Post Script: Wearing a Mask: A Lesson Learned
Tuesday, February 10, 2014
Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,
Well, I am not being transferred. The other two in this ward are, but that is that. I am honestly not at all concerned about what I am planning after my mission or what career. All of that stuff will be taken care of later. I can see how my studies relate to my career, honestly I do, but the focus I am trying to make is what the mission is doing. The focus is not on the studies, but the spiritual aspects that it brings out into the open. Rather than looking at the negative, I like to look at the spiritual. I have been trying to focus on the spiritual things that do go on as a child of my Heavenly Father. I will do my best to talk about the things that are going on....
More investigators are dropping us and it has been hard contacting others. One investigator is going through chemotherapy, so he has been sick at times. He has a great understanding of what we have taught him. The only difficulty is contacting him, which is hard. Other than that, we have knocked on doors; a lot of doors.
We find a few more potentials, but it turns into a no show. We have some less actives we are working to help. One is, rather, reactivating himself. Another is going through a lot of hard times and it is hard for her to keep appointments. We are still working hard, helping to support my companion and the ward (congregation).
I have been working hard and I know things will turn out for the better, just like the rain in California. Not much else is going on. Oh, and I fixed my bike. I just need to find out what oil it needs and order it. The gears are getting a bit dry.
I hope you have a good week.
All is well.
Love,
Elder S. Todd
P.S. I did some service this week. We were sitting in our room, because we had half an hour until lunch. As we were wondering what to do, the phone rang, thus giving us and the other two someone to help move. That was nice, right? Well, uh, the house had a lot of stuff and I mean in the sense of hoarding stuff. We had to wear masks and gloves. It was a bad, bad house. We helped move a piano, which fell apart on its way out the door. I had to take a shower after stepping inside that house. So, please do not forget to clean the house. And it is okay to throw things away. Lessons learned.
Valentine's Day to Bones to Al Capone, Happy Birthday Mom, Revelation on crew cuts, bike fixed/not fixed . . .
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,
Well, I am finally emailing you and I was wondering how you met Elder Walbrecht, (Elder Walbrecht, was assigned to the California Fresno Mission and we met him the night before he left for home in Woodbridge, VA at his farewell from California. He is assigned to the congregation where Seth now serves.) only due to the fact that he said that he met you. All of us needed a ride to take care of emailing and shopping and we enlisted him for help. So, now it is Tuesday and we had to use another member. Not upset about it, life happens.
(A question was asked in his letter about a shirt he had to sew.) It probably was a Missionary Mall shirt, but I have yet to do laundry. (We have a washer and dryer in the house.) I can clearly tell colors and I know that string was white. Do not have anything else to sow to test it out.
I got a bike tube and it works. However, bike is still not fixed. It is usable, however. It just needs a final test and a new washer to see if that would correct the problem. It is noisy when I pedal and it becomes difficult to use the gears. I do have a solution. Until then, I am working on it.
Yes, packages can be received and I am assuming it is for Valentine's Day to which is why you are asking. (Whenever I think of Valentine's Day, I think of Al Capone, which leads to Bones(T.V. show he used to watch), which is why I think of Al Capone, or whatever gangster it was, on Valentine's Day (Saint Valentine's Day Massacre). I made that connection thanks to Bones and I cannot stop thinking of it when I hear Valentine's Day. Also, I need Flonase.)
Am I being transferred soon? I do not know. I will not know until next week. I do not know whether I am or I am not. Sometimes, I think I am staying. Other times, I feel as though I am leaving. Simply, I do not know.
Glad to hear that the birthday card came in on time! Happy birthday! So, Mom. How old are you? How old?
Well, I got sick. Sort of. I had a cold, took some medicine, and then stopped. It turned into a sore throat, which I still have. Friday, it was bad, because I nearly lost my voice. Luckily, through prayer and God's miracles, I got some of my voice back. I brushed my teeth and the mint of the toothpaste of which I either swallowed or inhaled helped out. Not sure how exactly, but it is good to know that there are daily miracles. But, it took a lot of energy out of me where I was tired all week and was falling asleep in member's cars. Usually I could stay awake, but not last week. (That's funny because unless he was driving, he would always fall asleep in the car. You could be talking to him a mile a minute and look over at him and he'd be sound asleep.)
Besides that, it has been a good week. I felt inspired to write some topics down that I wanted to study in the future. It included a study of Preach My Gospel and a topical guide study on God, Jesus Christ, Holy Ghost, Man, and a variety of topics based on Doctrine and Covenants Section 121:41-46, see footnotes for the TG. I felt as though I should organize the priesthood attributes (D&C 121:41-46) into index cards. Furthermore, as I started to organize it, I felt impressed to go deeper with this study. Do you know what that adds up to? He is all wise and He knows us. Simply put.
But, with this coming week, I am at the near end of my current topical guide study, which means I am on mercy. With a week where I have been tired and sick, it gives me a great chance to focus and refocus. I think this idea of refocusing is going to be continual, because as I continue to refocus, I will begin to see even more clearly than I have ever before.
I am excited. We had zone meeting and something that we as a stake and a mission will focus some on is family history work. Exactly why I am excited, because in White Oak, I did some family history. Nothing new. But, I loved it and I am excited I get to get back into it. Plus, it helps with the work of salvation, because it is a good conversation starter. The Spirit of Elijah is truly going forth. Amazing. From what I saw, familysearch.org is a very organized site. It is great to use. Family history is one more bit to this whole entire work of salvation. There is great worth in doing missionary work and family history.
Well, I got a hair cut. I know exciting, right? It is not just to inform you that, "Hey, I am getting my regular haircut." But, be prepared to be amazed. It hit me with a sheer force of hitting a wall of bricks. I should care about my appearance and I do. I know, amazing, right? Does that mean I will use hair products? Ha, no. (Never liked anyone putting gels or other things in his hair.) It does not mean that at all. I still refuse, even if it means that I have to get a regular haircut. Honestly, though, I do and I like the hair cut I got. Now, mind you, I have no idea in the sense of hair styles, so as far as I think I know, I think it was a crew cut. Whatever that means. (The guy asked me if I wanted a crew cut and I was so confused. Finally, he just, "You want a hair cut.") (Much of the time his hair was cut by a hair stylist who was a neighbor, Linda Haight, or his sister who also is a hair stylist. Nothing was ever said about crew cuts. He always had a short cut or else it grew into a porcupine look.) I think I will get this hair cut for the rest of my life. But, it goes beyond that. I should care about how I dress as well. It is not just about looking nice for missionary work or other important tasks/events, but daily life. I hope you understand. (Yes, we do. I think we told him that several times as a teenager.) It was an interesting revelation for me. (Ooh, the light clicks on. You see our young people who serve missions have a lot of personal revelations or should we say self-revealing facts.) I am sure you are laughing at this by now (Yep, that prophetic mind is right!), that, or rejoicing that a prayer has been answered (both). So, it is no more, "I do not care how I look," it is more of, "Hey, I do care and I look nice with this." See, the mission does change people. (We knew it would. See myths about Mormon missionaries busted on the side bar.)
So, nothing else new. I have been working hard, doing all that I can. I keep on learning new things and relearning old things.
All is well.
Love,
Elder S. Todd
