The cure for all feminine issues... retail therapy :)

So, I heard that quote in a talk on Sunday. I loved it and I thought you all might as well. :)
This week has been a blur. Coming up soon, Elder Smith and I will have been together 3 weeks already and it blows my mind. Grandma told me once that time flies so it's a good thing we are the pilots. I love that. It's so true too. The time may fly but it’s up to us where we let it take us.

I found out this week some interesting statistics. This may not be fact but I have heard it more than once so I, not having the all powerful internet as a check, will trust my sources. I heard that Iowa is the 2nd worst meth state in the world. That one I have seen on billboards so I know that is true, but this is the fact that got me... Marion County (my area) is the worst county in Iowa for meth. So yes... apparently I am in the meth capital of the world. We see drug busts pretty often so I wouldn’t doubt it. Funny the places I’ve been in my life – Rexburg, ID - The most republican voting populace per capita in the nation. Rigby, ID - the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation per capita. Pocatello, ID - Once deemed worst meth city in the world. Knoxville, IA - meth capital of the world. I guess the Lord does prepare us for the future.

I've seen a lot of people lately that just have God working in their lives and on them so hard right now. There is one younger woman in our branch here who is less active and her used-to-be husband was not a member. Well they just had twin girls and the entire atmosphere of the house changed overnight with the spirit those infants brought with them. Then about 5 weeks later... the dad essentially gets kicked out for drugs and child abuse and now the woman is coming back to church and has a daughter that turns 9 here real soon so we will be teaching them weekly. It's just amazing how those dots connect sometimes.

We have a baptismal date marked for the 24th of September with Jared. He is awesome. He has been coming to the branch now for months but missionaries have never taught him. Everyone has been a little worried about his motives for becoming a member of the church because his girlfriend is in the branch. We had a super awesome lesson with him in the church the other night and he set his own goal and has a sincere interest in learning about Jesus Christ and how that can help him. I am so blessed to be a part of that miracle.

As noted in the questions and answers comment.... my favorite part of the week was the plunger toss. haha. So lemme explain...we have this brand new plunger for a different game during district meeting. Well during lunch this week, I started playing with it and let me note again... it has never been used. It is new. I know all you germophobes about puked near the beginning of that sentence. So I have been just tossing it and doing flips...double flips and triple flips. I even got a quad flip. You just try to make it land and stick to the ground. Pretty fun. I named the plunger Shawn Johnson for obvious reasons. (She does flips) :) It's probably pretty lame sounding but I dare you to try it. It's addicting.

Today we were supposed to go to the temple in Nauvoo. Bummer deal is that our member that was going with us got sick. Blast. It just wasn’t meant to be. No big!

Another best part of the week.... if i may quote my dear greenie Elder Smith, "Elder, I’m so tired, you worked me to death today"....Fist pump! Mission goal accomplished. Work someone to death. I actually literally worked his butt off. See accompanying pictures. That’s sweat that you see. No rain or puddles involved.

Elder Franz from high school talked with me on the phone for about an hour one night. Super awesome! Love that kid/elder.

Things i learned this week -
-Retail therapy...a godsend cure for females (that just makes me laugh so hard)
-You can work your butt off literally
-Underpants in Iowa are optional... or at least that's what I pick up from every 50 year old, no shirt wearing, jean wearing man.
-Old ladies love to give us food. Fattening food.

This week my thoughts have been drawn back to faith due to a couple of talks my mom sent me. I tell people all the time the steps of the gospel are faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.... I usually say that all of us are to the enduring to the end part if we have been baptized but I realized I am still back at square 1. I still need to work on faith. Faith is so crucial. It's literally the most powerful power this earth has. Think about it. They say that the secret to life is "You are what you think about"...is that really anything more than having faith in your future enough to achieve it? Faith is the power to move mountains. Literally and metaphorically in our lives. Faith created this world in which we walk. Faith is something I feel as if I have every once in a while and then a trial comes and that's the breaking point usually. I let the obstacle defeat me. I know that if we were to remain strong in the faith when the trials come that after wards our faith would increase and our character will grow. Character is not built nor maintained under public spotlight but rather gained and built in the confines of your most remote personal locations. Who you become there will always shine through in desperate times of need. I think that if all of us were to be a little stronger when no one else is around, we would collectively and individually become stronger around others. I heard it said recently that "We become what we want to be by being what we want to become consistently." That's the key to your personal success in the future and mine as well. We consistently progress towards our future both in public and private. Both situations add to who you truly are. The key in my mind's eye is that the private things we do add to about 99 percent of who we really are.

I love where I am. I know I have purpose in life and in my position in life right now. I could not imagine a better place to be. No matter the trials, the stress, or the frustration... Where I am is where I want to be!

Hugs and kisses,
Elder Excell