October 31, 2009
Hey hey hey!
Well, let me begin with Julio. It is quite the experience to look into the face of a truly repentant child of God. That was the experience that I had last week, when 46 year old Julio and his son Benjamin were baptized. My experience with Julio is definitely one that I will be remembering as one of the best during my mission. I first met and interviewed him for baptism a couple weeks ago, and had quite the struggle in deciding what to do. Making a decision for baptism, telling someone yes or no, just seems so surreal to me. Does that make sense? (Ím just trying to use big words, because I seem to have forgotten most of them.) Between the time of his first interview and his baptism, it took lots of reflection and prayer, lots of phone calls to check up, and a second interview on Saturday. On Sunday, we had the baptismal service. A few minutes before it started, I decided we needed a special musical number, because that always makes baptisms so much better. We didn’t have anything ready – so, we played “I am a Child of God,” with the guitar of a song that Dutch and I wrote a long time ago. So if Dutch doesn’t read these emails, you’ll have to let him know that our song (or at least the guitar part) is a big hit down in the Southern Hemisphere. Oh, and I guess you should also tell Dutch it was “Just for You.” I had the opportunity to perform the baptism of Julio and his son. When Julio came up out of the water I saw the face of a man that had truly repented. Later, when I asked him how he felt he responded: “I feel free.”
I think my time here in the office is quickly coming to a close. It has been a long time, but wow, the time has just gone so fast. In about a week and a half I will have completed five cambios in the office, or about seven and a half months. That’s incredible! It feels like I arrived here a month ago – it’s just going ridiculously fast. I had an interview with the president earlier this week, who told me he is still lost trying to figure out who will replace me – but he feels an urgency to get me back into the field. So…I guess that means I could be leaving here at the end of the cambio – if there is a replacement, and if not, well it will be soon. If it is this cambio it will be kinda hard to train someone in so little time, but we’ll see what happens I guess. This past change has probably been the best, as we have the most united group in the office since I have been here. Elder Gale is my new hero. He is going home in December, and is just an All-Star example of a good, focused missionary. And aside from that, we are pretty much identical with our music tastes, and decided that we’ll just go home and start the best radio station this world has ever seen.
And here’s a quick shout out to cuz Cody, Elder Bringham, for making himself look like a fool by calling his president’s mother a hamster. Oh my goodness, I laughed so hard when I read that. I was pretty pleased with the fact that we both had memorable moments in the same week by doing something dumb related to something we said to our mission presidents. Good stuff. Elder Bringham and Royal really are Siamese cousins.
We stayed busy here in the office this past week. The end of the month is always fun for me, just getting all the payments ready for the next month. All that is squared away. Thursday and Friday were interesting days. Elder Escobar and I were in the center sending out some suitcases and other large items needed in Chachapoyas, when we got a call from the sisters in our district, reporting that they were having problems and needed us to go over. I spent about the next two hours with them just trying to resolve their companionship conflict. It’s a very unusual situation, though. Not like your normal petty situations that usually go on in between missionaries – but just that one of them is a bit harder to deal with, the other can’t figure out what’s wrong, and no matter how hard she (one of the sisters) tries to love, it just doesn’t work, and - wow. I thought by the end of the night it might have been okay, but then I spent the entire afternoon with them yesterday along with the zone leaders – there are things that need to get worked out…and I just love being put in the middle of this stuff. (Ha.) I’ll miss that when I leave the office. I am just so accustomed to dealing with problem after problem here for the entire mission, and that will probably cut down considerably when I leave. Good ol’ drama.
