Tuesday, September 30, 2014

First Transfer Down!!



Dear Family,                                             September 29, 2014

What a crazy week! I'm sorry I didn't take a whole ton of pics, the leaves are changing and it's absolutely gorgeous! Mom, you would be in heaven out here. I swear heaven will look like Atlantic Canada without all of the cold and druggies. We were on our way over to Maine this morning for emailing when we got stopped at the border for the random inspection that they do. Haha, I bet they were disappointed when they saw missionaries rolling up for the drug-check. Took about an hour and this area as I have mentioned is filled with drug trafficking. Canada is safe don't worry :)

The chill has become to come up full-time. We are heading out to Fredericton for Zone Training this week so that's when I'll be buying my winter gear. The coveted coat out here is a Canadian Goose. I'm going to get one because when we were back in Moncton with the other Moncton Elders, Elder Johnson had one, and wow, you could sleep standing up in that thing it's so comfy. There's also some other options for coats, but if it doesn't have an Antarctica seal of approval on it, we aren't allowed to get it. It's supposed to be a particularly cold winter from what I have heard from the people I've spoken to.

When I tell people I'm from Arizona, they're like "Oh you're in for a treat!" Then I try to explain that I was raised in the mountains and they just smile. I've been fair warned, Canadian winters are apparently intense.

Elder Collett and I are continuing to move along the revelation we have received for this area. Lots and lots of service which I love doing. I can't wait until we do what is referred to as "Snow Shoveling Contacting"-we dig people out so that we can teach them about the Restored Gospel :))) I'm excited because some of you might know I love to shovel snow, but then again, this is Canadian snow, and fourteen feet is the average. Woohooooooooooo

I'm having a little bit of a rough time talking to all these Born-Agains. It's a large concentrated area, even outside of St. Stephen. All they want to do is bash and argue and I have a huge temptation with arguing the Gospel. We were in St. Andrewson Tuesday (Definitely taking you all there if we ever tour this mission), doing some street contacting, and I was just tired and didn't have the Spirit and talking to people wasn't going well. My tone was very unhappy which isn't conducive to being a representative of Christ. Needless to say we were headed back to the car when two men approached us out of the tavern and I stopped them. Explained who we were and tried to get the ball rolling. This one man came at me with the whole "saved by grace" thing (Sidenote: we were stacking books at the library and I found this children's book about a girl going to a new school and it was called "Just Grace" Elder Collett and I got a kick out of that") and I just didn't want to hear it. I rebuked him rather unpolitely and it was a low point for me. Elder Collett chastised me pretty hard and told me if I don't have the Spirit with me when I'm talking to people then I can't be a missionary. Very humbling.

We then went over to Sister Bubniuk for scones. She's a less-active woman who is so nice! She told me not to worry about what happened because I will be steadfast and firm in my beliefs as I continue to study the scriptures. You might even know of her, Mom. She's Irene Bubniuk the concert pianist. She had a stroke, but we talked music for a little bit which is something I really needed that afternoon. Lots and lots of less-active visits this week. We had 8 less-active/recent convert lessons which was a huge blessing.

On Thursday we drove up to St. John to pick up Elder Wolvers. He's got a huge testimony and is great at relating to everyone whom we speak with. He's the Canadian of the bunch and is therefore the most polite (Sidenote: I've begun to start saying eh, pardon, sorry, and right-pronounced 'rate' out here in New Brunswick). He's come from an even rougher spot than I was a year ago and he is a rock. Elder Wolvers has ADHD and a little bit of Asbergers, but he makes everyone we talk to laugh. I'm excited to have probably the next 12 weeks with him.

Speaking of Born-Agains, we ran into some nice ones this week! (2 out of 80ish) One was a trucker from BC who was really into Family History until he got stranded here in St. Stephen. He was very kind to us and wants to come out to the workshop we're having in a few days. He politely tries to bash with us, but I think he just needed some intelligent conversation after being on the road for so long. Another Born-again we talked to was this very nice woman who really opened up about her past and was giving us all these compliments. Then Elder Wolvers invited her for a church tour and she was so two-faced "I'm trying really hard to be nice right now!" We now openly quote her as a companionship. It's good to have some inside-jokes to keep the morale up.

Thank you all for your prayers for Brother Al Wood. I could see a change in him this week as we talked about The Plan of Salvation. He reminds me a lot of Grandpa McGuire. He's very humble, a little older, and loves Elvis. Unfortunately, he has gotten back into some old habits he quit before his baptism. We're trying to get him off of coffee and him to pay his tithing. He'll come around, but please keep praying for him.

This upcoming transfer I've been inspired with a lot of goals. President Leavitt is great at getting us motivated to work smart and hard as missionaries. We all form visions-what we want something to become-ourselves, compansionhip, the area, the district, the zone, the mission. And then create goals, then plans, and a way to monitor those visions to accomplish them. My vision for this transfer is "A business-minded scriptorian." I'm going to be memorizing a scripture a day (Sidenote:this is an apostolic promise that President Monson has made, if I do this diligently, I'll come home with a photographic memory) and juicing and eating nuts to keep my energy up. I'm tired of being tired all of the time. I'm so excited for this transfer.

Kind of a funny story. So I'm juicing, right and we have ran out of fruit and most of our carrots. So I decided that I'd juice peppers and onion. Literally was the dumbest thing I have done for myself. It was like the ear-frankinscense thing all over again except for my stomach. Wow was I in so much pain good gravy. NEVER juice an onion whatever you do. whatever you do.

My favorite scripture for the week is 2 Nephi 9:41

 41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

I love you all!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Elder McGuire
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Pictures from St. Stephen

 St. Stephen at night

 The old mill, after which Milltown is named and some street we were knocking the other day




 At St. Croix island...








 Elder Collett and I attempting to juice, and some more scenery. We are going buy a juicer later today!!



Me totally owning this grand master. We play chess with the St. Stephen chess club every Friday night for a finding activity. I got whooped



 My fantastic companions :D


Missionaries in St. Stephen!! Like us on Facebook :D And the leaves have started to change!! Mom you would be in heaven out here it's so gorgeous!!



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Monday, September 29, 2014

First Transfer Down!!


Inbox
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Richard McGuire

Sep 29 (9 days ago)

Dear Family,

What a crazy week! I'm sorry I didn't take a whole ton of pics, the leaves are changing and it's absolutely gorgeous! Mom, you would be in heaven out here. I swear heaven will look like Atlantic Canada without all of the cold and druggies. We were on our way over to Maine this morning for emailing when we got stopped at the border for the random inspection that they do. Haha, I bet they were disappointed when they saw missionaries rolling up for the drug-check. Took about an hour and this area as I have mentioned is filled with drug trafficking. Canada is safe don't worry :)

The chill has become to come up full-time. We are heading out to Fredericton for Zone Training this week so that's when I'll be buying my winter gear. The coveted coat out here is a Canadian Goose. I'm going to get one because when we were back in Moncton with the other Moncton Elders, Elder Johnson had one, and wow, you could sleep standing up in that thing it's so comfy. There's also some other options for coats, but if it doesn't have an Antarctica seal of approval on it, we aren't allowed to get it. It's supposed to be a particularly cold winter from what I have heard from the people I've spoken to.

When I tell people I'm from Arizona, they're like "Oh you're in for a treat!" Then I try to explain that I was raised in the mountains and they just smile. I've been fair warned, Canadian winters are apparently intense.

Elder Collett and I are continuing to move along the revelation we have received for this area. Lots and lots of service which I love doing. I can't wait until we do what is referred to as "Snow Shoveling Contacting"-we dig people out so that we can teach them about the Restored Gospel :))) I'm excited because some of you might know I love to shovel snow, but then again, this is Canadian snow, and fourteen feet is the average. Woohooooooooooo

I'm having a little bit of a rough time talking to all these Born-Agains. It's a large concentrated area, even outside of St. Stephen. All they want to do is bash and argue and I have a huge temptation with arguing the Gospel. We were in St. Andrews on Tuesday (Definitely taking you all there if we ever tour this mission), doing some street contacting, and I was just tired and didn't have the Spirit and talking to people wasn't going well. My tone was very unhappy which isn't conducive to being a representative of Christ. Needless to say we were headed back to the car when two men approached us out of the tavern and I stopped them. Explained who we were and tried to get the ball rolling. This one man came at me with the whole "saved by grace" thing (Sidenote: we were stacking books at the library and I found this children's book about a girl going to a new school and it was called "Just Grace" Elder Collett and I got a kick out of that") and I just didn't want to hear it. I rebuked him rather unpolitely and it was a low point for me. Elder Collett chastised me pretty hard and told me if I don't have the Spirit with me when I'm talking to people then I can't be a missionary. Very humbling.

