mission

My Affair with Sriracha Sauce

I first encountered Sriracha sauce in Schwarzenberg, Germany of all places. It’s a town of about 25,000 in the southern part of former Eastern Germany. Not exactly a place well known for its love of spiciness. But I was there on my mission, and I was visiting a family that had made us a treat for dinner: Mexican food! And they’d even gotten us some hot sauce to go with it. (I believe it was tacos or burritos, but it’s hazy at this point.) My companion at the time (Elder Urien) took one look at the bottle and scoffed, telling […]

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For Mormon Eyes Only: On Missionary Work

Well, it’s not as if this is top secret stuff I’m going to be writing about here, but I’m not sure how interesting it’ll be for non-Mormons, so if you’re a coffee drinker, this one might not be for you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I was having a conversation with my brother over the weekend. He was recently called to be the Ward Mission Leader in his congregation. (An assignment I had for over a year here in Maine. I wrote a talk on my thoughts on the calling back when I received it.) In our chat, he

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Newsflash: You Can’t Go Back to the Past

I suppose this should have been something that was obvious to me, but it wasn’t. Ever since I left Germany when I was a missionary, I’ve wanted to go back. Wanted to return and check out the cities where I lived and worked. I would go to Google Maps from time to time to scope out old haunts and remember the good times I had there. (Surprising how quickly one forgets the bad times–at least how quickly I do.) Denisa and I would go to Slovakia every three years, and each year we went, I’d try to figure out a

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Good Luck, Wilson!

My younger brother Wilson left on his 2 year Mormon mission to Curitiba Brazil this morning. Speaking as a returned missionary myself, I honestly can’t say I really envy him. I mean, there were some good times on my mission, and I am 100% thankful I went, but it was some of the hardest 2 years of my life. (I can say this now that he’s gone and can’t read this–no internet for you, Wilson!) For those of you who don’t know, a mission lasts for 2 years, during which time you have no television, no movies, no books, no

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Church Talk

I had the chance to speak in church again yesterday. Since I’m still the Ward Mission leader and all, it was on missionary work again. For those of you interested, I’m providing the full text of my talk (entitled “Accountability” behind the cut. For those of you not interested . . . you’ll get nothing today. And like it!

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