My companion, Elder Williams is just fantastic! I swear, I feel like my life is being Narrated by a professional. It's amazing. Everything he says is like it's coming straight out of a movie! He's been teaching me all the British ways;D I'm so ready for Scotland! 

Stephanie Melchor's boss was visiting Calgary. He arranged to meet Nate and Elder Williams.

Stephanie's boss is amazing. He's such a good man. He is one of the leading Scientists worldwide and he's one of the most humble and kind men! We were just sitting in a Tim Hortons having drinks and a doughnut and he was so kind. He didn't even know us (just through Stephanie) and he bought our food. I really enjoyed it. Stephanie is awesome! So glad she's my friend.
So I don't have much time, but I'll give you the update on my week.

This week was another toughy, to be completely honest. But I like to think that I conquered it! I had to come to grips with some things about myself, which was actually really helpful.
I went on an exchange with one of the Assistants this week. He's a really dear friend. Elder Hudson Smith. We had been having a LOAD of problems in our Zone with one missionary in particular that just can't seem to be obedient.... Even after a couple of personal interviews with President. Anyone who knows me knows that I really don't like contention.... I freeze up.... I can't think, I can't speak, I just stand there like a chump. I've had to deal with some of that lately, and I hadn't really done very well. So on this exchange, I spoke with Elder Smith about it, and he told me some things that really picked me up. I explained to him how I felt that there were so many things about myself that I felt impaired my leadership. One being my inability to deal with contentious situations. So I talked to him about it. Elder Smith told me that in the end, I really just needed to believe more in myself. I needed to stand my ground and be firm. And then he said something really amazing that will ALWAYS stick with me. He always draws things back to the Savior - like a good leader - so he said this:

"The world loves us BECAUSE of things.... Jesus Christ loves us IN SPITE of things. You need to love yourself not BECAUSE of things, but IN SPITE of your short-comings. Just as Jesus Christ would."

That hit me like a brick wall. Elder Smith taught me about the Atonement right there. Suddenly I felt way more able to deal with the struggles that come my way! And also, my awesome mother sent me a meme that really helped me out:) It came at exactly the right time, by the way.

I just want everyone to know that I love Jesus Christ! I love how He supports me and I love that He has confidence in me, and can change me! He is going to make my weaknesses strengths, and I love Him for it!

Thanks for all the support! I love you so much!

-Elder Warenski

Mother Dear!


My week went pretty well and pretty weird at the same time. Tell you in a second, haha;)
I've been having memories of Halloween for weeks! Elder Williams asked me if I had ever seen Hocus Pocus. I told him how we used to watch it every single Halloween along with a bunch of other Halloween flicks! He said that was a really cool tradition. I think so too:)
That's awesome that Curious Savage is opening! I'm sure the show will be fantastic! Make CERTAIN that you film it so that I can see it! I want to see them all when I get home!
The Facebook stuff is going along!  We have been meeting with the Stake President and calling the Bishops in the stake at the request of President Miles. Just to let them know what is going on and how we want this to be a Member/Missionary effort this time around.

I miss the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit so much! But I keep it close. We'll be tracting and I'll start singing "the road goes ever on and on" or a bunch of other songs! Heck, Elder Williams and I pretty much sang through Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat two days ago. Pretty much the entire thing. We did a lot of walking. It was brutal.
I miss the Food and Care Coalition! We actually do something similar to it up here, but it's pretty much just a regular soup kitchen. It's pretty grimy and dirty, but it's good. At least people are getting fed. It's about to get a lot more popular as the winter rolls around.

Alright! Now for my update!

This week, the weather was absolute crap! We got all of the smoke from the Washington fires, and it was brutal. Calgary - and pretty much all of southern Alberta and B.C. - were suffocating in smoke all week. They have a scale that measures health risk according to the filthiness of the air. 10 is absolutely abominable, and Calgary was at a 12! And unfortunately, that's probably the day when Elder Williams and I were tracting the most... But because of the Lord's blessings, neither one of us has even had a tickle in our throat! It's been a real blessing.
My shirt-burning was awesome! We burned it on the Bow River here in Calgary! You'll see the pictures and video and you'll laugh. We were trying so hard not to get caught by anyone in the Forest service because I'm pretty decently sure there was a fire ban. Shhhh, don't tell. But we burned the sucker and that's what counts! And honestly, we burned it over the water, so I really don't see what the problem was. But that marks a year! One year down, one more year of growth, struggle, spirituality, walking, and bittersweet happiness left! I have so many mixed emotions about the thought of going home, but I'm ready for anything:)

