So the next time that you hear from me, I will be including details on my travel information, and on when I hope to be able to call you all on the 21st. Also, the rest of my district will be in France, and with any luck I will have spent last night's class learning Tahitian with Elder Millett and co. Oh, but I should probably talk about this past week too.
So...last Tuesday, we were quickly sliding into pandemic-freak-out mode. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's where I left off. But. Shortly after I sent that email, Elder Martin (mon collegue) got sick. We went to the health clinic, and there were like 15-20 missionaries hanging out outside, while their sick companions sat inside. We started talking, we gave ourselves a cool band name (Companions of the Infirm), and I even got to see an elder I knew from summer tern 2011, which was fun. But yeah, with Elders Martin and Anderson down, we were officially at half-capacity as a district. I spent the rest of the day not touching anything. And magically, I didn't get sick! (Funny story, I'm pretty sure that's because I told Heavenly Father that I'm a lousy worker when I'm feeling sick, and I still had a lot of work to do. Hey, you don't argue with results, right?)
But, the MTC was enforcing a 24-hour quarentine for those who had been symptomatic (yeah, we're pretty serious around here), which meant that Elder Salmon and I were companions for Wednesday. For those of you who don't know, Wednesday is the day of the week when new missionaries come in, and this time, for the first time, our district was asked to help host. Meaning we meet the missionaries at the curb, help them with their luggage, and show them the cafeteria, their residence, and their classroom. It was actually really fun, despite the fact that it was definitely below freezing the entire time I was out there. Over the course of an hour, hour and a half, I ended up hosting three missionaries-all sisters (obviously hosting sisters is a little different, since we aren't going to go into their residence buildings). But yeah, in a group of not quite 400 missionaries, I didn't talk to a single host who had hosted more elders than sisters. And I didn't think it was apporopriate to ask them their age, but you know the 19-year olds are coming. The work is definitely hastening, and it is doing so largely on the shoulders of young women from 19-21. Craazy.
Not much else really exciting for most of the week, although I did get the opportunity to test if Kalei ever reads these things. Hey Kalei, this one's for you.
So on Saturday, my companion was dropping off some dry-cleaning in preparation to leave in a week, when suddenly someone I didn't know shouted "Hey, Elder Santos!". Short story shorter, I got to meet Elder Jason Barrus, who apparently recognized me. Not as me, but because he said that he used to play music with my brother Kalei. So yeah, we had never met, but he still knew who I was before he saw my nametag. I'm having trouble deciding how I feel about that. But anyway, Jason Barrus says "hi".
Also, I had one more medical adventure this week. Mom-don't freak out. So on Sunday, my bottom-left jaw started to get really stiff, right around the wisdom tooth extraction sight. It just felt a little bit bigger than usual, and it wasn't super comfortable to move. Eating was harder than usual. I massaged my jaw throughout the day, but didn't think much of it. Then, Monday morning, I'm going about my usual routine in the morning, when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. (See image 1 here) For those of you without an intimate knowledge of my jaw line, suffice it to say that I'm not usually quite so...asymmetrical. But yeah, my jaw was pretty wacky, and swollen more than it should have been. I ended up getting a medical appointment after gym, and the doctor said that it's probably just an easy-to-fix infection, but that it could be an only-slightly-less-easy-to-fix absess, and that I should see the MTC doctor that comes in on Thursdays. So...Hopefully I'll know something more in a few days. But it's really a lot better today, so I'm not anticipating it being a problem.
THE LITTLE THINGS:
So don't laugh. But! My little thing I'm thankful for this week is that...we are officially one week into the new year, and I have yet to write the date wrong. See, normally, I would spend the first month or two of the year writing the year as "2-0-1-2scribbledout-3". But this year? A confident 2013 every time. I mean, am I blessed or WHAT?
...okay, I need help.
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:
This week, let's talk about forgiveness. Why do we forgive? "Because we were commanded to do so." Well it's true, but experience tells us that we are only given commandments which are for our good. So why were we commanded to forgive? Because, as I've discussed before, damnation is defined as a stop in progress. And withholding forgiveness is one of those things that will grind us to a halt if we let it. Our forgiveness may mean nothing to the people it is offered to-they may not even notice its being given (or withheld). But when we forgive someone, we acknowledge two very important things. First, we acknowledge that God's will is more important than ours. Who among us can be anything besides the wicked servant (Matthew 13-ish?), withholding so little when we have been given so much, even our entire lives? Second, we acknowledge the very important fact that we cannot change the past, but we can refuse to let it restrain us. We can acknowledge that our thoughts, today, are more important than the actions of anyone else yesterday. Lot's wife looked back. We look to the future. Forgive, that we may be forgiven, and forget, that we may be free.
DID I FORGET ANYTHING?
I feel like I did. But I can't remember it. Oh well. I keep on wanting to add a new headline about how funny the scriptures are, but I'm running out of time. And yes, my sense of humor is making the slow descent into "missionary".
I love you, each and every one! I pray for you a lot. Oh, and communication probably won't be so easy when I'm gone, but I really do appreciate everyone's letters and packages that I've gotten here.
A le prochain!
-Elder Kamalu Santos
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