Nefarious and Murderous Impositions

Dear Family,

Thank you for those that wrote me! And for those of you that didn't
the second principle of the gospel is repentance! It was an excellent
week. We went on exchanges with the Woodstock elders and had the time
of our lives. I love missionary work. I love how difficult it is every
day. Constant rejection, every day, every week, every month, was
exactly what I needed in a mission. Humility is the fountain of all
virtues. Without humility our efforts to be obedient or charitable
mean nothing. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
President Uchtdorf stated that being genuine is really an act of
humility. It takes courage to be humble. To acknowledge that we are
nothing and that God is everything is a difficult thing to understand.
I love it how the Lord puts it to Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail "That
they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to
cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to
exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the
children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens
withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is
withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the
pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God. Soon we are
backed up to the wall of humility when pride permeates our hearts. I
know that we can gain any virtue in the gospel if we are genuine and
humble. The path to humility is prayer (Helaman 3:35)

This past week we had an interesting experience on exchanges. I have
had more trouble with the law here than in any other area.
Nevertheless, I am proud to say that I am now on the police records in
behalf of the church. We were doing a FREE lemonade stand on the
street outside the post office with the Woodstock Elders. We thought
it would be a less abrasive approach than street contacting people
during their lunch break, but no we thought wrong. I was asking people
if they wanted some lemonade and then one guy walks by and doesn't say
anything and I was like "Lemonade? Yes? No? Sir? Okay, have a good
day!" Then he whips back around and says "AM I REQUIRED TO SAY
SOMETHING TO YOU?!" And then I say that no I was just wondering if you
wanted some free lemonade. He then goes on this huge rant about how we
are blocking the sidewalk and people can't get by and we need a
permit. He said that if we didn't take down our stand he was going to
take it down for us. I said we weren't moving. He then went on about
how we were shoving our religion down people's throats. I said that we
hadn't even mentioned religion yet, we just wanted to know if he
wanted some FREE LEMONADE. Good gravy. Throwing temper tantrums over
free lemonade. Then the cops showed up and said they had received a
civil complaint about us. I felt like I was black and it was the
1960s. I'm sad to say that our society has yet to rise above prejudice
and racism (2 Nephi 26:33). The cop said that he didn't really care
and that we weren't in trouble. He just had to fill out the police
report. Some people's kids.

The next interesting experience happened out of innocence. Elder
Greenlief is new on his mission to Eastern Canada and Northern Maine
so I thought it would be appropriate to initiate him with some Tim
Horton's. While we were waiting in line and looking at the donuts, a
man in front of us turns around and says 'How many wives do you guys
got?' I was a little shocked that he would just rip on us openly in a
Tim Horton's (I've had some lame experiences in Tim Horton's on my
mission). He then went on to say how we were a cult and that we should

leave. I said give me three good reason. He said: We don't believe in
the Trinity. We add to the Bible. And we think only Mormons are going
to Heaven. We paid for the donuts and hot chocolate and then I asked
him if he had his bible. He said that it was in his car. I told him
that I could prove to him using his own bible that we weren't a cult.
There we sat for an hour going over the Godhead and the Trinity.  I
studied the Godhead for about 6 months on my mission. This guy, Mike
didn't even know where any of the scriptures were that 'defended the
Trinity.' I had to point out like two to get him started. "Let me help
you prove me wrong" Then scripture after scripture I defended the true
doctrine of the Godhead. He wasn't really understanding and finally I
pinned him with 1 Corinthians 3:4,8 which ended the dispute over John
10:30. A perfect way to describe the situation was Mark 12:24. Mike
left with a Book of Mormon and a belief in the Godhead. I don't
believe in telling people that their beliefs are wrong but I do
believe in defending the truth. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

So yes. It was an interesting week. I never really experienced
opposition to my beliefs before my mission. The church is hated
throughout the world. It is loved as well. Elder Holland said we
should defend our beliefs with courteous and compassion but we should
defend them.

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Elder McGuire

From Mom:  THAT. is what Dad needed in his SS lesson yesterday--opening paragraph.

When we are humble the Lord can teach us.  When we are sufficiently humble enough to recognize the greatness and goodness of God, THEN we are ready to make covenants with Him. That level of understanding brings so much joy that we WANT to share His gospel.  I like that you have come to understand that. 

If the Prophet Had Bid Thee

Elder G fixin' the dishwasher

Dear Family,

Today marks my 90th P-day. Thank you for writing me consistently for
the past 90 weeks. I am so blessed to have a family like you. Caribou
is still cold in case you were wondering. It snowed today and I don't
think we're out of the woods just yet with Canadian winters.

