The Rolla Holla! Saturday, October 17, 2009

They say that being away from home makes you a poet and a dreamer. It has always been interesting to me the connection between suffering and genious. The way that so many great poets commit suicide, and super-star musical artists die of drug-overdose. Maybe the highest hights of human achievement are made possible only when we are brought to our lowest depths. Maybe we achieve piercing focus only when we are painfully stretched. There always has been and always will be opposition in all things.
This week a million things came together to bring me down. As we struggled to open 7 new proselyting areas, findg houses, purchasing furniture and appliances, and organizing transportation, we didn’t get out in our area to do the work that we love ALL WEEK LONG. When Thursday came around and the 17 new missionaries were with their trainers in their new areas, and the 5 veterans were on planes headed to all parts of the world, exhaustion and sickness struck, and combined with the discouragement of not getting out all week, the few days that we DID have, have been ineffective and unsatisfying. But the work must go on. Moments like these are moments that determine whether we will take the difficult road, apply ourselves, and pull out of the slums we are stuck in, or whether we will give up and give in, and go down the gently declining pathway that only ever leads to sadness and despair. I am choosing to climb.
Next week my brother, Elder Andrew Allen McCarty will head home. He has completed a full and honorable mission—a heroes task that I think we may not always fully understand. Two years of humble, quiet, dedicated service. Away from loved ones and on his own. He is an example and a beacon to me. I pray that I will be able to measure up. Thank you Drew. Thank you family. I love you all,
Elder McCarty


017 & 020 My guitar and I. This is in the waiting room of the office, after having just taken a quick little nap on the couch on Pday (thus the red, puffy eyes :-).
PA…239 Out to lunch. We decided to try a cool new mexican place we found: “Pápagos.” It was pretty good. The first REAL spicy food we’ve found, and they had really good quesadillas.


243 Out of the house, to the office. Getting packages ready to send.
217 and 219. 2 Attempts at a soccer Bicycle kick. First attempt gone wrong. Second, looks better, but I totall missed the ball.

230 and 231 comp pics in the train. The one in the round window is supposed to be preaching to the multitudes, but I’m not really sure why you would do that from the window of a train. 223 Broken down train, we decided to do some boy band poses.