November 1, 2022
From Ben - Category: Hobbes
Radical adventures this week.
On Tuesday was another MLC in the mission home.
At 5:30am, despite the twofold increase of gravity that early mornings bring, Elder Surdu and I successfully got up, munched on some old cheerios, and puttered ourselves down to Brampton.
We took a missed turn, and had to make an emergency bathroom trip so we ended up showing up last and had to climb over a bunch of missionaries to get to our seats in the very front of this long room.
Which was totally alright, because I got to sit beside Elder Morphis, a hero of mine, and last minute got asked to play some piano for the program.
The meeting was something I'd never experienced.
The intention was to determine the new baptismal goal for 2023, and to have each zone bought in to it.
It was a curious question to consider, because they asked us what we thought the amount of Baptisms our zone could produce in a year, and come up with some thoughts and action items that would allow us to accomplish that goal.
It was curious as we don't stay in a zone for an entire year.
So, we had to figure out what changes in the zone's culture, structure, and habits had to happen so as to allow it to carry onward for new missionaries and leaders to in the next transfers to come.
If you had 6 weeks to establish habits and a group structure that was effective enough to bless someone 52 weeks in the future who you'd never meet, what would you do?
What decisions could you make that would ripple a year into the future?
It was a question I'd never considered.
However, the answer as far as we could discern wasn't terribly complex.
Something along the lines of helping all become leaders and Christlike disciples, and also helping them become good at helping others become leaders and Christlike disciples so, whenever a change in the structure of the Zone occurs, whoever enters in will learn how to be a leader and disciple and know how to help others do the same.
Ideally rippling till the end.
Simple in theory I guess, but in reality, takes some genuine humility, revelation and lots of repentance.
Once we'd discussed the goals and plans for each zone then tallied them together, President had Elder Gallup, one of the Assistants, offer a prayer to the Lord to confirm in our hearts that this goal was possible, and that we offer it to Him.
After, President asked for a sustaining vote that we would strive to accomplish what we said we'd accomplish, then offered another prayer on the MLC's behalf.
Very revelation focused.
The spirit was present, the goal was confirmed in our hearts.
Kinda life changing.
Stuffed Tiger #1: President Stacey
Definitely need to grow in my spiritual maturity. The MLC made me realize just how much further one could go.
Also, random side tangent, being an inconveniently good person takes effort.
Being a good person when it's convenient takes nearly no effort at all.
But when asked to go a second mile, "[going] with twain" is wild.
When your coat is taken and you give the guy your cloak too, it's tough.
Possibly my greatest spiritual challenge is convenience.
Discipleship is really, really inconvenient. At least in the natural man sense.
On the weekend we had a great adventure.
We cover a small branch within the boundaries of Manitoulin Island.
A location riddled with glassy lakes, incredible landscapes, beautiful rocks and vibrant colors.
There are many First Nation Reserves with people that are just filled with so much culture and personality.
We drove through this beautiful landscape visiting members and formerly taught people.
We visited a guy named Gabe Abotossaway.
He'd been in a terrible car accident 10 years prior, breaking basically everything in his body, and paralyzing himself from the neck down.
He had incredible optimism and hope for one who had been so brutally impaired.
Encounters with diamond souls like him are some of the greatest gifts God gives.
Stuffed Tiger #2: Gabe Abotossaway
We stopped by a couple more members and made our way to one of the edges of the Island, Gore Bay to sleep at the President of the Branch's house.
President and Sister Brown's.
It was one of the most amazing experiences.
We walked into this Elderly couples home, and immediately felt comfortable, at peace, and hopeful.
It was a "holy place."
A home where the Spirit of God was comfortable.
They fed us an exceptional dinner and some apple pie.
Then Elder Surdu and I geeked out at their great library collection.
I only read one page of the Hobbit, an excerpt from a Hugh Nibley book, and perused some ancient works of theirs.
Had one of the greatest sleeps I've had in ages.
Stuffed Tigers #3 and #4: President and Sister Brown
The island was beautiful. There were miracles there.
Finally, transfers.
President called us after a bonkers lesson with a long taught friend.
Subjects of church finances, LGBTQ challenges, tithing, Canadian and American politics, baptism and more were the subject of our lesson.
Our friend defines himself as a "bleeding heart liberal" but has one of the greatest, and most incredible hearts I've ever encountered.
