We have been really busy this past week. The service has picked up. We have been helping a lot of people move and clean their houses. It is crazy to see how people are still not even fully recovered from the flood. Some people are still trying to put insulation in their basements because they haven't been able to do that yet.
We are working for a group called Habitat for Humanity. We volunteer there once a week. We go to a job site (someone's house) and work with a guy named Bill. He is awesome. He is from England and has a super strong accent. We have done laminate flooring, framing walls in basements and insulating walls in basements so far. He will teach us how to do it and then let us go off on our own and just supervise and help when we need it. It is so fun.
Our area covers High River, a little village called Caylie (that is where me and Elder Stewart live, about 15 minutes south of town) and a small town called Nanton (another 10 minutes south of Caylie). We have been going out to Nanton lately and putting up our fliers offering free service. We have already done a few jobs out there. Nanton has more antique shops than I have ever seen in my life. The town is so small you could walk through it in two minutes but it manages to have an insane amount of antique shops. There is even a restaurant that has antiques on the wall that you can buy. At a restaurant! They have a problem.
They also have a candy store there. They have an insane amount of candy. I found out that they call M&M's smarties here. There are always boxes of smarties at the check out lines in stores and I wondered why Canadians like them so much. I found out they are M&M's. Weird.
Well not much new has been going on. The weather has been a few degrees positive lately so that has been awesome. When it's like this all we need is jeans and a sweater. I remember mornings like that at work (Jake is talking about when he worked at the local golf course back home and would go in at 4:00 am) thinking it was so cold I would freeze to death. Now it feels like beach weather.
In ward council they have been talking about doing emergency preparedness classes and doing anxiety classes to help people not freak out this spring when the snow melts. It's funny back home spring was awesome because it meant winter was over and it was almost summer time. Here though, spring means flood time. The ward council is worried that people are going to stress out when the weather really starts to warm up. They even talk about how the youth will handle it.
The flood really messed a lot of people up. It really was a devastating blow to the people here. Like I said, many people still haven't recovered. I am glad I am able to offer my help to these people. They have been through a lot. It is so rewarding doing what I am doing. Knowing that we are making a difference, no matter how small, is more than I could ever ask for. Maybe I'm not teaching people about Christ and maybe I'm not converting anyone. I'm still doing the Lord's work and that is all that matters. Our efforts are not in vain. I know that good things are to come from what we are doing.
Missionary work is not always about preaching the word of God. Missionary work is about being an instrument in the hands of the Lord. It is about going out and doing what the Lord asks of us. Sometimes he asks us to do big things and sometimes he asks us to do little things. He will never ask us to do something too big that we can't handle it, and he will never ask us to do something that is pointless. Everything he asks of us has a reason. Whether it be for our benefit or for the benefit of others. His will be done. I know this to be true and testify to you that if you keep the commandments, even the commandments given to you personally from the Lord, you will be blessed more that you deserve.
The church is true. There is no way around it. Don't waste this precious gift your Father has given you. This life is for us to grow, and we grow by following Christ and keeping the Commandments given to us. Don't you forget it.
With love
Elder Anderson
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