Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/27/15 YK Baptism II

This week was really fun!

So Tuesday we did our normal p-day stuff, and then we helped a member here clean out his office.  It wasn't bad, and it was a good use of the day.  It was pretty fun. That night we were able to watch a part of the face to face event with the piano guys. It was pretty cool!  I love how they center everything in their lives around the gospel. It was a great day.
   
Wednesday was really busy. In the morning we went and played balloon badminton. There wasn't a lot of people this time, but it was a lot of fun. After that, we went and helped Robert Hawkins clean out an office. It was really interesting.... Like why is there a tanning bed in an office?  Some questions just can't be answered. Haha. After helping out him, we went and had lunch with the Selfs. It was awesome. Sister Self is so excited to be baptized on Saturday. I'm excited for her!  It's amazing what the gospel can do for people. It makes them happy and peaceful in all circumstances. After lunch, we went and helped somebody move out. They had a lot of stuff, and they took most of it too the dump. They did clean out their freezer and give us most of the food. So we're set for a while. It was interesting. After moving we went to wing night..... And Stephan got held up and wasn't able to make it!  It was a sad day. After that we finished the move, and then it was bed time.

Thursday we did a dump run in the morning. Then we helped somebody move in to the house we helped people move out of on Wednesday. It was cool. They seem like really cool people. There is definitely potential. After that we are lunch. Which is always good. Then we went and visited the Clarkes. They weren't able to meet then, but we set up an appointment for Tuesday evening of next week. So that's going to be fun. Then we had supper with the Bellis'. They're an awesome couple. It was a pretty good day.    

Friday was fun. We went and delivered the food kits in the morning, and then we went to get our oil changed and our tires changed.  Sadly, they were full, so Darwin, the owner of the auto shop, told us to come back Monday morning at 9. So that's what we're gonna do. After lunch we went and played bingo at Avens. That was fun. Some of the residents get really into it!  It was pretty funny. After that we made programs for the baptism. It's gonna be a great day!  I can't wait.
   
Saturday was great!  We did weekly planning in the morning, and then we went after lunch and helped set up for the primary activity. It was a Halloween party, and Elder Holden and I got to be in the haunted house to scare people. It was a lot of fun. But the highlight of the whole week was after that. That evening sister Self was baptized!  She had asked me to be the one to do it, so I had the privilege of baptizing her. It was amazing. Afterwards there was a potluck. It was a welcome to the branch for Sister Self and a goodbye
party for the Hunts. It was an awesome day.

Sunday was incredible. During sacrament meeting Elder Holden had the opportunity to confirm sister Self. It's always fun when we, as missionaries, get to help people take the necessary steps for salvation. It was an incredible experience. Later that night we went and visited Everett!  And he was at church as well!  It was a good visit. I love the people of Yellowknife so much!  I love this place. We're shooting to have another baptism in November.

Monday was a day of mixed emotions. In the morning we went and said goodbye to the Hunts. They left for Three Hills.  It was sad, but they got transferred, just like we do. After that it was ok. We went and dropped off our car to get the necessary changes done. After that, We went and met a guy named David. He's a cool guy, and is one of Chris's friends. Hopefully we'll get to teach him soon. Later in the evening, we picked up our car, and then went to the Johnston's for supper. They're a great family. After supper we went and visited the Skinners. It was a lot of fun. Yellowknife is just the greatest place ever.

This week was a good one. I love to see how the gospel can change people's lives for the better. It's a huge testimony builder for me to see these amazing people going through some tough stuff rely on the Lord and trust him enough to make the necessary changes for peace in their lives. I know that this Gospel can bring peace and happiness into our lives. It's pretty incredible.  President Uchtdorf put it best in his conference talk "It Works Wonderfully". I invite everybody to go read it. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most simple, yet profound, thing in the universe!  It is absolutely astonishing how it can bless our lives. Rely on Christ. Read the scriptures. Pray fervently. Got to church. All of these simple things can bring us closer to Christ and help us return home to live with our Heavenly Father. It's not hard. Just do it. I hope you all have a great week!

Hugs and Handshakes
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

P.S.  With the Hunts gone, Elder Holden and I are the only missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Northwest Territories. How crazy is that?

