Hey!
This has been a crazy week! Good... But crazy! I'll start with the crazy awesome... We had a baptism this week! It really felt like 2 but only one counted. For the last couple of months we have been teaching this 10 year old kid with autism named Ty and his 8 year old sister named Ireland. They are the cutest kids, and Ty was very high functioning! He was probably more prepared for baptism than a majority of the 9-13 year olds I have taught already. His family is all active, they just held off baptism for a while because of the autism. He and Ireland were amazing though! After every lesson without fail they would have like 10 minutes of questions... And they were usually all really good questions that had to do with the lessons we taught.
Something happened at this baptism that really helped me to feel the spirit, but just before Ty was baptized his dad grabbed him by the shoulders and put his forehead against Ty's and said "Jesus Loves you," and then he kissed his head and went on with the ordinance. And as I looked at Ty and Ireland I knew that what their father had said was an absolute Truth! I was so touched by it! And I was just really happy that we got to be apart of that baptism.
The next two paragraphs brought to life the story telling ability Landon has. He told the story of a companionship that needed help. It is something that most likely happens more than we would like. A young man who is accustom to technology on a daily basis being asked to leave it all behind, can struggle. This story was funny but sad at the same time. The revelation that there is a problem, the confrontation, the lie to cover up poor choices, the accusation of betrayal, the fight that ensues, and finally the confession of wrong doing. In the end it is my hope both elders learned lessons from the experience that will make them better servants of the Lord.
The second of the two paragraphs offered the story of a wonderful couple who invited and prepared a great meal for Elder Winters and Elder Raimondi. Sadly the older woman chocked on her steak. What ensued later was an awkward, scary, intense scene of helping this sweet sister rid herself of the food lodged in her throat. It was wonderful to hear the experience ended on a positive note. It was equally wonderful to know Elder Winters remembered his Eagle Scout training in lifesaving. I am not posting these two paragraphs, even though they remind us of Landon, the young man that resides beneath the missionary tag.
When I received this letter I felt hesitation to post. My initial reason was to protect the missionaries who were fighting and had an emergency transfer. In the end after seeking advice from some family members it was decided to edit the paragraph down and post it. I did so. The next morning there was a post on the message board of the site from one finding fault with the letter. She was hurt by the way the experience was written and sarcastically accused Landon of laughing at the older woman. My heart sank like a sub in the ocean. Being so fixated on the fighting Elders I had not given as much thought as I should have to the other paragraph. Going back and rereading it was clear to me Landon was not laughing at her. First I know his heart and he would not do that. I had a couple of individuals close to the family read the letter and offer comment. They too thought it was a young man laughing at the awkwardness of a scary situation. With all our family has been through we have learned to laugh in difficult situations. Remember how Landon makes movies of funny situations? Some of us are better at it than others. Being able to find a part of the situation that can be made humorous is part of the medicine we use to survive. I cannot imagine how much therapy I would have had to pay for if this tendency were not part of the family. A decision was made to email this sister and communicate some tender feelings with her. It is important to me to acknowledge her feelings. It is my hope she will no longer feel anger at Elder Winters and Elder Raimondi. If she must continue in hurt and anger it is my hope she will direct those feelings to Hal and I and we are the ones who have taught laughter. We also made a decision to not share this experience with Landon at this time. We do all we can at home to keep his mission life contention free so the Spirit of the Lord can lead him in this great work to which he has been called. This letter will be kept to our family as a courtesy to those involved.
It seems this past couple of months have been ones of learning for me. Through some emotonally painful situations I have learned I must become a better listener. Today I have learned an additional lesson; that being the need to take more responsibility for what is placed in public view. When I set up the mission site account I had the thought it would be for those here at home primarily; those close to the family and to Landon. This week I learned there are many others reading this site. As a matter of fact I measured the hits this week and there have been over 450. With greater audience it is my responsiblity to carefully choose the content. This lesson too has come in an emotionally painful way but I accept the correction.
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