Week 17: Presidential Email

Salutations!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have never been more excited to write an email to all of you, because the most exciting thing in the world happened this week. Something that I’ve been waiting to have happen ever since I first got to Columbia. It was something that I was sometimes unsure would ever even  happen, but through mercy and miracles, it did. I can’t believe that I get to share it with you all!

That’s right, I visited the Historic Home of James K. Polk right here in downtown Columbia!

I don’t know if this is a letdown for anyone reading this right now, but if you know me, this seems like the event that would excite me the most.

I now know lots of facts about the eleventh President of the United States, who died 100 days after leaving office. (See? That’s one of the facts I know now.) But a missionary email could not contain all of that, so for now, I leave you with fun pictures, included here and in a bonus blog post.

This week also included: referring someone to missionaries in Wisconsin; me realizing that Wisconsin is actually super close to me now that I’m out east; seeing a groundhog in the flesh on Groundhog Day; the elders re-enacting a scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; getting Costa Vida for Hermana Harris’ birthday!; Hermana Petersen and I going to check the mail right when the postal worker came to deliver it.

¡Feliz cumpleaños!

This morning, I was reading in 2 Nephi 9 (in Spanish, naturally), and a verse really jumped out to me that I’d love to share with you all. It says:

42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.

I would characterize myself as a pretty knowledgeable person. I’ve always loved reading and school and learning, which is a blessing that I’m super lucky to have. I often have a problem with knowing that I’m right and feeling the need for vindication. But in reality, I’m a fool before God, just like everyone else. That can be a hard pill to swallow sometimes, but when you’re humble, you really are a lot more happy than when you choose pride. We all need to knock on His door sometimes, and as much as I feel like being correct matters the most, it doesn’t. We need to be kind to others and not take ourselves too seriously. Because that’s what mercy means.

— Happy February,

Hermana Newton