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/20/15 Fun, Fun!

This week was pretty great!
     
So Tuesday we emailed, shopped, and all the normal stuff. Afterwards we tried to go find a Moose blanket for one of Elder Holden's friends. So we looked and looked and couldn't find a blanket with a moose on it, so we ended up getting a stuffed moose holding a blanket. It was pretty fun.

Wednesday we went and played balloon badminton!  It was still a ton of fun. Like always. After balloon badminton we had lunch with the Hunts, and then we had district meeting. It was really good. So after all that we did Facebook and that stuff. That night we went back to Avens to help out at their thanksgiving dinner!  It was really fun. I was able to talk to a guy who is from Déline, which is a small town up north on the west shore of Great Bear Lake!  He was telling me all about it. It sounds like a super cool place to live.  It was a really fun night.

Thursday we had ZTM in the morning. It was good, at least the parts that we heard, but the connection was so bad that we missed probably half of it!  It was really annoying. After that stuff, we went and had lunch with Robert Hawkins and Chris. It was super fun, and we got to teach Robert a couple of principles from the first lesson, so that was cool. Later we had supper with the Hunts. After supper, Sister Hunt went and did Zumba with some members of the branch, so we took Elder Hunt, and visited Sister Krause. She is an awesome lady who has been all over the world. It was really fun talking to her!  All in all it was a pretty good day.

Friday was interesting. We weekly planned in the morning, which took way longer then it needed too, but we made it.  Anyway, the good stuff started happening later In the afternoon. We went to see Brother Milnes and correlate with him. It was really good.  I think we're going to see some good progress in the member missionary work up here!  After that we went and learned a very valuable lesson. Do not, I repeat, do not go to A&W's here in Yellowknife. It is a scary place. While we were there some drunk lady came in and started talking to us. (I guess us talking to drunk people happens quite a bit, eh?). Anyway, things got crazy, so we got our food and got out. It was an interesting experience. After supper we went and visited Brother Hudson. It was a really good visit. After that we went to the Skinners, and had an excellent visit over there!  They're all great people.  It was an excellent day.

Saturday was an amazing day. The morning was ok, but the afternoon is where it started to get good. We met a guy at the Mainstreet Donair shop who was really cool. Turns out he's a geophysicist, and spends a lot of time out on the tundra looking for natural resources!  Sounds like a ton of fun to me!  After lunch we went back to the church and made some sock monkeys!  It was super fun, and I have pictures of the process to prove that, yes, I sewed mine and everything!  It was pretty good. After that we had the branch chili social, but nobody we invited came.  Bummer. It was still a good activity, and we had a lot of fun, but nobody we invited came. It's hard being a missionary some times.....  But it's good at the same time. After the activity, we had branch council. It was a really good meeting. Like I said I think the member missionary work is going to go through the roof!  It was a pretty good day today.

Sunday was excellent. We went to church and all that fun stuff. Church was really good.  The stake Patriarch came up to give patriarchal blessings, and he spoke in sacrament meeting. It was really good. After church, sister Self came and talked to us.  She had been out of town for a while, so she didn't know the Hunts were leaving. So she told us that she's going to get baptized this Saturday!  She wants the Hunts to be there, so that's fantastic!!  It was kind of a shocker, but well worth it.  We had supper with the Milnes. I love going their house. It's so fun and the food is always good. After supper we went and tried to visit the Hartfords, a less active family here in YK. We got a door open, but we weren't able to get in the door and teach. But is progress. We just need to keep on loving them.

Monday was pretty fun. We first went and set up an appointment to get an oil change and get our tires rotated. After lunch we went and visited the Selfs. She is so excited for baptism. And we're excited for her!  It is going to be so awesome. So after all that we started working on the branch mission plan. It's going to be good. After all that we went tracting! When we looked at the temperature it said -3. Later we found out with the wind chill, it felt like -12. So it was pretty cold. But it was really good!  After that we went and had supper with the Cooper's. Like always it was super fun. It just great being here in Canada to do the Lord's work!  I love it!

