Week 22: The Comfort Zone

If I'm being completely honest, I am definitely not in that zone right now. Hahaha. Transfers were this past week and a lot has changed for me. My training is over and I'm still in Tuol Kork and Tuk L'ak, but I am now leading out the two areas, I have a new companion, and I am now the district leader. A lot of change and stress at once. My new companion is Elder Suy and he is a native Cambodian from Stung Mean Chey and he has only been serving one transfer longer than me. He's super dope and luckily knows English, but it's just been hard adjusting to the new circumstances. I've been having a really hard time these past few days just adjusting to everything and yesterday during sacrament I finally just broke down and let it all out. Luckily the senior couple, Elder and Sister Jones, were at church so I talked to them about everything I had been going through the past few days and Elder Jones gave me a blessing which helped a lot. They gave me a lot of great advice and comfort and they helped remind me that Heavenly Father knows me and is aware of my situation right now. Usually, they don't come to Tuol Kork ward in the morning and they go to a different ward. They told me that about 30 minutes before they were about to go to the other ward, they had a prompting that they should come to our ward in the morning. They didn't know why at first, but in that moment they knew that they were supposed to come for me. I felt the Spirit so strongly in that moment and felt so much love and comfort. I know that Heavenly Father was right there with me and blessed me by sending Elder and Sister Jones to our ward in the morning. I love them so much. Best senior couple in the mission. One thing Elder Jones told me yesterday was that "there is no growth in the comfort zone." While I am a little stressed and overwhelmed with all the change, I'm going to do my best to take this opportunity to learn and grow. 

Besides all that, Charlie got baptized yesterday! It was by far the highlight of my week and exactly what I needed to lift my spirits. Charlie has changed so much since we first met with him and has developed such strong faith and a strong testimony. I feel the Spirit so strongly with him and sometimes get emotional during our lessons with him. Yesterday he asked me, "Elder, why do you always cry when you speak Khmer?" And I was just like bruh... but I told him I just feel the spirit very strongly sometimes when we meet, and it makes my heart happy to see him grow so much. After his baptism he had the biggest smile on his face and he looked happier than ever. I was so happy for him, and his baptism helped me to forget about all the stress and struggles I have been having the past few days. It reminded me why I am here and why I want to be here. To help others come unto Christ and find the greatest joy there is in this life. What a blessing this gospel and this church is in our lives.

One last thing I want to share is from a talk by Neil A. Maxwell called, "Notwithstanding My Weakness." He says, "We can learn that at the center of our agency is our freedom to form a healthy attitude toward whatever circumstances we are placed in!...The Spirit can drive the flesh beyond where the body first agrees to go!" A lot of the time change is hard and takes time to adjust to. I am definitely having a harder time right now, but I know that it is my choice to make my circumstances good or not. Not anyone else. I have that choice. And you can make that choice for yourself too. I'm definitely still working on it, but I encourage all of you to make that choice for yourselves. No matter what situation you are in. Good or bad. If you have a healthy attitude about it and want to move forward, you can and will.

I love you all,

Elder Mendenhall

📸 All the photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bgcnr25uJdQ1sYcY9

A sampling: