August 1st, 2018- SALTLAKE CITY AIRPORT

July 30th, 2018-AB AQUILONE VENIENT El DOMUM

"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

July 23rd, 2018- CONFUSED AT THE GRACE

Dear Friends and Family,

My, my, how the time flies. After this, I only have one more of these to write. Thank you to everyone who read them all this time, and anyone who read any part of this great story I've lived and tried to chronicle throughout it all.

This week I went on an exchange with an Elder from Korea. In South Korea, all men are required to serve in the military for two years. So he served there first, and is on his mission now. He has been around the mission before, so I know him. He is not easy to miss because I'm pretty sure he is single-handedly the most muscular person I have ever met in person. EVER. He is quite large, and quite strong. Anyway, I found myself on an exchange with him this last week. When we woke up in the morning, he said to me, in his developing English, "This is yours," as he handed me a small plastic bottle of mysterious fluid "it will help you build muscle". Come to find out it was some kind of protein mix, and didn't taste half bad, but that is not the worst of it, nor the climax of this little story. We went on to do a pull-up routine he knew, and it was a pretty good workout. Well, after that he said, "Now is death-by-push-up". I wasn't exactly sure what that was, but I had a pretty good guess and it was not something I wanted to be a part of, but his size and enthusiasm made it clear I had no choice. So, to describe what happened next in brief: we did push-ups until I died. The next day I couldn't lift my arms. LITERALLY. The following day they were so sore and stiff, and I still couldn't lift them. Taking off my shirt or putting it on was the hardest part of my day. Today I still have stiffness and feel a little sore, but boy I won't do anything like that ever again. 

So now that we've all had a laugh at Elder Callor's frail physical weakness, let's move on to the important part of this, the latest installment in my mission adventures.

I mentioned a few emails before, or the last one perhaps, about a member I knew from before who came here with her husband and is a completely different person. Well we have met with them a few times, and a lot of old things have come up. While back in one of my previous areas, she was still alone and bitter, and her Bishop asked her to give a talk on the Atonement. I spent many hours trying to help her understand the Atonement, but part of her was resisting what it really meant, because of what it would mean for her and how that would change her future. Well I left some kind of an impact and was able to help her see, and feel from the Spirit, that she was good. That she was really, truly, worth something. Coming here, a year later, she still is trying to finish that talk. Well after meeting with my companion and I at the church with her husband one night, for more than a few hours of talking and explaining, we covered a lot of ground. She was understanding things more and more, but was missing something, something key to her. She couldn't quite express it, but she was repeatedly trying to say that she had felt a dramatic change in her life several times; moments where she had bad feelings and painful memories taken away in an instant. She knew we were trying to explain that was an example of the Atonement in her life, but couldn't quite get her head around it. She couldn't see what grace was and how it was possible because of the Atonement. In a moment of silence, instantly, welling up from within me, I began to sing quietly

"I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,

Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

I tremble to know..."
 

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"Confused at the grace." I said.

Tears were shared, and love was felt. So many years of pain and confusion and loss poured out from her heart and her eyes. What she could relate to above all was how baffled she feels at what has been done for her. That's when it all clicked for her. She went home that night and finished her talk on the Atonement. She felt another chapter of the Lord's love close in her life, and began a new one, eager to continue in her marriage and the rest of her life with His love empowering her all the way.

We don't always know how He does it. Amazing as it is, we know why He does what He does is because of His love. When pain is lifted, burdens lightened, and sorrows comforted, we can't fully comprehend what has been done. We are all, in our own way, "confused at the grace that so fully he proffers [us]". After seeing these changes in myself, some sudden, and others over two years, and even more over a lifetime, my only possible response is to say in exultation, "Oh it is wonderful."

I pray we can all feel and see that in our lives as well.

Until next week,

Love,

Elder Callor

July 16th, 2018- LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

This week I have 4 important items of business:

1) Since we are talking about my last will and testament, I thought you'd all be happy to know the definition of the word "bequeath"

Bequeath (verb)

/bə'kwēTH/

leave (a personal estate or one's body) to a person or other beneficiary by a will.

There ya go. You learned something new, or got a nice reminder :)

2) On Tuesday this week, we went out to eat all-you-can-eat sushi with one of our new converts. Then, that night, some members took us to all-you-can-eat sushi. AGAIN. So we had all we can eat. TWICE. I have grown to modestly enjoy sushi on my mission. Due to recent events, I won't have it for a while.

3) Our bishop, whom, as previously mentioned in another email, is a wonderful man. He was traded to another company to be their CEO in the states. Yesterday the new bishop was called and we had a wonderful party. I related to him in a lot of ways as we celebrated the service he has given to the good people of Canada for a few years.

4) I attended my final zone conference. As per the custom, I and all other missionaries going home bore our testimonies to everyone there. My particular group that came out with me makes up a large part of our mission, and we have each had a distinct and meaningful impact here. The mission is receiving a smaller complement of missionaries than those departing, so everyone is a little panicky wondering what they'll do without us haha. They will be fine, just as we were a year ago when a large group of missionaries went home and we had to rise up and take more responsibility.

