wow i can't believe that amanda is leaving already!!! crazy! she seems so young!!! haha she can't be going yet!!!. also there is a sister that just came out who was in my seminary class in high school!!! so weird to see her!!! haha
im happy that ty is graduating seminary
elder blackburn got pretty sick thrusday night. he had a turkey burger that a member gave us the night before and we stuck it in the fridge and so he had that for lunch before district meeting. he had a headache through district meeting and then we took the other elders to their dinner and we went to our dinner and he was doing alright and had a deli samwich that they were feeding us and then i asked him if he was doing alright and usually he looks at me and sticks his thumb up and says: yeah great! but this time he looked at me with a frown that looked like one of the muppets and shook his head and said no i don't feel good. so we hurried the lesson a little bit drove home and as soon as we got home he made a bee line for the bathroom and sat down and started frowing up. kinda sad but kinda gross at the same time.
so yeah when you were writing your email it was raining and also we had tornados in the area. no worries though. im emailing you and so that means that im totally fine. the tornados hit just above us and like to the side of us in ankeny so we got some really bad winds and some hail but nothing major. we went to our ward mission leaders house and waited it out and that was till like 10 pm last night. so all is well here in ankeny.
well i love you so much and can't wait till next week!
love
Elder Smith
questions:
How is that girl? Has she gone to the magical place called utah? I think lots of people think of missionaries sometimes as all knowing, perfect beings. Not that you couldn't be like that...but don't you sometimes wish you could just push a magic button "easy button" that would tell you exactly what to do in a certain situation? I sure do..alot.
the girl is doing good. she is now in utah and is making her way. she bought a cat the day she got there. haha some times yeah i wish i could have the easy button but then we wouldn't learn to grow from those experiences!
You said that you liked this mission leader best of all...what is different about him?
yeah he is way down to earth and he is young but also very involved. just as much as the last one! i don't know we just click and we joke around all the time and we laugh and things like that.
How is your companion? Any new habits he does? Still loving him?
he is doing really good now! he is becoming more confident in his ablilities and is able to make more contributions in lessons and talks so much more! it is awesome!!! umm...no new habbits. and yeah i still love the heck out of this guy!
Last time you said you couldn't wait to play indoor soccer...that surprised us..like more than outdoor? how come?
well no not as much as out door but i miss the fast pace of it and the easyness of the bouncing off the walls and the turf and not having to worry about not having a good pitch to play on. haha i do also want to play outdoor a lot. indoor just came to my mind first!
Wow, right now as I'm writing this to you, it's pouring where you are...Did it rain super bad where you are?
yeah so like i said we had a tornado in the area and so every where it was super rainy and stormy and tornado warnings!
How awesome! Young adults who are searching are amazing. It seems like there is a time when they start searching to answer the typical questions, Why am I here, Where am I going, etc .... (especially right around graduation time). Jenna has a friend doing that right now. We have AWESOME missionaries in our ward right now. They remind me of you and your family. They came over to dinner two weeks ago and they were quoting movies and youtube videos ... and my kids were throwing quotes right back at them. So much fun! Jenna asked her friend if he wanted to talk to the missionaries ... and he does! So, we are going to be working on setting that up. These two elders are perfect. Jaley really admires one of the elders. Jaley is my sensitive one (easily brought to tears with the spirit). They spoke in church on Sunday and one of the elders was near tears a lot of his talk. Jaley was touched to see a guy be like that.
ReplyDeleteAnd I LOVE hearing the updates of how your companion is doing - sounds like he is thriving with you being next to his side. Jens, you have a gift. You really should think about pursuing a career in helping young adults (and children) that deal with aspergers. The schools are in need of teachers trained in special needs. You can even start as an aid in a special needs program in the school district. It won't be just with asperger kids, but down's syndrome, ADD/ADHS, etc. It might give you a taste of that type of path.
When I first met you, you automatically had my kids in love with you. You have a talent with making them feel like #1 and have a genuine interest in what they are doing.
Keep doing what you are doing. Your companion will make amazing strides - and so will you. I can't wait to hear of your experiences in your next update. Jot down little notes in your dayplanner to remind you of what to write about regarding your experiences with this sweet companion and who you have seen him grow and how you have grown. I'm sure his family would love to hear from you as well.
xoxo
Corin