"Wow! What a great week everyone! I hope your week has been full of good times and many wonderful memories. Thats something we have here on the mission so much! There is often too much to contain in just a simple letter, but we will try to share as much as we are able to haha!
So its another transfer! We have been given our new areas and the news is quiet interesting eh! So Elder Cattelain is going to be serving in Don Valley Ward in a tri-pan (3 companions) and I will be in Scarborough East with Elder Ray! Its in a Zone called North York which is right near Toronto again! It seems that over the mission that has been the story of my life haha. Ive been in city, and then country, city, country and now city again haha!..
Its pretty great too because at this stage...almost a year into serving the Lord...well...I'll just say that its definitely a roller coaster of an experience. The people. The places. The moments of pure happiness when those you teach realize their divine potential. All these things make up the best year of my life so far, and now its going to be on to another beautiful year of learning and growing.
I unfortunately have some pretty sad news though....
I didn't see any bears while in the north. or Mousse. Or any kind of Canadian wildlife eh! But I did pick up a really bad habit of saying eh, eh! aha. Its probably a good thing that they are whitewashing and closing our area in Sudbury because the winter here gets to about -40, so anything warmer than that is generally appreciated aha! We are welcoming the fall, and the leaves are about to change which is wonderful and stunningly beautiful, even in the cities.
So we have about 4 hours to pack and then we are heading to another apartment 3 and a half hours away in another Zone for overnight before we make the transfer to our new areas. So we are going to be busy haha!
So this week I wanted to write a little more than usual for you all. The other night I was sitting up in bed and contemplating on some of the lessons I have learnt over the last transfer. the impression came to my mind that I needed to share it over this email, for reasons I don't fully know but I am sure that there may be something that either you or I need to know. The following experiences is completely what happened this transfer and It has blessed and changed my life so much. Long story short before the long story haha: This transfer has taught me a powerful lesson on why we follow Christ. And why we strive to be like Him.
So. It begins in Brampton. We get our transfers, and I leave the city. Elder Cattelain and I come together in an inspiring way. We get along really well and joke around so much. We stay in the same house as the other Elders(Steed and Baumgartner). A day goes by in our new area and I am coming to love the new place we are sent to. I feel such a privilege to serve in the north. Elder Cattelain and I start to work together in the area. I then notice something that stands out to me. Elder Cattelain and I are very different. We have tendency to do completely different styles of missionary work. He likes to talk about one thing and I talk about another. Time goes on and by and by and we slowly come to realize something: We are drifting apart. We are starting to let the things we do or say get to each other.
We went into lessons and taught with the Spirit, but when we left it never seemed to strive with us. My desire to give my whole heart to the work seemed to weaken and I felt like I was drifting from one place to another. I called President Clayton and expressed to him my thoughts and feelings. He reminded me of how I needed to lose myself in the work and to invite and help my companion to come unto Christ. I felt comforted by his words, but my anger and frustration seemed to continue. I felt a lack of unity in the companionship and every time we would travel to places we wouldn't talk much or even at all.
The Ward was wonderful, but Elder Cattelain and I always seemed to be on separate pages, one taking another direction than the other when it came to sharing ourselves with the members. I felt alone and as if there was no love between Elder Cattelain and I. It weighed down on my heart like a ton of bricks. I felt defeated in many ways and whenever we would go from place to place I would have no energy. I had times when the only thing between me and the ground was my knees, praying to Heavenly father for relief from myself and my feelings I had towards Elder cattelain. I prayed day and night for the strength to know what I could do. Nothing ever came in those times. No answer or feeling of comfort within me, but I always had someone to talk to about it. The other missionaries always had time to listen to Elder Cattelain and I. They loved us and always had a smile on their face. It comforted Elder Cattelain and I in these times.
It came to a point where it was so bad that I had to ask for a blessing from the other missionaries and they did. They called President Clayton and we talked for a very long time. It was then that he reminded me of something I hadn't heard in a long time: That I was loved, by Heavenly Father. When President Clayton spoke those words I felt such a strong Spirit within me that I cried for a very long time. I felt alone and defeated in so many ways. I felt that our companionship had been torn so much so that there was no way of return. It was hard to think about anything in this time other than how I was feeling. We would go and serve others which helped, but I always felt a strong impression within me that something wasn't right. I pleaded and pleaded with heavenly Father every waking moment of the day and especially studied the scriptures to find His will, but it seemed so hard to find it. I yearned for relief when it didn't seem any where to be found.
