Of Bread, Poultry and Venomous Snakes

Fun Things

• Fasting:  In Alma 17 2-3 it says: 

2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

 3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.

 That was made mention a few times this week and I had been reading my scriptures and praying plenty sure, and I fasted on fast Sunday, but "they had given themselves in much fasting", hence I'm going starting to fast a lot. I'm not better than the sons of Mosiah and if I want to be a good missionary I should ignore one of the three main things they did. Hence in order to also be obedient of not fasting for more than 24 hours at a time. I'm going to fast every other meal. Also if I I'm dying for want of water I'll drink some so it doesn't hinder my work. (I don't say this to boast but to keep you informed, anyways something new this week).

• I play volley ball in gym, and yesterday I became super man. I spiked it like ten times during gym time, with the perfect angle going hard down into the middle of the court type thing. It was fantastic, I think fasting helped with that for some odd reason.

• I did a devotional last week, (every day my district complains about the food, a lot really) so I told the story of the Jews. How they were fed, how they complained cause they had nothing to eat, so mana was sent to feed them (which is like bread) (it rained from the sky each night or something like that), they then complained about the mana cause they got TIRED of it. So they got sent birds to eat as well. The people eventually got tired of those so they complained again. Then snakes were sent that bit the people. I reminded my district this story, and invited them to not act similarly about the food here. 

• I was in a room with a few Elders and we were talking a little bit, it was spiritual, Anziano H (who's a buff Australian) told about how he, owned a clothes line thing, and was making 600$ a week from that, (even now on his mission), worked in the mines in Australia straight out of high school and made 25$ an hour, and has $100,000 in bank account back home. He started providing for himself when he was 14. How he hunted kangaroos and boars with the bow, and went to the gym every day. Point is he is a very awesome dude, who's made good use of time. Point is, he and these other YM, had made an "Ebenezer" by going on a mission, putting every thing else on hold, even if you things were going super well for you. I just is super cool to be with these sometimes silly (good and bad) while stalwart missionaries. This is where I am supposed to be, and starting this week I have really indeed wanted to serve and enjoying it a lot more. This just gave me better perspective and was really cool for me. 

• I only semi disliked one Elder here, I wasn't mean or said anything just in my head I semi disliked him. I've gotten to know him better and he's actually super cool and nice, and I now like him now, which shows two things, bite your tongue if you would be mean, and don't make absolutes (cause only siths deal in absolutes (this is a guideline so don't go over board with it)). I also liked a story he told about how someone told him he regretted how he spent his time thinking of a girl he didn't even end up marrying, he considered it a complete waste of time, and that's a regret he had about his mission, I don't want to do that. I can say I've been working very hard. I'm just not letting myself not interfere with the work so don't over judge what I just said. Also a speaker had people stand up to get to know us better, he asked who here is engaged. A few people stood up. Who's already been Dear Johned? A few people stood up. If you've been dear johned within the first 2 months of your mission, than honestly it's a good thing and you should reevaluate. Either:

A: She wasn't worth it anyways, or

B:  You didn't leave as good of an impression as you thought, and hence failed a little bit. Also she was meant to end up with the other guy. Found it kind of funny.

Language

• It's going better, I go over it when I'm waiting for things etc, besides the normal study time. I'm starting to go into teaching without notes, which means I'm good enough to improv a conversation on the spot and listen to what they say, it helps with following the spirit. I'm improving rapidly. 
• Language for you at home for the week. "Non Sono Siguro". Which means I'm not sure. I use this several times a day haha.

Spiritual things

• One talk basically said, help your investigators be self reliant, and children. I'm gonna try to remember that one.
• Elder Dallin H Oaks came and talked to us yesterday. Main thing I got out of it was we should be selfless in life... which begs the question what is selfish etc is it selfish to go to college... etc.. What should guide you in your life... what motives etc.. Curious.
• We watched a David A Bednar talk thing. He basically said as missionary you should try to be a good boy (which I've been trying to be), and if you are doing this and doing what you can don't worry about following the spirit. For example when he was on his mission, President Packer, was just a new apostle. He couldn't catch a plane to Berlin, so he and his wife were going to take a train to Berlin. He felt like he should give them 20 marks (which back then was a lot of money) in case they needed food on the trip. This was the time of East Germany etc, and they ended up going through east Germany. Two soldiers came up to them and asked for their passports. His was fine, but his wifes was extended. Which was not accepted in East Germany. The Guard who he said was one of the most evil men he'd ever met, was escalating the situation. He didn't know what to do. He reached into his pocket and felt the 20 mark bill. He took it out, put it in his passport and handed both their passports to the guard. The guard left with the passports, returned, gave them their passports, the money gone and let it go. For those of you who are wondering this isn't bribery it's actually "righteous exchange":). When he got into West Germany he was told that this was very serious that they were pulling people off trains in East Germany, he said he wouldn't of allowed them to take his wife away which would have been very bad. Kind of a miracle. From 20 marks which was meant for "food". You might say it's a coincidence, I don't think so. Point is if you are a good boy and doing what you should, you'll be guided to do what you should do. 
• If you cut a butterfly out of it's cocoon early it will die due to it not being strong enough. It needs to get out of the cocoon on it's own so it's strong enough to survive in the world. Similarly to us in life, Heavenly Father could take away our trials etc. But that begs the question. How would we grow?

I'm reveling here and completely enjoying it. I'm so thankful for all of you and I hope you don't bring snakes upon you this Thanksgiving. Have a good week. Sorry this emails a bit longer, just had so much to say for some reason. "Thank you for the turkeys and their sacrifice for the greater good of mankind."

Anziano Gridley