January 22nd, 2018- ROPIN'

Dear Friends and Family and anybody else that bothers to read this stuff,

This week I only have two things that I can really think of to share with you.

Number one: We were able to watch the broadcast earlier this week when the new First Presidency addressed us and that was a really neat experience. I love prophets. I love studying them, knowing who they are, what they taught, what they testified, and what they did. We are very lucky to have a living prophet and I am grateful for his life of service.

Number two: My companion is a rodeo champ. I've seen videos of him jumping off a horse he was riding and tackling a young bull to the ground. He's a nutso! He has a little toy cow and some ropes he brings with him everywhere so when we're in our apartment we spend time ropin' this little cow and it's pretty fun haha. I must say, I'm starting to get pretty good! My rodeo skills are and forever will be zero, but at least I can rope a little cow though ;)

I appreciate everyone's correspondence and I love hearing from all of you. I hope you have a stellar week!

Love,

Elder Callor

January 15th, 2018....HOBOS

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages,

My have I got a story for you.

So we have two Elders in our zone, and they have an investigator that lives about an hour and a half away from them. They drove out to see him, as per usual. Well this investigator lives completely off the grid, and has  a huge driveway that doesn't get plowed. Well naturally, they got stuck. Out of phone service with no way to contact anyone, they ended shoveling the whole driveway. When that didn't work, to make a long story short, THEY SLEPT IN THEIR CAR. Yes. They slept in their car. Well they called us the next morning when someone drove by, called CAA (Canadian equivalent of AAA) and had them towed home. We didn't whether to laugh or to tell them to never do it again. So we did both haha. Anyway we call them the hobos now, and it's all good fun.

Ironically enough though, one week previous they had to come and pick us up on our way to district meeting because we couldn't make it all the way. Whenever it gets beneath about -20 degrees Celsius overnight our car engine won't keep itself cool (likely because the antifreeze freezes, even though that doesn't make any sense haha) so it overheats and quits working. Even if we start it early and let it warm up, it still doesn't work. We've needed a new catalytic converter for a while but some ding-dong missionaries in the past put diesel in the car for some reason so we have to wait to see if we can somehow make the warranty work. So pray that we can drive everywhere we need to.

Last but not least, this week our phone actually started working with data and everything. I remember the first call we made from it clearly. My companion had the phone and I remember the anticipation as we heard the first ring, and once the Elders on the other line picked up, we jumped in triumph at the discovery of technology in missionary work haha. I know Alexander Graham Bell may have been excited about the first phone call of history, but probably not as excited as we were. (He's a Canadian by the way, Bell is one of the largest phone networks in Canada that's named after him.The other is Rogers, both would be similar to Verizon and AT&T.)

Also the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh was a bear from Winnipeg in Canada that they named Winnie after Winnipeg, so there's your Canadian trivia for the day. :)

Also, I love y'all, and that's your daily dose of love :) Thanks for being great and supporting me on this great adventure I'm having. I love hearing about all of your adventures, so keep having them :)

Love,

Elder Callor

January 8th, 2017....PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE TONE

So it's 0 degrees Celsius outside and my companion and I are burning up! We've been freezing out here in Kingston and it's finally "warmed up" a little haha :)

As I type this I can hear the faint sound of notifications reminding me that I HAVE A SMARTPHONE. Wow that's really weird. I've had it for about a week now and I still don't know what I'm doing ha. Not only is Samsung something I'm not really used to, I've just never had a smartphone! My companion hates smartphones so basically we're the two worst people to be chosen to teach others how to use smartphones haha. In any case we are trying our best. Pray for us, because in a few weeks we'll be giving smartphones to the whole mission and it's going to be a madhouse for a little while.

Elder Woolstenhulme and I really have nothing in common but we get along so well because the thing we have most in common is our desire to do the Lord's work, and to bless the lives of the missionaries in our zone. We are as busy as all get out with who knows what, and we're loving it.

This week we'll be having interviews with President, helping some people move, eating a lot of great dinners, and just living life :) I hope you all have a good week ahead of you, and I hope you are all still thinking about your New Year's Resolutions and how you can achieve them. Don't let the stereotype that no one keeps their resolutions keep you from progressing! In whatever way you can, large or small, choose a resolution and just stick to it. It's the folly of our world today to assume that just because something hasn't happened in the past you can't try to achieve it in the future. Along with a lot of other follies, but I don't have time to mention those haha. One thing I do notice that is positive in the world today is that everyone I seem to meet (with the exception of a rare few) is trying to do the right thing - trying to be kind and loving in any way they can. Not everyone agrees on how to do that, but at least we all agree it's important. Remember everyone you meet is trying to do the right thing, and see if you can find ways that you agree with them, and I'm sure your social interactions this week will go much better :)

Anyway, I'm done babbling about socio-philosophy  now haha.

