Email from Elder Lofthouse 9/27/16

This week was really tough. I'm not saying it was a bad week, it was just really tough. Not sure why it was, though....
     
Tuesday is always fun. P-day is a very fun day. We did the normal stuff, and then we had supper with the Becks. Our appointment for that night cancelled, so we helped Brother Beck fix one of the brakes on his car, and then we went bus contacting. It's pretty fun, bus contacting is.
     
Wednesday we had ZTM. It was a pretty good meeting, but I get so bored during meetings. I know, they're necessary, but I'd rather be out talking to more people. That's just me, though. After ZTM we ate supper, and then we went street/Trail contacting. There's a really cool walking trail that extends from one end of our area to the other, so we walked down that and talked to people. It was awesome. That took up the rest of the day.
     
Thursday was interesting. We didn't have district meeting, due to ZTM the day before. We walked around a little bit in the morning, and stopped by a few potential investigators. We had lunch after that, and then we went on Brother Joseph's house, and he introduced us to a bunch of his neighbors. It was super cool. After that we walked back to the church, and then drove to supper.  We had supper with the Spanish missionaries. It was a really good supper. After supper not a whole lot happened.
   
Friday was pretty good. We did our weekly planning in the morning, and then we went and helped Sister Strong clean up the Anderson's yard. They've been going through some rough times right now, so we helped them out. While we were there a really angry guy came up to us and asked us who we are, and then he stormed inside the house...  it was interesting.  After that we went and knocked a few doors, and then ate supper. After supper we went to a lesson with the Meadows Sisters, and it was pretty rough. The guy we were teaching only wanted to bash. It was really hard for me not to jump in with both feet and start going... but I Didn't! It was good. After that Elder Wood went to a lesson with Elder Hubner, and Elder McWilliams and I drove to Leduc to exchange with the ZLs. Then Elder Klunker and I drove back, and we met up with Hubner and Wood.  Elder Wood and I then went home!
     
Saturday was really interesting. We did our studies, and then we had a lesson with Shawn. It was a really good lesson. I'm super excited for him to keep progressing like he has. I love teaching him. After our lesson we went and stopped by some people, and then we went to a baptism. After the baptism we walked to supper, but then she wasn't able to feed us, so we got the food, and bussed home so that we could eat. It was a pretty good meal. It was an interesting day.
     
Sundays are always great. We had Ward Council in the morning, and then we went and invited a bunch of people to church. We met a guy that we're going to start teaching soon named Joseph Smith!  How cool is that?  Haha. So we went to church, and then we went and stopped by a bunch of Less Active members. We met the Ackroyd family. They're awesome, and we scheduled another appointment with them next week!  That was the rest of our night.
     
Monday was fun. We had another lesson with Shawn.  He's just awesome. After that we ate lunch, and then we went to the MCC Thrift Store for service. It's a lot of fun, going there. After that we went to the library to meet with Romadon, but he didn't show up... :( but we found out he got called into work, so it was okay. After that we had supper with the Kenworthys. They're an awesome family. The end of the night we stopped by a bunch of potentials. It was a good day.
     
This week I learned that sometimes we just have to keep going.  Even if we don't see anything like success, if we have faith, we'll be able to keep going. Faith is the key to successful life. We have to have faith that eventually things will work out. The only time you will actually lose at life is if you quit, and you stop trying. Don't ever stop trying!

Have a wonderful week!
Ofa Ma'oni
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

So, we'll let 'em say that we're dead and too far gone
Nothing can stop us now from what we will become
'Cause there's a power in belief
This is the power of belief
- Ice Nine Kills

Email from Elder Lofthouse 9/20/16 Amazing Taste How Sweet the Pound (Cake)

Good Afternoon, everyone!  This week was sure fun, as usual.  It was a little bit of a slow week, but it was still fun.
     
Tuesday was good.  After all of our Preparation Day stuff, we had supper, and then we went and walked around the trails of Millwoods to talk to people.  It wasn't the best, but it was good.
     
