Dec 25, 2016 - Christmas Skype Call

Highlight of Christmas, hands down. He said, "Serving a mission is the hardest thing I have ever done," but he looked so happy, so full of life and so much more like himself than I've ever seen him. He also said, "The trial of my faith has taught me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. All of it." 

From Dad

Hi Josh,

We LOVED talking to you yesterday! You look fantastic and I'm thrilled by the strength and conviction I feel when you bear your testimony. Thank you for that strength and example.

We had a really fun Christmas Sunday. Because church was at 10 and Steph had to be at the airport at 9 am, we decided to start a bit early which was of course totally fine with the little girls. Stephanie decided to have a sleep over in the girls room and it was a good thing as the girls had a bit of a hard time sleeping (go figure :) ). Mom and I were pretty prepared this year and had the presents all wrapped and ready to go the day before. So it was fun to let Steph and Sam do some Christmas elf errands to pick up surprise presents from the Patrick's place (e.g. a Big teddy bear for the girls and you Mom went and got me a nice compressor I had no idea about).

About 5:30 we could hear the girls squeals as they came out to get their stockings and saw the big teddy bear. By 6 am Mom and I were enjoying the delighted voices by the tree and decided to join the fun. This year the kids helped to distribute the gifts. Sam especially has developed a knack for leadership and led the charge making sure everyone got equal chances to open gifts. It was super fun to have Stephanie there to add to the squeals and excitement. We really enjoyed her 10 days here with us.

After the gifts, we decided to keep the Christmas breakfast tradition and whipped up some crepes and sausages. Yum!

After breakfast we donned our Sunday best, including dollar store Christmas ties we found in our stockings. Then off to the airport to send Steph back to be with her sweetheart in Los Vegas where Tyler is already hanging out with James doing some climbing. They are planning a fun trip down your way for the week between Christmas and New Years.

Church was a nice 1 hour program of music and readings. Most of the family participated in a nice choir number with Ben playing the piano.The news of the day was Russell Jeffrey proposing on Christmas Eve to Sandra Rodriguez. Surprise, surprise, right?

Sunday afternoon we were relieved when our Septic contractor came to install a winter fix for our septic pump problems allowing us to actually flush our toilets again. Only Mom had to brave the outhouse this time! 

A fun afternoon making a new soup (Assiago Bisque) and then playing new family games (Sorry and Monopoly) rounded out a wonderful Christmas day.As usual, starting any new game there were a few tears and struggles, but this morning when I went in to the girls room, they were playing monopoly!

Today, we take up the 3rd year tradition of spending Grandma and Grandpa's $50 each. Last year as we sat around the table at the food court we kept wondering who wasn't back from shopping only to realize it was you we were missing. I think we'll feel the same this year :)

Hope you have a wonderful 2nd year. Be a good example to your companion and help him endure to the end. It is the Lord's errand, so spend your time wisely.

I'm going to try and share a mission experience every letter, so I'll share that and close.

I recall working in the La Chine area in heart of Montreal. Some of your descriptions of Van Nuys reminded me of that area. Tons of immigrants and lots of walk up subsidized housing. It was in La Chine that I learned the power of street contacting. Coming from the south shore of Montreal where it was mostly residential and we drove a car, taking the bus and metro and being surrounded by people all the time was a whole new world (this was my second area). Very quickly I had to get comfortable talking to as many people as possible. I carried around a small notepad for names and numbers and it wasn't uncommon to come home at the end of the day with 5-10 numbers which we recorded in our area book. The next morning we would often spend up to 2 hours just calling people and trying to fill up our blue planners (Not sure if you have run into these planners hanging around anywhere in your apartments, but these preceded your little white planners. They folded up just right to fit in a shirt pocket.  Although I didn't spent too long in this area, my favorite memory was teaching an apartment of 5 phillipino ladies. They were so ready to hear the message and despite a few concerns they embraced the gospel ideas readily. I was privileged to be part of teaching 2 of the ladies, Virginia and Marina. They asked me to baptize them except that I got transferred to Thetford mines the Wednesday before. Still was an amazing experience. 

Everything your doing is making a difference. Keep up the great work.

Dad. 

From Josh:

Hey everyone! I wasn't able to write yesterday because the libraries were closed and so we treated yesterday as a holiday.

Anyway, first off I want to say that I loved seeing you on Sunday, every time I am always a little nervous but when I see your faces I am filled with so much joy. 

Adventures of yesterday!

We have this person who wants a children Book of Mormon and she lives all the way up this hill and we bike up every once and a while to see if she is actually hope... three times... nothing, but I am definitely losing some weight everytime I bike up it. 

