"... Oh say does that star spangled banner yet
waaaave, o'er the land of the freee and the home of the braaave!"
(Please sing this quietly in your head)
Happy Fourth my dear family and friends!
K so can we just put things into perspective right
quick? I don't even know if I wrote about the 4th of July last year, but
the point is that I am celebrating the 4th of July again... in Texas.
Shhawhaaat?!? How does that even happen. And to think that last
Independence Day I was in my first transfer of missionary life. In the
Woodlands... With my trainer.. and now I'm in Katy with 3 transfers to
go. The past 2 weeks have been weird for me because it feels like I'm
living in a parallel universe. Go with me if you will. Everything that
happens in Katy, I imagine my self last year, where ever I was at the
time, doing what I was doing then and it is super bizarre. I don't know
if that made sense or not, but it was worth a try.
So let's just discuss real quick the activities of this
4th of July. Essentially it was like the best one I've ever had because
A) our little brother and sister investigators (Hunter and Lexi) were
baptized and they just radiated joy. They are seriously like the
sweetest little kids ever and I love them dearly. B) We went to their
"happy baptism" party afterwards for lunch and it was awesome because
they made brisket (which is delicious cow meat) and potato salad and
and marshmallow fruit yogurt dessert thingy, and homemade rolls and all
sorts of other good stuff that just warms your heart, and then
afterwards we were leaving and they had a giant bounce house in the
shape of a pirate ship, and Hunter and Lexi were begging us to get on
and we were uhhhh.... ehhhhh... mmmmmm.... OK! So we jumped on the jump
house and all of the kids were so happy that they got the sister
missionaries to jump and it was truly awesome. Then we went and did some
missionary work, and then for dinner we went to the Bustos family's house,
whom I love, and had hamburgers and hot dogs and cupcakes and then we
went outside and did fireworks and it was so much fun. And their kids
are not members and had always been a little hesitant around us, but
they were laughing and joking with us and it was just a good experience
for everyone. So in a nutshell, the 4th of July was a success.
So like I mentioned last week, we got a new mission
president and we met him last Wednesday. He and his family seem really
nice. They came from California and to sum them up they look like
country club people. But, really nice country club people. Either way he
served his mission in Puerto Rico so I like him :) No, but in all
seriousness I think they will be a wonderful addition to the mission.
While I love the Pingrees with all of my heart and I will miss them, you
could tell that, because they had truly given everything to magnify
their calling, they were exhausted and ready to go home. I am just
really happy and extremely grateful towards them for their service.
So on that note I would just like to share a quick
spiritual thought. There was one time that we were having a training
with President Pingree and he read from the Doctrine and Covenants in
section 123: 12-17. It's kind of long, but it is a great scripture about
being a disciple of Christ and serving in any capacity in His church.
But the part I want to focus on is verse 13 that says, "Therefore, that
we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the
hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly
manifest from heaven—" So he reads this part and then he stops and says,
"So wait a minute, that can't be right. Does our Father in Heaven
really want us to waste and wear our our lives in this work?" I think
initially, to ourselves we all collectively thought no. Heavenly Father
wouldn't really require that of us, but then he said "Yes. He really
truly does, because, like the rest of those verses talk about, this is
such an important work and it pertains to big things like the salvation
of our brothers and sisters and therefore it something worth wearing our
lives out in the pursuit of." At this point I think all of us were a
little put out, because as a missionary and even just in other church
callings you get tired. You get so incredibly tired and sometimes it
truly does feel like you have worn out your life. But then he said
something that comforting. At least it was to me. He said, " so if you
ever feel like you are exhausted and just so tired that you truly feel
like you have wasted away and worn out your life, you can know that you
are doing your job and you are doing right. If you aren't tired, you're
doing something wrong because this calling requires everything you
have." Essentially I think that translates into serving with all your
heart, might, mind and strength like we have been commanded to do many
times before. So if you ever do feel a sens of tiredness that can come
from gospel living and the call of discipleship, take heart because you
are doing the will of the Lord and He, maybe even without you noticing
it is strengthening you to carry on. So carry on ok? Ok. i love you all
and I am forever grateful for you. Have a great week!
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