Hey everyone!
So, I'm still alive. Sorry on the delay, but yesterday was a national holiday here. So, everything was shut down including every internet cafe and library. Rest assured, the rain is gone, the monsooning is behind us, and the July sun is keeping things very...warm for us. Humidity is a new thing for me, and I'm getting a good experience at not having air conditioning. Even still, it's great here! We've been contacted by several people this week, have a few new investigators that we're working with, lots of lessons, and this week is looking even better. We're even trying to shoot for 80 hours/week speaking Czech as a companionship. Woo!
So, I've been thinking about what to write home this week. Sometimes I'll theme what I write to an extent, other times it's just more of a publicly read journal entry. Today, I'm going to write a letter to a missionary currently preparing to serve in Pennsylvania. The missionary is Elder Nathan Thatcher, one of my best friends back home. The letter is titled "The Things I wish I'd known when I was in the MTC." It's being written in response to several things that I really didn't know coming into the field, but that would have made a difference to me. Of course, his challenges and strengths are going to be different than mine. But, I think at the very least it will be a good way for me to communicate about how I feel about missionary work now that I'm starting to feel a little more experienced (Speaking of which, I've been in the country for 3 months today).
Nate! How are things going, my friend? It's been, what, about 5-ish weeks since you put your name tag on for the first time, right? Crazy! I think it's funny considering that back when we were in 5th grade it was really easy to think about someday going on a mission, seeing friends or mentors leave and come home, and never really thinking that you were going to ever be *that* old. I guess time moves pretty quickly. I decided to write you partially because I really wanted to shoot something off to you before you left for Pennsylvania, and partially because I've passed a hazard light on my path as a missionary. It's kind of scary to consider, but if a mission were like a football game with 4 quarters and 1 quarter of overtime, I'm already through the first quarter. Yikes! How crazy is that?? Given that little wake up call, I've inventoried and started looking back at the foundations from the MTC that I laid, what was good, what wasn't, and what I would do if I were back there again. Of course, things are different for everybody, but I have faith that a few things here will be helpful in some way.
First off, your companion can be your best friend or someone you have to live with for 2 months. I've been very fortunate to have fantastic companions my whole mission. I actually miss my MTC companion sometimes, not because my other companions are problematic but because we had to support each other so much that we really grew together to survive all the changes we made at the MTC. I think the MTC companionship can be the most flexible, since once you hit the field you have to get moving with the work and progress.
Another thing is that missionary work is about being 100% obedient and working with everything you've got, but being yourself. It's not enough to be a by-the-book missionary. People don't like talking to someone that isn't being themselves, even if they are being the absolutely perfect missionary obedience and book-wise. It's when we're genuine and working to be like Christ that we make the most progress.
The library is closing right now, so I've got to put this on hold for now. I'll finish part two next week, and then you can fire this off to Nate.
In the mean time, I hope you all have a great week!
Elder Anderson
No comments:
Post a Comment