A little update

Dear Family
......Sooooooo, I may have left my camera at the apartment. I might get some pictures later today or next week. I promise i did go to Niagara falls and took some pretty sweet pictures. What did we do this week? Not much. Elder Roberts did get his travel plans. He's going back to Utah on the 23 of April. Makes me a little jealous that he will be seeing home so soon. Hey, guess what. I'm eating shwarma. Jealous?

 Dear Nick
 I don't think i remember Indian wrestling. please explain and jog my memory. So you sound like a dynamo when it comes to lax. You might even be better than Ryan. Go ahead and tell him I said that. Do you remember when I took you to the aquarium? Do you remember the penguins pooping everytime they jumped in the water? I do. Are we gonna have fun like that when I get home.

 Dear Dawson

    Happy Birthday bro. You're fourteen now. NICE!!!! What did you get? You can have the picture too if you want. That's all I can give you because I mooched it off my companion's camera.

Dear Ryan

  The wiiu is already dead? I didn't even get to play it. GOSH DANGIT. Who's party is it? If it's someone you know Mom and dad don't like, you should probably avoid that. otherwise it sounds fun. Everything in canada is just the american version with a maple leaf. Maple mcdonalds, maple wendy's, and maple seven eleven. It's actually pretty funny.

Dear Dad

   Pot Colborne, Pelham, and Welland are all our area. The closest missionaries are down in Saint Catherine's. Are you a coach? Is it just nick or are the other two under your wing? We watch conference at a church. it's pretty fun. I was good at sports....When I wanted to be. 

Dear Mom

   So Grandmother is going back to the land of potatoes. That's good. Elder Bednar said he didn't want us giving away too many details. I think he might use some of the same material for conference. The mission isn't hard physically, but the amount of redundancy and rejection is exhausting both mentally and spiritually. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?(Can I have some Classical and Zelda music. Just the musical parts though. ask Ryan)

I love you guys and promise I'll have more pictures next week.

Elder Erasmus  

This is Nathan's District, trying to get their "Prince" to Knight them all, the prince is the one in the back, with his hand to his face.

3/24/2014

This week Elder Bednar came and spoke to us about missionary work and stuff. In this week's email, We're going to have a special segment called

THINGS APOSTLES SAY WHEN THEY'RE  NOT ON T.V.

Nuts, Stupid, Bogus, And references to dirty harry and other Clint Eastwood films. I didn't know they were allowed to watch those kinda movies.

Anyway, this week is pretty slow. Welland is just like Brampton except there's less Indians and everybody is unemployed. I'm in the ghetto. We did manage to teach this one catholic named Kevin. He's pretty accepting. We're going to the falls today so you'll definitely get pictures next week... Missionary's honor. Me and my companion were reading about Porter Rockwell. He was probably one of the sickest Mormons ever... even though he had word of wisdom issues. 

Dear Nick 

   that looks like a pretty sweet car you have there. i don't think any of us ever got to far in the ranking, but our cars definitely looked the sickest. What is the 2nd grade program about? I bet you're the lead. Also i saw the picture mom sent of you, You're getting pretty UUUUUUUUUUUGLY. By ugly i mean big. you used to be so tiny, what happened? I guess we both need to send more pictures.

Dear Ryan 

  When I had a crush in high school, I did what they did. The reason i joined the Shakespeare team was there was this one girl that wouldn't mind spending more time with. You don't have to bring them anywhere and the parents are none the wiser. We're doing pretty good in Canada...It's really cold still. it snows every morning. But you guys keep me warm.

Dear Dawson

  I probably would be considered a senior missionary, but my companion is ending his mission so I'm still the younger one. So mom tells me you have been going snow caving and stuff. Did you die? Not wanting to brag or anything but I once built three caves in one day. That's right, you're impressed. love ya bro.

Dear Dad

   HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Wow, you're old. So those are some pretty decent sounding movies. Find the good ones and put them together for when i get back. brother Salmon's lawn is freakishly well preserved. looking back i don't think i ever saw it yellow. If mom wants to compete with that, good luck. Are you a coach now? or did brother Chang just give you a birthday present. You would make a good coach for a high school team. As for this byu groper, just have all the women carry spray paint and when ever he comes at you, tag him. eventually he'll run out of hoodies. Sounds like a good plan right? 

