Book of Mormon Converts!

This week has been pretty awesome. my preparation day will be Tuesday next weekbecase Elder Pearson and his wife are coming to have a mission tour here!

Hope your all doing well!

We've seen great miracles here! I got to give a talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday which was fun!

Sounds like Harvest was a good time!

It's getting pretty cold here!

We have an investigator that told us that she would do whatever we said and whatever God said because she got an answer praying about the Book of Mormon! She wants to be baptized. We'll see what happens!!

Love you all! Happy to hear the Cougs won! Have a great week!

My joy is full!

THis week has been an amazing one! We have seen many miracles and I love being back in the city! I am really starting to adjust again and am looking forward with great anticipation for what is ahead here!

I have already learned so much from Elder Milad and am excited to learn so much more!

Yesterday was a real treat! We had stake conference! I got to see a family from up north that is investigating and is from Heaven. And many other members from up there!

    Also a real tender mercy. Not sure how well you will remember Brother Franko from when I served in downtown. But he was there too. I have had pretty average (at best) contact with him due to him being busy and whatnot. Anyway found out from him how excited he is to be baptized November 19th!! It seems pretty much 100%. So we'll have to pull some strings and get a Farsi speaker there so we can go haha. He said, when you were teaching me the timing was just too close to when my brother had passed away, but now I am ready! He also said, "why didn't you tell me all of this?? These guys tell me so much and you guys were just spoon feeding me!" haha. He was very prepared then and is now ready to make that binding covenant and recieve the powerful ordinances. I am so thrilled for him. My joy honestly feels so full!

     I am so grateful that I get to be here and a part of the Lord's work. How I desire to be His hands and allow Him to speak and act through me. Above all else I desire to be one with Him, truly one. I love you and know the Lord knows the deepest pleadings of your heart, even the ones you don't seem to know exactly how to sing.

    Have a great week!

Elder Bakker transferred

This week has been an awesome one! We saw many miracles!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

One big highlight for me this week was our meeting with one of our investigator families and our mission President and his wife. I was struck powerfully by the love that they demonstrated towards that family! He also gave the mother a blessing with powerful promises. I know he really is the one who at this time holds keys through proper Priesthood Authority. I love him and Sister Shields.

     I hope everyone back home is doing wonderfully! Everything here really is incredible!

     Transfer news came this week. Elder Bakker has been transfered to English work in Kitchener serving in a Young Single Adult branch! I also have been transfered to Farsi South based out of the Don valley area! I am now serving with a seasoned misisonary Elder Milad(Elder Bakker's previous companion before serving with me). We are looking foward with great hope for the future! The area here really has been increbily watched over and cared for and there will be much to reap!

    It was difficult to say goodbye to many people this week from richmond Hill, on the bright side their is about a 95% chance I will serve there again! Can't wait to see what the Lord is able to accomplish with the new Elders serving there!

      I love you and you are always in my prayers. I know that the greatest and most fulfilling path to happiness is when one lives the Gospel of Jesus Christ and allows the Atoning power of the Savior to transform them into someone who is lost in the service of their fellow brothers and sisters. How grateful I am to bring this message here and how I deserve to prove faithful to the end.

     Have a wonderful week! Eat some Turkey or kabob for me!

September 11, 2017--starting to get a bit colder!

September 11, 2017

This week has been an awesome one! 

Wanted to give a special shout-out to last weeks birthday of Honto! Hope it was all amazing!

We've been seeing great miracles here! We are going through the process with one family to see when they can be baptized so we'll keep you updated on that in the future. Sometimes situations can be sensitive in this particular work.

Another family is doing great and came to church. We've got to go over to their house and probably cast out some unclean spirits as well as give one of them a blessing. They otherwise are doing well. Busy recently, but well!

We'll see what happens with our investigator who has moved here from Montreal. We've met with her twice and from what we can gather she was really close to coming to church yesterday!

This Sunday we took a trip up to the New Market church with our investigator who came the first time up there! She was amazing and the ward flocked to her! She's going to be a great member of the church! We'll keep you updated on her. Only met her once so far, but she has had significant refiners fire experiences and I believe is among the most prepared people to receive the Gospel I've met on my mission! The greatest obstacle with her is our kilometer limit to see her more frequently. So we'll see what hoops we can jump through to create more available kilometers!

Sad to hear about the Cougs loss seems like that rivalry is all but over... Oh well haha.

Hope all is well back there! One thing that is a little alarming here is that it is already starting to great pretty cold haha. Wasn't like this last year and from what we are hearing it might be a type of things to come haha.

One cool miracle this week was that we were sent to a home of a former investigator who said her mom had passed away that day. Unfortunately, in this case, didn't let us say anything before shutting the door. BUT was powerful evidence to me that we really are on the Lord's errand. I know when we follow promptings the Lord will send us where He wants us to be for the good of His children!

Also, something I've been thinking about a lot lately is how a weakness of mine especially out here is having a desire to get the last word(even if that is a nice last word). I believe there will come a power into our lives when we spiritually and humbly retreat and make ourselves vulnerable, and in many cases let others have the last word in our exchanges.

Again Happy birthday Honto!!! 

Love you all and hope you have a great week!T

I asked Steve what he wanted us to send him for his birthday and this

is what he said....

For my birthday I would love all of you to go out of your way to serve someone in the family and then serve someone (at school, or neighborhood, or work) that no one else would think to serve. And everyone practice saying salaam!

