Week 79: Miraculous Munch and Mingles

Hello everyone! Here we are once again. I feel that the weeks are getting shorter and shorter, and yet, in the midst of them, I feel they get longer and longer. The passage of time has become muddled and at the same time clear. It sufficeth me to say that indeed, the sunset of my mission has begun, albeit a slow one. I hit eighteen months on saturday and felt the occasion deserved some extra pomp, so I did the same thing that I do every day. It was a blast though. I was even treated to fake mexican food (their words not mine) for dinner by a family in the ward #elpasoforthewin

In honour of being out for 18 months, I thought I would share with you 18 things I have learned on my mission so far:
1. Exact obedience does not mean perfection in execution, but perfection in expectation.
2. Running in the morning does make a difference in your day
3. Some of the best friendships are forged in furnace of time and affliction. 
4. There are times when you need to sacrifice sacrificing in order to survive.
5. People are much more likely to remember the questions you ask them rather than the advice you give them.
6. You cannot do anything for anyone else. 
7. Life is not a weekly or monthly battle, but a daily one.
8. Ice cream does not always solve the problem, but it helps.
9. True service is determined by attitude not action
10. It is okay to stand up for yourself, even when it goes against what everyone else is saying.
11. Never underestimate the power of a thank you card.
12. Assigning blame NEVER solves a problem.
13. You need to find ways to nurture yourself.
14. Sometimes you sing the harmony, sometimes you sing the melody. Both are of equal importance.
15. God is real.
16. Jesus Christ knows me more than anyone else, and through Him, I can do anything.
17. Families are eternal. Remember that.
18. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God's church on the earth today and it was restored by a living prophet.

Scripture of the Week: Moroni 9:6

British Food of the week/companion comic: porridge - Elder Allkja has eaten this for almost every meal this week haha

Guest star: sweet cous cous - it's amazing. Its like cream and fruit and cous cous. Wow. Sweet cous cous. Wow. 

I love you all so much. It's all downhill from here!

Elder McKinley 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 75: Të Keqen

Image
Sup all you evil people. That's what you'll think I'm calling you if you literally translate this from Albanian. The actual translation is basically "I take the evil from you". Basically imagine an old lady (nona) seeing a little lid trying to tie his shoes. She would say "o Të keqen". So yeah it's my new favourite phrase.  This week has been a bit crazy but it's been crazy good as well. Monday was a bit difficult. I was in denial that I was leaving the Isle of Wight. It was a really great day though. We went around visiting all of the people I had come to love. And packing. Way too much packing. But yeah. It was rough. I maybe cried like 3 times. But no more than 3 times.  Then the fateful day came and Elder Brown and I had to part ways. Tears. But, that kid is tearing it up down in the Isle of Wight and he is so ready for anything. Love that kid.  So here's a bit about my new companion: Name - Elder Allkja  POB - Albania...
Read more

Week 41: The Bolshevik of Bideford

Image
Hello! This week has been fairly interesting but it also feels like I wrote you all yesterday so bear with me as I attempt to figure out what happened this past week and put it all into words put together for your viewing pleasure. You are welcome to read them as well as look at them, but, rest assured, the words will be beautiful nonetheless. So at the end of last preparation day we went as a district to this museum called pitt rivers. Basically its a museum of all kinds of things from all over the world. There is everything from shrunken heads to ancient weapons to a massive totem pole that is three stories tall. There are so many cool things to look at that I have still not seen everything and that was my third visit there. I had the chance to go on exchange with Elder Dos Santos. He is from Brazil and he is a pretty cool guy. We had a pretty good time. Okay, I am going to be honest with you here. I really can't think of a whol...
Read more

Week 96: Two's a Company...

Image
Well, believe it or not, we are here once again. After the events of the last few months here in London, I didn't really think that things could get much weirder. I was already working in the office and speaking portuguese. Then Friday happened.  Long story short, we're now in a trio.  Haha our new companion is Elder Grimaldi from Brasil. He arrived Saturday at Heathrow. Elder Coelho and I went there to pick him up.  *disclaimer* being at Heathrow with only 7 weeks left on your mission is a sublime experience. It may or may not make you think about the impending events WAY more than normal. But hey, we were there with a purpose, so it was all good. But wow, what a blast.  Other than our new companion (he's only companion's with us for the week and then he will get assigned his official missionary trainer next week during the transfer), this week has been pretty typical. We have had a lot of lessons, dinners, and crazy portuguese conversations. I love ...
Read more