Most recent post from October 21, 2013

Hello from Buffalo New York!
Unfortunately, this is perhaps the last time I will type this phrase.....I'm being transferred to Rochester City area! I'm really excited to start a new experience in the actual heart of Rochester haha it'll be different for sure. So yes I am going to get a new companion, whose name is Elder Bird. Elder Allen is getting a new visa waiter (missionaries temporarily waiting in the States for the Visas to go elsewhere aren't true missionaries in this mission, we're "visa-waiters" JK I love it here!) whose name is Elder Holmes I think. So this morning I packed up my suitcase, and backpacks and tomorrow morning I will start a new phase of my mission in Rochester, NY! Typically missionaries stay together for about 2 or 3 6week periods, then one of the missionaries will get "transferred" to a new area, within the boundaries of the overall mission. My mission goes from Lake Erie and basically Niagara Falls farthest West, to the Finger Lakes on the East border. So I'm actually going a relatively far distance to my new area. This week was a fun one. Only a couple hours after I finished the email home last Monday, we started playing hockey with some newly baptized members, a really cool family. We played a little basketball and soccer as well, and right before we were about to leave I hurt my knee somehow playing soccer, but it should be up to snuff in the next week or so.
---insert for my mother...--- mom don't freak. Don't start trying to call the mission etc etc haha the President's wife is our caretaker and she takes care of stuff like this. Let me just explain to you what happened so you can give your diagnosis. I kicked the ball, no other contact occurred, and my knee locked up like it has done before in past years. Usually I just straighten the knee and I hear a pop and everything's fine, and that's what I did this time too. But even though it popped back or "unlocked" there was still some sort of knot that prevented me from straightening my knee at all. For the first day at least I could put no weight on it. The next day I hopped into zone meeting haha and another stud missionary looked at it. He said I was positive to the apley's and mcmurrays tests with lateral pain along the joint line in valgus at 60. I don't know what that means, but it has gotten a ton better since then. I got a blessing tuesday night and now I can walk without crutches but with an obvious limp. I can straighten it almost all the way with a little pain but I think there's some fluid buildup that's preventing it from fully extending. Sis francis hooked me up with a doctor I'm going to as soon as I get to Rochester on Wednesday probably. So it's no big deal, it's just hard to do missionary work when you're crutching around and not biking...---(resume)
All this means is that missionary work is a lot slower than normal, seeing that we can't ride bikes like we normally do. This week was also rough because we see what people need in their life to make them happy and they just choose otherwise. The happy moments of a mission outweigh all the hard disappointing times, but that doesn't mean you won't have many disappointing times as well. I can't but help to think about how much disappointment Heavenly Father feels as He sees exactly what we need to do to make ourselves as happy as possible, and then witness us refuse to take the right paths all the time. It must be really frustrating! I think as we go through life it's a lot easier to take a step back and really scrutinize our small decisions. The small decisions inherently combine to create bigger things, and a basic outline of where our lives are headed. If we direct the small and simple decisions based on what will make us the most happy in the end (not necessarily the easiest or most convenient now) then I bet we would avoid a lot of life's difficulties. For example, when our lives are really busy and we have a thousand things to do, it is really inconvenient to sit down and pray to Heavenly Father to know He's there, and to let Him know that you're still listening. But I know that if we take time out of our day and really focus on what prayer does for us in the long run, we will have a happier, more peaceful life filled with more concrete perspective and understanding. Then when we run into life's tribulations, we can fall back on the same being that we've been kept in contact with the whole time. We will know that He's there, in the good times and the bad. We don't have to feel like we're alone. So many people don't take time to do the small and simple things. I know I didn't before now. But it's so important, and part of my job as a missionary is helping people see the bigger picture, and ultimately come closer to Christ. No one here is perfect (my family is pretty close regardless of what my mom says in her emails:)) but everyone here has a perfect example to look towards. Thanks for all the emails and letters!
Send letters to this address now that I'm moving and I don't know my new address yet:
460 Kreag Road