Well Hey There Again!
Okeedokee.....Regarding the license questions, I haven't received anything from the department of licensing as of yet. I have received specific permission to communicate with you guys via email all necessary license related issues during the week. So you can be expecting an email as soon as I hear from the DOL. This might be able to go without being said....but just in case... if there is anything that I need to do from my end that I haven't already done, send me an email and I will respond ASAP.
Interesting story......You know how I have insurance on my bike for when it's locked up correctly? Well, for the majority of my mission I have been the only one in my companionships to lock my bike up properly (remove the front tire, put the U-lock through both wheels and the frame). My companions normally just stick their U-lock through the frame and call it good. And it always has been good for them. About 2 months ago, I left my old ways of locking up the bike by taking the tire off and whatnot. My reasons for this?
1)it's a pain,
2)its added time,
3)it gets bike grease on your hands and clothes,
4)it has been putting extra wear and tear on the axle of the front wheel and if it got worse would be a somewhat expensive fix according to the bike shop I went to,
5)above all else, none of my companions have ever had their wheels stolen even though their wheels have always been VERY easy theft targets....So that means I'm safe.....Right?
I could go on, but I'll just end by explaining I had a long mental debate before making this decision to stop locking my bike in the most theft proof way possible.
Last night, as we were coming out of a lesson, one of my companions pointed and asked, "What happened to your bike?" I looked up to see the frame of my bike locked to the stop sign. Front and back wheels were gone, the entire seat and post were missing, and the de-railer of the bike was a little bent probably due to it being slammed on the ground when my rear wheel was stripped off of it. My companions bikes which were parked and locked to a different street sign less than 20 feet away were untouched.
Surprisingly, my companions were more upset about my loss than I was. They marveled at how "calm" and "ok" I appeared because they said that if it was them they would be extremely upset. This was interesting to me because I recognized that I too may have been angry or upset earlier on in my life but that because of all the things The Lord has helped me to begin learning on the mission, that I was still in control of my natural man even in the midst of a heated/high-pressure situation. I'm grateful for that....and come to think of it, I hope that by mentioning one of the things that I am "learning" that The Lord doesn't see fit to humble me by causing my natural man to re-submerge in a future and even higher-pressure situation.
But anyways, Because we were stranded until we could get picked up and taken home for the night (one doesnt get very far on his bike without wheels), I got to use my bike as a conversation starter! I got to make lots of friends in the area and one neighbor even told us that we should park and lock our bikes in his front yard from now on where he can keep an eye on them for us when we are in the area! So that's pretty cool huh?
One of the reasons I tell you this story is because it is going to cost a little bit to find the necessary parts to get my bike back in running order again and I don't want you to be concerned by the extra money you see coming off my personal card. If I remember correctly, there was a time much earlier in my mission where some random and expensive bike issues came up and I had an email waiting for me on Monday asking me if I was knowledgeable of the spending. So I just wanted to make sure that you know what happened and can know to be expecting some spending on my part.
There is however another reason I tell this story. As can be expected, I learned many things from this experience. But I would like to share just one of my "lessons learned" because I feel it is very important.
No matter who else surrounds us and is seemingly un-harmed by their choices (whatever those choices may be), we must always stick to the higher standards of obedience that The Lord has given us. Just as I signed up for an out of the norm insurance bike protection plan, we have all as members of Christ's church signed up for a figuratively speaking and out of the norm "life insurance policy". This life insurance policy much like my bike insurance comes at a higher cost. And we must be willing to pay the fee. It is a fee of exact obedience every time. Often that fee can seem as monotonous and tedious as taking the front tire off of a bike, but unless the fee is paid in full every time, we will one day find ourselves empty handed with a great insurance policy that can't be cashed in due to our carelessness.
Well, That took longer to explain than I thought it would, but that's ok.....I felt it was important to share.
I'm sure you are interested about the baptism? Well, it happened! Woot Woot! Only 2 of the 4 people I previously mentioned were actually baptized this Sunday though. The other 2 of our 4 baptismal candidates will hopefully be getting baptized this Saturday though. This was due to some illness that came up last minute for them. But that's ok! Keep praying for us!
I love you all!
Elder Ostler
