Elder Wesley Holt: Week 99: Conference, Kenneth, and ping pong

This was probably one of my favorite weeks of my mission! I'm gonna list off all the good things that happened:

Kenneth got baptized on Sunday before conference! He has come a long way, and still has a long way to go. He has come from a really rough, scary past. He also struggles with some learning disabilities, so reading the scriptures and concentration in general is difficult for him. But the past few lessons, we have been really impressed with his comprehension and strong desire to follow Christ. We had the baptism at the stake center, and we heard it would only take an hour to fill the font. So we gave ourselves an hour and a half, which would give us plenty of time, right? NO. The time for the service to start rolled around, and the font wasn't even full to the knees! So we blasted the cold water and Elder Carroll got everyone to fill up buckets, bowls, pots (whatever we could find) with water from the kitchen faucet and dump it into the font so it would fill up faster! Meanwhile I played prelude music to invite at least some Spirit before the service. Once the font was filled enough, everything else went smooth. When Kenneth was in the water, he just seemed like a little child, pure in heart, being baptized. During the time just after Kenneth was baptized when he was changing, Elder Carroll shared how the frantic preparations before the baptism were symbolic of Kenneth's progression and the path in getting to this point. Everyone comes from a wide variety of backgrounds with different trials. Some people's fonts fill up quickly with no problem. Other people's fonts are slower, have some hiccups, and take the support and help of others to fill up. God loves all His children just the same.

Kenneth's baptism picture

So Elder Carroll and I went to the Bayview chapel in Toronto to pick up the big van and trailer some missionaries had borrowed, and the ward was apparently throwing away their ping pong table! It was just sitting out by the dumpster! We loaded it into the trailer we had to take back to Brampton and drove it home. It couldn't have been any more perfect! After fixing it up a bit and buying a net and paddles, we now have a ping pong table in our basement! This has been my dream MY ENTIRE MISSION! Now I just need to find a Chinese guy to teach me how to play. :)

ARE YOU READY TO PING THE PONG!!!

Our mansion is now complete.

We had a mission-wide temple trip this past week to do endowments. It was such a spiritually rejuvenating experience. As I pondered in the temple and afterward, two thoughts kept coming to me, which were answers to the prayers and questions I had. 1) God just asks us to do our best, and doesn't want us to look back with regret, but rather look forward with hope. He will accept the effort we give. and 2) it is important to continue setting goals and making plans throughout the rest of my life. Those were two of the main things I felt prompted that I need to focus on this last transfer :)

Selfie with the departing missionaries at the temple :)

"Hurrah For Israel!"

Right after the temple trip, we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council). President talked about the importance of building the relationship with members and having the goals of the ward and members be our goals as well. And then we have Elder Anderson and Elder Oaks a few days later affirm that with their talks on member missionary work! The more time I spend with President, the more I see it was the Lord's doing in calling him to be the mission president in this mission. He is definitely what the Canada Toronto Mission needs right now.

From the CTM Facebook page: "We had a great meeting with the MLC . They are energetic and full of enthusiasm to teach repentance and baptize converts!"

General conference was awesome! One of my favorite talks was that of Juan A. Uceda in the Saturday morning session, talking about following our promptings we receive from the Spirit.

We picked up new missionaries on Monday, and one of the new Spanish missionaries is Apostle Elder Ballard's grandson, Elder Ballard! He is a really cool guy. His dad has been a mission president for the past two years in Portland, so Elder Ballard already knew all the ins and outs of the mission. It is interesting, since Elder Ballard (the apostle) came to the mission not too long ago.

So this transfer, we had another companionship take over the Mississauga Mandarin area. It was sad to let that go at first, but that is what is best for the area and the people there. It was just too much to balance two wards and office assignments and everything else. Plus, we now get to focus completely on the YSA ward, and there is a lot of potential there! I'll just have to be extra diligent in studying Chinese now.

Having joy is a choice that depends a lot on our attitude on things and how we react to our circumstances. :)

Les amo!

Elder Holt

洪长老

We're giving Elder Taylor his transfer call Sunday night (we live in the same house as him). We were in the mission home if you're wondering why the bedroom looks so nice :)

I now have a great grandson!!! :D Here's the posterity picture.

I trained Elder Carroll, Elder Carroll trained Elder Shu, and Elder Shu is now training Elder Yeung.

Pictures at transfers with Elder Certonio and other Elder Taylor

Elder Anderson on the left, and Jimmy in the middle! I love Jimmy! He isn't fully accountable, and he thinks he is a missionary. (actually he recently "came home" from his "mission") He used to always dress up in missionary atttire wherever he goes and randomly show up at zone conferences and transfers and stuff. He has an impressive memory! He remembers where all the missionaries are, where they've served, who their previous companions were a lot better than I do! If our mission had a mascot, Jimmy would probably be the one. Everyone loves him :)