We then went over to Sister Bubniuk for scones. She's a less-active woman who is so nice! She told me not to worry about what happened because I will be steadfast and firm in my beliefs as I continue to study the scriptures. You might even know of her, Mom. She's Irene Bubniuk the concert pianist. She had a stroke, but we talked music for a little bit which is something I really needed that afternoon. Lots and lots of less-active visits this week. We had 8 less-active/recent convert lessons which was a huge blessing.

On Thursday we drove up to St. John to pick up Elder Wolvers. He's got a huge testimony and is great at relating to everyone whom we speak with. He's the Canadian of the bunch and is therefore the most polite (Sidenote: I've begun to start saying eh, pardon, sorry, and right-pronounced 'rate' out here in New Brunswick). He's come from an even rougher spot than I was a year ago and he is a rock. Elder Wolvers has ADHD and a little bit of Asbergers, but he makes everyone we talk to laugh. I'm excited to have probably the next 12 weeks with him.

Speaking of Born-Agains, we ran into some nice ones this week! (2 out of 80ish) One was a trucker from BC who was really into Family History until he got stranded here in St. Stephen. He was very kind to us and wants to come out to the workshop we're having in a few days. He politely tries to bash with us, but I think he just needed some intelligent conversation after being on the road for so long. Another Born-again we talked to was this very nice woman who really opened up about her past and was giving us all these compliments. Then Elder Wolvers invited her for a church tour and she was so two-faced "I'm trying really hard to be nice right now!" We now openly quote her as a companionship. It's good to have some inside-jokes to keep the morale up.

Thank you all for your prayers for Brother Al Wood. I could see a change in him this week as we talked about The Plan of Salvation. He reminds me a lot of Grandpa McGuire. He's very humble, a little older, and loves Elvis. Unfortunately, he has gotten back into some old habits he quit before his baptism. We're trying to get him off of coffee and him to pay his tithing. He'll come around, but please keep praying for him.

This upcoming transfer I've been inspired with a lot of goals. President Leavitt is great at getting us motivated to work smart and hard as missionaries. We all form visions-what we want something to become-ourselves, compansionhip, the area, the district, the zone, the mission. And then create goals, then plans, and a way to monitor those visions to accomplish them. My vision for this transfer is "A business-minded scriptorian." I'm going to be memorizing a scripture a day (Sidenote:this is an apostolic promise that President Monson has made, if I do this diligently, I'll come home with a photographic memory) and juicing and eating nuts to keep my energy up. I'm tired of being tired all of the time. I'm so excited for this transfer.

Kind of a funny story. So I'm juicing, right and we have ran out of fruit and most of our carrots. So I decided that I'd juice peppers and onion. Literally was the dumbest thing I have done for myself. It was like the ear-frankinscense thing all over again except for my stomach. Wow was I in so much pain good gravy. NEVER juice an onion whatever you do. whatever you do.

My favorite scripture for the week is 2 Nephi 9:41

 41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

I love you all!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Elder McGuire
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Sunday, September 28, 2014

Well, she did it!


This is part of my letter to Rick this week---

 Dear Elder McGuire,
I have never been to a sweeter baptism in my life.  The spirit hit me so powerfully from literally the moment I stepped into that room.  I wept through the whole thing. I have so many stories to tell!  
We had arranged to pick Sarah up at her dorm on Friday night and go out to dinner.  We went to PF Changs.  She had never been there before and was so delighted with how good everything was and how fancy everything was presented.  During our wait for a table she noticed the sister missionaries there.  What a coincidence!  It was fun to meet them. 

Sister Ah Sue (from Hawaii) told us how receptive she is with learning how prayer works and recognizing a prompting.  This week she had lots of tests and one day was prompted to take some extra batteries with her.  She did and sure enough, someone at the test was asking if anyone had brought batteries.  Sarah was the only one who had some so she gave them to him.  

No one knew who we were so I introduced ourselves as "Sarah dated our son in High School".  I told Sis. Ah Sue that it was sincerely an act of faith for Rick to leave on his mission and leave Sarah up to the Lord.  I could tell that struck a personal chord with her....the courage to come on a mission and leave the rest up to the Lord.  She then told me how they had no one in their appointment book, but had been promised that there would be many people for them to teach who had been prepared to receive the gospel.  In walks Miss Azarh to enroll in a Book of Mormon class.  You bet the missionaries were all over that.  Sister Ah Sue said it was funny to begin inviting people to Sarah's baptism.  Everyone kept saying, "Sarah who?"  "Sarah Azarh."  "Oh!  She's not a member?"  They wrote us the sweetest note that included the scripture Alma 13:24-- 

 24 For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.
They thanked us, and I would include you Rick, for being those angels.  Count this as your first baptism.

I have never wanted to take a picture/video so badly in my life.  If I could've bottled up the nerve she showed to get up in front of everyone, walk through that door and into the font it would've moved a mountain.  I have seen your Dad overcome with emotion only a handful of times in my life.  This was one of those moments.  So much courage and determination.  We take so much for granted when we think of doing hard things and knowing that we will have the family support to back it up.  It was truly amazing to watch.  When she bore her testimony she was as calm and confident as I have ever seen her....more tears =) I was so proud of her.


comic relief-----You know how Dad hesitates to state his opinion because I have usually already decided what I want us to do? Early on in my weeping fest I knew the tears weren't going to stop any time soon and I was feeling awkward and wondering where we should sit.  Dad had already calmly led us to the third row.  Sarah was perfectly fine in the front row with the sister missionaries and she kept turning around to check on me.  I kept assuring her with a smile or a thumbs up that I was ok, but still, I'm sure I didn't help her nerves any.  In exasperation Dad said," We are just fine right here",  to which I replied, "We're not a family"  (because we're not sitting on the front row right by Sarah). He has the patience of Job.  Alyssa is sending pictures.  They will make your day.



Rick's response:

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I fasted so hard on Thursday. It was rough because we were having district meeting and Sister Gordon and Elder Gordon (sweetest senior couple) made a huge lunch that I had to pass up. But I knew that I could do it. I knelt down to say my prayers on Saturday night and just cried I was so happy. God is so real and he loves all of us. I'm just lost for words right now, but I couldn't be happier. Thank you thank you thank you thank you for being there for Sarah. That means a lot to me and I know that she really appreciates your support. The Gospel blesses lives, it's as simple as that. The last three verses of Matthew 11 are so beautiful (as is Sarah ;) ). I know that this Church is True!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matthew 11:28-30
 28 ¶Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek andlowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light




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By Small and Simple Things

By Small and Simple Things


Inbox
x

Richard McGuire

Sep 22 (6 days ago)
to Pernell, me, Sarah, Alyssa
Dear Family,

Can I just say...HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I fasted so hard on Thursday for Sarah. We had district meeting in Fredericton that day and as soon as I woke up I had the worst headache. The Gordons from Alberta drove us and Elder Gordon being a pharmacist had lots of things that could have cleared me up and taken my headache away, but I knew that if this was going to be the only fast I ever did in my life, that I needed to make this one count. Finally, after a ton of prayer and time, I broke my fast and just cried I was so happy. On Saturday night, I knelt down to say my personal prayers and cried, offering up a prayer of gratitude.

I've noticed that truly we don't see God until after a trial of our faith. This morning during personal study, the question came to my mind "What does it mean to be faithful?" First we have to understand what faith is before we can understand what it means to be faithful. To have faith is to act in accordance to the word of God. Thus (sidenote, thus is the coolest word in the English language), to be faithful means that we are full of acts that are in accordance to the word of God, or the commandments.

