Elder Carston Mark Calder

Shorter one today, I got a lot of very nice texts and emails for my birthday which I am in the process of responding to. We also only have a half-pday today because we're taking the other half to go to the Mesa Temple tomorrow as a district. Ordinarily we're allowed to go to the Temple every six months of our mission but our mission president is letting everyone take an extra trip there during the month of August because he feels we need the spiritual protection.  I've been studying Jacob 5. The description of the Lord of the Vineyard, and the constant work He and His servants engage in to help the olive trees produce good fruit, puts human history as detailed in the scriptures into new focus and context. I love how the more I study the scriptures with the intent to understand the true character of God, the better I come to understand Him. Even the Old Testament, as violent and chaotic as it is, is beginning to become illuminating.  "It must needs be that this is a goo...

"Commander Cody, the time has come. Execute Order 66." Beginning two weeks ago, I've had the pleasure of training a new missionary. His name is Elder Udy and he's from Norman, Oklahoma! Oklahoma missionaries are very rare in this mission, there is only one other, so it's fun that we were put together. As previous trends were indicating, he should have been about 5'2" but in defiance of those trends Elder Udy is 6'2", enjoys feasting on whatever good food he can find, and did Football and powerlifting before his mission. He's a big boy.  It is not clear from the scriptural account why exactly Jesus' apostles James and John were referred to as the Sons of Thunder, but I like to think that part of it was that they were a large, loud, and dynamic duo, impossible to miss as they went out to preach the gospel. Elder Udy and I work well together, even though he's still developing his teaching skills he's quick to testify of how the gospe...