June 31st, 2017- ALWAYS CRY OVER SOUR MILK

Ladies and Gentleman! Boys and Girls! Kids of all ages! Come one! Come all!

Elder Callor finally has time to email.

We were just at a small library with only 15 minute computers and then bused over to this one which has more, and now we have library cards so we can email. All is well in Zion :)

So this week. Wow, it was quite the blur! Mostly more talking to all kinds of people, avoiding the suffocating humidity and heat, and serving the Lord. One experience proves a bit more memorable though...

So we had this old media referral for some guy, and with some time to kill in between appointments we decided to drop by and make sure he got the Book of Mormon that he requested a few months ago. Well long story short we got into his apartment building without him buzzing us in, but we ran into him right in front of his door just as he was ready to get home. This guy was a short and stocky Albanian with poor English and a thick stereotypical Russian sounding accent. He was also missing a few screws but we deal with plenty of people like that haha. Anyway, he said some relatively incoherent and hard to follow things due to his mental state and also in part to his English. Anyway, after that he proceeds to pour Elder Moldenhauer and I two big glasses of this thick, white, cottage cheese looking stuff in a glass. He goes to get some for himself, and all the while he is preparing it, Elder Moldenhauer and I are praying and watching him to make sure he isn't poisoning us and trying to keep cool. Well he sits down and Elder Moldenhauer pulls a fast one and feigns lactose-intolerance. I'm sure the Albanian didn't understand what he meant but basically just took it that he didn't want to drink any. So here I am, holding a cool cup of mysterious liquid and here is this Albanian holding it after just taking a big swig adorned with a classic white-mysterious-milk-mustache. "Cheers!" he says excitedly, and gulp. I take a full drink of sour yogurt. Think one step between yogurt and cottage cheese. Just stinky sour stale nasty in glass. I hold back tears, set the glass on the table, we say a quick prayer, wish our new friend luck on his trip back to Albania to eat meat with his dad, and go on our way.

Just another day in Toronto!

Thank you all for your love and patience with me these past couple weeks. We're adjusting to life here so hopefully I'll be able to catch back up on all that I've missed.

Love,

Elder Callor

July 24, 2017- SO MUCH

Salutations comrades!

So this Elder Callor coming at you live from a Toronto library. Unfortunately our supervisor for the Family History Center is a little sick, so we can't email there for a while, and consequently we only have a half hour to email here in the library. Sorry I have so many short emails. Hopefully by next week we'll be back to the swing of things.

So, on to business:

My current address is:

1790 Eglinton Ave. E #204

North York, ON

M4A 2T3

Feel free to write me :)

Again, sorry this will have to be brief, I have 10 minutes left to finish this and email some individual people.

This week we made it to our apartment, which has no AC, only fans, and it is super stinking hot. We've got a good system of opening windows at certain times of the day and using the fans in clever places so we're doing alright.

We teach a daily dose english class again, here in Toronto. We have tons of students because there is tons of diversity, it's great.

My new companion is Elder Moldenhauer. He is from Bear Lake, Utah and he is a great guy. He loves to work hard but he definitely has some greenie qualities haha. We have a good time and I'm glad he is my trainee.

There was a storm this week and we literally got soaked through and through, then right as we were gonna make it to our investigators house, lightning struck the telephone pole directly over our heads! Pretty crazy.

I got to try Indian tooth medicine which is basically toothepaste for them but it's essentially dirt you scrub on your teeth with your finger haha. Quite strange

WE also got to see the BYU Idaho Dance Alliance tour performance here in Toronto, a very special treat. It w as a great performance but really made me miss being on the stage!

That's all the time I have, but we're happy and healthy adjusting to riding buses and seeing hundreds of people every day! Thank you all for your kind words and support

Love,

Elder Callor

July 17th, 2017- SUDDENLY, EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED

Okay so hello again everyone.

I'm currently in a mad craze right now after packing a lot last night, getting things ready to travel to London, and preparing to spend the night in Toronto.

Why, you might ask? Well ladies and gentleman, that's because I got assigned to be a District Leader in Don Mills East (Downtown Toronto), while training a new missionary (thus whitewashing that area).

Needless to say I'm pretty honored and a tad stressed.

