The Lord knows us perfectly and knows what's best for us.

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Hi all!

Man it has been awesome here! The weather has warmed up to around zero. (That's Celsius of course. I wouldn't be calling that warm if it weren't). We have been giving a lot of service. As I said, the flood has ruined a lot of people's homes and many still haven't moved back in. We have been doing a lot of shoveling snow. We have also cleaned a non-member's house. They were hilarious because they thought our entire mission was dedicated to cleaning people's houses. The lady would constantly ask me, "Andrew, (she thinks that's my name) do you have other houses to clean that you need to get going to?" They are crazy. We cleaned their house for two days. They were very grateful. They took us to lunch one of those days. 

We also helped do some flooring for a sushi restaurant. They paid us in sushi.  (What Jake means is that they thanked them with sushi.  Missionaries don't get paid, except with lots of blessings, which are far more valuable than money.)​ I didn't think I liked sushi, but it was great! They probably gave us over a hundred dollars worth of it. They are super nice too. I think some of their family members are LDS but they aren't. They are super nice though and we are going to build a relationship with them and hopefully try to teach them. The members here are awesome. They are super nice and feed us well.

My companion started his mission here. That was before the flood of course. He said when he was here before, the people were much more closed off and now​ they are​ willing to talk to the missionaries. He thinks because of the flood, they are much more humble and open to talking. Right after the flood, the church sent a lot of the missionaries here to help with the clean up. They all wore the yellow Helping Hands vests. When we are out and about that's what we wear.

This is a picture of one missionary's name tag after helping to clean up from the flood.
He is also wearing the yellow vest that Jake mentioned.  

People constantly stop us and thank us for the help we gave back after the flood. They say how the missionaries cleared out their basement and how they wouldn't have a place to stay if it weren't for them. That has really made it easy to talk to people about service. We go around handing out fliers to people on the street with our contact info on them. We just quickly tell them what we are doing and if they need any help with anything, they just need to call. We have also handed out fliers to the local stores and churches without info on them. 

This is a picture of the terrible flood that hit High River this past summer.  

It's funny, we went to catholic mass a couple nights ago. We wanted to talk to the Father there and tell him about what we are doing and ask him to spread the word. Every time we stopped by the church, he wasn't there. So we just decided to go to mass. We were able to talk to him after. He was super nice and appreciative. The only teaching we have been really doing here is to the members. We have taught a couple of less actives. (Less actives are members of the church who are not currently attending.)​ One of them is a kid named Spencer. He is seventeen and has just started coming back to church. He had a spiritual experience that he said was like a slap in the face. ​H​e had been drink​ing​ and smoking with some of his friends and about a month ago he had the "slap in the face". He has stopped since then and has been coming back to church. He is a great kid. He is excited to serve a mission. He already has an amazing desire to teach the gospel. He has been teaching his friends a lot. His mom wants us to befriend him and sort of teach him how to be a missionary so he will be able to better teach his friends. He is excited to go out with us and teach. 

It has really been a blessing being out here on this mission. I know it is exactly where I need to be. The Lord knows us perfectly and knows what's best for us. I have seen His hand in my life so much here on the mission and am grateful every day for it. I know I couldn't do this without His help. I would only hope that you all can see some of the many ways He has blessed you and that you always praise Him for it. When Nephi was on the ship he built, sailing across the sea, his brothers tied him up. For four days he was tied up. I'm sure he was never given a break from being bound and I'm sure they were tied very tight. When his brothers finally released him because they were afraid they would sink in the storm. Nephi said that his wrists and ankles were exceedingly sore and he was in much pain. However, the first thing he does after being released is praise the Lord. He could have complained or been angry. But instead, he praises the Lord. I hope we all can one day have the faith and perspective he had. I hope that even in times of trial we can still turn to our Lord and praise him. Nephi was blessed for his faith and obedience. I know that we can be too if we but strive to follow Christ. If we always remember this, we will never feel alone and lost. I leave you these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With love,

Elder Anderson

A few thoughts from Pam:

Oh how I love love love Mondays!!!!!!  Here's the latest from our missionary, and he sounds so much more like his happy self this week.  Last week's email had me a teeny bit concerned (okay, so maybe I freaked out a bit!) but this week Jake sounds just like Jake, and I am so very grateful!!!!!  

One of my BIG concerns last week was that Jake didn't have a coat and boots.  The mission instructions said he should buy those items in Canada when he arrived, so we didn't send him with them.  Somehow after being there a week he still didn't have a coat or boots.  Here is the tender mercy that came to Jake this week regarding this situation:

The local library called us and told us that they saw our fliers and loved what we were doing. They said they have clothes that were donated for them to give away and said we could come check it out and take whatever we needed. I found a sweet Billabong jacket that fits perfect and is super warm. Then we went to Walmart and I got some rubber boots for like fifteen bucks. So now I'm pretty set. I just need a warmer jacket for proselyting. And by the way. The service we are giving is in civilian clothes. We just wear jeans, and jackets with the yellow Mormon Helping Hands Vests.

I know that our Father in Heaven watches over each of us so personally, and He is certainly watching over Jake.  Thank you, each of you, for loving and praying for our missionary.  It means so much to us!!!