meureh‏

So first of all, I think it is funny that years later highschool track coaches from other schools remember who I am. The funny thing is that they probably remeber me as some kind of super serious scary looking retard. Little do they know I would generally take naps and enjoy witty banter while wearing a fake mustache before throwing at track meets. But oh well, don't burst their bubbles.

But there are a few stories from this week that were somewhat out of the norm. We found out that a kid that is a recent convert to the church is also the son of the 6th best female distance runner in the world or something like that. All I know is that she is the nicest lady ever. But maybe brandon knows who she is or can find out who she is. Her name is maria lucia and I don't know her last name, but she has been the brasilian champion twice, the champion of the americas in general and recently at some world competition in africa got 6th place. So that is pretty good. I think she runs like the 16k or something rediculously far like that. He was telling us that she won some kind of race that is 10k going only uphill. That made my cholesterol get goose bumps. I am going to try to teach her because she is super nice and her son wants to go on a mission now.

Also that billionaire lady I was teaching is getting baptised this week. Even though I am not there anymore it is cool. Apparently she asks about how I am every lesson, so maybe I will write her a letter. Billionaire friends can't hurt right? Especially when they are so nice.

uhhhh what else. Oh man, the other day we were in a division with other missionaries and I was in my area with an elder that is so funny and there are a lot of funny things that happened to us. At night this cockroach was on the wall and he starting yelling and I threw a shoe across the room at it to get him to be quiet (also because I didn't want it to touch me) and it dodged the shoe by FLYING. I have seen and killed quite a few of those buggers in my day, but I have never seen it fly. So it of course flew right at us and mostly right at the other missionary who huddled into a ball on the ground. In the end we killed it and then torched it with a makeshift flame thrower because as elder redford said, "COME ONE MAN, HAVEN'T YOU EVER PLAYED ZOMBIE GAMES?! YOU GOTTA LIGHT THIS CRAP ON FIRE!!!" (in a terrified voice as it was still wiggling on the ground). My other favorite quote from him that division was "what the heck is this? is this pillow full of pokémon cards?" in the middle of the night.

Then, today, me and my companion who goes home tomorrow were passing time doing blue darts waiting for a car to take us to the mission office, and he ended up pooping his pants 20 minutes before we had to leave. All in all this area is hilarious. But it isn't just that, the area is awesome to teach in. People have good comprehension of the things and are searching for the truth which makes our job soooo easy. We were knocking doors and found a big family just out of dumb luck that was saying things in the lesson like "I have always wondered which church out of all of them is really being led by God..." Lets just say I feel pretty blessed here.

One other funny thing that will happen tomorrow is I will train a new missionary. That should be a disaster. I just kind of walk around lost half of the time here and accidently run into perfect people to teach, so I guess I need to figure out how to teach other missionaries to do the same thing. The problem is, it seems like sometimes (almost all the time) the people walking around lost are literally lost and are not seeking guidance of any kind through divine means and just walk a lot doing nothing. Or they find perfect people and don't understand that well what they teach and again don't seek divine help end up not helping anyone including themselves. Hopefully he doesn't just end up doing that. Either way, I'll teach him how to light his farts on fire and play a million tricks on him and we'll be best buds.

I am mostly just excited to work in this area. It has a lot of potential. If I can stay here for a few months and not do anything stupid, I think that the Lord will help me to get some really good results here, and that is something the ward needs. There is nothig better than teaching people the true restored gospel like I am now. I love to be able to go out and testify of what I know and do what I do every day. Killing (sending home) my last comp made me appreciate it a lot more. Also the talk from Deiter F. Uchtdorf in last conference's priesthood session. I just heard it in english for the first time today, and it is good. Basically he talks a lot about people who go through the motions in life and people who love living. Both do the same work, but one is missing out on a lot. I love living how I am living. It is so nice to testify of the atoning power of the savior to people, invite them to use it in their lives, and then to see people smile at the end. A smile that comes from internal influences and not just because someone said something funny or something. It is like their inner peace that they feel and that they had never had before breaking out.

I love the work too because I know how real it all is. I wish there were a way to adequately explain how true and real it is with words, but there isn't really as far as I've seen. Attempts to tell people that I know that the savior atoned and suffered for their individual sins, that his church guided by prophets was brought back in our time, or that I know they would feel it is true if they would just kneel in humble prayer and ask God to show them would all fall flat if it wasn't for the spirit. But in those times that is when I feel for myself again and again that it is true. Not because I am a pastor who finds out the problems in someones life and uses it to make them cry and then calls it the spirit, or someone who tries to use some for of trickery to fool someone into believing, but because I actually feel the still small prescence of the spirit when I testify of these truths, teaching my heart and the hearts of those I teach the truely divine nature of these things. I know that this is God's true church, because he has told me time and time again. I know that anyone who wants to know needs only to ask their maker. I have never seen anyone ask and not recieve and answer in their own due time. Not even once. And I have tested this with thousands of different people from every background that you imagine.

Please, if you are my one of my personal friends or not, prove my words with God. I will invite you to do this until you all do it because it is what you all need most. You don't even have to tell me you did it. Just do it sincerely, and after when you get an aswer to you inquiry that you will make with God, write me a letter so we can rejoice together. Until then, I will patiently wait to get home, find every single one of you, and help you to know what I have learned in these 2 years.

I love you all. Find the truth and then never let go of it. Have a good week, and above all, STAY CLASSY.

P.S. (hey, I found these fireworks in the mens restroom, would you like to light them off with me?)