RANGELY | Hello Rio Blanco County! It has been awhile since I’ve been anywhere near our beautiful part of Colorado which I am proud to call home.
For the last year and half I have been living in Alberta, Canada. The literal great white north! I’m serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And what an adventure everything has been!
I wish everyone could experience the beauty of Canada, and feel the love and hospitality that the Canadian people have for everyone. I have driven hours on end on the Alberta plains and have been in countless homes and I let me tell you, I am going to miss this place! It has become my little heaven on earth, and home away from home
Was winter all it was hyped up to be? Yes! Think of all the crazy things that people have told you and multiply that by 10! My first winter was tough. It got as cold as -56 with the wind. The sun would set at 3p.m. and would not rise again until 9 a.m. the next day. Cold snaps would last days or weeks on end. Which meant it was -30 or -40 on a daily basis. It was rough! This winter was no different. Add a pandemic on top of that and that equals lots of isolation.
What got me through that? The crazy winter temperatures, the pandemic, being away from my family, and what feels like never ending isolation. Let me tell you!
It has been wonderful serving people. Serving people like Christ would serve, whether it was simple volunteer work in the community or teaching people the gospel I believe in. That in turn gave my heart the capability to love others more than I thought possible. When I serve, my focus changes and it softens my heart. I know charity is alive and well. It has changed my heart forever. I will forever be grateful for the example the Canadian people have been to me and how they have forever changed my heart.
Special to the Herald Times
