So I have decided that being a missionary is a good thing, this week. I am happy that this week has flown by. I am not sure if time goes faster with a car or a bike but having a car all week was awesome! But I think it's actually change that makes things go faster! Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that because my companion has a hurt foot and can't bike, our mission president purchased an old police interceptor for us to drive around until he gets better. Our mission president felt this was a easy thing for him to do to help the work continue to press forward here in Central Park. And the work really has pressed forward. It has been an amazing week!
I am so happy for the opportunity to serve with my companion Elder Jensen. He is an amazing missionary! He is very gullible, he will believe anything that I tell him. It has been very tempting to trick him into believing ridiculous things like I did with Jonathan and Nathan and Ian but I have refrained.
We have been able to do a lot of really amazing work this week. We got to meet this one less active member in the ward and when we knocked at his door he welcomed us in happily! Once inside I looked around and he had different artifacts from all around the world around his house. As I talked with him, I learned that he is a really cool guy. He has traveled pretty much everywhere in the world and he does lots of cool outdoor adventures everywhere he goes. I looked at this guys life and I saw that he had done everything that he had ever wanted to do. Then as I looked closer I could see that he had gone through a divorce recently. He had lost his connection with his family and the church and I could tell that he was at a point in his life where even though he had done everything he could have ever wanted to do, he had nothing.
On Sunday we had ward conference, the stake president gets up and gives a talk focused on knowing the difference between good and evil. He told a story about how there was going to be a wedding in his backyard so for the weeks before the wedding they started to get the backyard ready. There was a row of rose bushes that were just starting to bloom so he thought that it would look really nice if he didn't prune them back. As he let them continue to grow over the next few weeks they got bigger and more full with more roses and they looked amazing when it came time for the wedding! The wedding came and went and the backyard went back to normal so he took his clippers and went to clip back the rose bushes. As he clipped them back he realized that the rose bushes had overpowered the other plants around them. Everything else had died and had not received enough light or water because of the rose bushes.
We can compare this story of the rose bushes with the story of this less active. What are we holding onto that is overpowering the other things in our lives that are important? Are we giving too much time or attention to something that in the end doesn't have any real value? As I thought about this I realized that we can get trapped in this same story if we are not careful. We need to make sure that we are not giving all of the attention to ourselves. What I want to do...where I want to go...who I want to see...I...I..I.I! Don't get caught! We are in a constant battle between good and evil. That's a fact!
Got to have a zone leader come and spend the day with me and he is going home in two weeks. He asked me if I was excited for General Conference. I said yes and then he looks at me and says, "I'm excited for spring break."! Thats a good one, I have to use that at the end of my mission!
It was a great week cruising around in the Police Interceptor! My companions foot is almost all the way better but we are going to milk it for as long as we can ;) The beach was great last week but no we were not able to swim. Just have fun in the sun! I am sorry to hear about all the snow! No fun! Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help any of you. I love you all! Take care and stay warm!
Love, Elder Maxwell
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