Holy moly it has warmed up this past week. Let me just say that the farmer's tan and the collar tan are real. These are some of the sacrifices that missionaries have to make -- pasty white biceps and necks.
My theme that I have been focusing on this week is service. King Benjamin teaches in the Book of Mormon that serving others brings happiness -- small or big acts of kindness that you give freely to others around you. This can be teaching others about the gospel of Jesus Christ, smiling at someone and saying hello or what's up, getting donuts and taking them to a friend and visiting for a second, just being there to listen and many many more things. I always think of what my Aunt Alli taught me. If you take a spoon and hold it in front of you looking at it on the inward side then you will see yourself upside down. If you take the spoon an look at it on the opposite side with it pointing outward then you will see a normal upright reflection of yourself. When we focus only on ourselves then we will find sadness, darkness and life will just seem out of whack. If we focus outward on other people, then we will find peace, joy, laughs, smiles and true satisfaction. "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." That may be hard to believe sometimes but I know that it's true.
I got a new companion this past week. I picked him up in Utica on Wednesday. His name is Elder Burton. He is a fun easygoing guy and likes to have a good time. He loves to do missionary work and we have been teaching a lot since he got here. I'm super excited to see what this transfer has in store for us.
We have seen so many amazing things happen this past week but the one I want to talk about is what happened yesterday. TASHA CAME TO CHURCH!!! We have been teaching her ever since I got here and this is the first time she has gone. Barbara, her Grandma who joined about a year ago, brought six of her other primary age grandchildren so there were a lot of people there. Elder Lee had to hurry and fill up another tray of water in the middle of the sacrament because of all the people. It was a good problem to have. Tasha loved church and was very surprised how well her three kids did in primary. We look forward to continuing teaching her about the gospel.
It has been a good week overall and I am excited for this next week. It looks super busy but for a missionary busy is good.
The sky is blue, the Church is true and life is good. Till next week. . .
Elder Carlile
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Elder Burton Has Arrived |