The Plague

Hello friends and family!

        We have been hit by the plague!! But really it's just an annoying infestation of the flu and cold. My companion got the cold and I got the flu...in the stomach... Feeling great. We are healthier today than we have been all week. We've been out of work for about 4 days doing light missionary work that we could handle and going to important appointments. It is true that we are finally out of bed and kicking missionary tail finally! As my birthday sneaks around the corner (a week from Wednesday! How could that happen already?) I start to think about where I am in my life. In the matter of 5 years I have completely turned my life around because of the special gift that I have been given of the gospel! There is no better way that I would want to spend my 22 birthday than to be a part of this church, on a mission, and surrounded by those that love me. This week, as we were sick, I started to read the Book of Mormon again from page 1. I have started to notice verses that are popping out at me that I have never seen before! The picture of Nephi and his family is starting to be painted over more and more than it has been before. There are many verses before that's would have skipped over before but for some reason The Lord brings my attention to these verses and their meanings to me. The iron rod in 1 Nephi was something that I would just kind of pass over because I thought I knew its significance but I was wrong!! There's so much more meaning to it than I ever thought there was!! "And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God."  (1 Nephi 11:25) such a simple verse in the 11th chapter of first Nephi but it says everything. The iron rod that we have are our scriptures. As long as we hold tight to these things and the word of God, we shall be led to the living waters which is Christ. We will be led to eternal life and to all the things which The Lord has set apart for those who obey the commandments and try their best in this life. This verse is essentially about the atonement that if we hold tight to the iron rod which can also be considered the atonement of Jesus Christ we are able to partake of the things which The Lord has promised us. The Lord has promised eternal life to those who are willing. Who wouldn't want to partake of this "free" gift that we are given. In that same vision that Nephi has, where others are feeling around for the iron rod, we as missionaries, both member and full time, have the purpose of helping others find the rod to hold onto for eternity. We have this ability and calling to help others in need because as the missionary purpose states, "our purpose is to help others come unto Christ by receiving the restore gospel by faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end." The first thing that purpose states is to HELP. This one verse is about our purpose, how we can help others, and what they receive in return. Pheeeew, I know, all of that from one verse. Anyways, now that my tangent is over! The area is doing great and we are seeing many differences. After a month full of doctors appointments, ultra sounds, and bubonic plague, I am happy to say that my health is almost in top condition again! Oh and we're pretty sure our good friend little chef (who is our house mouse) is dead, sadly. He was fun while he lasted but on another note, the spider we caught a week or so ago in a tupper wear container is still, scarily, alive... Though he's pretty cunning and likes to convince you he's dead and then you open the top and he's actually not dead. He's alive. Little jerk. He'll be dead soon..if he's lucky. He was originally bait for the elders black widow spider but yeah.... We've been forgetting to give it to them.

          On a nicer note, it still hasn't snowed here in Utah. It's been threatening to but big bad Utah is a scaredy cat (I just jinxed myself, I'm sure.) I'm from NY come at me Utah. I was born ready for this weather since I was a wee little one in the womb. But seriously... I'm stocked.

         My companion and I decided that we would rearrange the apartment this week. We took down the bunk bed that was unneeded. The one I hit my head on each night and elbows which I apparently flail during the night. But then again the top bunk was maybe 7 inches from my face making any movement in bed impossible. But no longer!! I have about 10 feet of air above my head. I can now see the glow in the dark stars and planets on the ceiling. We've also cleaned up our crap and put the crappiest crap in the crap basket and sent it out. It's helping us feel so good and so much better :)

            On Sunday we talked to a relief society in one of our stakes about obedience. We were given the talk "obedience brings blessings" by Thomas s. Monson.  I love the way that Thomas puts obedience into perspective as he tells a story from his childhood about he and his friend wanting to have a fire one summer night while at a camping area in Provo canyon. He recalls needing to clear a space in the field to put their fire but they had to clear an area so he, being a young boy and knowing he shouldn't play with matches, went to his cabin and grabbed some matches sneakily and put the,m in his pocket. He says, as a young boy, he thought the fire would only burn as far as they wanted it to and them magically go out. Well, as we know, it didn't happen that way. Instead, the dry field took fire like it was doused in gasoline ams they needed to run for help, which they did. The entire camping community was able to put out the fire before any major damage had been done. This story reminds me just how important obedience is for us. Heavenly Father sets up rules for us much like little Thomas' mom and dad did not to play with matches. He wants us to be safe physically and spiritually which is why he sets commandments in place. Sometimes we have to experience first hand or second hand for ourselves to know why we keep commandments. Obedience really does bring blessings and happiness. Just something that came to mind yesterday.

       Yesterday we met with a guy for the first time and he was joined by his two other roommates. Let me tell you, these are the funniest guys! Van, who is Vietnamese, has never seen Harry potter movies or read the books! What an existence! It's okay though because his roommates who are American and Chinese have the bases covered. They start to compare the type of girls they want by the characters in Harry potter! We also learned that the one guy is a manny. Yes, you read that right... A manny and he loves it! More power to him! So interesting story how they all met. One day this guy is playing with his band in a park when Jeff approaches him looking for places to live and he's like oh hey come live with me, and Jeff is all like sure! Baaaaam roommates and then van came in there somehow.

Fun facts I learned this week;

It's easier to walk on earth than it is to walk on the moon... Duh.

My birthday is in one week

Technology apparently exist outside of the mission

Also, holidays still happen... Who knew?

If you put root beer in a square cup it becomes beer

You should actually use an Allan wrench to take apart bunk beds... Not scissors

Whenever I stub my toe I crack a toenail

My 5th pair of shoes have been worn through

I guess I'll just cut it off there and leave the rest for next week.

I love you all very very much!!!

Love,

Maren :)