1-1-15

Well, I'm once again in the Apple Store. No pictures this week :S

In any case, things are going well. This last week was difficult, but it was also fun, and I definitely learned a lot. We had Zone Training this week, which was good. For one of the trainings the Tseun Wan Sisters got up and pulled out a picture of Christ. They were very quite, and spoke very slowly. "This, is Christ." They talked about Him and His life, and then wrote on the board, "Why are we here?" It was very inspiring and made me think really hard about my reasons for being here. A little self evaluation. 

After Zone Training I got to go on exchanges with Elder Breedlove, the one from Arizona. It was fun and we enjoyed the time we had. It was super interesting to see how two trainees could handle several lessons a bit of time finding out on the street. Comparing is not a good thing, but I definitely came to realize that, even though it's been hard to work so hard and to struggle so much, it's paying off. I feel like I'm farther ahead in many ways than many of the other missionaries in my group. I made a few goals to keep me moving forward, and plan to Look Towards the Mark. Looking Towards the Mark is a speech that President Hawkes gave to the BYU students back in 2003 or so. It's all about focusing the Mark, or the line of 100%, rather than letting yourself look towards the Tolerance Line. If you're focused on the line of tolerance, which shifts continually, you'll never reach your full potential, and you most definitely will not be in tune with God's way of thinking. But if you focus on the Mark, then no matter where the Tolerance Line shifts to, you'll always be moving forward and drawing closer to your goal. President Hawkes has been really pushing us to think hard about this and what it means to us.

I love this example he gives in the speech; An American computer company wanted to create some new business opportunities in other countries. They signed a contract with a company in Japan to make parts for the computers. They sent a letter to the company that said they would accept only "10% defective parts," or, in other words, they expected 90% of the products to be made to specifications. The company accepted the offer. When the products finally arrived they found that the boxes were full with 100% made to specifications. There was an additional box, though, with a note attached that read, "We're sorry if this causes any inconvenience, but we weren't quite sure what you meant by "90%." Here are the 10% defective parts you asked for. We had to change our processes to make them and it took some time. We're sorry for the delay."

Just goes to show that it is possible and expected to be 100%. 

I think we should just marry the two things I've talked about; 

Look Towards the Mark

He is the Christ

I'm changing a little bit everyday :D