It's time to go to work

Apricot tree - harvesting the goodness therein 

In the last line of TMFKATB's letter today, he wrote the following:

I only have five full weeks left of the mission!

It's time to go to work!

That sentiment made me smile. It's more than safe to say that over the course of the last two years, in both Mexico and behind the Zion Curtain, he has busted his proverbial hump working and serving. One could justifiably argue that he really did bust his gut serving in Mexico, so his declaration that it was time to go to work today was just a little funny. 

He's recognizing that he only has five weeks left (seriously, he's only got five weeks to go) and there's a lot yet to be done. I'm quite sure he knows he will not have an experience like this again and he's determined to live it to the fullest up to the very end.

His week, per his letter, was a little chaotic as they find themselves deeply invested in the welfare of a family that has recently arrived in the United States from the chaos that is Venezuela. The family of six was staying with another family of seven in an apartment clearly not made for 13 ("Code Violation on aisle six!) and they were given two days notice to hightail it out of the place so that the other family would not be evicted. TMFKATB and his companion became pseudo real estate agents as they worked to find a place for this family to stay / live. In what he called a miracle, they were successful. They found someone that was willing to give the family their basement as a temporary place to stay while they work to get further settled. He was so excited that they were able to help this family. There are good people in this world. There really are. 

I'm glad he was reminded of that. I'm glad he's determined to work up to the end. I can't believe it's nearly here.

'Hello' is what he called this week's letter

Last night a friend of ours asked me if TMFKATB's mission had gone by quickly or slowly. With the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML away on her ten day "I'm sick of Connecticut" tour with her sister, I answered the question solely from my perspective. One word was all it took: quickly. I am amazed at how the time has flown by. Wasn't last Monday's update posted five minutes ago? No, it was seven days ago but it feels like it was just a second ago. I did caveat my answer since we got him home for three weeks for the "Gastrointestinal Tragedy Recovery Tour 2015." I'm the first to admit that made the two years easier to bear. That said,  in all honesty, it really has passed by so much faster than I ever anticipated.

I mean, here we are again, another Monday, and another update from TMFKATB. Not to sound like a broken record, but his letter was another good one. He got to lead another leadership training session in Spanish and loved it. He's challenging himself with some of his personal study. He's stretching himself as he works and serves. That's not a bad thing at all. As he put it, "I just really enjoy the work."

I had to laugh at the title of his weekly email, "Hello." I knew it was not an homage to Adele. He probably has no idea that she even released a new album, as missionaries find themselves in a cultural vacuum during their period of service. That said, there's a missionary-themed spoof of "Hello" floating around on the interwebs. It's pretty clever. Take a look here if you want to check it out. For those of you behind the Zion Curtain, trust me if TMFKATB turns up on your doorstep, he won't bust out into song. I promise.