Santa Rosa Address

Hi Mom,

Thanks for going to Micklane's farewell. I'm glad that he did a good job.

My apartment address: 693 Summerfield Apt. #4 Santa Rosa, CA 95405

I'll write a mass email next week, maybe. My brain is fried right now.

I'm glad that you all were able to visit family. I'll try to keep
everyone updated through you and the mission blog you have for me. I
am really bummed about the blog thing, though. I am not allowed to go
to any website other than church sites while I am out here. Don't feel
any pressure to keep them updated because I cant visit them.

The work is hard. Really hard. But, I love it. I was disappointed at
first because I didn't realize how hard it would be to find people. I
thought I would be booked with lessons everyday, all day, but that
isn't the reality. My first assignment is to the Bennett Valley Ward.
It is in the middle of a suburban jungle in Santa Rosa. My companion,
Elder Cartwright, is a great guy. He has taught me a lot already.
Mostly, he is a good influence. He's only been out three months, but
he is an excellent teacher.

I really want to teach. That is what I spent my time in the MTC
preparing for. It has been a challenge for me to step outside of
myself and try to contact people. Most of the time we are rejected,
but that's to be expected, I guess. I'm being humbled everyday.

Almost everything out here is different than what I had constructed in
my head, but I know that God wants me here. I am glad that He has put
me here, because there are people I am meant to find and teach. I try
so hard to remember that.

I love you.

Elder Williams

Home sweet home.

 

Dear Elder Williams,

I have been listening to a great book called "Status Envy". It's a sociological examination of how a culture judges the winners or losers of a society. For example in early Greek history/Sparta, strength and aggressiveness was valued while in 17th century England a gentleman who could dance a minuet was held in esteem. It is interesting how different mores' and expectations change. I like how the real truth seekers question the status quo and challenge the norm, for example Emerson and Thoreau. I guess I'm a romantic and idealist at heart and that's why I don't fit in. Our culture values money, fame, power, and the "cool" factor of which I have none. It is hard sometimes to feel like you don't belong to the inner ring, as C.S. Lewis put it....heck I don't even know where outskirts of the ring even begins, and this in turn makes me feel unworthy, unvaluable, unloved. I know this is all a lie; however, it is a powerful one. Jesus was meek and humble, not cool and popular. He was despised by the "right group" of people and spit upon by authority. He was not a seeker of status, but a lover of mankind. To follow his example takes courage, humility and a deep sense of who you truly are- a child of God. It is hard to put off the natural man who is always comparing, judging, competing and striving for status; yet, an inner peace comes when we submit to God and value kindness, compassion, and charity over the adulation of man.

I love this quote and think it applies to where my thoughts have been lately.

"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."

I hope you can remember who you are as you face the world. How people react to you as a missionary is a reflection of who they truly are inside, not of you. You are only holding up a mirror and the reflection they see of themselves will bring happiness or horror to their awareness. You are a representative of Christ delivering a message of faith and calling on people to repent. I'm grateful that you are a worthy vessel of the spirit of the Lord.

I hope you are learning and growing and striving to be the person God wants you to be.

With love,

Mom