Dear Home,
Things have been cooling down in Saskatoon, weather-wise. We got our first rain of the season this week. They were predicting snow for today, but we got rain instead. =P No complaints. ^^
As for interesting news, I don't really have much this week. The most interesting thing that happened this we was Special Training. You'll remember that a while back, they were talking about this new MTC curiculum, taking a new perspective on the way we do missionary work. Almost the entire mission got to spend three days getting special training so they'd know about the new missionary mentality, but Elder Sheffield and I weren't able to go because we were both up in Flin Flon. It would seem that we weren't the only ones that missed out on the special training, so this transfer, it would seem that they arranged things so that everyone who couldn't get the new training last transfer got the training this week. It was great! It was all about focussing on the people and their needs, and relying on the Spirit than on our teaching skills. It made our missionary work less about ourselves and more about others. I'm really glad we're shifting the focus. For so long, we were only worried about what we're doing (converting people), and how we're doing it (teaching skills), but now we're thinking about WHY we're doing missionary work (because this work brings people closer to Christ than they could ever get without it). THEN we started talking about what, exactly, we're going to do (reach out to others) and how we're going to do it (asking questions and listening). It's so encouraging and inspiring. It makes me excited to be a missionary.
I am learning this transfer that the Spirit is absolutely vital to one's success as a missionary, and that we get the Spirit by obedience to the commandments. After all, that's why we have commandments in the first place. God, knowing everything, sees the obstacles in our way that may keep us from being happy, then He, out of His love for us, tells us what to do to find happiness and avoid misery. By obedience to the commandments, we follow that path of happiness and bring ourselves closer to God and His influence. It's a beautiful system. My favorite parts of this system are the many reasons we have to follow the path (to avoid misery, to obtain happiness, to get closer to God and to make Him happy) and also the fact that God ultimately desires our happiness. Can you imagine if an All-Poweful Being wanted nothing more than for you to be happy? Of course, this All-Powerful Being is also perfectly wise, so he has it in store for you to obtain TRUE happiness. A happiness that will last FOREVER. Wouldn't you ask that Being what you could do to help Him make it happen? You'd also ask Him how you could possibly repay Him, wouldn't you? There's no good reason not to. The only reason I could think of for not follwing that path is because the path to misery is easier. It's like you're on a mountain, and you can either go up to the top or down to the bottom. Guess which way is easier. Now guess which way will get you a better view. It's harder to climb the mountain, much harder, but it's also much more worthwhile. But that's enough of a spiritual tangent for now.
Last week, I promised I would tell you about a funny thing that happened towards the beginning of this transfer, but now I'm not sure if I should. /I/ think it's funny, and many other missionaries think it's funny, but Elder Sheffield doesn't think it's funny, and I don't want to hurt his feelings. There was something that he did that was REALLY funny, and it wouldn't have been funny coming from anyone but him, but he feels bad about it (though he really shouldn't), so I think I'll refrain from spreading it around. Sorry to get you all excited about nothing. This kind of reminds me of one time I was playing UNO with a few other missionary, and I felt like a big jerk for playing a Draw Two card. I shouldn't have felt bad about it. It wasn't a big deal. But I felt bad anyway, so I have no room to tell Elder Sheffield that he shouldn't feel bad for what happened. Still, I would like him to change his opinion on this subject. He could get a good laugh out of all this if he chose to.
But anyhow, my time is about up, so I'd better get moving on. Thank you for reading! I hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween, and I'll talk to you next week. ^^
1 comment:
Well, it's fun to share funny stories, but it's better to be a good friend.
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