The only thing holding you back is you.

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Hi all!

How have you all been? It's been great here. We are keeping real busy with all the service. We helped frame a basement last Tuesday. That was awesome. Lots of people keep telling us how much they appreciate what we are doing. In fact, the other day at McDonalds, we were eating and a guy stopped me while I was walking to my seat and gave me a twenty dollar gift card. He said this is for us because of all we are doing and he is really grateful. It is amazing to see the change we are able to bring the people here in High River. Oh, by the way, turns out the town is called that because of how many floods that happen there. How stupid is that? Who would ever want to live there knowing that? I have also heard that over 2000 people are still not in their homes yet. It's been over seven months! And apparently this was one of the worst natural disasters to ever happen to Canada. It is so crazy. 

It's been colder here. We went out visiting less actives yesterday. That was cool doing something different. One man was super nice and scheduled a time for us to come back and teach him. Another lady was not so nice. 

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he just said she couldn't meet with us today and to call again before coming by. We also talk

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 to another lady who was nice. We will be going back to teach her too. 

Well, I had quite the sweet experience this week. We were at a member's house eating dinner. I had the message and I had no clue what I was going to share. During dinner, I said a prayer and told God I will just listen to the family during dinner and not worry about the lesson if he would put the words in my mouth at the very hour I needed them. I remember reading that in the scriptures in the MTC so i gave it a shot. Well, just a few minutes after the prayer, the man of the house said how there was this guy at work he had been wanting to talk about the gospel to. I started to get excited thinking of how I could tie that into the lesson. I still couldn't think of a scripture though. Lo and behold, he follows that up with, I guess I'm just trying to build up the courage..." The first thing that popped into my head was not too small of a prompting. It was more of a shout. "NEPHI WAS COURAGEOUS AND THIS WAS HIS REPLY. 'I WILL GO I WILL DO THE THINGS THE LORD COMMANDS!'" Immediately I thought of 1 Nephi 3:7. 

I was able to use that scripture with the family and I talked about how we don't always know what the Lord wants us to say or do, but as long as we have faith and follow his commandments, he will provide a way for 

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to accomplish the thing that he commands us. The man was so thankful and he said that he totally forgot about that scripture and that was exactly what he needed to hear. It is amazing what the Lord can do for us. I now know that if we just have faith that he will provide a way, then we have nothing to worry about. He will never leave us hanging high and dry all by ourselves. 

I thanked the Lord abundantly that night for what He did for me. I would encourage all of you to never be afraid of sharing the gospel with people. When Nephi was commanded to go and get the plates, he had no idea what to do. He didn't know how he was going to get them. He didn't even get them the first try. It took a few times before he was able to get the plates. The last time he went into the city, the Lord provided a way. It was possible because of both Nephi and his courage, and because of the Lord. Trust in the Lord with all they might. He will never let you down. I know that for a fact. Don't let fear control you. Your Father in Heaven will bless you ten times more than you deserve if you trust in Him and have faith. I hope you all will be able to follow your Father's commandments. I know you can. The only thing holding you back is you. Don't get in the way of your salvation or the salvation of others. 

I love you all and hope all is well back home. Take care!

Elder Anderson

Here's a pic of Jake and his companion, Elder Stewart.  Silly missionaries!!

This is Jake's normal missionary attire.  Not the white shirt and tie that most missionaries wear, but this is what you wear when rebuilding a flooded town.

Regarding this picture, Jake said to his family who has always lived in sunny So. California,
"This is what trees look like after snow."

It sure is flat in High River!!

Jake is so proud of these $15 boots he bought at Walmart.

He picked up this beanie at Walmart, too.
It makes me happy happy happy to know his head is warm!