We have been immensely blessed this week. During our time here in St. Stephen the emailing situation has been interesting. No libraries are open and we got kicked out at about an hour last week so I apologize for not being on for the whole time. We have found a library in the promised land (America) so we should be able to do this for my time here in Canada's Chocolate town. Sidenote: I've noticed I've become weirdly patriotic towards America. America is like a younger sibling to me. It's okay for me to make fun of it, but I get defensive when Canadians make fun of America.

Elder Collett and I will be buying a juicer soon and we'll also be in a trio with this upcoming transfer. Our apartment is a little interesting. It's not exactly an apartment, more of a townhouse so we have plenty of room for our new companion, but the place is so old and smells of mildew. Our new comp is Elder Wolvers from Alberta. He's been out two more transfers than me. We got transfer letters the other day and President has warned me that I could be training next transfer because of all the missionaries going home. No pressure.

We are trying to integrate into the community as maybe I have aforementioned. We will trying to set up Family History Workshops bi-weekly in New Brunswick and in Maine if the libraries cooperate (they're feisty people). Furthermore, we have been volunteering at the food banks in Calais and in St. Stephen so lots of people see us which is great. We're trying to raise the profile of the church here considering it's quite the Baptist place.

Wickers and maritimers in general are interesting people.  They're so friendly and open and will tell you everything about anything they know. I have come up with a song that I sing to Elder Collett after every contact we make.

To the tune of Pioneer Children:

Ma-ri-ti-mers yapped as they talked and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked!

We were stacking wood for the ward clerk who lives in St. Andrews and this man could talk for three hours about cedar trees and soft wood and how he got jipped when he bought it. The wood piles out here make out wood pile look like a pile of toothpicks. It's going to be a cold winter ;D He's just going on and on and on and in my mind I'm thinking "Brother Simmonds calm down it's all wood it's all going to burn, good gravy man!" The Nova Scotian suck is so cool! Ask Bishop about that. They inhale when they say yes.

We're also involved in the various community activities (I freaking love this place). We play soccer with the university students on Monday nights (check out St. Stephen University online, they literally all live in one house and do all of their learning and eating in there, all 55 of em) and are duly embarrassed because neither one of us play soccer. Also on Friday nights we go and play chess with some provincial players. Got whooped in three turns ahhh yihhh. Overall, people are recognizing us and if you can't baptize people (unless they're Sarah and amazing) you can at least soften hearts and plant seeds.

Milltown (practically Saint Stephen, but a little down the way, actually where we live) is a different place. I don't think you'll have to worry about me serving in the Bronx, Mom, I'm already here. New Brunswick is kind of like the Louisiana of the states. Very southern redneck feel to it and a TON of drugs. Everyone we talk to is either high or about to get high.

Nevertheless, Pilltown, I mean Milltown has blessed us with plenty of potentials. We got 7, count em, potentials, and 4 referrals!!!! That just doesn't happen around here. In weeks past we would probably get only a referral once a week and maybe a few potentials. I can feel your prayers softening hearts.

Your prayers have even softened enough hearts in Milltown to where we have TWO NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!!! AHHHH!!!! They are the MacKnights and they are very similar to Dad and Mom (I'm becoming a Wicker with pronouncing 'mom' as 'mum'). Bob just retired from the RCMP and Lynn loves to feed people! They are so nice and their home is like a 180 from some of the homes around here (which are very Victorian but run down). Bob is a lot like you Dad because he reads a lot and asks really good questions. We had a question and answer for about 40 minutes and they invited us back for supper (dinner is for capitalist Americans) and talk more about the Book of Mormon!!!

We have also been stacking wood for a total Maritimer named Bernard. He loves riding motorcycles and speaks like a redneck Scotsman (I's a appreciate ya for stacking me's wood) Awesome man. He wants to take us to Blacks Harbour for some good picture spots and then we're taking him to Bishop's house for dinner and hopefully a lesson. He's so kind and so cool! Maritimers have the largest hearts, but a lot of pride.

Probably the humblest man I've met is a recent-convert we are teaching, Brother Al Wood. He's 68, but loves learning about the Gospel. He has a rough time with his clients as he is a taxi and drives around a lot of people on drugs. If you could please pray for him specifically that would really help out.

Speaking of praying specifically for people, pray for your missionaries by name daily! They appreciate it so much and it's like night and day with the work when members are involved.

Thank you so so so so much for the prayers and letters that you send each week. It really uplifts me. My favorite scripture from the week is found in Doctrine and Covenants 123:16. Sidenote: I love scriptures and church stuff now that applies to the sea and lighthouses.

"You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves."

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

BY SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS ARE GREAT THINGS BROUGHT TO PASS

Love,

Elder McGuire
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Monday, September 15, 2014

Pictures from Fall festival in St. Stephen

 And here`s me with Sister and Brother Richardson. They are crazy, but so loving.
 WE GOT TO TEACH DRUMS AT THE FALL FAIR!!!!! I was in heaven, such a tender mercy!!!!
 Yes, that's a turtle rattle
We had a powwow and Elder Collett and I were trying to share Helaman 5:12 haha it was a disaster, but a ton of fun
 There are so many seagulls here!! Also we stopped by the coolest less-active woman in the world-Sis. Richardson. She`s from the passamaquoddy tribe and is about as New England as they come.
 Where the magic happens!


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Monday, September 8, 2014

In St. Stephen

Dear Family,
Greetings from Canada's Chocolate Town! I intend to baptize plenty of oompah loompahs (doopity doo) and eat a lot of chocolate at their world famous chocolate factory (according to them). Our area is humungous! Not only do we cover St. Stephen-which is about as big as Kanab-but we also cover some towns in Maine and down south towards Grand Manan island. Side note: I'm grateful everyday that I took the time before my mission to look up everything about Atlantic Canada, it's a lot easier to have conversations with people when you know something about the area or about their heritage.
I'm fairly upset about leaving Moncton and Dieppe, but really, that ward needs to be humbled. The people and the area were so prepared to become apart of The Lord's Kingdom, but the ward just wouldn't retain any of the families or people that were interested in hearing about the Gospel. I intend to go back though. It's weird beginning a mission only to close down one of the larger cities in Atlantic Canada. But I am moving on to bigger and better things here in St. Stephen.
We are in deep English-Speaking New Brunswick and the area is pretty backwoods and desolate, but I couldn't be happier with the people here. Most of the people we talk to are seniors who have heard from the missionaries pretty much since this mission has been opened (1972 I believe). So Elder Collett and I are switching up tactics and we will win the hearts of the people that live here. This place reminds me a lot of Idaho and everywhere smells like the ocean and fish. I would describe the accent in Eastern Canada as British vocabulary with a North American accent. Everything is a 'she' here. "How is she?"="How are you?" "Put her down here"="Set it down." Interesting. I'm beginning to say eh' a lot more now and saying bag as bayg and flag as flayg. My favorite Canadian word has to be waygon-wagon.
Everyone here loves talking with us and most people are generally friendly. We did a lot of book work and cleaning once we got into St. Stephen. The previous Elders got sick from the mildew in the apartment, but we cleaned all of that out and the place smells way better-we literally scrubbed everything with lysol bleach. The Spirit truly needs a clean place to reside always. President Leavitt is a huge believer in obedience and keeping things neat, organized, and especially clean. Cleaning relieves stress as I may have mentioned before and Mom you're probably grinning from ear to ear now haha.
Speaking of President Leavitt, I really think part of my assignment has to do with this man. He's like the Canadian Equivalent of Steven R. Covey. He really knows how to organize missionaries, train them, and motivate them to work. I'm very blessed to have been called to serve here in Atlantic Canada. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for The Power of Everyday Missionaries! President trains out of that book pretty much every week and it has helped me out a ton with contacting and tracting.
We met with the Bishop and his family Wednesday night and they are active!!!!!! Like a normal Mormon family out here in New Brunswick. Bishop Doskas is a rock and truly has a testimony of missionary work. The stake moved the ward boundaries just so that his home would be in the ward. We drove about an hour to Blacks Harbour to have dinner with his family. We had mexican food and talked about getting more activities going! It was so relieving to have a normal family here in Canada. He served in Manila and his wife served in Montreal. They are amazing.
We're trying to get more activities going because this place has been knocked about a million times. It's frustrating because knocking is like the bread and butter of missionary work. I love knocking but it's ineffective out here. The first door I knocked on here this Baptist man came out and wanted to bash. He was so prideful and it was all I could do not to slug him right there. He was very disrespectful and I called him out on it. I'm sick of prideful people.
There is no use in trying to convince people of the truth. It's impossible for either you or me to persuade people that the gospel has been restored. As missionaries our job is to create an environment in which the Spirit may reside. When there is harsh feelings between people the Spirit cannot dwell and we are unable to learn God's Will. In Moroni we learn that through the Spirit we may know the truth of all things. With Spiritual matters, human logic is of no use. The Spirit manifests of spiritual truths, not human logic.
I am loving Elder Bednar's advice when reading the Book of Mormon. Take a brand new copy of the BoM, paperback, and write a question in the front that you want answered. Then as you read, mark it up with revelation that you recieve. My questions are already being answered and I'm only halfway through 1 Nephi. The Book of Mormon is true. I know it contains the fulness of the Gospel and the Gospel instructs us on what we must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come. I love being a missionary.
Hurrah for Israel!!!!!
Elder McGuire
                   
