So, nothing terribly exciting or inspiring happened this week on Monday or Tuesday, nothing out of the ordinary din of the week. On Wednesday, however, the pace quickly shifted up a couple of gears. We received word from our friends at EFAA that they needed assistance with clearing out and cleaning up thus one woman's apartment in this other part of Lafayette, further away than the usual Lafayette EFAA building. We were asked to clean off all of the furniture, which had a fairly thick layer of dust on it. Clouds of dust soon filled the apartment, which left me sneezing for a good deal of the day. As if that hadn't been bad enough, the chemicals being used to clean the room were so powerful that the smell practically burned my nose off of my face. However, in spite of all that, we actually enjoyed the work, and quickly got it all done with.
Then, later that evening, Elder Hale and I went out to this family that was interested in taking the Missionary Discussions. The Elzingas, as they were called, are a mixed family, with Brother Elzinga the stepfather to Sophia. It's Sophia that we're aiming to work with. Apparently, she believes that the gospel is true, and wants to take the discussions so that she can be baptized. So, on Wednesday we ran off to the Elzingas house and began teaching the First Discussion—the Restoration. The message went fairly well, we were able to touch on all of the points correctly and effectively, and it seemed that Sophia understood everything that we had said. The only problem was that we didn't flow well together with our teaching. Because we haven't had a lot of people to consistently teach, we've been out of practice with our teaching skills. So, that's what we aim to improve over this next week.
With that in mind, we were in the perfectly teachable mindset for the Zone Conference that happened the next day. When we drove up into the parking lot, however, we were met with a very interesting sight. There were several different maintenance guys directing the cars into a certain part of the parking lot so that, while in the Conference, they could install the driving monitors. Apparently, this conference was one where we would be instructed on a new tool for us missionaries called the Tiwi. Basically, the Tiwi would record whenever we drove five miles or more over the speed limit, turned sharply, hit a pothole too fast, speed up too fast, or slam on the brakes. It was actually a very interesting conference, at least for me. There's just one small problem with the Tiwi, though...
It keeps beeping at me to slow down in this one certain area even though I'm driving right on the speed limit!!
...ahem...anyways...
So, those were the most exciting and interesting moments from this week. The rest of the week was fairly normal and regular, so there wasn't much to report on. So...that means it's time to move on to the Spiritual Thought!
Recently, while driving down the road and trying to ignore Tiwi harping on me even though I was driving the speed limit, I came across this message on a sign that said, "Live With Abandon—Live every minute like it's your last on Earth." Now, obviously this sign was just a realization of the old Isaiah prophecy speaking of people spreading word to, "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die, and it shall be well with us." However, I chose to look at the message in a slightly different way...to live every moment as your last chance to serve. I'd like to pull from the words of President Henry B. Eyring, who said, "In the hardest trials, as long as you have the power to pray, you can ask a loving God: “Please let me serve, this day. It doesn’t matter to me how few things I may be able to do. Just let me know what I can do. I will obey this day. I know that I can, with Thy help.""(President Henry B. Eyring, This Day, April General Conference 2007)
We don't have a very long time to serve while on this Earth. One-hundred years, as long as they might seem, flash by in barely even a blink of the eye of our Almighty Creator. If we really want to make the most of this one, short and small moment to live, then we need to stand up, get out, and serve, in as little or grand of scale you can. All that truly matters is making a point to have every moment of your life be seen as a symbol that you have truly taken to heart the message of Joshua of old, who said, "Choose thee this day whom ye shall serve...but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15) I pray that we will all be able to take Joshua's message to heart. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Well, that's it from me! Hope you guys enjoyed it, and tune in again next week for another exciting chapter in the life of a missionary. Stay epic, my friends. Ciao!
—Elder Z.S.Weber
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