Enjoy The Little Things

Hey everybody!

     So what a crazy week! It was the last week of the transfers and I'll be staying in the same area of Jungni and I'll be training another new missionary that I'll get later on in the week. I've been traveling a lot this week and having to do a ton of unexpected things due to the fact that I stayed, when I expected to leave, but I'm so grateful that the Lord has blessed me to stay in the area and continue to see miracles. This next week we have a baptism scheduled for 9/11 and I'm really looking forward to it. The young man is definitely one of the miracles of my mission so far, and I'm so grateful that me and my last companion who helped teach will be able to attend it. What a week of miracles.

     This week has been hectic with transfers, investigators, conferences, meetings, and everything else. One of the lessons I learned this week doesn't come from a lesson, or an investigator, but it comes from the small, simple things that I often overlook as a missionary. In missionary work, we're told to "not count the days, but to make the days count." We're told to "enjoy the hard times" and told to "cherish every second." Amidst trials and hard times, it can be difficult to not get antsy or to look ahead. 

     This week there was a day in which it rained for nearly thirty hours straight. It was crazy. It never stopped. Despite the rain, I love to tract and still go out. Me and my companion went out tracting for our very last time together, getting soaked, seeing very few people, and all I could think was, "I'm going to miss moments like this." There's no feeling that can compare to a night of missionary work where you're so grateful for all that is going on. Despite questions, concerns, trials, and temptations, we can look ahead and be so grateful for all that we have, and hope to have. To sum it up, I love the quote that sits on the wall of my living room back home that states, "Enjoy the little things, for one day, you may look back and realize they were the big things."

     May we always recognize our blessings. May we always be grateful. How grateful I am for the long summer nights that I've spent in my current area, and how grateful I am to get a new missionary that I'll get to share more great times with. What a blessing it is to be the Lord's servant in these latter days. I testify of this gospel and its reality. I know that it is true, and I'm so grateful for it and the blessing it is in my life. I'm grateful for each and every one of you and your support. I feel your prayers, and I know you're there. I love you all and I am grateful beyond words. Thanks for everything, and I can't wait to update you all next week on what will be coming in the next week! 

Elder Roper