Elder Webster: A Day in the Life of an Office Missionary

Hey!

It sounds like you all had awesome weeks! Haha I miss monsoon season! Haha but I guess I'll be there for the next one :) And thanks for sending me a copy of Jordan's email, sounds like he's having a good time! I'm glad his spanish is coming along well! It'll be a little tough in California, not being totally surrounded by spanish, but I'm sure he'll do great. And Dad, I hope the new job is going well, I can't wait to hear about what it is you're doing there. Oh and my drivers license got here!

We had a pretty good week. Haha every week feels totally the same in the offices though. And mom, you asked what it is that I actually do here...haha good question. So I run a "petty cash" system of 25,000 pesos for the mission (which is all the mission ever has in cash at one time), so I keep track of that money and how its all spent and stuff. And then I also watch over all the missionary´s cards, making sure everyone has enough money to pay rent and utilities, keep track of the money the President spends, report lost/stolen money and cards. And pretty much anytime anyone in the offices needs money for stuff, they come to me. I also reimburse missionaries for whatever mission purchases or long trips they have to make. I also have everyone's passports and stuff. I'm actually a lot more busy than I thought I would be. It seems like we're always behind on stuff.

You also asked about the new President. He's way cool. Super smart and humble. Yeah he's pretty much always here at the offices. Well actually, this week he's been out touring the mission, but anytime he's not traveling, he's here at the office, 2 doors down from me. He hasn't changed a lot yet, so far he's just trying to learn and see how everything already runs. I'm sure he'll be making more changes once he's got a hang of things though. But he's really willing to learn and is way open to our advice, which is cool. Its kind of weird having a president that speaks english though.

So, verse of the week. John 6:5-14. This is when Jesus miraculously fed the multitude. What I really liked was the verse where he asked Felipe (not sure how its spelled in english...) where they could go to buy food for everyone, and then how in the next verse it says that he asked that to test him, and that Jesus already knew what He was going to do. I feel like thats how all of our challenges are. Before providing us with the miracle or with help, God leaves us some time so we can try to do something for ourselves, not because He's stuck or because He's not sure what to do, but because He wants to see what our response will be. In the case of Felipe, he replied by simply restating the problem, and had no idea what to do. Another apostle replied, saying that someone had a little food, but that it wouldn't be enough. Sometimes we react to problems the way Felipe did. Haha not that I'm criticizing him, but I can't help but feel that we kind of fail the test if all we manage to do is tell God that there is a problem. He already knows. At the very least, the other apostle was willing to bring what he had to Christ. What came to my mind was the question of "What do I bring to God?" Do I bring Him my problems and complaints? Or do I bring Him what I have, in the hopes that He can help with what I lack? Do I have the faith to ask for a miracle, when I have nowhere to turn? Haha I'm not sure if I explained that very well, but thats kind of what I've been thinking about lately.

Well I hope you all have a great week! I'll try to send some pics later today

Love

Elder Webster