Okay, I’ll finish this up with my shout outs – one to Marcus Yupanqui (Elder Yupanqui), my trainer, who is getting married today in Bolivia. Hooray! To the Payton family, and for sending me individual letters! It’s always cool to get one fatty envelope, but boy they sure went the extra mile and send me like six individual ones. That was a good sight. Thanks! And, if I remember right, I think my good buddy Mike Taylor had a birthday this past week, I wanna say October 26th? Correct me if I’m wrong, if not, happy birthday! Also, congrats to Tara Jex getting married, Andrew Hunt for his mission call to Dallas, Texas, and Michael Flagg for his mission call that he received 10 or say days ago but, according to Dad, will not open until tomorrow because he’s been hunting with his uncle. Okay, well, I received a few phone calls just now and it sounds like my Prep-day is to be short lived - again. But, it’s all good! No, it’s great. Alright, the Church is true, the mission life is awesome, and I love it here. Be gospel centered, draw close to the Lord daily, and pray for the missionaries!! Everyone have a safe and happy Halloween, but more importantly… HAPPY NEVADA DAY!
Elder NEVADA DAY IS AWESOME Royal
Represent ya’ll!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Julio's Faith Prevails
October 24, 2009
Hey hey hey!
Alrighty then - well this week just flew by me, pretty much the same as every other week does. Let’s see . . . this past Sunday, I performed the baptism of Fernando, the 17 year old that I interviewed earlier that week. It was a good service and a the missionaries present did a really good musical number. Fernando is a good kid and I have a feeling that he will grow up as a really great member of the Church.
This week I received a bit of a personal revelation or, perhaps better stated, a good eye opener. We got to play basketball with one of the zones here in Piura this week, and my body was dying after the first five minutes. We played for about an hour, and for a while Elder Gale and I put on a pretty good show, and then . . . we died. My body hasn’t hurt that much in a long time. So the eye opener is that I am more out of shape than previously thought. Hooray.
On Wednesday I had the opportunity of doing another baptismal interview. It was a 46 year old man named Julio. And, let’s just say that was the experience of the week, the month, and maybe the last few months. I think the interview went for nearly three hours. I didn’t even realize how much time went by. I came out and Elder Gale said: “Elder, you were in there for almost three hours.” Julio definitely has a life time full of experiences. He was scheduled to be baptized the following day, because it was his birthday. However, that could not quite happen. He still has things he needs to do. But, we set a goal for him and his son to get baptized this coming Sunday. So, hopefully all goes well and that will go through tomorrow. It’s been a pretty interesting, and was a very good experience for me to help him through all this. Baptismal interviews are really cool. There is a spirit in those interviews that is just so clear and powerful. I have been keeping up with Julio the last couple days, calling him to see how he is getting along. I thought he would be upset about not getting baptized on his birthday, but he is still excited as ever and really has a much better understanding of progressing in the gospel and the importance of working through a full, true repentance. I am very excited for him.
Ok, now for a few not so much inspiration as funny moments from this past week.
Story One: Where’s the gas go? I was driving with Elder Escobar, and we went to put some gas in the car. I don’t know how, but I always manage to make a fool of myself in public, especially with Elder Escobar. But seriously, I guess I have always been that way. So I told the guy what we want and he said: “Alright open the little gas door.” I then reached down under the steering wheel and without looking, pulled the first handle I felt, and pop! The hood the came up. Great. I felt so dumb. All the guys at the gas station laughed at the dumb gringo who thought you put the gas in from under the hood.
Story Two: Emailing Mayhem. Lately we have been sending a lot of information to each other through the office email - just little work stuff. Whenever we write something we put the missionary’s name in the subject so we know who it’s for. So, being the clever, witty guy that I am, I decide to put “ELDER!” in the subject and then in the text area I wrote: “Haha made you look.” Of course, I assumed that everyone would open it, because was sent to everyone and the subject wasn’t specified. Then I figured we would all get a big laugh out of it. But, in all my brilliant scheming I failed to eliminate one person from the distribution list: President Chipman. Well, I probably have never felt like more like an idiot my whole life. But, President Chipman is pretty easy going and got a good laugh about it. So . . . whew.