This past week I was reading the Old Testament and I came across the
story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5. I love this story. I've read it recently
but I decided to read it again because of the interesting principle it
teaches. Naaman afflicted with leprosy is commanded by Elisha to bathe
in the river Jordan. The river Jordan was dirty and simple and there
were other rivers that were much cleaner and attractive. Naaman's
servant tells him that if the prophet told him to do some great thing
he would do it. Naaman does eventually wash in the River jordan and is
healed. For most of my life in the church I wanted the other rivers I
didn't want the boring jordan river. I saw coming to Eastern Canada as
a waste of time when I first opened my call. Cold place, old white
catholic uninterested people, and large and barren. I admit when I
opened my call I didn't want to go. I wanted an exotic mission where
I'd have to preach the gospel in a foreign tongue and do things
extravagant on P-day. Too often in the gospel we think we need divine
manifestations to believe in the truth. The truth is simple and yes
sometimes the truth is boring. I honestly came on my mission because I
wanted to please my parents and I wanted to look good to others in the
church. After months of humbling, rejection after rejection my initial
thoughts about my mission seemed like they were true. Then I had to
really take a deep look as to why I even believed in God, why I even
was on a mission, or why I should even continue believing in the
gospel and serving a mission. Honestly, I am on a mission and I remain
on my mission because I want to be a better man. When I came out I
said that I just wanted to give others the blessings of the atonement.
That's a noble reason. But it wasn't authentic. I am on a mission
because I find that my potential is being reached here. We don't need
grand revelations or flashy leadership responsibilities. Sometimes
it's perfectly okay to live a perfectly ordinary life. I know that God
called me to Canada because I needed to learn this principle. I'm
grateful for all the things I have learned and continue to learn.

The power bars are great by the way!

This past week with no investigators on date or really in the teaching
pool, we set out to find some people that actually wanted to know the
truth. The first man we found that was interested was Joe. Joe is an
older guy, about 50 that has a lot of questions about the bible. He is
born-again Christian and hasn't gotten some answers about the plan of
salvation from some pastors he's talked to. He has lots of questions
about fate and God judging His people. We taught the Restoration
briefly and then started to use the Book of Mormon to answer a lot of
his questions. I love that about the Book of Mormon. Alma 40-42 really
struck a chord with him. He's definitely a truth seeker. Not as
scrutinizing as the boys from Moncton but he asks some really tough
questions. Awesome investigator though. He's on date for the end of
May. Born and raised Maineiac.

The next investigator we found was Kim in Presque Isle. Kim is also in
her 50s and wants to quit smoking. She doesn't really like the
Wesleyan Church set-up. We found her knocking on some doors around
former investigators. She is investigating not really to find the
truth because she already believes in the Book of Mormon when we
taught it. She just wants to quit smoking and overcome some other
problems. I love that about the gospel. Sometimes on my mission I've
tried to just doctrinally prove to people that we're right and not
really go for the spiritual side of things. I need to do a better job
with just focusing on the doctrine of Christ rather than just every
point of each lesson. We teach repentance and we baptize converts.

Yes we got fed by the Himes. Fajitas! It was delicious!

Power bars from home

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Elder McGuire

Seek Out the Righteous Where're They May Be

Dear Family,

What a wonderful time of the year it is. The Spring is coming even if
it is slow at first. Yesterday it was a balming 60 degrees outside.
Today it's more like 40. I feel so relieved that my time in Canadian
winters is done. I can't believe it. I feel like a huge stress has
been lifted off of my shoulders. I love the Canadian Springs because
that means no more winter. Canada is probably the most beautiful in
the Fall. Maybe one of these days you can all come up to Eastern
Canada and see how beautiful the provinces are.

