Elder Mitchell Rush: The Road Less Traveled By

HELLO!

Hope you had a great week!

This week was pretty good! I don't know where to start!

Cool story about this week.

We had Brother Coffin tell us a story about faith. There was a man lost in the desert. He ran into an old rusty water pump. Next to it was a quart of water that you could either drink or use to prime the pump. He said if you prime the pump you could have as much water as you wanted. SO the problem is to either take the risk of priming an old rusty pump or drinking the water and leaving none for future travelers. So the man lost in the desert used the water to prime the pump and it took a little while but water just began to flow out of the pump! I was think about the lost man. He could have easily given up, or blamed God for all his trials, he could have become miserable but he had faith. He acted, he trusted, he was blessed.

I loved the story! It is just like our lives. I have been able to see the difference between people who act and follow the commandments and those that do not. It is so easy to take the road that everyone travels. When we take the road less traveled by, blazing our own path, making difficult choices, and over coming obstacles we gain so much more. Not only a reward at the end but personal growth. Travelling through the refiners fire is challenging and requires a lot of change but it is worth it!

A video to go along with the Refiner's Fire.

I know that by putting our trust in our Heavenly Father we may not always have what we want but we will have what we need and we will be happy!

I hope you have a great week! Remember through small and simple things means great things come to pass!

Love,

Elder Rush

Wow! A letter to me from my Elder Rush! I guess he'll be going to BYU, not UCSD. Lots of trips to Utah for this mama.

I am doing well! How are you?

I hope you are getting enough rest! I will definitely keep everyone in my prayers! Breanna, who was baptized last week, her parents are the same age as Kris and Ben and the kids are almost the same age as the Packard clan! Holy cow it reminds me of them every time I go over there! SO these last week have been interesting. I have been thinking about school. I looked over financial aid and I had some concerns so I prayed about. As I sat there thinking a thought came into my head and I am pretty positive it was not from me! The thought was this "Don't worry about it, you are going to BYU." so after that my week was thrown for a loop! I have thought a lot about it! At zone training we were asked to set eternal goals. Some of my goals were

1. I want to be more converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

2. I don't want to return to "normal" aka the ways of the world

3. I want to marry a righteous woman that knows the importance of following God's commandments and teaches others how to follow God (aka our future kids)

4. I want an eternal family

5. I want joy and happiness in this life and in the life to come.

6. I want to be an example for my family and others

7. I want to be a worthy righteous God fearing man.

As I sat down and discussed these with myself and with others, BYU is the right place to go. There are so many earthly reasons to go to UCSD. My credits probably won't transfer, family is close, I have already gone for a year. So I am very confused. I know I need to follow God's will and I know it is going to be hard. I am positive I need to go to BYU.

What do you think mom?

Happiest place on earth for this mama! The place where Elder Rush emails on Mondays!