Monday, November 30, 2015

WEEK 70, November 30, 2015: Christmas Tour Begins, Secret Weapon = Sister Van Orden, Death Crawl Scene from Facing the Giants = Missionary Life



Danish Word of the Week: Biltur (BEEL-toor) Road Trip!

Hey! The Christmas tour starts this week! I'm traveling to Copenhagen early Thursday morning. We'll rehearse Thursday and Friday, and then we'll have our first performance on Saturday. We have a fireside every night for the next 2 1/2 weeks! Mom asked about how we're traveling-the Assistants have a sweet 9 passenger van, and we are just going to pray really hard that it can fit 8 missionaries, 2 speakers, 4 microphones, 8 duffel bags, 8 blankets, a cooler, and a bunch of Book of Mormons. We are going to get to know each other reeeeeeeeeeally well. I'm just grateful that 8 year old Andrew isn't going to be riding in the car with us. If I can survive a 9 hour car trip to Idaho with that kid scream-laughing the entire way, I can survive anything. :)

We had such a fun Thanksgiving! We had a Zone Conference, a talent show, and a Turkey Bowl! And GUESS WHAT I CAUGHT THE FOOTBALL LIKE 6 TIMES AND SCORED A TOUCHDOWN! SECRET WEAPON SISTER VAN ORDEN. Our team killed it. It was so fun. I was sore for like 2 days in my whole body but it was so worth it.

This is actually one of the happiest Thanksgivings I've ever had. The zone training was on gratitude (of course), but also on feeling capable of fulfilling the calling that we have been given. That part really spoke to me. We watched this video that I sent to Frandy a couple months ago, and I want you all to go watch it. Don't be alarmed by all of the yelling. Listen to the words that are being yelled. On Youtube the video is called-'The Death Crawl Scene from Facing the Giants.'

Go watch it.

This video clip sums up a missionary's life in the mission. There are so many times when you don't think you can go anymore, you're so tired and your heart hurts-but we have a coach who knows our potential and knows that we frequently sell ourselves short. I love towards the end when he's reminding Brock, 'You promised me your VERY best.'  Brock never would have gotten that far without his coach kneeling down right beside him, directing him the entire way. I promised Heavenly Father at the beginning of my mission, and specifically at the beginning of this calendar year [see letter from week 20], that this year I would find out what it means to serve with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. That promise has kept me going when I could easily give up or slack off. We are capable of so much more than we think!

As I was watching this video and as we were talking about it after, I wrote down some of the things that I thought about and felt like I needed to do in order to finish my mission strong. The night before, I had asked my Zone Leader, Elder Reber, one of my friends I served with in Horsens, for a blessing. He gave me a blessing right after this training. As he was speaking, I noticed that he began quoting-word for word-the things that I had written down in my journal just a couple hours before. I know that the Priesthood is real, the Spirit is real, and I felt like that blessing was a confirmation from my Heavenly Father that he knows exactly where I am, what I'm thinking, and what I need to hear to keep going.

I love you all so much! I'm glad you had a happy Thanksgiving! It looked so fun. Have a wonderful week! 

No comments:

Post a Comment