WEEK 86 - The Riddler

Hello everyone! I definitely missed yall a lot this week, I really hope that each of you are doing well! "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" This phrase is said like a billion times throughout the Old Testament and after a call with my parents I think I am starting to understand why. To be frank with you I thought I had never worshipped another god, but as I have been out on my mission more I recognize that I do have other gods that heavily influence me. My mission has been especially hard for me recently, and I have been super discouraged and I just didn't know why. I realize now that one of my main gods, foundations, and driving factors in my life was the praise of this world. I love it when people know the good that I do and they praise me for it, and I think I started to forget my real God and I chose to chase after that god. That god has nothing for me, it has only brought me pride and disappointment. I think any other god other than our Heavenly Father will lead us down that path. I want to be better and I want God to know that He is my God. Don't be like me haha, let God be your God. Let me put it in my friend Booker T's own words: "Never relinquish loving on God and Jesus." Booker T always says it best. Here is the week: - My comp Elder Rowley had to go home sadly which was a bummer because he was a cool fella. On the bright side my new comps Elder Miller and Elder Walburger are also extremely cool fellas. Elder Walburger is a collegiate athlete from the holy promised land (southern Alberta ofc) and Elder Miller is a blessed man with an incredibly deep voice from Anaheim California. Fun fact, my down syndrome friend Joseph did the purest Elder Miller impression over a pot roast this week, love Joseph - We did service for this nice man named Thomas aka the Riddler. Thomas' main defining trait is that he pretty much only speaks in riddles. We pulled up to his storage unit and Thomas eyed a spanish guy, so he was like "quick hand me a mexican BOM!" we happily complied and Thomas speeded over to this guy to deliver the holy writ. He handed it to him, did a 180, looked me right in the eyes and was like "first base first base!" After much thought I still have not quite cracked that riddle. During the service project he would hand me a block of foam or say something about a boat, then he would like walk around and start speaking in tongues and it left me with literally zero understanding. We helped him for like 40 mins which consisted of 2 mins of labor and about 38 mins of decoding riddles. Apparently the ladies in the ward refer to him as "silver fox" I am a HUGE Tom fan - We went to an extremely chaotic extended family dinner this week and I loved it. I was just marinating in the chaos when suddenly the main dad brought out a Brandon Sanderson book. I realized I made the mistake of taking slight interest in this book when his son took me hostage and talked deep Brandon Sanderson lore to me for what felt like an eternity haha. This guy was a super nice guy though so I was honored to be placed in captivity by him - One of our friends has claimed that he and God have merged consciousnesses - My friend Yan, who is the most charitable lady in this whole world, took me and the Chinese Elders out to lunch. A hug from Yan is not optional haha. There was a low in the convo so I decided to tell Yan that Elder Sorensen drinks soda and eats candy. Yan was unimpressed. Elder Sorensen is in very good shape so she turned to me and theorized that he had a very intense eating disorder. I love Yan so much and she legitimately is one of the kindest people in this world - I got stopped by UTD campus police this week and he was like "I liked your rap the other night." I like that guy - At church the Riddler came to me with a problem. His scriptures were in Rarotongan. We got it fixed. How did this happen? That riddle remains unsolved... - The missionaries I serve with are true disciples of Christ I am so grateful for your support and I thank God for it every single day. Good luck to everyone wherever you are at, know that I love you! Have a wonderful week! pics: 1. Me and Joseph 2. My new comps! 3. It was raining 4. Elder Miller looking like he is either about to stop crime or become a flash a family 5. Chinese exchange with the GOATs 6. Me on UTD 7. Me with my Chinese elderen