The McLachlan Family. Rob is baptizing his daughters.

Nate, top of Calgary Tower.

Glass floor view, Calgary Tower

Vulcan Visitor

I think this speaks for itself.

Welcome to Vulcan

Apparently there was an outage with the myldsmail.net provider this week! Here it is! Sorry that it's late. That was pretty lame. But better late than never!

 I'm glad things are working out with the Secret Garden! I'm so proud of Cierra and I'm glad that she is doing such a good job. I pray nightly for her and that through practice and giving it everything she's got that the Lord will make up the rest. That's the only way I got through Joseph! That was the hardest show I've ever done (maybe besides Sweeney). I remember when we were rehearsing for Joseph in Greg and Joni's room at the school. I remember getting extremely frustrated with how I couldn't reach the higher notes, and I felt like I was making a fool of myself in front of the cast. I spoke with Joni about it later in the Fusion Lab and she told me that I didn't need to be discouraged because every mistake I made in a rehearsal was one less mistake I would make in performance. I still owe Joni big time for that. That gave me a huge boost and helped me to accept my weakness in my vocals so that I could begin to get better. Thank heaven she told me those things, or I don't know if I would have been able to pick myself up!

I really do put in a lot of effort to keep positive. Some days it really doesn't take that much, other days it requires everything I've got! But I make it through no matter what :) Really there isn't that much to be sad about out here! I'm doing the Lord's work with some of the finest people I've come to know. I've got a great companion and we're both doing the work because we love the Savior. Couldn't be better :)

So, this week, I want to talk about some things that I have been learning from President Monson lately. I've been reading through a bunch of different materials that he's written, and I've been gaining more and more of a testimony of a living Prophet, and more importantly, a Living Christ.

In 1 Samuel 17 is the story of David and Goliath. When I really started to look into this story in more detail, especially with what President Monson had to say about it, it really struck me as more incredible than I ever realized. Everything when I really stopped to realize how David must have felt. He knew who he was about to challenge. He knew that if he didn't rely on the Lord he would be doomed. The scriptures tell us that he selected stones to put in his sling. He must have really made sure that he felt he had the right ones. Everything hinged on this. He knew that there was no turning around or going back once he decided to finally face the 10 foot tall giant. As President Monson explained the scene, he talked about how all of us have our Goliath's. It could be money problems, marital issues, family strife, schooling, discouragement, fear, doubt, etc. The list is truly endless. Goliaths follow us and challenge us no matter what stage of life we are in. But we all need to choose our stones. President Monson lists 7 Stones that will arm us against our own personal Goliaths:

1. The stone of Courage
2. The stone of Effort
3. The stone of Humility
4. The stone of Prayer
5. The stone of Duty

Then he said that these paired with the Sling of Faith and the Staff of Virtue will help us to defeat our Goliath.

I am growing in testimony of these principles, and even as I type this, the spirit is confirming to me the truth of the words of the Lord's Prophet. It seems that when we really work to combine all of these attributes into our arsenal against our trials and struggles, we can find strength that we've never known before. This is because we, like David, can say "...I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand... that all the earth may know that there is a God in Isreal."

I know that there is a God in Israel. I know that because He has sustained me throughout my entire mission and throughout my life. He has orchestrated every detail. He gave me a loving Mother and Father. He gave me a Grandmother and Grandfather that are my heroes. He gave me two sisters that I love more than they know. He's given me family that has supported me in every stage of my life, including the present one. There is a God in Israel.

I bear testimony of my greatest Friend, Jesus the Christ. I am so grateful for the relationship that I have with Him.

I love you all!

-Elder Warenski