Email from Elder Lofthouse 1/26/16 Finally, a Winter Wonderland (Except Today)

This week was really fun.  We had a lot of good things happen!  

      Tuesday we ate Supper with the Whitehead's.  That's really all that happened.  nothing too exciting.  

      Wednesday was exciting.  We drove to Grande Prairie for the World-wide missionary training.  It was awesome.  We got some really good material to work on.  It'll help a ton.  After that we had a ZTM on using time wisely and finding people to teach.  It was actually really awesome!  After that Elder Chadsey and I went on exchanges.  We drove back to Dawson Creek, and had supper with the Johnston's.  We had some super good Chinese food.  Again, Nothing too exciting happened after that.....

      Thursday was awesome.  We helped a lady named Pat move some stuff out of her house.  It was really funny.  She's an older lady and she kept telling us not to hurt ourselves lifting the 'heavy boxes'.  It was awesome.  After that we got a call from a Member asking if we would be able to help clean out Patrick Leslie's apartment.  So we went to help.  It was really kind of nasty, but it was good.  After that we had supper with Willie and Bev, and we had a great lesson with them.  Then we went and visited Joe after that.  We had a great lesson with him.  After that we hurried over to Steve and Michelle's and had a good lesson on the Plan of Salvation with them.  It went really well.  After all of that insane business, we drove out to Spirit River and exchanged back.  

      Friday we did weekly planning.  After weekly planning, we drove around because it snowed looking for people to help shovel their walks.  We met a guy named Jason, and helped him shovel.  It was awesome.  He told us to come back, and then he gave us a Moose Heart..... yes... a heart.  We're going to cook it up this week!

      Saturday we shoveled ALL DAY!!  It was awesome.  We helped a couple of older members shovel, and then we helped some random people shovel.  It was great.  After supper we went and shoveled the church walk..... it took forever.  But it was good.

     Sunday was awesome.  We went to church and all that fun stuff. After Church we went to Heather's place and gave her the Sacrament.  We went and had lunch, and then visited Jill Wonnacott, a member that lives in Pouce Coupe, a village about 15 minutes outside of Dawson Creek.  We had a good visit with her, and then we went back to Heather's for a lesson.  It went really well.  After supper we went and had a lesson with Amber.  It also went really well.  It was just a really good day.  

       Monday we went to the Salvation Army to volunteer.  It was great.  We went and hung clothes and put a bunch of items out on the floor.  It was really cool, we got to talk to a lot of people.  After that we went and got an oil change, and then we drove back out to Pouce Coupe to try and contact a member.  We met a lady named Taylor, and she told us to come back later this week!  It was awesome.  After that we went and had supper with the Wheat's.  It was great, as usual.  Then we drove and had a lesson with the Ward's.  It was a really good lesson on the Sacrament.  It was all in all, a really good day.

      This week was just a really good week.  It's been a pretty productive week, but it felt kind of slow.  I think that the lesson I learned this week was that no matter what you are doing, how you feel, or what is going on around you, if you keep on going you will succeed.  No matter what.  Keep on keepin' on.  Even if nothing around you is working out, If nothing around you looks anything like success, you have to keep the faith and believe that one day is going to be your day.  That's all.  Have a wonderful week!

Love you lots!

Elder Rusty Lofthouse

I dare you to get up, I dare you not to go back to sleep, and I dare you to chase your dream!

Email from Elder Lofthouse 1/19/16 Busy, Busy, Busy

This week was super fun.  And busy, but busy is better than bored!

      Tuesday we did the normal stuff.  Right after that we went to Sister Winfield's place and had a lesson with one of her friends, and picked up a new investigator!  We went to the Whitehead's for supper.  They're such a great family.  After supper we went and picked up Willie, and surprised Shannon on her birthday.  It was pretty awesome.  

      Wednesday we went and we finally finished the Fence!  Woohoo!  haha.  After an interesting afternoon (if you want details, email me and I'll do my best to explain) we went and did some service with Brother Wry, the ward mission leader.  It was pretty good.  We had supper with them after.  It was a lot of fun.  It was a really crazy day.  

      Thursday was fantastic.  we had lunch with Sister Winfield.  Analyn and Cheng, a couple of investigators, were there as well, and we had an awesome lesson with them after.  It was great.  After that we went and did some Mormon.org time, and looked up some videos that we can share with our investigators.  After that we went and had supper with Buck and Karen Hills.  They're so great.  We had an awesome lesson with them.  After that we drove out to the Ward's and had another lesson with them.  We gave them the Book of Mormon on a flash drive so they can listen to it while they're at home.  It's going to be awesome.  

