Doing Many Good Things

Dear Family and Friends,

 

First and foremost, next week is going to be the beginning of my 8th Transfer. As a result we will have e-mailing and preparation day on Monday instead of Tuesday. Consider yourselves duly warned :) I hear we are going to have a surplus of missionaries from what we now do, and the Socorro New Mexico area is going to be opening up. That means I will be in a NEW DISTRICT almost no matter what. I was kind of hoping to make it a whole year in the same one, but oh well :)

 

**Spoiler Note: If you have a easily unsettled stomach continue with caution, or skip to the stars and read after that.** On another exciting note, I participated and assisted in slaughtering a sheep yesterday. That is a common thing to do for celebrations in Navajo culture. The thing about this is that nothing goes to waste. Not even the blood is wasted. I realize that this may be a sensitive topic so I will forebear the details, but I want to mention that is was so cool to see a family work together in such great unity. Everyone knew what to do, and did it. All the way down to eating it and staking claim on the different parts (Something I have only heard of but never witnessed nor thought I would.) I want to also share the list of things that I tried.

First was the "Bible" which is a part of the internal stomach. It get's it's name because it has flaps similar to pages on a book. This is eaten raw, and Yes I did gag. Next I helped make twister, which is a sheet of abdominal fat cut into strips and wrapped with the small intestine. It literally tastes like Bacon. I also tried the heart, stuffed liver, kidney, tongue, and blood sausage. The last on is made by taking all the blood, straining it and mixing it with potatoes, red chile, habanero, and putting it all into the cleaned out stomach and boiling it for two ours. That was an experience that I will remember.

**

This week I have been feeling a lot of strength in just coming to terms that this life is not always easy. I don't expect it to be either. In fact I like the thought I heard once that we should never pray for the Lord to take away our challenges, but pray that we may have the strength to overcome them. We are all called to go through trials and tribulations, also known as the refiners fire. Often during these times the real struggle can be not knowing if the path we are on is the right one. It is at times like these when I would turn to D&C 58 and read that we should all be "anxiously engaged in a good cause." There are a lot of things in this life that do not make a truly significant impact on our eternal destination. Many of the choices we make in life are completely our own to make. These are things that can often cause frustration and anxiety or sadness because it's hard to get a really definite answer through the spirit, at least in my experience. If we are living the commandments and striving our very best to serve God then we need not worry. I would take this scripture one step further and say that instead of doing many good things, to do many of the "best" things.  Our God takes priority over anything else, and when we put him first then our Natural course following would be to put our families as our next priority. Just as I saw this family work together yesterday to bring this food to their table, we can work together in all things.

 

One other quick experience, I had the opportunity to give a priesthood blessing this week to a new investigator. He and His partner have been together 30 years and are now planning to get married in September which is how we met them. My first day here in Alamo they cam e to ask if they could use our church to do it. I can't give any specifics because of the sacred and personal nature of the information. In giving him that blessing though, I can say without a shadow of doubt I know that Jesus Christ lives and directs this work. It is by his power and his mercy that we are all here. The Priesthood is real. After we gave them each a blessing, the sister mentioned that they (including their son) want to be Baptized! Just another perk of being where you need to be when you need to be there.

 

I love you all :) I love hearing from you! So many good stories. So much of the best things in life are right now! Keep me updated on life and adventures. I miss hearing from some of you, so you're not all off the hook ;) I am loving the work here and it is Always challenging, But the Lord is my strength and in him I will trust now, and forever.

 

Ayoo' Aniinishni

 

Elder McGarry

 

Berwyn and the little one Helping Supervise :)

Me gettin' my "Explorer" on :) (everything but the coke)

 

Washout

Dear Family and Friends,

This week we have had a few disappointments. We also had a Crazy rain storm that caused serious washout in the arroyos, and washed out number of driveways of people that we visit regularly. That causes a slight issue. :) Fun stuff though. It happened during the last half hour of church and then no more than 30 minutes after it started it was gone and the skies were blue and sun was shining. Welcome to the beginning of Monsoon season :) Pictures will be attached!

​Storms like that are a good reminder of the power of God. I can hardly imagine or even comprehend it, but I can see it when in just 1 hour there is such drastic change and potential devastation. ​The small things we see each and every day are easy to become complacent with. Gratitude is something that should be an attitude and not just something we express when things go the way we want them to. This life has been given to us as a gift from God and we are just stewards. The time that we use should be spent in building up and bettering ourselves and others. That is how we glorify God. He already has all Majesty and Might and Power. His happiness is magnified when we are happy. I love this simple truth. 

My testimony this past Sunday was on stewardships. I am so grateful to have the responsibility and trust to be here in Alamo. It is a tremendous trial most days, but an even bigger blessing. I also have been blessed with many other great stewardships. I know that in all things we must be wise and I encourage each of you to consider the stewardships you have been given and seek the Lord's blessing and guidance in being a wise and faithful steward. A story that came to my mind this past week is one of a King that held a race in his kingdom. All of his people gathered together and prepared for this long race and finally it commenced. Along the way, one traveler near the lead of the contestants happened upon a big pile of rocks that had slid onto the pathway. He had seen people in front of him go around a somewhat precarious side path but he decided it would be safest and more important to clear the path so that others could get through. Many passed him as he labored to clear the path, yet none stopped to help him. At the bottom of the pile he found a bag with a substantial stash of gold coins in it. He thought that maybe one of the travelers had dropped it as they crossed so he having cleared the path completely, thus removing the hazard, then finished the race determined to find the owner of the coins. Upon completing the course he found that he was the last to finish the days journey and the King told him that the money he found was the prize for the winner. 

This story is not word for word of it's original source, nor do I know the source of it (if any of you do, I'd love to find out). It illustrates a very important point though. This life is not about who makes it back first. In this case it was the one who cared enough to try and make the path a little easier for everyone else that really go the reward. SO it is in this life. We must not be so focused on where we are going so as to miss the immediate and significant lessons we can learn exactly where we are. I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Ayoo' Aniinishni

Elder McGarry

One hour after it STARTED raining

Three hours after it started raining. (Usually it's completely dry...)