The only other thing to tell about is just some things that I've thought of about prayer.
This week we had some more issues with the missionaries in our Zone.... I remember you telling me about a returned missionary speaking about how getting called to leadership is hard in the mission because you see all of the scummy things some missionaries do. I can definitely testify of that. It's tough. Not to mention, people look to you to have a solution, and sometimes you just don't have one. This was really weighing on me this week, and it began effecting my overall mood, which was NOT okay with me. We got home one night this week - I can't remember which day - and I remember just going and sitting on my bed. I was BENT on getting rid of the dark cloud that was over me and I wasn't going to stop until I could find peace about the situations around me. I was determined to not let the circumstances, situations, and decisions of others control how I felt and how I was going to behave. Elder Williams and I were in our beds reading right before the end of the night when I decided to go to our study room and just pray my heart out. I got on my knees and just poured out my soul to Heavenly Father. I told Him about the struggles that I have been having, and I told Him how I was feeling. I explained how all I wanted to do was love these missionaries who were giving us all this disrespect and grief, but that I couldn't find a way to help. That night, I stayed on my knees until I felt better. The miraculous thing is that He was there to hear me, and that I know for a FACT that He loves me and wants to communicate with me. I miraculously received the peace that I was looking for, and Heavenly Father even gifted me with some inspiration on how to deal with these two struggling missionaries. I have never felt more in my entire life that I have a personal relationship with Deity. It really hit me hard in that prayer that an All Powerful, All Knowing, Ever Present Being was listening to my prayer. I cannot stress enough to anyone who is reading this: There is A God that Lives. There is a God that Loves. There is a God that Hears your words and is concerned with the condition of your heart. He Loves You, and I can tell you that because I know how much He loves me. ME.

If He can love me, He can love you.

I am so grateful that I can communicate with God whenever I need to.

I love you and thank you for everything!

-Elder Warenski

They seem to like each other.

Elder Williams and Elder Warenski

HUMP DAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday will begin the most bittersweet countdown of my entire life! I can't wait to burn my shirt, hahaha.

That's funny about Out of the Frying Pan and The Curious Savage. I miss those shows so much. I really did enjoy Out of the Frying Pan. It was a tough, spur of the moment show, but it really was a ball. I enjoyed marching around in my pajamas. And that costume change in the first act is something that I am VERY proud of, haha! I miss Robinne, too. I think of her loads!
That's awesome about our Stake Conference! I am excited to meet the Stake Presidency when I get home! And I love that insight into repentance. I was studying Repentance in Preach My Gospel just the other day, and it was great. The Spirit has been teaching me a lot lately and it has been awesome! Gosh Seth Manesse is such a stud...Directing the missionary choir and all.
That's awesome that you're in touch with Williams' Mom! I put two new pictures on the google drive, so be sure to send those to her.
I'm excited for the Birthday package and I LOVED the hump day package! Those shirts were pretty clever, hahaha;) The Minion was dope!
I honestly have literally a STACK of letters that I need to send off, I just haven't had the chance to get to a post office yet! I will try my hardest to get one this week! CIERRA WILL GET A LETTER! I PROMISE! I'm just a little slow sometimes;)

Alright, so this week was pretty slow for missionary work but we had a lot of things to do. Let me explain.

