Mission update - March 2007
Greetings everyone!
So, as of Thursday, March 15, 2007, I have officially been serving the Lord for exactly one year! I can hardly believe I've been out this long! Plus, knowing that I've only got one year left has given me an added boost to continue to work as hard as I can!
This past month, and the past week or so in particular, have been very interesting. First, Cornwall (the city where I'm serving) was divided into two areas - Cornwall East and Cornwall West - giving us 4 missionaries in the Cornwall Ward. Elder Chamberlain and I were split. He's serving in Cornwall East, and I'm in Cornwall West. Plus, this transfer, I have the opportunity to serve as a "Trainer" to a new missionary. My "greenie" is Elder Anderberg, and he's from Tempe, Arizona. He's a great companion - he's full of motivation and desire to serve and work hard, which is really helping me as well. Serving as a trainer is challenging, but I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to help Elder Anderberg adjust to life in the mission field.
The next piece of news came to us in Zone Conference on March 15. Our Mission President, President Petion, will be returning home with his family this summer, instead of serving until next summer. Apparently, his youngest son has been having problems adjusting to the change in environment from France to Canada, and the best thing for the family is to go back home where he can be around the people he knows. We'll be getting a new mission president on July 1.
Oh... I almost forgot... I mentioned last month that we were moving. Well, we have, and here's the new address:
Elder David Caudill
805 Marlborough St. N. #107
Cornwall, ON K6H 5Y7
CANADA
If you'd like to send me letters between now and April 15, it would be best to send them to that address. Also, as much as I'd love to get money in the mail, I found out that it's illegal to mail money across the border. So, in order to avoid an international incident (LOL), please don't mail cash! International Money Orders, on the other hand, would be generously accepted! (Ha ha just kidding)
So, something really cool happened on Saturday. It had been snowing since Friday night, so there was a lot of snow on the ground and a lot of people shoveling their driveways. Elder Anderberg, being from Arizona and never having experienced a winter, thought it would be great to offer to help people shovel their driveways. I was reluctant at first because I wanted to stick to our schedule for the day, but we did decide to take shovels and be willing to ask people if we could help them. Well, the first people we asked accepted. We spent about half an hour shoveling their driveway, then they offered to give us some money to thank us. Of course, we said we didn't need money, but we did offer to talk with them and their whole family about the gospel. They accepted, so we taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel. They listened and when we asked if we could come back and teach them more, they said yes! The mother, Rose, told us that she was baptized into the United Church of Canada when she was younger, but she never really practiced in that church, and was looking for a church for her children to join, because they were never baptized. Then, her future daughter-in-law, Kelly-Ann, said that since she was about to get married and already had one child, she wants to start off her family with the habit of going to church every Sunday! So, as a result of us offering to help them with the shoveling, we are now going to be teaching two families (about 8 people total) and help bring them unto Christ! From now on, I'll be more willing to listen to my companion's suggestions, even if it isn't necessarily what we've planned for the day!
We were also scheduled to have a baptism here in Cornwall on the 17th (this past Saturday). Tina Brinkworth, someone who's been meeting with missionaries off and on since I got here in November, was set to be baptized, but wasn't able to quit smoking. President Petion told the Cornwall East elders (since she's in their area), that she needs to go 3 weeks without smoking in order to be baptized, so the baptism was put off for 3 weeks. Tina, who before probably would have been very discouraged and probably would have disappeared again (she's done that before), was instead very willing to continue. She told the elders that she's come too far to stop now. She's definitely made a ton of progress since Elder Matthews and I first started teaching her back in November!
Well, that's it for this month. I want you all to know that I'm really grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord here in the Canada Montreal Mission. It's a great blessing to be able to share the gospel with those who don't already have it, and to see the changes it makes in their lives. I know that I'm where I need to be, and doing what I need to be doing!
Thank you all so much for your continued support!
Until next month,
Elder David Caudill
So, as of Thursday, March 15, 2007, I have officially been serving the Lord for exactly one year! I can hardly believe I've been out this long! Plus, knowing that I've only got one year left has given me an added boost to continue to work as hard as I can!
This past month, and the past week or so in particular, have been very interesting. First, Cornwall (the city where I'm serving) was divided into two areas - Cornwall East and Cornwall West - giving us 4 missionaries in the Cornwall Ward. Elder Chamberlain and I were split. He's serving in Cornwall East, and I'm in Cornwall West. Plus, this transfer, I have the opportunity to serve as a "Trainer" to a new missionary. My "greenie" is Elder Anderberg, and he's from Tempe, Arizona. He's a great companion - he's full of motivation and desire to serve and work hard, which is really helping me as well. Serving as a trainer is challenging, but I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to help Elder Anderberg adjust to life in the mission field.
The next piece of news came to us in Zone Conference on March 15. Our Mission President, President Petion, will be returning home with his family this summer, instead of serving until next summer. Apparently, his youngest son has been having problems adjusting to the change in environment from France to Canada, and the best thing for the family is to go back home where he can be around the people he knows. We'll be getting a new mission president on July 1.
Oh... I almost forgot... I mentioned last month that we were moving. Well, we have, and here's the new address:
Elder David Caudill
805 Marlborough St. N. #107
Cornwall, ON K6H 5Y7
CANADA
If you'd like to send me letters between now and April 15, it would be best to send them to that address. Also, as much as I'd love to get money in the mail, I found out that it's illegal to mail money across the border. So, in order to avoid an international incident (LOL), please don't mail cash! International Money Orders, on the other hand, would be generously accepted! (Ha ha just kidding)
So, something really cool happened on Saturday. It had been snowing since Friday night, so there was a lot of snow on the ground and a lot of people shoveling their driveways. Elder Anderberg, being from Arizona and never having experienced a winter, thought it would be great to offer to help people shovel their driveways. I was reluctant at first because I wanted to stick to our schedule for the day, but we did decide to take shovels and be willing to ask people if we could help them. Well, the first people we asked accepted. We spent about half an hour shoveling their driveway, then they offered to give us some money to thank us. Of course, we said we didn't need money, but we did offer to talk with them and their whole family about the gospel. They accepted, so we taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel. They listened and when we asked if we could come back and teach them more, they said yes! The mother, Rose, told us that she was baptized into the United Church of Canada when she was younger, but she never really practiced in that church, and was looking for a church for her children to join, because they were never baptized. Then, her future daughter-in-law, Kelly-Ann, said that since she was about to get married and already had one child, she wants to start off her family with the habit of going to church every Sunday! So, as a result of us offering to help them with the shoveling, we are now going to be teaching two families (about 8 people total) and help bring them unto Christ! From now on, I'll be more willing to listen to my companion's suggestions, even if it isn't necessarily what we've planned for the day!
We were also scheduled to have a baptism here in Cornwall on the 17th (this past Saturday). Tina Brinkworth, someone who's been meeting with missionaries off and on since I got here in November, was set to be baptized, but wasn't able to quit smoking. President Petion told the Cornwall East elders (since she's in their area), that she needs to go 3 weeks without smoking in order to be baptized, so the baptism was put off for 3 weeks. Tina, who before probably would have been very discouraged and probably would have disappeared again (she's done that before), was instead very willing to continue. She told the elders that she's come too far to stop now. She's definitely made a ton of progress since Elder Matthews and I first started teaching her back in November!
Well, that's it for this month. I want you all to know that I'm really grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord here in the Canada Montreal Mission. It's a great blessing to be able to share the gospel with those who don't already have it, and to see the changes it makes in their lives. I know that I'm where I need to be, and doing what I need to be doing!
Thank you all so much for your continued support!
Until next month,
Elder David Caudill
posted by David at 12:15 PM
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