Hello! I can honestly say it does not feel like a year since I left on a mission. It feels like I'm in this strange dimension that I will never leave, and I will spend the rest of my existence as a missionary. But then again, I still feel 18, and I still feel like I'm getting trained.
Yesterday the Library's internet was down so e-mailing got moved to today.
We had a good week this week, complete with all kinds of shenanigans, including (but not limited to): Missionary work.
I can't think of too many specifics honestly, other than we taught a lady in her car (in the middle of the road at that) because my companion is a better missionary, and more Christlike, than I. She was in a yellow bug and pulled us over (in the middle of a fairly busy intersection... Like cars every 45-90 seconds or so) and starts asking us if we're even doing anything in Hesparia because it's going downhill, if we were the ones behind the boat stealings going on in the area (We definitley ride bikes. Definitley don't know how we could steal a boat, but it's w/e) and all this mumbo jumbo. I swiftly labeled her as crazy and, after a few angry cars passed, I was ready to throw a card in the window and drive away and avoid yellow volkswagen bugs for the next 12 months. But Elder Jensen swiftly turned her questions back to Christ, and within the next 5 minutes had taught the whole restoration and given her a book of mormon, which she promised to read and told us she'd come to church. It was pretty cool. The spirit was strong, we were all 3 moved, and as she drove away I asked Elder Jensen "So did we get her address?"
"...Nope"
So we are on the prowl for Yellow Bugs!
Okay, that last part was a bit of a stretch, she did mention that she's kind of homeless, and bouncing between places so I don't know if she has an actual address, but the point is that if we want to teach her it will be by the Grace of God and him showing us that little yellow bug again.
I sure am happy to be on a mission. Real quick I want to throw out some cool quotes.
"It is by Obedience that we gather light into our souls" -President Uchtdorf
"Obedience is a choice. It is a choice between our own limited knowledge and power and God's unlimited wisdom and omnipotence." -Elder L. Tom Perry
So for the first quote, just think about some of the things light does. It gives us direction, it reveals things, it casts away darkness, it acts as a beacon for others, it allows us to see more clearly those around us and those in need, it helps cast darkness away for others. Perhaps that sheds a little more light (hehe) on the command to 'Stand in Holy Places'. We could just as easily set a goal to 'Stand in Lighted Places'. While it is true, that we can make wherever we stand a Holy Place, it is our obedience that constitutes it being holy in the first place. If we feel we cannot be that beacon, then the steps are simple! Stand in places where the Light of Christ is already abounding. Stand with righteous, obedient friends. Stand with family who keep their covenants. Light will fill our soul, cast away dark feelings of sorrow, and give us the desire to do good. This is because these are fruits of the Spirit, and as we are obedient, we will find ourselves filled with Light and the Holy Ghost will be our constant companion.
The second quote is a lot more self explanatory. Elder Holland is quoted as saying one of my favorite quotes: "You can have what you want, or you can have something better." Please remember that when we make choices, it truly is a choice between what we want or a better solution. President Hobbs (before he left the mission) told us of a man who bore his testimony once and said "If God had given me all the things I wanted, I'd be half the man I am now."
So just be obedient. Don't do it for praise, just do it because it's what we're supposed to do and we will be happier for it. Perhaps not immediatley, but in the long run. Do you honestly think you'll ever regret doing the right thing?
I love you all!
I know the Church is true and Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer and he can HEAL us.
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