FAT and PRIDEFUL!

Haha,

Sorry, I'm still laughing at this weeks title. Anyway, There's been a lot going on here in Ireland. I've been learning so much about myself; probably a whole lot more than I ever really wanted to know. God has taught me a lot of things about my character and how I need to grow and improve and I'm working at it slowly but surely.
This past week was pretty good, I mean we didn't teach as much as we would have liked, but the few times we did, and the people who we talked to on the street; you could really see how we made an impact in their life. It made me happy :D
I had an interesting experience though, or rather I've been having an interesting experience! Since I got on my mission I have found that it's been more and more difficult to manage my weight and build muscle and do all the things I did back home. It's near impossible to wake up at 6:30AM and immediately start into a full-blown "push yourself to the edge" 1/2 hour workout. Really you end up doing a couple sit-ups, a couple push-ups, and then you jump in the shower and start your day. Walking all day isn't really that great of a workout, despite what everyone says. It really just gives you a thicker soul on the bottom of your foot. However, back to the point and besides my excuses. I've noticed that I reached a point where I could keep myself at my 185lbs that I had attained back home. However I noticed that I've been losing a lot of muscle as well :(.
It was kind of frustrating and was kind of building on me until finally I got really frustrated and told my companion that I couldn't spend all day everyday letting my body go to shambles! I was talking to him about how they used to do "Soccer Saturdays" where people would get together and play soccer and you could come if you had an investigator (which they no longer do). I talked about how they used to do Zone Sports, and how they used to do a Zone activity, and how they used to allow you to get together with your district on P-Day and play sports. All these wonderful sporting activities had all gone away, and I was coming in just at the end of them, so that I didn't have any way to keep my body in shape! Not to mention the fact that the less you exercise, the less energy you have! In my mind I was becoming a fat and apathetic servant of the lord!
As humorous as they may sound to those who read it, I was truly in quite a dilemma and in speaking to my companion we actually got into a little bit of a heated debate over it. He seemed to not care about what I was saying or my point in the whole matter.
So back and forth we went until I became truly frustrated at him, and walked out of the room while he was speaking to me! I went downstairs and prayed earnestly to the Lord to find out why I had gotten frustrated over such a small thing with my companion. Why couldn't he just see it my way? Why couldn't he just understand what I was trying to say? I mean, I fully understood him, didn't I?
As I was praying I thought of something that's been on my mind lately, kind of a quote from scripture that's always had personal significance in my life; "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks". As I got this thought I tried earnestly to humble myself to the point where I could get some revelation. The spirit told me to not seek to be understood, but rather seek to understand. So I went back upstairs and gave him a hug, and allowed him to resume his comments. He made some good points and I learned some interesting things about my character. But I learned some very poignant lessons about pride. Pride is not about being right or being wrong. Pride is not about having something or not having something, nor coveting something or not coveting something. Pride is about thinking you're right and because you are right, all others must be wrong. It's seeking to be understood, before you seek to understand. Sometimes (as was this instance with my companion) the other person doesn't even want to understand you, but besides that, you still need to understand them. Because when you do, you learn to humble yourself and when you learn to humble yourself you learn something new.
My companion, in his points wasn't in anyway wrong, though at the same time neither was I. We were both right, but neither of us were willing to understand one another, we were both seeking to be understood. It's funny because this is an issue that might have otherwise bothered me (continually) but even knowing now that he didn't understand my point, doesn't bother me because I understand him. Even though we still disagree. It was my opportunity to grow. I'm guessing this is kind of what compromise is about.

Anyway, in order to still bring about my devious purposes (muahaha) I talked him into getting the bikes fixed so that we can start biking to the neighboring towns near Sligo :D. That's my new scheme to keep in shape and get more energy, while still working hard in the service of the Lord.

All in all, since I've come on my mission I've learned that a lot of my issues (if not all) are linked to pride. The lord tries to teach us a lot of things, but usually the only reason that we can't or don't learn from our life experiences is because of pride. In fact, (or rather, I think) the only reason that learning experiences are painful is because of pride.

Hopefully I'll be able to work on that a whole lot more. I know that the Lord blesses us in all our righteous efforts. I know that he seeks ways to help us in all the things we do. I know that he knows best and as we communicate with him through the spirit we will know his will for us and how we can grow. I love the gospel so much and I love all of you.