Count Your Blessings

I have realized missions are filled with so many ups and downs.  I have also realized the more positive and upbeat you are the more ups you will have.   

This week nothing really happened until Sunday.  I was having a pretty bad week, missing home a lot.  Christmas is coming up too and I miss snow.  It’s so hot here every day.  I just wanna play in the snow. Haha.  So I decided to try something that a lot of people said helps.  And it was count your blessing or miracles you have received on your mission so far.  So I started jotting some down.  All of sudden I had written 2 pages and felt ten times better.  Simple things like having clothes to wear, a bed to sleep in, legs to walk, teeth to give someone a smile.  And it seriously made me feel so much better.  If you ever are having a bad day I recommend trying it.  It truly works.

Ok so back to Sunday.  Sundays on a mission are like the longest days ever and we have church at 3 o’clock so by the time church starts you’re already exhausted.  But this Sunday I wasn’t that exhausted because we gave 2 little girls the gift of the Holy Ghost and then I bore my testimony.  I literally don’t know the language, but, hey, “when in Brazil” haha.  So I bore my testimony, usually the spirit guides most people’s testimonies, like you hear all the time of different missionaries in different parts of the world say “ya the gift on tongues is real” or “I bore my testimony and the spirit took over”.   Haha, no that did not happen for me.  My stomach did the talking, I got up there and said thank you for lunch twice on accident.  And I said, I love you all, the Church is true, Joseph Smith is a true prophet, I miss my family a lot, but the people here I love and are like family.  And then I ended it.  Haha.  I was like a child up there.  I thought I did horrible, but the amount of people that told me they liked my testimony was almost ridiculous.  I’m not sure if they felt bad for me or actually liked it.  My companion told me they will remember me forever.  The bishop said it was “fantastic”.   Elder Gonzales said it brought miracles.  And then a little kid told me my face looked like a tomato.   So I guess you can say it was successful.  The bishop told me he wants me to bear it every fast Sunday. It was good but different. 

Well, that was about it for the week.  If you see my mom around tell her happy birthday.  She deserves a happy birthday because she’s the sweetest person I know.

Love,

Elder Meyer