Current career plans ^
"Salut! Comment ça va?" - Justin
First off, thank you so much to everyone who emailed/messaged/wrote me on/around my birthday! You made me feel special on a day that I was worried would just be normal. Thank you. I wish I could get back to all of you but I ran out of time yet again and will probably have to push off sending a response until next week.
This week I've learned that optimism is everything. Current strategy: indomitable cheeriness. I'll stomp on the Devil's plans with the devastating power of a can-do attitude.
The news:
- Interviews with President and Sister Collins. They're such cool leaders. I talked with President Collins about keeping the Gospel simple and focused on the Savior and with Sister Collins about how we can be good missionaries regardless of whether people accept our message.
- Cut my own hair for the first time. It was equally fun and nerve-wracking.
- The smoke alarm went off at 4:30 am yesterday so we spent a half an hour testing it to make sure we weren't gonna die.
- finally used the 5 bucks we got in the park a month ago to buy some insanely good red velvet ice cream.
BIRTHDAY:
The big day. I woke up, donned my new birthday tie, ate a donut, and went to church. We then knocked doors until dinner with the Cronins, an amazing family who went out of their way to bake me a cake and sing me happy birthday. They even sent a video of it to my mom haha. Bonus points for that one. After then it was back to the work until the day was done. I called my family, opened some packages and presents with them, and hit the hay. 19 years, baby.
Other fun stuff:
- Mom wrapped some Super Mario Legos in a picture of the cover of Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes, one of my favorite albums. Absolutely legendary birthday present.
- Got a bonus birthday box from my cousins :)
- I had the Animal Crossing birthday song stuck in my head literally all day. It made me surprisingly sentimental for whatever reason. Big nostalgia.
- We set up four lessons in one day! God gave us some birthday miracles for sure.
Person of the week:
Arsh: a cool Sikh dude who played pro cricket in India before he moved here. He gave us an Indian history lesson on the Mughals so we taught him him about Jesus Christ in return and gave him a Book of Mormon.
Thought:
1) D&C 81.
Sister Collins invited me to apply this section to myself and it really helped me when I was struggling.
Lesson learned: The blessings of missionary work are not dependent on how we are received. I can faithfully "be about my Father's business" regardless of the actions of others.
2) 2 Nephi 4:27-35.
My little sister Hazel sent me this one this morning so you know I've gotta throw it in.
I would love to unpack his whole psalm/internal monologue (soliloquy? Can I get a fact check, Mrs. Plunk?) but I'm out of time so suffice to say Nephi spits some bars here. The whole section is him writing about just wanting to be a good Christian and I dig it. Props, Hazel.
Welp, that about wraps it up for this week. Thanks again for all the birthday wishes! Love you guys.
Elder Rigby
Photos:
P.S. General Conference is this weekend! Every six months, the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints all gather for a special broadcast of inspired messages from a living prophet, Apostles, and other authorities. Think five two-hour sessions of sermons specifically tailored for modern-day Christians right in this moment. It's just cool.
I had a big paragraph written out about why you should check out General Conference but I'll just say this: if this isn't real, then you'll have wasted two hours of your Sunday morning. If it is, then God has led you to something wonderful.
Come and see. Come, bring questions, and listen for the Savior in the words you hear. You will receive your answers proportionally to the faith you exercise. 'Nuff said.
Well, that's about it. Thanks for reading this far. Later!
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