Good week

Dear friends and family:

We had a pretty good week this past week. We struggled a little bit at the start of the week, but by the end of the week we were able to get one of our new investigators, Stephadina, to come to church. She enjoyed it a lot, and she has a date to be baptized on the 6th. We also have two other investigators who have a date to be baptized on the 13th. It was a miracle that we found them.

The miracle happened because our ward had a barbeque/picnic last Saturday. It was in a park, but unfortunately there was a fee to get into the part on weekends and holidays. Nobody had been told about the fee. When we pulled into the park for the first time, we found out about it and called the bishop to see if there was anything we could do to prevent any investigators/members from being charged to come to the ward activity. He asked us to go and talk with the people manning the entrance and ask them if they could count the number of cars entering the park to go to the ward activity. When we went to talk with them, we found out that one of them was a less-active member who had not been to church for several years because of her job, but who still loved the church and wished she could go back. She was baptized in New York and had even gone to the temple and received her endowments. Her friend, who was there with her, was looking for ways to come closer to God and to develop her faith. She gratefully accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon, and asked us to come and teach her and her husband. They accepted a date for the 13th, and we are excited to work with them more.

Elder Storm and I have been doing well. We had a quick fire exchange with the zone leaders yesterday, after district training, and we were able to learn a lot about knocking doors and being simple but powerful.

Thanks,

Elder Slade

The Miracle of a Pregnant Woman's Purse

Life is going pretty great here in Canada! Things are finally getting warm except those awkward moments when the weather goes "I am going to deep freeze you in your sleep." But we are learning to survive. Many friends and families have asked me to share some of the miracles that have happened this week, and this being the last week of a heavy spending month, many of them have to do with food.

But before I get to that. When my companion and I realized that Sister Ford's camera had a smudge on it, therefore making everyone look as if they had a halo. We jumped on the opportunity. And then had a Selfie moment. #wehadtwentyminutesbeforezoneconferencestarted

First off. On Sunday my companion and I were running late after having a pretty amazing discussion of the gospel and divine potential and while running out the door forgot the emergency breakfast snack pack that we keep just for moments like this. We got to church and just as we were taking the sacrament we realized just how hungry we were. I don't believe I have ever had such a hankering for bread and water on a non-fast Sunday than at that moment. As we went through all our meetings, teaching in the Gospel Principles class and the Primary our stomachs began to make the most untimely whale mating noises known to man. And then after these three hours of church we then had to attend two meetings to add another three hours to our schedule. We were dying and had no way or means to obtain food. Nevertheless we said a prayer. And it was answered.

A pregnant lady who was waiting for our meeting got suddenly sick of the food that she had packed and gave it to us sisters. And then just following that a member whom we had been to dinner with the night before gave us two granola bars saying that she was sorry that there was no desert last night. The circumstances may have been silly but I can sure testify that the Lord protects his missionaries.

As we were debating where to spend our feeble amount of remaining funds and finding that we may be living off of rice for the week, a member called saying that there was a huge sale on fruit and that she had bought us a whole bunch. And then members continued to invite us for dinner appointments nearly every night for that week.

The miracles this week don't seem to be as related to the missionary work but it has nonetheless strengthened my testimony of the importance of the work that I am privileged to be taking a part in. The Lord helps his servants as they go about doing his work. I am so grateful for the wonderful opportunities that I have been able to witness here as I serve the Lord in Lemoyne

The Pathway to Happiness

Well I don't have too much time this week but I would like to share with everyone something that was confirmed for me this week.

I had the opportunity to sing at the civil wedding of an investigator and his wife this weekend. While sitting there as they took their vows, I pondered in something that our mission president had shown us a couple months back in regards to saving ordinances.

He had drawn six circles in a pattern very similar to a rock climbing wall. He then drew a couple of lines and labeled the circles starting at the very bottom with baptism and ending with marriage in the Temple, also known as a Temple Sealing. Much like this

Temple Sealing

              Endowment

-----------------------------

Melchizedek Priesthood

-----------------------------

              Sacrament

Confirmation

              Baptism

He then told us that we as missionaries are focusing a lot on this first part (below the bottom line) and how sometimes people get stuck there. The thing is in order to achieve the highest degree of glory and live with our Heavenly Father after this life, a man must receive the Melchizedek Priesthood which a woman does not need to obtain. And then everyone must obtain their Endowments and be sealed in the temple for time and for all eternity. These things are ESSENTIAL to achieve Eternal Life.