I love you all and appreciate all you do. Stand by the next few months and await the much-anticipated missionary facebook account! I'll keep you posted as it comes. . . Get it? Keep you POSTED haha :)

Love,

Elder Callor

January 3rd, 2018....2018

So I wasn't transferred! I'm staying in Kingston. Elder Martin left and I'll be working with Elder Woolstenhulme. (wool-sten-hume) This is his first transfer as a zone leader. He comes from a town by Park City called Oakley. He is genuine and Elder Morris (my companion two transfers previous to this) trained him more than a year ago so that's cool to serve with him.

2017 was a whole calendar year when I was a missionary. Wow. I come home this year. Wow.

Can I believe it? Nope. Can you believe it? Who knows. 

I do know it's gone by so fast and I'm starting to hold onto my experiences just a little tighter because my soul is starting to sense them slipping away from me. It's a bitter sweet moment to stand on the edge of a year; to look back and see a winding path behind you, a path you can hardly believe you traveled through, and to look ahead at the exhilarating ambiguity of an open sky in the year ahead.

I want all of you to know I am continually astonished at your progress over this year, and people on the home-front tend to forget that missionaries change over their missions, but so do you. You have all become even better and loving people and I'm excited to come back and be a part of your lives after I've worked myself to exhaustion for the Lord. Hopefully that day will be soon, but not too soon that I'll have to let go of what I have here haha.

Anyway, I know I'm painfully sentimental but that's really just about all I have to report on. Anything else noteworthy would be that the zone leaders (I'm one of those guys) will be getting their smart phones tomorrow. We'll be educating the rest of the mission on how to use them after our big training meeting tomorrow so wish me luck. I've never had a smart phone so I'll be like a grandpa on there but oh well haha. I am really grateful I'm learning how to use one out here though so that when I'm back I'll already have good habits and methods in store on how to use technology in my life and not be overcome by it. I hope we all strive for that same thing! We are growing up in an age of technology so I hope that all of you are thinking about this year as a year to learn to be in control of  your technology and all other habits, which is a really timely thought considering it's New Years haha.

I love you all and wish you the best year in the world - even though I'm sure no year will be better for you than last year since that was the one year you never saw me haha. Really though, if there's anything I've learned it's that time rolls on in spite of us all, and if anything could be more consistent, that would be our Savior's love. I hope you enjoy your time and feel His love.

Love,

Elder Callor

December 27th, 2017- MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS

Elder Callor was tired, to begin with.

(That's my attempt at mimicking "A Christmas Carol")

Hellooo everyone!

So what have I done this week? I'm not really sure, it all went by so fast!

Well the nativity pageant here in Kingston really needed help so we brought in ALL THE MISSIONARIES IN THE KINGSTON ZONE! It was pretty fun to do all kinds of the different roles, but really I was the only person besides the sisters that was there every night haha. It was a great experience and really funny trying to fit 14 missionaries into our 2 bedroom apartment for Christmas eve.

Another funny thing. We almost rear-ended someone. I was trying to figure out how to tell you but I just decided it'd be best to just say it like that haha. Someone two cars ahead of us wasn't watching the light and stopped really fast at the intersection but all of us were following too close and because of the snow we stopped but kept going so they almost rear-ended the car in front of them but stopped in time, we couldn't so I veered into the convenient 6 foot tall snowbank to our left and stopped in that ha. Everyone is safe and sound and I'm definitely being good with my winter driving :)

Other than that we shoveled snow for people Christmas night with the last bit of our time and it was really good to serve and to get some nice shoveling done :)

Other than that I am just so happy I got to talk with everyone for Christmas. I can't believe I only have one call left. Time has gone by so fast, but luckily I have enough of it ahead of me, it'll all be okay :) I'm sorry I run into technical problems with every call and I'm sorry everyone didn't get all the time they wanted, but I'm glad I got to see you at all! Christmas is about family, and I got to see mine, so life is good! I'm grateful to be helping people find their Heavenly family, because that is something the world needs really desperately right now. I hope all of us can try and connect others to our Heavenly family through love and service.

Love,

Elder Callor

                                              

                                             (Apparently Elder Callor got a photo editing program

                                                   and has been messing around with it)

December 18th, 2017- DINNER FOR TWO

Hello all!

So you may be wondering why this is coming really late today. I'm wondering the same thing.

So I don't have a lot of time because we've had a crazy CRAZY day.

Needless today a lot of you may also wonder about the weather here. It's been snowing a ton and it's really cold. Unlike last year, this year we are having a typical Canadian winter so all the cold and snow you imagine Canada would have, we're having it haha.