So this week I made an effort to read from the Book of Mormon during all of my free time. (As much free time as a missionary gets, during lunch, after planning, and before studies during breakfast). I love it. The Book of Mormon is bringing so much light and peace into my life right now!  The week before this was pretty stressful and slow, and this week was just as stressful, but reading the Book of Mormon daily has brought peace and the ability to deal with it all! I think President Benson said it best when he said, "There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called "the words of life" and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon."  I agree. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and it will help in all aspects of life. You struggling in school? Read the Book of Mormon. Having problems with your family? Read the Book of Mormon. It is the number one book in the whole world. I absolutely love it. Please, I beg all of you, read it daily. Feast from "the words of life".  It can and it will change lives for the

Canadian graffiti at its finest! 

better if we would just read it!  It's the bestest book ever!  I recommend everybody to watch the video 'Testimony of the Book of Mormon' with Elder Holland. It's a fantastic video. And the Book of Mormon is a fantastic book. Read it. I know it will change your life forever. Until next week!  Loves to each and every one of you!

Elder Rusty Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/13/15 Beginning Transfer 3 in YK

This week was a little slow, but we're getting there!

Tuesday we took the Hunts and Sister Vega to the airport. The Hunts took her to the temple for the first time!  So that's awesome. Then we did all our regular preparation day stuff.  Nothing too exciting. Wednesday we didn't have district meeting, because the Hunts were gone. That's half the district!  So we decided to drive out to Rae to do some tracting. We ran in to a language barrier while out there. We met a lady who doesn't speak a lick of English. I'm not sure what she spoke, but it was one of the 12 aboriginal languages spoken in the NWT. It was sure interesting. After that we went to the Iverson's for supper. It was a really good day.

Thursday we did some service for mr. Hawkins. He asked us if we could fill some sandbags for him.  Turns out he needed 125 filled. We filled 50 on Thursday. It was awesome..... Not. But after we did that we went around and visited some potential investigators. Nothing has gotten off the ground lately, and it's kind of frustrating. But we'll get through it.

Friday we took the food kits to the schools and the. Picked up the Hunts and Sister Vega from the airport. Then we went to Avens. Turns out balloon badminton has been rescheduled to Wednesday mornings!  Sad day.  So we went and ate some lunch, and then we went and filled the rest of the sandbags. In total we moved approximately 5,250 lbs of sand. Over 5,000! I never want to see sand again. We had supper with the Hunts, and then we went and visited some less active members. It was a pretty good day.

Saturday there was a glorious sight in the morning...... Snow!  It was snowing pretty good.  And we have summer tires on our car..... This ought to be fun.  Haha. So in the morning we weekly planned, and then we left to do some work.  In front of our apartment building we met a lady named Taylor. She was drunk and high as a kite, but she wanted to talk to us. We got talking and then we're said, "guys, if you're great at something, be better!"  It was interesting, but it's true. There's always room to improve and to be better than where you're at right now.  After that fun stuff we made some invitations for a fall chili social next week and gave them out to people. So far we have 1 potential investigator family and 2 part member families coming. I
think we're going to have a pretty good turn out there.

 Sunday was an awesome day. We had church, and the Hunts spoke. They found out they're getting transferred on the 26 of October. Sad day, but it's good. They're going to Three Hills, Alberta, for the last 3 months of their mission. So after church we had companionship study, and then we went to the Greenwood's for thanksgiving dinner. It was awesome. For the first time ever I had deep fried turkey. Brother Greenwood deep fried the entire turkey. It was incredible. It was a fantastic supper. Afterwards we went and visited Everett. He is so awesome. I love him. He told us he's been wanting to come to church, but he's worked the past few weeks. I can't wait to see him this week!

 Monday was fantastic. Yes it was thanksgiving here in Canada, so that was just awesome. But it was a really fun day. First we went to the Salvation Army and helped them with the thanksgiving dinner they put on for the homeless people. We got to cut the desserts into slices. We cut up a ton of pie. Seriously, it was a lot. After that we went and we did some Facebook, and then we went and handed out more invitations for next Saturday. While we were driving, we saw a guy splitting and stacking wood. So we pulled over and asked if he needed help.  He was pretty surprised, and accepted. So we helped him stack wood. Afterwards he invited us in for some hot chocolate and carrot cake. We gave him and his wife an invitation, and they said they might be able to come. I hope they come out. That'd be awesome. So we had a great night. We met with Kelsey and Neil.  They're doing good. I absolutely love working with people and helping people come closer to Christ.