Dear Mom

  59 river road room 23 area code l3b2r7 . just keep sending mail to the mission office though. Does that mean they won't get any more free Disney stuff? sad. it's cool that you had good weather though. Can't say the same for here. We've had a least some sort of flurry everyday. I love winter and all but this is ridiculous. Don't cut Ryan's hair. Better yet, make a deal with him. if he doesn't do anything stupid that will get him into trouble for a month, you won't make him cut it for two. Bit of a carrot and a stick approach. It might work. 

i love you guys a ton

Elder Erasmus

Waiting to be Knighted

Dear Family
Oh what fun stories shall I share with you today? My new companion's name is Elder Roberts. He's almost dead (missionary talk for going home) and he's a bit pudgey. Finally I have a companion who is shorter than me! Welland use to be a pretty decent shipping town but now it's basically closed so everyone just sits around all day and smokes pot. Pretty cool huh. NOT.  I haven't even got to the best part.  There's an Elder in our district who is a prince. You heard me, a PRINCE. His granny is the queen of the cook islands. I'm trying to convince him to Knight me but he's being difficult about it. But I'll probably come home at least a baron or something, just you wait and see.  There's no emailing places in our town so we have to go to the next town over. We may be going to Niagara falls this week. It's frozen. The largest waterfall in the world is frozen and we just got two feet of snow. Bring on SPRING BREAK 2014!!!! Driving is fun. Evidently we can listen to anything produced by a church member. We have been jamming to John Bytheway. If you find anything like that without any romantic overtones, I'll take it.

Dear Nick
I haven't  even seen welland when I emailed you last week, give me a break. So you have been tearing up the lacrosse field, eh champ. Good job.  You'll soon notice that all Erasmus boys are taller than everybody else for the first eleven or so years. Use that time wisely.  Next week we're going to Niagara falls, so we'll send you some sweet pics then. And I'm not just saying that because i forgot my camera today.  love ya sport

Dear Ryan
Everybody on the team has a job. Maybe you aren't the guy they need for those specific jobs, but they have to have a use for you or you wouldn't have made the team. Just be sure that you keep working and improving so when that moment comes, you'll be able to do the job they want from you. Enough pep talky though. If you want Mom off your back just don't do things that will get her on it. She'll be on you like fleas on a dog for the next few weeks, but if you use that time to show her you know what you're doing you'll be fine.  Just ask yourself if mom would be mad if you would do that thing, if the answer is yes, then DON'T DO IT. Our mission motto(or one of them at lest) is just keep on keeping on. So make good choices and remember who you are. love you bro.

Dear Dawson
 That sounds fun. Is it out yet? Did you play it? Here in welland it's still pretty cold. It hasn't been above the negatives yet. Did you have enough to finish the sacrament or did you have to bless more? This sunday was the first time I passed in almost six years. We only have one deacon and one priest in my new ward, so we were invited to participate. Did y'all have spring break yet? Canada's spring break was last week so we saw a lot of younger folk. What did you do for the vacation? Love talking to you. Bu bye

Dear Dad   
What did Ryan do that needed you called home? Well, at least you can tell people you have a kid on a mission right?!! How is work by the way? Fix any broken backs? I know you guys like talking about church and spiritual enlightenment and all that jazz, but emails home are like the one time I don't have to talk about that. Seen any good movies? How's sports?  What are the relatives doing? Cool things like that. Also, SEND ME SOME THIN MINTS GOSH DARN IT!!! love you though.

Dear Mom    
Don't send things to my apartment. You can send letters but send all packages to mission home or mission office.  I'm doing fine in welland. Ryan seems like he's been going through just as hard of a time as you are. don't be afraid to tell him off but always show that you love him after.  That's what it says in the Doctrine and Covenants anyway. Scripture study is helpful. I don't know if I'm the best person to give parenting advice. I love you  and hope you figure it out though.  I love you all and hope for your best. sincerely Elder Erasmus 

Sorry, Catching Up and Elder Erasmus' is transferred to Welland!

