WEEK 16 - Quite The Hostile Enviornment

In literally the best movie ever: Kung Fu Panda 2, the main character Po (the panda) is having some questions about who he is and where he came from. He went to his Dad who was a goose and was like "Dad where did I come from?" and his Dad was like "Well Son... You know there is an egg... and don't ask me where the egg comes from!" and Po is like "No Dad where did I REALLY come from?" And his Dad tells him how as a goose he did not actually give birth to a panda, and about this random radish basket that just randomly got dropped off right behind his restaurant that Po was in, and then Po was like "I knew it." and his dad was like "how, who told you?" and Po is like "come on dad, I mean your a goose" anyways, I could quote this scene word for word with ease but that is for another time. But Po eventually finds out that his parents were killed (actually not Po's dad but we don't find that out till the end of the movie) by the peacock lord shen, who was told by a fortune teller, actually I am not gonna recount this entire movie, just watch it its wonderful. But he is like so sad that his parents were killed and that he won't be able to see them again. But this is the only flaw of this fictional movie. That is the amazing part about my mission: being able to tell people that they will see the ones they love again. That is the most important thing I could tell someone, it gives them and me so much hope. And it is such a wonderful thing to know that this is not the end. I am so grateful for that. I am also grateful for Kung Fu Panda 2 go watch it for me (shoutout Tanner). This week was heavenly compared to last week (last week was pretty hard and this week was great), let me tell you some fun stories from the week: - So we were finding people at a mall this week and it was so fun. We wandered into travis mathew to find people, travis mathew is pretty much just a shop that was literally designed specifically to sell clothes to my father. My dad appreciates some nice travis mathew apparel let me tell ya. There was a travis mathew ping pong table in there, and if my boy Elder Molen has taught me a dang thing it is that: if there is a ping pong table there, you best be finding someone to play with. Elder Campbell is not much of a participator in most things, so he departed and just started looking and like belts or something. So I asked one of the employees if they would play me, and he was down. He wanted to bet $100 on this game. I did not see this as gambling , but as an investment opportunity (shoutout to my poker friends). I knew I would be making my investor dad proud (not at all that is a joke, he runs quite the anti gambling policy in our home) so I was considering this investment. Then Elder Campbell spawned out of nowhere and was like "No Elder Horsley, that is not right." Then he vanished back into the dad apparel that travis mathew has to offer. So we just played for fun while Elder Campbell was browsing apparel that he declared to be "modest, sleek, wholesome, and fashionable." Anyways, I was down 6-1 on this guy and he was feeling pretty good about himself, but don't worry I came back and cooked this guy 11-7. But it was a really fun experience and made me miss playing ping pong with Elder Molen, and seeing my Dad purchase his modest, sleek, wholesome, and fashionable clothing. - On Thanksgiving I was ready to be sad and to miss my family all day, and then they changed Thanksgiving day to all day pday. I haven't felt excitement like that since they changed church to 2 hours. It was such a great day. We woke up and played ultimate frisbee with a bunch of people. Past Henry would have told you: Ultimate Frisbee is a sport meant for people who are bad at everything. But Elder Horsley has a different opinion now. I have played my fair share of PE ultimate frisbee before and I actually thought I was pretty good at this game. But these were like professional players. Like there was a kid there named Norby who was the ranked 2nd out of the world for under 18 players. Nothing is more humbling then being told by a nationally ranked 13 year old girl to run to the end zone, and proceed to watch her throw you the most beautiful 50 yard pass, and then later pass to her like 10 feet away and watch it go just nowhere near her, and then she is like "next time, next time!" People there are pretty passionate about this game. I kept calling it a frisbee and then people would aggressively be like "its a disc." But once I figured out the vocab and got a feel for the "disc" I became a much more respected player. Sometimes people threw the frisbee this super cool way that I was like positive I could not do, and there was a moment where our game was finished and I got to cheer on Elder Campbell. First 15 seconds of watching this man, he attempted the special throw, and it straight up just hit the ground like a couple feet in front of him. If any of you ever get the chance to watch him play ultimate frisbee, you are a lucky soul. I won't elaborate what it is like, but let me just say it was an extremely enjoyable experience. I thought we were gonna get in the car and he was gonna tell me how much he hated it, but he was like "I'm usually not a sports guy, but it was awesome to be good at this one!" So don't be jealous when the world champion was literally my companion back in dallas texas. - I know I write about Elders Quorum pretty much every week and it probably gets annoying, but it is just always a highlight. So we get there and my man Peter Chen was there to welcome us. He wasn't able to come to church last week and that takes a toll on my heart. I need a little Peter Chen every week. We sat down by him and I talked to him for a second, then turned and talked to an investigator next to me. Elder Campbell was just loitering there so Peter decided this was a good time to talk to him. He was like "Elder Campbell you want to be a doctor right?" Elder Campbell was like "yes I would love to." Peter was like "good job!" Then Peter in the most blunt way possible was like "your biggest obstacle is: diet and exercise. Look at your companion, he very strong, but you don't have discipline." Elder Campbell was like "oh sorry" (he loves to apologize) and Peter was like "DISCIPLINE. d-i-s-c-i-p-l-i-n-e. I take cold shower every day for 20 years. You don't have discipline." Again, it is a absolute miracle that Elder Campbell does not get offended. The things that Peter say always come completely from a place of love and a bias towards me, and its good that Elder Campbell understands this. This branch is an extremely hostile environment for a sensitive soul. Like we were in branch council and we were leaving and Eric was like "bye thank you for your time, keep getting strong Elder Horsley (I am not actually in that good of shape someone just thought I looked strong one time and that is now one of my main characteristics)" and I was like "haha thank you you guys are amazing." and he was like "but Elder Horsley, you are kind of getting fat, wow!" They love to make you feel good, like saying your gonna be a doctor or your looking strong, then they like to just hit you with a certain physical flaw of the day. I have a million of these stories, if you email and ask for more I'll give you some others that I probably can't stick in this email lol. I love this branch. But like fr I would not send a bigger missionary here. - During Elders Quorum Peter Chen was teaching the lesson and started talking about how his stocks were superior to everyone's stocks in the room. Then he was like if he was starting a company he would hire from this group of people. Then he paused, and thought about it. Then he walked over to me and put his hands on my face making direct eye contact with me about 4 inches from me and said: "No. I would hire this beautiful boy!" And he just stayed in that position staring into my soul for what felt like an hour. This may surprise you, but I actually held in my laughter. I thought I popped a freaking kidney trying not to laugh it was so funny. Then the second counselor in the branch presidency was like "he is a missionary you can't do that. But then Peter was like "no he is not a sister missionary its ok" and they were all pretty content with that answer. Then Peter Chen targeted Elder Campbell and was like "people like you go into fields like dermatology to make money. We need more psychiatrists." Every week he targets Elder Campbell more and more, but like honestly I have never seen someone who gets offended less than Elder Campbell. He is really really good at that and I applaud him for it. Some of this would get to my head. But again it is all from a place of love. - Speaking of love I love all of you quite literally more than any mortal being loves you. I would love so much to hear from you, so just message or email me! Have such a great week, thank you to all who read my emails. I love you and hope your week is fabulous! Join the google photos its pretty fun: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qwGY1QhS99ne5wGy8 Pictures: 1. Missing the animated grinch right about now 2. Jeff at king buffet 3. Luka Doncic 4. Handstand with Elder Davis 5. Bubble bath thank you mom