Okay, here I am at 10:44 am in Grand Rapids, MI.
Things are going pretty good I must say. I've got a couple good stories and thoughts to share, so I'm writing this.
I'll start with my thoughts that are semi-serious:
I have been thinking a lot about righteousness, the will of God, the commandments, how to stay true to covenants, and how to strive forward on to eternal life: our entire purpose. There are no grey areas when it comes to the commandments. I think when we speak about grey areas, we think about things that will not be asked to us in a temple recommend interview. I think we believe that we can somehow escape God's will by hiding behind the bare minimum. I must admit I have been terribly guilty of this throughout my life, and I still work on it daily. Is there really a grey area? When it comes down to it, would you do it if President Monson was in the room, let alone Christ?
Now, no one need suppose me guilty of modern-day Pharisaical customs and traditions, but I think there are decisions that must be made with a "what is going draw me nearer to the Savior?" sort of attitude. Also, no one needs to think I have found myself on the path to perfection further than I truly am. My flaws become ever more noticable as I read, ponder, and pray. As Joseph Smith said, "I have a subtle demon in me, and I can only curb him by being humble." I am a long way off of that.
Another thought is about Christmas. Have you ever noticed that you hear people often say "I love Christmas but the commercialism of it just tires me out"? People constantly complain about the commericalism year after year. Yet, we seem to support it. I guess that's the hypocrite in me as well, I think to myself "Man, what can I do to really make this Christmas about Christ and serving others?" Then later on, I find myself thinking "Man, I wish I could watch 'Elf' with my family and just sleep in." That thought (though not really wrong and I absolutely cannot wait until next Christmas when I can, in the words of the Killers, "Roll around like a kid in the snow...")needs to be replaced with thoughts of making others happy.
Last night at the Christmas devotional, I loved the words of all three members of the First Presidency. President Uchtdorf is always great and really reminds us that we must be happy, positive, joyful, and really live in the moment. He said, in a nutshell, "Experience Christmas as a child, full of wonder, excitement and joy, and love those around us." I love the idea of being child-like, not childish. Maybe it's because there really isn't anything more joyful than just playing. My idea of unwinding is playing with the little ones. I think about playing with my many nieces and nephews, and it makes me feel calm.
President Monson BLEW my mind when he spoke of the Christmas season and said (I'm paraphrasing), "Don't get so caught up in the pressure of the season that you lose the Spirit of the season." That hit me in the face and is super applicable to my mission at this time.
Anyways, I turned 15 months recently. Mid-August and I'll be back where I began, but not all at once. I'm running out of time it seems, and it goes way too fast, some days. In the words of the great punk band the Wonder Years, "I know I've got miles to go but, I'm putting my shoulder to the wheel."
So, on the bus this week (of course) I had a fella sit across from me (he was about 55-60, with his hair permed straight and he was acting hood, saying "ohhh we on the west side baby. We go hard out here") in the isle and yell to his friend, "Yo homie, I gotta spot fo' ya right hurr." The spot he was referring to was the empty one on my left. The man sat down. I was overwhelmed with the smell of marijauana and Jack Daniels. But they start chatting, and they get on the topic of a woman in they know is jail... He says, "Ahh man, I heard she cut somebody... I heard she was defending you. Didn't she hit somebody wit a brick?" I pulled the cord and got off the bus, because I was laughing too hard.
Then, we were on the bus and there was this mom who had a son that was being rowdy. She said, "Boy, you better shape up. You gon' make me lose my mind, up in here, up in here!" For those of you not familiar with the black culture, that's a referrence to a DMX song.
When the bus was stops, it sort of rocks almost, as it uses its hyrdaulics. This old dude goes, "Errybody on the bus gettin' tipsy!" Also, another reference to a rap song.
THEN, we were in the bathroom at central station downtown in Grand Rapids (brace yourself, this is about to get graphic), we saw a guy using the urinal and he just dropped his drawers. I couldn't hold it together and I left laughing hysterically.
Anyways, that's it, I think.
Things are good. Sorry this is long. Nobody is still reading, but I wanted to write something.
Be still.
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