3/10/2014

Dear family

   Some pretty interesting things happened this week. First of all I went on exchanges with my District Leader, Elder Folsom. He's not the funnest guy and I get the impression that he's trying to hard, but he's a pretty good missionary. On Sunday the sister missionaries and us put on a fireside on the tree of life. We created a maze of furniture and blindfolded everyone. They had to get through the maze and find the iron rod. Here's the kicker, half the missionaries were quiet angels that led them the right way and half were devils who led them into furniture. Naturally I was a devil. That was Fun. I found i am getting transferred to Welland on Tuesday. That's near Niagara falls. so if I ever get this photo fiasco figured out, I'll send you a picture of it. Other than that not much happened this week. Taught a few lessons, did some tracting, found out Elder Bednar is coming, finished the dictionary... Oh and I'm going to be the designated driver this transfer. should be fun.

Dear Dawson

    Why am I not surprised you cleaned out basketball. You're just too good. Now all you got to do is be just as good at lacrosse. Shouldn't be too terribly dificult. Keep being awesome.

Dear Nick

   Do we even own a drum? Also, THERE WAS A FIRE AND YOU KEPT SINGING!!!! THAT'S HOW PEOPLE DIE! Was it a real fire or did somebody just pull the thing? Either way, I bet the whole expierence was alarming... Am I right. So his dog is 135lbs that's bigger than my MTC companion. Did you ride him? I would've. I miss you too buddy. I'm working on getting some pictures to you but right now is rather tricky. I still love you though.

Dear Ryan

   Sounds rough. You know what I do when the going get's tough...Cry. You shouldn't do that though. Just remember, If life was easy we wouldn't learn anything. What can you learn from this suckage? By the way, they don't send you home if you're depressed. They send you to Brampton. The nickname for this area is the land of milk and honey. Probably because of all the members. Just keep swimming.

Dear dad

    Obliviously the movie (About Christ's Life) wouldn't be completely accurate, but as long as they don't give us anything too misleading it should be good. What other movies are out? I know everyone wants to talk to the missionary about gospel stuff, but is our only time to not. Did the new Captain America come out yet? Have you guys bought pacific rim. You should. How is life without my bright personality to lift you up from the bilge of mundanity? I don't think mundanity is a word. Here's a cool tracting story. Two missionaries knock on a door and a gay couple tells them if they can change the church's stance an samesex marriage they'll make us steak. That was a fun contact. Hope you are all behaving yourselves. love you. Also go easy on Ryan. Teenagers aren't nearly as experienced as you.

Dear mom

   Tim flew to Colorado? But that's right next door to Utah...And he has family there. Why didn't he drive? Well that's probably not important. I warned you this would happen. You became so reliant on my chore doing that Ryan and Dawson just don't have the same experience to match. Now you have to wait nineteen months for a clean yard. Also, give Ryan some slack. He's young and will eventually know the things you do. I love you guys.

yours truly

Elder Erasmus

3/3/2014

Dear Family

  We Taught One leson this week... That's pathetic. It's really weird, last week we hit standards(the goal for every missionary in our mission per week) and this week we were working just as hard and only got the one. God obviously has a pretty important lesson he's trying to teach us. Welp, better luck next week.

Dear Dawson

   Hey buddy, how you doing? So, you're some kinda basketball wizard? I don't even remember my court of honor... Must have been pretty good. How is school going? Last I heard the teacher flunked you because you wouldn't show your work on a math test. Did you get yourself back to wizard level or are you still in the doghouse? Seen any good movies lately? Word in Canada is that there's a Noah and Jesus movie coming out. Should be fun. Love you Bro.

Dear Ryan

  So, dad tells me you had some sort of secret dance party at camp Alma. you little scamp you. The weather here has been equally as trying. The mornings are Frigid but then warms up to only mildly frostbiting during the afternoon. Canada might look like America, But when you look deeper it becomes entirely more sinister. For example, Their favorite Potato chip is ketchup flavored and they chew soap flavored gum. SOAP FLAVORED GUM! It's gum that is soap flavored, I kid you not. I never went to prom. I never really like dances, you can't talk to people, you can't move, It's just a throbbing mass of teenagers that don't wear enough deodorant... But you have fun. Tell me about it when it happens. Love you bro.

