called to serve Calgary: May 24, 2011

Well, I am glad to see that you have all survived the end of the world that was supposed to happen on Saturday. I don't know about you guys but nothing really happened here. This week was actually a great week. I have had a lot of fun being back in Calgary and being in a YSA Ward. Wednesday we didn't get to do much. I was on a transfer van from 10 in the morning until about four in the afternoon. Not actually on the bus the whole time, but that's how long it took to get up to Calgary after a stop in Lethbridge and a stop in Claresholm for chicken. Then we went and had a dinner with a recent convert and her boyfriend. I have a feeling like I am going to get a lot of pasta here. haha. Then we went shopping and that was pretty much the end of the day. Then Thursday was pretty busy. We had weekly planning which is always confusing on your first week in an area. You are trying to learn everything about everyone and you only have three hours to do it and then you have to try to remember it all! haha. Then we had a couple lessons with people. A recent convert who just moved from Montreal and a Ward Missionary who wants to know what she can do to help and our Ward Mission leader who talked a lot about mission stories. We had dinner with the Stake President. That was amazing steak. Probably won't get that too often anymore. Then we had a meeting with the Stake President. We meet with him every Thursday night to talk about missionary work in the stake. The Zone leaders used to do that with him, but then they combined this zone with the south zone so there used to be zone leaders in our area but now there isn't. It's us. So we go and talk to him about missionary work... intimidating. haha. Sometimes the Spanish missionaries come as well, but they didn't this week. Friday we had a meeting with a guy named Chris Mcleur. You'll probably hear about him a lot. Apparently we meet with him twice a week. He is a recent convert and is a little less accountable, but really spiritual at times. We are helping him with a lot of things and so it should be fun to see how that goes. We had a couple other lessons as well.

OK, so then Saturday. Oh my. We had a district meeting in the morning and we were talking about Jesus Christ and focusing more on him and in the middle of it all this classic homeless man walks in and asks to use the bathroom. So we let him and then we talk to him for a while and he tells us he was beat up 12-24 hours ago and he doesn't remember anything about his life before he thought he had some cracked ribs and a broken jaw bone. So we asked if he wanted an ambulance but he didn't so we asked if he wanted some doctors to come and he said sure... then we called an ambulance. haha. He didn't seem to quite be all the way there. When we told him there was an ambulance coming he said he would go outside for a smoke so my companion followed him and that meant so did I. Then he got outside and complained about an ambulance coming and how they scared him and he kept walking away so my companion followed him across this busy street so I did too. Then we called the ambulance back and said he was leaving but they were already almost there so they kept coming. Now I will tell you the rest from the perspective of a member who was coming to clean the church. They were driving up to the church and said oh cool a fire truck... oh cool an ambulance.... look they are pulling into the church.... oh look. There are two missionaries running across the street towards the church... that must be one intense zone conference! haha!! Anyway, when we got there we told the people what he looked like and stuff but they said if he didn't want help there was nothing they could do. So they left. This is also when I found out that firemen also have to stand behind the truck and back their partners out! They look a little cooler then missionaries though. haha. That was my exciting thing for the week. haha.

Then the spiritual highlight was after church on Sunday we went to this house of these two guys who decided on their own that they wanted to come back to church. So they have been for the last couple of weeks. It was awesome. They live in this little apartment in the middle of the industrial park. It was amazing though. We had a lesson and the Spirit was so strong and we even told them that. That the Spirit was amazing in their house. Then they started to tell us how they have been working so hard to get it so the Spirit could be there. We had no idea what that meant to them and then they thanked us for being missionaries and being such a great example. It was awesome. It is experiences like that make me so happy to be on a mission. It's so amazing what the church can do for people. It brings so much happiness and joy into our lives and most of us don't even realize it until we have an experience where we lose parts of it. I love the church I really do. And I love being on a mission and I think I will grow to love being in a YSA Ward. I have enjoyed it so far. Thanks for everything you all do for me! I love you all so much! I hope you have all had an amazing week!

Love,
Elder Townsend