July 14th, 2008 John D
Elder Darrington has now reached his halfway (or hump day) day in the MTC and I just want to share a few things that he has written to us about.
We do get a weekly email but he also writes a very long letter that we usually receive every Saturday. He has had some incredible spiritual experiences as he is learning how to teach the gospel in Spanish and meeting some of the general authorities of our church. His attitude is incredible as he goes from class to class and meeting to meeting and to the temple once a week to gather strength.
His main struggle has been his companion (whose hasn’t?) and he told us how he is learning about Christlike love and understanding that he can only change himself and his attitude when dealing with others. He is learning patience as he deals with all sorts of personalities and he has shared his frustration with us about those who are there and not fully committed.
During his first week he was able to connect with his cousin from Idaho and sent home pictures of the two of them. It was great to see the two of them together.
This last week he came down with a bad cough and a fever and couldn’t breathe well, so he went to the doctor who gave him some antibiotics and told him he has pneumonia or bronchitis. Of course, as Mom, you can only worry, but this is what John wrote to me “PS Don’t worry about the pneumonia thing, if it is it’ll be taken care of . I’m in the Lord’s hands and Just have to live through it. Even though I’m sick I haven’t missed anything to do with class or anything.” He is right. He is in the Lord’s hands and will be blessed. When he was set apart as a missionary, he was promised he would have good health to complete his mission. He has that faith and so must I.
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June 24th, 2008 John D
The day we dropped John off at the MTC was a great experience. It wasn’t as spiritual as many expect but it was great nevertheless. He was eager and excited- enough that he nearly forgot some of his luggage and after we’d left him, we realized he had so already had to put a box together and get it sent to him.
We were the first to arrive at 10:45 am. The older gentlemen directing us on where to park and where to put luggage were happy to see us and started calling John “Elder” and asking him where he was from. After John dropped off his luggage, we went into the MTC lobby where he checked in and got his name tag. I helped him cut the thread inside his pocket and put the tag in. As we sat and waited to be directed where to go next, the lobby filled up with many young men and young women with their families, doing the same thing.
We were then sent to this very large room with hundreds of chairs and while we waited for all of the missionaries to arrive, we watched a video of the church’s commercials-yes, some are tearjerkers. But the whole time I sat there with my oldest son, I was filled with the greatest feeling that he is doing what the Lord wants him to do. He is not ruining the rest of his life, but preparing for it so he can become a mature, responsible, unselfish, loving and spiritual husband and father who will take care of his family. Not to mention the incredible blessings he will gain because he is out there teaching the gospel and helping other families find the love of the Savior and peace in this crazy world.
I know many of you wonder how a mother can let her son go and not see him for 2 years and not talk to him except at Christmas and Mother’s Day- I can because I love him and because I love the Lord. It is hard to let him go, but I remember how much love our Heavenly Father has for us that He also let His only Begotten Son go.
We hugged him and told him we loved him and feel proud that he chose (yes, it has always been his choice) to follow the prophet’s directive to serve an honorable mission just like his dad and his grandparents and many uncles and an aunt and 3 cousins (2 are serving now also)
John’s Mom
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June 14th, 2008 John D
Hello, this is John’s bro Scott. For the next two years I will be in charge of this blog. I shall post my brother’s letters, post my feelings, and answer any questions you might have. I don’t have much experience in blogs but I shall keep this running to the best of my ability.
Bear with me, Scott.
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June 5th, 2008 John D
It’s crazy I know, but I have less than a week before I report to the MTC. I’d like to apologize to all those who have sent me emails and tried contacting me these last couple of weeks, I really had little to no spare time. I’d thought that without work I’d get some time to myself, how wrong that idea was =D
Packing
While I’ve been packing most of my personal stuff , stuff I can’t bring on my mission, I’ve come to realize a few things. The first being that after Wednesday that my house will never be my home again. I can come stay here as a guest, but it will never be my home. My life is starting and it’s crazy how much is changing and how different it is from what I’d thought it’d be. My walls are bare, my books are packed , and every personal touch I have given this room throughout the years has just about been erased. I haven’t left yet but I now feel like a stranger in my own room.
How I Can Run This Blog
One question or comment I get over and over is “How can you possibly update this blog? With the rigors of mission life and the fact that you can only use the internet for email, how can you update it regularly?” I mostly get this from LDS members returned missionaries and the like. They are always eager to point out the shortcomings of such and idea and will do their best to argue with me and try to shoot it down. I don’t know why you guys feel that way, but I hope this will answer that big question.
On a mission you are allowed to write anyone or to anything you want. Your time might be limited to do these things, but you are still allowed at least some time a day to do this. The church wants yous to stay in contact with your family, they understand how hard it can be for some families. I’ve recently contacted a returned missionary from my mission area and he assured me that throughout a good chunk of my mission I’ll have access to the internet and email. I’m leaving my blog to my brother whom I’ll try to write to at least once a week. These letters will be what will be posted on this blog. It isn’t the most effective system, but it’s what I have to work with and I’m sure it will work well. People seem to forget that while I’m on my mission this blog carries the same priority as my family. I made this blog for an express purpose and I will see it through until the end.
I’ll be making at least one more post before I leave on Wednesday, I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to update the blog once a week in the MTC. From what I’ve heard the MTC is crazily structured, not giving you much free time. It’s understandable though, I have 6 weeks to get the best handle on Spanish as I can =)
-John
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May 20th, 2008 John D
Gratitude
First of all today I’d like to take some time and shout out a huge THANK YOU to all those who wrote me after this last post. The positive support I got was overwhelming and it helped me to again realize why I’m writing this blog. It also helped me drum up even more support and traffic for the site and I know that most of that is due to the efforts of all my readers. So again, THANK YOU!!!