Dear Nick

  Mom tells me you went and hung out with uncle greg and his kin this weekend. That sounds fun. What was your favorite part of the trip? Did you see his new dog, That thing is massive. Not the biggest I've seen though. There's this one person we're teaching that has a bear. It's some sort of lab Rotweiler mix but it looks more like a bear. It's bigger than me. Write me next week will'ya. Love you little brother

Dear Mom

  To answer your quiestion, Yes. I read the english and the bible dictionary. Sometimes you just need something to read that isn't jesus related and the bible is some good mind numbing. I think I like Elder whiting a little bit better, But I can't really decide. Sounds like grandmother is going through some hard stuff. Why is she in a nursing home, I thought she went back to idaho? What exactly was wrong with her Knee anyway? I'll try to get some pictures to you, but transfers are coming up. If I move out of Brampton, I'll only get mail once a week. Here's hoping, right? Love you.

Dear Dad

  Can you do me a favor, a mission if you will. The ward here has been going off about this "Son of God" movie that has recently come out. I need you to watch it and also do some digging to see if there is any truth to this "Noah" movie rumor. Bible movies seem to be coming, which may make my job either easier or loads more difficult. Anyway, that does sound like something Ryan would do. I'm actually out of time at the library. I really wish I could write more but I have to go.

Love you guys.

2/24/2014

Elder Erasmus

o whom it may concern.

   I start my day at 6:30 and do a simple work out of about twenty pushups and staring at the wall in a lazy stupor. I do this until 7:00 when I make breakfast and take a shower. During my companions shower I have a few minutes of free time. I have already read Jesus The Christ, Our Heritage, Our Search For Happiness, The Book Of Mormon, And the new testament. I spend that time reading either The old testament or the dictionary... Mostly the dictionary. At 8:00 we begin studies. I read from the Book Of Mormon again and use cross references and stuff. At 9:00 is companionship study. We role play. I do not like Role playing. I find it tedious and unproductive, but Preach my Gospel says to do it. At 10:00 we begin the day. We walk about and do some tracting in the area closest to our house. Nobody talks to us. At 12:00 we have a lunch hour. I read the dictionary some more during this. after lunch we head to the farther areas to either tract or go to appointments. The appointments drop 75% of the time. at around 5:30 we head back for a dinner hour. You guessed it, more dictionary time. After dinner we repeat what we did after lunch but in a different area. That is my day with some slight variations every now and again. For example, last Thursday we helped a member with his flooded basement. We were in about a foot of raw sewage. super fun. If you would like some detail on the conditions of the proselyting, it is cold. The people are cold, the weather is cold, and my feet get REALLY cold. It's not too terribly difficult, but it jst feels that we have rather long periods of unproductive bleh. We have one really good investigator. The problem with him though is that he's in a wheelchair and has brittle bones syndrome so he literally can't come to church. If we just had one or two more solid people we could bring to church so the ward doesn't think we're useless that'd be nice. Enough of me ranting though.

Dear Nick

  So you're finally getting in to pokemon? it's about time. If you mind me asking, what does your team look like? Which ones your favorite? Video games might not seem like that interesting of a subject to you, but all we talk about as missionaries is the gospel how to teach it. i swear I have had the same conversation about thirty times trying to explain to people that we are indeed Christians and that we could answer any questions if they would only let us in. How was the fire house? did you get to go down the pole? I went to the fire station when I was a cub scout and they let me sit in one of the firetrucks. Now that was cool. I miss you bud.

Dear Ryan

 I still have to wake up super duper early. It never goes away. I might have to fight you over my spot when I get back. A trick I learned with you and Dawson is just to find something you both like and only talk about that. eventually you two will be as close as we were. Mom made me go to camp Alma four times. Here's a bit of a hint. They tell you not to bring your phone or any distractions, bring them anyway but only use them in the dorm. Also bring lots of snack food. They don't feed you much. I miss you to bro.

Dear dawson

   I do both tracting and teaching. We try to teach whenever we tract and vice versa. Hows the deacon team? I know you're a rockstar but what about the rest of those yahoos? Being a teacher is alot more fun than being a deacon. You get to go on activities with the priests, you get to go to stake dances and you don't have to pass the sacrament anymore. How cool is that? anyway. I love you tons little brother.

