Week 16 - MY DAD'S ALMOST 50 YEARS YOUNG EVERYONE!!!!

I thought my email heading would give you a laugh ma ;)

Winter is here hooray!! (said no one in Québec ever!)

Snow has begun to fall and temperatures have been dropping to -10 or so and it will get around -40 before winter is through. Pray I don't freeze! 

On Tuesday this week we went to Dora and Ruud's and helped them clean the tops of their cupboards. So much dust!! I love going over there though because they always feed us and we always have funny conversations with them. 

We also had our biggest turnout to English Class in La Rédemption which was awesome!! The rest of the week was slow because hardly anyone was around so we went contacting around nearby outlets. Since the temple is reopened we were allowed to go with our stake because Elder Shaw was going through with one of his recent converts for the first time so Friday we drove to Québec and for the 3 hour drive we listened to talks that our former Branch President put on a flash-drive for us. 

Let me tell you that is now my new favorite thing to do during long car rides. Nothing is better than arriving at your destination spiritually edified and feeling the Spirit so strongly. I encourage you all to try that during your next long car ride because it's amazing. 

The temple was an incredible experience. To be with someone receiving their own endowment brings the Spirit so strongly.  There is no better word to describe it besides captivating. It was so great to be back in the Lord's house away from the evil of the world and the temptations from Satan. To be able to sit in the Celestial Room and feel nothing but pure peace and love, there is no better feeling in the world! 

I have 2 spiritual thoughts for you all today. 

The first of which is to GO TO THE TEMPLE!! There is truly no greater place on earth to be closer to our Heavenly Father and to receive personal revelation. To have a temple so close is a blessing I took for granted before I left. Although Rimouski is 7 hours away, the trip is so worth it.  So don't take for granted having one within 15 minutes to an hour away. There are so many blessings awaiting us if we will take the time to go. 

The second I want to share is some advice a great friend gave me this week. To be honest, I have been struggling recently. It's been hard for me to be patient and feel like I'm being successful when the people we visit don't seem to be progressing. I realized this week that my problem is that 1) I am fighting for and expecting people to be converted within such a short period of time because I feel it as my responsibility to convert them before I leave and 2) I'm not focusing on loving them and just being friend. This great friend of mine lovingly put me in my place and I'm so grateful for it because it helped me realize things that I should've been focusing on the whole time. 

The email/letter read,

"You're out there to convert people, and that should take a lifetime! So don't worry if they're not ready yet. I promise that by being their friend, you are pulling back the veil bit by bit to let God's love shine through on them, even if they don't realize it yet. Your job is to spread the gospel, and that's love. There's few words I can think of that describe Christ better than "friend.""

I know that in each of your lives there are people you are helping through hard times or sharing important truths of the gospel with. I hope in so doing you are all smarter than I have been and recognize that the Lord has a plan and everything happens according to His timetable.  So for us it is important to focus on love and friendship. Thank you all for your love and friendship towards me and I hope and pray you share that same love with others. 

I love you all! Have a great week! Stay safe, stay faithful!

Love,

Elder DiReda