As I was pondering this I thought of the importance of the Temple. Our own temple, the Montreal Temple, has been closed for my entire mission so far for renovations and has been announced to open in November. This announcement has given us a wonderful opportunity to testify of the blessings of a temple and how it is a building wherein we receive sacred ordinances that allow us to live with our families for eternity and to live with Heavenly Father after the coming of the last days.

Growing up it feels like I did not understand the importance of the temple, and I was just beginning to cherish it when I was whisked away to the wonderful land of Quebec where there is no temple for the time being. Ironically this has made me cherish it even more. I know now that the Lord loves his children and wishes them to come back to him. In order to do so and live with our families for eternity we must be baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authority and then given the Holy Ghost through the confirmation, which ordinances we then receive and renew when we take the sacrament every Sunday. And then we may receive those ordinances that are so cherished and holy that can only be made in the holy temple of the Lord.

I know and I can testify that the Lord loves his children and he has provided them a way for them to return to him through the sacred ordinances that we make a take a part in. I know that this church is true and it holds the fullness of the gospel and that through this we have the true power of God and by this power we may be baptized, confirmed and receive the holy covenants in the temple and be sealed for all time and eternity with a family who we love and they love us. I am so grateful to be a member of this church and to be a missionary out here sharing these wonderful truths. And I leave you with these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Missionaries get sick too!

Dear friends and family:

This week was one of the rougher weeks I've had on my mission again. It wasn't that Elder Storm and I didn't get along, we got along very well this week actually. It was rough because starting late Tuesday/early Wednesday, Elder Storm and I both started getting sick. We received a cold from one of our investigators. (It was an unwelcome gift, but we graciously accepted anyway.) We then proceeded to miserably work through the brunt of it until it became too rough to keep going, and we went home an hour/an hour and a half early (on Thursday, I believe) to take care of our runny (and bloody) noses and a small fever that I had started developing.

Lesson learned. Don't try to work through a debilitating sickness, just stay home and that way you'll heal up quicker and be more effective when you get back to work.

We had some promising investigators that we picked up at the start of the week, but we lost contact with each of them by the end of the week, and when we went to round them up on Sunday morning, we were unable to talk with any of them. I think we might have scared them off by our runny noses and sniffly testimonies. :P Hopefully none of them caught the cold from us.

One of the highlights of the week was the Haitian conference on Saturday. It was really a fantastic event. I've never before seen so many Haitian saints in the same place. The turnout of the conference was over 400 people from the seven stakes, but I know that just from the Miami Shores ward, there were many Haitians that were unable to come because of work or transportation issues. The conference bodes well for creating another Haitian Creole branch in the near future, which I understand is one of the underlying purposes they had in organizing the conference. I hope that I am still in my mission when that happens.

Another thing that was great about this week is that Abigaile came to both the conference, and to church just yesterday. That is the third week in a row that she has come to church, despite the fact that she still does not believe in Joseph Smith or the restoration. It just goes to show how much better it is for a member to invite friends to come to church than for us to invite random people who we just met. It's difficult enough for us to get people to come to church even a single time, but here we have a member who invited a friend to come to church, and she's come three times already!

We received the conference ensign this Tuesday, and I've been trying to study the talks during personal study. I've been keeping tally of the general topics of the talks so far, and I've had to laugh again at how many of the talks are about marriage and families. More than half of the Saturday morning talks are directly about it, while almost all of them mention it at least briefly.

Thanks,

Elder Slade

P.S. Next week, my P-Day will probably be on Tuesday due to the holiday on Monday.

La Fete des Meres- Let us go a singing

Happy Mother’s Day everyone! It was amazing to be able to see and talk to my family via skype this week as they told me all about their adventures and who is going where on their missions and who is getting married to who. *cough* Brittney *cough cough* I love them all so much and am so grateful to have such a wonderful family and a brother whom the next time I will see him he will be the one wearing the plaque.