This guy we talked to told us to have a great Boxing day... he is the only guy here who actually celebrates that along with Canadians. 

We had several appointments set and they all fell through so did all of our back up people, which then set me off in a grumpy mood and I didn't want to talk to anyone or anything, but I forced a smile on, and tried what I learned during the canoe trip, I sang a hymn and laughed at myself. Even though I understand how it feels Sam, sometimes you don't want to cheer up. 

My bike fell apart a little a link in my chain got twisted a little so it was skipping gears a lot, and so we bent it back into place and I don't know how good that was for the bike but I hope it holds up until at least the end of the mission. 

I love you all so much and I learned that when you are apart for a while you even get shy around family, but I love how quickly at ease we were, even for the length that we have been apart, I think that is how it will be like when we get to heaven when we see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again, then we will be surprised how familiar we are, and depending on how we lived our lives here, we will be filled with joy and consolation at his presence and will be glad to enter the work and the glory waiting for us. So may we be valiant in the testimony we have of ourselves. 

I am grateful for all of you and hope all is well. 

Love you,

Josh

December 18, 2016 - Well Family....

From Mom: Skype Call

Dear Josh,

Yes, it's true what they say.... If you have a missionary son, the best thing about Christmas is that phone call. Do you know how we arrange that?

Steph is here until Christmas morning, at which point we will bring her to the airport where she will fly to Las Vegas to be with Tyler for Christmas Day. He couldn't come because of his work schedule. (Booooo.) Then one hour church  from 10-11. We'll be home no later than 12:30 depending on how long we visit with people, which is 11:30 a.m. your time. So anytime after that. Let us know what we need to do. 

We just finished a two week long cold snap. The car died and everything froze. It ended today and it's only 0C, so we took advantage and went for a walk this morning and explored that abandoned house on the other side of our property.  Sam saw us trudging through the field and put on some hot water for us, so the girls had a tea party.

We returned home with rosy cheeks and a cheerful view of life. Funny how fresh air does that. 

Sam has discovered a new recipe of Turtle Cookies, which he is slowly becoming locally famous for... kind of like what happened with his Oreo cheesecakes.

He got laid off Dec 1 and is enjoying free time. He drives to seminary, bakes, does service (he spent two days at the de Vries' helping Monika dejunk her basement. Btw, Alex is engaged to be married in March to Brooke Scully.) We love having Sam around again. Starting in Jan, it will be crunch time with ACT/SAT/GED study. 

Ben is sick, sick, sick. I think his body just broke down with his crazy schedule. Most days he is at the school from 7-7. He is in choir, made the Junior Varsity Basketball team and so far is getting straight A's. But then he crashed and ended up missing a basketball tournament. He also opted out of the Christmas Piano Concert this year. Ack! I don't want him to get too busy for piano, but he IS playing for the church choir on Christmas Day. We're singing a beautiful song by Sally deFord called As Shepherds Kept Their Lonely Vigil. 

The girls are the same as always, but when they were doing the gingerbread village this year, I heard Abby say, "Mine is the daycare." What? Where do they get these things? There was also a church, a sugar shop, an A-frame cabin, a naturalpathic clinic, a kooky old man's house and a house where I lived. Steph said it was a complex community. Lol!

We're finally semi settled and trying to keep up Christmas traditions in a new house. We have a care package for you but I am sad to say it will have to be a New Year's Package. I don't feel too terrible about it though because I know of at least two packages that are coming your way and should be there by Christmas. I really love this time of year though. We had a big dinner party here last night with three missionaries, Ebony, Chance and his girlfriend and kids, Kenneth and Karlton McKenney. Par-Tay! But the real reason for the invite is because it's the four year anniversary of Wendy Frank's passing. It's a hard time for them. Also, Kenny needed a good visit with Steph. I hope they all walked away feeling lighter and happier. 

The older I get the more the Gospel fills me up and gives meaning and purpose to my life. People need it and are unconsciously looking for it, so I am glad my boy is out there trying to share and invite. I heard a missionary quote that says, "You cannot force someone to comprehend a message they are not ready to receive. Still, you must not underestimate the power of planting a seed." So, based on your last few emails, I can see that you are reaping where others have sown and sowing where others will reap. It is a good work and a blessed work and it will be counted to you for righteousness. Keep on, my son. 

I am VERY excited to see you and talk to you in a week. I love you forever.

