May 2, 2022

 From Ben - The 5th Habit

Ah yes, the apostasy of time past came and haunted me and Elder Blum this week. 

In order to help the Canada Toronto Missionaries understand how to access a specific folder in a mission wide Google drive, I sent into the mission chat a screen recording of the steps by which to find the folder. 

All was well, we sent it into the CTM mega chat. 

All was well...

Then! 

Upon a second watching of the video I had sent in, to my amazement and suprise, in the screen recording, for the briefest second, as I scroll through the Google drive (which everyone can see in the screen recording) for a brief moment and episode of Adventure Time can be seen within the folder. 

The Newmarket area folder. 

Me and Elder Blum's folder. 

So, to this moment, if anyone looks closely enough in the recording, they will see, in mine and Elder Blum's area folder, an episode of Adventure Time.  See if you can find the Adventure Time Episode:

(Another missionary, probably during a low point, downloaded it and watched it. But nobody else knows that)

I'll send it as a video, so maybe you can find it for yourself 

On Wednesday we went to go teach a guy named Steve. 

The morning of, he sends us his address. 

To that of a Baptist church. 

Yes. Yes indeed. We were invited over by a Baptist preacher. 

(The moment I've always been waiting for)

He was elite too. 

He said he studied the Bible for 40 hours a week and sought to understand the original meanings through the original languages. 

So much respect, that's actually the coolest thing ever.

We offered to pray at the start of our discussion and he declined, stating. 

"I have to refuse because we believe in a different God"

Wild. 

Amongst some of the things we talked about with him were...

- Biblical Inerrancy 

- The Diety of Jesus Christ

- Trinitarianism and the Godhead. 

- Temples

- Church History

- On how we can know the Book of Mormon is true

- Pre-mortal existence, and what God wants His children to become. 

- Prophets and their roles.

It was an incredible discussion, and, in it, Elder Blum and I discovered the power of empathy. 

It was randomly fulfilling to state back to him what we thought his concern was and have him correct our viewpoint. 

Little by little the conversation became more accepting, more rich, more enlightening, and more humanizing. 

We disagreed about salvific doctrinal God truths. 

Heavy stuff. 

But it was vibrant. 

Stephen Covey wasn't some old croak when he explained in his 5th habit

"Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood"

It was miraculous. 

A person who, in my first prejudicial viewpoint, was a foe, or, at least an argumentative challenge to beat, became a very real person with intelligent thoughts, real concerns, and genuine light to offer. 

I wonder if this is, in at least one perspective, part of the role the Atonement played for Jesus Christ. 

It was, in part, His seeking to understand, which then granted genuine divine power to be understood. 

"...he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities..." 

(Alma 7:12)

Now, there's a lot more that goes into that, but it's an interesting thought process to follow. And maybe there's a valuable insight or two to find. 

(Also, what??? We can put colored words into emails? Let it begin )

On Tuesday, me and Elder Blum got to have an all you can eat buffet

 with President and Sister Ensign to talk about what their vision is for Social Media, and how me and Elder Blum could accomplish it. 

My goodness, Mission Presidents are loaded. 

Hundred bucks for dinner? Penny change.

Doing it with a nerdy kid (me) and a skinny Italian (Elder Blum)? His delight. 

What an actual champion. 

He'd open the car door for Sister Ensign and make sure she was always comfortable. 

Small acts of love like that blow me away on three different fronts. 

So simple, so radically awesome. 

In conclusion, me and Elder Blum got slightly overwhelmed and are trying to digest how we're going to tackle these next couple months. 

Also, Mom. Your email was awesome. 

"The radical amazement principle?" I love that thought. 

Good luck on the business trip, Dad! 

Lastly. Shoot dang. I have so much to learn. (So. Much)

How much you might ask? 

To quote an incredible hero. 

"To infinity and beyond"

But that's exactly what God intends :)

Love you all! 

