I have come to learn by much experience that missionary work is a lot
like stabbing a salad crouton with a fork. It is very difficult to do,
but it is very rewarding when you do it.
Well, it
has been another hot, busy, exciting, week here in Scottsdale. And
believe it or not we have come to the end of yet another transfer cycle.
And with transfers comes change. And this time round things have
certainly changed, however not in the way we thought they would.
When
we learned that one of us would be transferred, first of all we were
really sad because things were going so well and we'd been having such a
great time together, but we were also sure it would be me, since I've
been here the longest. But if we have learned anything from President
Cox, it's that nothing is as it seems. For much to our surprise, Elder
Salter is the one leaving, not I. He will be going up to the mountains,
escaping the heat which is nice for him. How long he will be up there, I
don't know. He'll be coming down the mountain when he comes I guess.
But yeah, I'm very sad to see Elder Salter leave. My new companion is named Elder Sellers though. He seems like a cool cat.
So
to update you on the week, it was a great week. However many things
happened that we didn't expect, and many things didn't happen that we
did expect. Tuesday in particular, we had many plans made and literally
all of them were defenestrated, a word which here means thrown out of a
window.
Tuesday was also 119° at one point. Just thought I'd
mention that. But we ended up meeting this super intense guy. He's super
spiritual, he loves the Gospel. So much so that he has heart problems
from getting too worked up about stuff. It's a little concerning. He
lives in a different area though so the other Elders in our district
have had some more adventures with him.
Then throughout the week we had some appointments cancel. But we were able to visit some other people which was good.
A
tragedy happened Thursday night though. It was our weekly basketball
night with members of the ward and anyone else we invite, it was going
great, I made some baskets, I felt like Michael Jordan in Space Jam, it
was awesome. But then a sister missionary tried catching the basketball,
except instead of catching it she ended up smacking it right into my
face. Now, I know what you must be thinking: "well that's okay, he
wasn't wearing his only pair of glasses right? Right?"
If only that were the case.
It is with much sorrow and regret that I say I was indeed wearing my only pair of glasses.
It was as if the world moved in slow motion. I saw the ball getting closer, and then I saw nothing. All
I felt was my glasses bending into my face, the wire frames crushing
under the weight of a basketball much like my hopes crushing under the
weight of reality, and all I could hear was the clatter of a glasses
lens onto a lonely gym floor.
Twas a tragic day indeed.
I am currently using the other broken ones, that are now good as new thanks to my handy dandy scotch tape.
But anyway, I think the lesson I have learned here is that I shouldn't wear glasses during sports.
The
highlights of the week however were when we met with Omar and
Louisabella. Especially in Omar, seeing the change the Gospel of Jesus
Christ has brought in him, is really amazing. In just less than 3-ish
months I've seen his desires and his commitments become stronger, and
I've seen him become a happier person as well.
I just want to
testify of the good I know that Jesus Christ can do in our lives. He
has made it possible for us to have power, peace, joy, and forgiveness,
and all sorts of other great things. We just have to live His teachings,
and those blessings will become a part of our lives. I know the Savior
can really help us change, to become better people every single day. I
know that He really loves us and knows us and cares about us. I know
that the Book of Mormon is here for us to help us grow our faith in Him
and to come closer to Him. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ so much and
I know it's here for us to have the blessings Heavenly Father and Jesus
Christ want for us. And I love sharing this message with other people.
Back
to the analogy of the crouton, despite the difficulties and the
hardships and the defenestrated plans and expectations, sharing the
Gospel of Jesus Christ is more rewarding than any temporal or culinary
achievement you can make.
Til next time my friends,
~Elder Oswald
P.S. Pictures!!!
1. Singing in Chinese for the 4th of July! (A couple weeks late)
2. The lunch of Champions
3. Bowling with part of the Zone in our matching t shirts
4.
Elder John and I on our exchange eating the popsicles we found in the
church freezer (excuse our helmet hair, I know Elder John's is really
bad)
5. A catastrophe
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