Time Flies When You Are in the Service of the Lord

The days are starting to fly by. It legit feels like it was just yesterday that I wrote my last email. But anyways I had a great week. We got two new investigators this week and I also went on exchanges so it was sweet. 

The first investigator we found is a sick (cool) dude named James. He has a dog that barks really loud. But anyways he is very open minded about religion and really likes the plan of salvation which is awesome. The second friend we found was through a referral from the temple president in Calgary who gave it to us through freaking President Shields. He called us Friday morning and whenever we get a call from the Mission President we tend to freak out a little bit. But it was pretty sweet. The Calgary dude had a friend and he talked to his friends mom about religion a lot and the friends mom lives in Smiths Falls. Her name is Lisa and she is super nice. Just like James, she really likes the plan of salvation. It was pretty great. 

Yesterday as we were driving to church we saw a truck that is always in front of the Tim Horton's, and the guy was there literally all freaking day. We drove by Timmy's quite a bit yesterday and he was there every time we drove by. He was there for 12 hours. I guess it isn't bad if that's what he likes but it was still hilarious. 

The exchange was pretty hilarious as well.  The missionary was weird as all get out but he taught me a lot. He really just loves the people he teaches and doesn't really care what people think of him. He really just loved them no matter who they were. It helped me to realize I need to love the people I teach. 

A scripture of the week is John 11:35--Jesus wept. It is a simple scripture but it shows that Jesus was human and even though he was perfect he still experienced emotions. I think it can help all of us relate to the Savior more, because He is human and we can strive to be closer to Him every day. And a way to do that is with the new Christmas thing the church is doing. If you haven't gotten on mormon.org in the last week or so you totally should cause the church has started their new Christmas initiative which is all about being like the Savior.

I hope everyone had a great week!

Loves 
Elder Talbot

Zone Council

Zone Council pizza buffet (the business lost money on this day)

The reflection of the moon on a local lake

Spider the size of a Oreo

Elder Talbot says the temp ranges from -2 to +3C.  But it isn't too cold, that's only 32F which is still fairly warm.  To him....

Happy Tracting in the Snow!

Well it snowed for the first time. Super excited. It's gonna be great cause all I do I tract so it'll be a party walking in snow all day. This week was super good. We got to teach a lot of awesome people. There is a recent convert that we are teaching. Their life has gotten absolutely crazy since they joined the church. It has been amazing to see how positive they are staying and how much they love this gospel. They also have two really cute pugs. Probably going to send pictures of the pugs next week. 

We were teaching this dude from Egypt, and after the lesson we gave him an Arabic book of Mormon. Arabic is this weird squiggly language. and he just translated a scripture perfectly to English on the spot. It was nuts. 

The Branch here is super nice. We had 12 meal appointments in the last week. Freaking crazy. I've had to cook myself food twice since I got to Smith Falls. It's great. Being in a branch everyone gets so much closer to each other. All of the members are such good friends with each other. 

There is a Missionary couple in the area as well and they are super nice. They are pretty much my grandparents. They take good care of the branch as well as us. 

At all the meal appointments we would share little messages to the members after and most of the time we wouldn't prepare at all. And I would say random stuff that comes to my mind. Most of the time it didn't even make sense to me but I guess it made sense to them. Haha. It just showed me that as a missionary if I have the spirit with me they will learn what the Lord wants them to learn.
A scripture this week is Alma 18:27 And he said Yea.  (A favorite scripture he once saw on a sign at the BYU Las Vegas Bowl game. Funny!)

I hope everyone has a great week!
Loves, Elder Talbot

Fishing Out in the Sticks

Well there is nothing out here at all and I love it. I went from one of the smallest size and most populated areas to one of the bigger areas and smallest populations. It's super great. There is seriously almost nothing in Smith Falls. I think there is a train museum but that is it. 

This week was a blast.  We mostly tracted and contacted which is super super fun in 4 degrees Celsius. We found a lot of super awesome potential investigators last week so this week is going to be super awesome. A cool story happened Wednesday or something. We were walking to an area that is good for talking to random people and there was a house that Me and Elder Olson walked by that we both felt like stopping at. The family inside of the house was super interested. The way they described their religious ness is "in-between" religions. They were super nice and hopefully being baptized soon. Elder Olson is a pretty cool guy.  He is from Calgary and has been serving for a little over a year. He has served in most of the small towns in Canada so he's fairly used to the small ness of Smith Falls. We have a lot in common so he's pretty easy to talk to.
We are covering a branch and it's my first time even being in a branch and it's interesting. The building is super small and can probably fit inside my home wards gym. There isn't very much people there but they are all super nice people. Branches have a lot of weird people but so do wards, it is just easier to hide the weird people in wards.
Seeing how much this church means to people has helped my testimony so much. It is seriously such a rock in peoples lives and mine as well. A message that we shared a lot this week has been on prayer. One of the things that has helped me most on my mission has been prayer. Heavenly Father has always been there for me and is always helping me out. There isn't ever a time that He doesn't ever want to hear from you, and it's awesome.

I hope everyone has a super great week. 

Loves 

Elder Talbot ​

Filipino spread, Elder Talbot loves the chicken adobo

Elder Hernandez

Elder Talbot and his new companion Elder Olson

Fishing at the Falls

Well I got transfered and I am going to Smith Falls. Literally know nothing about it and I go there tomorow. It's going to be awesome. It is on the East border of my mission and I have heard it is colder than Toronto. My companion's names is Elder Olsen. I am fairly confused about him cause I think there are 4 or five different ones so I've heard a lot of different things about different Elder Olsens.  Elder Jensen is getting transfered as well he is going to Weston so I won't be able to see him all the time. Scarborough is unique cause it is so close to so many missionaries and I have been told by old missionaries that I probably wont have that kind of interaction with missionaries for the rest of my mission unless I go back to North York Zone. 

This last week absolutly flew by. We had six week follow ups on Thursday, which is for all the new missionaries that came out with me. They talk about missionary stuff there and just make sure none of us are dying. Cause that would be bad. After the meeting we go through the temple with the mission president. The Temple is always such a cool experience and it was especially awesome being with the mission president. 

Yesterday was fast Sunday and it was a party. There was a ton of people that bore their testimonies and they were all super awesome. It is pretty incredible how strong some people's faiths are and how much it grows through the hard times. I've met some really awesome people in Scarboro and I will definitely miss a lot of them but I am so excited for Smith Falls.  

A scripture this week is D&C 122:7-9 

7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

 8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

 9 Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Loves Elder Talbot

Scarborough Pictures