Well... I will definitely try to include more day to day
stuff and see if I can balance that with spiritual insights so you can tell how
I am doing both temporally and spiritually
Okay so as a missionary you go for the simple, a few days
ago I decided to make easy mix pancakes... (I do not like these kind I am
afraid dad spoiled me with his from scratch pancakes so I just added a lot of
butter) the problem was I was not thinking and put a bunch of water in first
and then applied the desired dosage of pancake mix, as soon as I started mixing
I found out that I had just made pancake flavored water... so I had to add a
ton more of pancake mix and kept adding and adding until it was good enough to
cook... so I have had pancakes for breakfast lunch and dinner all week and
there is still some left... learned a valuable lesson about measurement and
that woul always apply the liquid to the powder not the other way around...
I have also learned what my response is when a rabid dog is
running at me, I crouch down and hold A copy of The Book of Mormon out for it
to chomp on... not the best picture for a missionary in regards to a sacred
book of scripture... so here is the story...
I was on exchanges with Elder Johnson my district leaders
companion and we were knocking home to home, when we reached a fenced off yard,
the standard approach is to whistle to see if there is a Dog and then if
nothing comes its safe so we usually go in and knock the door and share our
message, it was no different here, we whistled and no dog came so we opened the
gate and closed it behind us and proceeded to walk to the door, which was about
40 feet away, as when we got about halfway we heard the neighbors dog barking
only... it wasn't the neighbor's this huge dog came barreling around the corner
barking like all hell was loose. Elder Johnson turned and I looked behind me
and there was no way we could make it to the gate in time, so I panicked and
did the first thing that came into my mind, first put an object in the way of
me and the dog (The Book of Mormon) second crouch down... (Get my face closer
to the dogs jaws... smart) and slowly back up, it was a mangy beast with hair
disheveled and it just looked like a demon dog I was about ready to meet my
maker when it got to us... and what did it do? it jumped at me and... started
sniffing away and wagging it tail and we found out that it was a nice dog and
we just pet it and it threw itself against my leg to petted more and be
scratched by the ear, so we went a knocked the door.
At the next house we whistled a bit louder to make sure
there was no dog, nothing happened so we entered the gate and had a bit of
difficulty in closing it but finally did so when again we heard barking, just
about as fast as we could we wiggled the latch and pried it open getting out
just in time to see this little dog waddle out and run up to us, by this time
we were so shaken up we nearly had to sit down.
Life often presents itself in such a way as these, when
scary things come at us, we must stand strong and most of the time it will turn
out for our good, and those things that seemed so hard when they were coming up
just turned out to be a happy moment. I remember when I was preparing for the
GED as it came up I was nervous and the closer it got the less and less i
wanted to face it, but in it and after I felt fine and it was relatively easy.
God teaches through trials and we have to be willing to face them, as Paul said
to the Hebrews "We are not of them who turn back" so whenever a hard
time comes your way remember that to face the challenge with steadfast and
immovableness is better then to bend and to brake under the shafts in the
whirlwinds, but in order to be steadfast we must first have a foundation on
which to build and that is Jesus Christ, as long as you put your trust in him
you will never go astray, I think it was Nephi that said if you don't believe
in The Book of Mormon, then believe in Christ, because if you believe in Christ
then you will believe in what comes of his hand and his fingerprints and presence
are found all over the Book of Mormon and this Church. I know that it is
true.
Love
Josh
Pics and Movie:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3TKWzpofJnhWEdHcldzQWRqdDg/view
Dad and Josh Conversation:
Dad:
Hi Josh, Sorry I didn't get a letter off to you! We sat down and
wrote hand written letters to you yesterday so in my mind I'd already written
to you!
Happy almost a year! I'll send some more but didn't know if
you'll still be around to get it.
Josh:
There is something about hand written letters that is
magical, did you only have hand written when you were on your mission?
Dad:
Ya. Only hand written! So we always got week old news or
more! I like both. It is fun to give you the latest updates.
How does it feel to be almost at the year mark? Does your
mission have any crazy traditions at 6 mo. and 1 year marks?
Josh:
Well... I burned a tie at six months and for a year mark you
are supposed to burn a shirt, but we aren't allowed fires so I will have to
start something... it feels weird almost being a year out because it feels like
a blip and everyone says the second year goes by faster, if this is so I will
be walking off the plane in no time, so i have to dedicate as much as I can in
this short time I have.
Did you have any traditions for your mission?
Dad:
Not really, actually. Not like they do in the Edmonton
mission. One quick story. On Sunday, Sis Neitz came back to our ward and shared
some of her experience serving a family history mission in SLC. There, they
wear their tag on the right side vs. the left where you mostly wear yours. Its
because they are doing missionary work for people "on the other
side". Thought that was kind of fun.
Josh:
haha that is fun. I miss you guys and can't wait to call you
on christmas sunday.
Dad:
Ditto, Josh. Love you lots. Keep up the great work and let
us know about when we can plan the call.
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