Wow, I LOVE serving as a missionary. There are so many things to be grateful for, so many great things happening. The interesting thing is that it can be incredibly hard at times, but at the same time very satisfying. Let me explain.
There is a young couple we've started teaching last week. She's never been baptized, but would like to be. We taught about the restoration and introduced the book of Mormon. She accepted our message simply and with great faith, and now reads from it daily. We came back and introduced the plan of salvation. While a lot to take in at once, they understood the overall message and the importance of fulfilling our purpose on the earth. Isn't it wonderful that we have a purpose here, right now, where we are? Everything we're doing leads to something greater. And on top of that, when we taught about the gospel, she accepted a baptismal date with no problems. We'll be having a wedding with them in the near future, and I'm excited to see what happens in the coming weeks with them both.
Martin is excited for his baptism and service in the church. We're finishing a review of doctrines and so forth, and it's incredible seeing the miraculous change in him as he's started getting great desire to serve in church callings, to read and pray, and to build that relationship with our Heavenly Father. He's going to be great.
Otherwise, we've been working a lot with members and other people, helping people to progress. It takes a lot to make this work pay off in the end. I'm paying a really high price spiritually right now, and it definitely is a wear and tear on an individual. I don't know what I'd do without Elder Hatch around. Having that support always there is a great blessing. I'm trying to perform with the same efficiency and attitude that he has, and it's definitely proving to be a challenge. He's an excellent missionary, and seems to have everything rolling forward in the right way at exactly the right time.
Well, otherwise I'm doing alright. I'm learning, maybe relearning, a few lessons I'd like to share with you all. First off, it takes a lot to invite people to Christ and serve them how He would. An awful lot. Paying that spiritual price requires that we give ourselves 100% over to the work. When we start worrying about ourselves and our comfort, you will find that the energy just won't be there. There just won't be the power to push you through if you try to do things by yourself or with your own power, motives, or objectives involved. It only works if you are losing yourself in the service of others.
Another important point is that your attitude is a decision, not a result. We are endowed with the great gift of agency and are not simply matter to be acted upon. We choose to act, and when we do so, things happen. This is the same with our attitude. If I want to be happy, I have to decide within myself that I will be happy. I'm afraid that no amount of money or resources or anything can change that in the end. If you gave everyone in the world a bag of gold, it wouldn't bring them happiness. They might be excited at the possibilities but really nothing has changed. The money will vanish, the results dilute, and they'll be the same people in the end as in the beginning. We choose what and how we are, and if we're not happy then we'd better decide today if we'll be happy or not.
Random sampler: the other missionaries in Olomouc, Elders Rigby and Lindsay, moved into our apartment for a week. They are moving between two locations right now, but the new apartment won't be ready until Saturday. So, we're just one big happy family in the meantime. I am proud to say I've met some of my cooking goals the last few weeks and can roll out an excellent pizza, pancakes, tortillas, and cheese sauce from scratch. That's right, we're eating well in Olomouc. I bring this up because we're spending a drastically low amount on food because we're just buying raw ingredients. Who knew that all those things I learned in my mom's kitchen actually work in Europe too?
Another random sampler: The 4th is a special day for me. This is actually the week I'll have been wearing a name tag for a year. Wow. Incredible to consider how much has changed, how much hasn't, and how stupid it is that the things you value most are sometimes the things you took for granted. Root beer, for instance. You just can't find it here. That, and good family and friends. No replacing those two staples of living. I hope that everyone, my family here and my family at home, know how much I love and appreciate them. Among all the reasons and purposes of life, you are the great purpose for my life. Thanks. :)
I hope you're all happy, healthy, and getting along. I hope that your week is just as excellent as mine is going to be. ;) Good luck in school, work, in church, socially, and everything else. If you all haven't realized this yet, life comes at you fast. If you don't stop and look around every once in a while, you might miss it. Love and miss you all, and I hope you have a fantastic week.
Thanks,
Elder Brent Anderson
PS - Minor note about LDS.org. I'm proud to be on the Web design team of the church. The new beta.lds.org is beautiful, both on the surface and how they're putting together the platform it's on. I looked under the hood a minute ago and it's really, really nice.... Alright, 'nuff of that. Back to work. :D
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