Then one day I felt a small little whisper in my heart and mind to do something. It was to go and use my tooth floss that I usually use after lunches, which at the time was a very odd request. I did so and as I was using it I saw something in our room. My Patriarchal blessing. I started to read it and I saw a word that stood out to me. The word said one thing but a still small voice said something else. "Study about Jesus Christ". I hurried for the nearest set of Scriptures and took them up. I looked upon the 16th chapter of Luke, which is an account of the Saviors Atonement. I read it and it helped but nothing really stood out. So, I thought to myself about the second part of the Atonement, being the Resurrection. So I went to the 20th chapter of John and read it. I started and it just seemed like I needed to be reading it. As I read the words of Christ appearing to Mary, my soul filled with light and my mind seemed to expand so much so that I was filled with inexpressible happiness and joy. I was so happy! I was no longer sad at all. I had no reason to be as I came to find something so joyful. Christ. And the Happiness that his victory over death brings. I came to know with all my heart that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is real. I came to find another great truth of the Gospel a couple of days later also...
Forgiveness frees the one who asks others for it. I spent all my time in the next coming weeks apologizing to Elder Cattelain and striving to serve him, and I testify that this is what brought us happiness. This is what made us stronger. This is what, at this present time has made Elder Cattelain and I such a great companionship! I love the man with all my heart. I am so grateful for the time we spent together and hopefully will spend again :)
I was reading a talk in an ensign the other day which talked about trials in our lives. It mentioned that in life we have struggles. In life we have pains. In life we experience both good and evil. We fall short and make mistakes. We sin. We do things which we alone cannot repair. Sometimes thing happen to us that just happen because its a part of our mortal journeys in life. A man who wrote the article talked about how when he was depressed and about to turn back, he continued to hold fast to praying and fasting, serving others and reading the scriptures. When he did that he never at the times when he did it feel that his troubles had gone away. The man still had depression in many things, but he came to see something about his trials that I have come to realize over the space of serving for only a year in the mission field: As we have trials, they help us to turn to the Lord and find a stronger and deeper relationship with our Heavenly father than we would have had before the trial came.
In short: Calm winds don't carry barges to the promised land; stormy seas do. And just like the brother of Jared and His people in the Book of Mormon, we must always be turning to the Lord in prayer who will help us to burden the loads that we carry. Because when we carry heavy burdens, they are meant to make us stronger. It just depends on how we respond. Are we willing to turn our hearts over to the Lord and carry our burdens, while he helps us? Because I want to testify that He does! He lifts our burdens for us, when we help him lift it. There is nothing too much for the Lord when we put our trust in Him. Christ has overcome the world. We will too as we follow Him and strive to be as His is.
My favorite scripture has come to be in the Book of Ether chapter 12 verse 27: And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Another scripture that has helped me to know how the Lord helps us overcome our own faults and weaknesses. Its in Mosiah chapter 3 verse 19: For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
Also my favorite children's song tells of the only thing that helped us in our time of need. The words go like this:
1. I'm trying to be like Jesus;
I'm following in his ways.
I'm trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say.
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,
But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,
I'm trying to love my neighbor;
I'm learning to serve my friends.
I watch for the day of gladness when Jesus will come again.
I try to remember the lessons he taught.
Then the Holy Spirit enters into my thoughts, saying:
"Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught."
I testify of a certain truth that I had to come and learn on the mission. Our whole life is about Jesus Christ. There is no other way to lasting happiness. I know it. I am so convinced of this truth because nothing else short of Gods own hand could have come and helped us in our time of need. I promise that He will reach out to you as youy reach out to him, and remember this: As we comer unto Christ, we are shown our weaknesses, but we are given them so that through Christs Help we can overcome them and become strong from them. I love that truth.
I testify that God loves His Children and that no matter what our situations and our guilt, sorrows, pains, or mistakes: Christ can take it, make of it, and shape our inner man to become loving, kind, and forgiving in ways in which we cannot do alone. We just cannot simply get through life without the teachings of Christ. I know it and am grateful for it!
So in your darkest hours: Turn to the Lord. I plead with you. Do it. I promise you that the one step into the darkness will be the best step of faith you could ever make. I promise with all the energy of heart that there is a Christ and there is a loving Father in Heaven.
