Those Credit Cards...

So the worst thing happened to me this past week. Well maybe not the worst thing ever but it was something that was really bad. So, right now I am working in the office and we sometimes rotate who buys lunch or who get s to buy dessert. Well so some of my most favorite people in the whole world decided that they were going to be buying us lunch. They are the Larson Family. Elder Larson is the Car man for our mission and Sister Larson is the mission secretary. They are the busiest people I have ever met in my life. Elder Larson has to deal with 70 plus cars and trucks and 180 missionaries and he has to deal with accidents. And we know how good 19-21 year old men drive sometimes. So that keeps him super busy and on top of all that he manages other things. Sister Larson does like everything else. Without her,…the mission would just fall apart and we would all go home and there would be no reason for us to be out here. She keeps track of all the missionaries’ things and their paper work. Almost all of their papers they send out for the mission she has to keep track of them and keep them organized. They work super hard and I look up to them a lot. Not to mention, they are some funny people and are wonderful to be around. They keep me happy here in the office. So just the other day, they told us, “Hey you elders want some lunch?” I was like, “Sure what would you like?” They laughed and said, “No I meant what would you like to eat, we will buy you lunch?” I said, “We will have whatever you want, we aren’t too picky.” They said, “Ok, here is my card why don’t you go over to Five Guys and get us something over there.” We said, “Ok we can do that.” Besides that who would turn down a Five Guys Burger??? So we took his card and we went over there and then we came back and ate just the most awesome burger. It was so good and I was really enjoying it. Well so we get done and we decided to take off. We had a lot of things to take care of. So we split up and they stayed in the office and we left the office. So that night, Sister Larson calls me up and says, “Elder Lake, do you still have our card?” I said, “No I brought it back to the office and I am pretty sure I put it on your desk.” She replied, “I am not seeing it.” So I decided I was going to check my pockets and I couldn’t find it. So then the next day rolled around and still no luck. I was really starting to stress. Nothing can be worse than having to go through the telephone trying to cancel your card and activate another. For instance, press 1 if you want to do this...then press 2, then if this is what you need press 2 again. They are so annoying. Also, if I did leave it, maybe someone went on a shopping spree with it and blew all the money. So I was worried and plus they trusted me with their card. I got home today and an idea came to me where it could be. So I checked it and there it was. I put in a different envelope on accident. But we found it!! I was so happy and so glad that I found it. Something so little and so simple as a credit card but yet, I felt so good.    

The power of choosing...

I have thought so much on my life and how much it has changed in the past six months. I have been thinking so much on the choices  that I have made in my life.  And that to me is one of the most important things I can do in my life. I have looked back and realized how much  one choice really does effect someone or something.  I have never thought about it. But if you think about it…At a moment when you have to make a decision you will have to decide what path you will go down. Just a simple choice can change your life. I have thought a lot about my choices. One that was quite large but still so simple was my decision to serve  a mission or not. All it took was a simple filling out of an application and some other information on the internet. Once it was all filled out there was a simple “submit” button. Right then I had the choice to click yes or no. I thought about it for a little bit, I went off on my day because I had one more piece of information I was waiting to put in the computer. I decided I was going to ponder on it and finish it up that night. I went out to work and came back in and I decided that I was going to “submit it”. So I did that. Something so simple and so easy! Once I did that I was going to have to wait to see where I was going to be serving my mission. I waited for two weeks and I got my letter and I opened it up and it told me that I was going to be going to The Philadelphia Pennsylvania Spanish Speaking Mission. So I knew that I would be in the Philadelphia  area for the next two years of my life! All it was, was a simple, easy thing to do. But just that one simple click on the submit button has changed my life so much. I cant even describe how much of an impact it has had on my life. I couldn’t image my life without  my mission. But all it was, was a simple “click” it just goes to show how important it is that we make good decisions.

Nieve, nieve, nieve y mas nieve!!

Hace mucho tiempo que he actualizado mi blog! Pero, tal vez haya demasiado nieve afuera. Me di cuenta ayer cuando estaba caminando y un carro se lo puso fijo. Dije a conductor del carro..."Amigo, que es lo que debo hacer para que pueda salir de este ribero. Me dijo..nada, por que aqui estoy fijo en el nieve. Le dije..Mira yo le empujare atras y cuando lo hago..vas a salir...Me dijo que era imposible....Pero asi es..Yo tenia fe que pudiera hacerlo...Por eso mi compa y yo empezamos empujar atras del carro...Quemo casi todo de su llanta pero salio. Y me puse feliz porque....El hermano que estaba en control del carro..Me dijo..."Tu eres enviado de Dios"...Le Dije,..'Si hermano...y tenemos un mensaje que nesacitamos compartir con usted"..........

You must have trust!

