The Tagalog Ministry of Elder Higginson has come to a close.

Well, my short time here in Coronation Park is over! I will now finally be going outlying. I'm off to Rocky Mountain House in the southern part of the mission. I've heard great things about the place and one of my first Zone Leaders served there for a time. I look forward to this opportunity to serve.

My Good friend Elder Walker has finished his tour of duty as the Assistant to the President and he is going to replace me as Tagalog, serving in the Bonny Doon Stake. He gave me all of my Tagalog study material so I'll be getting it back to him at transfers. In hindsight I wish that I would have taken advantage of the assignment to serve in the language capacity with greater enthusiasm earlier. It took me a while to get used to the idea and I didn't realize what a privilege it was until I was removed. I have come to love the language and the people so much. However, I will not make the mistake of being bummed about no longer being Tagalog. I have set a goal to accept whatever assignment I receive with enthusiasm from now on. It will just make things better.

Elder Collins has been a good companion for the last two weeks. He's got a good heart and I anticipate he will do well as a missionary. He's going to be training this transfer haha. 

The work in this ward has been super cool! We did a sweet fireside under the direction of the ward mission leader about the book of Mormon. We did a musical number and the focus was on a video put together of all the members sharing insight and testimony from the Book of Mormon. It was so well put together by the ward mission leader. He is just like Uncle Bob actually haha. He's tech savy, makes movies and has a very similar personality. 

I hope you all are doing fine! The Temple looks awesome! I'll give you updates when I get to my new area! 

Love, 

Elder Higginson

Waiting in limbo

It snowed for the First time two days ago. Here we go again!

I've been a little depressed since I got here. Going from a sweet area with tons of great members and Investigators to a run-down part of town with one 9-year old investigator is quite the disheartening transition.  Nothing too much to worry about though, because I've kind-of figured out how to deal with it. The solution is to work. Cutting down Lunch time and trying to stay effective with proselyting hours. Guess what?? there's a lot less time to be depressed :) My companion was a little sluggish at first but he's taking to the new routine with enthusiasm. He's been out for 4 months or so and has a lot of energy. Maybe too much. So I'll see what I can do to help him for as long as I'm with him. I expect he'll turn out to be a fine missionary.

I am going to try and do as much as I can in this area before I leave. We have found a few people who have said we could come back and one lady said she'd come to church. We have a car for a week and then we are on buses for the other half, so we get to talk to a lot of people as we are out and about. I still have the habit of gravitating towards Filipino's hahaha. They are just so nice and fun to talk to. Most of them are fine with meeting, they are just super busy. I've found 3 since I've been here that have given me there address and telephone number so I've passed that on to the Tagalog Elders. 

I am still continuing to study Tagalog in my spare time at the end of the day.  I hope I can continue to study and improve my abilities. I've come way to far to quit. Maybe when President Manion leaves I'll swing a deal with the new president to put me back in haha.

The Alberta Air Museum is walking distance from our apartment so we will be going today! That should be a dream. I'll let you know what's happening next week as far as transfers go. Love you all tons and hope you are enjoying life! 

Love, 

Elder Higginson

Emergency Transfer

Greetings from the great white north! Today we had our first snow!! Isn't really sticking, but that's totally fine with me. Lots of snow to come. And also good to hear about the success of the Halloween party!! Ya'll look pretty good :)

Happy 12th birthday Dallin! You are such a great brother and I hope you had a great birthday!

Thank you Grandmother for the package and the new music! It's perfect :)

and thank you all for the other package you sent. I was so thankful for it all.

Well, there has been a lot that has happened this week. Everything kind of went south beginning on Halloween. One of the Elders in the district told my comp that he was having trouble with his companion and he needed to do an overnight exchange. I didn't trust any of it. It seemed like he just wanted to go party on Halloween with my companion. Nothing was adding up. After we exchanged I felt like they were trying to trick me so I called the Zone Leaders to tell them I was suspicious. Some miscommunication happened and President called them. They got in trouble for some disobedience (not as bad as I thought it was). Basically they both hated me after that. A couple days later I called President and told him I was done. So president made a decision. 

We both got removed from the area and I am in a place called coronation park, right in the middle of Edmonton. It is anticipated that I will be back as an English missionary for good. This is not what I wanted. I really was starting to get the language. President thinks it is causing me too much stress. Which it's really not anymore. There were a number of Filipinos that I had been hoping to serve with. I wanted to become fluent. Transfers will be in two weeks. I have no idea what will happen. 

Nevertheless, I will have faith.  I am super sad to leave Tagalog. Never thought I would have said that even 2 months ago. I think I will continue to study the language in my spare time. I know that as we choose to have faith in the Lord He will strengthen us and give us power to adapts to difficult situations. I have done it once and I will do it again. I am thankful for the many prayers that have been given on my behalf back home and elsewhere. I hope you are all doing well! I will continue to adjust.

Love, 

Elder Higginson