"It builds character." - Mr. Sir
First off, happy birthday to my comp Elder Ceb! Second, happy birthday to Harry Potter! Turns out Ceb likes basketball more than quidditch though so he didn't really care. Oh well. Still made my day.
I haven't really talked about him too much but our friend Luis is getting baptized this Sunday! By a guy who looks like Matt Damon no less. Lots of celebrity lookalikes around here for some reason. Aaaanyways yeah! I basically just hopped in for the last couple of lessons with him but it's been so cool to see him draw closer to Christ and overcome some trials that he'd been really struggling with. He's a good dude and I admire his humility and his love for his family. Keep Luis in your prayers this week, yeah?
Update on life as a missionary:
Missionary work is hard; I've said it before. But if there's one thing knocking doors in the southern heat for six hours a day has taught me, it's to value everything else. I love sharing the Gospel with new friends. I love being in members' homes. I love personal study and playing music whenever I can and calling my family every single week. I can't stand knocking doors sometimes. But because it's such a big part of my life now I'm grateful for things that I completely took for granted in the past.
People of the week:
- Jason: a super nice guy we got to have a lesson with this week. Grew up a Christian in Saint Louis so needless to say his life story is legit. Talked about his kids, his shoe collection, his childhood church, and the time someone shot a shotgun at his car point-blank for not running a yellow light. Yup.
- Steve: a retired schoolteacher who let us into his home, got us some water, and talked about God with us for a full hour just because he likes learning. Gave us free pencils on the way out. Thanks, Steve.
- Jeep dude: a guy with a tricked out Jeep who works a part time job taking out people's trash. Probably pretty wealthy based off of his fresh ride so I honestly think he just works as a trash collector because he likes it. I wish I remembered his name but I don't so I guess he's Jeep dude now. Way humble and way cool.
- Donovan: likes Arby's Dreamsicle milkshakes. "The elites don't want you to know this but the Old Testament is actually a record of an ancient alien space battle where a third of the hosts of the aliens crashed to the earth and combined their genes with apes to create the human race." People are fun.
A couple nights ago Ceb walked up and shared a message with this group of like seven girls while we were talking to folks in downtown Bentonville. They weren't interested so I laughed, applauded his confidence, and we moved on. Three minutes later they came back, introduced themselves, said they'd gone on mission trips as Baptists, and then prayed over us Baptist-style for like five minutes right in the middle of town. Kinda surreal but a fun turn of events for sure.
"This episode, Elder Rigby..."
- ate at Slim Chickens.
- built half of a bed.
- got a sweet haircut in a duplex garage. Turns out a sister missionary with a cosmetology license just happened to be cutting Elder Schimbeck's hair next door the exact moment I asked another Elder where I should go for a haircut. The Lord provides.
Thought(s:)
1) Doctrine and Covenants section 4.
The Gospel can seem so complex but at it's core it's so simple. Verse 3: "if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." Verse 5: "faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work." My dad noted the distinction between the two and I thought it was really interesting because I could relate. As a disciple of Christ and a full-time missionary I feel called to the work, but do I feel qualified? Nope. Not at all. Not yet and maybe not ever haha. But the Lord has given specific instructions through revelation exactly how we can be, so I wanna do my best to follow them.
2) Check out Elder Neal A. Maxwell's last talk called "Remember How Merciful the Lord Hath Been" sometime. He just talks about things he's grateful for the whole thing and it's awesome. One of my new favorites for sure.
Hope you're all doing well! God loves you. Go reconnect with someone you haven't talked to in a bit. Catching up with old friends is nice.
Elder Rigby
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| Muppet dog |
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| World Champion Squirrel Cookoff. What can I say more? |
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| getting a fresh cut from Sister Allen |
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