Wow. For a moment there I was completely speechless. I've got a lot to say and not much time to put it all into words because I also need to write to my mission president, which is a weekly requirement in my mission and has been this whole time. On top of everything else going on, this Saturday is transfer news. It's a 5 week transfer, and I'm slightly mad about that. Interviews are this week and I will be doing everything I can to persuade President Bekker to let Elder Brooksby and I stay together for one last transfer. Any extra prayers on my behalf this week would be nice for multiple reasons, mainly just in regards to my health and my ability to perform missionary work. On top of being really sick and having to go to the ER, I just feel like my opportunities were somewhat limited, and I'd really like to get the chance to work with Elder Brooksby for just a bit longer. I know it's very unlikely that Elder Brooksby will stay in Hilo another transfer, but I have hope. Whatever the Lord has planned for me, I'm willing to adapt to it. But with only 2 transfers remaining and less than 100 days in the mission field, I've had a lot to think about.
Speaking of things to think about, let's talk about General Conference for a bit. The problem was that regardless of what happened at General Conference, it was never going to live up to the absolutely massive amount of hype leading up to it. People were talking about them shortening missionary service to 18 months and even more crazy things on top of that, and the typical conference reverence was replaced with the typical internet hype train. Perhaps in spite of this, the messages shared leaned more toward the overall message of "Make your family bonds stronger and more spiritual" and the relentless "Repent Ye" message. I think both were important and that they were inspired. I felt that another important theme was being more reverent, particularly when it comes to sacrament meetings, discussions about the temple, which is the house of the Lord and should be respected as such, and a talk which seemed to be fully focused on getting the brethren off of the couch. For the record it was brought up that there is nothing wrong with playing video games or watching TV, but the point was that no hobby or simple interest should be more time consuming or important to us than our families. I feel it was particularly meant to address young fathers who have not been as involved in family life as they should be. I never really felt that my dad watched too much TV when I was growing up or that he let those kinds of things get in the way of taking care of us. The most I remember is that he rather enjoyed watching 'Lost'. I can't really blame him for that, if I could be watching Lost right now, I'd probably be doing it.
One of the things we did this week was visit a man named David. David owns an orchard and was rather excited when we took interest in it. He ended up giving us a full tour of his property, and that was pretty cool. It started by having us try what David called "The Ice Cream Bean". I had never heard of an Ice Cream Bean before. I thought he must have been talking about a vanilla bean or something, but he actually wasn't. Apparently, there's actually such a thing as an ice cream bean. It looks like a massive pod and grows on a tree looking thing, which apparently grows very quickly, almost annoyingly so according to David. The massive pods contain a fluffy white fuzz that I assume protects the bean and provides a soft moist area for the bean to sprout in. This fluffy white stuff, believe it or not, has the exact flavor and texture of vanilla ice cream. It was surprisingly really good and I'm glad I tried it. It was also probably the strangest bean I'd ever seen, and I wonder why it took me so long to learn what it was. The bean itself isn't for eating, but that white fluff is delicious. I will admit I was nervous to try it out because I didn't want to accidentally get on "all natural drugs" or something. But I tried it and I liked it. I even remembered to snag some pictures of it so you can see for yourself. He also grew some really interesting looking red pineapples. They are red and yellow on the outside and mostly white on the inside. They are very sweet and some believe them to be the best types of pineapple, however Dole does not grow or sell them because they have a very short shelf life (something like 6 days).
We also met a guy who was working in his garage,and we taught him about the restoration and he seemed really interested. We are going back on Tuesday evening to teach him and his family about the Plan of Salvation. We have some other great people we are teaching and working with so I hope all goes well with them this week.
Have a great week everyone! Don't waste your time doing something good instead of something better, and remember to keep your hobbies in their times and places. Nothing is more important than your spiritual well being or that of your family. That's something I felt very strongly was a core message of General Conference and I for one was very thankful for it. There was more to it than that, and there were other messages shared, but that really stood out to me this time around.
Until next week! Aloha!
-Elder Rogers
No comments:
Post a Comment