Dear Family and Friends,
Well we have basically given up hope on finding our house key, but that's ok, we have mastered the art of breaking in a house with a bamboo pole, no worries! I have been having some back pain lately (2 weeks), and from what the mission doc says, I should be fine, but it could mean taking some 'elder'ly people's bone medicine.... So yeah! Fun!
Now for a funny/gross story. I was cleaning the kitchen when I came across a pot. I had passed it many times that week, but I noticed it hadn't moved that whole week. What was inside, I'm not completely sure, it could have been rice, might be stew, a missionary's zen garden, the mystery is real folks.... But any ways, it was not a pleasant experience, if Pandora's box has a smell, its probably what came out of that pot. The mold had more colors than an artist's pallet, and was fuzzier than a brand new pillow. It took a minute for the other elders in the house to smell it, and the smell still lingers to this day. Lesson learned, we make sure we wash ALL the dishes.
This week I had an interesting and humbling experience. I had a bit of an argument with another elder. And we had some bitter feelings about the whole discussion for a few days. No one was in the wrong as far as the topic of the argument goes, but we still held bitter feelings. One day during our studies I was thinking about what its like in the Celestial Kingdom. Of course no one can imagine that the people there have grudges against each other, so maybe that's why we are urged to apologize and forgive each other so much. I read an old talk by President Monson about "Hidden Wedges" He stressed that if we are not willing to let go, these small things will eventually come back to us. Do we have hidden angers, or silent murmurings against another? First things first, if we can't remember why we're mad, we should just stop, but if we are currently holding on grudges, however small, we would do well to let go. If we don't have grudges, make the decision now to never hold one. In the words of Buddha "Anger is like holding a hot coal with the intent of throwing at someone else, you are the one who gets burned". We would never hold a coal, as such we should be quick to apologize, and forgive. This last week I was able to say sorry to that Elder, and I noticed how much happier we both were, and now we are getting along very well. We were all brothers and sisters before coming here, lets keep it that way.
This week was very hot, but we had great weather!
Mahal ko kayo!
Elder Trevor Kent Johnson (The Weirdest Missionary You Know)
Well we have basically given up hope on finding our house key, but that's ok, we have mastered the art of breaking in a house with a bamboo pole, no worries! I have been having some back pain lately (2 weeks), and from what the mission doc says, I should be fine, but it could mean taking some 'elder'ly people's bone medicine.... So yeah! Fun!
Now for a funny/gross story. I was cleaning the kitchen when I came across a pot. I had passed it many times that week, but I noticed it hadn't moved that whole week. What was inside, I'm not completely sure, it could have been rice, might be stew, a missionary's zen garden, the mystery is real folks.... But any ways, it was not a pleasant experience, if Pandora's box has a smell, its probably what came out of that pot. The mold had more colors than an artist's pallet, and was fuzzier than a brand new pillow. It took a minute for the other elders in the house to smell it, and the smell still lingers to this day. Lesson learned, we make sure we wash ALL the dishes.
This week I had an interesting and humbling experience. I had a bit of an argument with another elder. And we had some bitter feelings about the whole discussion for a few days. No one was in the wrong as far as the topic of the argument goes, but we still held bitter feelings. One day during our studies I was thinking about what its like in the Celestial Kingdom. Of course no one can imagine that the people there have grudges against each other, so maybe that's why we are urged to apologize and forgive each other so much. I read an old talk by President Monson about "Hidden Wedges" He stressed that if we are not willing to let go, these small things will eventually come back to us. Do we have hidden angers, or silent murmurings against another? First things first, if we can't remember why we're mad, we should just stop, but if we are currently holding on grudges, however small, we would do well to let go. If we don't have grudges, make the decision now to never hold one. In the words of Buddha "Anger is like holding a hot coal with the intent of throwing at someone else, you are the one who gets burned". We would never hold a coal, as such we should be quick to apologize, and forgive. This last week I was able to say sorry to that Elder, and I noticed how much happier we both were, and now we are getting along very well. We were all brothers and sisters before coming here, lets keep it that way.
This week was very hot, but we had great weather!
Mahal ko kayo!
Elder Trevor Kent Johnson (The Weirdest Missionary You Know)