Getting Closer
Whelp, I took a look at my calender today and I realized I have 22 Days until I enter the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC). It blows my mind how fast everything has started to move and how little time I have left for just me. I quit work last Thursday with the hopes that the next 3 weeks off of work would give me that extra alone and fun time I desired but unfortunately my schedule now is busier than it ever was when I was working. Oh and it was 95 degrees F. today so that really isn’t helping anything 
Hiking
This Monday I had the opportunity to spend the day with one of my very best friends.For the last couple of weeks I haven’t been able to hang out with anyone, most were involved in finals and some weren’t even in the state or states surrounding where I live. It was rather boring and so you can see how glad I was to hang out with a good friend for more than likely the last time until I leave.
We woke up at 4:30 am and proceeded to drive to the Lake Tahoe region. We planned to hike Mt Rose and decided to leave early to give us plenty of time to reach the peak. We had hiked about 3 miles up and ran into a problem, the snow was way to deep and slippery for us to continue hiking. Disappointed that we couldn’t hike Mt.Rose but still adamant that our 4:30 am excursion should be worth it, we decided to cut across the mountain we were currently on and make for the highway, adding another 4-5 miles to our hike. It sucked that we couldn’t finish the hike, but I felt we got alot of it anway. Afterwards we hung out in Reno, going to movies and such , finishing the day with a good serving of sushi. Feel free to browse the pics at the bottom of this post, all are labeled so you can see what exactly I’m taking pics of.
Again a big thank you to my readers, this blog wouldn’t be where it is without all of you. Keep on trekking!
-John
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May 17th, 2008 John D
A rather interesting title and before I go in-depth on today’s post let me quote that verse for you.
Luke 6:37
“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven”
I receive an average amount of feedback on this blog and most of that is pretty positive and that tends to make my day. Once in a while though I get some feedback that is just scathing and spiteful. It hurts that I draw that kind of negative attention, and that someone would take that much time out of their day to be so rude to myself. I understand if you have problems with the idea and the site, but isn’t it alot easier to present these in a dignified and respectful manner? I answer all questions I get concerning the church and this blog regardless.
Recently I received this email, I’ve asked the sender and received permission to publish it. This is why I don’t like reading feedback some days =\
“Dear John
I recently came across your blog after it was mentioned on the non-lds blog site [withheld] and am pretty disgusted with what you’ve been publishing and I’m pretty disappointed that a self proposed intelligent kid could make such an ill thought out choice as serving a wasted 2 year mission for the mormon church. Do you realize how badly you’re screwing up your future? 2 years delay in going to college, in getting married all because your stupid church requires you to waste your time. I hope you get your head out of your a** soon, you’ll regret going just like I did.”
I’m not going to respond to this, but I hope you guys can see how much flak I get both online and in person. You’d be surprised at how many people will do their best to dissuade you from going, and its not that I mind debating this and explaining why I’m going, but I get tired of people fighting with me and not listening when I politely tell them my decision is final
Next,I’m going to do my best to explain my feelings on the subject of Mormon Mothers against Missions and the Ex-Mormon website’s view on the same subject. I’m not going to link them on this page, I’d rather not help drum up anymore bandwidth/attention for them.
Mormon Mothers Against Missions
I first heard about this a few weeks ago from a friend who is currently serving in Pennsylvania. He told me that he was approached by a member of this group and publicly berated for serving a mission. I started to then research this site and was rather appalled at the attitudes and viewpoints relating to the church and missions. In summary this site is a group of mothers who have banded together to “ban” missions from the LDS church, or at least do their best to discourage others from going. I understand that people disagree with serving missions and that they do tend to bring up pretty valid arguments. People have their own opinion and I both respect that opinion and do my best not to become judgmental about it. There is a line however, and that line is crossed when groups like this actively seek to spread hatred and propaganda against the church. They tout that they’re good Christians, and yet they do their best to show their hatred of missions and the church’s stance on missions whenever possible. This breaks my heart because for every site like mine, where I do my best to answer questions and to shed some light on missions, there is a site like Mormon Mothers against Missions that seeks to put our church into an even worse light. Frankly I feel like I’ve been pissed on and been judged as a horrible and unintelligent person because I feel that I should follow the Prophet and serve a mission for the church and for Heavenly Father.
Ex-Mormon
I found this site a long time ago and only recently started to dig down for its stories and attitudes concerning missions. Mainly it’s old time elders ( 20 years + off their missions) that have left the church and are doing their best to undermine the missionary program from the ground up. They tote that most missions rely on numbers, and while it is true that some Mission Presidents tend to focus on the numbers, they used the faults of a person to put blame on the entire church. They talked about how they felt the rules were stupid and that they were impossible to keep, the rules are there for a reason and for the most part it seems to me that they didn’t realize it and since they had left the church anyway, that these rules wouldn’t hold much meaning for them anymore anyways. This site, instead of debating and doing their best to explain their views to outsiders ( of the site) will do its best to intimidate and bully those current members that try and stand up for the church. I don’t agree with arguing on the internet, it never gets anywhere and the point is proven over and over again on that site.
I’m not letting these sites bother me, I’m just dissapointed that adults can act this way. I’m dissapointed that as a 19 year old I’m more polite than 75% of the users on both of these sites, and that I’m more willing to listen to thier opinions and feelings than they are to mine. Unfortunatley we know that this criticism of the church will only get worse and that there will always be bigots and slander leveled against the church, but we also know that we’ll be rewarded for putting up with it as Heavenly Father and Jesus commanded we should
Matthew 5:39
“But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also”
-John
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