I'm trying to be like Jesus

"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".

Quick Overview of 4th Area: Sudbury

This post is a quick overview of Elder Wehi's fourth area.

His fourth area is Sudbury. He had different companions while he was serving there.
Elder Wehi served in Sudbury area from July 2015 to September 2015.
In other words, he stayed in Sudbury Area for a total of  1 Transfer.

1st Companion: Elder Cattelain.

The worth of souls is great!

"HELLO!! HOW ARE Y'ALL DOING!? Hope you had a wonderful week, knowing that there is always so much to be happy about! :) Not too much happened this week, but just being a missionary is a blessing in itself :)

The sudbury area is Hugh! no snow...yet! But it is getting colder and colder eh haha! We travel regularly between little towns, which takes us about 4 hours to our destination and the same time to get back! We are teaching quite a bit, around 30+ lessons a week with all those around us, and its awesome! and to report...no sightings of bears or mousse yet! (Hopefully soon though...fingers crossed :)

We manage to live off pancakes and peanut butter while in the house, luckily for us there are beautiful members here who give of their time in preparing meals, so its pretty good haha! I was thinking the other day for the amount of cooking skills that we could be having, toast always seems to be the delicacy aha!

oh and by the way...if you ever come to Canada, there is something you will probably come to see very quickly...its the true north secret hahaha! Chinese buffets....man there are SOOOOOO MANY in Canada! The other day we ate at 2 of them...in one day haha! for lunch and dinner... my companion Elder Cattelain was so tired of eating food after that haha! Somehow the clothes I had at the beginning of the mission still fit haha!

We had a man next door approach us the other day with a problem haha! His fire alarm in His house went off and so we went to go and see what we could do, and discovered that he didn't have a bed to sleep on because he recently moved into the area. His English was pretty lacking, but we made out that he was in need. We walked outside and noticed 2 big fire trucks outside his house, right in front of us aha! We went back to our house and grabbed a spare bed and later gave it to him that night. He was grateful and we left that night feeling the Spirit, knowing that someone had been helped. There are chances for work all around, you just have to look for them :)

Man, we had a stellar week! So much learning and growing. It always seems that the greatest joy is found in the service of others and that when it comes to serving, well, its easy...you just have to pray for it, go looking for it, the Lord puts it in your path, and then you choose to act. Its amazing! I want to testify that we are the Lords hands. I have seen it. I know that we will see the works of God as we choose to serve others, especially those who cannot serve themselves. This is Gods work. These are His children. How important it is then that we are to speak always of those things that would build up, lift up, and encourage, inspire and bless those we work around and especially our families.

Families! Man....the Gospel is so true aha! If you had to ask me what has been the greatest blessing of the mission, and what I have come to learn so far, it would have to be this fundamental and central truth of happiness: Families. But not just families alone. The truths of the Restored Gospel and how they affect families today. That families can live together forever. Simple yet wonderful truths such as these. How I am being shaped to become more like Christ so that I can honor my family and serve others as well. It all starts, especially as a missionary, when we recognize how much we need to give to God so that He can shape us. We have to give Him everything, so that He can make of us the son or daughter he sees in us. It all starts with Faith in Christ :)

And so this week I just wanted to share with you an experience that touched my heart.

I want to testify of the work of salvation. I know that the Lord is doing HIS work, and He always does it in HIS time. We saw a miracle this week, again! The blessings of being a missionary come when you are consecrating yourself to what the Lord needs done for His children that day. When we choose the Lord and choose to follow Him, he blesses not only us but so many others through us also.

And so we were going to an appointment the other day with a member, had the lesson, which was great, and then after we walked back to the car. We got into the car and a man came running over to us from next door( which is a rehab center for those overcoming addictions) in such a hurry. He asked us to wind down the window and to talk with him. We did. He was so happy to see us and introduced himself as being a less active member of the church. We got out of the car and sat with him for 30 minutes while he expressed in deep sorrow his inability to feel peace and his feeling of being alone. He cried and cried and asked us how he can feel Gods love again. We listened. He said that he felt a very strong impression that when he saw us from the window he HAD to run out to see us. HE wanted to repent and he knew that he only could do that as he ran out to meet us and start his journey on that path again.

 So....We set a time to come back and meet again. We came back that Sunday and talked with him for a little while and he brought to us a great need for him to turn over to the Lord and start again. I felt impressed to ask Him if he would pray and ask God to forgive him and for him to turn everything over to God. He hesitantly asked how he could do that. We explained how he could, and that all he had to do was just surrender himself, everything, in prayer to His Father in Heaven. He prayed. I testify of the power of repentance, and the power of personal prayer. A man torn by abuse, suffering from broken relationships, and the death of family members, now, was kneeling in humility before his father. He cried and cried and cried some more. We cried with him. In His prayer he mentioned something that I will never forget. He said: "When I was younger I died three times, and you kept me here. It wasn't my time, and you have given me the time so that I could repent before I returned to you again." He expressed how much he missed his loved ones who had passed away and how much he wants to come back to Christ. He is reading, praying and planning to one day return to the Temple!! It was powerful and it was another witness to me that when we approach God in solemn humility, giving him everything and acknowledging our weaknesses before him, He has the power to minister to us. He can only guide us when we let go. We need to let go, and let God bring us home. I know that God listens. He is a loving Father. He cares. His ways are true and though hard to us sometimes it may seem, grace shall be as our day :) I love my Savior and know that He lives!

