Discipline

Howdy ho;

Someone asked me in their email this week how hard it will be keeping the three boys we just baptized active.  Keeping people active is just about the hardest thing I know of. Really it all comes down to getting them to come consistently to church, if they do that, they stay active. It´s like the coal taken from the fire: it cools rapidly. But when the coal is kept in the fire it stays nice an warm an happy. But sleep and the beach calls and people send the coals far from the fire. Such is life, such are my prayers. We have over 500 inactives, and so very few actives, it can be tough finding a suitable friend for people. But that´s where I try to trust that this Work is in the hands of Someone a whole lot smarter and cooler than me.
And that makes me feel better.

This is M, the troublemaker, with my backpack on.
Hah poor kid could barely stand.

Thinking about church I realize that as a missionary, we focus A LOT on getting people to church. And I got to thinking why. Just why is it so darn important? I mean, heck, who wants to get up early to go sit in a chilly room and be bored? These are hard working people and daggumit if they aren't gonna enjoy their sleep Sunday morning. I understand the sentiment. I empathize. Sometimes I´d rather stay in bed too.

But I can tell you, as someone who has a bit of an eagle eyes view of the lives of these people ( I see and talk with them nearly every day), That there is a marked difference between those who make the sacrifice, and those who don´t. There is a difference in happiness, energy, peace, unity in the family, and success in general. Now please understand me, I am not suggesting that the only factor in these equations is church assistance, nor that going to church is a magical pill that just changes everything. But when I see these people consistently in the chapel, I see a difference. Setting religion aside, I believe that doing something like going to church, where the results or rewards are not always clearly evident, doing something that requires "discipline" is good for us humans, I think it helps us better deal with life. Adding religion to the mix, it´s really a win win situation. If you go and this church is of Jesus Christ as we claim, and as I personally testify, then you are fulfilling a commandment of that all powerful being we call God, and that my friend, is good for your health, speaking figuratively. Because if there is one thing I have learned, it is that if there is a commandment, there is a blessing attached, and that applies to literally every single commandment. I could go on and on, I do believe that I can ramble with the best of ´em. To simplify, it sure doesn't hurt to try, especially when there are so many good things waiting.

´nuff with the preachin' stuff. This week I just about killed myself trying to break into our bathroom. My companion had accidentally locked, and shut, the door to the bathroom, and OF COURSE we don´t have the keys. So I tried opening it with my lock picking skills (people say I´m almost Salvadoran) Alas, unlike the last time, I did not prevail, that durned door stayed firmly shut, even after an hour of mind numbing tries. So we gave up and went to work for the day. We came back in the evening to try again, but to no avail. So I do what I always do in such situations, I ate. That was a bad idea because shortly after, nature called and well... I was up the creek without a paddle.

And I´m out of time, So I´ll have to finish the story next week.

Precariously,

Elder Noah M. Toney

This is all of the arroz con leche que tenemos que entregar... Who has room for food?