Semana 86: Why Do We Seek The Lord When We Are In Danger But When We Fall In Riches We Act Like He Is Just a Stranger?

Semana 86: Why Do We Seek The Lord When We Are In Danger But When We Fall In Riches We Act Like He Is Just a Stranger?

Hey y'alll! Well, where do I start? I hope your vacation was good mama. This week was kind of a long one. The week started out really well though- golf was really fun. :) I didn't play great but my drives were good. On the ninth hole I almost landed on the green on a par four. That was a good way to finish out the day. :) I tied for first with brother Jones but I have a feeling next week I can play better. I made a lot of rookie mistakes. Anyway, enough about golf! It is such a blessing though to have fun things to do on p-day. I've been in areas where we don't do anything and it wears me down. Having fun on p-day plays a role in how effective I am as a missionary through out the week. The day got even better in the evening too. We had dinner and a lesson with the Eichorns. We have been trying to see them all transfer and finally the persistence paid off. They are probably one of the funniest families I've ever taught. Take Kim Haugen and multiply her by five and you have Rachelle. haha The lesson went well and we will be going by tonight again. President Robinson should be joining us for the lesson since he lives two houses away. It pays off to have good people to fellowship investigators. President Robinson is a lot like P-Rich. We see him weekly and I just love how down to Earth he is. We had a really good lesson with the Guzmans on Monday night as well. It had been quite a while since we had met with them. Brother Guzman had a lot of questions and was pretty hard headed in his thinking but it turned out well. I've gotten a lot bolder as I've aged in the mission field. Just like elderly people in their old age, I've began to care less about the potential of "offending" people and dancing around topics such as baptism. I've found that I say what needs to be said now where as before I couldn't do it. I've received a lot of inspiration from Elder Holland’s talks and it seems to be helping me to become a more effective missionary.

I remember way back when I wanted to become an NBA player and I watched countless hours of Jordan footage, I recorded every Lakers game I could and tried to mimic Kobe's moves. Now, when I shoot a jump shot my tongue hangs out because it was a habit that became engrained in me, just like Jordan. When I shoot free throws I do the same routine Kobe does because it has become a habit. No matter what we want to do we are best served to watch and follow the "pros". I guess what I'm trying to say is that no matter what we desire to do, we will become the best when we learn and strive to be like the best.

Through out the week we had a few more opportunities to do service. One afternoon we did some work on a ranch and helped a man take down his horse arena. It was hard for this man because this ranch is now a shell of what it once was. At one point rodeos were put on at his house, there was a concession stand, and the place was alive and popin'. Because of the down turn in the economy it forced this man to sell his horses and get out of the business of horse training. It made me feel bad for him. It was a lot of work but it made me feel good to know I was just helping someone. It is amazing how happy I am doing something so simple.

Saturday night we were able to help the Baldwins out moving more stuff. It was later in the evening and we had just finished up a really good lesson with Juan. We had exhausted all of our plans and then I remembered brother Baldwin had said they could use some help at 7:00. When we got over there they had just got home and so we went to work. Again, that same feeling of gratitude filled me for the opportunity I had to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord.

I wish I had a bunch of great stories, finding new people to teach that have been prepared by the Lord but let the truth be told, there hasn't been much of that lately. I feel like a candle in the wind at times but my flame has yet to die out. I feel like after being in hard area after hard area I'm burning the midnight oil of optimism but at least I'm not burned out. I still have an unquenched appetite for missionary work and we will just have to see what happens next Sunday come transfer calls. I love you all. Vaya con Dios!

Dios es amor,

Elder Bennion

P.S. Thank you to my Fairy Godmother for the pumpkins, card and other goodies on our porch this week! ;)