Week 60

It was an intense week. Packing, saying goodbye to people in Rexburg, packing, getting on the transfer caravan, seeing old friends, shopping in Winco for the first time (It's like Sam's Club, but anyone can go), driving to my area, unpacking, meeting people, teaching Mexican Christian Pastors, meeting people. It was nuts. Super fun though! I like it here in the tiny town of American Falls; Where one feels at one with potatoes and Napoleon Dynamite. It's seriously the same. I feel like I should be watching out for old dudes shooting cows in front of school buses. It's great!

With all the changes that have happened recently I haven't really had the chance to think about what I should share today... So I think I'll talk about change. 

Change can be a stressful thing, but every single time it happens it helps us in one way or the other. Change can help us to strengthen our faith, our ability to persevere, our ability to adapt, and it can help us to realize the blessings that we have and have had. Change is good in many circumstances. We shouldn't do random stupid things in order to change things up, but we DO need to strive to change ourselves to improve. We must continue to change ourselves to grow closer to God. We need to always analyze ourselves to make positive changes.

Honoring God

Elder Decker

Week 61

This week was equally exciting! We went to a pumpkin patch last Monday and took a whole bunch of selfies. It's a great Idahoan pass time.

That night we had a car chase in American Falls trying to get away from a guy who just wanted to talk to us. Conflict resolved!

We, as a Mission, have decided to do something called "Purification." It's an individual sacrifice of little things that keep you, even a little, from being better.

My "Purification Sacrifice" is Mormon swears. I have obtained some since the start of my mission like "fetch." I have a rubber band around my wrist, and every time I use a Mormon swear (fetch, crap, dang, freaking, etc.) I snap it. It hurts, and helps me remember to stop. I know that my mom has been waiting for this moment for years.

Last week I talked about change. Christ always said "Follow thou me." He never told anyone to "just do your thing." Following is an action, a change. So I want to invite you ALL to make a change. Pray and thing a lot about what it should be. It could be to read the scriptures daily, it could be to not waste so much time on videogames, it could be a ton of stuff, but I invite you to make a change. I've seen in myself that consciously making a change helps us become more of what God wants us to become.

Elder Ballard said this about goals:

“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.”

Set goals that make you change and strive to achieve them! You can do this!

We also are fantastic chefs. The fajitas that my companion and I make are AMAZING! I'm setting a goal to become a good cook! When I get home, for my welcome home, I'm cooking.

Honoring God

Elder Decker