Mom

From Josh:

Oh boy this week... its been quite a trip, I have officially been out for a year now and I feel I have already changes so much, things are going well, at the beginning of the month I wan not smart and spent a lot of my Missionary support fund on crazy food, and now I am carefully budgeting my money to make it through the month... It is funny looking back at my previous mentality, when I first came out I looked upon those who had been out a year and thought I could never make it to that point, that it was forever away and that it would take so long, now that I am here I realize it flashes by, I also would look upon other missionaries apparel and think how much of it was in disrepair, I look upon myself in the mirror and realize that my shoes are old and worn, my shirts are fraying, my socks are getting holes, my pants are falling apart, with all that I see I realize that what we have in this life is so temporary, people put so much value on clothes and cars and money but the clothes will get old, cars will break down, and money will lose its value. what matters most in this life is the love we share, the patience we develop, the relationships we create, this isn't about you or me but about us and who we can and will be as long as we live righteously. 

This week we also got to go to work at a place called Operations Gratitude, I worked there a lot when I was in Chatsworth but now don't get much opportunity to do it now I am in another zone we packed and prepared packages for soldiers fighting wars in support of their sacrifice for their country. I love service, it is truly along the path of finding happiness in this life and the life to come. Nowhere is it found that we can obtain full happiness consistently in this life, but we can definitely pursue it, and I have found that true happiness comes from service, family and a firm belief in God and a hope in mankind, as long as we put our trust in God, he will Guide us to those things that will make us happy and I believe that as we serve God he is waiting to send packages of his love and blessings to us. Christmas is a perfect time to do that, looking for opportunities to serve and help others in any way that we can.  

So many times on my mission I have been saddened by people who have a strong belief in God but are unwilling to live up to their potential, the other day someone told me that they weren't allowed to have the Book of Mormon in their home because they were Christian... and that was kind of wierd to me since it is another testament of Jesus Christ, why wouldn't anyone want to learn more? in some religions people set restrictions on people so that they are limited in their views and knowledge, but I love this church and I love how we are allowed to ask questions we are allowed to pursue knowledge in every aspect, we are allowed to learn of other religions and build our sights higher, this is a rich and lovely amazing Gospel, i love it with all my heart and I am grateful for a father in heaven who answers my prayers. I went through such a hard time at the beginning of my mission that toppled my testimony but because of that I was able to grow and build it much stronger, Sam and Ben, you will face extremely hard Trials on your mission, and it is different for all who serve, but as long as you put faith in the promise of James, and "Ask God" He truly gives to all men liberally and abundantly as long as we ask with a pure intent. listen to the Whispering of the Spirit, delve into the Scriptures, pray with all the energy of your soul, ask for advice from those who have life experience, never stop seeking for knowledge and trust in God, he will Provide. 

I love you all, remain strong in the testimony that you do have in Christ and my we all move forward together.

Josh

P.S I will have access to a computer at 1 california time, so 2 your time, and depending on the shifts we have with other missionaries, it may be pushed back to 2 California, and 3 your time... you have access to skype? if so what should I look up to get to you? 

December 11, 2016 - Let yourself be happier

From Dad:

Hi Josh,

Today Russell Jeffrey reported his mission to Idaho. He spoke really well and from the heart as always. He was very frank about having had some health challenges (mostly anxiety and such) that in the end resulted in him coming home a couple of months early. His testimony and remarks were solid and on the mark and I really felt the spirit as he testified of God’s love manifested in the restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith and the power of the Book of Mormon in helping us find answers.

Wes Prince, a Stake High counsellor also spoke and reminded us of a talk given by Elder Uchtdorf in the October 2012 conference called “Of Regrets and Resolutions”. In it he discusses the 3 big regrets people tend to have at the end of their life. It made me wonder if these can be considered in the mini-life of going on a mission? I hope as you embark on the last year of your mission that you will serve and live so that you can avoid these regrets.

1.       “I Wish I Had Spent More Time with the People I Love” – Remember it is the relationships that you build and help your investigators and new members build with members of the Church that is so important. More important than the numbers

2.       “I Wish I had Lived Up to My Potential” – Live each day on your mission with purpose and work with the Lord to leverage your strengths and overcome your weaknesses (Ether 12:27)

3.       “I Wish I Had Let Myself Be Happier” – This is the one that struck me the most. I hope that amidst the stress and challenge of a mission that you will let yourself enjoy the moments and not just work to be done. These are Elder Uchtdorf’s words in that regard:

“Sometimes in life we become so focused on the finish line that we fail to find joy in the journey. I don’t go cycling with my wife because I’m excited about finishing. I go because the experience of being with her is sweet and enjoyable.

Doesn’t it seem foolish to spoil sweet and joyful experiences because we are constantly anticipating the moment when they will end?”