      Friday was really good.  We did weekly planning.  Both of us were just tired and wanted something to change, so we rearranged all of the furniture in the apartment.  And it looks great!  After that we went and visited Joe, a member here.  He's awesome.  We had a great lesson on appreciating the little things in life.  After that we went and set up a lesson with a potential investigator for next week!  It's going to be awesome.  We had supper with the Wry's again, and it was great.  It was just a great day, again!  

      Saturday was pretty good.  We tried to contact a potential investigator, and met his wife.  She's super cool.  They're both really interested, and they said to come by any time after 5.  So that's what we're going to do!  After that we went to a funeral for a member.  It was a really good.  The best part was Willie, during the lunch after, throwing candy at people.  It was awesome.  People were laughing and it was just great.  After that we went and visited Heather, and gave her a blessing.  She's going through a rough spot, so it was really good with her.  That night we had a lesson with David Sloan.  He's so great.  It was a great lesson about how through Faith miracles happen.  

      Sunday was good.  We had ward council in the morning, and then church was fantastic.  After church we had a ward potluck, and it was breakfast food.  It was so good.  I love breakfast food.  After the potluck we went and tried to have a lesson with an investigator named Amber, but she wasn't home, so we went and did the rest of our studies and we had supper.  AFter that we picked up Willie and we went and had a lesson with Amber Otto.  It was a really good lesson on Charity, and forgiveness.  It was a really good lesson.  It was really fun.  

       Monday was really awesome.  We went out to the Ward's to help Richard out with something.  After that we had a sweet lesson on loving what comes.  Come What may and Love it!  After that we went to another funeral.  It was interesting.  We had it in our building, but there was a different pastor that came and did the service.  His name was Pastor Bill.  He is a really cool guy.  It was an interesting experience.  I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation.  After the service we went and had lunch, and while we were eating lunch we met a guy named Marcus.  He is hilarious!  We heard a bunch of stories that he told of his childhood, and it was fantastic.  He told us to come around and visit! It's great!  After the funeral we were dropping some stuff off at the apartment, and we met a guy named Frankie, who has met with missionaries before!  So that was really cool.  After that we had supper with Eric and Sonia Wheat.  It was a really awesome supper.  AFter supper we had a lesson with Donna.  She's awesome.  We had a great lesson on the priesthood, and what it's role is.  It was a really awesome lesson.  

      This week made me really grateful for the Plan of Salvation.  It brings great comfort to know where we are from, why we are here, and where we are going!  The thing is, we have this knowledge, and the hope and peace that come from it, so why aren't we sharing it?  Why should we be the only ones who know about it?  We shouldn't be, that's the thing.  It's our responsibility to go and bring this Plan to the rest of the world.  That's what we should do.  It'll be a great if you share it.  It really builds your own testimony of it.  

      I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!  

Elder Rusty Lofthouse

  

I stand in the ash of all I've ever loved, memories of a broken heart, now I'm alone in the dark!  I know there's a way that when all hope is gone, but there's no way to do this on our own! 

-Crown The Empire

Email from Elder Lofthouse 1/12/16 Love Frees All

This week was pretty awesome.  Like always.  Life is always just awesome.  That is all.  

      So on Tuesday we did our normal P-day stuff.  It was good.  After that we drove halfway to Fairview to go on exchanges.  I drove back to Dawson Creek with Elder Moeller.  He's a great guy. 

      Wednesday we did a whole bunch of stuff.  We stopped by a ton of people and found 6 new potential investigators!  It was great.  We had supper with Willie, and it was great.  It was a really busy day.  

      Thursday we drove up to Fort St. John for District Meeting.  It was a beautiful drive.  I loved it.  It was really good.  After District meeting, we had lunch at Quiznos in FSJ.  It's owned by the Ward mission leader up there, so we all got lunch for free.  Pretty cool, eh?  After that, Elder Hubner and I drove back to Dawson Creek, and had a lesson with Jonathan.  It was an awesome lesson, and we were able to help address some of his concerns.  He committed to pray about a baptismal date!  It was really good.  

      Friday we did weekly planning.  It was a really good weekly planning session.  After that we went and visited Joe.  He's such a cool guy.  He's set a goal to make it to the Temple this year, so that's awesome.  He's fantastic.  Other than that, it was a pretty slow day.  

      Saturday we had a lesson with the Ward's.  It went really well, and they committed to come to church for all 3 hours!  The rest of the day was spent setting up lessons that will happen next week.  It's going to be awesome!  

      Sunday was great.  Church was awesome.  After Church we went over to Heather's place, and brought her the sacrament.  She's an awesome lady.  After that, we went to have a lesson with Jeremy.  It didn't go so well.  A couple sentences in, and then he didn't want to hear anything else we were going to share and he asked us to leave.  We left a copy of the Book of Mormon though.  After that we drove out to Alberta to go to a potluck at the Cotillian city hall.  It was fantastic.  WE got to talk to quite a few people.  

