It's The Hard Knock Life

Well now.

:;(∩´﹏`∩);:

It's been a week since last I addressed all of you, and in that time I must admit a lot has changed. For those of you wondering how I'm doing, well as the title implies, it's the hard knock life, for me. It's the hard knock life, for me. You know how it goes.

Elder York left for Nanakuli at 10:00am on Tuesday morning, and just a half an hour later, at 10:30am, my new companion for the next 6 weeks arrived. His name is Elder Atwood, and it didn't take long after his arrival for things to get.... Interesting, to say the least. Between Elder Atwood and I, our first few days together were some of the toughest I've ever had. Elder Atwood probably doesn't know that though, so don't inform him. He's friendly enough, and hardworking too, but all of those changes at once were simply too much to take on at once, and my mind went into a state of extreme panic. It's difficult to explain to you why exactly it is that it's incredibly difficult for me right now, but trust me when I say that it is. This area is taking everything I have, that's for sure. It's come to a point where a lot of times all I can do is pray that God will help me make it to the end of the day because I can't do it on my own. Luckily, God is the kind of person you can count on.

Interviews happened first. Such is the way things work on Kauai. My interview with President Bekker went really well. It was a kind of personal experience, and because of that I won't share everything, but what was kind of cool that President shared with me was when he said, "You know Elder Rogers at company parties and whatnot they give out prizes and awards to different employees for different reasons like top salesman or best marketing campaign, but there's also an award for the employee who has grown the most. Elder Rogers if we gave out similar awards as a mission, I think I'd have to give the award for most growth on the mission to you." I felt like mom and Dad specifically would want to know that part of the conversation. It's definitely not been anything less than a bumpy ride, but I can also say with utmost confidence that it's been so much more than just a bumpy ride. In the movie Cars 2, which I like for multiple reasons even though nobody else likes it I don't think, but anyways: there's a line in there from Mater when he says he never repairs his dents because they're all memories or something of that nature. I think to a degree I understand what that truly means now. Every dent is a lesson learned, but not every devil is a Part Timer. In short, the lessons I've learned from the mission are like Mater's dents. They can't be taken away. If anybody reading this has any doubts about serving a mission, follow the council of Nike, and Just Do It. It's not now, and it never will be an easy experience. In fact, it will stretch you to the very boarders of your own willpower and sanity, and by the end of it you'll have nowhere else to turn but to God. But once you've gotten to that point, you finally begin to understand what all of this really means. I'm equal parts happy with myself and frustrated with myself on a daily basis, but I think I'm learning. If only I could properly convey my thoughts to you, but I suspect anyone else who has served a mission knows this feeling all too well. 

The day after interviews is Zone Conference, and Zone Conference was really great this time around. Kekaha is on the opposite side of the island from Lihue, which is where the conference is held. That means that if Zone Conference starts at 9:00am, which it does, we can't get there in time by driving from Kekaha in the morning. So the only solution to this problem was to have a sleepover at the Zone Leaders apartment. Now the nice thing about that is that the Zone Leaders have a couch. The not so nice thing about that is that there's only one couch. Well, with my couch war experiences under my belt backing me up, I knew that the couch was my domain, and whatever grim fate awaited Elder Atwood on the ground of the zone leaders pad was just something he was going to have to deal with. But that was when Elder Atwood had an idea. He simply found a way to bring his bed with him to the Zone Leaders place. I'm honestly impressed he got it to work. All in all, I'm willing to bet that he was probably more comfortable than I was that night.

One thing that has been an off and on struggle for me is cooking my own food. It seems to me that whenever I try to experiment with something new, things go terribly wrong. I learned how to make french fries while I was in Japan, and I remember that a lot of the others enjoyed them. So, I figured "why not? I'll give it a try!" (｀･ω･´)

......

Ugh.........

Well it turns out that hot oil can burn things that are made of plastic, and when we tried to strain them in the collinder they went Xenomorph blood and melted right through it. It's the hard knock life....

ハード ノック ライフです。

But anyway, most of you will be happy to learn that of all people, Walt is back. That's right! The boys are back in town! And Walt is getting taught now! He's becoming more and more excited about the gospel, and we actually got to teach him! He may be baptized in the future because of it. So whoever has been praying for him, please continue to do so. Our prayers alone might be enough, but I'm not taking my chances.... Anyway, more on Walt next week. For now, I gotta go. I have a towel in the oven and I gotta hang it dry.

BYE ME!!!!!!!

(*whispers: it's the hard knock life*)

Now go listen to that song again and get it stuck in your head. 

Pictures:

The strange fork at our bishops house.

Elder York and I on the green at the Wailua golf course. I learned that day that I'm not good at golf. Like, at all. I hit the ball backwards on accident with a driver. Don't even ask how that happened.

Transfer day at the airport. ヾ(｡>﹏<｡)ﾉ

The Fried Nightmare

After the fries were poisoned by liquid plastic, we were afraid the metal bowl would be next on the chopping block. Luckily though, it survived somehow.

The Morrey family fed us on Thanksgiving when no one else would. I know we don't pick favorites, but they may be my favorite family of members I've met so far. They're moving to San Diego, but they have family in Utah and visit quite often. Brother Morrey also visits Japan quite often so he said we could definitely meet again after my mission. Their kids are a blast as well. Just all around great people!  

For your viewing pleasure, I've also included a picture of how Elder Atwood got his bed to Zone Conference.