Time is a rather fickle flapping falcon. It comes and it goes,
building momentum as we bathe within it. Now take ten minutes to think
about that. Preferable out of a bus window (best philosophy school
EVER!).
Speaking of philosophy, I've come to learn that one
of the best ways to let the ideas flow is to scrub a few plates with
soap. As we lack dishwashers here, all of the washing is done by hand,
which in reality is a beautiful blessing in disguise. In this
sudd-soacked pocket of time, one can dream freely, unraveling the
mysteries of difficulties and the depths of eternity. And then we have
clean dishes, so that's a bonus! :DThe females here are becoming more and more apparent in attaining their ultamate goal. Just a few days ago, a girl shouted after us, "Mi VISA!"
...Well, at least she's honest!
Deluge! We'd
another serious of storms hit our area, one of which took the life of
my Missionary Daily Planner. WHY CRUEL FATE?! ;D
Oh! Right! We got attacked this week! ...By laughter! (Made you jump.)
Elder
Thibault was cooking lunch, while I equalized the time by washing
dishes. As I turned to put a plate away, water flew off into the hot
oiled pan that Elder Thibault was holding...which apparently makes fire.
A freaking benemoth column of heavenly flame burst forth like a
culinary gyser of fire, causing our lungs to quickly deflate as their
contents beat upon our voice boxes.
...We screamed a
little bit. But it wasn't like a noprmal scream! I've no idea why, but
we both screamed like two octaves low. Afterward, I laughed hysterically
for the next ten to fifteen minutes.
One
misconception that I would like to sweep away about missionary service:
it is in no way a simple walk in the park. Sacrificing everything for
two years of your life (including family, friends, plans, jobs,
opportunities, hobbies, school, and essentially yourself) is one of the
most challenging things you will ever do in your youth, quite possibly
even your entire life (I wouldn't know for certain; I've only come this
far down my road). There will be times where you'll feel as though you
just want to collapse to your knees and weep until the tears stop
flowing. These past fourteen weeks alone, I've been hit from almost
every angle, my soul bruised and burned from the bouts with sorrow,
discouragement, and anxiety.
A rational person at this point would ask, "Why on earth would you volunteer for something like this?"
The
answer is simple, but ultimatly profound: I KNOW IT'S TRUE. And if my
sacrifice can bring others to this same knowelege, this same happiness,
then I'd be a wicked man to refrain from such. The only reason we can
even give such a service in the first place came about because of the
Greatest Sacrifice of All. Is this then foolishness to desire to give a
sliver of my time and a portion of my pain to the one who gave his
entire life and the entirety of his agony so that I might live?
The
most fundamental piece of this Church is sacrifice. The irony, however,
is that when we give to The Lord, he returns to us One-Hundered-Fold.
Speaking
of returns, we'd a miracle strike our chapel this week! Elder Thibault
and I have been struggling to get our investigators to church these past
several...umm...forevers. Saturday, we mutually decided to turn to a
higher power to aid our quest. Thus began the fast!
...AND
IT WORKED WONDERS!!! Keep in mind that Dominicans are kind of horrible
when it comes to keeping commitments, ESPECIALLY when it comes to coming
to church. The most I have ever seen with regards to investagators
atending has been two. This Sunday,
however, we had TEN investigators show, AND FIVE Less-Active Members
attend! FREAKING GLORIOUS! I literally had to use all of my might to
refrain from screaming for joy.
The Lord is indeed
refining me. When I return to your embraces, I will truly be indefinetly
greater than I could have ever aspired to be on my own. (And I'll be
Bilingual!)
Peace, Love, Unity, Serenity!
-Elder MK Jones
(Oh, and your homework for this next week is to email something related to Thanksgiving. It's fairly open ended, so go for it!)
:D
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