I won't be driving a car anymore, nor in a large area. My area will probably be a few blocks now haha. I'll be riding buses every day, talking to people all the time, and basically going to almost an entirely different mission haha. So, wish me luck!

Consequently, I won't have a lot of time to email today with travels and all the madness. I was able to read all your emails, and they were lovely. If I find time to email in London I will shoot a few, but don't feel bad if I don't get to you, I definitely will next week.

Next week I'll email you all a picture of me and my trainee, my brand new address, and surely TONS of good stories haha.

I love you all! Stay safe and enjoy your summer.

Love,

Elder Callor

July 10th, 2017- I'M CHRISTIAN BALE....ING HAY

Hello all my friends!

This week, we baled hay on the farm which was quite the experience! We only did 2 and a half acres but we were on an antique wagon being pulled by an antique Ford tractor pulling an antique hay bale. Needless to say things went a little slower. Plus our new convert who owns the farm had previously gotten stung twice by his honey bees right in between his eyes so his seeing wasn't the best (not to mention is allergic to all types of grasses, why he is a farmer of all types of grasses, I'll never know haha). He was driving in some funny loops around the farm ha. I hope you all like the video I sent of us riding around, it was a great evening. We also helped them prepare for a family wedding and peeled 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 potatoes. By that I mean a lot of potatoes. But it was really fun and we got to have the leftover scalloped potatoes after so it's all good in the neighborhood! 

Yesterday we saw a terrible fire near downtown Sarnia there was pretty much all of Sarnia's Fire Department there along with plenty of Policeman and Ambulances. We pulled over and said a prayer for them, so we hope it turns out alright.

Unfortunately not a lot happened for us on the missionary side of things. Just riding bikes and knocking doors. Which may seem pretty ordinary or "routine" but let me tell you it's been fun even though we haven't had much success. We mostly just have fun these days working hard, and there's something relieving and beautiful about that. I suppose I've learned there is good value in being content with what may seem to be "ordinary" life. The sooner we quite expecting miraculous events and greatness, or some monumental trial, and just breathe a little and enjoy the day, things seem to be much less anxiously anticipated. I'm grateful for every day, and I hope this Summer helps you all feel that too.

Love,
Elder Callor

July 4th, 2017- THE SESQUICENTENNIAL..AND...IT'S 8:15

Greetings all you Americans out there!

This week has been a roller coaster of Summer madness! It's been way fun, and a lot has happened so bear with me here.

To start off, just after I emailed last week, we had a fire in our backyard that night and roasted marshmallows. We can pretty much do that whenever we want, so it's pretty nice. 

The night after, we were just sitting in the back enjoying the evening before bed, and we saw quite a few fireflies dancing in the shrubs at the edge of the yard. It was awesome to see those little miraculous bugs again.

So because Sarnia is right by the U.S. border, the bridge is a big deal, and sort of symbolizes a union between our two countries. Thus the 1st of July being Canada day, and the 4th being Independence Day, are really popular on both sides of the river. The amount of people coming to see the parade on the 1st was astounding! It almost matched how many come out to good ol' Kaysville to see the parade there. The parade wasn't exactly magnificent, but we weren't really there to watch it either. The beginning was pretty impressive because they had this bagpipe/drumming band perform a really cool dancing musical opening ceremony. Sadly I couldn't really get pictures of any of that because we aren't supposed to look like tourists or anything, but I'll definitely remember it all! Plus it's in the good ol' handy-dandy journal just in case. Anyway, afterwards we went out and handed out A TON of cards to people at the booths and things in a big park in the city. Then we got rained on. Then we got dumped on. THEN WE DROWNED. It rained so much haha. It was sort of funny to see everyone all in their summer tanktops and shorts all running around trying not to get soaked, and here we are in shirts and ties just walking like nothing matters haha.

We met a guy at an apartment who was so drunk he fell right out of his seat because he stood up too fast and hit his head but it was okay because he told us he was a roofer for 40 years - he's used to hitting his head haha. After that silly introduction, he told us about how his kids died while he was in jail, and how he lost his faith all that time ago (in the 80's) and how he's looking for it again. He committed to come to church and we're excited to possibly see him there! I know God led us to him.

