Two Decades Of Life And Two Weeks Of Strife

Hello hello hello again, everyone! Coming live from the missionary who can now claim 20 years of age, its Elder McMullin! As always, if you would like to send me a cake or fine glitter confetti in the mail, I will happily accept it. But, without further ado, here we go!
  This week frankly was poo for work. Between the office and the area, things are moving much more slowly than dear old E. Muffin would prefer. We did a lot of finding, and got exactly two phone numbers. I did give out one Book of Mormon, but the guy left it in his grocery cart and a nice lady gave it back to me, so it was a bit of a moot point. This town is a harder nut to crack than dear old E city, as this place has one thing E city didn’t- money. This town is very glamorous and very fashionable, making it intensely difficult to talk to anyone- especially if you have to scream through brand new Airpod ones or be louder than a full Adidas tracksuit (complete with designer sunglasses). BUT! God has a way of dealing with difficult people, and we’ll keep trying our hardest to reach the hardest of hearts. Even if it means that we need seven years of famine or a Babylonian invasion, we can do it. Plus, we do happen to have the God of the Old Testament on our side, so that helps in case this dang town needs to get deleted Sodom-style.
     In other news, I have enlightened myself with my morning routine. You see, I was greeted to this new calling by Elder Morgan with a “Congratulations, you are now AP #4.” I thought he was joking, because the Office Elder position was historically notoriously bad at doing things like finding, teaching, and baptizing. Not so anymore! After my first full week we’ve had 3 separate meetings involving President, the MTC, and Tom, who runs the Social Media campaigns for everywhere NAFTA applies. Not to mention the constant stream of technology complaints across the mission, the entire digital system the mission uses being at our mercy (and constantly under construction), and the expectation to do a combined 12 hour job in 4 hours whilst still running a functioning branch of the church. All this has led to a little (Read: crushing) amount of stress on dear old Elder McMullin. Thus enter my saving grace: the bathroom. It turns out that the hot water heater here in Gayton is much better quality than the half-size barrel in Elizabeth City, meaning I can take as long of showers as I want. Brothers and sisters, I have gained testimony of the spiritual power of sitting down in the tub with the water on full blast and dissociating for 20 minutes. It has truly changed my life, and I hope that each of you will heed my words and feel the blessings from it.
      To explain the title line, this week is a week of twos. I turn 20 years old, which is both exciting and terrifying as a new decade dawns on me and I lose my ability to say “in my teenage years”. I wish I were back home to celebrate with everyone I love, but I know I’ll get plenty of birthdays back in Utah, and should enjoy my chance to celebrate here in glorious VA. It’s also the second week of the transfer that will either make or break me, and both seem entirely possible at the moment. But it is also the week of Easter, and I wanted to share a quick spiritual thought about two witnesses of Christ I cooked up for an LSI yesterday.
    The very last person who saw Jesus’ body (as recorded in the gospel of Luke, which I somewhat biasedly uphold as the best gospel) was Joseph of Ariamethia. Across the bible, he is described as craving, begging, and wanting Jesus’ body so badly that he was willing to ask the Roman governor (who just killed at least three people) for it. Fast forward to Easter, and the very first witness of the resurrected Lord was the famous Mary Magdelene, who's first reaction was to run, not saunter or stroll or smell the easter lilies, but run to the apostles and proclaim the famous “HE IS RISEN!”. We can learn a lot from these two, especially with the help of D&C 11:21, “but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men.”. First, like Joseph, we must obtain Christ in our lives. We must beg for it ,crave it, and face the terrors in our life for the chance to have Christ with us. Then, and only then, can miracles happen. Miracles like rolled away stones and empty tombs, roads to Damascus and golden plates. If we have Christ with us, there is simply nothing we can’t do. Even manage the 7 different linked spreadsheets or tell Elder Law once again how to fix his dang SIM card. 
     Anyways, I hope y'all have a fantastic week, and I’ll talk to y'all again soon!

From your favorite two-decade disciple,

Elder McMullin

Photos!
1. My Aldis Mac and cheese was a lil ornge. 
2. Peak SML experience
3. The current state of our teaching pool.
4. SHEER POWER!!!!
5. I read this as meaning "graciously racist", and frankly am not changing my mind on that.
6: average day in the office 





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