Building

It's a basement, not a coal mine, but
well-played on the hard hat!

One never knows what surprises the weekly letter from TMFKATB will bring. While he was in Mexico, it was a lot of wondering how graphic will this week's description of his stomach ailment be. Life behind the Zion Curtain has been a little different. This week's letter had a couple of surprises in it.

First, there was the whole "Working in a Coal Mine" (name that band in three, two, one...) motif in the picture. It's a basement, not a coal mine, so not sure why he had the miner's hard hat going, but good for him. A chunk of his time the past week was helping someone build a room from the ground up in a basement (drywall, sheetrock, mudding - the whole nine yards). He said it was a lot of fun, but wore him and his companion out.

He then talked about a random invitation to someone in a McDonalds turned into another opportunity to serve and teach. Then he relates how David Archuleta came and spoke / sang at a mission conference. The biggest surprise? TMFKATB really liked the guy. While you serve as a Mormon missionary, you're media intake is drastically different than when you were a 'civilian.' Turns out that the dulcet tones of one Mr. David Archuleta can have an impact on a musically savvy twenty year old. So today's letter really was a grab bag of things.

As I read it over again, I see how his experience building the room in the basement serves as a metaphor for the building that's occurring in his life right now. As he serves, he is learning and building his character in ways that will serve him well for the rest of his life. He's building on experience after experience that he will draw on as he continues to mature and takes on life once he returns from his mission service. I'd call that priceless.