Future Missionary

This week has been much too stressfully busy. I feel I need to deviate even more from my blog and talk about some of the more current matters in mind. I have less than half a year left here at school and in my own home, with my family, in Woodruff. I haven’t allowed myself to recognize this and I think it is about time I get down to business in my life. Time is too short to sit back and watch. This truly is going to be a hard departure and I feel that I am not yet ready for it.

I am preparing to become a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will be leaving for Brazil, Sao Paulo. I will be serving under President Turner and his wife in the Sao Paulo south mission. This is going to be a life changing experience for me and hopefully for the people I teach. I will learn Portuguese in there MTC in Brazil for six weeks before I truly enter the field.

            I am leaving on the 17^th, of July which is two days before my little brother’s birthday. I am so very excited and plan to prepare as much as I can before I leave. I have wonderful examples around me here at Holbrook of every religion and plan to take what I can from my life so far and give it to those in Brazil who are willing to listen.

            This land that I am leaving to has great weather year round and had around 2 million people just in the city. The area around it, that I will be over, has around 20 million people. This city is the business capitol of Brazil and is full of skyscrapers. The land that I am assigned too, borders the beach, which I am a little sad about actually. As a missionary I am not allowed to go swimming ever so I will have this big beautiful beach tempting me throughout two full years.

            All the same, I am extremely excited and am anxious to go already. Though I have fears against the language of Portuguese, I feel that I will learn quickly and be able to convey my thoughts correctly to the people.

            With school going on, I feel that it is far too difficult to make extensive study apart of my daily life. I do however have Seminary and Mission Preparation class to help me out. I am very grateful for all that seminary has done so far in my life and appreciate the challenges that Mission Preparation class brings up for me. I would appreciate it if any of you ever had a question regarding our beliefs to bring it up. It never hurts to ask and in this case it would really help. I would love the challenge it would bring and will eventually be dealing with these same questions but IN PORTUGESE!!! So if you don’t mind I would love to hear what you have to say. 

Potential

As I think back over this weekend of what all has transpired, I feel that I have underestimated our potential as individuals. As I think back to all of my past relationships, I find it hard to think that they have made great changes in their lives. Every memory I have shared, in a way, is about people who don’t exist anymore. We are a people of change. We are always growing whether we like it or not. Circumstances force us to either step up or step down. We will never be able to truly stay the same.

As I think further on this concept, I feel it important to understand more than just the fact that people can become more than they are right now. We need to act on this knowledge. When befriending someone, you must be prepared for that person to step up or down over time. If we truly care about them, then at least through love and our examples will we be able to help them choose to step up and grow. How does this work you might ask? Well there’s not a simple answer. I feel that when you truly care about someone, you can’t help but express it in some way to that person. They will recognize this compassion towards them and feel wanted. This is a key point in the answer. When one is wanted, they in turn, want back. A bond is made and when one is going through a trial that will change them for better or worse. They will have to look into their own being and see just what they are made of. Because of the bond which the two of you have made, you will then become a part of that decision making process. This is where being a good example comes in. We need to be positive examples and strive for what we feel is right and good. As they contemplate how they are held up, they will then see that they are held together by people or at least a person who does what is right. They in turn will want to live up to their foundation and do what is right as well.

Often times this is a very quick and sometimes an unconscious process of thought. So it is even more important to act now to remind your friends that you care and want what is best for them. If not, they just might turn to another friends bond that isn’t as good of an example. This is what we sometimes call peer pressure. Our parents don’t want us hanging out with the wrong crowd because they know that you are starting to deny their bonds effect on you. We are starting to experiment on new things and want to find things out on our own.

If we could just understand our roles in each other’s lives, we would then be able to serve them better and in turn serve ourselves. I hope we can all do our best to be good examples and to recognize the blessings others gain for doing what is right. Then we ourselves may know that their course should be ours, without having to experiment.