Yesterday while riding my bike, I lifted my left arm to check the time to make sure we would start heading home on time, and promptly fell into the most graceful barrel roll ever performed. I'm not even being sarcastic, I fell right of my bike, rolled onto the grass, and landed in a perfect sitting position like I planned the whole thing. As soon as I stopped moving, I checked the time for sure and yelled to my companion as he passed by me, "It's 8:15!" He about fell off his bike too because he was laughing so hard. Shortly after that someone yelled out their car and told us to "Get a real job!" We yelled back, "Our visas won't let us!" :)

Humor makes life so much more bearable. I could've said this week that I got rained on, yelled at, and fell off my bike, but honestly everything was just too darn funny to be upset about. I didn't even realize I could've looked at it so negatively until I put it all on this email. I'm just grateful our Father in Heaven has blessed us with the power to pull a laugh out of life when it could get tough. Not to mention when things are fun, it opens us up to see the blessings in our lives. Everybody out to have a good, hearty, side-splitting laugh this week. :)

Happy Independence Day everyone! I miss my country dearly, and even more so the people I lived with in it. I'm grateful for our country, and the one I'm in right now too, and I hope you all enjoy the festivities today! God Bless America, and Canada too.

Love,

Elder Callor

July 26th, 2017- WE CAN BAPTIZE U2 AND THE PARABLE OF THE BIKE

Brothers and Sisters!

I'm so happy to be emailing you this week. As summer progresses I have felt a brightness lift me up and make my mission more enjoyable than I thought it ever could be. Everyone here in Sarnia is out renovating, buying new things, changing their lives, etc. Summer really gets us all excited to start new things and enjoy life. Everyone back home is definitely doing the same. I've gotten some great pictures and videos of all of you doing fun things and it was definitely welcome this week. Home doesn't feel a year away, it feels like it's right in my heart. Pardon my cliche but that's what I really feel at the moment. While it could be hard to see all this, today I've been ecstatic to see all of you so happy, living your lives and enjoying this beautiful world God has given us. Make this Summer a great one, but don't forget to turn to others in service like I mentioned a few weeks ago.

This week the bishop of Sarnia ward went to a U2 concert in Toronto. It's an anniversary concert so they performed all of Joshua Tree. I love U2. A lot. He has been sure to tease me with videos of the concert and stories of all the cool stuff they did. Plus the Lumineers opened for them so apparently the whole thing was just spectacular. Pretty much the only thing worth missing a U2 concert including a performance of the full album Joshua Tree would be a mission. He said that we could see them perform if we just taught and baptized them so I said that's the plan. I'll send you pictures of the baptism and our personal concert next week ;) Really though, the bishop here is great. We love him and his family for working with us and supporting us. Always remember to be grateful for your bishop's. Growing up in the church we seem to not understand how unusual it is for someone to give so freely of their time to a commitment such as that. Thank your bishop's this week for their service. Many people run into problems with disagreeing on what their bishop says, but really, they are not all perfect, but they are all ordained as judges in Israel to help us be ministered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for their holy calling.

This week our nine-year-old investigator agreed to be baptized. We went really slow with teaching her to make sure she fully understood what the commitment of baptism means, and after all my time in Sarnia the Spirit testified that she is finally ready. Unfortunately due to summer plans and other things, she likely couldn't be baptized before this transfer ends, and I'll likely end up being transferred. While I may miss the chance for my first baptism, I am so grateful to have been a part of her spiritual process, and anyway, we're not 100% sure about it not happening soon so we'll see :).

Earlier this week, we were riding our bikes, and I was just getting really tired. Elder Gutierrez was far ahead of me, and I started to wonder why I wasn't as fit as I thought I was. I was sort of ashamed thinking I should AT LEAST be able to keep up with my companion. After we rode across all of Sarnia, I got off and inspected the bike, and had my companion ride it. THE BIKE WAS BROKEN. I felt a whisper in my mind and heart say: "I love you because you were still pedaling" As I ponder on the meaning of this experience, I realize, (and hope all of you realize) that in this life, things are not perfect. Our bikes won't always work, i.e., we have imperfect bodies, people make imperfect decisions, we won't always be doing as well as we think we should, but our responsibility is what God expects of us: To keep pedaling. If you feel like you're not doing enough, your bike may be broken. Turn to Christ to get it fixed, but remember that he loves you because you're pedaling.

