Hey Ya Fam Bam!
So two and a half stories this week:
Story 1
Thursday night my lower
back imploded on me. I got a blessing
from my companion as soon as I could.
Man, the pain wasn’t fun! I had
to lie on the floor for most of the next morning (maybe 4 hours or so) before I
thought more of the people we needed to go see than of me. Then, I went through Friday with heightened
pain. I went to the chemist and got some
muscle relaxers because I thought the pain was from tightened muscles, but it
wasn’t. The pain medications didn’t
really help.
Honestly, it was just a
normal thing for this guy (me) with a grandpa's back. I wouldn’t have been disappointed about it in
the least except for one thing. On Saturday
our community was hosting a 10K fun run. We got permission a few weeks back to participate,
and honestly, I was really looking forward to doing it. But based on the fact that I could hardly
walk the 30 feet to our car confirmed that I wasn’t going to be able to.
I’ve heard it said that,
“What’s important to you is important to the Lord.” So I thought I would just let Him know that I
was looking forward to the run. However,
I had decided I wasn’t going to participate, and that was it. The other Elders, who had also prepared to
race, were still excited to run. Friday
night I prayed, and then fell asleep. On
Saturday morning, the day of the run, I woke up early to do some studying. My condition had improved to some degree, as
it usually does with time, but I was still in no condition to run. In those early hours I had two thoughts: The
voice of my momma saying, "Lack of movement creates lack of movement,” and
the second thought I had was to just DO IT.
Against everything, . .
. I decided to run! They say that
smiling even when you are not happy inside can actually make you happy. I thought that maybe it would be the same with
my back. I put on a smile, straightened
up, walked with the best posture I could and got ready for the race.
After we arrived at the
race and took care of everything, we went to the starting line. There were a lot of people (maybe more than
100), many of whom were very well prepared.
Thinking of my own preparation, I had realized that I had ran only once during the last three weeks. No excuses, just the busy life of a missionary.
We started the run. I kept a consistent and good pace, soon forgetting
about the pain. With each individual I
passed I felt stronger and healthier. Pretty
soon the crowed had spread out and I knew I was closer to the front than the
back of the pack. Six kilometers down
and I was feeling good. Keeping my pace.
Seven, great! Eight, and I had passed a
few more guys. After the ninth kilometer
I was on a runners high. I felt light as
air and was moving faster than I thought I had strength. Shooting through the finish line I found out that
I was in twelfth place and had run the 10k in just over 40 minutes. Since crossing that finish line (almost two
days later) the only pains I have are the sore muscles in my legs. HOW MERCIFUL
IS MY FATHER?! Oh, so Merciful and
Loving!
...................................................
Story 2
After the run we were heading
to our area. We had four missionaries in
the car as well as a member who participated and was going to be teaching with
the other elders for the day. The road
we take is a two lane national highway through the rural country. As we were about 10 kilometers from the other elder’s
area a very nice suv pulled up behind us. In it were three large men. They suddenly began to pass us on the highway then stopped half way so they were right next to us. They were yelling out of the car at us but we
couldn’t hear what they were saying. They
pulled in front and signaled for us to pull over. I was driving and had noticed the license
plate said GP, which meant they were from Johannesburg. Jo Burg isn’t a nice place. They hit the brakes forcing us to slow down. I tried to veer around them but they blocked
the road. We were stopped and they got
out of the car. They were HUGE and
angry. I looked in the mirror; saw no one
coming from behind or front, and my instincts told me to reverse so that’s what
I did. I quickly flipped the car around
and drove another way to the area. Everyone
was pretty confused and a little shaken. Being very aware of who was around us in-case we met up with those guys again we dropped the guys off and drove to our area. We then went to the Chapel for a meeting and as we
got out of the car, that very same car pulled into the parking lot. I was honestly scared as they approached us, until
they reached out their hands. They apologized
and let us know who they were; A couple of return missionaries who served here
seven years-ago. They were just pulling
a joke. Well we laughed. I thought it was funny. Elder Fokuo didn’t, but it was a good
experience.
1/2 Story
Bayo and Kutloano were
confirmed members of the church today. Very Sweeeeet :)
So, Mission President just
informed me that I’ll be training a new missionary these next two transfers. I’m super excited and am glad for the
responsibility. It’s gonna be nice.
I love you family.
Always,
Elder Gold
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