I was looking at our office numbers for the past few weeks, and had to sit everybody down and have a “this is how it is” talk about how much teaching we are getting in. It has been a bit low the last couple weeks, and I would really like to see us more success in the last few weeks of the cambio. But, all in all, things are going great here in the office. I really love life as a missionary.
Do you remember Hermana Ynes? She was my pensionistta in San Pedro where I started, and part of the first family I ever knew. She has been cooking for us this past week, and told me some stuff that has been going on within her family that has been kind of sad and stressful for her. They have been having some trouble with their oldest son, 17, who has apparently fallen into the wrong crowd. He did some things recently that caused his parents some concern, and indicated he does not have any plans to serve a mission. She kept saying: "I just don’t know where we went wrong with him . . . ." It was pretty sad to hear her say that. I consider these people as my family here in Peru. I love them, and the children are like another little brother and sister to me. Please keep them in your prayers. I love them very much.
Well, I think that’s it for this week. Thanks for the letters, wishes and prayers from everyone. Keep readin’ the scriptures. The Church is true. No doubt about it.
Elder I love being a missionary Royal
Hey hey hey!
Alrighty then - well this week just flew by me, pretty much the same as every other week does. Let’s see . . . this past Sunday, I performed the baptism of Fernando, the 17 year old that I interviewed earlier that week. It was a good service and a the missionaries present did a really good musical number. Fernando is a good kid and I have a feeling that he will grow up as a really great member of the Church.
This week I received a bit of a personal revelation or, perhaps better stated, a good eye opener. We got to play basketball with one of the zones here in Piura this week, and my body was dying after the first five minutes. We played for about an hour, and for a while Elder Gale and I put on a pretty good show, and then . . . we died. My body hasn’t hurt that much in a long time. So the eye opener is that I am more out of shape than previously thought. Hooray.
On Wednesday I had the opportunity of doing another baptismal interview. It was a 46 year old man named Julio. And, let’s just say that was the experience of the week, the month, and maybe the last few months. I think the interview went for nearly three hours. I didn’t even realize how much time went by. I came out and Elder Gale said: “Elder, you were in there for almost three hours.” Julio definitely has a life time full of experiences. He was scheduled to be baptized the following day, because it was his birthday. However, that could not quite happen. He still has things he needs to do. But, we set a goal for him and his son to get baptized this coming Sunday. So, hopefully all goes well and that will go through tomorrow. It’s been a pretty interesting, and was a very good experience for me to help him through all this. Baptismal interviews are really cool. There is a spirit in those interviews that is just so clear and powerful. I have been keeping up with Julio the last couple days, calling him to see how he is getting along. I thought he would be upset about not getting baptized on his birthday, but he is still excited as ever and really has a much better understanding of progressing in the gospel and the importance of working through a full, true repentance. I am very excited for him.
Ok, now for a few not so much inspiration as funny moments from this past week.
Story One: Where’s the gas go? I was driving with Elder Escobar, and we went to put some gas in the car. I don’t know how, but I always manage to make a fool of myself in public, especially with Elder Escobar. But seriously, I guess I have always been that way. So I told the guy what we want and he said: “Alright open the little gas door.” I then reached down under the steering wheel and without looking, pulled the first handle I felt, and pop! The hood the came up. Great. I felt so dumb. All the guys at the gas station laughed at the dumb gringo who thought you put the gas in from under the hood.
Story Two: Emailing Mayhem. Lately we have been sending a lot of information to each other through the office email - just little work stuff. Whenever we write something we put the missionary’s name in the subject so we know who it’s for. So, being the clever, witty guy that I am, I decide to put “ELDER!” in the subject and then in the text area I wrote: “Haha made you look.” Of course, I assumed that everyone would open it, because was sent to everyone and the subject wasn’t specified. Then I figured we would all get a big laugh out of it. But, in all my brilliant scheming I failed to eliminate one person from the distribution list: President Chipman. Well, I probably have never felt like more like an idiot my whole life. But, President Chipman is pretty easy going and got a good laugh about it. So . . . whew.
