Well, it is currently 6 am on the dot:
because we woke up at 4:45 to get to the laundry room to do our laundry
today! Lucky, our efforts paid off this week, and we walked straight
into all the washers we needed! It could have something to do with the
fact that 900 missionaries left yesterday... Thats why Monday/Tuesday
are the best! Food lines are short, hallways aren't crowded, and laundry
is available! It makes this place feel like a ghost town!
Speaking of the food. Don't let anyone deceive you, it is awful.
The first week it was great: second week... less great. Third week...
its getting harder and harder everyday. Its like a full stuffing every
meal, every day, of absolutely not real good food. Plus they only have
like, 8 meal plans, so its pretty easy to guess what day its gonna be,
and its not hard to remember the last time you ate the exact same thing!
But food is of little importance in the Lords work! I guess the
first note of interest... Elder Vitel and I received a new assignment on
Sunday. We're now the Branch 25 Zone Leaders! We were shocked when the
Branch President asked us (we knew someone was getting the call because
they switch everything up halfway) but we didn't think it could be us!
We had an meeting on Sunday to help us with our responsibilities (which
mainly include welcoming new missionaries, which ironically, we will
never do! New German missionaries come on the 20th of March, and we fly
out the 19th!) and then we coordinate Sacrament and Priesthood meeting
talks and assignments, interview District Leaders, and just look out for
the general welfare of the Missionaries. It is amazing the new insight
and responsibility I feel for my elders now. Elder Vitel and I have
already met with and attempted to sort out several problems with
missionary conduct, homesickness, companionship disputes, etc. I am
grateful for the call, because I has strengthened our desires to be
better missionaries. We need to set the example, and we can never let
our guard down, because our struggling elders really are always
watching. But I have a testimony that the lord strengthens his servants,
and as I tried to follow the spirit and counsel the elders, I felt
words coming to my mouth that weren't my own, and didn't originate in my
thoughts. The Lord has a hand in this work, and keeping the other
elders strong is also part of the work!
This weeks other spiritually important event has been going on all
week. Tuesday, at the Temple, I had a personal question in my mind. I
wanted the answer almost more than I have wanted anything- ever. I
studied the scriptures all day, and at the Temple, I prayed fervently
for my answer. And as the session came to a close, I sat quietly and
awaited my answer. I waited and waited, and to my frustration, nothing
came. I sat in utter discouragement as I pleaded with my Heavenly
Father, why? where is my answer? Why didn't it come when I wanted? As my
frustration escalated, I changed my prayer to a prayer of peace. And
the sense of immediate warmth and peace that everything would be alright
DID come. Right when I needed it. Somehow I knew all would be ok.
Tuesday night devotional, coincidentally, was about Prayer! the speaker
(Craig Christiansen of the 70) said two things that hit me powerfully.
1) We need to exercise patience and wait upon the Lord. part of the
faith is waiting in absolute trust, and its HARD. sheesh its hard. 2)
Sometimes the Lord doesn't answer, because he trusts us to make the
right decisions and follow the correct path. Then its up to us to trust
HIM to not let us go astray. Somehow I feel my situation falls in both
categories. But whether I receive my answer sometime in the future, or
whether I simply arrive where I want to be and realize the Lord was
guiding me all along, I know everything will be ok.
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