So... I guess they make you EXTRA strict when you come out because they know you'll ease up a little bit so they have you ease up to where they want you to be. The music isn't nearly as strict as I thought it was. Lindsey Stirling is good from what I understand, and Disney music is all good as long as it's not romantic so I may need to send my mp3 back so you can load it with good ol' disney music, mom and dad :)
So I've noticed that every one of my companions has made a comment on how prideful I am... The reasons they use are, interestingly enough, when I think I'm being the kindest to them or the most helpful... So I was super confused and didn't know why I was being perceived that way... So I took to much prayer and fasting and with much effort I waxed great in my humility. Haha! not -_-' hahaha jk jk but seriously... I did pray and fast a lot (much more prayer than fasting :P) and I took to studying the scriptures as well. I studied Beware of Pride by Ezra Taft Benson and Be Meek and Lowly of Heart from Oct 2013 Gen. Conf. (thanks for the recommendation Amanda! It was awesome!) I even talked face-to-face with President Craig (Mish Pres) for about 30 minutes about stripping myself of pride. I found it interesting that in Alma 5:28 he says "Are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God." Rather bold... needless to say that has been my goal the last two weeks: to strip myself of my pride. I've come to see ways in which my pride has manifested and it is so much more common than you would ever believe!!! Oh my goodness! Pride is EVERYWHERE!!! Seriously guys!! Don't procrastinate the day you develop humility! Get started on it NOW!
I'm doing much better at being humble and I've found myself being happier overall and I've gotten along better with my companion especially. Sometimes my pride gets through and I get all grumpy which really PISSES ME OFF! Jeez! Stop getting upset!!! Haha ugh...
Funny story of the day:
We were going around and talking to anybody that was outside (much friendlier version of tracting) and we came to these 3 black guys sitting and chatting in their driveway and we pull up, shout hello, and immediately one of them stands up and says "LEAVE!! NO GET OUT OF HERE!! YOU MORMONS ALREADY F****** ME I'M NOT LETTING YOU F*** ME AGAIN!!!" I'm all like hold up big man! Take it easy! We're just out doing service! and he says to wait here and he goes inside. I legitly thought he was going to get a gun and he comes out with a book of mormon. Apparently he was a Former Investigator about 6 months ago and he wouldn't live the WoW so he was dropped. Oh my gosh... He was drinking 3 bottles of stuff... smoking... and every third word was the F word. If it was the F word it was the S word and that was only about 10% of the time... He had a 2 foot tall bottle of alcohol!!! CRAZY!!! I guess he hasn't been sober in 6 months! Oh man... and he even confessed to murdering people... oh gosh... I thought he was gonna kill me... He even had these crazy brass knuckles with skulls on them... so he was telling his friend that he needed to live the WoW and take lessons from us but whenever we tried asking this drunkard a question he said "DON'T TALK TO ME! TALK TO *HIM*! HE'S THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO CHANGE!" *sigh*... so... we're not going to try working with him for at least a long time...
Spiritual Thought:
Oh man... there's so much good stuff in the Book of Mormon. One point I think must be brought to light is the matter of acting on anger. Anger is something very powerful and in Alma 43:44 the Lamanites "did fight like dragons ... and thus [they] did smite in their fierce anger." They were the most ferocious and dangerous when they were the angriest. But when we rely on God we always have greater strength. Isaiah 26:4 "trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."
We must understand how anger is destructive all around; Teancum, a captain in Moroni's army, was likely one of the greatest warriors in the entire Nephite army. He had slain the King of the Lamanites without making a sound and reclaimed many cities by his cunning and skill. However, it was his pride and his anger that caused his downfall. In Alma 62 the war has been going on for almost 12 years and thousands had been killed. Teancum became very angry at this because he supposed that it was Ammoron, the Lamanite King and the former Lamanite King whom he had killed, who was the cause of all this (Alma 62:35). In verse 36 "Teancum in his anger did go forth into the camp of the Lamanites ... he did find the king; and he did cast a javelin at him, which did pierce him near the heart ... the king did awaken his servants before he did ... they did pursue Teancum, and slew him." Revenge is a two-headed viper; as we watch it harm someone else we do not notice that it is harming us as well. Often times, until much of the damage has already been done.
So, what can we learn from this? Yes, don't go kill someone when they're surrounded by their servants. Yes, try to aim better next time :P yes, don't be stupid. But relating it to our day, don't feel that need to "get even", don't give someone "a taste of their own medicine." Let things end with you. In other words, don't allow the vicious cycle of revenge to feed through your own efforts. We must learn to forgive even when others don't ask for that forgiveness.
Rather interesting thought indeed, but I felt it was an appropriate one to share, one that will hopefully cause many of you to look within yourselves and see if you are harboring any negative feelings.
Thank you all for the letters and the emails. I can now read emails during the week so feel free to email me whenever you want :) I love you all and hope all of you have the happiest week ever this week :D MOM! Good luck with hiking Timpanogos :) YOU CAN DO IT!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!
Love,
Elder Russell
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| Those are two of the Hendrix kids :) first family I met out here :D they're wonderful! Every Tuesday night we go to Buffalo Wild Wings and have the best wings I have ever tasted in my life! :D |
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| A FREAKING-AWESOME-OLD- |
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| Aaaaaaaaaand me posing by it :) so I got here to Florida and the grass was all AWFUL!!! But we were riding and found this..... the softest grass I have ever felt in my life... I would have a picture of me lying on it but sadly there was a couple walking our way and I didn't want to make things super awkward....... I'll send that one later.. haha |
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| THE AWESOME PACKAGE THAT I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR!!! Tootsie rolls and Hi-Chews make great packing peanuts |
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| my beautiful bike :) I got a GPS odometer :) it's pretty spiffy! And I got cool pretty fenders :) my Ward Mission Leader bought the bike for me so he could get an employee discount on it :) (I did give him cash to buy it, he's not THAT nice :P) |
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| My lovely wall of pictures :) and the AWESOME set of guns and bullets that we have! |
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| Our epic preparations for the war to come.... |
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| That's the epic fortress I'm speaking of. When you use a C4 you count down from 5 and then one of the cushions or bean bags gets taken off from wherever you placed the C4. Yep! :) (Good thing they didn't have a surprise cleaning check) |
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