Love,

Elder Callor

July 19th, 2017- TONS OF ROCKS AND FATHER'S DAY

Happy Father's Day!

Thank you so much for every father figure in my life. I was blessed to have wonderful grandparents, brothers who have become excellent fathers, and the best dad in the world. I love you all and I'm grateful for all you've done for me.

I was blessed with the opportunity to speak in church yesterday, which meant a lot because I remember the first time I was asked to speak I was no more than 6 years old and it was on Father's Day too. My companion, our current investigator, and myself all had some pretty spiritual experiences during my talk. I'm grateful for the outpouring of the Spirit in my mission experience.

Apart from that, we went to some pretty neat wetlands earlier this week, (I sent a few pictures of it).

We also got to help plant a corn crop on the farm which was a pretty fun time! I felt like a true blue farmer! I got sunburnt in the best of ways :)

We also got to help out with the seminary graduation here, which was stake wide and was Harry Potter themed. I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures because it was pretty well done! We spent a ton of time hanging candles with fishing line in the gym. It had all the tables for each house, decorations all over. They did a great job and the kids had a blast. The activities included quidditch, wizard chess, obstacle courses, and much more! It was a fun activity.

Lastly we helped the members we live with shovel two tons of rocks to make a foundation for their shed in the back. That was pretty fun and we are just so happy to have all the great service opportunities we find here in Sarnia :)
Love, Elder Callor

July 12th, 2017- TRAINING WHEELS ARE OFF

Hello my fantastic friends and family!

So this week has been such a spectacular one!

To start, the farm has been really taking off, and by that I mean we've been doing tons of great works. The piggies have been growing big and meaty so there will be plenty more bacon soon! We've moved around huge trailers, fixed two huge tractors (literally pulling out and putting back in the axles from under the front of them) and all other kinds of great activities.

During this week, my trainer Elder Layton went home because he finished his 2 year service. He's in St. George now, and I'm really gonna miss him. He became one of my best friends here on the mission, and in life, and someone I really have looked up to as a missionary.

The best part of this week, though, has been that we got our bikes fixed, got two helmets, and a bike lock, and we have been biking like madmen across all of Lambton county!!! Being on our bikes has opened up a ton of opportunities to talk to more people, and saved a lot of our kilometers for our car. Just yesterday we met a woman who met with the missionaries over 10 years ago and was so happy to see us. She is experiencing a lot of family court issues and really recognized the Spirit in her life before, and during when we met with her. She knew God sent us to help her out, and was happy to talk to us. Her 20-something year old daughter came up too and talked with us. She was less "golden" but definitely was fine to speak with us too, and even more definitely needs some direction in her life. Elder Gutierrez and I have said many prayers of gratitude for the blessing of finding these people and feeling the work hasten. All good things come from God. (If you didn't notice, the subject line is 'TRAINING WHEELS OFF' because my trainer went home and we got bikes. I'm pretty proud I can be clever once or twice in my lifetime haha)

Other than that, not a whole lot has happened around here. I'm always happy to hear from everyone, and I appreciate all your love and support. Have a great beginning to your Summer!  ...Actually, side-note: 

Summertime makes it easy to get caught up in ourselves and our busy plans and partying. If you know me, you know I love busy plans and partying, but I have also learned that it's at times like that (when we are doing our best and/or things are going our way) that it's most important to turn to others and help them out. Make this Summer one you remember because of the good you did for others! If you really want to be good then this won't just be a challenge from an occasionally over-zealous missionary, but something you are already striving to do as a disciple of Christ. I don't mean to sound presumptuous or anything, but I just hope that what I share will help someone feel more inclined to turn outward and help others, I know it will bless your lives according to how much you turn out and give. Don't let "business" convince you that you don't have time or ability to turn outward. Get creative. Make time. Make the effort. You won't regret it!

Anyway, I love you all, and wish you the best. Thank you for being the greatest love and support I could ever ask for!

Love,

Elder Callor