Wednesday was better.  We had a lesson with Shawn, and we got him on date for October 1st!  I'm super excited.  He's a stellar guy.  It was a great lesson.  After lunch we did nothing exceptional, but it was a good day.  We mostly rode the bus around to talk to people.  It was pretty good.  After supper we tried by some people but nobody was home.  It was still a super stellar day!
     
Thursday was really fun.  We had district meeting in the morning, and then we went and had lunch.  We stopped by a couple of people who said we could come back, but nobody was home.  The afternoon is not the best people to find people home..... Who knew?  haha.  After supper we rode the bus around some more.  It's nice having bus passes.  Bus contacting is pretty fun!
     
Friday we had another lesson with Shawn.  It was good, and He's super excited for his baptism.  After our lesson we did weekly planning.  It always takes a while, and it's not super exciting, but it's better to be prepared for stuff than to just wing it!  Doesn't make it any better.  In the evening we knocked a few doors, but nothing exciting happened.
     
Saturday was pretty fun.  We had a lesson in the afternoon that fell through, so I guess we didn't have a lesson.... So most of the day we talked to people on the streets and on the bus.
     
Sunday was great.  We had stake conference.  Elder Useda of the Seventy came.  It was an awesome meeting.  There were so many people there was standing room only.  It was super cool.  After that we went to teach Joe Smith, but he wasn't home.  We had supper and then went to the Demeyer Carter family's house..... That was no fun.  We got dropped by them.  Sad, eh?
     
Monday was super good.  We had a lesson with Shawn in the morning, and then we went to the MCC Thrift store in the after noon.  It's always fun to volunteer there.  After that we had a lesson with Romadon.  It went well, and we had a good discussion about justice and mercy.  After that we ate supper, and then we went and did some street contacting. It was a really good day!
     
This week was interesting.  We have to keep on going if we want to win life.  Basically the only time you lose is if you give up.  So don't give up!  It's as simple as that!  Keep going through all the dissapointment, pain, and tragedy, and you'll win.  There is no such thing as losing unless you quit.  So just don't.  Deal?

Loves
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

This is our moment
Will you stand with me?
Hope is not lost
Hope is not lost
- Killswitch Engage

Email from Elder Lofthouse 9/13/16

This week was super interesting. It was a lot of fun.  Sadly, football season is underway, and some sad things happened, so we're not gonna talk about it.
   
Tuesday was pretty good. We had an awesome day. We had supper with the Baldersons, who are awesome. After supper we met a guy who is an ancient Chinese anthropologist. Pretty cool, hey?  It was really cool. After that we went and planned. We didn't have a car last week, so we were bussing and walking everywhere. It's different, that's for sure.
   
Wednesday was pretty good. We went to Boston Pizza for Sister Gambler's birthday. After that we went to the office real quick so we could drop off some stuff. After that we did some bus contacting. It was alright.  The best part of he night was supper. We had supper with the Orrs.  The Tagalog Elders were there as well. It was just awesome. It was an uneventful night after that.
   
Thursday was fun. We had District meeting, and then we ate lunch. We had all sorts of stuff.  Ribs, salad, peach cobbler, it was awesome!   After that we went and did 12 week. Other than that, not too much happened. We had supper with the Strongs, and then We had coordination with Brother Beck and Brother Harris. It was all in preparation for the #yegmormon day on Saturday. We exchanged with Leduc after that.
 
Friday was fun. Elder Petersen and I had a lot of fun in Leduc. If you remember, Elder Petersen was in Cold Lake while I was getting trained in Cherry Grove. That was 18 months ago that I left Cherry Grove.  I can't believe it's been that long!  It was a really good day, and during supper we tried three of the hottest sauces known to man. The first one was Sudden Death, the second was Possible Side Effects, and the hottest one was called East Armageddon. It was awesome. We literally dipped a toothpick about a quarter inch into the hottest one, and licked it off the toothpick.  It was awesome. I need to find these sauces (birthday gift, Mom?) Other than that the evening was uneventful. We exchanged back that night.
   

