I am sitting here relaxing in my chair and writing this email. I also have a stranger sitting next to me, (my new companion) and I am ready to fall asleep.
My time with Elder Peel is up. I am actually really sad about it because we had such a good time together. I have nothing bad to say about him, only praises to rain down on him. He accepted me for who I was and just let me be myself. He saw me through a really hard time in my mission and helped me get to a very happy place. I keep thinking of that verse of scripture in Alma, “Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.” I’d change Moroni to Carl Peel though. I’ll really miss him. We have a little quote board, where we would write really solid quotes, and I wrote on it “Friendships made before this life carry on into mortality and into the eternities.” It felt fitting for the friendship we had developed and especially since we became friends so quickly. I can’t tell everyone about his 250 sheep now!! We saw members all day yesterday because Elder Peel was leaving and one of them, who teaches Christine and Jonathan with us asked us if we got along. After a very positive response, he said he knew we did because we taught so naturally together and with such a powerful spirit. He was really impressed by us. That makes you feel pretty good. I’m really glad Elder Peel and I became such great friends.
My new companion is Elder Bell. He is born in Texas, raised in Oklahoma.
Elder Peel and I had a really nice week. We went over to John’s house last night (the member we clean the horse stalls for) and had such a good time. It honestly felt like we were hanging out with family. We had a wonderful meal and a great dessert. John’s sister lives in America and she recently came to visit and left John’s family the Bean Boozled jelly beans. So, we decided to play that. I got the spoiled milk jelly bean and almost puked - but I didn’t! John’s daughters shoved the vomit flavored jelly bean in his mouth and it was so funny. We had such a fun time. We played a game afterwards and just chatted - this is one of those families that you never forget.
I went to the shoulder doctor on Thursday and found out that I have a joint issue which could develop into arthritis. That wasn’t the most exciting news to find out, but I will go back so that they can put painkiller medicine in my shoulder. I guess we will see what that does. He also told me I wasn’t allowed to workout my upper body anymore, which basically means I can’t workout or play a lot of sports seriously. Guess I will be getting into biking.
We also taught Stephanie. We taught her about temples and family history! She really loved the idea of being with her family for eternity and was very engaged in the lesson. She is a very faithful woman.
I don’t have much else to say. I feel alright right now, pretty tired, really excited for my life after the mission, but everyday grateful for the experiences I have had and the people I have met so far. The same member who complimented Elder Peel and I said that the last few months go by quickly, but they are harder because God is preparing me for something much better after. I am a little nervous of how the mission could get harder, but if God sees fit to refine me a little more, then I will willfully submit to what he sees as just.
Love you all,
Elder Molinari
A castle we randomly found while visiting a member family
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