So first a couple stories. When I was younger and Chase was training me in basketball, there was a day where I kept dropping his passes. Chase was frustrated and decided to teach me to catch. He put me up against a wall and through the ball as hard as he could at me, it quickly became a game of dodgeball with Chase yelling, "Catch THE BALL!!!" and when I tried the ball hit my hands which were up for more protection than an attempt to catch it. The ball burst through my hands and headed straight for the next biggest target . My Nose. I thought my nose was broken. Chase walked over to the now sobbing me and said with all the love in the world, "Get up. Were going again." and that is what I did.
Story number two. Austin Crossley, asked me two work with him about three years ago. When he did I thought we would just be cleaning pools everyday. WRONG!!!! so when Austin filled up a wheelbarrow full of gravel at the tender age of 15 this was a challenge and one that I did not want to complete. Also I had to run this wheelbarrow, uphill, (both ways jk ;)) while Austin sat in a tractor laughing at me. But I learned something special that day and everyday I worked with Austin and that is to "Just DO it." There is no sense of whining or trying to get out of it you just "go and do" whenever I would call Austin in the morning and say that I was not coming to work he had one reply and that was, "Shut up, I will be there in 15." and I would just go.
So how does that apply to this week? Well lets talk about my comp. I love the kid more than any person I have ever met and because of that I want to strangle him literally about every ten seconds. These feelings climax this week when we were teaching a lesson and our "investigator" began bible bashing with me, I looked to my comp for help and guess what he was doing... Study notecards with obscure German words on the... which he of course STOLE from another missionary. So after that little incident we had a little chat... about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I have never been that angry in my entire life the fury that was unleashed upon can only be compared that of Moses when he found the Golden Calf after returning from Mt. Sinai. But of course after such fury comes great miracles. That night when I was feeling terrible for chewing out my comp. He actually came and APOLOGIZED to ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was about to laugh because I kind of let loose on him (but it was good chastisement). He told me he would start talking and leading the lessons and asked me if we could only speak German. I was almost in tears I was so happy!!!!!!! So with our new found determination we began to plan and plan for our bible bashing investigator. And with the spirit and Das Buch Mormon, we taught the crap out him!!!!!! he was left speechless and I just sat there laughing at him. So we committed him to some of the Book of Mormon and left. Then on Saturday we went back and began to teach him. We were planning on him reading the verses we gave him but he said "I have to read a book from cover to cover. I can't jump around" so we were still excited that he had read. So I asked him if he had prayed and he said "no" I was about to start screaming again but then he said, "But this book is from god." And then it hit what us germans call a Geister Schlagen (Spirit Punch) I have never been so happy in my entire LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I finally understand why the Lord gave me this Nike obsession and that is because He knew when I would go on my mission I would need to...
"Just Do It."
Elder Nilson
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