A Mother's Day Proverb

Mom,

    This week has flown by and I have been pretty trunky!  It's not like I have 59 days left; I am definitely not counting down my days or anything!! The closer I get to the end, the more my emotions are like a roller coaster--sometimes I feel like I could do this for the rest of my life and then other times I would love nothing more than to be in my big clean house, laying on the CARPET! There are also so many cool movies that I need to see--start making a list!!

     This week has been good.  We went back to that one village we found. I prepared long and hard for the villiagers to come at me with their "anti" stuff from their preacher, but I don't think the preacher knows we are teaching in that village yet. This week we gave everyone Bibles and Book of Mormons and taught them all about the Restoration using evidence from the Bible.  We focused on how we need to trust the word of God over what other people tell us; however, most of these people have been Roman Catholic since birth, so they could be tough to crack!!

For Mother's day I'm going to tell you a little story that is told here in Malaysia. It goes something like this: 

    "Once there was a boy whose father died when he was only a baby. His mother wanted her son to have the very best education and life, but she herself was not educated.   So, everyday she hand washed clothes and cloths for money and she saved that money just for her son. While the boy was growing up, he never realized the sacrifice and hard work his mother was making because she had been washing clothes for as long as he could remember. For close to twenty-five years, the mom hand washed clothes for 10+ hours a day so she could pay for her son.  Finally, the mother was able to save enough money to send her son to college to study.  When her son graduated from college, he went for his first job interview. The CEO of the company gave the son the interview; because, the CEO himself came from a humble background. To the man's surprise, the CEO asked him more about what his life was like growing up than about his accomplishments in school.  The CEO asked him about his mother, and then he told the son--before you work for me, go home and wash your mother's hands. The man was very confused, but he went back to his village.  He found his mother washing clothes and as he took her hands and started to wash them, he saw how bloody and battered his mother's hands were--that her fingernails were destroyed and that she had cuts everywhere.  The man wept. He returned to the company and the CEO asked him what had he learned.  The man said,  "I learned that without my mother, I would be nothing." The CEO opened his arms and said, "Ahh, NOW you can work for me."

Thanks for helping me get to where I am now Mom and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

        Yes Mom, I will be willing to stand in line for the new mac book!!! Apparently Rick got me a job cleaning carpets that pays 12 bucks an hour, so I'll be rolling in dough!!  But don't worry mom, I promise you will be my BFFL (best friend for life) when I get home! We will go right back to our routine...Mexican food and movies!!  But I love ya momma and I'll Skype ya on Sunday!! 

Elder Madsen