But that was just yesterday! My week has again been kind of insane, and if I hadn't lived it, I wouldn't believe all of it happened in just one week.
It seems like all the craziness started last Friday, when an ex-military elder decided to "enforce the 9:30 [bedtime] rule ... creatively," Nobody knew what he meant, and he seemed a little bit too excited when he said it, so naturally we all kept our doors open to see what he would do.
Come 9:30, he has his alarm clock in the hallway and it's beeping. No one is impressed. He takes it back to his room and this is where things get truly wild. He comes back into the hall, this time on all fours, impersonating Smeagol from Lord of the Rings. He grabs an elder by the wrist and starts dragging him to his room, saying, "Peoples are outs of their roomses!" Holy smokes. He did this for several nights, one time scaring Elder Heslop half to death. Then one night, while he was in the middle of his schtick, and older elder from our zone comes out of the bathrooom and says, "I think this is causing more problems than it's stopping," I burst out laughing from my room, but I guess it worked, because Smeagol hasn't made an appearance in the past few days.
As a District this week, we decided to focus on the Christlike attribute Charity. During companion study, Elder Heslop and I read about it, and there's a verse in 1 Corinthians 13 that really stuck out to me:
"12. For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
That really made me stop and think about the way that I treat people. I'm never ever going to be able to know a person's full story. I can only see what's on the outside. Their mistakes. Their success. Their shortcomings. But there is someone who actually knows them, and I put his name on my heart every day. And he loves them more than I could possibly fathom. How prideful must I be to pick and choose who I show love to. After we read that, I think we both knew we had some people we needed to apologize to.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ truly is wonderful. It allows him to empathize with each and every one of us in such a beautiful way. I know in my heart that the only way to serve the one who has done all for us is to make life a little bit easier for those around us. I really need to strive to not only wear his name on my heart, but in my heart. I know that if we all do that, he'll be pleased with us, and we will be comfortable enough to be with him forever.
I love this work, and I love bearing my testimony: Nabubuhay po Jesucristo. I want to share that message with every single person in the Philippines, even if they all slam the door right in my face. I want to show them the way that Christ feels about them, if not through my broken Tagalog then through my actions. Let that be a testimony to them of the truthfulness of this ebanghelyo ni Jesucristo.
Love,
Elder Menzie
Tagalog Weekly:
I slipped a little bit of Tag into this email, just to keep you on your toes a little bit!
Nabubuhay po Jesucristo: Jesus Christ Lives
(Na-boo-boo-hai po Hesoo-kristo)
ebanghelyo ni Jesucristo: Gospel of Jesus Christ
(A-ban-hail-yo ni Hesoo-kristo)
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| Elder Finau sleeping with the pillow Elder Heslop got from his Grandma, except he doesn't like it because it's a bunny with glasses |
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| The infamous soap dispenser after our handiwork |
