Don't Overlook the Mark

Sorry about no email yesterday! The missionary email website was down, so I wasn't able to send off my weekly update! But have no fear- Elder Sork is now here.

I'm safe, happy, and working as hard as ever. 

Modesto Diaz. The missionaries have been meeting with him for over a year. Over 33 hours of lessons recorded in our area book. He's what some would call not an investigator, but an ETERNIGATOR (investigating for eternity). He asked me to baptize him. There was a long process in which we finally had to drop him for a few months when I was with Elder Carlile. I finally felt prompted to go back with Elder Oler, but the entire time we weren't seeing him I felt inspired to write him letters that either I, or future missionaries, could deliver whenever we went back. I delivered them to him last week. He came to church this week. And he asked ME to baptize him. He said he wouldn't have anyone else. I love him so much. He's a stubborn 73 year old Mexican man, but I love him as my friend. He's ready. And I'm ready. The hard work is paying off and Im so glad that I've been giving this work my all. I've never been happier. And this just showed me- never give up. No one thought Mo would ever be baptized. I never gave up. I wrote those letters because something told me to. I went back because something told me to. And now he's on the path to getting baptized April 10. Im super excited for him. But again- its not ME. I couldn't be doing all of these things by myself. As to my own strength and knowledge, Im weak. I know that its because of the love and support of God and my family and friends that Im able to do what Im doing. 

A whole new meaning to the Army of Helaman!

Anyway... Not much to report this past week. Just normal missionary work! Its only march and the past couple of days have been 90 degrees. Im dying! I miss the cloudy skies of Washington! I was doing some additional work today for an investigator in the yard and I had to brush a HUGE black widow off my shirt. I freaked out, haha. With the heat, the creepy crawlies are coming back to play. Say hello to rattle snakes, tarantulas, widows, roaches, and a whole lot more! Im pretty excited.

Im healthy! Im exercising, and eating right and everything is going good. No anxiety, no nothing. The only thing Im anxious for is to improve. I love what Im doing, and I know Im going about it the right way! There's no greater work than this. 

I especially love the animals!

You wouldn't BELIEVE the things I've done in slacks and a dress shirt up to this point- weed whacking, mowing lawns, digging holes, exterminating roach infestations, helping move furniture, riding bikes, playing basketball, soccer, giving pets baths... Missionary life is awesome. There's no question of what you should be doing, or how you should be doing it. It's simple. Work, help people, make the world a better place. Plan for the next day. Go to bed. Do it again. Some people may ask, does it get old? Is it boring? Heck NO. The opposite actually. No day is ever the same. There's always something or someone new. Some new story to tell. Some new experience to write about in your journal. Being a missionary is the best decision I could've made for myself at this point in my life. No doubt.

A better picture would have been of Austin, riding this horse in his slacks and dress shirt.

Here's my thought for today- I was reading in the book of Mormon and something new caught my eye (Something always does, and it will for you too). In Jacob 4:14 it says: "Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall."

Read that over and think about it for a second. I sure had to! And I began to think to myself... how often do I "look beyond the mark"? 

I tend to over-complicate things. When really, the answer is often times in front of me. I just don't want to accept it. If you're facing those questions that you can't seem to find an answer to-- just look at them a little closer! A lot of the times we look over the answer because it seems to 'easy'. How do we become happy? Love those around us. How do we get time to read scriptures and spend time with family? We MAKE time. 

Nephi says, "because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished." (1Nephi 17:41)Don't overlook the mark! Keep your head up and just look at things a little closer. 

I know God is here with us always. Ask for HIS help. He can do more in one second than we can do for ourselves in a lifetime. 

I love y'all! Stay strong.

Love,

Elder Austin Sork