1. No scorpions this week
2. Trying to carry water on your head is a lot harder then it seems.......
3. When you have a Nerf football (thanks, Mom and Dad for the birthday gift) and four Elders in an apartment, the games of catch are far too much fun.
There is something that I am working on right now: throughout my mission I have been in areas that I have been able to uplift and build only to leave before a lot of fruits become realized. I have never been too unhappy about it, and I have always tried to smile whenever it happens. However, it seems like it may happen again in this area. I expect to be transferred later this week. I am not too sad. To work without seeing the fruits of my labors come full circle is sometimes a greater blessing then seeing the fruits. We are told to walk by faith and not by sight. Many times throughout life we are all called to do things where we will not see or recognize the results and consequential blessings of our efforts. Whether that applies to your family, friends, school, or Church callings. It is not about seeing all the effect you had but being sure that there will be an effect because God would not have placed you in that area or in that calling if you would not have been able to do anything. We are supposed to stand tall and move on when we are told. To see the fruits of our efforts is a blessing but to be asked to leave before we get to see face to face all the effects of our labors, forces us to become more humble and diligent, recognizing that it is all up to God. Nothing we do can really be accounted for by ourselves so why worry who gets the credit, move on and smile. That is the philosophy that I am trying to develop and nurture because I really do miss the people in each area that I have worked within.
Credit doesn't even belong to us when we are the ones who see the result, all good things come from God. Even one of the Greatest of the Prophets of God was asked to lead a people for over forty years and before he got to the land that he had been promised he was told that he would never enter there.... Instead he simply walked away and was not heard from again (or so it seems). God asks us to grow when he withholds us from something but in the end there was always something better for us to be doing. Just as if I had stayed in the other areas to see all my work progress, I would not have been able to strengthen the other areas that I went to in the same manner. You too may never see the full effect that you had but the ripple that we cause in the water of the world does not stop all that fast and it goes far beyond our ability to see. When a small pebble hits the water it doesn't know the ripple it caused to change and move the whole pond. Make your ripple and Know that God will control the effect long after you are gone.
I love Cape Coast. I love the people. I love my companions and our apartment is so awesome right now. So much talk of my departure soon but I can hardly stomach the thought. Thank you for your letters!
Love, Elder Edison
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