Week #80 No One is Perfect

This week, ah man, has been interesting!!! It has been a trying week of realizing I am not as in shape as I think and getting rejected all day.... So, we have this thing called NO COMPANIONSHIP LEFT BEHIND, which sounds a lot like President George W. Bush’s no child left behind, and while it sounds like a good idea, I hate it, and I am sure my Grandpa John doesn’t like it. Ahahha! It’s just a lot of work for a purpose I do not know why, but hey! That’s part of being a missionary. Sometimes you don't know why you do it, but in the end it all works out. Well, the AP's decided to text me 20 min before they suprised us for an exchange, and all I could text back was why is this happening!!!! Anyways, it was fun! Elder Vandi and I took the seats off our bikes so that we would not be tempted to sit down and rest. So that’s pretty you Banfa. Anyways, we also had to drop an investigator after an hour long argument of the logical answer with the Church, and Joseph Smith, and Commandments and all that I knew that I could not win over logic, because the Book of Mormon while it has logical evidence is a faith based thing. Ya. So I just bore my testimony. Sam, I could sit hear all day and I could tell you logically why the BOM or Joseph Smith is a true prophet. I could sit here and tell you how imperfect I am. I could argue through science why this seems to be right, but what it all comes down to is reading and praying. You have done neither and you laugh now, but I promise you Sam, in the near future, you will be brought to your knees, and I hope by then you will read this. I can't say I know if this is all true. No one can really know. But I can promise you that I believe, and I try. I have been through trials like you. I have seen friends die, said good bye to loved ones, and so on, but Sam, I promise you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that if you read and pray sincerely, this can help you". Sadly, he needed to be dropped. So that was rough. Elder Vandiford came down as you know, and we took the seats off our bikes, because we do not have time to sit down. I have always dreaded going on exchanges with him, but always walked away feeling more enlightened about myself. He is an awesome guy. I feel he really helped me with finding out there are really people who get answers to things. I relate to how he talks to go as a quarterback with a mike in his helmet and God is the coach. God calls the plays he runs them. Touchdown! Me on the other hand.. I didn't study the plays, so when God gives me the sign, I can't read it, and just run my own play. Not always a Touchdown. Something that I read is about Ammon, about how he asks the king about God, and he answers and says, Ya know, I don't really know a lot about said God, but I am willing to believe in him, and exact obedience. Sometimes, it’s like football the coach, through a lot of experience, calls a play, and the new time QB has no idea why he is calling the play, and he actually feels that the coach is making the wrong decisions. A lot of times the coach’s choice pays off. That’s an example. I am really working on respecting authority.

That’s a copy and paste version of it all. Well, I feel impressed to tell you about Sunday nights. No matter how bad the week is, no matter what, without fail, Sunday nights bring us back.  Good things always help us and if we spend the entire week wondering what the hell we are doing and why the hell we are here, Sunday night’s show us. It’s a magical thing. We had a member lesson and, ah man, I love this family. They are way too good to us, and just hearing there conversion story. It was nice hearing it. The father said that all his life he was looking for the meaning of life, and Buddhism, Daoism, and the Christian churches spread out, couldn't really give him the whole picture, but when he heard the plan of salvation, it clicked and was like cake to him. Pretty cool thing.

I also after reading Elder Krieger's email feel impressed to say that part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is loving and forgiving. It’s sad, but true. The most judgmental ones are ourselves inside of Utah. That’s part of the reason I went inactive, is just the judging. That’s the biggest reason for inactivity here, judging. I think we should all realize that none of us are perfect, so we have no right talking about so and so who did this. I am by no means perfect. Sometimes I swear, even when I try not to. Sometimes, I want to punch the Taiwanese Mafia guys in the face. Sometimes, I don't have the best thoughts. But, I am trying to be better. So, I invite everyone to be less judgmental.

Elder Buhler