I was looking at our office numbers for the past few weeks, and had to sit everybody down and have a “this is how it is” talk about how much teaching we are getting in. It has been a bit low the last couple weeks, and I would really like to see us more success in the last few weeks of the cambio. But, all in all, things are going great here in the office. I really love life as a missionary.
Do you remember Hermana Ynes? She was my pensionistta in San Pedro where I started, and part of the first family I ever knew. She has been cooking for us this past week, and told me some stuff that has been going on within her family that has been kind of sad and stressful for her. They have been having some trouble with their oldest son, 17, who has apparently fallen into the wrong crowd. He did some things recently that caused his parents some concern, and indicated he does not have any plans to serve a mission. She kept saying: "I just don’t know where we went wrong with him . . . ." It was pretty sad to hear her say that. I consider these people as my family here in Peru. I love them, and the children are like another little brother and sister to me. Please keep them in your prayers. I love them very much.
Well, I think that’s it for this week. Thanks for the letters, wishes and prayers from everyone. Keep readin’ the scriptures. The Church is true. No doubt about it.
Elder I love being a missionary Royal
Saturday, October 17, 2009
15 Months and Still Preachin!
October 17, 2009
Hey hey hey!
As I sit here and wonder what I can write about today, it feels like I may not have much to say. However, I think I have said that in the past and still sent home the normal long email. So, we’ll see. This has been a week of reflection. Yesterday I completed 15 months in the mission, and that was a pretty big wake up call. First, I thought that if all missions were only 18 months like the sister missionaries, I would be going home real quick here, and would feel like I hadn’t done much yet. I also realized that when I am 21 months into the mission, Íll probably be thinking the same thing. So, what does that mean for me? That means I just gotta work very, very hard so that even if I do feel that way near the end of my mission, Íll know that I did my very best, did everything possible – and that’s how I want to feel next summer - no regrets! Another thought that has come to my mind this morning is the importance of personal study. Our daily scripture study is so important - and not just for missionaries, but for all of us. If we are not making sure we have effective, diligent study daily, we are starving ourselves and, if we are not careful, we will become spiritually starved, weak, feeble and unable to defend against the adversary. Effective study is easy to do just once or on occasion. The real test is to do it consistently. I read a quote once a few months ago, don’t remember who said it, but it goes something like this: “It’s easy to be a hero for just a day…” That might not be exact but it’s close. Put another way, it is easy to be obedient, do what we are suppose to, for one day – just to say we did it, to show other people how great we are for our limited good works – but the real test is, as Elder David A. Bednar stated in his recent General Conference talk: consistency. Are we willing to be good, choose the right ALL the time? Those who attain such a pattern in life are the real heroes. So my daily, effective, diligent study makes all the difference for me personally, and I plan to maintain that effort for the rest of my life. At the end of each week I wonder: “How was my week, and why did it go the way it did? If it was a great week – I can usually look back and see that my personal study was AWESOME. If it was just an okay week, my study was probably just okay, and if it was bad…well that’s easy to figure out, too. That all being said, it was a pretty good week, but not incredible.
We had a pretty busy week here in the office. President Chipman and assistants were out of Piura all week for conferences around the mission, so it was just the four of us here in the office. Normally this week would be a bit more relaxed as far as office business goes, but we managed to have lots of things demanding our attention. Ím not gonna lie. I have been in the office for a long time. And…it’s starting to drive me nuts. Oh, here is some cool news. I did my first baptismal interviews this week. I did one Wednesday afternoon, and actually did another one this morning. I was pretty nervous for the first one. It was just a kinda weird feeling, and made me think: “Who am I to decide whether or not someone is ready to be baptized?” We got to the church for the interview, and in came in 17 year old Fernando with the sister missionaries. He walked in and I immediately felt fine, that it was gonna be a good interview. He is a really good kid, and the baptismal interview was a great experience. I was still kinda nervous during the interview, just because I wasn’t really sure what to do, but it went really well. He will be getting baptized tomorrow. Elder Escobar and I participated in a Family Home Evening this past week, and when we got there, they gave us both a big glass of water. I didn’t want to risk drinking the water again (made that mistake once) so I told Elder Escobar that he had to drink both of them. He drank them both in about 20 seconds, starting choking, and coughed it up on the floor (ha).