Of this truth I stand as witness,
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Have a great week! I love you!
Elder Wehi".
So its another transfer! We have been given our new areas and the news is quiet interesting eh! So Elder Cattelain is going to be serving in Don Valley Ward in a tri-pan (3 companions) and I will be in Scarborough East with Elder Ray! Its in a Zone called North York which is right near Toronto again! It seems that over the mission that has been the story of my life haha. Ive been in city, and then country, city, country and now city again haha!..
Its pretty great too because at this stage...almost a year into serving the Lord...well...I'll just say that its definitely a roller coaster of an experience. The people. The places. The moments of pure happiness when those you teach realize their divine potential. All these things make up the best year of my life so far, and now its going to be on to another beautiful year of learning and growing.
I unfortunately have some pretty sad news though....
I didn't see any bears while in the north. or Mousse. Or any kind of Canadian wildlife eh! But I did pick up a really bad habit of saying eh, eh! aha. Its probably a good thing that they are whitewashing and closing our area in Sudbury because the winter here gets to about -40, so anything warmer than that is generally appreciated aha! We are welcoming the fall, and the leaves are about to change which is wonderful and stunningly beautiful, even in the cities.
So we have about 4 hours to pack and then we are heading to another apartment 3 and a half hours away in another Zone for overnight before we make the transfer to our new areas. So we are going to be busy haha!
So this week I wanted to write a little more than usual for you all. The other night I was sitting up in bed and contemplating on some of the lessons I have learnt over the last transfer. the impression came to my mind that I needed to share it over this email, for reasons I don't fully know but I am sure that there may be something that either you or I need to know. The following experiences is completely what happened this transfer and It has blessed and changed my life so much. Long story short before the long story haha: This transfer has taught me a powerful lesson on why we follow Christ. And why we strive to be like Him.
So. It begins in Brampton. We get our transfers, and I leave the city. Elder Cattelain and I come together in an inspiring way. We get along really well and joke around so much. We stay in the same house as the other Elders(Steed and Baumgartner). A day goes by in our new area and I am coming to love the new place we are sent to. I feel such a privilege to serve in the north. Elder Cattelain and I start to work together in the area. I then notice something that stands out to me. Elder Cattelain and I are very different. We have tendency to do completely different styles of missionary work. He likes to talk about one thing and I talk about another. Time goes on and by and by and we slowly come to realize something: We are drifting apart. We are starting to let the things we do or say get to each other.
We went into lessons and taught with the Spirit, but when we left it never seemed to strive with us. My desire to give my whole heart to the work seemed to weaken and I felt like I was drifting from one place to another. I called President Clayton and expressed to him my thoughts and feelings. He reminded me of how I needed to lose myself in the work and to invite and help my companion to come unto Christ. I felt comforted by his words, but my anger and frustration seemed to continue. I felt a lack of unity in the companionship and every time we would travel to places we wouldn't talk much or even at all.
The Ward was wonderful, but Elder Cattelain and I always seemed to be on separate pages, one taking another direction than the other when it came to sharing ourselves with the members. I felt alone and as if there was no love between Elder Cattelain and I. It weighed down on my heart like a ton of bricks. I felt defeated in many ways and whenever we would go from place to place I would have no energy. I had times when the only thing between me and the ground was my knees, praying to Heavenly father for relief from myself and my feelings I had towards Elder cattelain. I prayed day and night for the strength to know what I could do. Nothing ever came in those times. No answer or feeling of comfort within me, but I always had someone to talk to about it. The other missionaries always had time to listen to Elder Cattelain and I. They loved us and always had a smile on their face. It comforted Elder Cattelain and I in these times.
It came to a point where it was so bad that I had to ask for a blessing from the other missionaries and they did. They called President Clayton and we talked for a very long time. It was then that he reminded me of something I hadn't heard in a long time: That I was loved, by Heavenly Father. When President Clayton spoke those words I felt such a strong Spirit within me that I cried for a very long time. I felt alone and defeated in so many ways. I felt that our companionship had been torn so much so that there was no way of return. It was hard to think about anything in this time other than how I was feeling. We would go and serve others which helped, but I always felt a strong impression within me that something wasn't right. I pleaded and pleaded with heavenly Father every waking moment of the day and especially studied the scriptures to find His will, but it seemed so hard to find it. I yearned for relief when it didn't seem any where to be found.
