In the Field, Week Ten

Hello family!! Glad to here things are going well! I still cant stinking believe that Brooklyn is coming out to my mission!!!!! She's gonna be great! If she comes out in May, then she'll probably leave a transfer before I do. Crazy stuff.

Well, this email will be short, I cant think of to much to say, nor do I have time. We have been doing more service in St. Albert, especially with family day yesterday. We volunteered to run events for kids, like hockey and curling. I'll get pictures from the Zone Leaders some day and send them to you.

Not too much exiting has happened lately. Barbra is doing better and progressing. We are preparing for the Feb. 28th Social Media Event. We have a few new potential investigators to work with. I'm certainly learning a great deal about missionary work and I am preparing myself to become a more effective missionary. I am memorizing all the scripture references in Preach My Gospel and marking them in my Book of Mormon so I can use them more effectively when I teach. In just a couple weeks I'll be taking over this area and have a new companion. It's gonna be a transition but I'll be prepared for it. 

Missionary work is really all about love. We love the people we find and we interrupt their lives and love them until they get baptized. We continue to support them and be always worthy of the respect of those we bring into the Gospel. The Lord often times compares the work of spreading the Gospel to  cultivating the growth of a seed. It is a lengthy process, and the results are never seen immediately. For this reason the Lord exhorted the apostles, the first of his evangelists, saying "In your patience possess ye your souls." This is the the Lord's work. It doesn't matter if we are sowing the seeds of the gospel in the hearts of those we teach and come in contact with, or reaping that which has been sown. What matters is that we did our part and served with all our might mind and strength. I love you all, and will see you again when I finish my course. 

Love 

Elder Higginson

What's Cookin?

           Elder Higginson's year--er--month supply of pot pies!

The Thai Food turned out great! ignore my weird face!

Ethiopian Family

 This is the family from Ethiopia that we have been teaching!!  Left to Right:

  Sister Gabriel, Abel, Josi, Mickey, Me, Sirahn and Brother Gabriel.

Week Nine, feelin' fine!

Hey guys!

Good to here from ya, and good to hear things are going positively! Things are going well here as well, for the most part. We did a blitz of our area on Saturday, in which we had all the people in our district come into our area to tract for an hour. The sister seemed to have gotten us 3 potentials and the rest of us found service opportunities. We'll be checkin' up on that soon. We taught the Ethiopian family again this week, just like always. My companion snapped out of his anxiety problem last week and was good for a few days, then he got sick. It was because we shoveled snow for several hours for two days in a row, and one of those days was -30 C with the windchill taken into consideration. I was wearing every layer of clothing and head wear at my disposal and It was still freezing. My lower back was killing me after that, and my comp. caught the sniffles.

We will do all we can for Barbra to prepare her for Baptism. The Bishops wife and several other women in the ward are eager to fellowship her and help her feel welcome. In these things we must follow the admonition of Paul, that is to "Be careful for nothing (i.e. Don't be unduly concerned about anything), but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." So many that we come in contact with have had a full measure of sorrow and turmoil in their lives and need the Physician of the Soul so desperately. But we can't let their problems absorb us as well, so we will do what we can for them and then pour out our hearts to God, in thanksgiving for all that He hath given, and asking in humble submissiveness, that Him who hath "overcome the world" might lighten their load and cause them to rejoice, knowing that their redeemer lives.

My companion and I have been listening to Brad Wilcox's talk "His Grace is Sufficient" which has been incredibly insightful. The Lord surely does love all of us to the end and will continue to plead with us to come unto him, even at the day of judgment. Jesus has suffered the demands of justice, but it is left to us to prepare to be comfortable in his presence. 

I love you all dearly! I had I dream about being with everyone at a family reunion, and instead of causing trouble I was trying to mediate peace between my waring cousins haha. Man, my missions really is changing me, and my love for all of you is expanding. Talk to ya in a week!

Love, 

Elder Higginson

The work is long, but must go on!

Greatings from Canada!

The temperatures droped back down to what should be expected for Canada in January. this week has been from -3 C to -20 C yesterday morning. Don't worry though, another elder forgot his ear-muffs at our place when he was on exchanges, then he got transferred. Not much we can do, so I wear them from time to time haha. I have got all I need to stay warm. 

This week has been a bit of a drag, but not totally wasted. My poor companion was dealing with anxiety problems for a couple days but he's come out of it for the most part. I've been doing all I can to help him, and he has consulted the Mission heath specialist which really helped. Barbra was deathly ill this week and had to cancel her appointment which was a bummer. Our district has been downsized a couple of Elders so there's only 6 of us left at district meeting, counting the Zone Leaders. Yea, I think that's all the bad news, but nevertheless. 

I had a solid exchange on Wednesday with a Zone Leader from another Area. His name is Elder Wattups and he's from Idaho Falls. He's got a great attitude and a love for the work. It was sort of refreshing going tracting with him. We found a lady and she agreed to meet with us in a week at 3:00. Too bad I won't be there haha, but it was good experience. Last night we went Ice skating with an awesome Catholic guy that the missionaries have been working with for a long time. He and his wife are just salt of the earth people, and they have a son in the National Hockey League. Yea, So I couldn't really remember how to skate, but he taught me how. By the end I had started to get in the flow. We also played a little hockey, the non contact brutal kind haha and it was a ton of fun! afterwards we went and got hot chocolate and talked to him and his son in law about our missions and about the gospel. He brought up something that bothered him about the the Catholic church concerning celibacy for their Clergy and the problems that it created. We explained to him about Temples and eternal marriage and the things we belive. A couple months before I came, Elder Allen and his companion gave them a Family Proclamation. They said that they believed everything on the Proclamation and they reported that they had given one to each of their children. They are the greatest people ever and they'd make the Greatest Mormons ever!! We'll keep working with them. They are a fun lovin' people and they get a kick out of my Scottish Accent and William Wallace impersonation hahaha! Next time we skate with him we'll be bringing a couple members of the ward.

Well, we'll keep working here and hopefully find someone new to teach soon, and get our current investigators keeping commitments and coming to church. I love missionary work, It is transforming me. I am getting out of my comfort zone and leaving the old, self centered parts of my nature behind. When Jesus returned after the resurection and instructed Peter to feed his sheep he spoke to him saying: "When thou wast young, thou girdesdst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt by old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." I know that in the strength of the Lord, I can overcome obstacles and rise above the circumstances of mortality. And I know that all who put their trust in God will overcome their challenges. 

Thank you for all of your love and support! I love you all dearly! I still can't believe you got a dog! 

Love, 

Elder Higginson.