I can't believe it's March. In a week you will be at your 2 month mark. How crazy is that?
Your last letter really stirred a lot of thoughts for me. It makes me really wonder what it's like for you down there. I imagine you walking dirt roads kicking rocks trying to find someone to talk to. I imagine you with a dude from deep in the heart of Mexico that you have to spend 24/7 with and you barely know his language and the language of everyone around you. I imagine you may be getting used to the missionary way of life. There's a lot I imagine but how close am I to how things are for you? I really don't know nor could I know what it's actually like because I'm not there. One thing I do know is that there are highs and lows. Sometimes it's great and sometimes it's really tough. I was just reading the ward news letter today because the deacons pass it out when they do fast offerings and today was Fast Sunday. I ready through all the missionaries' letters from our ward. I was touched by Ali Ball's letter. She said she had been knocking doors like crazy. She is in some in a remote place somewhere down in south Chile. All they can do is knock on any door they can find. She went as far as to say that her own companion was getting worn down and wanted to give up but she was determined to keep going. It was really touching to me. It's such a huge life lesson what you all you guys are doing out there. As a parent it's hard because I want to help you and support you and give you everything you need. That's what I've been doing your whole life. Now all I can do is sit here in the house, get on my knees and pray that our Heavenly Father will see to it that you will still have the things you need. I really believe He will.
I also believe that there are blessings that come to the families of missionaries when the missionary is out in the field working hard. Lately I've had some pretty good blessings and I think it's due to the Lord blessing me because of you. I'll tell you this, it's a tough blessing that I really need. It's the blessing of learning humility. I don't know if I mentioned it but I got a ticket about a month ago. I was coming home from DI with the trailer and I got pulled over for doing an improper left turn. The thing that really got me about it was the fact that it looked like the cop wasn't much older than you. It was all I could do to keep from really telling him off. I at least had enough sense to keep my mouth shut and just take the ticket. As I drove away and in the coming days, I was furious. I couldn't believe I did anything wrong and was incensed that come young kid could give me a ticket. Slowly I realized that guilty of what is at the root of all sin. I was letting my pride get in the way of making good decisions. I honestly had to humble myself and realize that I needed to have better attitude. I finally just paid the ticket and tried to put it behind me. It's been long time since I've had a ticket and it's the first time that someone younger than me had given me one. I'm sure it's not the last time I'll have to work on my pride though. Speaking of which I also had a humility lesson at work this last week. I'll spare you the details but I will say that I've had some struggles with my boss because of some disagreements and some decisions that I perhaps could have made better. It's another situation where I really have to look at myself and control the only thing I really have control over and that's myself. To do that you have to lose the pride and be humble. At 52 years old, I'm still learning that.
Well Josh, that's my lesson for the week. Be humble.
Some other exciting news. BYU beat the #2 team (Gonzaga) in the country in basketball. It's the first time in 35 years that BYU has beat anyone ranked that high. What makes it really amazing is that it was done on their home court and it broke a 41 have winning streak. Being the loyal BYU fan that I am, it was pretty exciting for me. If you have any missionary buddies that are BYU friends, you can let them know.
On a less exciting note. Jacob's team played the #2 team in the country in rugby and got pummeled 82-5. It was bad. It was on the PAC12 Network channel because the other team was Cal and they are in the PAC 12. So at least Jacob got to be on TV. Mom and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings and watched it. It was fun to see Jacob play on TV but I'm sure he wasn't having that much fun getting his tail whipped.
That's all the excitement I have for now so I'll have to end it here. Just remember, you are the common element of all of our prayers. We are so proud of you and love you more that you know. You're what I call a stud missionary. You wash your own clothes by hand. That's totally awesome. I know that's easy for me to say from where I sit. All I can say is that we're here cheering you on.
Take care Josh and work hard every day. I promise you will see the blessings in the Lord's time. Don't doubt that.
Love
Dad
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