Socks, Transfers and Conference

All,

The photo is a picture of me at transfer meeting. Elder Cameron, who mans the cameras during the meetings so he can broadcast to the bush, saw this picture of me on the camera, and took a picture of the "Angel in the Midst of the Missionaries".

 Elder Cameron is Awesome.

First off, no one had actually told me Socks was on the downhill until today, but I felt sad about her a lot today, so I really figured as much. She blessed my life so much (I have the scars to prove it...) and I'll miss her until I see her again. I'll always remember her fighting with dogs, cats, foxes, wolverines (that last one may have been made up) and DAD. She is awesome. According to cat years, she was 92 when she died. That's a long, fulfilling life.

Next, transfers came through. I'm staying in the Hmong branch, which is exciting, because I have not yet conquered the language, nor have I gotten my Hmong name tag in the mail yet! I hope to stay in the branch for a while yet. Elder Chalfant, however, has served here 8 months, and is going down to Seward. I'll miss him; he's been an awesome companion. I'll be getting Elder Curtain, who is currently my Zone leader right now. Go figure.

 Lastly is conference.  WOW! BROCK AND MATI, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO GO ON MISSIONS UNTIL I GET HOME. THUS SAYETH ELDER DARCEY. But really, I will understand if you do.

The announcement of younger missionaries floored me. Every missionary in the group with us looked like a mattock-ed Cow. [He sounds like he knows something about mattocked cows]

Stunned, wounded, a little in denial. This can only be a good thing for younger missionaries to be able to go out. I actually loved Elder Andersen's talk the most--the one about faith. Elder Andersen always has the best talks for me. I loved what he said about the need to have faith through trials. “Distancing yourself from the kingdom of God during a trial of faith is like leaving the safety of a secure storm cellar just as the tornado comes to view.” We shouldn't be surprised when we're backed to our walls of faith. I read a book recently that's really affected me. It's called "Here We Stand", by Joseph Fielding McConkie (not Bruce). It's a great book that I highly recommend. Anyway, that's about all. This transfer has passed far too quickly. I'm doing great up here. Winter is coming fast; The season of Almost-Winter is fading fast. (4 seasons in Alaska: Winter from October to April, Breakup from April to June, Construction from June to September, and Almost-Winter, from September to October Love you all from the North, Elder Darcey