We try to help our investigator family as much as we can. They are a great
family, they just don't always make the best decisions; although I guess that
is true for most of us. Hopefully they will decide to change!
So it turns out, that this sister we helped set apart last week with the Stake President is
going to the Korea Busan Mission, which is the same as Courtney Hurley. If you
get a chance to talk to her, tell her to watch out for a Sister Walker ( I
believe they are both in the MTC right now), that is the missionary we helped
set apart. I am sure she was way too nervous to remember our names, but it was
cool to be a part of it. At the setting apart it was just us, the Stake President,
this missionary, and her parents. By the end of the setting apart, all three of
them (mom, dad, missionary) were crying. I guess she is the oldest in the
family, so I can relate there. As far as how it was through my eyes, it just
made me wish I had written down some of the things from my setting apart so I
could remember them. I expressed this at dinner with President Hall and his
wife before we went to help, and he said that we don't always remember what is
said, but the Lord does and he will bless us with the promised blessings
whether or not we remember them. The Stake President here is very in tune with
the Spirit, a great speaker, and excellent administrator, so it is cool to get
to work so closely with him.
There tends to be a lot of moving happening in this ward, so
the members do get burned out. On top of that, most of them seemed almost
offended of the idea of doing service on Sunday, so we didn't push for any
extra help. It worked out alright, and we had some cool experiences while
talking with these people. They have an 8 year old son named Ryan who has
Cerebral Palsy. He can only walk with the help of braces around his ankles and
calves, and can't communicate very well, but after talking with him for a
little bit, we realized how smart he is. He kept asking us to time him while he
ran, so we would use a stopwatch while he ran around the front yard for a few
seconds, and then when he got back we would tell him his time. It was really
casual, and we weren't really paying attention to what the times were, and just
kept resetting the stopwatch each time. Well after about 10 minutes of this, he
told us that he wanted to make a movie of himself running, and then he asked us
how long the movie would be. We didn't really understand what he meant, so we
said an hour, or half an hour. He looked at us sort of confused for a second,
and then started mumbling some numbers. I started recognizing some of the
numbers he was saying right as he finished. It turns out he not only remembered
every single time, but he added them all up and then converted the number of
seconds into minutes. It was unbelievable! We kept doing this for another few
minutes, and each time he would add his time to the running total, and 9 times
out of 10 he did the math faster than I could keep up with. I learned you
really can't judge a book by its cover.
Thanks for the upcoming birthday stuff. I am trying to keep it on the
down low because I don't want it to be a big deal. I haven't told anyone when
my birthday is; including my companion. We have a busy week coming up with
exchanges, and I will be on exchanges with the AP's on Saturday. Anyways,
thanks for everything, and for trying to make it special. You guys are the
best. I can't think of anything I need. I got the Protein powder, so thank
you!
Wow, that is crazy that Daniel is reading the Old Testament. I haven't
read most of it, so he will have to teach me some things for sure! This week I
was reading in the NT, and I really liked a verse I read as pertaining to
missionaries:
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the
gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be
made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them
that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is
the power of God."
It isn't always about baptisms, but more fulfilling what we
have been called to do. I hope I can do that each day. I realized this week how
much I need to be more humble. I apologize for the letters and emails home in
which my pride has been so apparent. I will work on it. Thanks for being patient
with me.
I will let you know how everything goes next week. Thank you
for everything and I hope you all have a great week. Talk to you soon.
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| Fun on exchanges with an Elder who is heading home next week. |
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