So everyone be thinking of people you can serve. Steve's birthday is on October 24 so you have a little time to think about it!

 Also, Elder Bakker and I have some Iranians convinced to teach us how to cook Iranian food so be excited for that!

I love you! I love this work and am so grateful I grew up in a home and family where I could learn these priceless and Eternal truths and Principles and receive irreplaceable Ordinances. Have a great week!

Sept 5, 2017

Sept 5,2017

Well not a ton of time again this week, I guess that's becoming a little bit of a habit.

 It's been an awesome week! We are seeing miracles every day and I really am just so grateful to be a part of this work!

This Monday we had a cool talk with an individual who really is prepared for the Gospel. He is Chinese Mandarin speaking. After exhausting all of Elder Bakker and I's Mandarin we got to talk to him a little. The spirit really touched his heart. One thing I noticed talking to him was that he often would feel the spirit as we testified of truth, and in some cases get choked up and say that was very nice, but then I saw quite literally his countenance change as he would say, but this is the real world, that can't be true here. This happened multiple times throughout the conversation. It was a powerful learning experience for me to think how often I feel the spirit of the truth of something that is true that seems like may be too good to be true. We also met with a sweet individual who simply believes that he cannot pray,  because he doesn't already believe in God. How much joy we will feel as we choose to recognize God's hands in our lives and recognize that His truth and His love really are all that we could want or even hope they could be and more than we truly can begin to fathom. How grateful I am for the Lord Jesus Christ and the opportunity I have to come to know Him.

     Our Taiwanese new member is doing great, and we had him sit in and help teach a lesson we had here in Toronto! It was cool, went okay, but was really cool!

    Our other individuals we are teaching here are doing great! One I may have mentioned we were teaching in Quebec moved here and now we are teaching her here! Many are progressing and doing very well! We also can't wait to find more the Lord is preparing for the Gospel!

     Yesterday we had interviews with President and Sister Shields. I always feel such powerful love from them anytime I am around them. I am so grateful the Lord has given me some time to be ministered to from them and learn from them.

     I love you all and hope all is well! Sounds like the first week of school was a blast for everyone! Have a great second week!

Steve's 1st Baptism! A guy in Taiwan!

Aug 30,2017

This week was awesome! We saw someone baptized in Taiwan! So cool! No time! Have a great week and love you all! Hope everyone is excited for school to start!

From Steve's mom,

So we got this recording from Steve explaining his baptism in Taiwan. They taught him over skype, and when he was getting baptized they got to watch it over skype. The guy who got baptized didn't speak Mandarine Chinese even though his baptismal service was in Mandarine. The missionaries serving there, in Taiwan, would translate the talks into English to Steve and his companion, then they would translate that into Farsi. At the end of the baptismal service,  they had the guy who got baptized give a talk. He gave it in Farsi to the Mandarine Chinese branch. Then Steve and his companion translated what he was saying over skype into English to the missionaries there in Taiwan, who then translated that into Chinese to the Branch. 

What a miracle technology can be!!

Hey, mom! Doesn't sound like things are going to calm down too much haha. Sounds like a hot soccer game and fun volleyball game, I can imagine the great entertainment of watching a bunch of kids that can't play volleyball haha. On the bright side when they learn how to play volleyball is super fun to watch!!

That's also too bad BYU's game didn't go so well! GLad they won though! Also great that Viewmont beat Davis!

That's great the Lube's got asked to Homecoming and even by who she wanted to be asked by! Tell her to enjoy that because that usually doesn't happen haha! Luke who??

This week was sure awesome with our Taiwan baptism! It'll be a week I never forget! I'm so grateful for flight benefits so I will be able to go see him(possibly others) and go to Iran one day(assuming safe)! Love you and have a great week!

Aug 14, 2017 Biking now, great workout for his knee!

Aug 14, 2017

THis week has been awesome!

We have seen a lot of great miracles this week! We have some people that have received answers to prayers about specific dates for baptism!! Some have committed, some haven't yet. We are having quite a few people come out to church and Elder Bakker is keeping them all thrilled with his Farsi translation!

     Also a big highlight this week was a Zone Conference! It was awesome and really focused on following up with all the "OYM"ing and helping us set better goals and more effectively plan! They showed us a few videos from the mission presidents training which was very powerful. One that I really felt the spirit during was a video of a bunch of recent converts of the last 2 months all saying "the missionaries found me..." I really felt the spirit. I know that this work is continuing and is going at exactly the pace that the Lord sees fit and is happening exactly as He desires! What a blessing it is to be a part of this work on the front lines!! I love it!

     This week/month we have been biking like crazy which is the greatest! This has led to a lot of saved Kilometers on our car and a lot more opportunities to talk to people! Also, we are getting great exercise and I'm sure it is great for my knee! Love it! So grateful for that!

     This morning we had some early morning sports which were super fun! I actually got to hit some tennis balls with another missionary! Good stuff!

       Also, we are getting some great Iranian food, we are trying to learn how to make some of it! I heard there were some restaurants back there which will be pretty sweet!

      Everything else here is amazing! We still are eating amazing and balling out at night with our nerf hoop. My 3 pointer has been blessed from that haha. I understand more and more Farsi and I am able to contribute more and more to our lessons and contacts with them!

     Love you all. Hope all is well and everyone is excited about fall! Have a great week!