Hello from Lakeside California! Hope you are all doing fabulous.
1. Lakeside and Outhouse on the Hill
2. Maggie
3. Spiritual thought
1. Lakeside is definitely a unique area. It reminds me of the college area in some ways. The people are interesting. The night before transfers we were at a member lesson at my last area. When I told them I was going to Lakeside the dad said "The toothbrush must've been invented in Lakeside. It would explain why it's called a toothbrush instead of a teethbrush". I haven't really had any super weird interactions but I've seen some interesting people. Nothing too noteworthy though. There was a man yesterday who was having a good time chasing pigeons at the park. He was probably on drugs. The reason for the title of the talk is stupid but it's the best I got right now. Basically there's a lot of hills in the area which is really cool. It feels like we're kind of enclosed around mountains and hills. Our apartment is next to this hill that has a tiny building on it that I don't know what it is. But it's been my landmark for where the apartment is as I'm getting oriented to the new area. I have just decided that it's an outhouse. My new comp is Elder Hodes. He's kind of a weird dude but he gets stuff done which is good. I guess he's just an awkward guy. The poor man dropped his drink at Panda express today too.
2. Maggie is one of our friends that I met this week. They haven't been able to get a lesson with her in a while. We talked about the Book of Mormon and it went well. I have been more anxious than usual to bear my testimony with people, so it felt really good being able to talk about the Book of Mormon because there are not very many people that want to hear it. We read the introduction with her and she said she's open to it being true, and we invited her to read and challenge it which she said she would do. It's so funny though because she's literally exactly like Dory from Finding Nemo. I don't know how to explain it. But she kind of looks like Dory if she was a real person, and just has that demeanor.
3. I gave another talk this Sunday in the new ward. It's what I get for asking the Bishops 2nd counselor for a lesson. I was planning to have it included for my spiritual thought, but it's all written out on paper and I don't have it with me to type it out. I'll include it one of these weeks. I'll also include the talk I gave May 29th which also isn't typed out yet. But those are 2 backup spiritual thoughts for the future I guess. For today, I'm just going to bum off the one I made on facebook a few days ago. I'll add a few more details. In Moroni 7:48 it says:
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen"
I really like this verse and this chapter in the Book of Mormon. I've been studying and thinking a lot about Charity and what it means. My favorite part is when it says "when he shall appear we shall be like Him", and "be purified even as he is pure". The pure love of Christ is the defining attribute of Christ. And when we do what the verses say earlier, to pray with all the energy of our hearts, we can be filled with this love. And it is purifying to us. True and pure love removes all feelings of despair, sorrow, guilt, anger, or any form of wickedness or ungodliness. I can't really comprehend the kind of love the Savior has. In my experience some of the closest things I can compare it to include the love I have for Him, my family members, friends, etc. Back in the MTC we had an experience called "Go and Do". Basically we were given like 2 hours to learn about the Love of God in silence. It was really cool. I was in one of the rooms in the new buildings and I was studying, and praying, trying to feel or understand God's love. It was hard because I didn't feel like I was getting anything. I decided to take a break and listen to some music. One of my favorite songs is "Consider the Lilies". I put on headphones and just tried to clear my head. It was nice and part way through the song, it says "Consider the sweet, tender children Who must suffer on this earth. The pains of all of them He carried from the day of His birth". I started crying a little because I was a little bit homesick at the time. I was thinking about my family back home and those little kids that are dear to my heart. I thought about how much I love them and want the best for them. And in that moment, I really felt how much more God loves us. How the love I feel for them is not comparable. It was really cool. And just writing this email now, I am just noticing the second part that says "The pains of all them He carried from the day of His birth". That's so cool thinking about the Savior's love for us. I love you all and am grateful for all your support.
Anyway, I am doing well. It's weird how much I love doing missionary work at the same time as not wanting to. I can't explain it. It feels good, but I'm also still internally not wanting to work a lot of the time. It's better than before, where I knew what I was doing was good, but I didn't really feel the joy of it. So I was pretty much running on grit. Now it's easier but still takes discipline. I hope you are all doing well and thanks for checking in. Love you all!
- Elder Wride
Pictures:
1-3. Church pics
5. From the park we proselyte at
6. Got this text this week too. It's because I hit a car like 7 weeks ago. If you want to see it, it was the morning I sent Week 33 - "I Will Kill You". I haven't driven since voluntarily, and I don't think it's necessary to confiscate my tiwi card. It's already deactivated. It makes me feel like a criminal or something.
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