The odds are stacked in your favor.‏

This week has been such a great week! That does not mean that it was necessarily easy but it was great! I'm really excited to tell you all about it.

But first some epic news that I wish to convey because I am so proud of my accomplishment. I saw a number on the scale today, actually this morning that I have not seen in literally years now. I officially weighed in for the week of July 1st at 179 pounds even. Pretty awesome considering about 6 months ago, to the date, I weighed 201 pounds. I know, to all of you who read this, that probably doesn't mean much but to lose weight in this mission period is an accomplishment. The average weight gain of our mission is 40 pounds. Keep in mind that is the average. These corn-fed Iowans love to make the missionaries corn-fed young men and it shows. Anyway, I've been on cloud nine since I saw that number this morning. 22 pounds in 26 weeks. =)

We killed some more animals this week. And just as always we didn't mean to. We actually started a kill record in the apartment because it almost seems uncanny the amount of innocent lives that have perished in our behalf. For a bunch of young men trying to save souls, we're doing well at ending them. Elder Brown marked up a chipmunk on the list this week. Weapon used: the toe end of his shoe. As he was trying to catch it he accidentally kicked it while running and well it hit a rock and after some convulsions, he passed away. The other fatality this week came in the form of a frog. We caught him successfully, but in the process, the poor toad took some rough grass to the throat and was bleeding pretty good. I guess he was bleeding not like a stuck pig, but a stuck frog. Anyway, in an effort to save him, Elder Brown tried to throw him in the river so he could clean up and heal, he threw him and while flying through the air, he hit a tree with considerable force and he didn't move after. I feel bad about the deaths I've witnessed but they were all innocent and in all honesty some really good memories.

I've come to realize on my mission that if your apartment is not situated near a bar or someone who is heavily addicted to illegal substances you must not be a real missionary. Lucky for us we have both. The bar is fun to listen to on any given night. We also have a lady who lives next to us who we have nicknamed "Tweeker Lady" because she is always tweekin. Anyway, last night we had a particularly good conversation with her. Let me fill you in on the dialogue:
Tweeker Lady: Hey Mormons! Where are you walking? What are you carrying? How are you?
Dashing Missionary #1: Hey! We're good. How's it going?
Tweeker Lady: Good!
.....Awkward silence......
Dashing Missionary #1: Alright, well... see ya later.
(Exit stage right to the safe haven of an apartment.)
She's quite enjoyable to talk to. I once heard from somebody in town that she downed a half gallon of milk that she just purchased in the middle of a gas station, belched, and walked out to ride her bike home. Keep up the good work tweeker lady. You inspire me.

Our zone hit our baptismal goal for the last three months and the reward for doing so is a zone p-day. In district meeting as we tried to come up with ideas as to what we should do when the day arrives we had some great ideas. I will name a few for your entertainment. Keep in mind we are in Waverly Iowa. 1. Nickle and dime large corporations. 2. Fight off hoards of the undead and eliminate the zombie apocalypse. 3. Dress up as little kids and play in the sandbox while drinking juice boxes and eating graham crackers. Needless to see we are pretty creative. I'm not sure what the end decision will be but I would not be surprised if we end up in Live action Role Plays with foam swords and and foam shields in the public park. =)

After district meeting, I had the best idea of my life. We had blown up some balloons with helium to give to Elder Poulsen because he looks like the guy from "Up". After which we had sufficient balloons to each tie one to our belt and have a battle royal from mario kart. Of course hitting each other wasn't appropriate so we used our pens to pop the balloons. The video is hilarious. I can't wait to hear what you think about it.


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

We had the awesome opportunity to give several blessings this week. I love giving blessings. I absolutely love it! We gave a blessing to man who has been having some serious health issues in his neck and can't feel the extremities of his right hand. We blessed him that if he was obedient to the gospel which he was being taught he would be healed. As I said the words, I almost felt nervous about what I had just uttered. But then I thought, why not? The spirit definitely put those words in my mouth and I cannot deny it. And I know that the faith of others can do miraculous things. I have seen them done. Then why could this man not be healed by the same authority Christ had? Especially after being instructed to follow the gospel plan and keep the commandments? I see no reason why God would not bless a man who does this! I also had the privilege to give a blessing to a very special lady. She is such a great lady but sometimes things just get hard. Sometimes the pressures of life amount to more than we think we can bare and we just want to quit. I usually do not solicit blessings but when the situation arose, I asked if she would like one. I think I probably have never felt the spirit stronger than in that moment. There were things in the blessing that were almost to sacred to say anywhere else. I will only mention one thing of which I remembered saying because a large part of me needed to hear this as well. I said, "Do not ever forget the sacred time that Christ himself spent on his knees pleading to the Father in your behalf." I never understood so powerfully how sacred that time in that sacred garden was until I said those words. I love blessings.

Things I learned this week--
-Running every day makes your week so much better.
-Soy protein wrecks manliness and scares me.

 As I have been trying over the course of my mission to become the best missionary I can I have learned a lot of really good life long lessons but I think one stand our predominately this week. It is the simple fact that your life's greatest work is you. I don't mean what kind of job will you have, or what kind of house you will live in, or even what kind of car will define who you are. Rather it's deeper than that, when all of that is taken away, who will you be? Who are you when you remove everything and see yourself as God sees you. This is what is important when thinking and pondering the question common to people my age, "Who do I want to become?" We are always changing. It is the only constant in life; change. We are either progressing towards perfection or we are getting further from it. We are only a culmination of our choices. You can always change who you are. To deny the possibility of change is to deny the plan of salvation all together because that is why we are here. The plan of salvation is not a level playing field. It favors you! The odds are stacked in your favor! You can always, I repeat, always become who you would like to become. When life gets difficult, and things just get tough and you find yourself the object of Satan's playtime...You can escape and you have been given the dominant advantage to do so. The bottom line is all of us are here. All of us will live until we die. All of us will eat the same foods, visit the same locations, feel the effects of weather, live on the same planet, and for all intents and purpose go through life no differently than anyone else. With that in mind, the question I have to ask is why go through all of that struggle that is common to us all and not benefit from it? Why not take life by the horns and make out of it what we would like. I probably don't need to remind anyone that we are agents given the ability to act for ourselves and not to be acted upon. So many people get stuck in autopilot and let life make of them what it likes but those who truly understand the doctrine of the plan of salvation and of the atonement do not float on by being acted upon. It is up to you and me to choose where we end up. It will be determined only upon the small and simple choices we make that help us progress or digress. There is no third alternative. To make life what you would like it to be, rather than it making you what it would like you to be is really the only intelligent thing to do. It is our eternal goal. Let's go achieve it and choose to overcome anything in our way.

Hugs and kisses ya'll,
Elder Excell