Loved Ones,
Hey guys! How is everyone? Good? Good. I have a lot to tell you all! It's been a full week. I'm sorry that I am late emailing. MLK Day threw off my schedule. How was everyone's MLK Day, by the way? Did you stick to last year's tradition? I hope so. That was awesome. I'm glad that Sunday was awesome. That is interesting that Sabbath day observance was listed as one of three things needed in order to be successful. In support of that, I will quote President Calderwood: "You will fail in life if you don't understand the Sabbath day." Pretty bold right? President Calderwood is a bold man. We just had a multi-zone conference, and President told us about some of the changes he's making in the mission. It's really cool to be in the middle of a change of direction. But I digress. I hope that you all had a fantastic week that Mr. Fox would have been proud of.
I guess the first thing I should tell you all is that I moved. I didn't get transferred, but Elder Hooper and I moved into a new apartment. That means a couple things. First, I now live away from Elder Broadbent for the first time in over 6 months. Parting was a bit sad, but it's for the best. Second, I now live in Williamsburg, so I am automatically 7 levels higher on the hip scale. And, I've lived in Bushwick, so I have street cred too. The best of both worlds. So, now Elder Hooper and I live right in the middle of the area we do the majority of our work in. I think it's nice, because it makes us part of the community, which is the goal. I'm reminded of Ammon who wished to "dwell among [the Lamanites] for a time", or even until the day he died. I'm not planning on dying here in Williamsburg, but the comparison still seems to fit. I enjoy living in the new spot thus far. It's good to have just Elder Hooper and I in the apartment because it allows us to be more focused during studies and such. Being in an apartment with 4 people is fun, but there is the potential for distraction. The environment is more spiritual with just two people, I think. The apartment is pretty nice, too. It needed a lot of clean-up when we inherited it, but we are getting a chance to practice our interior decorating skills. I'm not sure that made me sound at all manly, but that's okay. I'll send some pictures next week!
In order to make up for the decrease in my manliness after my interior decorating comment, I will tell you all about one of the other notable things that happened. Yesterday, for P-day, I took on the Blazin' Challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings with my district and a few members of my zone. This challenge consists of eating 12 of the most hot wings that Buffalo Wild Wings makes in a mere 6 minutes. This may not sound like something I would do, and normally it wouldn't be. However, Elder Hooper thought it sounded like fun, so I decided to back my companion. And I thought it would be a good way to build district unity, which is always a good thing. If I could describe the challenge in a word, the word I would choose would be "pain". It was intense. When the waitress brought the wings out and the aroma singed my nostrils, I knew I was in trouble. I gave it a valiant effort, but in the end, I just could not ingest 12 lava wings in 6 minutes. I got to a point where my body would just not accept more wings. But, in the interest of preserving my manliness, I ate all 12 of the wings. I just had to take more time than 6 minutes. I'll get you guys some pictures of the event. As I was trying to force the wings down my mouth, I felt a tear trickle down my cheek, and my sinuses were vacated quite efficiently. Apparently I turned a purplish color as well. It is a good memory, but I don't think I'll be doing it again, except for one exception. The exception is this: Jacob, if you will take on the challenge with me, I will attempt it once more. I feel like we could complete it together. Start preparing. You have just under a year and a half. But anyways, that was a good time. Elder Jolley, who I've mentioned before, ate all his wings in two minutes and 15 seconds. He has no gag reflex, so he had a leg up, but I still find that shocking. So, that was my adventure for the week. Did I make up my manliness a little bit?
I am running low on time, but I did want to mention one thing I've been thinking about lately. The decay of civility in our society was brought to prominence in my mind after Elder Hooper and I had two doors closed on us without a word from the person on the other side within about 30 minutes. I was reading Quentin L. Cook's conference talk that addresses this issue, and I think he hits the nail right on the head. There is a serious lack of civility these days, and I don't think that's a good thing. After all, Mormon describes the people living near the end of the Book of Mormon times as a "people...without civilization", and that society didn't go anywhere any of us want to go. I feel like a little kindness and common decency would go a long way in this troubled world. So let's all be civilized! A little kindness may not feel like much when you're giving it out, but it can make a big difference. I've definitely experienced that. It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!
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