We are very grateful for so many things. It is an adjustment to live further out in the country, but we are ever so grateful for the miracles and experiences that have resulted and that we anticipate will continue.

I also heard that Isabeau gave her mission farewell this Sunday in Camrose and heads to Australia this week. Exciting for her!

Finally, also on the missionary front, Ava Driessen got her mission call to the, wait for it, “Canada Montreal Mission”! Totally excited for her. I’m thinking you must have been a good influence what with all these girls you dated as they are all going on missions!

Today I had a YM presidency meeting and felt a bit overwhelmed. I’ve not been able to really focus too well on YM’s for a couple of months building this house, so now I’m feeling the promptings to make it a higher priority. Problem is that things can go downhill fast in 2 months and need to bolster my presidency. Good thing we can repent and start to do better.

This week I was looking for something to listen to on the long(er) drive into work. I found a free audio book called “The Science of Getting Rich” and found a cool quote that I think is true:

“There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe. A thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought. Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.”

Made me thing about some of the cool verses in the D&C:

Doctrine and Covenants 93:29

29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.

 

Doctrine and Covenants 131:7

7 There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes;

·         Doctrine and Covenants 130:20

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

·         Doctrine and Covenants 130:21

21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

I certainly love the gospel in all its breadth and the opportunity to study it deeply. I’m thankful for the burning testimony you bear to us every letter. Happy 1 year mark. Enjoy the journey, reach for your potential and love the people and experiences you have with them.

Love forever,

Dad.

From Josh:

My Goodness it has been a crazy week, white washing an area is stressful and fun at the same time, I love the Sherman oaks ward... and guess what? Casey Clyde is in my ward, the guy who acted Elder Rodgers in the best two years, he acts exactly the same as he does in the movies too. We are currently in an apartment with our district leader, and it is a blast, I love being a missionary and everything just seems to be going great!

This week I was able to attend a baptism of someone I had taught in Saugus who didn't seem that interested but other missionaries helped him to see the importance of the Gospel after I left and I was able to see him enter the Waters of baptism, we also found and taught his family as well and they will be getting baptized on the 30 of December, when I first heard about this my heart and soul were filled with so much love and praise to God that I could not stop myself from singing to the world so on the way home I belted out "praise to the Lord" the problem was I didn't know all the words so about halfway through it fizzled out so I had to figure out a hymn of praise that I knew and then sang that all the way home. Rest assured I looked up "Praise to the Lord" after i got home determined to learn it so I could actually sing it the next time I get excited. 

Things I have learned on my mission is to speak what is on my mind with more firmness, often now when I don't like something I make sure to tell someone, when I want to invite a baptism commitment I will do it, I am not very good at standing up for my opinion but I am working on expressing myself more fully and boldly so that I don't mumble or anything... though a lot of what I do I feel must come from the spirit. 

I learned something interesting the other day, In 'Preach my Gospel' it states that to increase your desire to share the gospel you must first strengthen your understanding of the atonement, in order to maintain an eternal perspective and to know why the atonement is necessary you must first understand the Fall and the reason thereof. So I invite all of you to partake in the blessings of understanding by increasing your knowledge of the Fall its purpose, the atonement and the purpose of it, and then increase your love for the Gospel so you can share it with any and every willing mind. Be an example to the nation and i guess #LightTheWorld if you are not already doing the challenge on Mormon.org then I would strongly exhort you to do so now and start making the world a better place.

This week we were able to share the Christmas video with a few Muslims and they loved it but we talked to this one Muslim that told us that he had studies 185 different religions and he respected us and told us that he also respected Jesus, I learned that Islam people believe everything about Jesus Christ, that his virgin birth, his miracles, and his life, but that he is not the son of God, we boldly testified that he was the Son of God and we gave him a copy of The Book of Mormon and invited him to read it, he said he would and we left. The Book of Mormon is the convincing witness of the Gospel, it is another testament of Jesus Christ with it in your hand you can boldly proclaim the truth of all we believe, always keep a copy with you to study and give to those who may want to know of the truth of the Gospel, learn and love the Gospel, develop a personal relationship with God and honestly seek the truth.

Love 

Josh

Picture at the baptism of Josh Mai he is standing to the right of the kid in the white, everyone in suits are all the missionaries that were involved in his teaching. 

December 5, 2016 - Personally...

