Week 19: Hawaiians And Their Work Ethic
Happy 4th of July! What a blessing it is to live in the United States and have the freedoms we have. I was thinking about a few elders from my MTC district and how they won't be able to celebrate the 4th of July like we do. There is a reason they call this the land of opportunity.
This week has been a real... interesting week for me. The end of last week was difficult and it was even worse this week. I guess if there is one thing you can always rely on from me is I'm going to tell ya if it sucks. We had issues getting into peoples houses to teach, coupled with companion "difficulties" which made this week probably the hardest week of the mission.
The beginning part of the week was pretty melancholy. There isn't much to say about Monday through Thursday. Although last Monday for P-day we went to this sports shop here in Ephraim and they had batting cages so we ended up doing that for a while. I forgot how fun that is. I think we found a new P-day activity.
This week we ended up walking a lot in 90-degree weather because we ran out of miles on the car. Toward the end of the month you either have a lot of miles left over and you can go visit the people who are far out of the way or you have none and you end up walking in Ephraim. This was one of those months.
Thursday was a really nice change. The day started out nice by getting lots of mail and two packages! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE UKULELE MAMA! Elder Cram and I talked about it and we decided that half the fun of getting mail is just knowing people still know you are alive and that you are being thought of. haha I thought that was a funny way to put it but it is true. I can only imagine what it is like when you are at 13 months. Everyone tells me that once I hit my year mark I won't get mail anymore either. haha Thursday was also a great day because we also had a member drive us around on Thursday, take us to lessons and take us out to eat. Having members go out with you makes a world of difference!
Saturday was a craaaazy, fun day. We went out to Manti for lunch and got sandwiches at Candie's on Main and took them to the Temple. It was a sunny summer Saturday so we should have known there would be a ton of weddings. There was this couple that just got married and the photographer was over by us taking pictures. If that wasn't distracting enough they ended up asking me if I would hold the sun reflector so their faces were lit up. They proceeded to make out, dip, and twirl in front of me for five minutes. You think they could have chosen someone OTHER than a missionary. I guess we are called to serve but not in that way. Elder Cram loved harassing me about that all day.
A couple investigators really impacted me this week. This week Mauro left for the mountains. I was so sad to see him go. He told me that once everything is set for his baptism date he wants me to come back and baptize him. I'm really hoping I will be semi close to this area this fall when he can be baptized so I will be able to come up here. Hopefully President Leonard will make a deal with me. Mauro is one of those people I know I was sent here for. We had another investigator who we will just call Bill and he has an alcohol addiction. His wife and daughter left him, he lost his job because he was drunk, he just got out of jail for a DUI, and he sold his trailer while he was drunk and soon he will have no place to live. He doesn't even want to live anymore and is trying to get alcohol poisoning. It really tears me up inside to see a man in his late 20's just give up on life. It is heart wrenching to see some of the things I've seen. That's about as much as I will say about that.
After Thursday night I came home and looked up a hymn to just boost my spirit and I came across, “Be Still My Soul” and it was the perfect song. It said, "Be still my soul: The Lord is on thy side; with patience bear thy cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; in every change he faithful will remain..." I know if we are faithful and endure the Lord will provide. It is promised over and over again in the scriptures countless times. It is promised yet we forget that when life is hard. What a perfect love the Lord has fore each and every one of us. I know we can have eternal happiness. trust in the Lord and serve Him. Vaya con Dios.
Happy 4th of July! What a blessing it is to live in the United States and have the freedoms we have. I was thinking about a few elders from my MTC district and how they won't be able to celebrate the 4th of July like we do. There is a reason they call this the land of opportunity.
This week has been a real... interesting week for me. The end of last week was difficult and it was even worse this week. I guess if there is one thing you can always rely on from me is I'm going to tell ya if it sucks. We had issues getting into peoples houses to teach, coupled with companion "difficulties" which made this week probably the hardest week of the mission.
The beginning part of the week was pretty melancholy. There isn't much to say about Monday through Thursday. Although last Monday for P-day we went to this sports shop here in Ephraim and they had batting cages so we ended up doing that for a while. I forgot how fun that is. I think we found a new P-day activity.
This week we ended up walking a lot in 90-degree weather because we ran out of miles on the car. Toward the end of the month you either have a lot of miles left over and you can go visit the people who are far out of the way or you have none and you end up walking in Ephraim. This was one of those months.
Thursday was a really nice change. The day started out nice by getting lots of mail and two packages! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE UKULELE MAMA! Elder Cram and I talked about it and we decided that half the fun of getting mail is just knowing people still know you are alive and that you are being thought of. haha I thought that was a funny way to put it but it is true. I can only imagine what it is like when you are at 13 months. Everyone tells me that once I hit my year mark I won't get mail anymore either. haha Thursday was also a great day because we also had a member drive us around on Thursday, take us to lessons and take us out to eat. Having members go out with you makes a world of difference!
Saturday was a craaaazy, fun day. We went out to Manti for lunch and got sandwiches at Candie's on Main and took them to the Temple. It was a sunny summer Saturday so we should have known there would be a ton of weddings. There was this couple that just got married and the photographer was over by us taking pictures. If that wasn't distracting enough they ended up asking me if I would hold the sun reflector so their faces were lit up. They proceeded to make out, dip, and twirl in front of me for five minutes. You think they could have chosen someone OTHER than a missionary. I guess we are called to serve but not in that way. Elder Cram loved harassing me about that all day.
A couple investigators really impacted me this week. This week Mauro left for the mountains. I was so sad to see him go. He told me that once everything is set for his baptism date he wants me to come back and baptize him. I'm really hoping I will be semi close to this area this fall when he can be baptized so I will be able to come up here. Hopefully President Leonard will make a deal with me. Mauro is one of those people I know I was sent here for. We had another investigator who we will just call Bill and he has an alcohol addiction. His wife and daughter left him, he lost his job because he was drunk, he just got out of jail for a DUI, and he sold his trailer while he was drunk and soon he will have no place to live. He doesn't even want to live anymore and is trying to get alcohol poisoning. It really tears me up inside to see a man in his late 20's just give up on life. It is heart wrenching to see some of the things I've seen. That's about as much as I will say about that.
After Thursday night I came home and looked up a hymn to just boost my spirit and I came across, “Be Still My Soul” and it was the perfect song. It said, "Be still my soul: The Lord is on thy side; with patience bear thy cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; in every change he faithful will remain..." I know if we are faithful and endure the Lord will provide. It is promised over and over again in the scriptures countless times. It is promised yet we forget that when life is hard. What a perfect love the Lord has fore each and every one of us. I know we can have eternal happiness. trust in the Lord and serve Him. Vaya con Dios.
God is love,
Elder Bennion
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