This week the parable of the talents, once shared by Jesus Christ, has often come to mind. For those unfamiliar with the story Christ tells of a master who just before leaving for a far off country had entrusted three of his servants with varying amounts of monetary units, then called talents however we can easily relate these to our denotation of a talent. Two of these servants had been able to use those talents and trade until the moment when they had gathered double than what they had originally been given. However the last of the servants had hid his talent and wished not to share it and by the time his master returned, had lost the place where he had buried his gift. In the end the two servants who worked hard with these talents had in turn received many more blessings than imagined while the one who hadn't was left with none.

You might be wondering why this is so constantly in my thoughts this week. Well I had a memory this week of the moment that I had decided that I had wanted to take voice lessons. My wise parents had recognized that I was able to sing and had lovingly encouraged me to practice and grow this talent through voice lessons and participating in choirs. The hard work has paid off at many moments and God has blessed me with a voice that can and has touch the hearts of his children on many occasions.

One such occasion was this past Friday. As we do every Friday, my companion and I with a handful of other missionaries, visit a nursing home and volunteer by gathering the residence and singing with them a whole bunch of Quebecois songs. Many of which are really quite hilarious, residence and the songs. The woman who directs this had noticed that I had been blessed with a pretty good voice and as a "finale" asked me to sing for everyone. Choosing one of the only songs that I would actually know I was able to share my rendition of "Danny Boy."

Though this song is not one of the most spiritual of songs in the bunch I tried my hardest to pour my testimony into it, as we were asked not to sing very spiritual of songs for the sake of unity in the residency. Luckily very few could understand the English I was singing and instead focused on the spirit and the sound. Afterwards I sat down and an elderly woman sitting next to my with tears in her eyes, hugged me while saying "thank you I felt loved."

This moment has helped me to grow my testimony in God. He gave me a talent and helped me to cater it to the moment where it became something I could give to others. In my setting apart blessing that called me to be a missionary the man who blessed me promised me that music would be the way I could share the spirit with many. This blessing has been fulfilled on many occasions but was most apparent at this moment when a woman was touched by the feeling she felt and not the words which she heard. I know that I have been called by a real and true prophet of God who is guided by a loving Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the moments he has given me to be the instrument in his hands as he helps others to feel his love. I am so grateful to be his missionary, to be called to go forth with faith and tell the world of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ on this Earth. I am grateful for the moment I have to sing the song of redeeming love to the people of Quebec, Canada. I love you all and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

In Miami

Dear friends and family:

It was really fun to skype with all of you and to see you again! It was also good to finally meet with Ben and to hear about how you are all doing. That was the last time that we will skype, the next time we'll talk to each other will be on September 3rd, when I go home. (I still have 4 months left.)

Elder Storm and I are having a great time in Miami. There are still a lot of rough spots, but it's really fun to be together.

Thank you for all of the packages as well. I made no-bake cookies today, but I haven't eaten any yet so I don't know how they turned out. I also loved the T-shirt from Neumont University. It makes me happy to wear it :D. I received both packages right on time, the day before my birthday.

We had two investigators come to church this Sunday. One of them also came the week before; her name is Abigaile. One of the young women in the ward had invited her to come, and so she agreed, and then we set up a meeting with her. We taught her several times this week. She is excited to prepare for baptism, but she doesn't believe in the Book of Mormon or the restoration, and she feels like she won't be ready to be baptized for several more months, or years. But she has come to church two times now, and so we're again just going to focus on the Book of Mormon, so that she can gain a testimony of the Restoration, and she can feel more ready to be baptized.

The other investigator who came to church is named Mackensie. He is a former investigator, who works almost every Sunday, and so has very few opportunities to come to church. We'll try to see him again and get him pumped up for baptism, but the last time Elder Storm taught him he seemed to be pretty adamant that he wouldn't be ready to be baptized for a long time. (More so than Abigaile.)

In my personal study, I just finished reading the Book of Mormon again on Saturday.

Thanks,

Elder Slade

Back in Miami

Dear friends and family:

I'm back in Miami! It's time for round three!

Miami Shores Creole is by far my favorite area that I have served in. I'm so excited to find and teach the people who God has prepared for me here.