Anyway, the point I was getting at is that my testimony was a tad unexpected. I won't lie when I say that I'm very comfortable to bear testimony, or speak in church. This testimony had me somewhat overcome with emotion, which is rare. Although I didn't quite cry, I was definitely filled with feelings of appreciation for what my mission means to me.

This is just another hallmark event that reminds me it's all nearly over. I don't need to remind you all how many days are left. I'm sure you are either savoring each day you have without me haunting you, or counting down the days... or some combination of the two. Either way, I'm excited to see you all.

I can't speak enough of how much I know  that because of Jesus Christ we can change.

Can't wait to see you all, it's coming close :)

Love,

Elder Callor

July 9th, 2018- SYNEDOCHE: A SET OF MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE....AND A HUSBAND DOES TOO

Greetings my distant friends and relatives! (distant geographically, but certainly not distant emotionally)

This week I have three major things to report:

Number one... We got a car! I've been in a bus area for the last 9 weeks and expected for it to be so until I went home, but due to a convoluted story involving other missionaries and car accidents, they had an extra van they didn't know what to do with, so they gave it to us for the rest of this transfer! In other words, I'll be driving a van again until I get home :) It's funny what nine weeks will do to your comfort while driving and your driving ability. I can't imagine serving for two years without driving a car and then trying to get the hang of it again! Lucky for me, I don't have to. We used to always be short on time to get from home to the church and to drop by people we were trying to get in contact with because it takes an hour to get just about anywhere her by bus, but we are a lock more effective with our car here, which is really nice. Plus, who really likes public transit anyway?

Number two... Synecdoche is when you use the name of a part for that of the whole, or the whole for the part. When I call a van "a set of wheels" that's synecdoche. I love english :)

Number three...  This week I had the pleasure of reconnecting with someone I had taught before in a previous area. They were a less active member, and were not popular in their ward. They were notorious for being angry and bitter, and always lashing out at others in unpredictable ways. Through meeting with them, and by the perspective of the Spirit, I was able to see good in them that was hidden by a hardened heart - a result of they themselves being hurt so many times in their life. I had a moment with them when I told them I knew that they were good, a truly good person inside. That was poignant enough for them, and I left that area feeling I had done what I was meant to do there. Later on I eventually found out this person had met a member from a nearby unit and had married them happily. That was some of the least expected but certainly most welcome news for me. I was very happy for them, and felt that my time in their life had ended. Well, little did I know that their new spouse would end up in a hospital in our area, and we would be asked to bring them the sacrament on Sunday. I just want to say I know that the atonement of Jesus Christ can change people. This person had become a fist clenched at the world in bitterness, and the person I met in the hospital on Sunday was a happy, loving, person who was free - free from their own bitterness because of the love of their spouse, and the love of Jesus Christ.

So much can happen in 3 weeks. I'll let you all know what does, and then you can hear more about it from me in person :)

Love,

Elder Callor

July 3rd, 2018- HONEST

I honestly don't remember if I've already used this as subject line yet... If I have, oh well. It's worth repeating haha.

In regards to aforementiond subject line, my companion and I notice graffiti tags around Toronto as we bus from place to place, and my personal favorite says simply, "Honest". This particular tag happens to appear a lot around where we regularly commute, and Elder Martin and I started to take pictures of those that we thought were cool. Well eventually it became a little scavenger hunt we do as we go from place to place. Each time see a different tag we get a picture of it. It's an interesting perspective on the little nooks and crannies of Toronto and is a fun thing to do while we do our work. We've found nearly 20 different locations! If you're interested in seeing them, I sent some pictures of a few different things, among them a hike we went on last Pday, a move we helped with (which I'll explain later), a few pictures of me teaching our english class, and of course a few of the Honest tag pictures.

So Happy Canada Day! We celebrated with a ward BBQ. The actual day itself was Sunday, so we didn't really do much. 

Happy fourth of July! This is the last one I have to miss, thank goodness. Fortunately tomorrow Elder Kimball will get to do an exchange with Elder Martin and I, so the three of us will get to celebrate the fourth together.

Remember when I talked about how I might have helped on the last move of my mission? Well of course because I said that we ended up helping someone else out with a move so everything is still up in the air as to what my "last" is of anything haha. 

That brings me to another point... It was intolerably hot and humid this week. INTOLERABLY HOT AND HUMID. The heat and humidity made what would have been a relatively easy move a lot worse, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. Be prepared to laugh later when you all see me though, I have a lovely tan/burn line in the middle of my neck where my collar is.

Finally, the time really is drawing short, so if any of you plan to mail me anything, you will need to be sending it soon because otherwise it will go to the mission home in Brampton, Ontario, and I will be in Kaysville, Utah, which would be a bit of an issue. So if any of you have anything you want to send me before I'm home, try and do so this week. If not, then we can all just have a good time when I see you each again :)

Love,

Elder Callor