The Field is White... (sorry so long)

So the other day was my 10 year mark for entering the land of the Great White North where many are cold, but few are frozen.

This seriously was the best two years of my single life. I loved the two year that I served the Lord. Many say a mission is a sacrifice, not me. I say it is my duty for the things I have received from the Lord. Also, with as much fun and excitement I had, nothing was sacrificed.

Yes times were tough occasionally, but I got through it with prayer and patience.



Back in April of 1998, I received my call. The boys stayed over and were there with my family to see where I was going. Honestly, I didn't want to speak Spanish. I would have taken anything but Spanish. I was crossing my fingers for Japan. I open my call and see Canada Calgary. The first thing that comes out my mouth was sweet, that's where Brett the Hitman Hart is from. Coincidental I did see him and meet him.

A month in the MTC and off to the land North where maple syrup comes from, hockey was perfected, the weird football endzones, Taber corn, Alberta Beef, eh!, live in igloos, ride a dog sled at the border, police are Mounties, so on and so on.



First day there, I meet two of my favorite people, President and Sister Ostler. Many lessons were learned from this great couple. I hope everyday to be as Christlike as they are. Things were great. I couldn't be more excited.

I have a great trainer, Perucca, but for only a month. I then get a companion who was tougher to get a long with, but it taught me much patience and how important prayer is. 4 months later, I am blessed with Blair. Blair and I were in a tough neighborhood (Lethbridge West) for missionary work. We had fun though, one of the best months of my mission, even if we taught maybe 5 discussions the whole month. This great month was partly because of our house mates, Lund and Phelps.

Next companion, another tough one. I loved Volpe, but he was young and tough to be with. Two months later, transferred to Fort Macleod for 3 months. 2 comps in that time, Decker and Marinelli. This area became my change of how I do the Lord's work. In the previous 9 months, I saw 1 baptism. That's tough on a missionary (I don't know how some missionary's go 2 years with 1,2 or even 0, that's tough). Fort Mac was awesome.

I was then moved back to Lethbridge, but into a great ward. I was here for 6 months and had 3 comps. I killed one, trained one and left one. This was my most successful area when it comes to baptisms. I loved the work there. The reason the work was easy, was I finally learned that the Lord will help if you do it his way. His help is always there, you just have to recognize it. In this area, I became a DL and a trainer. My greenie, Goode, was awesome. 3 months of my life was with this kid. One of my favorites. Times were seriously rolling here. We saw much success ranging from 8 year old converts, to older ladies. We worked smart and hard, but at the same time, had fun while working. I couldn't have asked for a better Greenie. We taught a lot and helped our Zone become the strongest Zone in the mission. At times we were teaching close to 30 discussions a week (which is a high amount). After that 3 months, I watched my son leave me for something new and in came Reed (quite the character). 6 weeks is all it took for me to leave this kid and the success that I had in the Lethbridge 1st ward.

Cranbrook/Jaffrey was my next stop. This was my favorite area. I was reunited with an old roommate, Phelps. We busted our rear ends and had much success. Here in Cranbrook I was a ZL. We had the largest Zone in the mission so I was able to see a lot of sweet sights. There I saw an elk almost every day, many a moose, deer, bald eagles, golden eagles and even bear. The people in the East Kooteneys are seriously some of the best in the world. Phelps and I saw success together for 3 moths. We danced, slept in cars, fished, picked up hitch hikers, hosted dating shows (Shasta still has got to be talked about today), dealt with Elder who liked to go bowling with girls, and most importantly taught and baptized.

Phelps and I were the hardest working Elders in the mission at the time. We weren't in our area a lot, but still somehow taught the most discussions consistently for the 3 months. Low and behold, we baptized from those discussions. Life was great. Once that 3 months was up, Miller took Phelps place. A couple weeks later I was special transferred to strengthen up an area back in Lethbridge.

YSA wards are awesome. New companion for a couple weeks in Curt. Here we still taught, but the work was different. We did much hanging out with people our own age. It was a constant fun, but hard work. Soon Curt left and Whitaker took his place. My last month consisted of me training Whitaker on how to be a ZL, and trying not to get trunky. We still rocked it and yet had a good time.


July 26th came way too quick and I was saying bye to Calgary. All of a sudden I was on plane back to SLC, contemplating if I had done any real good while on the Lord's errand.

THESE ARE THE THINGS I LEARNED:
Trust the Lord, if you do, life is great and easy.
It wasn't my mission, it was the Lord's mission for me.
Life doesn't always go the way you want it to. Patience, staying cool and lots of prayer and faith help though.
Negative 50 degree weather really is cold. It is dumb to go out and walk around in it even if you are wearing long john garments, long johns, long sleeve shirt, a suit, a down coat, and a gortex coat.
Icicles really can form on a nose like in the cartoons. Yes it's gross, but it happens.
I am really insignificant in the eyes of the world, but I am truly one of the most important things to the Lord.

As you can tell, I loved my mission. I have no regret and hope that God thinks I did enough in helping him and his children. It really wasn't hard, it was really easy when I did it the way God wanted me to. I love the people of Canada and hope to see them shortly.

Sorry so long, but my life is so good because of this small amount of time that I spent in the service of God. I missed my friends but being home sick never entered my mind. Too busy and home was not as important at that time. I think I did enough, that is why I am blessed today with such a great wife and 2 great kids.

Canada is amazing, sorry for such the yawner of a story. I don't know how to end this other than saying, I am thankful for that opportunity and loved every minute of it.