This past week I have been studying a lot about personal revelation.
In the concluding verses of John 6 the Saviour remarks that disciples
are walking away from Him. Throughout the church, I notice a lot of
solid members falling away into forbidden paths because they feel like
they are too smart for the gospel. Peter then responds in essence "Why
would we leave, you have the words of eternal life?" President Monson
quoting the cheshire cat to Alice in Alice in Wonderland said "If you
don't know where you're going then it doesn't really matter which way
you go." This reminds me of a scripture in Proverbs which states
"Where there is no vision, the people perish." Often with personal
revelation we feel like we haven't gotten an answer. In my case I have
wondered my whole mission what would be the most worthwhile thing for
me to study. However, with things like that, it is better to ask
ourselves 'What do I want?' 'What do I want for my life?' 'For my
children' or 'For my spouse.' Often we already know the answer to our
prayers, we are just needy and not willing to act in faith. Personal
revelation is the way to salvation. D&C 131:6

This past week was a bittersweet week. Unfortunately we had to drop
the 5 people we had on date to be baptized. The Ellison's were excuse
machines with coming to church. We taught the commandment, had
multiple rides set up but it just couldn't happen. It's too bad
because we spent like two months teaching them, but who knows. Maybe
they will be better in the summer and get baptized then. I'll miss
teaching them, sitting on their floor, sipping koolaid and petting
their cat. We've got to separate the wheat from the tares. In the
Doctrine and Covenants it states that the elders of the church are to
build up the church finding those that will receive us (Section 42). I
can't help the people that don't want to be helped. In other news we
let go of Kayla as well because personally I felt like she was just
investigating for Will and I didn't want to baptize someone that
wasn't actually interested spiritually in the gospel. So at this point
we have a teaching pool of one, just Colby and he's been avoiding us
too sadly.

However, I have some really good news. CLAUD "THE IRON ROD" MELANSON
GOT BAPTIZED IN MONCTON ON SATURDAY! I remember street contacting him
outside of the hardware store just as he was getting off of work. It
had been a really cold day and we were stopping by formers and
potentials in the area and Claud was sort of off to the side. At first
I thought no it would be inappropriate to contact an employee who
might be at work, but then we thought, well hey what the heck we're
already near by. The contact sort of went like "Hey we're
missionaries, do you want to come closer to God?" I don't remember
what his exact response was but in my notes from that planner I wrote
down "French, from Bathurst. Went through a rough 2015. Feel like he
has decent interest. Plan to call on Monday." We taught him for a
little bit, but the lessons weren't as fast paced as Donna. I was then
transferred and from what I heard he started to really eat up the
gospel. I had a goal at the beginning of my mission the baptize an
Acadian because I started in a French area. It's been 20 months since
I was in that French area and that goal is now realized.

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Elder McGuire

Saucy umbrella pictures knocking in the rain

 I stole Elder G's glasses

I put up the 10 'How to Begin Teaching' points around the apartment so
that Elder G can learn them

Even when people tell you they aren't interested that doesn't mean
their cat isn't

I put up a bunch of motivational posters from the New Era over my desk

Studies! :D

 Cracking the whip with Brother Bennet from Texas

I the Lord, Remember Them No More

All of the planners on my mission. It's been 7 planners since I last
took a picture like this

Don't worry we have food :D Meal prepping burritos for days

I got my Nova Scotia Driver's License! One step closer to moving to
Canada when Trump gets elected

Dear Family,

Thanks for writing me again. I never get tired of hearing from you.
I'm going to miss catching up with all of you from week to week when I
get home. We'll have to have skype calls every Sunday to stay in touch
when I'm done with my mission. This past week was one of the best
weeks of my life. I love being a missionary. I love serving the Lord.
I love watching the atonement work in the lives of everyone around me
and in my own life. I have learned two things on my mission for sure.
I can't change others but I can change me. That's the beauty of the
gospel.

Preach My Gospel puts it this way in chapter 6 regarding Christlike
attributes: "The restored gospel of Jesus Christ enables you to become
like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ." We have a marvelous gift. We
have the tools available to us to become like the most supreme being
in the universe (2 Nephi 31:21). The gospel is simple. Faith,
repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and
enduring to the end. It's interesting to me that our Heavenly Father
who knows everything about the universe only gives 5 things we need to
do to become like Him. Faith is often a difficult part for people.
Moroni and Paul described faith as the assurance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1, Ether 12:6). However,
faith isn't the hardest part of coming unto Christ. I believe for most
people it is the repentance part. The Lord has declared in the
Doctrine and Covenants to declare nothing but repentance unto this
generation. Repentance involves forsaking our sins, and believing new
things about the world and the gospel. If need be, it involves
confessing to a priesthood leader the serious mistakes that we may
have made. I have sat toe to toe with several less-actives who believe
that the bishop will be disappointed in them and judge them severely.
This is not true. Often times we judge ourselves too severely, more
than God or His Son Jesus Christ would ever judge us. Repentance
involves a change of heart. I don't like the word "process" when it
comes to repentance. Repentance is more like baking a cake. You need
all of the ingredients but the cake won't explode if you have the
ingredients out of order. I have seen many members of the church give

