Sunday, December 1, 1968

December is already here. Where last month went I do not know. So much has passed by here in the Language Training Mission and in my life that I can never hope to catch up with myself in this journal. It is no idle statement to say that I have never been so busy or studied so hard in my entire life. But except for occasional rough spots the time runs enjoyable.

About the past two weeks mais ou menos have seen trends that could be significant—for our total district and for myself as an individual missionary—if the full potential can be followed through. We have been struggling with our purposes here, district unity, living the language, and such coisas. More particularly, I myself have struggled with capturing the full vision of a mission call. Visiting the Manti Temple last Saturday helped somewhat. And then Wednesday Karen sent me a copy of a letter Eileen received from Elder [Jeff] Boswell in Samoa. He certainly has the vision of his call, and that helped greatly. Last night I spent over an hour with Elder Hill speaking about many valuable things. Thanksgiving Day was a fantastic experience also in relation to all this. Beginning the final two weeks I think I am on a better plane.

Thanksgiving Day in the LTM started with an 8:00 zone meeting. We studied off and on until 10:30 before we went over to the Richards PE building to play basketball for several hours. An hour of the time I played with Brian Rabe, Dave Hart, Mark Smith, and Joe Cannon's younger brother. Like old home week. At 2:00 I called home and talked for 45 minutes, speaking to Mom, Dad, Jerry, Jackie, Dale, Kay, Gene, Cheryl, Ray, Sheryl, and Aunt Stella. At 4:00 the district retired to the house of the brother-in-law of Elder Welch for Thanksgiving dinner. Karen had spoken with Elder Welch and his wife the day before, and they were impressed with Karen. She sent a salad for our dinner. We had a great time together. That evening we saw West Side Story, which to me demonstrated the power of love, even outside the gospel framework. How much greater is the pure love of Christ! After the show we returned to the Welches for pumpkin pie, made by Elder Burr's girl. And then the day was over.