Here's a sweet picture from Saturday Night

Saturday was the Missionary Media Day!  It was pretty good. We did our studies in the morning, and then we went and helped shovel gravel for a couple hours for service. It was super fun. After that we had a lesson with Skye, but she had to reschedule, so we just did some stop bys. After that we went to the Ward picnic, which had to change l cations at the last minute due to the Edmonton Eskimos game. They were playing the Calgary Stampeders, so of course it was a big game. If you take BYU and Utah and multiply it by 10, you have a small portion of the Edmonton-Calgary rivalry. Haha. After the picnic we went and did some street contacting and door knocking. It was a pretty good day.
 
Sunday was crazy. First off, it was snowing in the morning. Not a whole lot, and none of it stuck, but it was definitely snowing. :) We walked to Ward council, and then back to our apartment, ate lunch, and then walked back for church. After church we took the bus to the Zobells for supper. They're an awesome family. We then went to Israel's place, but he asked us to come back Monday. Not much happened after that. It took most of the evening to get back.
   
Monday was fun. We went to the MCC Thrift Store in the afternoon for service. It was fun, as usual. We got to sort through a bunch of ties, and there were some pretty nasty ones. Haha. If you ever need an ugly tie, go to a thrift store. They have TONS!  After that we went and had supper with the Calverts. The Mandarin Elders were there as well. It was good. We delivered fliers for the food drive this weekend after supper. It was a good day.
   
This week was really good. I know that God is leading the way in this work. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and Joseph Smith was called to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth again. I hope you all have a good week!

Loves
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

I won’t be beaten or broken
I’ll reclaim what was stolen
This is who I’ve become
What once was weak is now strong
-Chelsea Grin

Email from Elder Lofthouse 9/6/16 Exchanges Galore!

This week was really fun, but kinda crazy. It was good, overall.
     
So Tuesday was fun. We did the normal preparation day stuff, so that was good. A normal P-day consists of cleaning, shopping, emailing, and ultimate frisbee. It's. Lot of fun.   After that we had supper at the Krytons. They're a super cool family.  After that we knocked a few doors.  It was a pretty good day.

Wednesday was pretty crazy. We had a lesson with Shawn in the morning. It went really well. After that, we helped Deanna, one of our investigators, move. The Ellerslie Elders were able to come and help for a little, and Deanna's boys were going to help a little, but they just got high and drunk instead. It was a little frustrating, but we got it all done. After that we went to a meeting for the #yegmormon day. It's basically a media split that's happening in September 10. We'll have members of the Ward follow us around taking pictures and posting them. It's gonna be a lot of fun. After that we had supper with the Burrs. It was awesome.  After that we went and helped a lady move from our Ward to Ellerslie Ward. It was a good night.

Thursday was a lot of meetings....  We had district meeting in the morning, and then we went to the follow up new missionary meeting. Surprisingly enough,  it's the first time I've been to one of those as well!  We skyped in when I was in Cherry Grove being trained, and then we skyped in in Dawson Creek when I was training Elder Hubner. So it was my first time at the meeting, along with Elder Wood. It was good.After that we got to see Vivian!  She's still awesome, as usual. We had supper with the Hinmans.  Again, it was really good, and the Hinmans are awesome. We had coordination with Brother Beck and Brother Harris after that. It was a really long day.

Friday was pretty sweet. We did weekly planning, which took way longer than it needed to. Always. :/ After that we went and walked around a little bit. We had supper with the Strongs. We had the best ribs I've had in a long time. I love ribs....  After that we knocked a few more doors, and then we went to exchange with Beaumont.

Saturday I was in Beaumont with Elder Meldrum. It was a pretty fun day. We mostly stopped by people, and we had some good conversations with people. It was really cool. That's basically all we did all day. We exchanged back later that evening.

