Josh Mission Email March 9: Sunsets
Hey guys!
It was a good week here in Provo, and I am officially over the halfway mark.
Chinese is getting kind of crazy, but I can tell I’m getting better. If you guys haven’t studied Chinese before (can’t imagine why), it is a tonal language, which means that each syllable pattern has 5 different ways you can say it. Each sound has a different meaning, and you have to pick up on tones and remember which tone goes to which word. BUT, that’s not hard enough, so there are REPEATS. I know the same thing happens in English too, but it’s pretty common in Chinese to have the same sound with the same tone mean completely different things. To get it right you just need to guess based on context. All that is to say at this point I’m glad I’m getting a few more weeks of training before I head to the field.
Early arrivals were so chill this week, there were only 3 of them at first so we got to know them pretty well. It’s crazy that 2 of the groups of early arrivals we have had already have missionaries out in the field if they are speaking English. The 3rd group is packing today, which makes me feel like an unc.
We went to the Provo City Center temple as a district and it was SO COOL. The inside is gorgeous. Because it is built like the old tabernacle, the outside and inside are a lot different than any other temple, but it’s still ornate and crazy detailed. We got to take the UVX bus over and it brought back a ton of memories. We got back on the bus and went to class right after the temple, but it was still so nice to see the outside world.
Speaking of the outside world, Elder Toganivalu had to get his wisdom teeth out, so we got to take a field trip. It sucks that it had to happen while he’s in the MTC, but he was saying that in Fiji they aren’t very thorough with their anesthetics so maybe this was for the best. They didn’t let us come in while he was coming off the laughing gas, which was so disappointing. The woman at the front desk DID give me a Dr. Pepper, so all is forgiven. Also, wisdom teeth removal only took Elder Toganivalu down for one evening before he was back to being good to go to class. Not only that, but he only missed ONE MEAL before he was back to eating like normal. I swear I couldn’t even open my mouth for like 2 days.
We got to watch the sunset Saturday night and it was probably the highlight of my week. I’ll throw some pictures in but the pictures never do it any justice, especially with the camera on this phone. I think that’s kind of cool though, because every new sunset is a chance to be amazed. It’s a lot harder to compare sunsets without accurate pictures, so every so often when you get one of those phenomenal ones it feels like the best you’ve ever seen.
PERFECT SEGWAY INTO MY SPIRITUAL THOUGHT, which comes from A FIRE talk by Thomas S. Monson all the way back in April 2003. In talking about plans, goals, and the future, he says, “One of the best definitions of success I have ever heard goes something like this: Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal” and “Fear is a deadly enemy of progress”. In our lives, we all have regrets in the past that might hold us back, and we have lessons that we can learn from our past experiences. We also have goals and desires for the future that can motivate us to work, or trap us in a state of wistful wishing. President Monson says “Learn from the past, prepare for the future, live in the present”. Just like the sunset, every new day brings us opportunities to enjoy what we have in life. We don’t need to be stuck in the past or future, because what we have right now is amazing.
If you want to read the talk, here it is. It’s such a good message and it’s filled with so many anecdotes so it’s a fun read too.
Quick shoutout to BYU basketball for beating Texas Tech, maybe this’ll keep the little brother allegations at bay for a while.
Love you guys!
Elder Banks
