HOLA FAMILIA!

Alright, another week, another email. This transfer I`ve just felt like time has been going by SO FAST. In a week, I`ll have been out here 17 months. how crazy is that? Everyone keeps telling me "Oh, you`re already out the door Elder." haha, it`s so funny... but kinda scary at the same time.

This week, I`ve been thinking a ton about leaving the past behind. an Elder in my district and I were talking on the phone one night about how we can fix the problems in our areas, and we came to the same conclusion: We have to help them stop living in the past. As members of the church, and even outside of the church, we make the fatal mistake of judging a WHOLE group based on 2 or three people who are associated with it, then we live with that bitterness, judging an entire group for the rest of our lives based on a mistake that one or two people made. Then, we end up sacrificing our progress just to "Get back at" that person by not going to church, or not keeping the same friends because they`re friends with him/her. I`ve come to realize that we, as human beings, walk through life a lot of the time thinking that everyone`s just thinking about us. whether it be about attacking us, or waiting to cater to our every whim. but the world isn`t like that. there`s a quote that I`ve really come to appreciate this week:

"Be kind, for everyone you know is fighting a battle." and another one:

"The past is to be learned from, not lived in."

I just wanna invite everyone, the next time they get offended by someone else, to just think about, first of all, If the person even REALIZES they`ve offended you, and second, think about if the offense really even matters in the grand scheme of your existence. that`ll change things for ya.

Well, I`m outie. Be happy, Be Mormon.

Elder Stormy Sheppard