He is one of the most Christlike persons I've ever met, even if us missionaries and him disagree on 90% of our opinions.
The Last Stuffed Tiger: Eric Cashmore
You may not get these names, but this was the transfer news.
We lost Elder Leavitt in Timmins and are getting Elder Willard to be a new District Leader.
Him and Elder Coppell will work wonders.
Elder McGee, the legend of Sault St. Marie is going home, and Elder Fletcher is training a new missionary.
We lost Elder Powlesland, we'll miss his smile, but are getting Elder Bates to be with Elder Pratt in North Bay.
The Ice Castle is staying the same, but Elder Conrad is going DL.
We lost Sister Bennet and McMahon but are getting Sister Noblit..
A lot of change, but it'll be 42 days of miracles if we trust in the Lord.
You ever read Calvin and Hobbes?
I had a conversation about it with Elder Surdu.
Hobbes is such an amazing character.
Calvin in the story is so incredible, and has un-matched imagination.
But no-one really gets him.
Hobbes just loves Calvin, and loves spending time with him.
So, I want to be more like that stuffed tiger, and I luckily met a couple of them this week.
Love you each!!
- Elder Smith
1) The house and beds that filled gave me and Elder Surdu our best sleeps ever.
2) After a missionary correlation. Brother Milad is a Suave guy.
3) President Stacey's instruction on the Spaghetti squash principle.
Faith and a vision for the future kind of thing. We reap what we sow.
4) After some service for a wonderful lady in our ward.
5) Transfer call night with our beloved friend.
6) President, doing his thing.
7) Snuck an MLC selfie
8) Elder Binns, one of the missionaries in the Zone created this meme..
The inside joke is easily discerned.
9) Josh, I was having a low-energy, low motivation day and found this on your Facebook during a lunch hour.
Totally gave me a needed boost. A small tender mercy.
Dear Ben,
I'm grateful for the opportunity to put down my thoughts every other week and share them with you and the rest of the family. Something about writing things down that helps make sense of the world and the challenges and highlights of life.
Our good, better, best challenge yesterday was whether to go and watch Lindy and Sam sing in the Edmonton Youth Choir at their City hall performance OR to stay home and get ready for Chance Frank to come for supper along with Josh, Madison and Sam OR to split up. We decided on a 4th option to go to the choir performance and arrange for Chance to come a bit later and all get together for supper as well. Steph, Chance says hi. We had a good visit with him. Life, as you would expect from Chance, is pretty crazy, but we sure love him anyways.
Church was inspiring as we listened to a couple who moved into our ward recently and who recently married. Both are on their second marriage and their previous spouses have passed away. They shared powerful stories from their life emphasizing the importance of families and the blessings of the temple. At the end of Brother Crosby's talk, he paused and then shared his personal challenge dealing with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). It affects the Neurons and he walks with a limp and one arm doesn't function as well as the other. He talked about his challenge as a blessing from the Lord and ended by stating that he had changed the acronym to mean "Always laughing and smiling". It was inspiring. I'm grateful for the strength I get from going to Church and discussing and hearing inspiring things.
After church we ran into another challenge. To get to the choir concert at the City Hall concert at 3 pm we needed to leave right after church. Of course we found out that Abby had BYC after church. After some wrestling with contraries and some stress, we pulled the family card and asked if Abby could be excused. We headed off to City hall and enjoyed some fun and inspiring music. Had flashbacks of when you were in that choir Ben especially seeing Sam dressed up in formal attire including the wooden bow tie!
I really enjoyed having everyone over for supper. It is really what my dream is for our home and land is for it to bless others. We're excited for Madison who is planning to go to the temple in November.
Halloween is still a thing at our place, just changed :) No more taking little kids around by the hand with costumes forced over parkas. The girls dressed up for the Youth Dance on Friday and had a great time with school friends invited.
Here's the costumes this morning going to school. Mia has decided to change it up every time! She's also looking way too much like a saucy teen-ager in this pic as a hip Genie, especially with those Docs!
Other than that, it's been a pretty typical week. Mom's getting ready to head to St George next week and spend some precious time with Steph, Tyler and Bowie. The girls are off that week and I have the pleasure of finally going and fighting that winter photo radar ticket! BTW, maybe write up a quick note for me of what you remember about it. I was planning to make the case that it was slippery and you had to make the call to slide into the intersection or go through. Wish me luck!
Have a great week, Ben. Talk to you tonight.
Dad.
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