One of the words that I regularly use now is "Howdy". It's kinda funny. Yeah you can call me a wannabe. Just had to throw that in there cause of your email Mom. (I addressed him by saying 'Howdeeeeee'.) Sooooo so so good to hear from everyone!
Gotta tell you guys about a dream I had last night. So we were at general conference, and President Monson comes up, and he had another awesome announcement! He changed mission times from 2 years to 3 years! And I was sooo stoked. Oh I forgot a detail, this was like the conference where I was about to come home, so October? even though I shoulda been home by then. Details like that don't matter in dreams though. Anyways I had like a week left, and then he said that and I was like awww yeaaaa baby!! And then I signed up for another year and you guys were all ticked at me, because I lost my ASU scholarship, and then I had to start preachin at ya about how servin the Lord is better than money and yada yada annnnnnnd then I woke up. But seriously, 2 years goes by way too fast. Heck this 6 months has gone by too quick. Anyways, I guess y'all wanna hear about how training's been going.
Well, I've been blessed. Elder Owen (greenie) is a stud missionary. Of course you can tell he's a greenie, but with time he'll learn the ropes. I'm kinda just here to point him in the right direction! He has a strong desire to be obedient and wants to baptize everyone! Its kinda funny, he's always talking about how he wants to find a "golden investigator." We've been out finding alot this last week, and our new term is "embrace the awkward." Haha and man. Let me tell you what. You can get some funny stories outta it. Maybe not gospel productive, but some darn good stories. So whenever we see someone, and we wouldn't normally go talk to that person, we say "embrace the awkward?" and challenge the other to go do it. Now he doesn't always do it, and there are sometimes where, yes I don't either, which I'm still working on being courageous and talking to everyone, but now, given that I'm in this position of having to train, if I don't talk to everyone we see, and show that example to Elder Owen, thennnnn that sin is on my head, kinda like parents not teaching their children the gospel. So I'm constantly striving to go out of my comfort zone. African American people are my favorite to talk to. They've got a lot of personality, its awesome.
It's kinda funny, being a trainer, I remember now what it was like when I was a greenie, and what my expectations were. They were kind of unrealistic. And I say that now because Elder Owen made the comment something along the lines of "what we don't teach 4-5 lessons to investigators a day?" I told him go to Mexico if you want to do that. Shoot though shout out to my brother from the same mother! Elder Traazasaurus going DL and training back to back! Check that kid out!! Mannnnnnn, the Lord's got some awesome experiences in store for you! Can't wait to hear how your first district meeting goes. As far as out here, I'm learing how to handle situations of the contentious type between people. Haha was that coded well? Like I said earlier this is one of the bigger districts in the mission, but I love it. I don't think I'd like serving in a small district. It's fun to watch your capacity to love grow. Especially when its someone that at first you didn't want to or were hesitant to love.
Last thought. I shared it during district meeting this week. Have you ever wondered why we are asked to kneel when we pray? The answers of humility and respect come to mind. But for what? Our Father in Heaven of course. As I was studying prayer, I came across a scripture in Luke. And it's one of the very few instances where there Savior is recorded praying to his Father. It's Luke 22:41-42. It's when he's in the Garden of Gethsemane, performing the atonement. It says "41. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast and kneeled down, and prayed, 42, Saying, Father if though be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." As I thought about that it kinda just hit me that as we kneel down and pray, we're following the example of Christ. When he was in his weakest moment, he knelt down in prayer. When we're in our weakest moments, who do we turn to? Do we rely on the arm of the flesh? Or do we rely on God? Food for thought. I love all who read this, because you are a son or daughter of God ! Thank you for all you do.
Mom, Dad, B-Dog and Aust, you guys are awesome. If I can do anything for ya I'm just a letter or email away. Love you!
Elder Traasdahl
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