Week 29: Cabin Fever - Fort Smith, Arkansas

*Note: I ran out of time to send this last P-day and had food poisoning yesterday and the night before that so I'm way behind on everything, sorry! Stay tuned for this week's email.

Hey all!

I'm making myself start this Tuesday (01/16) night because while something about writing it the very last second helps me dial in and focus, it definitely doesn't help my sleep schedule. 

~

...aaaaand that's pretty much all I wrote on Tuesday night. 

Well, looks like this week's email's gonna be pretty short.

This week, we got snowed in, our most recent convert went to the ICU, I bought some shoes with Elder McKee, and everyone took a trip back to the Bentonville Temple. 

~

Incarceration: a snowstorm shut down all the roads for two days here and our mission doesn't do any social media work so we literally did nothing. It was weird. Having free time to study, write, draw, and practice music was fun for a little, but it also felt pretty purposeless. Despite the difficulties of missionary work, I feel most fulfilled when I just put myself in the Lord’s hands and take the chances he gives to be involved in His miracles. 

Claudia: a nice lady who was baptized just two days before I got to Fort Smith. She hit her head last week and had to get ambulanced to the hospital...where they then found out that her kidneys were failing. Her situation is really unsteady right now and she's not often conscious, so prayers for her would be greatly appreciated. We're not really sure how this is all going to turn out, but no matter what happens, she's on the right path. 

Mena: them boys. Remember Elder McKee, the Wisconsonian cranberry farmer built like an Avatar? Well, he came down to the Fort Smith Zone with me too. He's serving in Mena, Oklahoma with his trainee, Elder Whetten, who's equally fun to be around. We spent the temple trip chatting it up in the van with them and then finished P-day with them with a trip to Dick's and Best Buy. I bought some new running shoes with the help of Elder McKee while Elder Bigelow and Elder Whetten went to buy a projector for a Bible/Book of Mormon video movie night. 

Side note for added flavor: Elder McKee's latest farm life stories included one, getting attacked by African killer bees while driving a tractor (this happened miltiple times,) and two, drive-by paintballing bears to get them away from the cranberries.

Temple Trip: always my favorite part of the week. I called my little sister Hazel in-between some McDonald's breakfast and the van ride up to Bentonville, then shot the breeze in the back of the bus with the other Elders. The temple itself was awesome as always. I felt comforted, protected, and revitalized by the time I was able to spend in service to the Savior. One of my takeaways this week was how much I feel the Holy Spirit when I see the beauty of Earth. Nature builds my faith in God.

~

Songs of the week: 

- "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance" by Vampire Weekend

~

Thought: Moroni 9:6

"And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God."

Everyone in our zone knows that Elder Smythe is probably the hardest worker of all of us. I've been trying to figure out what makes him so different than the rest of us when he seems to have similar source of motivation to the other missionaries. What makes him so much more driven, then? 

Here are some of his answers I got while on exchange:

○ What makes a 'visionary' missionary?

"One of the biggest reasons we're here is to learn self-mastery and discipline from Jesus Christ. What sets casual and visionary missionaries apart is consistency in these things."

○ Serving in Fort Smith, Arkansas of all places:

"Serve like you're three hours from where Jesus Christ will return in His Second Coming. We're building up the kingdom of God on Earth no matter where we're called to serve."

○ What keeps you going?

"You were saved specifically for today because you proved to God through faith, diligence, and valor that He could trust you. Prove Him right again."

~

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Lots of Love,

Elder Rigby

Jacob

Elder Bigelow made me a crunchwrap supreme

Snow day art project

Not Arizona

Cool brass rubbings from Westminster Abbey

Pupusas done gave me food poisoning

More Photos and Videos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2sk1refRidSszyYk7

Week 14: Japanese-Speaking Political Botanist Zoologist Missionary - Bentonville, Arkansas

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.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/4?lang=eng

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:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2sk1refRidSszyYk7

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. 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/general-conference?lang=eng

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!