So this is a little of what I have loved about being a missionary and though I would share it with you. Hope you have a great week eh!

Lots of love,

Elder Wehi"

Another week in Sudbury!

"Hey everyone! Not too much time to write but just wanted to let you know again that Im doing great and loving the lessons I am coming to learn on the mission. I feel so blessed to be here and to serve the canadian people in sudbury. I love it here, its amazing! So...we had a ward picnic this week and we took a funny picture with some of the members! My companion is in the hat haha! We also went on a road trip for a mission conference in Barrie which was a 3 1/2 hour drive there and the same back so we were pretty tired but loved seeing the other missionaries and president. On the way back we saw a member in another area and took a photo on a hugh chair! It was great!

I love being a missionary and to be able to bring others the Gospel. I love prayer and know that as we pray we are heard. I love being a missionary.

Charity is the pure love of Christ. There are hands that hang low and feeble knees that we can strengthen. Service is the greatest cure for weariness. Love is the key to happiness in life, I know it :)

Have a great week eh!

Elder Wehi"

Manitoulin Island!

"Hello Everyone! Hope you've had a great week! So one of the highlights of this week has been a trip we made to a large island called Manitoulin Island. Its a great place! There was a small branch about 10 people. They were lovely and it was an experience for sure! I went with another Elder, Elder Steed who I served around in Brampton. We also had a young man named Stephen come with us to contact some members who hadn't been seen for a while. It reminded me of the times when I would go with the missionaries and how much that helped me to grow in the Gospel.

We have had the pleasure of being able to continue to see Megan, the wards investigator grow in the gospel. She is rereading the book of Mormon which is insane! She wanted to be baptized this week but we had to ask her to prepare a little bit more hah. She is so ready for the restored Gospel. So we are helping her grow and she is finding strength in the Book of Mormon. She is going in for operation this week and so the members are helping her and the kids with food.

Great things are happening here, and its super to be a district leader! Man, the amount of opportunity you have to serve is fantastic! Getting to know the missionaries and their desires to serve inspires me so much! we have district meetings over Skype which is a blast hahaha! so the Elders in Sault st Marie Skype in to the chapel here in sudbury.
You really come to love others on the mission, and Ive come to know that
love is the key to missionary work, and happiness is the result.

.well...hahahaha! If you ever come to canada you have to go to smokes poutine. There is an off menu item that another Elder and I ate.......even just remembering it brings me pain haha! It was 4 pounds of meat on chips. Thats about 2kg of meat!!! It took us some time to eat it eh! hahahahah! It was great though. Canada is very multicultural so it completely depends on where you are that as you see so many people from every country in the world. We eat alot! Ive already put on 10 pounds of fat and muscle haha! You have to eat heaps though or else you burn it off way to quick for some reason. I drink the most water of anybody on the mission too haha.

There are only 2 Australians in the mission, and in about 5 months I will be the only one here haha. I live in a house 4 stories tall, the biggest in the mission with my companion and 2 other missionaries (they are the Zone leaders)

My favorite area on the mission so far has to definitely be all of them. They all helped me come unto Christ and I came to love certain people there so much! Where I am now is very much like Mackay. It is rural but not too much. It is very different to downtown Toronto. That place is crazy busy! CRAZY busy! There are so many nationalities there it is crazy! I spoke 10 different languages just from meeting so many different cultures on the buses alone. We took buses, trains, trams, bikes, we walked, and we jumped and ran and crawled haha! The funniest moments of these times has to definitely be some times I would not know we had to get off the train in Toronto for a stop and I stayed on the train while my companions got off haha! I had to ride to the next stop alone and seeing signs on the walls that said: "dont get left behind!" haha! and then I rode the train back to see them. I saw a real life size human batman walking around in Brampton. I have come to talk to many different people with many different stories, some very funny and others in need of so much love. I have loved my companions and missionaries in the zones and districts I have served in. I love the people. I have come to laugh so hard with members and there little traits that make them unique and Canadian. Teaching an ESL class to people who cannot speak any English was always a blast and very funny! It was a great opportunity to experience the joy of diversity here in Toronto.

I have seen the CN tower, a big toonie(for those who dont know it is a big 2 dollar coin), a hugh apple(kind of like the big pineapple), I have seen frozen lakes and squirrels. I have seen the worlds largest fresh water island. I have been able to witness snow as tall as myself (6 foot), and go to a Canadian air base and sit in an airplane. I have had the opportunity to step inside an underground shopping center in the heart of Toronto and go along the lake edge at the border of Toronto. I have seen rain, snow, hail, and blistering sun whilst walking from palce to place to teach. Out of all the places I have been though, The best place I have been is in the homes of the humble seekers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Being able to step inside a home where you are welcomed by a family you only met a week ago and when they reach out to you in a loving way is a beautiful thing that the Gospel provides. Happy homes. That is the most beautiful thing to see in Canada: A loving family in a happy home. And that isnt just for Canada :)

Sorry this email isnt too long this week, but please know that I love ya, I love being a missionary, and I appreciate your prayers and your kindness to others.

Sometimes we just need to let someone know they are loved and cared for, and that can sometimes make the biggest difference.

I testify of this work. It is Gods work. This is Gods Church. Christ is risen from the dead, He stands to lift us all. I love Him and I love you all. Thanks for being such a support at different times in my life so far :)

Have a great week!

Elder Wehi"