Dear Leon

  I did that thing you wanted. If that's not enough detail for you than you need to ask very specific questions. So Mike is part of a drug war now? That sounds sketchy. The members here have hinted that Canada might be doing well in the Olympics. such subtle hints as "WHOOHOOO!!!! IN YOUR FACE! THE STATES WILL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS THE SNOWY NORTH!!!!" apparently hockey is big up here or something. Anyway that was fun sharing with you. love you lots.

Dear Mary

  Primary sounds rough. When I was that age the only thing the teachers had to worry about was me leaning back in my chair...and devin and I playing bloody knuckles. But it sounds like you're keeping it together. The notice above contains what I did for all those days. just multiply it by seven. Love you guys a lot and I am praying for you.



2/18/2014

 Hey guys. How you doin'. Things have been going pretty good up here in the snowy north. We haven't been able to meet with a ton of people the last few weeks. It's been tough but I'm hanging in there. Not much to say so...yeah.

Dear Ryan

   That sounds pretty lame actually. Oh well. It's good to know you're doing well. Hows lax going? How's school going? hows life going? Any cool stories? I miss the real world.... Anyway, luv ya bro.

Nick

  So you saw the lego movie twice. Still haven't told me if it's worth seeing when I get back. I wish I could have a few days off school, but God has a lesson for me and the people I teach.

Dawson

Dude, what happened to your grammar? Just because you're some crazy good mathamatician doesn't mean you can slack off in english class. Yes I have been tracting, no the white people are still mean, and I don't think mom can do anything to change that. How's basketball going? Still a beast? love you.

Dad

  Now you know how I feel every time I email. Head full of stories, fingers refusing to type. How is life going in general? good, bad, average? I'll give you details if you give me some first.

Mom

That's alot of people. Figures a year after I leave everyone else follows. I'm just that kind of trend setter. Just being warm isn't a good thing here. I'd much rather walk on ice than slush. Has nala actually started digging it up yet? Who's on poop patrol?

I got the cds...kinda. they jipped me disc 5. Still had a lot of fun listening to them and I think I know enough about his martyrdom anyway.

Love you all and wish you the best.

Elder Erasmus

2/10/2014

I'm just gonna skip to the individual letters because nothing happened this week.

Dear Ryan

Sounds like you had a fun week. I got out of football by just telling them that I didn't want to do it and that I refused to do it anymore... Also my football team shot a soft core gay porno in the locker room sooooooo..... Anyway, about Hyrule Warriors. WHAT THE HECK!!!! You have got to tell me everything about it. What's it about, is link still in it, plot, gameplay, is it multi player(sounds multi player) online capable? You have got to tell me these things. Good luck with your life and all, but if you're gonna bring that up you need to provide details...maybe pictures...

Dear Dawson

  That sounds hilarious. how have you been doing? How has school been going? still smarter than everybody else? I don't have any funny commercials for you though...Man, i wish I could write you something but honestly I'm still blown away by Ryan's news. What are your thoughts? opinions? Still love you bro.

Dear Nick

   Sounds like you had a blast. Did it make the list of movies I have to see when i get back? Have you tried snowboarding yet? We had a blizzard too. Problem is that missionaries aren't allowed to listen to the news so we didn't know to bundle up. Oops. I miss you tons bro. I think about you guys everyday.

Dear Leon

   I would love to give you some cool stories... but I don't have any.  All the cool stories I have i've already shared with you guys. It's kinda discouraging when I think about it actually...Anyway, sounds like you had a interesting experience with Ryan. Was it as fun as the one I had back in the day? I didn't think you needed to go to counseling for a speeding ticket. Hope that you guys work that out. My philosophy on kid movies is that the more wild a childish it is, the more adult jokes and themes it sneaks in subtly. You should have a good time.

 Dear mom

 Yes, we finally got our mail this week. I just got the cds I asked for though, so if there's anything else i need to know about that be great. my companion is a very hard worker so we keep busy. Half the time we don't get to see everybody we have planned just cause we stuff our day so full.

Ammon is a pretty good missionary story, but I personally prefer Alma and his miision to the apostate zoramites. Good stuff.  So the Sd card esb adapter I bought doesn't fit my card... I need a new plan. no pictures this week. Still love you.

Elder Erasmus