Well... I will definitely try to include more day to day stuff and see if I can balance that with spiritual insights so you can tell how I am doing both temporally and spiritually 

Okay so as a missionary you go for the simple, a few days ago I decided to make easy mix pancakes... (I do not like these kind I am afraid dad spoiled me with his from scratch pancakes so I just added a lot of butter) the problem was I was not thinking and put a bunch of water in first and then applied the desired dosage of pancake mix, as soon as I started mixing I found out that I had just made pancake flavored water... so I had to add a ton more of pancake mix and kept adding and adding until it was good enough to cook... so I have had pancakes for breakfast lunch and dinner all week and there is still some left... learned a valuable lesson about measurement and that woul always apply the liquid to the powder not the other way around...

I have also learned what my response is when a rabid dog is running at me, I crouch down and hold A copy of The Book of Mormon out for it to chomp on... not the best picture for a missionary in regards to a sacred book of scripture... so here is the story... 

I was on exchanges with Elder Johnson my district leaders companion and we were knocking home to home, when we reached a fenced off yard, the standard approach is to whistle to see if there is a Dog and then if nothing comes its safe so we usually go in and knock the door and share our message, it was no different here, we whistled and no dog came so we opened the gate and closed it behind us and proceeded to walk to the door, which was about 40 feet away, as when we got about halfway we heard the neighbors dog barking only... it wasn't the neighbor's this huge dog came barreling around the corner barking like all hell was loose. Elder Johnson turned and I looked behind me and there was no way we could make it to the gate in time, so I panicked and did the first thing that came into my mind, first put an object in the way of me and the dog (The Book of Mormon) second crouch down... (Get my face closer to the dogs jaws... smart) and slowly back up, it was a mangy beast with hair disheveled and it just looked like a demon dog I was about ready to meet my maker when it got to us... and what did it do? it jumped at me and... started sniffing away and wagging it tail and we found out that it was a nice dog and we just pet it and it threw itself against my leg to petted more and be scratched by the ear, so we went a knocked the door.

At the next house we whistled a bit louder to make sure there was no dog, nothing happened so we entered the gate and had a bit of difficulty in closing it but finally did so when again we heard barking, just about as fast as we could we wiggled the latch and pried it open getting out just in time to see this little dog waddle out and run up to us, by this time we were so shaken up we nearly had to sit down. 

Life often presents itself in such a way as these, when scary things come at us, we must stand strong and most of the time it will turn out for our good, and those things that seemed so hard when they were coming up just turned out to be a happy moment. I remember when I was preparing for the GED as it came up I was nervous and the closer it got the less and less i wanted to face it, but in it and after I felt fine and it was relatively easy. God teaches through trials and we have to be willing to face them, as Paul said to the Hebrews "We are not of them who turn back" so whenever a hard time comes your way remember that to face the challenge with steadfast and immovableness is better then to bend and to brake under the shafts in the whirlwinds, but in order to be steadfast we must first have a foundation on which to build and that is Jesus Christ, as long as you put your trust in him you will never go astray, I think it was Nephi that said if you don't believe in The Book of Mormon, then believe in Christ, because if you believe in Christ then you will believe in what comes of his hand and his fingerprints and presence are found all over the Book of Mormon and this Church. I know that it is true. 

Love 

Josh

Pics and Movie:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3TKWzpofJnhWEdHcldzQWRqdDg/view

Dad and Josh Conversation:

Dad:

Hi Josh, Sorry I didn't get a letter off to you! We sat down and wrote hand written letters to you yesterday so in my mind I'd already written to you!

Happy almost a year! I'll send some more but didn't know if you'll still be around to get it.

Josh: 

There is something about hand written letters that is magical, did you only have hand written when you were on your mission?

Dad:

Ya. Only hand written! So we always got week old news or more! I like both. It is fun to give you the latest updates.

How does it feel to be almost at the year mark? Does your mission have any crazy traditions at 6 mo. and 1 year marks?

Josh:

Well... I burned a tie at six months and for a year mark you are supposed to burn a shirt, but we aren't allowed fires so I will have to start something... it feels weird almost being a year out because it feels like a blip and everyone says the second year goes by faster, if this is so I will be walking off the plane in no time, so i have to dedicate as much as I can in this short time I have. 

Did you have any traditions for your mission?

Dad:

Not really, actually. Not like they do in the Edmonton mission. One quick story. On Sunday, Sis Neitz came back to our ward and shared some of her experience serving a family history mission in SLC. There, they wear their tag on the right side vs. the left where you mostly wear yours. Its because they are doing missionary work for people "on the other side". Thought that was kind of fun.

Josh:

haha that is fun. I miss you guys and can't wait to call you on christmas sunday.

Dad:

Ditto, Josh. Love you lots. Keep up the great work and let us know about when we can plan the call.