Sunday was a lot of fun. We went to church, and fast Sunday's are always fun, and then there was a potluck after church!!  Shawn came to church, as well, so that's good. After church we walked to an appointment, and had a really cool lesson with Alex and Bruce. After that we did ANOTHER exchange. Elder Wood went wish Elder Czech to Ellerslie. Elder Orton and I stayed in Hillview.

Monday was a lot of fun. We mostly went finding, which is exciting. The best part was I went bus contacting for the first time! It was a lot of fun. We had lunch at the Gurdwara.  It's a Sikh temple, and it was pretty neat. Nothing else really awesome happened, but it was pretty fun.

This week was awesome!  It was a lot of fun.  It'll be a good
week this next week as well.



Loves
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 8/30/16 Down, Set, Hut!

  This week was pretty good. We had fun, and we worked hard. It's starting to feel like fall up here, and it's football season!  :)
 
Tuesday we had fun. We had supper at the Bennetts. They're pretty cool, and we helped move some bricks.  It was pretty good. After that we had a meeting with Bishop Moawad. After that we went on exchanges with Ellerslie. I went to Ellerslie with Elder Czech.
 
Wednesday was a ton of fun. Elder Czech is an awesome guy. We had a lot of fun. we went and knocked some doors, and then street contacted. We got to go to the Thrift Store and help out. After that we went and did some more street contacting. We had a lesson set up with a guy named Pat, but it fell through. After all that we had a really late supper, and then exchanged back.
 
Thursday was fun. We had district meeting in the morning. District meeting is always a fun time. After lunch we did 12 week, and then we went and stopped by as many people as we could. It was pretty good, but no one was home. As we were walking around, we met a less active member named Israel. He seemed pretty cool and said he was going to call us and have us over! It was awesome. We had supper with the Habings.  They're an awesome family. It was a lot of fun, and we got a couple referrals from it!  We had coordination at the end of the night with Brother Beck and Brother Harris. It was a really fun day.
 
Friday was alright. I woke up feeling icky, but it was weekly planning day, so it was pretty chill. After we ended weekly planning for the day, we went and tried by a bunch more less actives. We haven't gotten to see them yet, but it'll happen. After we knocked some doors, we ate supper. And then we had a lesson with the Johnstons, one of the families in the ward. Then we knocked on a few more doors. It was awesome.
 
Saturday was great. We had a lesson with Shawn. He's doing well.We're hoping to get him on date the next time we see him. It's going to be a lot of fun!  Then we went and saw Deanna. She's moving next week, so we helped her pack a little bit. It was good. After that we had lunch and then went and stopped by a couple people. Wait, before that we finished weekly planning. It was pretty good. We helped Sister Gregson take a whole bunch of stuff to Goodwill. It was a pretty good break from the normal stuff. After that we went and did splits with the YSA Elders. That's right, I got to go with Elder Hubner again!  It was awesome, and we got to see a couple families from Dawson Creek while we were together. It was an awesome evening. It was a good day.
 
Sunday was nice. We had Ward council in the morning. It's always good. After that we ate lunch, and went to church. Church is always fun. We had some good lessons. After church we did 12 week, and then we went to supper. It was awesome!  After supper we stopped by some people. We got to set up a time with the Demeyer-Carter family for next week, we set up a lesson with Fong next week, and then we set up a lesson with the Mannings next week. We also were able to have a lesson with Brother Fletcher.  He's pretty cool. It was a pretty good day, and we had fun.
 
Monday was awesome. We saw Deanna again in the morning. We got to meet her two sons, and we gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon. It was awesome!  After that we ate lunch, and then went to the MCC Thrift Store. We got to tag and hang clothes again. We were going to see Lori, but she cancelled again. Sad, eh?  We had supper with the Zemps, and then we went and helped someone move into the Ward. It was a fun evening!
 
This week was pretty cool. It's pretty amazing to see miracles happen when one tries to do the will of God. Being a missionary is super fun. It is the hardest thing I've ever done, but it's also the best experience I've ever had. I love it here in Canada!

Loves
Elder Rusty Lofthouse

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his
punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
-Oscar Wilde