Just to answer some "mommy" questions.
I'm still training, and I'm the senior. Even though Elder Call has been out longer than I have, I'm the senior comp of the three since I'm currently training.
Well, things are crazy as ever! This week has been one of ups and downs and more ups and more downs! Sorry we didn't write yesterday. I spent most of my p-day on the couch with a 12-hour flu. I barely got up and was all sluggy, but then as soon as it was time to get out and work again, I was totally fine! It's incredible how things work out here in the mission.
N is all set up for his baptism this Friday, which we're really excited for. He's asked me to perform the baptism, which I'm basically ecstatic about. Then Elder C will be confirming him on Sunday. This is kind of a dream come true. I remember my first weekend out in the field when I met him. I just felt something telling me that he would not only be my first baptism, but a lifelong friend. And so far he has been for all four months... :P haha
Juggling all three wards is turning out to be quite exhausting, but very fulfilling. We are completely swamped going back and forth all the time, but it's a blast! We are trying to memorize a whole new set of names now while at the same time remembering the ones we've learned already, and at the same time trying to find and teach people! Every day seems to be an adventure.
Having a car is also turning out to be a huge blessing. We had been planning to still use bikes as much as possible, but with the busy schedule we've been keeping, we just don't have the time to ride that much. It's pretty much insane.
Overall, things are going well. Often in the mission, people talk about "getting dropped" by the Lord. When we come out as Greenies, we are carried by an increase of the spirit that helps us so much. But eventually, we need to struggle a little more so we can grow a lot more, and that's when we get dropped. I feel like I'm trying to fight off that drop right now, that things are about to get tougher. I just have to keep reminding myself of all the little blessings that we have and all that the Lord is doing for us. Because, when we think about it, the Lord doesn't drop us, he empowers us. The spirit is still there helping us, we just are asked to work harder of ourselves as these new, improved missionaries we are. Anyways, I'll stop rambling, but I just feel like I'm on the verge of a challenge. So please continue to pray for me as I face it with everything I've got.
Congrats to Rachel for winning the Elly!!! That's so cool!!! Speaking of doing a great job acting and convincing people, we need your help... haha. One of the elders from the area saw a picture of you on my wall and thinks you're kinda cute, so we had an idea... Do you think you could write a letter to Elder Call (just send it to the mission home) making it sound like you're totally in love with him? We thought it would be a funny prank to have one of my comps get a letter from you when the other Elder has a bit of a thing for ya... haha. Just go way over the top cheesy. The funnier the better. ;)
My thought from this week comes from a rather... odd... place... haha. We were listening to the Lion King soundtrack the other day (which is approved, in case anyone gasps) and of course we had to go all out cheesy on "can you feel the love tonight" when it came on. Anyways, one of the lines struck me and I just flat out stopped singing and started thinking (something I should probably learn to do more often). Early in the song, Nala sings: "He's holding back, he's hiding. From what I can't decide. Why won't he be the king I know he is, the king I see inside?" It got me thinking about if somebody said that watching me as I travel through my mortal sojurn here. Am I holding something back? Am I hiding something? If so, then what? We were all born to be royalty. Our Heavenly Father is the King of Heaven. We are all Princes and Princesses; heirs in fact. So why can't we be the king He knows we are? He sees a king or a queen inside each of us. Why can't we be that? So often, I feel like a lot of that comes from just not knowing.
King Arthur, at the young age of 18 fathered an illegitimate child by a young country girl who turned out to be set on his destruction. After two decades, the son he never knew he had ,suddenly appears after a full upbringing to hate Arthur. Mordred turned out to be Arthur's downfall. Arthur was at one point known to say: "Had I known who I was to become - who I was born to be - I never would have succumbed to the passion of that moment. I was not behaving as a king should and now, something that seemed to me then so innocuous may very well prove the blight of all Camelot." Simply knowing who Arthur was born to be would have prevented the atrophy and collapse of the entire utopian society he had labored so diligently to build. The same is for us. Simply knowing who we are can prevent us from spending years eating bugs and singing "hakunah matatah" when we should be striving to become who we always knew we were. It is my hope that I can be prepared for the day that I have to return to my own pride rock to face my own scar. Being prepared to be king didn't save Simba from more trial and tribulation and it won't make our lives all honky-dory, but it will provide us with the skills and attributes that we will need to persevere through those trials.
Hope everyone is having a great week!
-Elder Hodgson
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