Week 72.5

Hello. I'm Baymax. How may I be of service?

I think that's a line from Big Hero Six.

I don't have too much to say today. I love my family. I love going fast. And I love eating food. Probably in that order.

I also love the gospel and learning more about Jesus. I feel like I don't know hardly anything about the gospel and somehow I got recruited to be a representative of Jesus Christ to share it with everyone in Japan. But there's a line in the scriptures somewhere that says that "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass". My being "fat and simple" should then theoretically increase my chances of bringing great things to pass. There are some other scriptures I like too. Like the "line upon line, precept upon precept" one in 2 Nephi 28:30. I think that means that if I study really hard for a little while then I'll start to be less simple. And Ether 12 says something about "weak things [becoming] strong". I think that means I still have a chance of growing into my white shirt sleeves.

I love running. I'm not sure why running was prematurely taken from me but I suppose there's probably some kind of reason for it or something that I can learn from not running. Maybe if I had kept running I would have gotten too full of myself and tried to skip a mission. Or maybe I would have broken too many world records and no one could have ever broken them again. ;) I'm not quite sure. But I do know that it was part of God's plan. And that there was a reason for it even if I don't understand it now.

I hate shopping. It's a miracle that I survived the shopping that I did today. I only had three short-sleeved white shirts and one got red white-board marker on it last week (or two weeks ago?). Anyway, I figured it would be good to snag another shirt or two. I ended up with three shirts for what would be $45 I think. I also got three pairs of socks. Because my current socks are pretty dang thick and I regularly sweat through them. But it was painful. And slightly mind-numbing. I plan on marrying someone who will do all of the shopping for me.

Just kidding I said a lot today. Oops.

I love you the most,
BeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeN

 The district

 FHE Minute to Win It at the church.

P-day lunch.

Mission Leadership Training

Week 72

Excerpts from letters from Elder Mitchell and his Dad in the fast few weeks. . 

Poppy,

I hope you had a good birthday and had a hot date with mom at some kind of fancy restaurant somewhere. I heard that you got some new blazers and white shirts. That's pretty cool. :) Unfortunately I've recently taken a little bit more interest in clothing. Not enough to actually go buy some though. I don't think my interest will ever overpower my dislike of clothing stores.

I love you the most,
BeeN


Thanks Benny boy!

I did have a good birthday. We went to Indian food about a week ago and got some Chicken Korma, Chicken Saag, and Chicken Hyderabadi. It was pretty amazing. I do love Indian food. Mom made 12 dozen cookies and brought them to Church to share with the Ward. She is pretty amazing. I did not expect that at all. That was quite the surprise. . .

Well, it is quite late and I need to get up early for a flight to Spokane tomorrow. Great fun.
I love you! Keep working hard and doing good!
Love,
Poppy

Poppy,

I did have one worry about something that I heard last week and it was that I would be driving the baby truck in Provo. I'm not sure that the baby truck can drive too much in the snow. As much as I love that silly mobile. Also it only has two real seats so if decided I didn't like my date partway through I'd be stuck alone in the car with her. Or I'd have to make her walk home. Have fun flying to Spokane!

I love you the most,
Ben

Benny Boy,

Good thoughts....which I have thought about too. Also the baby truck doors sometimes freeze closed. So what if we traded the baby truck in for a 4 door car (something sort of family friendly that a good potential wife might find reasonably appealing :) ) and then sent that down?

I love you!
Poppy

Poppy,

My thought had been that we might ask Grandpa Kenison very nicely to pick one out and deliver it to me at BYU. I hadn't thought about trading the baby truck in. That would be a little bit sad. I did win high school drags in that hamster driven example of American engineering. I think I would probably get over it though. That truck isn't getting any younger. It's older than Jessica. But I am a little bit worried about your " sort of family friendly" suggestion. I hope that is not an indication of 1/4 mile time or lack of a clutch pedal. I think that an STi would be a good option. I think it's a pretty good balance between a Toyota Corolla and a Honda NSX. And they're great for snow because they have AWD. And all of the good potential wives like Subaru. Brother Lewis will agree with me I'm sure. :)

I love you the most,

beN

Week 71

A good quote from my companion this week went something like this, "Elder Mitchell I thought you said elevators were for old pregnant children". This quote followed some whining about not wanting to walk up six flights of stairs and a proposed compromise that we take the elevator next time. My original statement was something like "Elevators are for senior citizens, pregnant women, and small children".

We had a new face at church this week! He's already a member, but he recently moved here from the Phillipines and didn't know where the church was until he saw us out knocking on doors and came over to talk to us. We talked to him for a few minutes and happily shared our church address with him.

We had district pday today and went to an all-you-can-eat place. We also went bowling. I bowled a solid 115. Not the best I've ever bowled, but I was still proud of myself. :)

Have a great week,
Elder Mitchell

Week 70

A few things I've learned on my mission so far:
Japanese is hard.
Patience is more than just tolerance.
Eating good food requires a local restaurant or some branch members.
The Book of Mormon is as true as my high school car was slow. I love you mom. :)
Those who are actively trying to be more like Jesus Christ are happier than those who aren't.
Time waits for no one.
Successful missionaries (and people) are the ones that always do their best.
God loves all of his children. And he wants all of us to return to him.
Things that are hard are the ones worth working for.
Agency is a blessing.
Our time on this Earth is limited.
Shopping in Japan is slightly more enjoyable than shopping in America. But still unpleasant.

Here's a picture of four missionaries getting some curry this afternoon.

Lots of love,
Elder Mitchell

Elders Nashino, Parkinson, Bunderson and Mitchell