To all You yankees! Well... Most of you at least. 02-27-08‏

It's ok! I'm a yankee too. Just a canadian one for a little while. Today has been a brilliant one. Yes indeed the sun is shining. The snow is melting and that brings some interesting effects.During the winter there are trucks that basically just go out and drop dirt on the roads for increased traction on the snow that gets so packed during winter. As a result as the snow melts there is mud everywhere! Brown is now the dominant color here in Rocky but I can tell things will get beautiful.I may not get the chance to see that change! Zone Conference was this week! AMAZING experience. We had our interviews with President and afterward Elder Frost (my trainer + companion since I've been in Canada) turned to me and said "One of us is getting transfered." I asked "What makes you say that?" I was curious because he had been convinced one of us was being transfered before. This time he seemed more certain.He said "I told President that I can't teach you anything more."Shocked may be a good word to explain how that made me feel. So there it is. It's quite likely I'll be transfered. I would say it's nearly a 50 percent chance! Pretty intense eh? Zone Conference though was so good! President stands at about 5' 5". When he speaks though, he feels like a giant. His voice is not loud or tumultuous. It's much like I imagine the voice in 3 nephi 11:3 sounded. As he bore solemn testimony in words I had heard thousands of times before, my heart was pierced.My family and friends the spirit can do wonders in our lives! I am blessed with the opportunity to find that on my mission but I have faith that the lessons I'm being taught do not apply strictly for the next 20 months. They're ETERNAL principles. Doctrine and Covenants section 130 in verses 20 and 21 (I believe) talks about a law irrevocably decreed before the foundations of the earth upon which all blessings are predicated. If any man recieves a blessing from God it is by obedience to the law upon which it is founded. That's vaguely paraphrased but pretty close. If the law is from before the foundations of the earth I submit it follows in the eternities to come.This past week a kind lady named Sister Kay Mckenzie let us borrow her hymns book. It has in it written all the chords necessary to play the songs! How much fun do you think I've been having with that? If you guessed as much as I have time to give it You're right on! It's amazing to learn to play the songs that have always been dear to my heart along with a few I'm only a little familiar with.The work here is progressing. I think there is a lot of potential here and I hope to soon be able to unleash some of it. I have still not had hardly any chances to really teach the lessons to investegators. All the experience I have is from the MTC and the role playing we do occasionally in the mission.I have hope for each of you that you'll be able to feel many of the feelings I am so blessed to feel. I have a testimony of the truth of this gospel. I have witnessed miracles by faith.There is a member in our ward named Sister Laidler. Her husband Bob is a carpenter and has never been interested in the church. We came by their house to have supper with them and he was in his big lush chair eyes clenched closed in pain. His hand was wrapped and on a large pillow with Ice on the top of it. Through the course of dinner we discovered he had fallen from a ladder and broken it. The doctors said there were chips from the bone. By the end of the night his breathing grew heavy and he literally began to writhe in pain. Bob is a big man and a very tough person. He looks similar to a biker and to see him near tears was hard for me.As we gave the lesson on faith I had the impression to ask him if he wanted a blessing. Certain he would decline I waited to see if the prompting would come again. It did. I was nervous. We ended the lesson and prayed before preparing to leave. As we put on our shoes I said to him "Now Bob, I know you're not a member of our church, but faith in Jesus Christ can bring miracles. We have authority given to us to act in Gods name. Would you like a priesthood blessing?" I then explained that the results of the blessing would be according to his faith. He said "I believe."That was enough for me. Bob asked me to anoint him and to have Elder Frost pronounce the blessing. In short the blessing was that he would be healed and recover quickly.We left and I continued praying that I would be able to have faith to add upon the power of the blessing. Two or three days later we were driving by the Grocery store. I'm certain it was Bob Laidler I saw walking with a large cup in his hand (that had him less than a week before in near tears.)The healing power of Christ extends from the physical aspects to the most spiritual injuries we can have. Let's have the faith to be healed. With love,Elder McCarty

