Patience, Love and Get to Work

Holla Familia!!
I have learned a lot about Patience, Love, and Going to Work this week. I think God wants me to learn Patience. A lot of Patience. Not as much as Job, but pretty close. I have been sick, things have fallen through like crazy, I have been chastised, I have had a lot of things happen, and we will leave it at that. I have learned a lot from it though. I do not wallow in the criticism. If somebody tells me something to change, that feels right, then it needs to be done. Yeah I feel like an idiot for not knowing about it, and not doing it, but if I just decided to get offended or upset then where the heck would I go? You are supposed to learn from your mistakes. Not hide from them, deny them, or pretend that people didn't say anything about them. "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen." or, stop putting your head in the oven. Learn from them.
I also learned a little about love this week as well. I went on exchanges with Sister Reed. While Sister Richards and Sister Thomson stayed in Christiansburg. I don't know very much about Sister Reed, and well we didn't really talk much, but I could feel the love that she has for people and for the Gospel. She is an awesome little missionary. She works with situations and with people. She loves the Gospel enough to be able to compromise with things that aren't working out the way we would wish that they would. She probably thinks I'm crazy and such, but I learned a lot from how she thought, what she said, and what she did. I have very high respect for her. Anywho, it is always interesting to see how other missionaries work and how they say things. If  I could I would go on exchanges every week, because I feel like I learn so much on them, and hopefully I can give something back in return. I have earned the reputation of being rather blunt with people. Which I guess is good... but I also need to learn how to be loving while I am being blunt. It's a work in progress.
A guy we are talking to, his name is Bill, he told us a story about this guy he knows. The guys name is Jake: "Jake, Blake and Claud (I can't remember the names of the two other guys so I made them up, but Jake is real) were all driving from one forest ranger station to the next. As they were driving Blake shouted for Claud to stop the truck, he saw some mushrooms on the side of the road (edible kind, can't remember it's name either), Blake hopped out and started picking the Mushrooms, and eating a few at the same time. Jake got out of the truck and watched Blake eat the mushrooms. Blake looked at Jake and told him to try the mushrooms that they were really good. Jake told him no thanks mushrooms are gross. But Blake was persistent and finally against Jake’s better judgement he took a bite out of one. As he started eating it Blake then said "Well I hope these are the right mushrooms, there is another type that looks just like them, but they are poisonous. You can know that you ate the wrong one because after a few minutes you will get a stomach cramp and then you only have about 20 min to get to the hospital." So Blake and Jake started heading back to the truck, and Jake hops in. Blake grabs onto the door, and then grabs his stomach and starts to groan "Oh... Oh... Jake my Stomach! It hurts!" Jake looks at Blake, Sticks his foot on Blake's chest, pushes him out of the door, and closes it. Then he turned to Claud and said "get driving we got 20 minutes." Blake wasn't dying, he was actually joking with Jake, Bill explained that Jake was serious about everything that he did, and he never got embarrassed about things. At this point in the story Sister Thomson turned to me and said "That's kinda like you!" I just started laughing. So this story probably wasn't as funny as it was when Bill was telling us about it, but I thought it was interesting. Jake Got things done. He didn't mess around. When we start to mess around - with things such as sin - we get in trouble. Sin is like eating poisonous mushrooms. They look just like the ones that taste delicious, and they may taste delicious for a moment. But When you start feeling the cramps from sin. The pain and the burden. Well you have two choices - kick Satan out the door, and get moving toward repentance. Or die. there is no other choice. there is no middle or neutral ground with God and the Devil. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24
We have all eaten poisonous mushrooms, and Jesus Christ is our source of healing. Repentance. the Lord says "repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you" 3 Ne 9:13
We must go and we must do. Get to Work. The time is now to start changing and getting things done. Change Now, as the general authorities said in the last Ensign message. CHANGE NOW. Best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. Then next best time is NOW.

I love you all and I hope you are all having a great week!
Loves, 
Sister Karen Call