My Side Quest: Trials

This week was a bit of a tough one for me. Something weird was going on, and I became pretty off. I would occasionally have a bad headache, or my body would ache, or I'd be super tired, or I'd be a bit feverish. I got to go to the urgent care on Tuesday, where I was for the next three hours. They drew my blood to see if I have mono or something. I do not have mono. The results came back today (Monday) and they said I have a virus which can be responsible for mono, but they don't know what I have, so if I am still feeling off for five more days, I get to go back again. How exciting.

I had the opportunity to eat dinner at a restaurant with a member this week. Thai Bamboo! It was really neat. I have always had a love for the Asian culture, and so I was in a very good place. There was really sweet traditional music, statues, foods, and even Asian servers. It felt authentic to me. The only reason I wouldn't come back would be that all of the statues were topless... but other than that, I had a fantastic time. I even got to try a new food this week! Bamboo shoots! They aren't amazing, but I was glad to add it to my list. It was a very good dinner.

I was given the chance to play the piano for a sister missionary on Sunday. We practiced a few times and then we performed in sacrament meeting. She sang a song called "All of my Heart". I haven't ever heard it, but it's a nice one. It was fun practicing some new music and being able to perform. It was always one of my favorite things to do in church back at home, even though it didn't happen terribly often.

On Wednesday, we got to finish working on the bike we started on last week. I do not know too much of what I am doing, but I am enjoying the sense of fulfillment I receive from fixing something up by myself. I wish it was something I could bring with me back home, but there are many tools that I haven't even seen before which are necessary to do the job. At least I am providing service and learning some skills about how some things work. It is a lot of fun. The man who owns the bike shop commonly wears a badge which shows how much fun he is having. He always moves it to maximum fun when we come over. He is a great man. I think he has a facebook page for it called shacktown bike shop or something. If you can find it, you might see some pictures of me and other missionaries working on bikes. No guarantees.

A tragedy happened to one of my investigators on Wednesday night. It reminded me of a tragedy from when I was a lifeguard at Seven Peaks. Because of confidentiality with that incident, I can't tell you too much. What I can tell you is, some man got a severe concussion, and it probably could have been prevented if I had been more vigilant.

Anyways, I had kept that memory in the back of my mind, but the words of my investigator brought it back to my memory, and I fell into a pit of depression. It was really hard for me to feel ok, and I just wanted to curl up with a bag of chips by myself. The next morning, in my studies, I read Nephi's Lament, which takes place in 2nd Nephi chapter 4. He expresses that he is feeling really bad about himself. It hit me because I had a goal this week to be as tolerant and great as Nephi. I then read this chapter which implies that he had a really rough time in the past, but he never wrote it into the plates. I realized that Nephi, like me, was having a hard time feeling ok. When he wanted to be happy, he was weighed down with sorrow. It made me feel better to see that I wasn't alone.

I then went to watch some Mormon Messages. I came across one which I had never seen before. "Like a Broken Vessel." I didn't know it had the Son of a Man who means a lot to me in it. Seeing him made me pay extra close attention. I watched the entire thing and cried when I came across a part where a girl said something like, "God loves me and so it is worth getting help". I then prayed really hard to overcome these difficult feelings I was having. I took a shower, and then sat on my bed while listening to my music, still in the same emotional state. A song which I had grown fond of in the MTC came on, called "It's Good to Be Alive". I sat there, asking myself how someone could be so happy and sing a song like that. I then had a thought come to mind that I needed to smile. It was hard, but I forced myself to smile with teeth, all by myself in my room. I felt something change inside of me. I then started bouncing to the tune of the song, and then even playing the instruments in the air. In a matter of seconds, my mood had increased from a 0 to a 9 on the happiness scale. I was so glad that I had been healed by such simple means. This was an answer to prayers. God didn't want to just heal me instantly, so instead, he provided a means for me to work to overcome this. I am so grateful that He cares enough about me to show me how to feel better in the future. After all, like I said in the MTC, He cares about me so much that He helped me when I wouldn't help myself.

That's all I have for this week. Thanks for caring enough to read this!