Then one day I felt a small little whisper in my heart and mind to do something. It was to go and use my tooth floss that I usually use after lunches, which at the time was a very odd request. I did so and as I was using it I saw something in our room. My Patriarchal blessing. I started to read it and I saw a word that stood out to me. The word said one thing but a still small voice said something else. "Study about Jesus Christ". I hurried for the nearest set of Scriptures and took them up. I looked upon the 16th chapter of Luke, which is an account of the Saviors Atonement. I read it and it helped but nothing really stood out. So, I thought to myself about the second part of the Atonement, being the Resurrection. So I went to the 20th chapter of John and read it. I started and it just seemed like I needed to be reading it. As I read the words of Christ appearing to Mary, my soul filled with light and my mind seemed to expand so much so that I was filled with inexpressible happiness and joy. I was so happy! I was no longer sad at all. I had no reason to be as I came to find something so joyful. Christ. And the Happiness that his victory over death brings. I came to know with all my heart that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is real. I came to find another great truth of the Gospel a couple of days later also...
Forgiveness frees the one who asks others for it. I spent all my time in the next coming weeks apologizing to Elder Cattelain and striving to serve him, and I testify that this is what brought us happiness. This is what made us stronger. This is what, at this present time has made Elder Cattelain and I such a great companionship! I love the man with all my heart. I am so grateful for the time we spent together and hopefully will spend again :)
I was reading a talk in an ensign the other day which talked about trials in our lives. It mentioned that in life we have struggles. In life we have pains. In life we experience both good and evil. We fall short and make mistakes. We sin. We do things which we alone cannot repair. Sometimes thing happen to us that just happen because its a part of our mortal journeys in life. A man who wrote the article talked about how when he was depressed and about to turn back, he continued to hold fast to praying and fasting, serving others and reading the scriptures. When he did that he never at the times when he did it feel that his troubles had gone away. The man still had depression in many things, but he came to see something about his trials that I have come to realize over the space of serving for only a year in the mission field: As we have trials, they help us to turn to the Lord and find a stronger and deeper relationship with our Heavenly father than we would have had before the trial came.
In short: Calm winds don't carry barges to the promised land; stormy seas do. And just like the brother of Jared and His people in the Book of Mormon, we must always be turning to the Lord in prayer who will help us to burden the loads that we carry. Because when we carry heavy burdens, they are meant to make us stronger. It just depends on how we respond. Are we willing to turn our hearts over to the Lord and carry our burdens, while he helps us? Because I want to testify that He does! He lifts our burdens for us, when we help him lift it. There is nothing too much for the Lord when we put our trust in Him. Christ has overcome the world. We will too as we follow Him and strive to be as His is.
My favorite scripture has come to be in the Book of Ether chapter 12 verse 27: And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Another scripture that has helped me to know how the Lord helps us overcome our own faults and weaknesses. Its in Mosiah chapter 3 verse 19: For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
Also my favorite children's song tells of the only thing that helped us in our time of need. The words go like this:
1. I'm trying to be like Jesus;
I'm following in his ways.
I'm trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say.
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,
But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,
I'm trying to love my neighbor;
I'm learning to serve my friends.
I watch for the day of gladness when Jesus will come again.
I try to remember the lessons he taught.
Then the Holy Spirit enters into my thoughts, saying:
"Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught."
I testify of a certain truth that I had to come and learn on the mission. Our whole life is about Jesus Christ. There is no other way to lasting happiness. I know it. I am so convinced of this truth because nothing else short of Gods own hand could have come and helped us in our time of need. I promise that He will reach out to you as youy reach out to him, and remember this: As we comer unto Christ, we are shown our weaknesses, but we are given them so that through Christs Help we can overcome them and become strong from them. I love that truth.
I testify that God loves His Children and that no matter what our situations and our guilt, sorrows, pains, or mistakes: Christ can take it, make of it, and shape our inner man to become loving, kind, and forgiving in ways in which we cannot do alone. We just cannot simply get through life without the teachings of Christ. I know it and am grateful for it!
So in your darkest hours: Turn to the Lord. I plead with you. Do it. I promise you that the one step into the darkness will be the best step of faith you could ever make. I promise with all the energy of heart that there is a Christ and there is a loving Father in Heaven.
Of this truth I stand as witness,
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Have a great week! I love you!
Elder Wehi".
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