You don't grow from a walk in the park

Last Thursday, we got a quick email from Elder Sed saying that he would be emailing on Tuesday this week instead of Monday. We assumed it was because of Columbus Day, but we were wrong!

Elder Sed: It wasn't because of Columbus day I couldn't email. It was because they changed p-day for this week so we could go to the temple this morning. The new video is so cool. It made everything so much easier to understand. I also liked all the pictures in it. The earth is a beautiful place that is for sure! I LOVE the temple! The next time I get to go will probably be January sometime which kinda sucks. I wish it was more often, but oh well.

I am doing good. The week was good. We found a new investigator named Issac. He had met with missionaries in Pennsylvania and they gave him a Book of Mormon and he has been reading it ever since. He loves the Book of Mormon. He spends so much time reading everyday that he chose the Book of Mormon over his girl friend haha. He also loves church so much that he came to two church blocks, not just one! He is pretty much golden. It is awesome to teach people like that. It was nice to actually find someone who is solid with meeting with us. The rest of our investigators have been dropping us like flies, or we can't even get a hold of them. That is one thing that made this week kinda hard. It sucks when the teaching pool is basically nothing. The big problem is that they mostly are college students and meeting with the missionaries isn't their highest priority in life. So it is really off-and-on with meeting with them. We have been focusing on meeting with members, as you know, and it's going good. We teach them how to use the missionary pamphlets and then leave them with a challenge to use them in their own missionary work. They are going good but haven't gotten any referrals from them yet. I don't really know if I have favorite members. I really like them all but since I cover a whole county I don't really know them that well.

Things with Elder R are going alright. I wrote alot more about it in a letter I sent the other day so you should be getting that pretty soon. I will be happy when the transfer is over though.

That is cool that you guys were able to clean the branches up yourself. I bet it sucked though for dad and jared haha. I always hated cleaning up branches. I bet the yard will look awesome when I get back.

Mama, I did get your letter the other day and I liked it. If you could, can you send me some long sleeve black v neck sweaters (the ones that are approved)? I wrote that in the letter but email is faster so oh well.

I love you guys too! Thanks for all you do for me.

Mom: I am so glad you got to go to the temple this morning! That is awesome! Happy to hear about Isaac! How old is he? Has he been in WA long? Yeah, it was real fun cleaning up branches, lemme tell you. We all helped, but that got it done faster. I will work on the sweater situation. I was actually thinking about it the other day and wondering if you had changed your mind about wearing them.

Elder Sed: Yep, I did go to the temple. It was a long drive, but worth it. Isaac is 30-something. He hasn't been in WA long, but I don't know long. He is German Baptist too. On the sweaters, just make sure they aren't vests. Vests are stupid haha. Thank you for all that you do for me. You guys are the best family! It's nice to have such good support. It's what keeps me out here haha.

Mom: You being out there is the best thing for you and for us. We still get soooo many blessings from it, and you will get blessings for the rest of eternity!! We miss you, but we are happy to support you and see you doing so well. We love you very much.

Elder Sed: Thank you. It's really nice to hear that. I am glad that you guys can see the blessings. I miss you guys too, but am happy to be having a growing experience. It can be really hard sometimes but I realized the other day, you don't grow from a walk in the park experience. It has to be hard to have the most growth.

Mom: You're absolutely right! You don't grow as much when things are easy. You grow the most from resistance. It's like the year Dad planted carrots in the hardest soil in the garden, not expecting much, but when we dug them up they were HUGE! We were surprised at first, but then I realized it's just like life. We grow the most when it's harder. Keep up the great attitude. 

Elder Sed: That is one thing I always try to keep is a positive attitude. It sucks even worse when you're depressed. It's like the Tree of Life vision. The people "cling" onto the Rod of Iron, continually pushing forward against the attacks of Satan. We all can apply that. We need to just cling to what we know is right and push forward through the sucky parts of life. I have to go soon, but it was really nice to email back and forth. You are the best! I love you all, by the way. Talk to you next week, on Monday.