From Dundalk, Ireland, I bring you a weekly update. The mood and tone of this update will be different than perhaps all of the others. So without delay, here's the week:
Monday was done when I was done emailing. We could not do a whole lot due to Elder Corcran's knee problem.
Typically on Tuesday we would go to District Meeting, not so on this Tuesday. On the way to District Meeting, I was checking my gears when there was a surprise garbage bin in my way. There was a crash, but I was fine with no injuries. Shortly thereafter, I once again wiped out again, but once again was not injured. You could say I was shaken, not stirred. Because of the timing of that second crash and the recovery thereof, we missed the train to Dublin and so were en route to the church building to call in for District Meeting when there was a third crash. By this point, I was frustrated. However, I still got away with only bruises. The rest of the day was a combination of resting, recovering, and trying to do some work. It was alright.
Wednesday was about the same as Monday. Not a lot was done, but we got out and did a bit of GQing.
Now, I could go on to describe the rest of my week, but at this point I would rather not. Now, do not read part of this message before you respond assuming anything. Please read the entirety of these words. I would like to, instead, talk about a question that has crossed the mind of everyone, probably since the age of two: why? A simple, one word question: why? By using it, you can deplete an encyclopedia of resource and still have that question unanswered. Discovering the why of anything is the true challenge, the true goal or task of the true devout of that topic. It was the question why that has pushed our advances in society, our development as people, and it ought to also be what pushes us spiritually.
There's been plenty of points this week, everyday this week, in fact, where I've asked 'why?' Why am I here? Why am I spending my time trying to talk to people in the streets? Why am I in this Church? Why do I still try? Pressing, deep, and hard questions to answer. But to put it simply, in a single phrase many of you may have heard me say before: 'In the name of progress'. Progression is the why of life.
Progress is the why of life, the reason why we even exist. If there was no progression, there would be no point, no 'why', no reason for anything. Progression, requires exiting our comfort zones. A friend of mine who's mission farewell I attending talked about it as 'our coffins of comfort' because that's what they are. When we're comfortable, we're not progression. We are not growing, we are not achieving our potential, and we are simply wasting away. To put it in terms of salvation: we are damned when we are in our comfort zones. Progression requires us to exit these zone, strive to endure what there is to endure, learn what there is to learn, and find peace rather than comfort. A deep, lasting peace that I know only the gospel of Jesus Christ brings to people.
The reason 'why' we do anything is to progress, is to learn, to experience. The reason 'why' anything happens is to give us a chance for us to choose to progress, learn, and gain experience from it that we may have knowledge and thus make it wisdom, or applied knowledge. This is the 'why' of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am grateful to be on my mission. I would rather be nowhere than in Dundalk at this time. I am where I need to be to experience what I need to experience to learn, grow, and progress. Friends, family, loved ones, because everyone who gets this email falls into one or more of those categories, go about this week with a determination to grasp the why. To quote Galaxy Quest: Never give up, never surrender.
P.S. There was a huge spider in the church. Here's a picture.
Godspeed
Elder Kinville
Jacob 6:12 "O be wise; what can I say more?"
In the name of progress!
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