August 22, 2022

From Ben - Coffee Shop Prophets

Elder McNabb and I were sitting outside the A&W on one of the outdoor tables waiting for our friend to show up. 

10 minutes after our pre-decided meet up time, we came to the conclusion that the meeting was going to fall through. 

The moment we decided to call it quits and make our way home, this guy stepped outside of the fast-food restaurant; he had a front sash tied across his chest that held a cat that peered at us with knowing eyes. 

He looked at us and legit said

"You two are the ones that I've been praying for to minister to me" 

To which he joined us at our A&W table, and pulled out a big, purple Bible and plopped it in front of him, his cat exploring the underside of the table and analyzing our shoes. 

He considered himself a minister who traveled from fast food place to fast food place, coffee shop to coffee shop, and talked with people about Christ. 

Honestly, a task and a mission no less worthy then my own. 

Amongst the topics discussed, we talked about homelessness, the ministry, the increasing confusion of the world, and the role Christ plays in strengthening us when weak. 

We praised his Bible knowledge and invited him to explore the Book of Mormon and the contents inside. 

We prayed with him, then went our separate ways. 

Just one of the little adventures that I thought worthy of note. 

I had one of the coolest opportunies from the past 14 months as of yet this week. 

I was able to go on exchanges with THE Elder Morphis, back to TIMMINS. 

An area that holds a very dear place in my heart, and an Elder whom I hold a great deal of respect for. 

Elder Morphis is one of the most spiritually receptive individuals I know. He asked me questions that were so fun to answer (with his slight French accent, he asked on the drive back, "Elder Smith, what is your dream for life?") and we had conversations that connected us a little deeper with things that really matter. 

We talked about LYR, the wild world of music performance, and most importantly, the Savior. 

I believe that Elder Joshua Morphis is going to make an incredible difference in the lives of many. 

He taught me how to say a prayer in French, and I spent the duration of his Spanish language study to memorize it. 

One of the cherished moments was being able to  again visit my Memére. My heart melted when she opened her door spoke to us with her French accent. I gave her my awkward side hug and we played another game of Sequence. 

Elder Morphis might be the only missionary in the Canada Toronto Mission who can teach our Memére the Gospel in a way that she comprehends and understands. 

It was a tender moment and a cool gift from God. 

Member Gisele called us in the morning and night, and it was again a great joy to talk with her and hear her simple heartfelt prayers for our safety. 

I really love that lady. 

It was surreal to drive through those roads again. 

Broke out of a couple pride prisons again this week too 

I never quite realize I've locked myself in again till I feel tired and ingrateful. 

A good personal study led by the Spirit reminds me again that I hold no superior ability or trait that determines any value or favor above that of another. 

Everytime I step out of one these steel cells, it is so relieving. 

Fresh air and a restored perspective are the first gifts. 

People are seen again for their strengths and inner gold rather then perceived weakness and outer debris. 

Twas a good week. There could be paragraphs written about each street contact, each personal study, each lesson learned from failure, and each truth clarified from each triumph. 

But we'll watch the fullness of that slide show in Heaven one day. 

Love you each! Let's find some weary hands to lift up this week, eh? 

- Elder Smith

1) Ballin out with some of the youth and kids in some of the surrounding neighborhoods. There were some epic Basketball battles. My glasses took a couple hits, but that is inevitable. 

2) The great reunion. 

3) A CHAMPION family, the Coopers. Oh man, they made some mean chocolate pie.

4) Elder Conrad, enjoying a lunch nap with a needed companion (I love this Elder)

5) The Alex Trebeck mural. Elder Ellingson and I found a cool dude just prior to this picture. 

6) It LITERALLY never gets old. I live off 'book of moron' comments. 

From Dad - A great week

Dear Ben,

I’m sitting here in sacrament meeting listening to Ben deVries  speaking just before he heads to Chile. So excited for him and excited for you to both be out serving together. It was fun to see a bunch of the deVries brothers gathered. 

It was quite an amazing week. You caught the start of it when you called at the retreat center. Your mother did so amazing. Though she probably doesn’t like to admit it, your mom has a talent for working with people and organizing them in a great cause. She also has the ability to set good boundaries and help people feel safe and valued.

As usual, there were many obstacles to overcome. The first one showed up on Monday evening when we realized that we really did need to have police record checks in place for each counselor and ourselves in order to secure the  insurance for the retreat. Since it was already Monday night and the retreat was the next day we had had a sick feeling wondering what we should do. After a little bit of googling and a lot of praying, I realized that we could do the PRC checks online but pay for them whereas normally they’re free. Desperate times call for desperate measures so we had each of the counselors register and get a PRC. Luckily they came back in 15 minutes for most of them and all except one went through before the retreat started. 

The next challenge came the first evening of LYR as we had a transgender girl wanting to be a boy attend the retreat. This was fine with us except for the sleeping arrangements. It was made very clear before the start of the retreat that he would have to stay in his own room but when it came down to it he felt like he wanted to sleep with the boys and this was some thing we were not willing to allow. After a major meltdown and running off into the woods we ended up having to call his mom and make arrangements for her to come pick him up the next day. It turns out that he had not taken some important medication and that had contributed to it however Mom felt it was important to set a boundary and we allowed him to stay for the next days events and then he went home with his mom. 

My biggest concern at LYR is always the success of the major simulation. Once again this got procrastinated to almost the end, which is apparently how they almost always do it. This is not my favorite way to operate but in the end we were able to pull off a fun simulation based on the Russia Ukraine and the neighbors situation in the world today. Everyone seem to have fun and of course there were always unexpected things that happened like alliances and new countries forming. Hopefully it will give the youth a greater understanding or appreciation for the complexities involved in running the world around them. 

Uncle Mark came and talked at the retreat about building resilience. He was amazing. He had everyone pick a small rock from a basket and he used it as a metaphor to help us remember to be a little “boulder,” with a play on words. On my rock I wrote the word friendship as I feel I need to be a little bolder at being a true good friend to those around me. My favorite part though was when he had a breakout session with the mission group and we had some intense conversations about overcoming bad habits dealing with trauma getting over grudges and Mark taught powerfully and inspirationally to the youth using wonderful insights into the human psyche.

We were happy that Rufus was able to join most of the retreat. His flight was scheduled to go out on Thursday from Edmonton at 5 PM so we had to leave early a little bit and drive to Edmonton to be there before the plane left. Ironically his flight was delayed by 24 hours so he could’ve stayed. One thing that we didn’t fully anticipate was how much he would grow on us and how much we came to love him. He is an amazing young man and Abby and he developed a really close and deep friendship such that it was pretty sad for Abby to see him go. Mia was a good friend too but not as closely connected emotionally. He and I played lots of table tennis together and I love that he never wanted to stop playing games which is exactly how I feel when I play table tennis too.

So, all and all a good week. Here’s a few pics from the week.