So Dad had a long chat with McKay Jacobsen’s dad at the BYU/UNLV game? I’ll bet he had fun with that. Glad to hear you are all enjoying a fun season of college football. Please yell extra loud for the Cougars in San Diego for me, and as always, feel free to send me your game day report. And you actually went to see Elder Crickmore’s family? That blows me away. Thanks for the picture. I can’t wait to show it to Elder Crickmore. That is sweet! (Elder Crickmore said his family are big time Aztec fans.) Thanks for the letters, emails, pictures, and prayers. I love hearing from you all.
Well, here’s to another week in the books. Just a couple days ago I realized for the first time that it is now October. I have no idea what happened to August and September. It’s just amazing how the time passes. We are so busily engaged - and I love it. I have nearly daily experiences that slap me in the face and wake me up to my duty as a priesthood holder, as a missionary, as a son of God, and Ím really striving harder to improve myself, and to be a better, more prepared servant of the Lord. I love you all. Have a great week. The Church is true. The spirit is real, and daily, consistent personal study and prayer will feed our souls and give us the strength to stand tall now and forever - to be heroes in the army of the Lord.
Elder Be a Hero: Study Hard Royal
Hey hey hey!
As I sit here and wonder what I can write about today, it feels like I may not have much to say. However, I think I have said that in the past and still sent home the normal long email. So, we’ll see. This has been a week of reflection. Yesterday I completed 15 months in the mission, and that was a pretty big wake up call. First, I thought that if all missions were only 18 months like the sister missionaries, I would be going home real quick here, and would feel like I hadn’t done much yet. I also realized that when I am 21 months into the mission, Íll probably be thinking the same thing. So, what does that mean for me? That means I just gotta work very, very hard so that even if I do feel that way near the end of my mission, Íll know that I did my very best, did everything possible – and that’s how I want to feel next summer - no regrets! Another thought that has come to my mind this morning is the importance of personal study. Our daily scripture study is so important - and not just for missionaries, but for all of us. If we are not making sure we have effective, diligent study daily, we are starving ourselves and, if we are not careful, we will become spiritually starved, weak, feeble and unable to defend against the adversary. Effective study is easy to do just once or on occasion. The real test is to do it consistently. I read a quote once a few months ago, don’t remember who said it, but it goes something like this: “It’s easy to be a hero for just a day…” That might not be exact but it’s close. Put another way, it is easy to be obedient, do what we are suppose to, for one day – just to say we did it, to show other people how great we are for our limited good works – but the real test is, as Elder David A. Bednar stated in his recent General Conference talk: consistency. Are we willing to be good, choose the right ALL the time? Those who attain such a pattern in life are the real heroes. So my daily, effective, diligent study makes all the difference for me personally, and I plan to maintain that effort for the rest of my life. At the end of each week I wonder: “How was my week, and why did it go the way it did? If it was a great week – I can usually look back and see that my personal study was AWESOME. If it was just an okay week, my study was probably just okay, and if it was bad…well that’s easy to figure out, too. That all being said, it was a pretty good week, but not incredible.