Last minute pics with the other Moncton elders


























































Took part in a sacred Canadian ritual, eating Poutine. Literally the worst thing you could put into your body. But soooooooo goooooodddddd. Fries, gravy, cheese curds, bacon cheeseburger style hoorah





















Lighthouses are staples around here :)))















Found this legit gun and this is me on the pier
















One of my favorite and least favorite things about the Maritimes. The sunsets are amazing, but the mosquitoes are like flying spiders


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Monday, September 1, 2014

Emergency Transfer to St. Stephen, New Brunswick

Dear Family,

Moncton has fallen. I don't have a lot of time because we're trying to get down the coast in a bit, but I'll explain what has happened this past week and why we're moving. Elder Collett and I are both going together so it's not the worst thing in the world. The joke around here in the Canada Halifax Mission is that for every door we knock on, a family in South America gets baptized.

To put it simply, this ward is messed up. In the past, President Leavitt has hit Moncton with everything he's got. He sent in the best senior couple for a year and they did some amazing things: concerts, firesides, bbqs etc. Look up Elder Call Orange Blossom Special and that was for Moncton. Moncton has had 6 missionaries in the ward and not apostate missionaries, the best missionaries President could send to this place. Elders who are ZLs, District Leader, 2 STLs, with at least 15 months of experience. And then there's me, but anyways. The missionaries in this ward are just disrespected by members. President himself said he's never seen a more dysfunctional ward in his 62 years.

The building is a disaster. Honestly, I would never bring an investigator to the chapel because it was just disgusting. The members have cleaning assignments but they just don't want to do it. We spent all of yesterday cleaning the chapel after church which was an amazing spiritual experience. 4 Elders in white shirts and ties scrubbing and vacuuming the chapel until it was presentable for the Spirit to be there. The rest of the church needs some serious renovation and the members here don't deserve this building. 

The building really reflects the state of the members attitudes towards member-missionary work. The bishop even explicitly stated that he doesn't want us baptizing anyone. Not to mention that the bishop is nearly innactive and has a serious WoW problem. Same goes with the Elders Quorum president who hasn't been to church in a year. I hate to be so blunt, but this ward is just pathetic. President told us that we don't have to like these members, all we have to do is love them.

While cleaning the chapel we found some suspicious things. One of the doors from the outside into the Chapel had been tampered with so that people could just come in whenever without a key. It's so much disrespect to the reason why we go to the Chapel, to take the sacrament. I just want Elder Holland to come here and lay the smack down on these prideful members.

There's a large problem with gossip, modern day secret combinations, OW garbage, and anti-mormon literature being passed around. There's this British family here that's been in this ward for half a century. Once they got every family member into a leadership position they ran this ward to the ground with alienating certain members and spreading gossip about others. Just this past week Elder Collett and I broke up a fight in the middle of sacrament meeting between two of these British members. It's so sad, and I'm frustrated with how things are.

The former ward mission leader has a personal vendetta against Elder Collett and I. He would never come to church and so we took over as Ward Mission Leader. We ate dinner at this man's house and he was kind but there was so much tension in the room it was hard to feel the Spirit. He asked us if we would move this less-active woman last Thursday. This less-active woman said she had to work and didn't even come to church the following Sunday. We spent 5 hours moving her entire house by ourselves in the rain. She was then upset that I declined her invitation over the phone to come back and move her stuff around her new place in Shediac. She's quite the free spirit and we had to do a lot of the packing and moving while she was away at work. Not even a return thank you call. Makes my blood boil.

Then, the following morning this ex ward mission leader calls me up and chews me out for 10 minutes over the lamest stuff. He got mad that we have to have the phone on speaker as missionaries and told me that if we have prospective investigators they'd get annoyed by that. Then he got mad we wouldn't spend kilometers to go out to Shediac again and that we didn't take pizza from him when we left this past Wednesday. He literally said we weren't intelligent missionaries and he was mad that we weren't visiting more people in the ward. President said this less-active man is just on a power trip and is mad that he's not ward mission leader anymore.

So needless to say, we are moving to St. Stephen while Moncton, one of the largest cities in the mission, is being shut down for a while until this ward can humble itself and try to run itself without missionaries dragging it along while it won't walk. We also suspect some leaders are modern Gadianton Robbers stealing tithing money for their own use. President is furious and the stake president and his counselors are coming up to Moncton next week to try and fix things.

I'm a frustrated with how the beginning of my mission has begun, because seriously the area itself was amazing. We were having so much success in Dieppe. We found a young family that wants to get married and start going to church!!! They fell from the sky! We were teaching them and they really want to get baptized. I know that your prayers and scripture study led Elder Collett and I to them. We also found this one man who wants to know more about what motivates us as missionaries to come all the way to Eastern Canada. And he wants to take me to Tim Horton's because I've never been so hoorah! That's our last activity before shipping down to St. Stephen. I feel mad that these investigators are way too good for this ward. I want to start a branch in Dieppe if things don't straighten out because I know we can do that. 

It feels like we're leaving these investigators behind with their salvation which brings me to tears. I don't want to give up on them, but if they did get baptized and did come to this ward they wouldn't last and it would hurt to watch them go less-active.

I really think that the Lord is trying to  teach me about the moments before the atonement. How it's not about what you want as a disciple, it's about what you need. Praying to remove the bitter cup is not sufficient when going through a trial. Praying for strength to partake of the bitter cup is aligning ourselves with the will of the Father. I won't lie, this is really hard to leave Dieppe, but I know that God is in the details of what's going on and things will get better.

I had a splendid opportunity to speak with Elder Collett (remember he was called as a French missionary) about how to cope with wanting to speak a different language as a missionary and then not getting that wish granted. I know that if I wasn't called to speak English I wouldn't have grown closer to my Saviour which is what this life is all about. I'm pleased with the trials ahead and I will move forward in faith as I serve the people of St. Stephen.

Thank you so much for your letters and your prayers. I love you all and wish you all the best this next week.

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder McGuire

 These are all the other elders in our apartment. From left to right: Elder Johnson, Elder Raymant, and Elder Collett. We made amazing potato stir-fry as our last supper. More on why it was our last supper later :))))
Also, Elder Collett and I made some amazing sausage and rice that was life changing. Would've made you proud mom to watch me cook :)))

This was the sunset on the way back to Moncton from Amherst. During our drive we had on Men of MoTab singing "Be Still My Soul." In my personal study I've often wondered why there are so many tree analogies. It's because trees are all around the world to remind us of certain things-faith, tree of life, family history etc. It was very soothing because there are so many trees here and that left me with a feeling that Atlantic Canada will move forward in the work of salvation. 

 These were from our visits to Amherst in NS. Really a beautiful place that reminded me a lot of Flagstaff. The buildings were historic and looked like Harry Potter.






The Canadian money smells like maple!!!!

With the Acadian monument and the coolest street name that I'll use to pwn you all with in Scattergories 
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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

First Transfer Down!!



