Just Keep Swimming!

Loved Ones,

Good day! How is everyone feeling? Good? Life is great? I know it is!
Richard G. Scott wisely taught that negative experiences are things
that happen in life and not life itself. So, Life is always great!
Even when it's soggy from sitting in the milk for too long, it still
brings me joy. With that said, I hope that your lives are being filled
with the most positive and uplifting of experiences. And if any one of
you is feeling strained, I just would say that adversity is as
essential to our happiness as the good times, for there cannot be one
without the other. I know that sorrow and difficulties can be
redemptive, and certainly can always be endured. The Lord promises us
that we will never be given more than we can bear. I love you all so
much! I can't say it enough.

I was glad to receive a good report, especially in visual form with
the Disneyland pictures. I'm glad the trip was a success. Thanks for
sharing it with me through the wonder of photography! Boy, do I have a
great family. You all look even better with the radiance of Disneyland
adding to your bright and cheery countenances. Surely, there is
something in the air at that place. I had a little adventure of my own
last week. You saw some documentation of it on Facebook, but I'll give
you my eyewitness account. It all started off like any other Thursday,
with the missionaries and a few members cleaning the church. We were
wrapping up our efforts when Sister Stephenson noticed a strange noise
coming from the mother's room. Was someone showering in there? No, but
they could have been, for what was occurring behind the door of that
room was a ferocious downpour of water from the ceiling. A pipe had
burst! The room was rapidly flooding, so we took action. We gathered
all the trash cans in the building, and strategically placed them to
catch the most amount of falling water. Once things escalated, Elder
Casper and I took it to the next level by removing our shoes and
rolling up our pants, and the sisters heroically jumped into the fray
and used a snow shovel to scoop water from the floor. Elder Casper and
I saved our shoes, but when we took the cans outside to empty them,
our feet would freeze to the cold sidewalk. The whole situation felt a
bit like a scene from "Titanic" with the freezing cold and huge
amounts of water. It was intense! It was also a lot of fun. That was
the excitement for the week. In the end, the water was shut off, and
the building was saved.

I wish to address two other things. But first, I need to answer a
question from earlier. The jacket that you guys were wondering about
actually came to me for free. Elder Monestine found it hidden away in
the apartment, and he left it behind when he went home. So that's
where it came from. Ok, so the first thing is that I am going to the
temple Wednesday! I'm so excited. I can't wait to feel the sacred
peace of that holy place. I have come to know that the temple is the
house of God. I suppose you will hear all about the experience next
week. Secondly, I have hit my 18 month mark. Is that wild or what? It
has been quite a journey, and it isn't even over! Thank you all for
supporting me on this quest. I am grateful that I have had each of you
as companions as I walk along day by day. I have penned a few lines to
express some of my thoughts. Here they are:

Eighteen months or eighteen days?
I'll say it's hard to tell
The days roll by and then they go
Just like an ocean swell

Lessons have come with passing time
More faithful than short days
As the weeks have flown, and I have grown
They've abided the wash of waves

When a wave comes to visit the sand,
It leaves behind a gift
A precious seashell, full of charm
A bridge that spans a rift

A seashell brought from sunny shores
Is faithful to the sea
From deep in its royal chambers
It sings a memory

The bearer of that noble shell
Even in a barren place
Can hold the shell up to his ear
And move through time and space

So it is with my mission
I've not a castle made of sand
What I have gained is here to stay
I've a seashell in my hand

I love you all. Just keep swimming :)

Love,
Elder McDonald