This week we got a very brief note that concerned us:
Subject: Really quick
We ran out of time to write right now, but I'm going to come back in a few hours to finish. I have a good half of my email written. Just don't freak out if I actually can't send it off until Monday. But it'll come.
Yea, I don’t think so. We’re not waiting until Monday. We would, in fact, “freak out.” Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait that long. 3-4 hours later, we got the real email. Good thing for him that he sent it!
The precursor to this message was much good about everything. James went home from the hospital, David’s grandfather went home from the hospital. And Lindsay’s baby Reese was born. As we mentioned in our letters, “Yesterday was a good day.”
Subject: “Don't worry. Your computer is in a better place. Actually, it's in the same place, but now it's got a big hole in it!”
Yesterday really was a good day.
I absolutely love all the good news this week. I didn't really realize before now how many things were truly working against our family as a whole until now, when I see it all clearing. There you go. That should be good material for your talk, right Dad? It seems like in the last few weeks you've been given a ton of stories to share about adversity.
I feel like I should probably start reading my emails backward. Every time anything big happens, especially baby births, I get like five emails from different people that all say, “As I'm sure you've heard by now, Lindsay has had her baby.” or “You've probably heard already that James is doing better.” Actually I hadn't heard, but it's nice to hear the official news from six different sources before I read it from the actual person. It doesn't really affect anything I guess, I just thought you might want to be self-conscious the rest of your life.
Mom, I really appreciate you. Some of the things you say to me just fill me with joy. For example, “I forgot how much I love to spend money on my grown kids.” Oh Mom. Remember when I went on my mission and will have nothing when I get back? We'll have fun. Trust me.
Stacey, I'm sorry to hear about your ear thingy. That's kind of rough. I just had to say, though, that that's ironic that you had to wait hours for URGENT care. Ha. “He's in managed care. It's ironic, isn't it? He never managed to care for me.”
I also really laughed hard at some of the pictures this week. The one with Darci and the turkey leg probably wins, but the first one of Mike holding Reese right out in front of him gets honorable mention. Not because the picture is really that funny, but because I can basically hear Mike thinking, “Well, what do I do with this?”
But as I said, yesterday was a great day. You all know about the family stuff, but really for me it was good as well. We had interviews with president, and it was really awesome. He kind of machettied us a little bit since we still have absolutely no baptisms in the entire zone this month. That would be really bad if we end up like that. In all of President Lopez's time here, it would be the first time that it ever happened. But the interview really just boosted me and helped me to remember to do everything I can to become better. One of the last things that president said to me was that I should always ask myself if what I'm doing is the best thing I could be doing. That will help me to stay focused and active as a missionary. That's kind of something that you parents tried to teach me, too. Anyway, after that we went and taught the Vega family and Dennis, who are two of our investigators. They were really good lessons, and the whole time I was just focusing in on how I could invite the spirit more.
That's about all I have time for, but I want to explain really fast what happened today. This morning I had to go to the hospital to get a blood sample for my drivers license, and then we had to go to the equivalent of the DMV here to get the equivalent of my social security number so that I can get my license. Let me tell you, being in a foreign country isn’t really that different. You still have to wait hours at the DMV. So I came to write late and we ran out of time, and we had a zone activity where we went and played soccer, and now I am here again finishing this up really fast. I still don't have all the time I should, but there you go.
Thanks for all the support and all your emails. And for all the good news. This week was really refreshing after so many with bad news. I hope you all stay strong in your studies of the Book of Mormon, too. It really is a cool book. Also, I'm going to upload a talk to this email for you all to read. I want your opinions on it. That's an assignment.
I love you all!
Elder David Arrington
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