February 29, 2016
Hello everyone!!
This week went by so fast!! One fun part about my week is that I was able to do exchanges and contact on the UVA campus!! Our mission president made it clear that he wanted me to experience as much as I could during these 6 months in Virginia, so he gave me permission to be Sister Manson's companion for a day in the YSA ward. :) it is another world over there! You spend all day on campus, stopping people on there way to and from class to teach them. I was surprised that people stopped to talk to us at all, I know when I was in college I was in my own world on my way to class haha. But it was awesome! We also got to teach two sit down lessons, one with this awesome guy who reminded me so much of home (Portland)! He was vegan, loves biking (and biked to our lesson), loves the outdoors, and loves everyone. It was so great to talk with him!!
Another cool thing about campus is that there are so many religions present. You talk to Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, etc....and I love that so much! When you're going around teaching people what you believe, it is SO important to listen and learn about what they believe. I can't wait until I am less limited in my book selection so I can learn as much as I can! (We have only a handful of books that are approved at a missionary)
A Buddhist belief is that suffering comes from desire. If we did not desire money, we wouldn't suffer when we don't have it. If we did not desire someone's attention, we wouldn't suffer when it is not given to us. This week I've been thinking about whether it would be worth it to be rid of suffering, by being rid of desire. I've come to the conclusion that it would not be. Desire gives us meaning. It gives us passion, and feeling, and....everything. Desire is tricky, because when we desire we are let down—It's unavoidable. But desire is what keeps us going, and gets us up in the morning. And without it, we would lose everything we are. So...be happy that you have the ability to suffer. You wouldn't know what to do if you didn't.
Lyrics today come from: Farther Along by Josh Garrels. Give it a listen. :)
Love you all. ❤️ Be safe, but take risks. Stay strong, but let go.
Sister Pugmire
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