You fumblin my football Petey, why are you fumbling my football?!
My blockers weren't...
Your BLOCKERS?! Your blockers ain't got nothing to do with you holding
the ball! Who dropped the ball Petey?
I did sir..
ALright, how many feet are in a mile? HOW MANY feet are in a mile?
Five thousand, two hundred and eighty feet!! You pick this ball up,
you run every single ONE of them! You're killing me Petey! You're
killing me!

Oh dear, I am almost positive that every missionary in my district is
annoyed at me quoting movies after yesterday. Yesterday was a national
holiday here and we had a massive stake picnic at this really awesome
park. And what exactly happens when you get nine American missionaries
together, with a large park and a football? You play badminton! ...
Heh, hope I got some of you with that one. NO! You play football!
And... If you even kind of slightly know me, what do you think would
happen when I'm playing football, and someone fumbles the football?
(If you need a hint, see the quote at the very beginning again... If
you need another hint... Just pretend like you know what's going on,
smile, nod, and keep reading) Needless to say, they were entertained
at first, then I made sure to stop quickly cuz I'm sure that if I
yelled this everytime someone fumbled the football on my team, it
would get old really fast. Heh.

Well, the weeks here have really begun to blend together. I can see
now why misisonaries mention how fast time flies out here. It has
gotten to the point that when people ask me about what I've done so
far that day, I cannot for the life of me remember, because I start
thinking about anywhere from this morning to three or four days ago!
They are all the same!! I know I may be doing a terrible job of
explaining this, but just trust me, it can be frustrating. Even now, I
am trying to think of what I have done in the past week, and I have to
read my journal to be reminded. Crazy.

Fun thing that's been happening for awhile is that the humidity is
ramping up! It has now gotten to the point where I feel like I am in a
sauna for most of the day. My companion also finds it pretty funny
that I am always sweating too. I don't know why though. But sometimes,
he'll look at his watch, gasp, then take off yelling at me (in Korean)
"hurry hurry hurry!" We'll run for a bit, go into a building, run up
three or four flights of stairs, and he'll knock on the door then turn
and look at me. This big smile comes on his face as he looks at my
forehead and he'll ask, "Wha..?! You're already sweating?" And I am
just incredulous. Uh... YES! You just made me run for about a quarter
of a mile, up some stairs, in about sixty percent humidity, about
twenty eight degrees, in a shirt tie and slacks, and you're wondering
if I'm sweating ALREADY? .... Needless to say, we have some cultural
differences.

I just have a short spiritual thought that I would like to share
today. SOrry, nothing fancy nor particularly special, just a small
scripture I found during scripture study. 2 Ne. 25:23. It says, "For
we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our
brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled with God; for we
know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." This
scripture illustrates much of our purpose as missionaries; this is
what originally made this pop out to me. But, as I read it a couple of
times again, I really noticed something special in this. I talk often
about doing our hardest then leaving the rest to the Lord, and I'm
afraid I will do so again. The last part of the verse refers to the
grace of God and how through it "...we are saved...". But it is the
next short part afterward that made me think a little harder. We are
indeed saved by grace, but that is only AFTER "...all we can do."
While this may not be a "Wow!" moment to some of you, the little
hidden treasures in the scriptures that confirm known truths are, in
my opinion, just as important as the "wow" moments that many of us
look for. I know that as we all continue to study these scriptures
more carefully and more diligently, these simple truths will pop out
at us and continue to strengthen and enlighten our testimonies.

I wish all of you the greatest and best of luck in everything.

Good Luck, God Bless, and God Speed,
Elder Annen