...testing one-two-three...testing, tes—What? We're on the air
already? Oh, well...ahem...
Good morning world, and all that inhabit it! This is your totally epic
missionary straight from the Colorado Fort Collins Mission, Elder
Z.S.Weber, reporting to you live from the town of Erie, Colorado! Once
more, I've got some interesting and inspiring stories and tales to
tell y'all, from the beginning of the week to the end. But before we
get to that, I'd just like to give a quick thank you to all of you
reading this email. Missionary life is perhaps the hardest thing
someone can experience, second to serving as a General Authority to
the Church. The emotional, mental, and spiritual stress from the work
wears you down day after day, and sometimes you find it hard to
continue. For all of you that pray for the missionaries like me, who
ask the Lord to bless them...please keep the prayers coming. You don't
realize just how much impact those prayers have to Elders like me and
Elder Hale, whose hands hang low, and whose knees are feeble. We thank
you for your love, and we hope we can only keep living worthy of the
blessings we all hope the Lord will rain down upon us for our service.
On that jaunty, up-beat note, we start our tale of the week, starting
with Tuesday. Normally on Tuesdays now, Elder Hale and I have to go to
District Leader Council, where Elder Hale discusses plans and work
with the other District Leaders in our Zone, and I get some time to
study. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, DLC was moved to this
Saturday, letting Elder Hale and me join the other elders, Elder
Mortensen and Olson, at service at EFAA. This time, we were being
asked to remove the gravel from the playground in the back, so that
they could remove the old playground and install a new, larger one.
Sounded simple enough...until, of course, we got to working. Ever been
to the beach, and seen the endless expanses of sand that stretch
across the shoreline and into the ocean? Yeah, that's what it was like
for us with the pea-gravel. The more we'd shovel into the wheelbarrow
and tote out of the playground, the more there still seemed to be. It
was exhausting experience, one that is still on-going, as we have yet
to beat the beast!
On Wednesday, we were able to take a quick break from the rigors of
the service, and enjoy a nice and peaceful District Meeting. Rather
than go to the Stake Center, however, and sit through lectures and
boring lessons, one of the Elders thought it'd be a great idea if we
had a barbecue at his member's house, and have a more relaxed District
Meeting there. At first, I was hesitant, but it ended up going very
well. It was a bit of a confusing drive to get to their apartment (the
GPS had to reroute itself about three times), but when we got there we
were able to have a great lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers with the
other Elders and their member family. And afterwords, we discussed how
our work was doing in our respective wards, and what we could do to
improve. All in all, I thought it was a very wonderful District
Meeting.
Then, that evening, we were asked by the Priest's Quorum to come join
them at Mutual. Apparently, this month of September is their
missionary-month, where they learn more about missionary life, the ups
and the downs, and study more about what missionary life requires from
them, that way they'll be ready to get to work once the call to serve
comes to them. So, we were asked to answer any io their questions for
them, and help them get a good feel about what mission life is like.
The questions ranged from 'what do you wish you could've prepared more
for from your mission?', to 'what should we watch out for from the
MTC?', to even just 'what's the average life of a missionary in the
mission field?' At the end if the questions, we decided to have some
fun with the Priests and show them how to role-play lessons. It was
funny seeing the struggle us elders have everyday reflected in the
different Priests as they tried to have a realistic conversation about
the church with their friends pretending to be non-members.
Finally, on Saturday, we finally had to have District Leader Council,
as had been requested. I didn't mind it too much, of course, because I
didn't actually have to be in the meeting, I just had to hang out in
the foyer with the other non-District Leaders. As usual, Elder Westrup
had been the one to think ahead and had brought something along to
entertain himself and us with—a small Nerf gun with a sticky Nerf
dart. While we talked amongst each other, he'd just randomly shoot at
us, the walls, or targets like an empty water bottle to pass the time.
It was all very nice and fun...until he shot it at the ceiling and it
stuck. After about ten minutes of waiting for gravity to do its part
and nothing happening, we soon realized that we were in trouble. After
about another half-hour if waiting, it finally fell from the ceiling,
and we wisely decided to put the toys away for the rest of the DLC.
Well, that's my week! Thanks again for all the love you guys send. I'm
not certain I'd be able to last as long on my mission as I have if it
weren't for the love and courage you send, through letters, through
emails, through tender-hearted prayers. They lift me up and help me
push on. Even when I'm at my lowest point as a man and a missionary,
when I feel like I can't go any further, I feel my strength renewed
whenever I see a letter waiting for me at the kitchen counter, or a
new email in my mailbox. So, once more, thank you for the love that
you've given me. You really don't know how wonderful it feels, and how
much each of us missionaries truly need it just to get through the
day.
Hope y'all have a great week! Love y'all, and hope to hear from y'all
again next week! Stay epic, my friends!
—Elder Z.S.Weber
No comments:
Post a Comment