Lead, Kindly Light (11/9/2010)

So, I transferred late Tuesday night into the great city of Meridian, Idaho! It has around 50,000 people and is one of the wealthier areas of Idaho. I love it here. It's like Star. I know we didn't live in a rich neighborhood or anything, but being around people who are in the upper middle class is just more my thing. Probably why I wasn't called to Argentina. (Also, I don't know if you guys know the company Scentsy, but the owner/founder lives in one of our wards and is an AWESOME fellowship-er. He brought a whole family to church on Sunday!)

Elder Landeen is from Sandy, Utah (Like Elder Henao!) and was initially called to serve in Mongolia. Since then, the communists took over and told the church they'd have to pay to have visas for missionaries over there. Of course, the Church won't be subject to extortion, so they had to pull out all non-Mongolian missionaries. Elder Landeen came out July 8th, 2009, which may sound like a familiar date since it's the day I came out! We get along really well. Probably better than any other companion I've had. He's definitely a good friend already, like Elders Henao and Arnoczky are. We live with the Bearss family (pronounced like the alcoholic beverage) in Garden City, a small suburb of Meridian...which is a suburb of Boise...it's complicated haha.

So, as some of you may or may not know, I was recently called to be a Zone Leader. That means I'm now in charge, along with Elder Landeen, of about 25 missionaries serving from Meridian all the way to McCall, Idaho, about 2-3 hours north. We attend all of their District Meetings and help them out whenever they require assistance, while STILL keeping missionary work going in our own Stake. We cover five wards right now. I am also serving as the District Leader of the Eagle District, which means I have to provide a two-hour training meeting every week for those Elders and Sister, like I did in Twin Falls.

Being at 16 months is weird. To me, it's the last pure month before home starts seeming close. 17 months seems too close to 18 months, which means I only have 6 months. Haha, that sounds really stupid, but it makes sense in my head. 16 months is also the two-thirds mark of the mission, for those of you who aren't gifted in math, but it still doesn't seem like I've been out that long. It's funny, today Elder Landeen and I were talking to some Elders from our zone we were driving somewhere and they were talking about how strange it was going to be to have Christmas away from home. It hit us that this would be our second, and thereby last, Christmas on the mission. That was a weird feeling.

We also have had Elder Begg, a good friend of mine that I served around in Rupert, serving with us for a few days before he gets the Big Transfer. He'll be reassigned to his home in Odessa, FL. It's funny, I met him when I was but 3 months old in Rupert and now he's going home. There's certainly an odd vibe about him as he's excited/sad/nervous about going home. I feel that way in tiny bits from time to time, knowing that this is all going to end in 8 months. I'm excited, of course, to be reunited with friends and family once again, but seeing the change that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings to people's lives on a daily basis is an experience comparable to almost nothing else. It is truly a privilege to be called of God to serve Him and help others see the goodness He has in store for them. It brings to mind one of my new favorite scriptures from the Old Testament: Nahum 1:7. "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him."

I know the Lord DOES know those that trust in Him. In the analogy of a great friend, if we'll be trust in Him, have faith, hope and charity, and let Him drive the motorcycle while we sit in the sidecar, we can never go wrong. He will direct us into paths of righteousness and happiness. This much I know.

Until next time, my friends,

ZL Hops