Email from Elder Lofthouse 4/26/16 Whew, I made it!

  This week was crazy again. But it's ok, I'm getting used to it!
     
Tuesday evening we exchanged with Fort Saskatchewan, so I went there with Elder Collins. It's only about 20 minutes from Sherwood Park, so it wasn't too bad.

Wednesday Elder Collins and I went and picked up trash along the highway. It was fun, and nobody threw garbage at us!  Haha. After that we drove to Redwater and Andrew, a couple of hamlets in the middle of nowhere. We tried to contact a few people, but nobody was home.... Sad day!  We drove back to the Fort and then we are supper and played bingo with old folks. It was awesome. I loved it. We exchanged back and then went to bed.
     
Thursday we had district meeting in the morning. It was pretty good, but we have a massive district. 5 companionships. I guess that's what happens when you have 16 companionships in the zone!  It was good. After that we went and helped out a man with some yard work, and we helped him service his tractor. It was awesome. After that we had supper and then went to brother Kohn's place. We had a really good lesson on missionary work. That was pretty much all that day.
       
Friday was good. We went to dream catchers and did our normal thing. So it was good. After that we did our weekly planning!  It was ok. I can't really remember what happened the rest of the day. Nothing too crazy I guess.
     
Saturday was good. We had coordination in the morning, and then we went and helped with a move in the afternoon. After that we went to the Guzman's to help them get some work done so that they could come to stake conference. It was awesome. We helped them with a lot. It was fun.
     
Sunday we went to stake conference. Elder Packer of the seventy was there, and it was awesome. It was a really good meeting. After that we decided to do some tracting. We had a really good conversation with a man who tried to bash with us, but he ended up taking a Book of Mormon and said he'd read it!  It was fantastic!  We went and visited Vivian after that. It was really a good visit.

Monday was amazing. We went to the food bank in the morning, and they gave us a whole bunch of hamburgers and spam. I don't know if you know, but I love spam. It's awesome. We had lunch at Vivian's.  We had a really good lesson with her.  After lunch we went and gave a blessing to a sister in Glen Allan. It was good. Afterwards we walked and went to supper and then we visited brother Bexson. It was really good. It was a pretty awesome week.
     
The past few weeks have been the hardest of my mission so far. It's been amazing to see the results so far. I love how God made us to always progress. We're not supposed to stay the same, were supposed to learn and grow!  It's a beautiful thing, eternal progression.
 
Loves!
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

I'm pulling all the strings I have with God, I'm hoping to find a better way. I pray the only thing I need is time
-Ice Nine Kills

Email from Elder Lofthouse 4/19/16 Things...Stuff

This week was pretty good. It was fun, and kinda crazy.

Tuesday was interesting. We had a fun p day, and then we went and knocked a few doors. We met a guy who told us to come back. It was really cool. We had supper with brother Lambert.  It was good.

Wednesday we planned for ZTM. It was a pretty good day. We visited a lot of people, and we had a ton of fun. Sorry about the shorter stuff, I'm kinda rushed today.

Thursday we had ZTM. It was my first one, and it went well. I went with Elder Schlachter back to vermilion. We had a lot of fun. We talked to a couple of cool people. It was awesome.

Friday was cool Elder Schlachter and I had a lot of fun. We moved some couches and chairs for people and had a really good lesson with their investigator. We exchanged back, and elder Roundy and I had a lesson with the Guzman's.

Saturday's we had Ward coordination, the. Stake coordination, then I got to skype cherry grove to see Delaney and Jaime!  She got baptized!!!  It made me so happy to see them. Then we went and did service at the Guzman's, and had lunch with them. We walked to the Atwood's for supper and had pizza. We walked for most of he day.  It was awesome.

Sunday was incredible. The Gibb twins got home from their missions, and they reported. I love hearing returned missionaries speak. It's super cool. Elder Roundy and I decided to walk again. We went and saw Stan Fisher. He's a super cool guy that were hoping to start teaching soon!  It was fun. We had supper at the Monteleone's. They're a super cool older couple. I love it here.

Monday was fun. We did service at the food bank, and then we went to have a lesson with a new investigator, but he cancelled, and then we went to Addy's and helped her with some landscaping with the Nottingham elders. We had supper with the Cahoon's, and stopped by the Grams. They're awesome, and we set up s lesson for next week!

Have a wonderful week!  Love you all

Elder Rusty Lofthouse.

Email from Elder Lofthouse 4/12/16 Crazy, Crazy, Crazy

This week was pretty awesome. We've been really busy, so that's good.

Last week we went to the temple, so it was awesome. We went on exchanges with the Millcreek Elders. It was awesome. They live rightsmack in the middle of downtown Edmonton, and it was the first time I've ever been. It was very loud, and very not my style!

Wednesday Elder Brewer and I had a lot of fun. We did a lot of finding, and finding YSAs is really hard, and it was fun. We went toteach English class, which was fun. After that we went to stakecoordination. It was really interesting. I'm still not sure what I'm doing as a zone leader, but it's a work in progress.

Thursday we had breakfast with the Nottigham Elders for ElderPouliot's birthday. It was pretty fun, and then We went and had MLC. It was a really long meeting, but it was good. After MLC we went and knocked on a few doors. It was really cool, one kid came and asked us for a copy of he Book of Mormon!  It was awesome. We went and had a good lesson with the Guzman's on keeping the sabbath day holy. after that we stopped by a couple of people, and then got frozen yogurt for elder Pouliot. It was a good day.

Friday we went and volunteered at a place called dream catchers. It was really fun. We fed some horses, helped clean out a Guinea pig cage, collected eggs, cleaned out a chicken coop, and a rabbit hutch. It was awesome. Then we came back and weekly planned!  Exciting.......Not.  After planning we had supper with the Dogan's. They're also a very awesome family. We had a really good lesson on the atonement with the Gram's after.    

Saturday was good. We had coordination, then we went to smash burger for lunch. We finished weekly planning, and went to help one of Nottingham's investigators put in a sink. Elder Roundy, my companion, and Elder Powell did that while Elder Pouliot and I went to a lesson. We taught Al about the priesthood. It was awesome. We came back, and Elder Roundy and I went to the Minchin's for supper. It was good.

Sunday was really cool. We had Ward council, did studies, and went to church at noon. That evening we had a good lesson with the Miller's. It was a really good lesson, and it was a good day at church.

Monday was pretty cool. We volunteered at the foodbank, building shelves, stacking food, and whatnot. We ate lunch, and then we helped clean up Brother Saroka's yard. It was good as well, and then we went to George's place and moved wood and built sawhorses for him. We had supper with the Cahoon's, and then visited Vivian.

Sorry for the rushed emails, it's just been crazy!
Loves
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 4/5/16

Sorry for the shorter email, it was temple P Day!  I love the temple. It's so great.

So last week we stayed in grande prairie Tuesday night and woke up at 0 dark thirty to drive to Edmonton for the new leadership training meeting. It was really good, and then I went to Clarkdale! It's in Sherwood park, which is on the east side of the city, about 20 minutes from Edmonton. It's a really cool area, and I love it so far.

As for cool experiences this week, president Manion took us and the other set of Elders in Sherwood Park to the priesthood session. It was really cool, and he took us out to DQ for ice cream after. It was a lot of fun.  I loved conference. It was awesome. I encourage everybody to go and study them again. Read them, learn from them, and apply them to your life.
      
I love you all so much, and I hope you have a wonderful week!
Elder Rusty Lofthouse