Work, work, and more work!

Yep, Elder Egbert is working hard again this week. And the emus on the emu farm that is neighbors to the cemetery where the guys were working could not be more curious. He is also eating well and getting fed regularly by great people. Yes, that is an ace bandage on his arm. He received a strong demand from his mother that he contact the mission nurse about the fact that he has extremely limited use of that arm. We shall report back after next Monday as to whether or not he obeyed that directive. I really do have to say that we are loving the opportunity to have Kodren's sense of humor back in our home for a few moments on Mondays. He is not the best at writing emails and giving us a real sense of his personality and I have missed that so much. What a blessing it is to hear him laugh and to share powerful ah-hah moments from church and to get a quick overview of the talk he gave in church and "meet" those he is spending time with. He is happy and he is learning and he is growing. The learning and the growing kinda hurt, but pain can be a good thing if managed properly!

Missions don't take away the fact that they are young

First I will explain the photos. Yes, that is Kodren holding a chicken. And there is a sister holding the dog that tried to eat the chicken that found its way into the yard they were working on for service. They saved the chicken and returned it to its proper yard. The next photo is the adornments on the back part of Elder Egbert's name tag. I find it rather sweet that the two stickers represent his siblings. That makes me happy. By the way, the cow's name is Bertha. The third photo is one of the elders in his district who pretended to crash on Kodren's bed because he was so exhausted. The other elders helped to portray just how tired he really was...The photo of the yard sign is self-explanatory of you know Kodren at all. The final two pictures are some of the missionaries in his current area that have become close friends. One of the sisters is getting transferred and so they wanted to get a photo together. Yes, Elder Egbert and Elder Hunt are wearing LuLuRoe leggings. There was someone in one of Kodren's ward that was a dealer and gave the elders the remnants and the elders love them because they really protect their legs. I have no more to say about that.

He is having a great time and is as happy as ever. He loves his mission president, President Hammon and really enjoys the role playing activities that Sister Hammon does with the missionaries while they are waiting to meet with President Hammon. He thinks those are super valuable. He continues to beat himself up, just as though he were at home. He smacked his face while riding his bike and scratched up his hands on rosebushes while proving service for a local cemetery. Some things never change. 

He is teaching a half a dozen great people and learning more each day. I am grateful to see that he is learning as much from those he is teaching as he is offering to them. I appreciate that he is keeping his mind and his heart open and loving everyone that he comes in contact with, I could not be more proud. 

Talking!

And now we move this blog from hearing from Elder Egbert in the first person to hearing wholly from his mother. Sorry. We are now enjoying the opportunity we have to visit with Elder Egbert each week. It has been fun to get to know those around him and to hear about so many experiences that he didn't have the time to sit down and write about in an email. He is being lead and touched by the spirit every day and is meeting great people who are learning from him but, more importantly, he is learning from them. I love hearing how those he is interacting with are giving him guidance and direction. That is an element of missionary service that hasn't really been clear to me until now.

I should explain the photos. There is a rose that he came across in his travels that he fell in love with. The second is one of the elders in his area staring down an emu. Yes, an emu. They were doing service for a property that was next to an emu farm. The third photo is a bunch of silly elders during splits and the final one is the one that Kodren is most proud of, he made these "hamburger muffins" all by himself and he says they were delicious.

I will work to be better about recording thoughts as soon as we get off the phone with him so that the information here on this blog is fresh and gives a proper picture of what life is like for our ever happy Elder Egbert!