January in Canada

Hey everybody!

We had a fun week this week for sure. It's been weird as I get closer and closer to the end. I try not to think about it too much. It has, however, helped me really focus on the work and have a deeper desire to give it my all. Recently I've gained a testimony of not having "one foot on the boat and one on the dock". Often on my mission I've spent time thinking about what I missed from back home and how I was excited to do those things when I get home but lately I've just realized that thinking about it too much is a waste of time and it'll all be there when the time comes. For now, I'm just trying to focus on giving it my all.

My area is doing alright. We're having success in finding people to teach, but the challenge comes in helping them to keep commitments, progress, and take steps in the gospel. This week we set up an appointment to go visit a former investigator, Julie from Cameroon, and her three sisters were there too. We ended up having a great lesson with 4 very spiritual African sisters. I'm gonna miss meeting people from all over the world when I come home to Utah. It's not quite as diverse over there.

So we've been working with our less active Stéphane for a good while and helping him to quit smoking certain things. The church has published an awesome addiction recovery program to help people overcome their addictions. Elder Read and I thought it would be cool if the three of us did it together instead of just him doing it alone. I decided that at least for the rest of my mission I'm going to try to give up sweets, desserts, soda, and candy. So far it's been about a week and it's been a bit of a challenge but I've been doing alright so far. Even though our "addictions" aren't quite equal in extremity, it still gives us the opportunity to discuss our experiences together and it's been helping him out a lot. And to my family members who are doubting my ability to not eat sugar: this time it's for real! Haha.

Anyway, I'm doing well and enjoying the work. Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Oxborrow