That's it, another week come and gone! God has been so good to us this week...cannot believe how much we've seen His hand! He's literally taken us and hooked us up to the celestial firehose of knowledge and blessings. That's how we feel! Most nights, Elder McEwen and I roll into the flat, climb into bed, and just lay there reviewing the day and talking about how merciful God is and marvel at how insignificant and undeserving we are when compared to His eternal glory. I'm so excited to share a couple of the lessons I've learned this week!
As some of you may know, before the mission I was fit enough to run pretty well, and even ran the Moab half marathon. To be able to do that, I think it's safe to say I was in pretty good shape! I may have been able to brag then, but it's amazing what can happen in a matter of 18 months. Since then there have been big, big changes. I'm nowhere near good shape right now because I haven't run at all on my mission, apart from when we're late for an appointment or when we're chasing after a bus. I now have a missionary body, and having a car in my previous area only deepened the wound. So, after much pondering, and having come to an honest realization of my current physical state, I've resolved to take initiative. I'm calling it "six months to shape". The goal is to run every other morning for the rest of my mission and to keep that habit when I return home. Fortunately, I have a companion who is a dead set champion and is willing to go through this with me! In a few weeks time, I hope to be in good enough shape to be able to run from our flat to the London Eye with ease. Pretty sure it's around 3 miles. Wish me luck. As I was trying to run one morning, I likened the whole out of shape thing to a spiritual sense. I went from being able to run well to not being able to run at all in a very short time because I stopped doing the basics. I didn't train for anything and to be honest, it never really crossed my mind. The same can apply to our personal conversion: we can be what some call "spiritual giants", but if we cease to put in practice the vital elements of the gospel, we can experience spiritual depletion and even total atrophy. Like the muscles of the body, faith must be exercised frequently and consistently if it is to grow. In the end, our faith is either growing, or depleting. We decide how strong our testimonies are. Being spiritually in shape comes from fervent prayer. It comes from daily scripture study. It comes from keeping the commandments willingly. It comes from diligently living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This I know to be true because I have learned it through my own experiences. I hope I never forget that important lesson!
Many other great things happened this week, but due to lack of time they will have to be shared another day! One cool thing was playing real life fruit ninja. I took a knife and an apple from the counter and sliced it in mid air. The unthinkable happened: it was cut in perfect symmetry! Not just the apple itself, but the stem as well! Elder McEwen reckons the odds of that are about 1 in a billion. Couldn't do it again if I tried. Elder McEwen had previously refused to be my valentine, but after watching that he accepted. Happy late Valentine's Day!
Hope these thoughts and experiences help or strengthen you in some way. It definitely brings me joy to share them with you! Love you all, and take care!
Love, Elder Thomas
ELSM
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| Fruit ninja! |
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| The London Eye |
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