The subject line comes from one of Sister Hoskins's most quoted movies, Zoolander. I've never really had the desire to see it, but she does say that phrase all the time. Sadly, I must admit that I didn't recognize the full punniness of it until this week, even though she's been saying it for four months. This week sometime, I turned to her and said, "Oh, I get it. News. Walter Cronkite. He's a newscaster!" It's a little bit like "Nice play, Shakespeare."
Anyway, moving on to the actual news, Walter. This is the last week of the transfer, so I recommend sending mail to the mission office rather than our apartment directly, just to be sure it gets to me. That usually means not getting much mail this week, but at least I get it eventually rather than never. As far as shirts go, I do have a pink one and a navy blue one with little stars and a green one. My red one unfortunately shrunk in the wash, so that might be nice, or a nice cool white shirt. The summer is fast approaching here. The humidity is getting kicked right up, and the high today could be 85. Sorry to hear y'all are enjoying winter relapses. Spring will come and go faster than you know it, so enjoy it while it lasts. The apricot tree looked lovely in the pictures.
Wow. Quite a bit of news from your side of the world this week it seems. I am so sorry to hear about Mitch Seamons. I will keep his family in my prayers. I never really knew him, but I remember him being legendarily tall in junior high school, and I remember working with Bro. Seamons when I was on the youth conference committee. I'll bet Mark's letter was very heart-wrenching, but it sounds like his spirits are high and he is learning and serving well. Congratulations to Ryan Stone, man of magic, for landing a call to Chile as well. By the time he goes out, I'll already have been in Texas for a year. Can you believe that a year ago I opened my mission call? Even more crazy, I thought about it recently, and if I weren't on a mission, I could have graduated from BYU last week. Yipes! I have a feeling some celestial calculus went into me NOT graduating right now. I certainly know I need to be here, and I have a feeling that some great opportunities await me when I get back.
In the meantime, we are still finding success as we put in our diligence. There is certainly always room for improvement, but the Lord's hands are in this work. We got to go to the temple on Thursday. I felt very spiritually rejuvinated there. I could tell the Lord was giving my spirit the courage to be patient and humble in trials. My mind keeps going back to the scripture I put on my missionary plaque. My heart cannot comprehend and my eyes cannot see the great things the Lord has in store for me after my mission. The problem is becoming that the more I feel of that, the more eager I am to see what those blessings will be. But I know the Lord will bless me in time, and there are still many hearts remaning to be touched by His love through me. I hope I do everyday what He would have me do. I'm learning not to be so critical of myself, while still being honest about what I need to change and how important the little things are. I feel a greater sense of confidence as I come through these struggles.
I can totally see the image in my mind of Eli's face as his derby car is a little less than speedy. It tugs at my heartstrings, but also makes me smile, that face being one of the most priceless memories I have of him and will always carry. I don't think I would be much help in making the car go faster. A few years ago we did a pinewood derby for a ward activity at BYU, and as the FHE mom I was somehow responsible for making the car. I didn't even know you were supposed to add weight to it, so it didn't even finish the race. Oh well. What's a girl to do?
I liked the story about grandpa just feeling like he needed to get back to Mackay, Grandmother. The Lord is so often like that: He gives us general feelings without explaining, and as we carry them out, we come to know what the purpose of the general feeling was. Mom sent me some pictures of Mackay, and when my companions saw the mountains in the background they said, "Wow, that's beautiful!" I had to agree. I do miss those mountains, but Tomball has enough trees to make up for it.
We made a small exchange this week with some other sisters, and we had to go pick up Sister Hoskins and trade back on Saturday. While we were there, I saw a little store called "Front Porch Friends." I immediately thought of you, Mom. I hope you are enjoying a new blog already. Don't mourn the old one too long. Think of yourself as Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail. When her little bookshop closed, it felt like the end of the world, but then she started writing which she loved to do. In your case, you get to write on both sides of the equation. In the world of celestial calculus, we call that a win-win.
That's all for this week. I know I can feel your prayers in my behalf. I miss you all from time to time, but I know I need to be here and that time is ticking (maybe a little too quickly) to when I'll see you again. I guess you could say, "the time is far spent."
Signing off from the news desk for this week,
Sister Whitney Mikell Sorensen
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