuesday. I’ll go down to be emotional support for Grandma.

Currently reading The Choice, a memoir from an Auschwitz survivor. The theme of her memoir is the idea that we always have a choice in any given circumstances, even the worst ones. The story I liked was where her and her sister were put in different lines to go on two different trains. She had a choice to go to a separate destination or be shot trying to get to her sister. She decided she’d rather be shot than be separated but since they were going to shoot her anyway she decided she’d make It difficult for them and cartwheeled all the way to her sister’s line. The guard smiled and winked and let her go. 

So now I get to choose what I’m going to do about this tire, which is such a trivial thing compared to possibly being shot. I found at toonie in my pocket when I was explaining to the kind stranger about my predicament. So I think I’ll fill it and try to get home. That will buy Dad some time and maybe I’ll be close to home if the tire blows. Or maybe it won’t. 

Wished me luck!

Love you!

Mom

Jen - The End of the Story

I used my toonie to put air in the tire and seemed fine until I heard a pop and a hissing sound. Feeling with my fingers, I found the origin of the escaping air and there was no way that tire could ever be driven on again. 

Do I try to change the tire?

I look at the clock and realize my class starts shortly, so I backed the car into a real parking spot in case any more kind strangers come to correct me, read my assignments (I’m being introduced to all sorts of interesting Canadian writers. I love it.), and sign in to class. My battery held out. 

Then Bobby calls and we have a long conversation about her options (surgery or long-term medication), what it feels like to have a heart attack (sharp pain in the back of the head, a squeezing feeling in her heart, shortness of breath and pain along your left arm), things to do when you’re stranded in your car, etc, etc, etc. By the time I get off the phone with Bobby, I still haven’t heard from Dad. Either he slipped and hit his head and is unconscious or his phone is charging in the bedroom. (We’re quite the pair.) 

I consider changing the tire but I lack confidence and I do kind of like it when he comes to rescue me. 

So I call Nikole Bonnell and tell her the situation and she actually drives to our house and tells Dad to check his phone! It turns out he’s not unconscious and did indeed leave his phone charging. He comes half an hour later and teaches me how to change the tire. 

Oh, and guess what tonight’s FHE lesson is on? That’s right! How to change a tire. The girls are going to love it. 

Mom