  This week was a pretty hard week. Not a lot of things happened. I learned a lesson about staying positive though. When not a whole lot of stuff is going your way, it is super easy to get down on yourself and give up. However, I can tell you for a fact that it is 1000 times better to be happy and optimistic in situations like that. It will change the entire scope of your life. Just remember, technically the glass is always 100% full. It might be half air and half water, but it is always full. Heck, it could be all air and no water and still be all the way full! If you can keep a positive attitude through the rough stuff, it will make the rough stuff not so rough, and it'll make the good time a lot sweeter. If you struggle with keeping a positive attitude, pray and ask God to let you see the good and the beautiful in the world, not just the sad and depressing. Optimism always was and forever will be better than pessimism. "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy!"
Have a fantastic week.  Go make it the best one ever!

Hugs and Handshakes
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/7/15 Life in the True North

Life in the north is going very well. I love it up here.

Here's the weather forecast for next week.
The temperatures are inCelsius, but it looks glorious!

So Wednesday we had district meeting. It was good. After districtmeeting we went to Avens and had a worship service. It was awesome.They might not know exactly what we're saying, but they sure feel the spirit. It's pretty awesome. After that we went and had supper with the Johnstons. It was really good. After that we went and did some street contacting.
 
Thursday was pretty fun. We helped a member move. It was pretty awesome. It took a lot longer than we expected it too, but it was good because we got to talk to 3 less active members of the branch. It was pretty great. Later that night, we went to stop by some potential investigators. Sadly I don't think it's going to go anywhere. The lady we talked to said that we were liars and that we should get the f*** off her porch and never come back. It was quite sad, but people have their agency, so they can choose what they want. That was a sad ending to a good day.

   Friday was awesome. We went and played balloon badminton, which is always a blast. After that we ate lunch, and then we weekly planned. Before we weekly planned we found a box of 3x5 notecards with a whole bunch of names of potential investigators from 2010 or earlier, so we're going to check those names out next week. After we planned we did some stuff on Facebook. Then supper happened. It was a fun night.

  Saturday was amazing because General Conference happened. It is always nice to hear the words of the Prophets and apostles. I love it. That evening we went and visited Stephan. While we were visiting him, we talked to a guy about the Book of Mormon and the prophet Joseph Smith. It was pretty awesome.

     Sunday we watched conference again!  When President Monson was speaking was really interesting. His body was giving out and it is getting weaker. His spirit and testimony are stronger than ever though. Even as he was leaning against the podium, you could see a fire in his eyes that will never go out. I love Thomas S Monson and I know that he is the prophet of God in earth today. How great a blessing is it to have leaders like him to guide us? It's amazing!

     Monday we were super busy. In the morning we went to the Salvation Army to see if there was anything we could help with. So we might go serve soup on Wednesday!  How awesome is that! After that we went to and grabbed some sandbags to go and fill up. Sadly we didn't have time to fill them, so we're going to have to go later in the week. After that we helped some members out by moving a couch with them. It was quite fun. After that we went and visited Leo and Melanie. They're so awesome. Leo told us that living prophets and apostles just makes sense!  It was so awesome. I can't wait for him to get baptized. He hasn't accepted the invitation yet, but he will. Good stuff. Afterwards we had supper with the Coopers. That family is amazing. I love the people here in Yellowknife.

     This week was amazing. We had General conference. It's always amazing to hear the words of the  prophet and Apostles. They are truly called of God. I can testify that Elder Rasband, Elder, Stevenson, and Elder Renlund are called of God. I know that if we need the council that they give us we will not be led astray. Follow the guidance of these men and you'll make it back to live with Heavenly Father again. I also want to challenge everyone and do what Elder Lawrence told us to do.  Pray and ask God what we can do to become better. I promise that as you pray and then act on the promptings you receive, you will have the spirit so much more in your life!  We just have to act on what we receive. You can do it!  Go become who God wants you to be!