The cats of Caribou after dark knocking

up because they feel like they will never live up to God's standard.
It's a sad fact that Satan tempts us into judging ourselves harder
than God will judge us. The Lord made it very clear: " Behold, he who
has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord,
remember them no more. (D&C 58:42)

This past week was great. We found a new investigator, Kayla, by
visiting a less-active in Limestone. Will is gung ho about getting
back into the gospel and Kayla is his new girlfriend. She is catholic
but doesn't really go to church. Basically like everyone that lives in
Maine. The lesson was going all over the place because I was trying to
take a step back and let Elder Greenlief lead out on the lesson but I
finally had to jump in and end the endless ranting that accompinies
Maritimers. I told you all of my primary song I wrote when I was in
St. Stephen. "Marrriii timmmerrrrs yappped as they talked and talked
and talked and talked and talked and talked and talkedddddddd. It's a
hit. It's going to be in all song books here soon. We also put Kayla
on date for May 7th. So now we have 5 people on date for May 7th! We
are going to get a baptism before I leave here!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Love,

Elder McGuire

The zone leaders stole my camera at zone conference

Elder Greenlief had to shoot the blow gun at Sie's. Sie has lots of
guns and blow guns it's great

Elder Greenlief in his natural habitatThis past week was great. We found a new investigator, Kayla, by

Repent and Be Baptized

Elder Von Trapp saying goodbye to our favorite less-active, Sie

Dear Family,

Thanks for your letters. Perhaps some of you were confused and thought
that P-day was going to be on Wednesdays from now on. Sadly no. P-day
is only on Wednesday when it is a transfer week and because it was a
transfer week last week P-day was moved. P-day is always on Monday.
Sunday is P-day eve. It's a special day, it's the day we get ready for
P-day. Saturday is also a special day because it's the day we get
ready for Sunday. Thanks for those of you who did write.

So how about that conference? I really enjoyed all of the talks but
one in particular that really struck a chord with me was Elder Snow's
talk about humilty. He began in such a unique way. I love learning
about the history of the church and in particular about the hymns. He

Elder Greenlief getting ready for take-off! :D

based his whole talk on a great hymn Be Thou Humble. President Hunter
said once that our greatest joy should be the success of others. I
don't think I really understood that until I came on a mission. Our
entire work is about people. We are in the people business. I rejoice
when someone wants to actually find out if the church is true or when
someone makes an effort to repent. There's no joy like the joy felt in
the service of others. The path to humility is prayer and fasting
(Helaman 3:35). As Alma said in his great sermon on faith that it is
better to be humble than to be compelled to be humble.

Just your average lesson with Elder McGuire

There were some great talks in general that I think it would be good
for all of us to go back and listen to conference one more time.

This past week I got word that I was training a new missionary. I
forgot to tell you all last Wednesday. Sorry about that. Elder
Greenlief is from Sandy, UT and is 18, straight out of high school. I
remember when I came out and looking back I'm just like what was I
thinking coming out that young. It really has been a long time since I
began my mission. Elder Greenlief is excited to get to work. He is
really into computers: computer programming, building computers, and
basically all things tech. He's a smart cookie and loves the gospel.
Gotta love that new missionary fire. We're going to get a lot of work
done.

Elder Greenlief from Sandy, UT. Fresh from the mothership, the MTC

So Thursday after driving a ton from Maine all the way to Moncton and
back again we met with the Ellisons again. It was Elder Greenlief's
first ever lesson of all time so I knew I needed to make it a
memorable one for him. On the way over there I was telling him that he
needed to invite Crystal, Riley, and Logan to be baptized and to
readjust Tia's date for May. He was pretty nervous about the whole
thing, but I said what was the worst that could happen. We were
teaching the restoration again just to clear some of the points up and
the lesson was coming to a close and Elder Greenlief was just so
nervous I didn't know what to do. So finally once we taught all of the
points and the Ellison's were agreeing, I said "Well thanks for having
us, before we go Elder Greenlief has a question he's been dying to
ask." He then with all the courage he could muster invite them to be
baptized. Yes you could say that Elder Greenlief put 4 people on date
to be baptized his first night in the field. Not bad for being out
only 3 weeks. President Pratt was stoked when he heard about that.
Faith precedes the miracle. We're cooking with peanut oil now!

Initiating Elder Greenlief to the ways of the Maritimes with some poutine

I love you all

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Elder McGuire