Week 40 - Blessings!!!

Bonjour tout le monde! Comment allez vous?

I miss you guys so much! It`s crazy to think it`s already been over 9 months! It still feels like I just left the MTC! Anyways this week we had a few really uplifting moments that both caught me by surprise and rekindled my fire to keep working hard. One of which happened while we were at a dinner appointment. We were eating barbeque outside and the family began telling us about several Syrian refugee families that had just moved in. They hardly spoke a word of English and they need help. Well we jumped, quite literally jumped, at that opportunity. We arranged for a time to meet with one of their neighbors who speaks a bit of Arabic and can introduce us to them and help us know what they need. From there our hope is that the ward pushes us out of the way and takes over completely going above and beyond. These families have been through a lot and it has taken a toll on all of them. Including the young kids. One of the smallest kids had been drawing and coloring with this family we were visiting and had drawn a family running and crying from falling bombs in the sky. They`ve been through so much, I hope we can help make a difference in their lives. 

The second event that happened this week was an investigator and 3 of his kids, all of whom we had never met before, came to church for the first time! Amazing and incredibly kind Haitian family that we are going to start teaching this week! All in all we have been blessed this week! 

Pictures:

-The Worner`s had their baby!!!!! 

-Rum cake that a non-member gave us that contained a measurable amount of alcohol in it...

-blister from service

-study room and bedroom in our ottawa apartment

Week 39 - Service, Service, and more Service

Bonjour à tous! Comment va la vie?

This week in Ottawa we spent the majority of our week doing service (must be springtime). We went on exchanges with our Zone Leaders and we all went to a non-members house and helped her clean out thorny vines from her hedge. They were EVERYWHERE!!! They were growing from her neighbor's yard and bless their hearts they must have a million and one other priorities because their yard isn't one of them. The rest of the week was a combination of walking dogs, fixing doors, moving, setting up furniture, and power washing back patios. We had quite the experience when we helped a family move. They needed help setting up their beds (they were new and imported from China I believe) so we set up the king sized bed no problem. When we started on their daughter's bunk bed it seemed like we had begun a 5,000 piece puzzle. So many different types of screws and nuts and bolts and boards. It didn't seem that difficult once we sorted and organized everything, then we read the instructions...We were expected to drill most of the holes with no indication of where they were supposed to go besides a small drawing with no measurements or reference point. So we were excused since the family didn't have the tools necessary for us to do that. 

Yesterday we had an exceptional devotional on the power of the Book of Mormon. The presenter, the first counselor to our mission president, shared stories and examples from the Book of Mormon and the Bible about faith and the power of the scriptures. One analogy I liked that he used was that spiritually each day when we wake up it's as if we are in the mall looking at the map that shows the outline of the mall where everything is and a big marker that shows where we are. Regardless of whether or not we want to be there or regardless of where those around us are, we are where we are and we need to decide where we are going. Each choice, each decision determines if we move forwards or backwards so we need to be focusing on the Gospel to help us make decisions and direct our actions. It's easier said than done but I know blessings flow when we make the Gospel the focus of our days and lives. I love you all and wish you all the best this week. 

Stay safe, stay faithful!

Love,

Elder DiReda