My new companion, Elder Storm, is doing great. He is Haitian! His first language(s) are Haitian Creole and French. His accent is going to help me! I really admire the fire that he has for the work. You could see it especially on Sunday morning, with how much energy he exhibited while we were rounding up for church. Without his diligent efforts we would not have been able to get Roberto, one of our investigators, a ride; but because of him, he came to church and is progressing towards baptism. It is a little rough sometimes to be his companion just because of communication issues. He speaks English well, but we misunderstand each other often due to our different cultures - cultures in the mission, as well as demographic cultures.

We had four investigators show up to Sacrament meeting. Our most promising investigator is named Roberto. Elder Storm and Elder Claude had been teaching him for about two weeks already, and now we're teaching him. He came to church for the first time this Sunday, and he really wants to be baptized. We've already made plans to see him every day so that he can be ready to be baptized.

All of the seven stakes in our mission are putting on a Creole Conference in about two weeks. It will be a full-day event, about all sorts of topics, mostly in relation with temples and family history. We've gotten a lot of people committed to come, and we can't wait to go there and to be a part of it. The new things that are happening in the church with regards to Haitians are fantastic, not the least of which is the new temple announced in Port-au-Prince.

Some of you already knew that I was back in Miami, from something on Facebook that Karen Putnam Guillian put out yesterday. She and her husband had moved to Miami the second time I served in Miami, over 8-9 months ago. We didn't know that we were related. It was only a few days/weeks ago that she read an email about Britney being married that she made the connection and thought that we might be related. Then, I came back into the area and we found out that she and my mom are cousins. We had no idea this whole time. (Note from Nancy...Brandon wasn't quite sure who Karen was when she introduced herself while she was there visiting her son, Brandon and his wife Camille, and new daughter...hence the confusion of Karen being Brandon's wife, not mother. I filled in the blanks when we were emailing today!)

It's also really interesting to see time pass. About nine months ago, shortly after Brandon Guillian became our ward mission leader, Elder Fisher and I were some of the first to get the announcement that Karen (Note again from Nancy: Camillle, not Karen)  Guillian was pregnant. (We just happened to be in the right place at the right time.) Now, I'm back, about a week after she gave birth. That really puts things into perspective for me. Time really is blowing by, extremely quickly!

Mother's day: I can't wait to skype with all of you! According to a letter from President, the rules have changed again. I can skype with you all for 40 minutes now, not just 30. Do you know if Britney and her new husband will be there? I'll call on Sunday morning for 1-2 minutes just to finalize plans, but it will probably be around 3-3:30, my time, when we actually start the call. What skype username will you all be using?

Thanks,

Elder Slade

Whale Noises

Well I don't have too much time at this moment but I would like to share with you a miracle. One of the many spiritual basis that our religion holds in common with many others is that of fasting. And I am here to testify of the reality of the power of a fast.

This Sunday my companion and I started a fast, or an avoidance of food or drink for achieving a higher spiritual state. We fasted specifically for the ability to find success in our area of Lemoyne. We have recently been realizing that many of our investigators are not progressing as we would like them to. We found ourselves after fasting about nine hours really really hungry. As in why is my stomach making whale noises, oh right I haven't eaten in who knows how long. But my companion and I had prayed and set a time that we would finish our fast. And we were determined. Sure enough after we had struggled through to the end we ate like Queens. It was a feast. However there was something special about the sacrifice that we had made. But we just continued on with our day until one moment when we were teaching a young man whom we were debating on dropping, suddenly all of his friends came into his house. He invited them to join us but they had preferred to stay in the next room over. We continued with lesson and then someone asked "are you the Jehovah's witnesses? You don't look like them." We looked over to see that all of his friends were in the doorway listening. We obviously took the moment to testify and to share about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ on the Earth through Joseph Smith. Little by little the group was brought to the table until every ear and eye was focused on the words that we shared. That night we received six referrals and three new investigators. And when in general we struggle to even find one.

We were on our way home that night, hyped up that something so amazing had just happened when Sister Ford said "Its because of the fast." Her words hit home.

It was true. We had sacrificed a moment and had received so many blessings. I can testify that God loves his children and when one or many join in a prayer backed up by a sacrifice as little as hunger. He recognizes the love that we show him and the trust. I know that He answers our prayers. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.