Service: a Marvelous Work

Hey everyone so this week was a pretty interesting week. On Wednesday we got the opportunity to do service as a district at the community food bank. We helped clean up the trash around the food bank, cleaned out the food truck and swept up the warehouse. It was a good time being to help others in service as well as have fun with the other Elders. I guess I never realized till my mission that service can be fun if you make it fun! Also on Wednesday Krystal our investigator found Elder Ballard's handle bar grips haha. The kid that we suspected and asked lied straight to our faces had them haha, so it was good to have them back.

Well, Thursday was quite the day, me and Elder Ballard were having a normal day while we were out and about. While we were talking to some people in the apartments close to our house the sky started to turn super dark and a cold wind was blowing in. We hurried and got back to the church to get our bikes, on the way home it started blowing super hard and the wind was picking up dust and leaves all around. It was pretty crazy because the elementary school close to our house had just gotten out about 5 minutes before this storm rolled in so all the kids walking home were running around haha. I crossed the street while Elder Ballard was taking a picture of the mountains. I grabbed my camera and started recording because I told Elder Ballard, " I think there is going to be a tornado". 

It was pretty funny because so many cars were going by that Elder Ballard was stuck across the road for about 10 minutes. While I was recording one of our windows shattered from the wind pushing it open. 

Luckily we got inside as soon as the rain started coming down. 

We later found out that a tornado had gone through Washington Terrace area and we saw pictures of the storm and damage it had done in that area. Everyone was pretty freaked out and shocked here in Utah but me and Elder Ballard are pretty used to tornadoes, so it wasn't a big deal to us.

We had exchanges this week. It was the day after the storm, the high was 47 degrees and it was raining the entire day. We had a musical fireside practice up in Ogden at the Tabernacle next to the temple. It was a super cold day and luckily we were able to get a lot of rides and stay dry. We had one last speedball game with all the missionaries that were going home next week. It was fun to be able to play with them one last time and to be able to spend time with them.

Monday, the day of the 5K! So today we got to the park around 10 am for the mission wide 5K, it was pretty cool we all got our numbers and tags and we got in our zones. The way they did the race was one zone ran than another, we staggered the zones so we were not all running at once. It was pretty weird because some people were finishing before we even started. The first half of the 5K was pretty good for all of us mostly the entire zone was together and then the second half of the race was bad, we all started getting side stitches and it was pretty miserable but it was fun being able to run with each other. We all finished at a pretty decent time. We found out that some Elders cut and cheated which made us pretty mad because we wanted those free tshirts!. After the race we had lunch and we played football for a couple more hours. I was pretty bummed because I left my expensive pants and sweatshirt at the park on accident.

Connor is in sunglasses on the left side of the photo toward the middle.

I just wanted to share a thought about service. Like I said earlier in my blog that I have learned that service doesn't have to be boring or a burden but it can be fun. After the storm on Thursday I was so impressed at the service that went on after it. People from all around, friends, neighbors, kids all were helping and doing service to help get the trees, sticks, trash, etc. cleaned up. It is awesome to see people willing to go out of there way to help others in need. I can't tell you enough how awesome it is/ feels to see that look of relief and happiness on a person's face when you serve those around you. 

 I really like these two scriptures regarding service. The first one is in the Bible, it's 1 Timothy 6:2 - "And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort." And the other scripture is found in Mosiah 2:17- "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." I really like those verses about service but especially Mosiah 2:17. That statement is so powerful and has so much meaning. That when we are willing to help other people out, we are not only serving them but we are serving God which is awesome. 

I just wanted to bear my testimony about the important of service and what a marvelous work it is. I would like to invite all of you to look for opportunities to serve others throughout the week, and I know if you do that you will notice a big difference throughout the week, I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.