The Worth of Your Soul is GREAT!

This past week proved to be a rollercoaster of emotions for Elder Scott. He had some high-high's, but also some low-low's. Let's start with the rough stuff so we can end on a HAPPY note!  

Elder Scott was struggling with some personal issues this week and was feeling pretty beat down. Life in the mission field isn't always easy, and this happened to be one of those weeks where the Elder's were hitting a lot of roadblocks, bumps in the road, and overcoming some issues that had to be resolved. It started to affect the way Elder Scott was feeling about himself, and he was beginning to doubt his abilities. But,with his Mission President's help and a timely Open When Letter titled Open When You Need A Reminder Of Your Self-Worth, he's been able to jump over some of the biggest hurdles and get back on track to doing what he loves. 

Inside the Open When envelope was a copy of a short talk titled, Finding Self-Worth in a Selfie World that had a paragraph that really touched him, "I am what I am to those I should be serving more, to those I should be reaching out to more, to those I should be writing to instead of writing this. I am how I love others because that's one of the few things I can actually control in this life, and it's possibly the only way I can tangibly measure my self-worth. Bot mostly, I am how I love others because that's all God asks of me - and because that's all I can give Him. And maybe that's good enough." After reading that, Elder Scott realized he needed to refocus and remember his own motto of loving more. In his words, "I was loosing my true focus on love, and it's all tied into love and service. Every other principle in the entire gospel is focused on love, and I was forgetting that. I can't lose my focus on love; love of my companion, love of my other missionaries, love of the people I serve, love of my Mission President, and most importantly love of my Savior and of my Heavenly Father. 

In addition to the talk, there was a letter with a special reminder that the Savior sees the goodness of your soul, "In the best of times and in the worst of times always let that be a constant. Your Savior loves you perfectly, and when we aren't as perfect as we wish we could be, He will always be there to lift you up, calm your fears, encourage you, and most importantly love you."

Each of the letters and thoughts inside that little envelope were exactly what Elder Scott needed to see and read that evening when he was feeling so low and down, and with this new week, comes a new energy to do better, be better, and serve better. Hopefully the slump is over, and I know he's determined to keep his focus on what matters most. 

I promised some HAPPY moments, and this is one for the record books. Elder Scott was thrown a SURPRISE party by Familia Risco to celebrate is 1 year anniversary in the field. Can I just take a moment and say what an amazing family this is? I knew Elder Scott was having a rough week, and the thought that a family went out of their way to celebrate his missionary service touched me more than I can convey in words. They may not know this, but it was Elder Scott's first ever *surprise* party. How cool that it would happen in Peru! The family hid and everything which made the whole night incredible. They also showered him with balloons, cards, made him a cake, and even created a super cool party hat for him to wear. He thinks the world of the Risco family, and it just continues to reaffirm to me that our Heavenly Father is watching over my son. This has been a constant in all the areas he has served in this past year. No matter where he is at, a couple families and individuals take him in and make him one of their own. This makes being so far away from him a whole lot easier. I am very thankful to the Peruvian people who have made this first year in the mission field such a wonderful experience for Elder Scott, and for the love they show him every day.

 

 

They have so much fun together, and I LOVE it!!

Elder Cruz and Elder Scott

The morning of September 13th, Elder Scott opened a package we sent him. Inside was a photo album with pictures of lots of friends and family wishing him a happy hump day, letters from dozens of loved ones, bags of American candy, and a few other odds & ends. He told us his favorite moment of the week was reading the letters everyone sent. They really touched him, and he sends his gratitude to all. 

Balloons, candy, and a camel!
Who could ask for more?

A huge stack of letters from friends and family back home

Extra candy yumminess

I'm not sure why I missed the extra word

Caleb painted this for Kyler

And of course a walrus photo from Lil'Walrus, aka, CALEB!

Inside this little book was well wishes
and photos from about 3 dozen loved ones.

Jordan whipped out this card in 5 minutes.
His artistic skills always amaze me.

Haha, Even Rosie & friends got in on
wishing Elder Scott a happy hump day!

 Just a few of the dozens of letters and cards he received. This made his whole week!

Of course Publix newsletters always
create HUGE smiles!!

Then on the evening of September 13th, Elder Scott partook in one of the crazy missionary traditions of burning a shirt at the halfway point. He looked through his meager belongings and found his most ratty, used shirt, wrote a lot of memories on it like his list of companions, places he's served in, goals he has for the next 12 months, and members he has had the privilege of teaching, and then him and Elder Cruz lit up their barbeque grill and burned it until it was unrecognizable Truthfully, I don't understand the concept too much, but boys and fire seem to go hand-in-hand, and it's a tradition that has stuck in a lot of the missions. I'm just glad he had a lot of fun, and hope that shirt won't be missed too much.

I don't know. I'm not convinced this shirt looks too old or
too grungy to engulf in flames, but happy burning Elder Scott

I do,however, love the memories he included

Someone get the s'mores kit!

Possibly too happy at the thought of flames.

Okay, truth, this made me laugh. I'm shocked it burned so well.
Happy Hump Day, Elder Scott
Time to make the next 12 months magnificent!

As always, thanks for continuing to think about, pray for, and reach out to Elder Scott. He is so excited to see what the next 12 months has in store for him, and continues to love his time in Perú