The Rolla Holla! 2.16.09

Somebody once said, ¨faith can move mountains...just don´t be surprised when God hands you a shovel.¨ But how many of us are? I spoke this week with a less active member who told God he´d only come back when the pain in his ribs was miraculously healed and a misionary who blamed Satan and difficult circumstances for his lack of performance as he headed for his house to sleep when he should have been working. Again, it´s almost as funny as it is sad...almost.This week I have felt rejuvinated by an injection of the Spirit that comes from hard work: Speaking to everyone we meet and inviting them all to hear our message. It reminds me of a poem my MTC Companion wrote, that I love:As missionaries we go,Let by Spirit, protected by angels;The badge no longer upon the suit,but brazened upon the heart.As missionaries we serve,sharing a happiness,Inviting to christ all persons of the worldBrothers and sisters in Truth.As missionaries we return,Bold from experience, wisdom-filled.Not slaves to man but servants of our GodMissionaries now until Eternity!Elder Brandon Prettyman, Tues 8.19.08It´s a little ironic that we, as missionaries have to leave behind so much happiness in order to share it. Some times we feel alone or barely afloat in a vast, turbulant ocean. Separated by time and space from the one that we love. Yet, at the same time it´s very fitting that the little lifeboat of our testimony be proved by storms of sacrifice and winds of adversity. And, as the clouds part and the giant waves give way to a divine serenity, the lifeboat is still afloat--somehow strengthened by the experience, and better prepared for the even MORE violent storms and waves that are sure to come!In all of this, we have the choice. I have served with Elders who never had that love to begin with--uprooted from families that could neither understand nor accept their son´s decision to serve. Harsh words, broken relationships, and a heroic, simple determination to serve anyway, because at some point in time, not so long ago, they experienced that penetrated heart and those moistened eyes. They echoed a prophet´s simple, compelling words: ¨I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it.¨ (JS-H 1:25).A review of the week: This week we spoke with an 80 year old member woman who brought her pistol to show it off to us, and after pointing it at us and joking around, she told us it was loaded...yeah, scary. We helped that same Hermana crack peanuts, which we found her doing with her old, arthritic hands. Service, it turns out, comes in many different forms, lol. Afterwards she invited us to try Peanuts with Syrup (Miel as it´s called, which I´m not sure exactly what it is, but it´s a deep brown and sweet, so I´m ok with it). She told us stories of being accosted and being saved by the threat of her pistol, and others of being saved by the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. I think the latter is a little more reliable...not to mention safe :-).We taught a young girl named Jessica who actually reads, outlines, and remembers every pamphlet we leave her after teaching the lessons. It is amazing and as she is learning a lot, more important than anything is the spirit she continues to feel in her heart. Faith, I am learning, is much more powerful than what we call ¨knowledge,¨ or what we THINK we percieve in the world with our eyes, ears, and other senses.I also enjoyed lunch today with other American Elders and was reminded of my dad when one said, ¨you´re cruizin for a bruizin,¨ and I laughed hysterically. I ate ice cream with a delicious pudding cake. I offended a whole family this week because I didn´t understand the defition of the word Tonto, which I thought meant goofy and turns out to mean stupid. They forgave me as I continued to try to love and serve them. We taughte a wife in a very abusive relationship, and saw the beginnings of change from hearing the gospel, and then saw it all thrown to the wind by the evil of Alcohol. I stood on a well to cut a tree so the leaves wouldn´t fall into the water supply (a little scary because it was a LONG way down!). And many other adventures that I don´t have time to write.More than anything, I´m seeing the benefit of using that shovel that God is handing me. The strain of hard work leaves me prostrate on my knees and then knocked out in my bed. But each day I am blessed to wake with a smile and an unmistakable happiness. I know that our Father in Heaven blesses those that do His will. I love you all so much,Elder McCarty