      Monday was super busy.  We helped Brother Otto put in a new window in his house, then we went to the Salvation Army Thrift Store to do some service, and then we went 0-3 on appointments in the afternoon.  Nobody was home.  Later we met Andy and Jamie, a couple of former investigators.  They're awesome, and we might be starting to teach them soon.  I'm stoked.  After supper, we went and had a lesson with Donna, a Less active lady.  She's awesome.  We had a really good lesson on why we need a savior.  After that we went and saw Amber.  She's doing good, and we had a fantastic lesson on forgiveness.  It was a really good day.  

      This week has been full of ups and downs.  It's been really crazy.  One thing that I learned this week is that we have to learn to appreciate what is around us.  We need to stop and slow down every once in a while to look at the beauty all around us.  I invite all of you who read this email to go watch the Mormon Message 'moments that matter most'.  It is awesome.  We have to take the time to appreciate the moment that we're in and take time to enjoy what we have.  There's a quote that I love  "All of them are in a big hurry to get from someplace stupid to nothing at all." It's from Guardians of the Galaxy.  Take the time to enjoy the little things in life.  

      I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!

Elder Rusty Lofthouse

Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it!  

- Ferris Beuller

Email from Elder Lofthouse 1/5/16 Subjects don't really matter

This week was awesome.  My new Companion's name is Elder Hubner, from Kansas City, Missouri, or around there.  He's awesome.  

      So on Tuesday we went and did our Preperation day stuff, and then we had supper with the Whitehead's.  We drove down to Whitecourt that night, which is about a 4 1/2 hour drive.  It was pretty good.  

      Wednesday was transfer meeting.  I had to go to a trainers meeting at 9 am, so we had to get up pretty early because it's still 2 hours from Whitecourt to Edmonton.  It was great. I finally got to meet my new companion.  He's fantastic.  So after transfer meeting we drove back to Dawson Creek.  That was all.  Wednesday was a crazy travel day.  

      Thursday we set up Elder Hubner's ipad and then we went and visited a member who was in the hospital.  She's doing better now.  After that we went and saw Joe.  We had a great lesson on not living in the past.  We went and saw Sister Winfield after that.  We had supper with the Wry's, and then we went home.  It was New Year's Eve, so we weren't allowed to drive after 6.  Seeing that our area is so spread out it made it kinda hard to do work.  But we walked to the church, and while we were on our way back, we met some people on an Ice Track.  Like a track and field track, but they used a water truck and a zamboni and turned it into an ice track.  It was awesome.  We talked to a couple of people who were playing hockey on it, and they said that they'd give us a call!  

      Friday was great.  we went and helped out Willie a little bit.  We're almost done with the fence!  YEAH!  Joe Bunker, the guy we're building the fence for, said that we could come around and have a lesson with him when we're done!  It was awesome.  Then we went and had a lesson with Shannon.  It was fantastic.  After the lesson we went and helped a less active man move to his parents place.  It was cool, and we might be able to go and teach him as well.  After that we went to teach Mark.  We taught him the rest of the Restoration, and committed him to read 2 Nephi 31 and 32.  Elder Hubner was killer on it.  He might be brand new, but I think he came out pre-trained.  

      Saturday we went tracting.  It was awesome.  We found a less active member whose records aren't in the ward, and we found a couple of potential investigators.  IT was a super fun day.  We had supper with Willie, and It was just an all around fantastic day.  

      Sunday was great.  It was fast sunday, and Tesitmony meeting was great.  After church we went and visited Heather.  We read part of Alma 36 with her, and committed her to read the rest of it.  Then we went tracting some more.  We found a guy named Jesse.  He's super cool, and told us to come back later this week to teach him!  IT was great.  

      Monday we went to the Salvation Army to do volunteer stuff.  We got to hang a bunch of clothes and move a bunch of christmas stuff to the basement.  It was actually a bunch of fun.  Then we went to Donna's, a less active lady, place.  She had to reschedule until next week because she was taking care of some sick people.  After that we went over to the Whitehead's to help them unpack a bunch of boxes.  They finally got all of their stuff from England!  It was great.  Then we went and had supper with Willie.  After supper we went and had a lesson with David Sloan, a less active member that I haven't been able to get in with yet.  It was a fantastic day.  

      This whole week was fantastic.  I learned a lot this week about working hard.  At everything.  Don't ever give only 99% effort.  Only a 100% effort will do.  Especially in living the Gospel.  If you turn your will over to God and do what he wants us to do, everybody wins!  If you let the natural man win, then we all lose, and we don't fill the full measure of our potential.  Whatever you do, do it 100%.  That's all for this week!  Have a wonderful week! 

Love you all!

Elder Rusty Lofthouse

"Whatever comes to you don't duck it, don't run from it, like most people do!  Step Toward it!"