Hello Friends and Family,
This week has been pretty good.
One thing I really like about this area, is all the little kids love to hangout together outside. We were trying to contact a media referral and they didn't answer the door. As we were putting on our helmets to go to the next house, a little kid about 10 years old road up on his bike and challenged me to a race. Believing my odds for winning were pretty good, I accepted his challenge. Doing my best not to slaughter the kid, I threw my bike into a low gear and road parallel with him until the very end when we tied. After that, a swarm of little children challenged us to a foot race. We accepted. Being pretty winded, some teenager, decided he wanted to beat me in a race. Getting really serious, he tightened his shoes, and took his racing stance. I, in my slacks, white shirt, tie, and slip on dress shoes, prepared to lose. On "Go" we both took off as fast as we can. After about 10 seconds, He quit the race because of the lead I had on him. I'm pretty sure, that is the first race I have ever won.
Also, all those little kids raided my stash of pass along cards. I don't know why they wanted them so badly. Eventually I just handed one kid a stack and told him to pass them out because they were like piranhas. One kid reached into my shirt pocket, because that's where I keep some, and he stole my name tag! Luckily I got that back.
Needless to say, I love the people here. They are crazy, fun-loving people that really do have good hearts. Frequently people tell me to be safe, and I do, but I truly believe that when it comes down to it most, if not all, people have a kind heart.
Lessons I learned:
- The worth of a soul is great in the sight of God: As I have been studying the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I realized one of the best ways to understand its significance is to study why it was necessary; why God wants us to live with him; what God has planned for our future. In short, what is the worth of a soul? I read a beautiful talk about an 18-month old girl who fell down a hole. Her rescue took several days and during those days millions of peoples eyes were glued to the television praying fervently for this little girl who they had not met. For a moment, those people knew how precious her soul was. They knew of her potential. In this pit of despair, this poor girl was miserable, hopeless, and didn't know exactly what was going on. I'm sure it was hard for her to see the bright future. In a way, we have all fallen into this well of mortality. We struggle, we have pains, and we often don't really know what's going on. We lose sight of our potential. We lose sight of the fact that we are sons and daughters of God. We also forget that we have millions of ancestors "glued to the television" praying fervently for us. Something I am doing to more fully understand the worth of a soul is trying to build Charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is recognizing the worth of a soul.
- Be a genuine friend: We had lost contact with one of our investigators. A couple days ago a member from the branch, who we had taken to her lessons, ran into her at the store. I don't know exactly what happened, but I do know that love and open arms were extended. Without us knowing, she walked to church and actively participated during class. She had a completely different attitude. That member extending love and support did more for her than I could have ever done. I have heard several people say that they joined the church because it felt right, but they stayed when things were hard because of their friends.
-Elder Shill
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