It was halloween this week so that was pretty cool. I have alot of candy so I was able to give to people who came to my door in funny costumes. I live in R7 (residence hall 7) and some Spanish speaking elders in R2 were going to have a halloween party in their dorms, so me and the boys got dressed up to head over. On the way there, we passed R6 and the people in there must have gotten too rowdy. As we passed their building the fire alarms went off, and that was startling to a group of missionaries who were about to participate in an activity that isnt getting ready for bed. So we kind of just hung out outside for a bit, and then we hear all these fire sirens, and a bunch of fire trucks pull up and police cars. Everyone is evacuating the building so its kind of chaotic. A perfect opportunity to get some cool pictures (down below). Anyways there was no real fire and I think it was just someone's popcorn that got cooked for too long. We never made it to R2 so that's kind of a bummer, but i still enjoyed the night, so its all good. Also my visa came last night so thats very cool. I should arrive in Asia sometime next week.
This week I learned a cool parable so I will share. Once upon a time, a rich dude had a sweet pearl. Very lustrous, very rare. He wanted to show off his pearl, so he had a craftsman build a box for his pearl. The craftsman did a great job, and at last, the rich man could carry his pearl in style and show it to people. The next weekend he went to the town, and set up a stall in the market to show people his pearl. A crowd soon gathered, and everyone was so impressed with the box. "Who made this?" they asked. "its so awesome and cool!" "Can i buy the box from you?"Nobody cared about the pearl, because the box was drawing everyone's attention. Even though the box could be made again, and the pearl was irreplaceable, they still were distracted by it.
Thats the end of the parable, and then whoever gave the talk (i forgot already) asked a couple questions that i will replicate here.
Video games. Are they a box, or the pearl?
Social media, Is it a box, or the pearl?
work, school, money, all kind of the same category. Box or Pearl?
Now how about the Bible? box or pearl?
Temples and churches?
They're all boxes. boxes are cool, but what is most important is the Pearl. Jesus is the pearl in many cases. It is easy to get focused on the boxes, but in the end what we should be looking for is the pearls. It's easy to get distracted with boxes, but in the end what really matters isn't wooden. Its easy to get mad at boxes, but boxes arnt perfect. So keep lookin for pearls.
Anyway ive been thinking a bit about what really matters and yeah I would encourage everyone reading this to figure out what the boxes in your life are. What is distracting you from matters of true significance, and urgent importance?
Some people are at that point, just chillin with their pearls, but i know for me and many others, we can do much better.
also not saying the bible temples and churches are bad because they are cool. They are just the specific examples the speaker used and are very thought provoking. Because boxes dont have to be bad, they just arnt as important as the pearl itself. Its more the worldly boxes that are bad. Idk metaphors are tough. please interpret with care.
Till next time
Peace out
it snowed... heres sister eaves and tatafu with me and elder traveler watching the blizard.for some reason the pics are huge so hopefully you can see them.
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