Experience

Palatka, FL

Dear Family~

Thanksgiving went very well. We spent our time with the Tilton and Filipi families on Thanksgiving day. The Tilton family makes up a large portion of both the wards here in Palatka...they are a wonderful family. We were able to spend lots of time getting to know them and their family last week, which was much fun. They live on some farmland off of Cracker Swamp Road (where the street name came from I'll never know!) in East Palatka. The house is under some construction and remodeling, but it was perfectly well enough to hold twenty or more relatives + missionaries. Mind you, only part of the Tilton family showed up, and so there are much more of them here in Palatka. Their family has lived here in this part of Florida for several generations--even before the Revolutionary War, I believe. They are great people and we had a good time hanging out with them. They fed us tons of food and had me give a spiritual thought in front of the whole family before the feast. It went pretty well, but I hadn't had anything to eat the entire day so I was up on the top steps speaking down, completely flushed and shaking, doing all I could to share some thoughts about gratitude and to bear my testimony of thankfulness. I made it out alive, but I wanted to fall over when I was done. Luckily, I was able to get my fill of food and it all worked out. I thought it was neat that Brother Tilton asked me to share a thought and even though I was hungry I was happy to share some things I've learned.

The Filipi family is quite a bit smaller. The dad is from Albania, the mom and her mother are from Chile, and their daughter was born in the states. They are great people and we love going over there to visit with them. They are always very friendly and welcoming. Each time we have gone over there they have made sure to feed us and to take care of us in any way that they can.

Elder McFarland and I went on a trade-off this past week as well and it was great being able to be his companion for a day once again. We were able to accomplish many things and to get ourselves more positively aligned with the way missionary work is supposed to be done: through service and love. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another," and that is our motto. He was able to go and visit some people in the area which he hadn't seen for a long time (he served here before he was my companion), and was excited to be "home", in the smallest degree of the word. It was good to spend the night being able to talk with him about all the things on my mind, especially since we already had somewhat of a background together, and it was also cool to see how both of us have grown since last January. Weird stuff, let me tell you! He'll be going home in May and he has the strongest feeling that the area he is in will be his last area--Julington Creek. It is a very rich area and the people are way different than the country folk out here in Palatka and up in Georgia. He has been a great help to me as I have served as a District Leader this last transfer and has done a good job of taking some of the burden off of my shoulders so that I can get a better understanding of what it is I am supposed to be doing.

As a District Leader, I love being able to work with other missionaries and to serve with them. As I felt before I left on my mission, that the purpose of my being sent on a mission was in a great deal to serve the missionaries I served with--namely my companions--however, now I have almost ten companions! I am grateful to be able to see how each of them serve the Lord because their example helps me to be a better missionary. As I serve them, they are really serving me. So it is great to be a leader! It is hard and it is trying, but I love to serve others and to work with others, so either way, I win. My communication skills are growing rapidly and I am becoming more effective at helping others to understand truth as it is written and spoken by the mouths of the prophets. Effective communication, from my perspective, is all about being able to relate with others--and being able to relate with others is all about sharing common experiences. No wonder Grandpa MacKay always brags about all of the experience that he has over us. ;) I can just visualize the chart that he draws with the line extending from life at birth all the way to death...myself closer to the beginning, his closer to the ending...and then the famous question and answer: what do you think is the difference between us? You got it, EXPERIENCE! And though you may be better lookin' than me, I'll always have more experience than you will!! :) He's right though, experience is important--especially the more and more I think about it. But you can ask Gramps, he can explain it better than I can [cause he's got more experience].

Do I think Elder Lucas and I will stay together another transfer...hmmm...I really do not know. It seems very likely, but then again, he has been here for quite a bit of time. If I were to place my best guess, however, I would say that he will stay. In fact, I think most everyone in our district will stay, aside from Elder Preator and Elder Johnson. They've been in their areas the longest so it is most likely that they will leave and another will replace them. Elder Lucas, because he hasn't been on his mission quite as long, and also the fact that President Barry is planning on keeping missionaries in their areas longer, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he stayed. I would be more shocked if he left than if he stayed.

About positive attitudes--I put it down as my goal to go each day and to wake up each morning, no matter how tired I am, with a positive attitude. So far, it has made a major difference in everything I do. I have more energy, I am happier, and the negative things that happen don't matter as much to me--everything is a blessing. After all, did we not come to earth to gain experience? So all experiences, good or bad, are blessings. :) I have stopped praying for knowledge, rather I have started praying for experiences so that I can understand the knowledge, so that I can bless others with my relating experiences. So far, I think it is working. People tend to understand what I am saying more clearly than ever before, but I'm still working on it--teaching doctrine for application is a little more difficult than stating truth. Either way, all is well.

Tell Aunt Val, Brittney, Macey, Noel, and Emma Happy Birthday for me! Tell Uncle Mike and Aunt Jenni congratulations preparing to have my next girl cousin! Tell Aunt Rachel thanks for her email and for the neat poems (which I am going to print out so I can study them a little further)! Tell Uncle Glen and Aunt Trisha thank you for the weekly email (which video I thought was hysterical haha)! Just tell everyone I love them and miss them and hope they had a great Thanksgiving. :)

Anyhow, I think I am all out of things to say at this moment. So, I want each of you to know that I love you and look forward to hearing from you soon. Christmas is right around the corner, so it won't be long until we get to speak (audibly to each other) again! Take care everyone!

Love~

Austin