Week 36

Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 9:26 AM

Hey family, you are correct.

I did not write last week due to President's day.  We could have gone in sometime during the week to do it, but we decided y'all could wait an extra week without perishing (too much ;) )  We're just so stinking busy that cutting out 1 hour and 1/2 in the middle of the week just doesn't work that well.  

So, mother, I did receive 34 the previous week ( I just forgots) and now I've received  35 and 36 :)  Good stuff.  I also got letters from Kati Kamas, Dan and Zuleica, Holly, and Grandma.  

We received "snow" the other day, which is really a combination of sleet, rain, and hail, but hey, what do you expect :) :)

I have a little spiritual somethin somethin for y'all today.  The other day I was reading in Alma where Helaman was down in the far corner of their lands with his less than large army watching the Lamanites receive more food and men all the time, and it really hit me how difficult, both physically and emotionally/mentally, it must have been for them.  They didn't have communication really.  Their commander was off fighting battles many miles away.  They were weak and tired and probably wanted to give up on a daily basis.  And on top of that, there were no allies or teammates they could call on in a pinch...they couldn't beg for some help from the neighboring nation or hire some mercenary troops...they were all by themselves, like Jacob said, wanderers in a strange land, and if they fell, they would be destroyed, and no one would ever know about it (or so they probably would have thought ;) Helaman and his small group of soldiers were the last line of defense for all their people on that side of the line of defense.  But as they became more and more weary and discouraged, they realized that had one thing on their side that gave them the ultimate advantage (and I don't have my copy of the Book of Mormon with me so bear with me :))  They realized that they had God on their side and they crawled into the depths of humility, begging their Father to have mercy on them and to spare them from the anger of their enemies.  They pleaded with God to support them and comfort them and guess what,... He did.  Despite all the terrible things that we going on around them, and the exceptionally precarious circumstances in which they were placed, they found hope, strength, and comfort, when logic would have dictated they should have given up and fallen apart.  What an amazing demonstration of God's love and infinite power! What an amazing lesson for us to incorporate into our own lives!!

I love the Book of Mormon...True statement :)

Okay...dad, to answer your inquiries... Our Branch President is a complete stud!!!!! and I love him and his family to death.  He's great! and he's from Brazil and he's an engineer at the Nuclear Plant :)

Church attendance is less than a lot.  Probably ball park, recently, 40ish or so...maybe 50.  On the playing the piano bit, no one plays here in the meetings...they just have a high class electronic upright piano that has most of the songs prerecorded....aka...they have button pushers but no piano players...I miss playing the piano...

Anyways, time is going pretty quickly by us.  I'm not gonna lie, if the next year and a half end up being anything like this first part (it'll probably be faster) I'm gonna look back after 2 years and wonder what the heck happened.  The last 8 months seem like a blur...like 2 days...it's crazy stuff.  

Alright, y'all ready for the pun of the year...of the century....?!?!!?!?  Here goes...this came about totally not scripted when I was on exchange with another missionary.  He served a mini mission so he has had experience of going home and he mentioned how when he went home after the mini mission his girlfriend kissed him and it was super weird...ok...background story done...time for the ultimate pun

My comment:) :) :) (after a little more conversation)

"If a random girl came up and kissed me after my mission, I'd probably slap her upside the face! Just kidding.  I'd be too Christlike by then...I'll probably just turn the other cheek!!!!!!!" hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.  Super funny right!!!??? Well, it made me laugh...and a couple others as well :)  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.  

So, we have a baptism coming up for a son of a recent convert.  It's gonna be on the 9th and we're super excited.  (Elder Mickelsen is even more excited since the 9th is his birthday :)  Well, we're working hard and trying to work smarter...that's the trick of the century.  We're seeing more and more growth in us and in the area.  It's hard to believe this transfer is almost over.  Crazy stuff.  Last week, we had interviews with President and Sister Bernhisel.  I love them.  They are the best.  He is so much like a father to me here on the mission.  I'm gonna send a couple of pics I think.   Hope y'all enjoy.  Thanks for being the best family in the whole entire universe.  I love you all so much, and I'll tell you what...it's gonna be one joyous reunion in a couple years :) Anyways, keep life real.  Tell Velvet I love and miss her.

Luvs ever so much,

Elder Patty