We had a pretty busy week here in the office. President Chipman and assistants were out of Piura all week for conferences around the mission, so it was just the four of us here in the office. Normally this week would be a bit more relaxed as far as office business goes, but we managed to have lots of things demanding our attention. Ím not gonna lie. I have been in the office for a long time. And…it’s starting to drive me nuts. Oh, here is some cool news. I did my first baptismal interviews this week. I did one Wednesday afternoon, and actually did another one this morning. I was pretty nervous for the first one. It was just a kinda weird feeling, and made me think: “Who am I to decide whether or not someone is ready to be baptized?” We got to the church for the interview, and in came in 17 year old Fernando with the sister missionaries. He walked in and I immediately felt fine, that it was gonna be a good interview. He is a really good kid, and the baptismal interview was a great experience. I was still kinda nervous during the interview, just because I wasn’t really sure what to do, but it went really well. He will be getting baptized tomorrow. Elder Escobar and I participated in a Family Home Evening this past week, and when we got there, they gave us both a big glass of water. I didn’t want to risk drinking the water again (made that mistake once) so I told Elder Escobar that he had to drink both of them. He drank them both in about 20 seconds, starting choking, and coughed it up on the floor (ha).
So Dad had a long chat with McKay Jacobsen’s dad at the BYU/UNLV game? I’ll bet he had fun with that. Glad to hear you are all enjoying a fun season of college football. Please yell extra loud for the Cougars in San Diego for me, and as always, feel free to send me your game day report. And you actually went to see Elder Crickmore’s family? That blows me away. Thanks for the picture. I can’t wait to show it to Elder Crickmore. That is sweet! (Elder Crickmore said his family are big time Aztec fans.) Thanks for the letters, emails, pictures, and prayers. I love hearing from you all.
Well, here’s to another week in the books. Just a couple days ago I realized for the first time that it is now October. I have no idea what happened to August and September. It’s just amazing how the time passes. We are so busily engaged - and I love it. I have nearly daily experiences that slap me in the face and wake me up to my duty as a priesthood holder, as a missionary, as a son of God, and Ím really striving harder to improve myself, and to be a better, more prepared servant of the Lord. I love you all. Have a great week. The Church is true. The spirit is real, and daily, consistent personal study and prayer will feed our souls and give us the strength to stand tall now and forever - to be heroes in the army of the Lord.
Elder Be a Hero: Study Hard Royal
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Put Your Papers In Now!
________
October 10, 2009
Hey hey hey:
Okay, real quick, before anything I gotta mention something I forgot last week. When I was with the zone leaders getting the sisters' place together, Elder Hill and I had the assignment to take the dresser off the top of the van. As we did it his companion was trying to help. Elder Hill, who is about my height, said to me: "Hey hold it up real high so my comp cant even touch it." So we picked it up and held it high as Elder Hill's companion walked in between us trying to reach it, stretching his arms to try and support it, but to no avail. He even jumped for it, but eventually just gave up. It was pretty funny.
This week was pretty good for us. It was a bit more relaxed and not so rushed. We had the zone counsel and the zone conference this week. The zone conference for us means lots of running errands and getting things organized – and that's what we did on Monday. Elder Escobar, the new personal secretary, and I really get along well together. He is really funny. Elder Escobar is from Guatemala, and he is teaching me the Spanish they use there. It is slightly different. They use a different manner of speech for the informal "tu" form. So now I am just getting hooked up with all kinds of Spanish – and that will help next year when Jack and I are both home and I'll be able to understand the different stuff he has picked up from Guatemala. Hooray! Anyway, I think it was Monday that we were coming home from lunch and Elder Escobar was sleeping in the front seat. I drove really calm and easy for most the drive so he wouldn't wake up, and then later (because sometimes I just can't help myself) I abruptly slammed on the brakes, swerved, and screamed. I wish I would have filmed it. The look of panic on Elder Escobar's face when he woke up was absolutely priceless.
We had our first district meeting this past week – which, I felt went pretty well. I am grateful for the hermanas in the district. They are working really hard and it's really helping encourage the office to work and keep up with them.
