Deris, ya dead man?

Beep! Beep! Beep! 

Deris, ya dead man?

Nah man- we haf ta finish the race!

...And just like that I got out of my warm bed, heading to the side of my bed for my morning prayer. 

This strange dialogue that went through my head that morning is from my all-time favorite movie, the only movie where I could probably quote the whole entire movie: Cool Runnings of course! This particular scene was after the Jamaican bobsledders had just crashed in the medal round of the Olympics, with only 100m to go! Their journey had been difficult to get to this final race and now it looked like they would never finish the race! 

Well, this is kind of how I felt when I woke up that morning, thoughts like, "Dang. It is early and I just want to go to bed" and "Another day... of being cold and getting rejected..." These are just some of the thoughts that can dangerously flow into a missionary's mind. I had one of those weeks where it was hard! It was hard to be all mentally there. Christmas time was full of visits, caroling, and fun and this week was kind of quiet! Everyday I had to fight to "be all there" and to give it my very best. 

Fratele Petrescu

I love the parable of the talents (Matthew 25). 

14 ¶For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 

15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In this parable, there were three servants, two that worked hard to increase what they had been given by their master, and one who was "slothful". To the two who increased what they had been given, the Master replies,

" 21 ...Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Gosh, this is such a cool reward for the servants who just gave it their best shot in doing what they could with what they had been given! 

I realized that this is a parable that relates to me every single day of my life- of OUR lives. What we do each day, sends a message to our Heavenly Father, our actions show that we love him, that we want to be helped and receive His promised blessings! 

I reflected a lot this week about the message that I was sending Father in Heaven. I am not always 100% obedient, I don't always use my time the most effectively, but that is the beauty of this gospel- it is about making positive changes in out lives through the miracle to Christ's atonement. 

So I tried to make positive changes! I tried to change my attitude when I felt down, to get out and do something when I could have stayed inside, to make the most out of my time to study the scriptures, etc. Although sometimes it is very hard to do this, the satisfaction of "increasing your talents" is remarkable!

I saw the fruits of this by little evidences of God's love for me, like hearing something that I really needed to hear during a lesson with a member, or having a wonderful conversation with someone on the street, or reading a scripture that gave me guidance and an answer to my prayer. 

Old Man Hangman

GOD IS REAL. HE WANTS US TO BE HAPPY. All we need to do is listen to him, and follow His son. That is good news! That is the news of the gospel!

Sunset

To make you chuckle a little... we tracted [means going from door-to-door] a lot this week. Hours and hours! All villas/homes have a gate where you have to ring in from, and most of the time I can see over the fences. I looked over one gate and saw a man... and decided to start asking him if he wanted to hear our message... then I noticed his position... HE WAS PEEING!! I almost choked on my words and just decided to finish my little invitation to him. Needless to say, he was not too happy and told me to get away. HA! That was a good laugh!

Beautiful villa in Arad

So are you guys like dying to know what happened to the Jamaican bobsledders? Well, after Sanka's profound words, they decided to get up, and carry their sled to the finish. They finished the race!!! Now, whenever I get down, I think about Cool Runnings and chuckle a little. I always knew that my parents should have allowed me to watch that movie on Sundays!

Carrying bobsled to the finish line

Last selfie with Elder Giron who is being transferred to a new area this week.

I am starting a new transfer with a new companion who I am meeting tomorrow.  His name is Elder Wilstead and I hear he is pretty good at the language.  I am nervous, excited and determined to work hard.  I love Brother Joseph's Smith's motivational word - I WILL DO IT!

I love you all, and hope that everyone has a fantastic week. Let's all make some resolutions and increase our talents!

All my love, Elder Ditto

Elder Giron

Funny mall picture