Dear Family,                                             September 29, 2014

What a crazy week! I'm sorry I didn't take a whole ton of pics, the leaves are changing and it's absolutely gorgeous! Mom, you would be in heaven out here. I swear heaven will look like Atlantic Canada without all of the cold and druggies. We were on our way over to Maine this morning for emailing when we got stopped at the border for the random inspection that they do. Haha, I bet they were disappointed when they saw missionaries rolling up for the drug-check. Took about an hour and this area as I have mentioned is filled with drug trafficking. Canada is safe don't worry :)

The chill has become to come up full-time. We are heading out to Fredericton for Zone Training this week so that's when I'll be buying my winter gear. The coveted coat out here is a Canadian Goose. I'm going to get one because when we were back in Moncton with the other Moncton Elders, Elder Johnson had one, and wow, you could sleep standing up in that thing it's so comfy. There's also some other options for coats, but if it doesn't have an Antarctica seal of approval on it, we aren't allowed to get it. It's supposed to be a particularly cold winter from what I have heard from the people I've spoken to.

When I tell people I'm from Arizona, they're like "Oh you're in for a treat!" Then I try to explain that I was raised in the mountains and they just smile. I've been fair warned, Canadian winters are apparently intense.

Elder Collett and I are continuing to move along the revelation we have received for this area. Lots and lots of service which I love doing. I can't wait until we do what is referred to as "Snow Shoveling Contacting"-we dig people out so that we can teach them about the Restored Gospel :))) I'm excited because some of you might know I love to shovel snow, but then again, this is Canadian snow, and fourteen feet is the average. Woohooooooooooo

I'm having a little bit of a rough time talking to all these Born-Agains. It's a large concentrated area, even outside of St. Stephen. All they want to do is bash and argue and I have a huge temptation with arguing the Gospel. We were in St. Andrewson Tuesday (Definitely taking you all there if we ever tour this mission), doing some street contacting, and I was just tired and didn't have the Spirit and talking to people wasn't going well. My tone was very unhappy which isn't conducive to being a representative of Christ. Needless to say we were headed back to the car when two men approached us out of the tavern and I stopped them. Explained who we were and tried to get the ball rolling. This one man came at me with the whole "saved by grace" thing (Sidenote: we were stacking books at the library and I found this children's book about a girl going to a new school and it was called "Just Grace" Elder Collett and I got a kick out of that") and I just didn't want to hear it. I rebuked him rather unpolitely and it was a low point for me. Elder Collett chastised me pretty hard and told me if I don't have the Spirit with me when I'm talking to people then I can't be a missionary. Very humbling.

We then went over to Sister Bubniuk for scones. She's a less-active woman who is so nice! She told me not to worry about what happened because I will be steadfast and firm in my beliefs as I continue to study the scriptures. You might even know of her, Mom. She's Irene Bubniuk the concert pianist. She had a stroke, but we talked music for a little bit which is something I really needed that afternoon. Lots and lots of less-active visits this week. We had 8 less-active/recent convert lessons which was a huge blessing.

On Thursday we drove up to St. John to pick up Elder Wolvers. He's got a huge testimony and is great at relating to everyone whom we speak with. He's the Canadian of the bunch and is therefore the most polite (Sidenote: I've begun to start saying eh, pardon, sorry, and right-pronounced 'rate' out here in New Brunswick). He's come from an even rougher spot than I was a year ago and he is a rock. Elder Wolvers has ADHD and a little bit of Asbergers, but he makes everyone we talk to laugh. I'm excited to have probably the next 12 weeks with him.

Speaking of Born-Agains, we ran into some nice ones this week! (2 out of 80ish) One was a trucker from BC who was really into Family History until he got stranded here in St. Stephen. He was very kind to us and wants to come out to the workshop we're having in a few days. He politely tries to bash with us, but I think he just needed some intelligent conversation after being on the road for so long. Another Born-again we talked to was this very nice woman who really opened up about her past and was giving us all these compliments. Then Elder Wolvers invited her for a church tour and she was so two-faced "I'm trying really hard to be nice right now!" We now openly quote her as a companionship. It's good to have some inside-jokes to keep the morale up.

Thank you all for your prayers for Brother Al Wood. I could see a change in him this week as we talked about The Plan of Salvation. He reminds me a lot of Grandpa McGuire. He's very humble, a little older, and loves Elvis. Unfortunately, he has gotten back into some old habits he quit before his baptism. We're trying to get him off of coffee and him to pay his tithing. He'll come around, but please keep praying for him.

This upcoming transfer I've been inspired with a lot of goals. President Leavitt is great at getting us motivated to work smart and hard as missionaries. We all form visions-what we want something to become-ourselves, compansionhip, the area, the district, the zone, the mission. And then create goals, then plans, and a way to monitor those visions to accomplish them. My vision for this transfer is "A business-minded scriptorian." I'm going to be memorizing a scripture a day (Sidenote:this is an apostolic promise that President Monson has made, if I do this diligently, I'll come home with a photographic memory) and juicing and eating nuts to keep my energy up. I'm tired of being tired all of the time. I'm so excited for this transfer.

Kind of a funny story. So I'm juicing, right and we have ran out of fruit and most of our carrots. So I decided that I'd juice peppers and onion. Literally was the dumbest thing I have done for myself. It was like the ear-frankinscense thing all over again except for my stomach. Wow was I in so much pain good gravy. NEVER juice an onion whatever you do. whatever you do.

My favorite scripture for the week is 2 Nephi 9:41

 41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

I love you all!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Elder McGuire
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Pictures from St. Stephen

 St. Stephen at night

 The old mill, after which Milltown is named and some street we were knocking the other day




 At St. Croix island...








 Elder Collett and I attempting to juice, and some more scenery. We are going buy a juicer later today!!



Me totally owning this grand master. We play chess with the St. Stephen chess club every Friday night for a finding activity. I got whooped



 My fantastic companions :D


Missionaries in St. Stephen!! Like us on Facebook :D And the leaves have started to change!! Mom you would be in heaven out here it's so gorgeous!!



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Monday, September 29, 2014

First Transfer Down!!


Inbox
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Richard McGuire

Sep 29 (9 days ago)

Dear Family,

What a crazy week! I'm sorry I didn't take a whole ton of pics, the leaves are changing and it's absolutely gorgeous! Mom, you would be in heaven out here. I swear heaven will look like Atlantic Canada without all of the cold and druggies. We were on our way over to Maine this morning for emailing when we got stopped at the border for the random inspection that they do. Haha, I bet they were disappointed when they saw missionaries rolling up for the drug-check. Took about an hour and this area as I have mentioned is filled with drug trafficking. Canada is safe don't worry :)

The chill has become to come up full-time. We are heading out to Fredericton for Zone Training this week so that's when I'll be buying my winter gear. The coveted coat out here is a Canadian Goose. I'm going to get one because when we were back in Moncton with the other Moncton Elders, Elder Johnson had one, and wow, you could sleep standing up in that thing it's so comfy. There's also some other options for coats, but if it doesn't have an Antarctica seal of approval on it, we aren't allowed to get it. It's supposed to be a particularly cold winter from what I have heard from the people I've spoken to.

When I tell people I'm from Arizona, they're like "Oh you're in for a treat!" Then I try to explain that I was raised in the mountains and they just smile. I've been fair warned, Canadian winters are apparently intense.

Elder Collett and I are continuing to move along the revelation we have received for this area. Lots and lots of service which I love doing. I can't wait until we do what is referred to as "Snow Shoveling Contacting"-we dig people out so that we can teach them about the Restored Gospel :))) I'm excited because some of you might know I love to shovel snow, but then again, this is Canadian snow, and fourteen feet is the average. Woohooooooooooo

I'm having a little bit of a rough time talking to all these Born-Agains. It's a large concentrated area, even outside of St. Stephen. All they want to do is bash and argue and I have a huge temptation with arguing the Gospel. We were in St. Andrews on Tuesday (Definitely taking you all there if we ever tour this mission), doing some street contacting, and I was just tired and didn't have the Spirit and talking to people wasn't going well. My tone was very unhappy which isn't conducive to being a representative of Christ. Needless to say we were headed back to the car when two men approached us out of the tavern and I stopped them. Explained who we were and tried to get the ball rolling. This one man came at me with the whole "saved by grace" thing (Sidenote: we were stacking books at the library and I found this children's book about a girl going to a new school and it was called "Just Grace" Elder Collett and I got a kick out of that") and I just didn't want to hear it. I rebuked him rather unpolitely and it was a low point for me. Elder Collett chastised me pretty hard and told me if I don't have the Spirit with me when I'm talking to people then I can't be a missionary. Very humbling.

