Hiya familia!
How is everyone?
It's kind
of funny all of what is happening at home right now! Connor starts
driving and Haley is finishing high school! Those are two monuments in a
teenagers life and I remember them both so well when I went through
them. Shout out to Conno for rocking my kanye west shirt, what a
classic. Thanks mom and dad for all the updates on everything, Go Mavs!
Well my week was a pretty hectic one as you can
probably see from Herman Prince's blog. It was transfer week so that means a
lot of planning and not a lot of sleeping. Tuesday started at 4:45
in the morning taking the old missionaries who are finishing their
missions to the airport and waiting for the new missionaries to get
here. This time we only had to receive 8 so that was so much easier than
last time with 27.
It is a really fun process getting to know the new
missionaries and seeing their expectations of how their missions are
going to be. It reminds me quite a bit of the experience I had. I
remember expecting excitedly for what my mission experience was going to
be. I thought I knew what to expect but I learned quick it was nothing I
had imagined. I remember the first day wanting to contact everybody I
saw, didn't matter who I just wanted to do missionary work. I see this
excitement in the face of almost every missionary who gets here, and it
gives me that "new excitement" every time. The proselyting training we
gave was really amazing as well, their was a lot of energy and passion
at the beginning of these missionary's missions.
It also reminded me of the importance of enduring.
We have seen so many missionaries have that same excitement when they
get here and then burn out when they face challenges. It's like the
converts that when they first get baptized everything is exciting, but
then the "burdens of discipleship" come and they would rather not "take
up the cross" (Mark 10:21)
and end up burning out as well. It is always important to remember the
"why" to everything we do and not just the "what." I believe that is the
difference between those who endure and those who burn out. I believe
they both face challenges, but the ones who look forward with an eye of
faith being transformed by the 'why' of the work, always find the way to
keep going. That is something I try to apply even today, never forget
the first day of my mission and the 'why' I came out in the first place.
Anyways sorry for the rant, after the great day with
the new missionaries going to Cristo Rey, watching Ephraim's Rescue and
going to a baptism, it was transfer day! We got up around 5:00
to get the terminal and await about 100 missionaries getting to the
terminal from Pasto, Palmira, Tulua, Popayan, Buenaventura, and Zarzal.
The preparation for that day is pretty intense, what with all of the
logistics of where is everyone gonna stay and who has to go with who and
where everyone is going and what not. There can't be a mess up or
someone ends up where they shouldn't or bags get lost and a whole bunch
of things. After all the craziness in the terminal we went for the
training of the new missionaries which I already said was really really
great.
And so now we are here planning for the zone
conferences that are coming up. A big thing in the mission right now is
putting the Lord's commandments in the place of being our own. For
example in the 13th article of faith we state, "We believe in being
honest, true, faithful...." but for all of us it says a lot more if we
say, "I believe in being honest, true, faithful,
benevolent...." We don't look at mission rules or commandments as
outside forces that are being imposed on us, we see them as our own
rules that become part of us.
So that is basically what has been going on here,
still having a great time in the mission. I love this time I am able to
spend here, what a blessing it is to be able to serve with all of my
time and attention.
Thanks for all the prayers, they are truly felt every day!
Have a great week,
Elder Eliason
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