This week we met with President Miles again for Facebook. Basically, we determined ways to roll out Facebook to our Zone. President has asked that Elder Williams and I coordinate the efforts within our Zone and within the Calgary South Stake. Oi. That's going to be a load of work, but hey! We're chomping at the bit to get started. Apparently President Miles talked with President Craig (South Stake President) about Facebook and it all went well. We're now trying to figure out what the next steps are, and we're working really closely with Brad Karl. So that's some exciting news!
The other big news is that Elder James B. Martino will be coming to the Mission on September 10th to speak with the entire mission. President Miles asked me to put together the musical numbers and the choir numbers for that event, so it's going to be INSANE working Facebook and this at once, but once again. I'm ready to do ANYTHING that I'm asked to do. President is too much of a stud. I can't say no to him;) I've found some arrangements for a musical number with a Violin and Piano, and I've found a full choir arrangement that we'll pull together in the coming weeks with the Northern half of the mission. I'll be working pretty close with A.P.'s, so that will be fun. Thank heaven we've got some dang good musicians in this mission.
There was some torrential rain this week. Another one of Winter's brutal attacks to get a foothold. I got drenched to the bone because none of my jackets would hold up against the rain. That's why I spent some extra money this week, unfortunately:/ It was to stay dry. Other than that, church was awesome yesterday, and I really am feeling great about my mission. I'm nowhere near where I want to be when I finish, but that's why I've got another year ahead of me:)
I've thought a lot about my mission in the past few days/weeks. Approaching my year mark is almost surreal. I have dreamed my whole life about going on a mission, and now it is already half over! I can definitely say that there has been good times and hard times, but the hard times don't seem so hard because of all of the growth and good things that I experience along the way! It reminds me of a quote by Neil A. Maxwell: "Our afflictions, Brothers and Sisters, often will not be extinguished, they will be dwarfed and swallowed up in the joy of Christ. That's how we overcome, most of the time. It's not their elimination, but the placing of them in that larger context." Isn't that amazing??? I was watching the "Because He Lives" video at a dinner appointment. I learn something different from that video every time I watch it, but this time there was one part that particularly touched me. The shots say "He

is here, through the good, the bad, and everywhere in between." I'm paraphrasing, of course. But when it says "the bad" there is a shot of a woman sitting by the bed of an ill elderly man. It hit me incredibly hard at the dinner message last night. Based on what Elder Maxwell says, the woman's pain would not be extinguished because of her prayers..... But she has the opportunity to put her pain into perspective with the larger context. The Joy of Jesus Christ.
In light of my year mark, I want to offer my testimony. It's the greatest gift that I hold and the most valuable piece of my life. I live for it. I would die for it. There is nothing in this world I wouldn't give to see Him whom I have served and to thank Him for the opportunities that He has given me. Both the good and the "bad". Jesus Christ is a huge part of my life and continues to grow stronger and stronger in my life as a result of me ASKING for Him to be near me. I have realized more and more in the mission field that honestly, I am just a scrub. I'm a nobody. I don't know enough, I don't have enough, and I can never be enough.

On my own.

But with Jesus Christ at the helm of my life I am a Son of a Living God. I am somebody. I know enough, I have enough, and I can be everything that He would have me be.

Thanks to everyone who supports me out here. And also for my Grandma Jackson. She types me up a letter every week and that means the world to me. She'll never know how much I value her advice and optimism.

Thanks to Dad for building me up and helping me with concerns and questions. Thanks to Mikaila for sharing the joy of her Motherhood with me. Thanks to Cierra for being herself and for being patient with me.

And thanks to my Mother, for making me who I am.

I love you all! Let the countdown begin!

-Elder Warenski

So my new companion is Elder Jared Williams. He is from Lincoln, England! He loves Football (soccer) and he's teaching me Cockney Rhyming Slang;) You'll have to look that up on your own. Kind of hard to explain.
He just became a Zone Leader and he's a natural. He does everything pretty well. Things are going well between us and we are already getting along "smashingly";)
Other than that, we haven't really had much go on this week except for a bunch of disobedience issues in the Zone.... It's become pretty obnoxious.... Some of the Elders haven't been being very obedient, so this week has been full of phone calls and speaking with the Assistants and President Miles. I really, really love President Miles. He is an inspired leader and he takes care of situations in such a loving but firm manner. I'm learning so much from him as I help him as best I can. I'd follow that man anywhere! He reminds me of Grandpa Jackson, except Grandpa is way better. I'm a little biased:)
Well that's pretty much all the news aside from the fact that winter will be back here in a month or two. And I'm guessing it's coming back with a vengeance..... Winter was fairly mild last year so I suspect it's going to be pretty insane this season. But on the bright side, hockey season is almost here! I know I can't watch any of the games, but I love hearing about how the Canucks are doing. Everyone has been saying we've got a pretty good team this year;)

I love you so much! Thanks for all that you do!

-Elder Warenski

The approaching storm.

Then comes the light.