Week #6: Sacrifice isn't Deprivation; It's Motivation

LOOKPU COMMITTED TO BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yup, it's true! We had him attend a baptismal service which he apparently loved! We had forgotten to set up an appointment so when we knocked on his door and he was like,"Sorry, I didn't know you were coming today.  I'm busy right now but I loved the baptismal service and I want to be baptized!!". So cool! I think we have really been blessed. I feel like our whole district and especially our companionship has stepped it up. We're having better companionship studies, we're so much more focused and hard working throughout the day and we have set the goal to SYL from the second we wake up until 5 P.M. every day. It's been a huge sacrifice, not very fun, but we've just been like "Man up, let's get to work".

    Tuesday's devotional was awesome. It was Lance B. Wickman from the seventy that spoke and it was about obedience. He told this awesome story about how their head officer guy told their unit to set up defenses and part of that was to dig foxholes, which are 5x5x5 trench holes that soldiers could hide in when the enemy would attack. Anyways, the head officer said that when they were done with their foxhole, they could return home and have the rest of the day off. Well, the soldiers were eager to have some free time and so when it came time to dig the foxholes, they kinda just etched an outline of where they would've dug them if it was a real war situation and off they went. When the head officer guy returned to inspect their work he asked, "Where are the foxholes?" One of the soldiers stepped forward nervously, pointing the the etched outline on the ground and said, "These are our simulated foxholes." Well, as you can probably guess, the head officer guy was not happy. They did not go home early that day. Instead, they were out digging foxholes well into the night until the head officer was satisfied. What's the lesson here? A few weeks later, this same unit was called to battle and was required to set up defenses. As the enemy unloaded on them, they were safe, and not a single soldier was killed. However, some of the other units who had just gotten away with their simulated foxholes were not as fortunate. He wanted us to know that we must have exact obedience. He wanted us to know that obedience is not merely keeping rules but it is also understanding the underlying principles. He wanted us to think "devotion" when we thought of obedience because it's our devotion that will make us stand out and get people to listen to our message. He said "sacrifice isn't deprivation, it's motivation." I thought that was a really neat way of looking at the mission and following all the rules.

    The Easter fireside on Sunday was way cool too. President Boyd K. Packer came and spoke to us. He was actually surprisingly funny. (I say that with best of intentions). He gave a good talk about repentance and of course he tied it into Easter. Also, I didn't realize President Packer had polio. He told us a little bit about that challenge in his life and it was neat to hear how he remained and continues to be positive throughout his lifelong trial.

    Health wise, things look pretty good in our district. There's an influenza outbreak. I think we may have gotten a slight dose of it because myself and my two companions all got a sore throat, but just for a few days. Also Elder Langford is done with his testing and they found out what was wrong. It's nothing serious and he'll still be able to serve his mission and everything. We were definitely blessed there.

     This week we started something called "missionaries as progressive investigators". We think of someone we know who isn't a member and act as though we were them while one companionship teaches us. Then we switch. It's way fun! I choose to play Don Anderson, acting as the male version of Dawn Anderson from Dad's office. It's cool because we get to get a feel for what it's like being an investigator while we still continue to practice teaching.

    So we get two new investigators Trin and Amanda to pray for.

    Overall everything is great! I'm working hard and learning tons! Thank you all for your prayers!

Elder Hicken

P.S.  Thank you so much for your letters. I just got em, and I'm excited to read them! I'm so sad that my memory card got lost in the mail! I'll try to take more pics though and send them when I can. I'm really bad at it though.

And mom can you possibly send your caramel popcorn? One of the elders has been sharing some and it's okay, but I miss yours!!!

Love you guys!