Trust is perhaps the best thing in my life. I always wanted to be trusted as a person. Meaning that when I said I would do something I would do it. I wanted to be dependable! I remember when I was still in High School my Dad told me that I was going to be running the chopper. The chopper is an expensive piece of machinery that we use to harvest corn so that we can get feed for the cattle. My Dad told me to meet him over at the field so that he could show me how to run the chopper. I was thinking to myself...”Dad did you have too much sugar this morning or are you still sleeping and just haven’t fully awaken yet!” Cause to run the chopper is a big deal. It always was to me. I knew that running the chopper was one of those things that you didn’t mess around with. You have to pay really close attention and you not only have to drive the tractor but also you have to watch the implement attentively. You have to always be looking back and making sure that everything is running smoothly. Behind the chopper is this thing called the wagon. As you chop the corn gets shredded into tiny pieces and then shot out of a spout into this wagon where the corn builds up and once it is full you dump it into trucks. There is so much you must do as you chop. I was surprised that my Dad was going to be showing me how to do it. So my Dad told me to meet him at the field so that he could teach me.  I went and got my morning Pepsi and some snacks cause once you start chopping you don’t stop until you quit for the day. So I had to make sure I was ready to go. Haha!! I got to the field and my Dad went over the “ground work” with me. Meaning he was showing me how to grease it and where to grease it. He showed me how to sharpen the knives and how to fix the little things. We got all of that done and it was ready to go! I was still super nervous but my Dad climbed in and I followed his lead. He sat in the control seat and I sat in the buddy seat. I was watching him so very carefully so that I wouldn’t mess up the chopper. I was watching him “run the show” so that I would know what to do. After a few words and a few explanations of things the wagon was full and he dumped the load into a truck. Then he says…”Ok switch me seats.” I was thinking what you are crazy; I have no idea what I am doing. I haven’t sat here for very long. But we switched seats. I was now sitting in the “operator’s seat” known to me as the “captain’s chair” ;) I was flat out scared. I didn’t want to mess anything up. So when I put it into gear I went super slow. I was just creeping along! I putted around and then began to shift gears so that I could go a little bit faster. Before I knew it I was officially chopping corn!! Then the wagon was full and my Dad stands up and he says…”And that is how you do it” His final words were this…”It is better to go slower than too fast, that way you wont plug up, you should make it a goal that once you climb in the tractor you don’t get out again.” I was like…”are you leaving already?” He says to me…”Yep, I got some things I have to take care of.” I was so scared. He says to me…”just keep going like you are and you will do fine, you can let the trucks off at seven tonight.” So he left the field and I didn’t see him again.  He left me to chop all by myself. I now know why he did that for me. Not only did he want me to learn how to do it but he also trusted me. I strongly believe that my Father saw my potential. He knew I could do it, he trusted me! Trust is something that I will always want to have. I want God to trust me, my family and my friends.

Las cosas que puedes aprender..

Me di cuente que el tiempo no espera para nada. Tu sabes que el tiempo se va rapido y no puedes pararlo. Recuerdo un cuento, que tuve con un amigo mio en las montanas de Montana hace algunas anos Estabamos caminando en una trocha el en desierto hacia un lago que se queda en cima de un montana grandisimo. Cuando vimos un becerro que apenas se nacio. Dije a mi amigo...Que chido que la vaca dio la luz enfrente de nosotros. No tiene miedo para nada jaja!! Pero continuamos nuesto viaje al lago. Alcanzamos el lago y empezamos a pescar. Yo prepare mi cana de pescar y catche como dos pescados. Los comi y empezamos nuestro viaje a la casa. Vi que el mismo becerro que yo habia visto estaba caminando y chupando la bolsa de su madre. Estaba en pie!! Me puso pensar..ijole..Apenas se nacio y ahorita esta en pie! Mi amigo me dijo...Tu sabes que tu vida sera como este becerro. Le dije..vamos a ver! Pero si el podia estar conmigo ahorita..yo le diria.."Amigo..recuerdas cuando me dijiste que mi vida seria como el becerro que habiamos visto..Me di cuenta que es la verdad." A pensar que somos becerros no es bueno. Pero de la verdad..Nuestro vida va a caer demasiado rapido. He apredido muchas cosas..Uno de las cosas mas importante es la frase.."fijar metas"...Fijate..y checate..crezcate

A Christmas Story....

Christmas is my favorite time of year!! It is hard to beat being with the family and playing games together and just flat out enjoying each other. I remember two Christmases ago, It was so cold!! My little brother Taylor and I had to go out to feed the cows that were out on the desert. My older brother Roscoe was already out there cause he lived out there. It was pretty funny though cause I remember playing games on Christmas Eve and we were laughing and having a good time. I think mainly cause we were out of the bitter cold and we were warm. We could hear the wind outside beating on the windows and the drifts of snow just  getting bigger and bigger. But we continued to drink our Pepsi and talk with one another. Our night ended and we decided that we had better get to bed cause we had to get up in the morning to feed the cows. My little bother and I stayed up super late. We talked ourselves to sleep. But morning came and my dad walked downstairs  and he goes…”Hey we better get going, we are burning daylight!” So I took a drink of my left over pepsi from the night before and put on the “warm gear” We walked outside and it had snowed all night long. It was so windy you couldn’t even see ten feet infront of you. I was thinking to myself…”This is going to be interesting.” So I went to my truck to start it up. I had to dig out a big drift of snow first before I could open the door. But I finally got it and we were ready to go. I got out of my driveway and I was stuck. I didn’t even make it one hundred feet. So Taylor and I decided to go get the snowmobiles and we were going to drive them out there. SO that is what we decided. We went out and got on them and headed out to the desert, (which was about ten miles away). We went out there and we got the cows fed. There was so much stinkin snow out on the desert. And the wind was just howling. My brothers and I were just laughing and we were having a good time together. It was so much fun. I remember my pants were just frozen!! But we indeed got the cows fed. We then had one more “Chore” we had to do. My little brother Taylor was going to drive the 7200 John Deere out to a place called Springfield. Cause we had been using a truck and trailer to feed the steers out there but this time the snow was just too deep. So my little brother started to drive the tractor all thirty miles to sterling. It was twenty miles per hour slow but he did it. Once we got close to home we stopped and went home to eat Christmas Dinner with the family. We did that for about two hours but then headed back out to work. We got out to Springfield and everything had been done for the day. We were done. It was also seven thirty at night!!! That was two years ago. This Christmas is a little bit different for me. I am in Philadelphia as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ. My Christmas wont consist of feeding cows and freezing my tail off.  Even though I am away from my family…this is the best Christmas so far in my life. I know what Christmas is all about. I know the true meaning of Christmas. It is about Jesus Christ. How he lived for us and how he died for us. I love this time of year. It is my favorite!!