It's a major meltdown up here! 02-20-08‏

Ok! So not long ago we had another of Canadas cold spells! Here in the more southern part of Alberta the wind is the real topper. The weather can be at a decent -15 degrees (which isn't terribly cold) but the wind can drop that dramatically to the point we're advised to stay inside!After about three days of that wind the next day the temperature shot to around -5 with minimal wind. We went and shoveled snow for 4 hours! We call it service tracting and it made a ton of progress for us. Ok I'm gonna tell the story... We had noticed that the Millards hadn't shoveled their walk all winter. They're a small family Dianne (mother) Ron (Father) and James their adopted 4 year old son. James is a riot! He talks more than most adults and always has a million questions. Sister and Brother Millard are very kind and always eager to have us over for supper. We've grown pretty close with this family since they make it a point to fill in our dinner calender whenever there is a vacancy! Yes that means sometimes we eat there three nights in a row!We had talked earlier about doing service tracting. Basically the plan was to walk down the street and shovel walks for strangers. We decided we would start at the Milliards and do their street! Now Sister Millard had warned us that they have Jehovahs Witnesses on both neighboring sides of their Duplex. I have nothing against Jehovahs witnesses I have in general found them very nice to us. BUT they are extremely devout and very VERY rarely receptive to the missionaries. Nearly every single house on that block had someone come out and thank us for shoveling their walk. One family had had a baby the past week another had been ill.Then we came to Brents house. Elder Frost started on it while I finished one of the houses near it. Brents wife came out and said "Thank you so much It's very VERY appreciated." She bundled up her children and left the house in her car. We continued shoveling. The driveway was packed solid and about 5 inches thick. We were only planning on doing a walkway for them but then came out Brent.Brent is about 22 years old. He smokes and is a pretty nice guy. That being said he never would have given us a second thought had we tracted that street. He came out and sat on the porch and lit up his Cigarrette. He Said (explatives removed) " I feel pretty guilty sitting in there watching you boys work your tails off." We assured him it was no problem and that we were happy to do it. Brent told me that he had that morning lost the person most dear to him. I made sure not to be pushy and asked a few questions. He told me it was his uncle who had raised him. He suffered a massive heart attack and simply slumped over in his chair. This uncle had a wife and children still at home.I asked "Do you have a belief in God?" He answered "well I never really was religious but I more believe in positive energy." I explained our beliefs on God. I expounded on the plan of salvation and that Brent very well could see his uncle again one day. He asked "What do you believe happens to people not in your church?" I told him they recieve a fair chance to accept the gospel. His ride had arrived and he picked up his bag. I asked his name and if we could come back sometime. He said this upon leaving "I'm not much of a religious man. What you had to say was a nice comfort to me. You boys can come back any time if I'm home and we can talk about the history of your church."This email is extremely long but look at that! A man that I feel very confident in saying would have given no second thought to us knocking doors accepted a lesson and said we could come back! What a major step in his life. I have a testimony of service! I heard a talk the other day about the second mile. Jesus taught a sermon where he mentioned (paraphrased) "he that would have you take his burden one mile, go ye with him a second."He was referring to the Roman decree that the Israelites were obligated to carry a Roman soldiers load for one mile. This indeed was a lesson in service. I have seen truly the softening ability service can have! Imagine how great the world would be if each one of us made it a point to do something kind that someone else cannot do for themselves each day!Life here in Canada is good! This past week has been as regular as missionary work gets. I hope at home you're each recieving the blessings you need. Love, Brother, Son, Cousin, Nephew, Friend
Elder McCarty

"The month of love!" 02-13-08‏

Good morning, afternoon or night!The first week of this month our relief society president Sister Valstar stood up for testimony meeting. She's a rather outspoken and often very opinionated woman. Her voice is not quiet and her willingness to speak far from scarce. She's a good woman. I must admit I laughed a little when her first words were "It's the month of Love!"Anyhow that's the only real backing for my Subject line. She then proceeded to talk about how the "ol' Foagies" (<-I don't know how to spell that) were getting shown up by all these "young people." Directly after her testimony Matt age 12 stood up and bore his testimony. All in all there were total of 3 adults who bore testimony that meeting. It was powerful to see the youth of our ward stand up in strength and with conviction pronounce their firm beliefs and faith in our mutual Savior.This past week has been a trying and rewarding one. Interesting to me that those two adjectives can so often follow each other. I had exchanges with Elder Biesinger. He's large in stature (due to the body building he did back home) and a spiritual giant! He's one of my zone leaders. I learned so much from him. I must say that exchanges are some of the most miraculous times we ever have!We tracted into a Jehovah's Witness. He answered the door and contention immediately flowed from his increasingly raised voice. Elder Biesinger was very skilled at settling his concerns without contending with them. I bore my testimony and as the conversation went on the mans countenance changed. We could see that some of our questions and statements truely made him think. His voice grew softer and softer (his conviction remained firm.) We asked if we could return even though he did not want a Book of Mormon. He declined saying he was awefully busy. We pressed a little more saying we don't need much time, but still he turned us away.Now think on this a little bit. That man was ready to slam his door initially but he let us talk a little bit. It's amazing how soft words turn away the contentious heart. Remember that, and use it. It brings a smile to my face to know that when someone raises contention (and thus attempts to drive the spirit away) by solemn testimony and sincere questions the spirit remains. The heart of the contentious man softens (even if only a little) and we're allowed to proceed with the things the Lord asks of us.I know that this work is real. The spirit (when we can keep it with us) is tangible. As I saw the demeanor change of that man I know that the power of the spirit can do great and marvelous things!You have no need to take my word for it. Go and test it. The scriptures state "prove me herewith." An invitation and perhaps even a challenge that is from God saying if you want to know do as I do (or teach) and you will discover truth.I'm so grateful to you for your support and I hope that the things that I learn here can take a place in your heart. I love this work and I am grateful for this gospel. Love,Elder McCarty