We then went over to Sister Bubniuk for scones. She's a less-active woman who is so nice! She told me not to worry about what happened because I will be steadfast and firm in my beliefs as I continue to study the scriptures. You might even know of her, Mom. She's Irene Bubniuk the concert pianist. She had a stroke, but we talked music for a little bit which is something I really needed that afternoon. Lots and lots of less-active visits this week. We had 8 less-active/recent convert lessons which was a huge blessing.

On Thursday we drove up to St. John to pick up Elder Wolvers. He's got a huge testimony and is great at relating to everyone whom we speak with. He's the Canadian of the bunch and is therefore the most polite (Sidenote: I've begun to start saying eh, pardon, sorry, and right-pronounced 'rate' out here in New Brunswick). He's come from an even rougher spot than I was a year ago and he is a rock. Elder Wolvers has ADHD and a little bit of Asbergers, but he makes everyone we talk to laugh. I'm excited to have probably the next 12 weeks with him.

Speaking of Born-Agains, we ran into some nice ones this week! (2 out of 80ish) One was a trucker from BC who was really into Family History until he got stranded here in St. Stephen. He was very kind to us and wants to come out to the workshop we're having in a few days. He politely tries to bash with us, but I think he just needed some intelligent conversation after being on the road for so long. Another Born-again we talked to was this very nice woman who really opened up about her past and was giving us all these compliments. Then Elder Wolvers invited her for a church tour and she was so two-faced "I'm trying really hard to be nice right now!" We now openly quote her as a companionship. It's good to have some inside-jokes to keep the morale up.

Thank you all for your prayers for Brother Al Wood. I could see a change in him this week as we talked about The Plan of Salvation. He reminds me a lot of Grandpa McGuire. He's very humble, a little older, and loves Elvis. Unfortunately, he has gotten back into some old habits he quit before his baptism. We're trying to get him off of coffee and him to pay his tithing. He'll come around, but please keep praying for him.

This upcoming transfer I've been inspired with a lot of goals. President Leavitt is great at getting us motivated to work smart and hard as missionaries. We all form visions-what we want something to become-ourselves, compansionhip, the area, the district, the zone, the mission. And then create goals, then plans, and a way to monitor those visions to accomplish them. My vision for this transfer is "A business-minded scriptorian." I'm going to be memorizing a scripture a day (Sidenote:this is an apostolic promise that President Monson has made, if I do this diligently, I'll come home with a photographic memory) and juicing and eating nuts to keep my energy up. I'm tired of being tired all of the time. I'm so excited for this transfer.

Kind of a funny story. So I'm juicing, right and we have ran out of fruit and most of our carrots. So I decided that I'd juice peppers and onion. Literally was the dumbest thing I have done for myself. It was like the ear-frankinscense thing all over again except for my stomach. Wow was I in so much pain good gravy. NEVER juice an onion whatever you do. whatever you do.

My favorite scripture for the week is 2 Nephi 9:41

 41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

I love you all!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Elder McGuire
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Sunday, September 28, 2014

Well, she did it!


This is part of my letter to Rick this week---

 Dear Elder McGuire,
I have never been to a sweeter baptism in my life.  The spirit hit me so powerfully from literally the moment I stepped into that room.  I wept through the whole thing. I have so many stories to tell!  
We had arranged to pick Sarah up at her dorm on Friday night and go out to dinner.  We went to PF Changs.  She had never been there before and was so delighted with how good everything was and how fancy everything was presented.  During our wait for a table she noticed the sister missionaries there.  What a coincidence!  It was fun to meet them. 

Sister Ah Sue (from Hawaii) told us how receptive she is with learning how prayer works and recognizing a prompting.  This week she had lots of tests and one day was prompted to take some extra batteries with her.  She did and sure enough, someone at the test was asking if anyone had brought batteries.  Sarah was the only one who had some so she gave them to him.  

No one knew who we were so I introduced ourselves as "Sarah dated our son in High School".  I told Sis. Ah Sue that it was sincerely an act of faith for Rick to leave on his mission and leave Sarah up to the Lord.  I could tell that struck a personal chord with her....the courage to come on a mission and leave the rest up to the Lord.  She then told me how they had no one in their appointment book, but had been promised that there would be many people for them to teach who had been prepared to receive the gospel.  In walks Miss Azarh to enroll in a Book of Mormon class.  You bet the missionaries were all over that.  Sister Ah Sue said it was funny to begin inviting people to Sarah's baptism.  Everyone kept saying, "Sarah who?"  "Sarah Azarh."  "Oh!  She's not a member?"  They wrote us the sweetest note that included the scripture Alma 13:24-- 

 24 For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.
They thanked us, and I would include you Rick, for being those angels.  Count this as your first baptism.

I have never wanted to take a picture/video so badly in my life.  If I could've bottled up the nerve she showed to get up in front of everyone, walk through that door and into the font it would've moved a mountain.  I have seen your Dad overcome with emotion only a handful of times in my life.  This was one of those moments.  So much courage and determination.  We take so much for granted when we think of doing hard things and knowing that we will have the family support to back it up.  It was truly amazing to watch.  When she bore her testimony she was as calm and confident as I have ever seen her....more tears =) I was so proud of her.


comic relief-----You know how Dad hesitates to state his opinion because I have usually already decided what I want us to do? Early on in my weeping fest I knew the tears weren't going to stop any time soon and I was feeling awkward and wondering where we should sit.  Dad had already calmly led us to the third row.  Sarah was perfectly fine in the front row with the sister missionaries and she kept turning around to check on me.  I kept assuring her with a smile or a thumbs up that I was ok, but still, I'm sure I didn't help her nerves any.  In exasperation Dad said," We are just fine right here",  to which I replied, "We're not a family"  (because we're not sitting on the front row right by Sarah). He has the patience of Job.  Alyssa is sending pictures.  They will make your day.



Rick's response:

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I fasted so hard on Thursday. It was rough because we were having district meeting and Sister Gordon and Elder Gordon (sweetest senior couple) made a huge lunch that I had to pass up. But I knew that I could do it. I knelt down to say my prayers on Saturday night and just cried I was so happy. God is so real and he loves all of us. I'm just lost for words right now, but I couldn't be happier. Thank you thank you thank you thank you for being there for Sarah. That means a lot to me and I know that she really appreciates your support. The Gospel blesses lives, it's as simple as that. The last three verses of Matthew 11 are so beautiful (as is Sarah ;) ). I know that this Church is True!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matthew 11:28-30
 28 ¶Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek andlowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light




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By Small and Simple Things

By Small and Simple Things


Inbox
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Richard McGuire

Sep 22 (6 days ago)
to Pernell, me, Sarah, Alyssa
Dear Family,

Can I just say...HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I fasted so hard on Thursday for Sarah. We had district meeting in Fredericton that day and as soon as I woke up I had the worst headache. The Gordons from Alberta drove us and Elder Gordon being a pharmacist had lots of things that could have cleared me up and taken my headache away, but I knew that if this was going to be the only fast I ever did in my life, that I needed to make this one count. Finally, after a ton of prayer and time, I broke my fast and just cried I was so happy. On Saturday night, I knelt down to say my personal prayers and cried, offering up a prayer of gratitude.

I've noticed that truly we don't see God until after a trial of our faith. This morning during personal study, the question came to my mind "What does it mean to be faithful?" First we have to understand what faith is before we can understand what it means to be faithful. To have faith is to act in accordance to the word of God. Thus (sidenote, thus is the coolest word in the English language), to be faithful means that we are full of acts that are in accordance to the word of God, or the commandments.

