First off, I need to be grateful for a few things. Most of whom are blood related. I am so thankful for my family. As the weeks away from home increase and the weeks remaining consequently decrease, I find myself more in love with the people who really matter most! I love my family so much. And somehow just like the song says..."They are so good to me, I want to spend my life with them, for all eternity." You're all just the best! I have never felt so supported in my life as I do now! Everyone who has done something to help me get here deserves a gigantic thank you and hug! I love you all.
This week was awesome. It started out very tiring. On p-day, Monday, we got together with the 2nd and 3rd ward elders and played some basketball and rugby. Oh man - it was a blast, don’t get me wrong, but it was 3 hours of nonstop go, go, go. I felt so great afterwards though. There is that feeling of accomplishment I guess that I relish so much. It's almost the same feeling as doing the dishes by hand and finishing realizing that you have done something and you can see a difference. Working out makes part of you feel like trash but the other part of you feel incredible at the fact that you have survived what you just put your body through. Speaking of which...after one month of diet and exercise I am pleased to announce that I have lost 10 pounds. I am so happy and I can see a difference. Accomplishing goals is such an unbeatable feeling. I love it.
We also went to my favorite mall and showed Elder Fenn around. Pretty hilarious to watch Elder SoCal feel at home in the mall with thousands of other visitors. We joked about how there was probably more people in the mall than in our last areas combined. =) It's pretty nice to be back in civilization.
On Wednesday this week, I officially did the next most stupid thing in my life behind the Adam Emmeneker challenge. So there is this frozen pond that we like to travel across. Why you ask...well simple...it is the shortest path between two points. Up until this moment in time this pond has been frozen solid. So with the increasing temperatures outside, I decided to try it again. Well I made it halfway across this pond and things seemed solid and I had zero worries. Well two steps later my foot went through. Now let me teach you a lesson that I learned in a matter of milliseconds. When falling through what appears to be solid ice, do the following...
1) Do not panic.... (My face would have seemed quite contrary to that emotion)
2) Spread out!! When falling through the ice do not center all your mass in one place. Gravity always wins. Spread out to cover more surface area, it's stronger that way.
3) Do not put the phone in the pocket of your leg that is going through the ice. If you forget this step see step 4...
4) Place phone in a bag of rice for an extended amount of time.
5) Make sure you are not miles from home and unmoisturized pants.
These are the things that I learned very quickly. Don't worry mom, I did not go all the way in. My right foot went in up to my hip. How deep was the pond? I do not have an answer but I know it was deeper than the span of foot to hip. I never touched bottom. It made the 2 mile walk back home real fun though. Hillary just had to laugh seeing me half wet though when we walked in the house. She loved it.
That night we had dinner with the Cline's. Why is this pertinent information for you all...well I got a roll up keyboard out of it. It's pretty amazing. I can play wherever I go now. =) One thing that I picked out the other day on the new keyboard is "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars. Well after getting the melody picked out in the key I wanted it in, I have taken my lunch breaks to perfect that song on the Nielsen’s grand piano. I made my own version and I love it. I have missed playing the piano so much. I am so blessed to have one full time.
Also, on Wednesday night, we had our appointments with President Jergensen. They went so well. We were able to find out exactly what is going on with Teresa. It was very nice to finally discover her issues so we can help her to progress. She has a very difficult road ahead but she most definitely knows that God loves her by now. She has some options to her and I think that alone is a relief to her. We also taught Lindsay with President. It was an incredible lesson. We taught about the 4th Article of Faith or in other words, the doctrine of Christ. It was awesome. It was so great to see the spirit present in that lesson. At one point that was the climax of the lesson, I felt very prompted by the spirit to tell her how it is that we found her. If you don't remember that story, I think I wrote about it a few weeks back. I told her that she was involved in one of the most spiritual moments of my life. As much as I would love to say that I was a man when presenting this story, I cannot. The genetic trait that I have inherited from my parents of crying when I am talking about things very special to me overcame me. I began to cry to put it simply. Lindsay did as well and the spirit taught her in that moment that Heavenly Father loves her enough to send his servants to her when she needed them most. It was such a learning experience for all present. It was not something that I can even say now that I know intellectually but I know spiritually that it is true. Man the spirit is awesome.
On Friday night, we were told that there was going to be a massive storm the next day so be prepared. Well we were as much as we could I guess. Anyway we woke up Saturday to a couple inches of fresh snow, the first of the year practically. We started on our journey to the library which is about 4 miles. We had to walk because the cars were grounded that day due to weather. Well it started to just dump snow. Not just for a little while either. All day! We made it a blast tho. It was this wet, wet snow so we were soaked pretty thoroughly. But every time we came to a giant pile where a plow had been, we tried to be like quarterbacks in football pretending the snow was the defensive line and we had to jump it. It was a blast. All things considered, we should've been miserable but somehow we weren't. It was really fun rather. I kinda wish we could do it again. Really good workout too walking in snow that is 6 inches deep and unplowed for nearly ten miles. That is no exaggeration by the way. On a more sensitive note tho, I really felt like I understood the pioneers a bit more. Something about being in Iowa and walking in bad conditions just makes you appreciate your heritage.
Things I learned this week--
-Gucci cologne....not that great.
-Rugby in a hardwood floor gym with carpet on the walls....awesome.
-I am t minus 200 days now...ugh.
This week during district meeting I had an interesting thought that I wanted to write about. I was thinking about life....for some reason I do that a lot. I try to focus on the big picture of just life in general. I started trying to compare it to a picture of connect the dots. We start out at that starting point in our lives. For everyone we can assume it is point 1. For a number of years we have no recognition or accountability for our actions so they are not counted until we are 8 years old but at the age of accountability new points show up. In reality, there are probably several "number two" points. We make choices to determine to which point we will be traveling next. We choose and advance down that path and we continue to make those choices until at some point we have our last point, the last decision we make in our earthly tabernacles of clay, aka bodies. That's all we get...we get one lifetime to connect the dots. I imagine that if we have chosen our path wisely our picture will be of Christ. That is the ultimate goal is to become like him. To create his picture with our lives. It's not an easy picture to recreate but it can be done perfectly. If we maybe make a wrong decision it is curable by Christ himself. In the Bible Dictionary, it says "the purpose of atonement is to correct or overcome the consequences of sin." Not just the sin itself but even the consequences of sin are absolved by the atonement of Jesus Christ. As we partner with him our picture may be perfect. Through Christ we are perfect. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive”. The atonement is conditional, however, so far as each person’s individual sins are concerned, and touches everyone to the degree that he has faith in Jesus Christ, repents of his sins, and obeys the gospel. Through those simple yet often difficult steps...we can have the perfect picture. It's really by small means. A new favorite scripture of mine to end with..."You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves." (D&C 123:16)
I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of Christ's gospel. It can heal you spiritually as well as physically. I am so grateful for all of you and your support. I could have written a thank you note this long or longer just of names to thank for the life lessons I have learned in my life. I love you all.
Hugs and Kisses,
Elder Excell
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