Ya, I'm bored of all that MTC crap too.
My dad is Elder Sigmund and he's a pretty cool dude. I think we're going to get alone and we do for the most part (remember, I'm still kinda prickly). "T-day", or transfers, is a lot like a P-day with much more work. Lots of packing of bikes, luggage and even more mission gossip. Missionaries from all around gather and chit-chat like there's no tomorrow. I try to play it cool like I know what's going on and do a pretty good job (lots of practice). I win 2 games of dominoes (pure blind luck, I didn't even understand the rules) and I'm a "good kid". You see, there are "good kids" and there are "bad kids". Bad kids make the parents life hell. I turned out to be a "so-so-kid" I think for my dad. I had a lot of inner conflict with breaking ANY of the mission rules, albeit I was lienent on some of them, such as the number of hours of study in spanish, memorization, etc. I had to ask a few missionaries if it was okay that we played dominoes... we WERE in the Stake Center and it wasn't P-Day... Those missionaries not just hanging out were memorizing still. Needless to say I was burnt out from memorizing. If I could describe a room full of missionaries rocking back and forth, some in corners, some with certain "lucky" books, some with specific poses, this room is full of misisonaries memorizing in the MTC. It looked like an insane assylum (literally), and I no longer wanted to wear my straight-jacket. However, I was still very enthused about teaching and doing, which quickly turned into my dad doing, because my spanish sucked and I was embaressed to even try.
Let's get down to what I'm really supposed to be writing about: girls. As I look around me from side to side I see a lot of girls. And they are all staring at me. Obviously I am very white, very American, and quite possibly a member of the CIA (I'll get to that later haha). The girls I'm looking at turn out to be around fifteen and sixteen. Nothing like a fear of pedefilia to keep a missionary on track I'll tell you what. Naturally I do not "look", as in checking them out as they pass by or watching from our second story open balcony (which extends around the street corner connecting 3 streets). I am thankful I only had to live in that house once, and I am more thankful that it was at the start of my mission and not the last part... you see, every missionary starts to look eventually, and it just gets worse as time goes on. I made it almost 2 months, pretty good (so I am told).
The clash between the MTC behavior and the mission field is more than staggering. I am very happy to see some of it, as it brings relief to my troubled mind. I am also very concerned because I truly believe that perfect obedience is possible and no Elder believes that here. A great worry consumes me about the success of my mission. Essentially every missionary's dream is to be Ammon, or Alma the Younger, or any of the brothers really (I'm already Aaron, so I choose Ammon). I want to discover a new way to teach, a new way to share it to open minds and convert hearts. I want to be the conduit of the Word of God here on the island. These are my desires, holy desires I would say, and not projected with guile or prideful ambitions...right?
"Many are called, few are chosen" Chosen for what specifically, I sometimes wonder. We seem to use that scripture in whichever situation we want to separate two types of people who do the same things. Maybe that's fine, but I often wonder if the "few" are really the few we read about. It doesn't mean God doesn't love us, or whatever those not "chosen" implies. Could it also apply to the prophets and us as members? Could it apply to missionaries of old and missionaries today? Are there chosen missionaries today (Ammon/Alma calibur)? Well, whatever it may be, I wanted to be chosen as I saw "chosen" to mean. I was taught that whatever I wanted I could have if I was obedient enough, that was God's promise. And I still think that, but I have a much more realistic of my standing before God now I believe. I don't know if a missionary can exist in the DR with the required obedience to recieve everything he wants. That all sounds pretty silly and idealistic, but when you're called to serve, you have to believe it ALL right? Well, I believed whole-heartily. I believed everything in the MTC I was taught was true. I was now walking towards the precipice of God's Law and Mission Law. Are they the same thing? Oh dear reader, stay tuned! for the jungle just got a lot thicker.
-A