We have been immensely blessed this week. During our time here in St. Stephen the emailing situation has been interesting. No libraries are open and we got kicked out at about an hour last week so I apologize for not being on for the whole time. We have found a library in the promised land (America) so we should be able to do this for my time here in Canada's Chocolate town. Sidenote: I've noticed I've become weirdly patriotic towards America. America is like a younger sibling to me. It's okay for me to make fun of it, but I get defensive when Canadians make fun of America.

Elder Collett and I will be buying a juicer soon and we'll also be in a trio with this upcoming transfer. Our apartment is a little interesting. It's not exactly an apartment, more of a townhouse so we have plenty of room for our new companion, but the place is so old and smells of mildew. Our new comp is Elder Wolvers from Alberta. He's been out two more transfers than me. We got transfer letters the other day and President has warned me that I could be training next transfer because of all the missionaries going home. No pressure.

We are trying to integrate into the community as maybe I have aforementioned. We will trying to set up Family History Workshops bi-weekly in New Brunswick and in Maine if the libraries cooperate (they're feisty people). Furthermore, we have been volunteering at the food banks in Calais and in St. Stephen so lots of people see us which is great. We're trying to raise the profile of the church here considering it's quite the Baptist place.

Wickers and maritimers in general are interesting people.  They're so friendly and open and will tell you everything about anything they know. I have come up with a song that I sing to Elder Collett after every contact we make.

To the tune of Pioneer Children:

Ma-ri-ti-mers yapped as they talked and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked!

We were stacking wood for the ward clerk who lives in St. Andrews and this man could talk for three hours about cedar trees and soft wood and how he got jipped when he bought it. The wood piles out here make out wood pile look like a pile of toothpicks. It's going to be a cold winter ;D He's just going on and on and on and in my mind I'm thinking "Brother Simmonds calm down it's all wood it's all going to burn, good gravy man!" The Nova Scotian suck is so cool! Ask Bishop about that. They inhale when they say yes.

We're also involved in the various community activities (I freaking love this place). We play soccer with the university students on Monday nights (check out St. Stephen University online, they literally all live in one house and do all of their learning and eating in there, all 55 of em) and are duly embarrassed because neither one of us play soccer. Also on Friday nights we go and play chess with some provincial players. Got whooped in three turns ahhh yihhh. Overall, people are recognizing us and if you can't baptize people (unless they're Sarah and amazing) you can at least soften hearts and plant seeds.

Milltown (practically Saint Stephen, but a little down the way, actually where we live) is a different place. I don't think you'll have to worry about me serving in the Bronx, Mom, I'm already here. New Brunswick is kind of like the Louisiana of the states. Very southern redneck feel to it and a TON of drugs. Everyone we talk to is either high or about to get high.

Nevertheless, Pilltown, I mean Milltown has blessed us with plenty of potentials. We got 7, count em, potentials, and 4 referrals!!!! That just doesn't happen around here. In weeks past we would probably get only a referral once a week and maybe a few potentials. I can feel your prayers softening hearts.

Your prayers have even softened enough hearts in Milltown to where we have TWO NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!!! AHHHH!!!! They are the MacKnights and they are very similar to Dad and Mom (I'm becoming a Wicker with pronouncing 'mom' as 'mum'). Bob just retired from the RCMP and Lynn loves to feed people! They are so nice and their home is like a 180 from some of the homes around here (which are very Victorian but run down). Bob is a lot like you Dad because he reads a lot and asks really good questions. We had a question and answer for about 40 minutes and they invited us back for supper (dinner is for capitalist Americans) and talk more about the Book of Mormon!!!

We have also been stacking wood for a total Maritimer named Bernard. He loves riding motorcycles and speaks like a redneck Scotsman (I's a appreciate ya for stacking me's wood) Awesome man. He wants to take us to Blacks Harbour for some good picture spots and then we're taking him to Bishop's house for dinner and hopefully a lesson. He's so kind and so cool! Maritimers have the largest hearts, but a lot of pride.

Probably the humblest man I've met is a recent-convert we are teaching, Brother Al Wood. He's 68, but loves learning about the Gospel. He has a rough time with his clients as he is a taxi and drives around a lot of people on drugs. If you could please pray for him specifically that would really help out.

Speaking of praying specifically for people, pray for your missionaries by name daily! They appreciate it so much and it's like night and day with the work when members are involved.

Thank you so so so so much for the prayers and letters that you send each week. It really uplifts me. My favorite scripture from the week is found in Doctrine and Covenants 123:16. Sidenote: I love scriptures and church stuff now that applies to the sea and lighthouses.

"You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves."

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

BY SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS ARE GREAT THINGS BROUGHT TO PASS

Love,

Elder McGuire
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Monday, September 15, 2014

Pictures from Fall festival in St. Stephen

 And here`s me with Sister and Brother Richardson. They are crazy, but so loving.
 WE GOT TO TEACH DRUMS AT THE FALL FAIR!!!!! I was in heaven, such a tender mercy!!!!
 Yes, that's a turtle rattle
We had a powwow and Elder Collett and I were trying to share Helaman 5:12 haha it was a disaster, but a ton of fun
 There are so many seagulls here!! Also we stopped by the coolest less-active woman in the world-Sis. Richardson. She`s from the passamaquoddy tribe and is about as New England as they come.
 Where the magic happens!


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Monday, September 8, 2014

In St. Stephen

Dear Family,
Greetings from Canada's Chocolate Town! I intend to baptize plenty of oompah loompahs (doopity doo) and eat a lot of chocolate at their world famous chocolate factory (according to them). Our area is humungous! Not only do we cover St. Stephen-which is about as big as Kanab-but we also cover some towns in Maine and down south towards Grand Manan island. Side note: I'm grateful everyday that I took the time before my mission to look up everything about Atlantic Canada, it's a lot easier to have conversations with people when you know something about the area or about their heritage.
I'm fairly upset about leaving Moncton and Dieppe, but really, that ward needs to be humbled. The people and the area were so prepared to become apart of The Lord's Kingdom, but the ward just wouldn't retain any of the families or people that were interested in hearing about the Gospel. I intend to go back though. It's weird beginning a mission only to close down one of the larger cities in Atlantic Canada. But I am moving on to bigger and better things here in St. Stephen.
We are in deep English-Speaking New Brunswick and the area is pretty backwoods and desolate, but I couldn't be happier with the people here. Most of the people we talk to are seniors who have heard from the missionaries pretty much since this mission has been opened (1972 I believe). So Elder Collett and I are switching up tactics and we will win the hearts of the people that live here. This place reminds me a lot of Idaho and everywhere smells like the ocean and fish. I would describe the accent in Eastern Canada as British vocabulary with a North American accent. Everything is a 'she' here. "How is she?"="How are you?" "Put her down here"="Set it down." Interesting. I'm beginning to say eh' a lot more now and saying bag as bayg and flag as flayg. My favorite Canadian word has to be waygon-wagon.
Everyone here loves talking with us and most people are generally friendly. We did a lot of book work and cleaning once we got into St. Stephen. The previous Elders got sick from the mildew in the apartment, but we cleaned all of that out and the place smells way better-we literally scrubbed everything with lysol bleach. The Spirit truly needs a clean place to reside always. President Leavitt is a huge believer in obedience and keeping things neat, organized, and especially clean. Cleaning relieves stress as I may have mentioned before and Mom you're probably grinning from ear to ear now haha.
Speaking of President Leavitt, I really think part of my assignment has to do with this man. He's like the Canadian Equivalent of Steven R. Covey. He really knows how to organize missionaries, train them, and motivate them to work. I'm very blessed to have been called to serve here in Atlantic Canada. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for The Power of Everyday Missionaries! President trains out of that book pretty much every week and it has helped me out a ton with contacting and tracting.
We met with the Bishop and his family Wednesday night and they are active!!!!!! Like a normal Mormon family out here in New Brunswick. Bishop Doskas is a rock and truly has a testimony of missionary work. The stake moved the ward boundaries just so that his home would be in the ward. We drove about an hour to Blacks Harbour to have dinner with his family. We had mexican food and talked about getting more activities going! It was so relieving to have a normal family here in Canada. He served in Manila and his wife served in Montreal. They are amazing.
We're trying to get more activities going because this place has been knocked about a million times. It's frustrating because knocking is like the bread and butter of missionary work. I love knocking but it's ineffective out here. The first door I knocked on here this Baptist man came out and wanted to bash. He was so prideful and it was all I could do not to slug him right there. He was very disrespectful and I called him out on it. I'm sick of prideful people.
There is no use in trying to convince people of the truth. It's impossible for either you or me to persuade people that the gospel has been restored. As missionaries our job is to create an environment in which the Spirit may reside. When there is harsh feelings between people the Spirit cannot dwell and we are unable to learn God's Will. In Moroni we learn that through the Spirit we may know the truth of all things. With Spiritual matters, human logic is of no use. The Spirit manifests of spiritual truths, not human logic.
I am loving Elder Bednar's advice when reading the Book of Mormon. Take a brand new copy of the BoM, paperback, and write a question in the front that you want answered. Then as you read, mark it up with revelation that you recieve. My questions are already being answered and I'm only halfway through 1 Nephi. The Book of Mormon is true. I know it contains the fulness of the Gospel and the Gospel instructs us on what we must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come. I love being a missionary.
Hurrah for Israel!!!!!
Elder McGuire
                   