1) Trying to figure out the CTM advertising. And how to improve it.

(We have like six language pages. It's wild)

2) We got lost in a parking garage trying to find our way out of a Chiropractic appointment 

3) Exchange with the legendary ZL Elder Clawson

4) A crazy triple war with Elder Owen with two Kings and an Ace (Insane)

5) Emergency essentials trip

6) P-day Magic the Gathering Warfare

7) Hiding a forgotten Zone Leader bag. 

(This picture was their treasure hunting hint)

8) The conclusion of a successful exchange. 

 
From Mom - Radical Amazement

Dear Elder Smith,

I found the original quote!

He’s Jewish and I love it! The thing is, it’s easier to do once we get more Vitamin D into us, AKA sunshine-plus-fresh-air. And we’ve tipped the scales now … more light than dark. Is there a spiritual analogy here? I think yes! And I’m happy to choose as much light as I can get both physically and spiritually.

I started training for The Marathon last week. My radical amazement discoveries? 

I mean, I’m not sure what this does for my running time … but stopping and taking a photo of something beautiful adds another dimension to the enjoyment of life. 

Me and Dad need to leave the house at 4:15 in the morning to get him to the airport. He’s going on a business trip to New York for five days . The nice thing about him leaving is always the reminder of how much I love and miss him when he’s not around. And if I apply the radical amazement principle to him, it’s oddly easier when he’s away and for about a week after he gets home . But really, he’s the best.

We had a fun birthday party for Josh thanks to Madison who set the date and invited the people. There are a few other photos on Insta so you can see them there. Abby recently asked me why I don’t document Family stuff anymore and I added it to the list of positive-uses-of-social-media. Dad reminded me, “If we can’t live without our phones, at least we can learn to live with them better.” So I’m trying to do better with that. Complete boycotting isn’t entirely effective either because it IS a nice way to connect and record as long as it doesn’t distract and affect mental health. What a balance. 

Sam left today to begin his summer job at the farm. He’s staying overnight at the Bectell’s where Liz made him some Molten Lava Chocolate Cake; from the recipe I posted on FB. It doesn’t look too hard. Maybe the girls and I will make it while Dad is gone. Dad is going to swear off sugar (right, Honey?) because his gout started acting up again. This made him nervous to travel. He drank 16 glasses of water yesterday and the symptoms subsided, so there’s something to being hydrated. But he still went to the doctor for a prescription just to cover his bases. Darn health issues. #gettingold

The girls are doing good. Tonight Mia asked “what can I do to make my days better?” Think about it in context of highschool and create some good solutions to share on our Monday night call. They love your insights. 

We had the cutest phonecall with Bowie tonight. She wanted to talk to Abby so Steph had her yell “Abby, where are youuuu?” and Abby came around the corner. Bowie giggled about it so it turned into a game. And we all  took turns, then Bowie went and hid while we called her name and she came running back into the room giggling. So fun. I think she would have done it all night until Steph told her “last time.” Haha. 

Some other pics …

This is a free couch (plus love seat) we managed to snag this week. Whoever needs furniture in the fall can have them. They’re leather with no rips. So happy about it. 

#validation I adore the byu pathways Instagram. Love it. Are you allowed to follow? It’s so positive. 

They were getting a little out of control with the breath-strips before a dance. The boy’s name is Preston (fairly new in the ward) and Abbey Lawrence with Mia. 

Also, the girls sat in with a zoom missionary Lesson on Friday. We have a trio in our ward and they’re currently teaching a 17-yr old. Maybe your missionary perspective will help the girls on how to be helpful in discussions because it was a little awkward. Haha. But I’m proud of them for choosing to participate anyway. 

Anyway, time for bed. It’s going to be a short night. As always, we love you forever. 

Sincerely,

Mom

P.S. This is my current favourite scripture based on my ongoing Jesus study. …

From Isaiah 25:8:

“… and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces …”

Such beautiful, personal imagery.