Ok, let's get to the zone conference that we had on Thursday. I have to say it was the best zone conference I have experienced. The assistants did an excellent job. Instead of giving separate talks, they did a team talk, and it was more like a discussion really. In all truthfulness, the mission has not been working up to full speed lately as it has in the past. The assistants gave very clear reasons and explanations on what we need to do to get the mission back to where it needs to be. I really love how President Chipman works the assistants. He has them doing a lot to help other missionaries be better. President gave an excellent talk. He spoke very direct with everyone about obedience, as recently there have been some serious problems. He and Hermana Chipman gave great talks about Nefi, and how we need to strive to live the life he lead, and bring about the miracles he was able to see for his incredible faith, incredible diligence, and even more incredible obedience to the Lord. They gave an awesome relation to the story about Nefi and his brothers trying to obtain the plates, and how we relate that to ourselves by not giving up, not getting discouraged by low numbers, and striving to press forward. Something Hermana Chipman said was that we ought to be 100% devoted to the Lord, and not just when we are in times of trouble and need. Conference was amazing.
We were able to teach quite a bit this week, and found a few new people. Danitza is still coming along well, although we are at a bit of a standstill with her. But as long as she is keeping her commitments and coming to church, she is still progressing. We had another lesson with a family this week, just talking about the gospel, and faith in Christ. We got into a great discussion about the Sabbath Day when they said they felt that they could still worship God correctly while selling their fruit in the market on Sunday. I love teaching about the Sabbath day.
We have had a great week. Really, I am just loving my time as a missionary. I cannot begin to imagine not serving a mission. Certainly, there are probably 1,000 other things I could be doing with these two years – but when I think about it, those other 1,000 things would be a complete waste of time. There are just too many experiences I have had as a missionary that cannot be experienced elsewhere. The spirit I have felt, the growth and positive change I have experience, the increased capacity to deal with adversity, a stronger desire to love, to be patient, kind, and to be more like Christ - I owe all to the time I have had as a missionary. Also, I have met so many great people that I would have never met if I didn't choose to serve a mission. Missionaries, members, and non members alike – I have met so many wonderful people and friends that I will never forget. The only influence we receive that tells us not to serve the Lord, to not be among His army of representatives, comes from the adversary. Heavenly Father would never put doubt in our hearts about we should accept the sacred calling to serve and save His children. So, to Jordan and all the young men out there I say: Don't put anything in front of serving a mission. Marriage? You're gonna be married for like…the next 70 years! What's the rush? School? Believe me, this two year break from school is the best thing that ever happened to me. I will be a much better student when I return to school. A car? You'll probably crash it anyway, or get buried in debt. Anyone thinking: "A mission is not for me" needs to just imagine the Savior walking along the Sea of Galilee, calling to them as they are engaged in their activities on the shore, and consider whether they would be as Peter, James and John and follow Him straightway, or if they would ignore the call (and opportunity) and just continue in their personal pursuits. Following the Savior straightway is something I feel very strongly about. There is nothing better we can do. No, a mission is not easy, but - welcome to the path to salvation. The Savior never promised a path of ease. Honestly, I am sad to hear of people wasting their time at home when they should be serving. There is just nothing like it. There is no substitute. So Jordan, other young men: stand tall and fulfill the calling you accepted when you chose to follow the Savior long ago. Don't waste your time. It's way too precious. So, does everyone understand that I feel very strongly about this? And, I should add, that I am wring all this with a huge heart full of love. :]
So Thomas Sullivan is back from his mission now? That's great. Cool to hear that RJ talked with you guys at the game last night. Please tell him (and Thomas) I said hello. I'm including a few more pics for your enjoyment. I hope my smiling face warms your hearts. ;) I know the Church is true. The Savior lives. He loves us all, far more than we can begin to appreciate. He suffered and died for us that we might live for Him. I am so grateful to have Him in my life and love the blessing of being able to serve Him with all my heart, might, mind and strength. Live it, love it, and just do it!
Elder Put Your Papers In Now! Royal
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