Last minute pics with the other Moncton elders


























































Took part in a sacred Canadian ritual, eating Poutine. Literally the worst thing you could put into your body. But soooooooo goooooodddddd. Fries, gravy, cheese curds, bacon cheeseburger style hoorah





















Lighthouses are staples around here :)))















Found this legit gun and this is me on the pier
















One of my favorite and least favorite things about the Maritimes. The sunsets are amazing, but the mosquitoes are like flying spiders


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Monday, September 1, 2014

Emergency Transfer to St. Stephen, New Brunswick

Dear Family,

Moncton has fallen. I don't have a lot of time because we're trying to get down the coast in a bit, but I'll explain what has happened this past week and why we're moving. Elder Collett and I are both going together so it's not the worst thing in the world. The joke around here in the Canada Halifax Mission is that for every door we knock on, a family in South America gets baptized.

To put it simply, this ward is messed up. In the past, President Leavitt has hit Moncton with everything he's got. He sent in the best senior couple for a year and they did some amazing things: concerts, firesides, bbqs etc. Look up Elder Call Orange Blossom Special and that was for Moncton. Moncton has had 6 missionaries in the ward and not apostate missionaries, the best missionaries President could send to this place. Elders who are ZLs, District Leader, 2 STLs, with at least 15 months of experience. And then there's me, but anyways. The missionaries in this ward are just disrespected by members. President himself said he's never seen a more dysfunctional ward in his 62 years.

The building is a disaster. Honestly, I would never bring an investigator to the chapel because it was just disgusting. The members have cleaning assignments but they just don't want to do it. We spent all of yesterday cleaning the chapel after church which was an amazing spiritual experience. 4 Elders in white shirts and ties scrubbing and vacuuming the chapel until it was presentable for the Spirit to be there. The rest of the church needs some serious renovation and the members here don't deserve this building. 

The building really reflects the state of the members attitudes towards member-missionary work. The bishop even explicitly stated that he doesn't want us baptizing anyone. Not to mention that the bishop is nearly innactive and has a serious WoW problem. Same goes with the Elders Quorum president who hasn't been to church in a year. I hate to be so blunt, but this ward is just pathetic. President told us that we don't have to like these members, all we have to do is love them.

While cleaning the chapel we found some suspicious things. One of the doors from the outside into the Chapel had been tampered with so that people could just come in whenever without a key. It's so much disrespect to the reason why we go to the Chapel, to take the sacrament. I just want Elder Holland to come here and lay the smack down on these prideful members.

There's a large problem with gossip, modern day secret combinations, OW garbage, and anti-mormon literature being passed around. There's this British family here that's been in this ward for half a century. Once they got every family member into a leadership position they ran this ward to the ground with alienating certain members and spreading gossip about others. Just this past week Elder Collett and I broke up a fight in the middle of sacrament meeting between two of these British members. It's so sad, and I'm frustrated with how things are.

The former ward mission leader has a personal vendetta against Elder Collett and I. He would never come to church and so we took over as Ward Mission Leader. We ate dinner at this man's house and he was kind but there was so much tension in the room it was hard to feel the Spirit. He asked us if we would move this less-active woman last Thursday. This less-active woman said she had to work and didn't even come to church the following Sunday. We spent 5 hours moving her entire house by ourselves in the rain. She was then upset that I declined her invitation over the phone to come back and move her stuff around her new place in Shediac. She's quite the free spirit and we had to do a lot of the packing and moving while she was away at work. Not even a return thank you call. Makes my blood boil.

Then, the following morning this ex ward mission leader calls me up and chews me out for 10 minutes over the lamest stuff. He got mad that we have to have the phone on speaker as missionaries and told me that if we have prospective investigators they'd get annoyed by that. Then he got mad we wouldn't spend kilometers to go out to Shediac again and that we didn't take pizza from him when we left this past Wednesday. He literally said we weren't intelligent missionaries and he was mad that we weren't visiting more people in the ward. President said this less-active man is just on a power trip and is mad that he's not ward mission leader anymore.

So needless to say, we are moving to St. Stephen while Moncton, one of the largest cities in the mission, is being shut down for a while until this ward can humble itself and try to run itself without missionaries dragging it along while it won't walk. We also suspect some leaders are modern Gadianton Robbers stealing tithing money for their own use. President is furious and the stake president and his counselors are coming up to Moncton next week to try and fix things.

I'm a frustrated with how the beginning of my mission has begun, because seriously the area itself was amazing. We were having so much success in Dieppe. We found a young family that wants to get married and start going to church!!! They fell from the sky! We were teaching them and they really want to get baptized. I know that your prayers and scripture study led Elder Collett and I to them. We also found this one man who wants to know more about what motivates us as missionaries to come all the way to Eastern Canada. And he wants to take me to Tim Horton's because I've never been so hoorah! That's our last activity before shipping down to St. Stephen. I feel mad that these investigators are way too good for this ward. I want to start a branch in Dieppe if things don't straighten out because I know we can do that. 

It feels like we're leaving these investigators behind with their salvation which brings me to tears. I don't want to give up on them, but if they did get baptized and did come to this ward they wouldn't last and it would hurt to watch them go less-active.

I really think that the Lord is trying to  teach me about the moments before the atonement. How it's not about what you want as a disciple, it's about what you need. Praying to remove the bitter cup is not sufficient when going through a trial. Praying for strength to partake of the bitter cup is aligning ourselves with the will of the Father. I won't lie, this is really hard to leave Dieppe, but I know that God is in the details of what's going on and things will get better.

I had a splendid opportunity to speak with Elder Collett (remember he was called as a French missionary) about how to cope with wanting to speak a different language as a missionary and then not getting that wish granted. I know that if I wasn't called to speak English I wouldn't have grown closer to my Saviour which is what this life is all about. I'm pleased with the trials ahead and I will move forward in faith as I serve the people of St. Stephen.

Thank you so much for your letters and your prayers. I love you all and wish you all the best this next week.

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder McGuire

 These are all the other elders in our apartment. From left to right: Elder Johnson, Elder Raymant, and Elder Collett. We made amazing potato stir-fry as our last supper. More on why it was our last supper later :))))
Also, Elder Collett and I made some amazing sausage and rice that was life changing. Would've made you proud mom to watch me cook :)))

This was the sunset on the way back to Moncton from Amherst. During our drive we had on Men of MoTab singing "Be Still My Soul." In my personal study I've often wondered why there are so many tree analogies. It's because trees are all around the world to remind us of certain things-faith, tree of life, family history etc. It was very soothing because there are so many trees here and that left me with a feeling that Atlantic Canada will move forward in the work of salvation. 

 These were from our visits to Amherst in NS. Really a beautiful place that reminded me a lot of Flagstaff. The buildings were historic and looked like Harry Potter.






The Canadian money smells like maple!!!!

With the Acadian monument and the coolest street name that I'll use to pwn you all with in Scattergories 
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