So earlier this week we had a baptism, I'll be sure to send pictures!

While doing our all-the-lessons-in-one lesson we were showing the young girl what baptism would be like and Elder Martin my companion was demonstrating with her foster father who is in the district presidency... well Elder Martin totally dropped the father right on the ground while dipping him! It was so hilarious. I was dying. He was so flustered and helped him back up but the rest of the lesson was just silly from that point. Luckily enough he still likes us and we actually left with a couch that day so win-win haha.

Some Elders were having some medical problems and ended up staying in Kingston all day waiting in the ER and didn't get to eat after breakfast until 9:30 pm, so we made them a beautiful spaghetti dinner and waited until they made it to our apartment to stay the night... once they got to our door we shut off the lights, started some dinner music and lit the candles. We served them like waiters and it was really funny haha.

Finally, last night we went to see a woman in the hospital who requested a blessing. From the looks of her condition one would think she has no reason to be happy, but she was the most cheerful old woman I've ever met. "Happiness is a choice" is certainly a lesson I learned from her. Well just as we were about to leave, she started to sing the song "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" from the Children's Songbook. We sang with her in the quiet of the hospital. In those darkened halls wet from snow on the floor with a woman so frail she was just about to blow away in the wind, we sang a song about God's love for us, and we fill that whole hospital with Heavenly light I haven't ever felt that strong. It was a very touching moment, one I will never forget.

I can't wait to here from all of you in a week, and I hope you all find ways to spread some light this Christmas.

Merry Christmas! I know Jesus lives, and I'm so happy to celebrate His birth.

Love,

Elder Callor

December 12th, 2017- SURPRISE

Hey everybody,

This week I went a little backward and emailed you individually first. I was unsure what to put on here haha. It feels like we've been busy as all get out and I just have no clue what we've actually done. I often forget what is now normal life for me is still interesting (at least somewhat) to all of you haha.

The most prominent news today would be that one of the members of the district presidency here adopted an 11 year old girl whose parents are both non-members. They were planning on just having her baptized the normal way, but didn't realize because she's older than 8 and her parents aren't members she is technically a convert to the church so we as missionaries have to teach her like anyone else ha. We found that out on Sunday and her baptism is scheduled for this next week so we've got a lot of work to do this week! Life goes on out here in Stony Kingston, and we do the Lord's work each day. I'm grateful for the knowledge the gospel gives us, and I hope we all get enough time to ponder it.

We went caroling yesterday which was a lot of fun, and did great to help me feel like it's Christmas time ha. I can't wait to see all of my beautiful family as Christmas comes around!

Till then :)

Love,

Elder Callor

December 5th, 2017- VENGEANCE ON THE SINK

Dear everyone,

Season's greetings! First and foremost all of you should participate in #Lighttheworld okay? Okay. Now that you've committed to that, I know your Christmas will be much better. Why let it just be another season where you get caught up in how busy you are and buying the right thing and waiting for snow to come when you can just make memories doing good things?

Secondly, we were driving down the road earlier this week at about 8:53 PM on our way home, and we say a naked guy running down the street. I said "Elder, that's a naked man," to which he responded with an unintelligible grunt thinking I was just saying something weird. I then said "Elder, that is a real life naked man," He was just running down the street, and he looked pretty scared so we assume he lost a bet or something. In any case, Kingston has got some weird stuff going on!

Beyond that odd situation, our bathroom sink has been clogged with gross hairy water since I got here a week ago. I don't know if many of you remember, but almost a year ago I also had a clogged kitchen sink. When I tried to fix that with a wire coat hanger I broke the pipe and flooded the kitchen. Well this time I thought I'd try it again, and I CONQUERED THE SINK! That sink drains good and proper now, and I feel pretty good about myself. Yet again I've been cleaning this filthy apartment bit by bit. I enjoy it too, and this hasn't been as bad as some others ha. 

Anyway, I've had a great week. As a little side thought: I want all of you to know that the leadership of this church sacrifices so much. Many of us may find it easy to complain about the things they do and even who they are, and forget there is a real person beyond what we see behind the pulpit. I hope all of us will remember and honor the sacrifices of our local leaders such as Bishops, Relief Society and Elder's Quorum Presidents, and also all of our church-wide leaders who almost literally work themselves to death for the Lord. I look back on my last few years before coming on my mission and I can see the little things the leadership in the church did for me specifically to ensure I would be ready to serve a mission, and I find myself really grateful for all they've done. I hope all of us can remember what they've done and express our gratitude for their service, which all too often goes without appreciation.

And speaking of appreciation, I appreciate all of you. Thank you for all you do.

Love,

Elder Callor