Hugs and Handshakes
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

I've got a hero livin' in me!
-Skillet

Email from Elder Lofthouse 9/29/15 Falling Down and Getting Up Again

Well this week was pretty ok. We had some ups and downs, but that's just part of life!
 
Tuesday we shopped, emailed, and then drive up Ingrahm Trail as far as we could. It's a highway here in the NWT, we got to a place called Tibbett lake, and the road ends there. Well in the summer it ends there. In the winter the road continues on the ice for another 400 kilometers. It's pretty awesome. So that was a lot of fun. That night we were able to teach brother Do (like dough). I love that guy. He's awesome. It was a really good lesson. It was a fun day.
 
Wednesday we had district meeting in the morning. That was a good meeting. After lunch we went and did some street contacting. It was a lot of fun. I love meeting new people. After that we did Facebook. Then we went to wing night with Stephan. I love Stephan. He's just the coolest guy ever. After that we went and tried to visit a lot of people, but nobody was available. Sad day. We'll just keep trying!
 
Thursday was pretty rad. We were able to visit Brother Brotherston. He's a super cool guy. We taught lesson 1 and it was awesome. I think the Spirit really worked on him. It was pretty great. So that night the branch President from High Level came up to Yellowknife. He and his family are on vacation. So he took us out to eat for supper at a place called "A Taste of Saigon". It was really good. So it was all in all a pretty good day. It's always a good day in YK.
 
Friday we were going to go to Avens, but they didn't have anything for us to do... sad. So we weekly planned. It was a good session of planning, and we have several ideas that we're going to try out. It'll be good. So then we did Facebook, and we made some fliers to invite people to come watch general conference next week. It's going to be a lot of fun. After lunch we started doing some street contacting, but then Elder Holden started feeling ill, so we came and rested at the Hunts place. Soon after we went back to the apartment and slept. Poor guy.
 
Saturday I woke up feeling like space junk. It was terrible. We went to the Hunts, and as soon as sister Hunt saw me she told me to go back to bed.  Turns out I had a fever. It was awful. So Elder Holden and I slept and watched the district all day Saturday. So it was not that fun. But we did get to rest up, so that was good. But it was a pretty boring day. But it was good to rest and get better so that we can go 1000000 mph next week.

   Sunday was really good. We went to church, which is always good. I had an epiphany during church today. The sacrament is the reason we go to Church. If we can make it a meaningful experience, then church will be so much more fulfilling. It will be the spiritual charge we need to make it through the week.  After church we went and had a lesson with Leo, a new investigator. It went really well.  I can't wait to see him go through the process of conversion. It's going to be fun. After that we slept a little because we're still not 100%. After our nap we went and had supper with the Hunts.  The Selfs came as well, and it was really good!  We had an awesome lesson afterwards about prayer and the Holy Ghost. Sister Self finally seems to get it. She's starting to get very excited to be baptized. After that lesson we went and we taught the plan of salvation to Everett. We just need him to come back to church now. All in all it was a very good day. It's days like these that make me love being on a mission.

  Monday we went and helped some guy move some stuff into his trailer. It took us quite a while, but it was good. After that we went and ate some food.  It was ok. Then we tried to call more people to set up appointments, but nobody will set anything. It's kinda frustrating. But it's how it is right now, so we better go do something effective-ish. Better than doing nothing at all. It was an ok day.
   
This week was kind of hard. We have some really good plans we would like to implement, but they all take time. Patience is something I'm starting to understand. It's more than just waiting for it. It's waiting without getting frustrated, anxious, or depressed. It's trusting in the Lord's timing, not in ours. We all want things right this very moment, but that's not how it happens. It's all in God's hands. Once we realize that, we won't have any problem with continuing to work our guts out with little immediate results. Lots of what we do as missionaries is planting seeds. We need to trust the Lord, and that means trusting his timing. That is all. Have a great week!

Much loves from Yellowknife!
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

Why do we fall, Bruce?  So we can learn to pick ourselves up again.
-Thomas Wayne