The service projects in this area are really intense. I've been spoiled my whole mission with calling BINGO to old people and reading English books to 7 yr olds. In the Los Altos zone they work outside in the heat...with their hands! On Wednesday we had to rake, I swear, an entire acre of these tiny, pokey ball things that had been falling from the trees. There were millions. I was sweaty and blistery by the time we left. These hands are not made for that kind of work.
The very next day we went out to a ranch and summer camp for kids. They said we were going to hike up the hill over there carrying heavy things. I laughed because clearly they were kidding. Why on earth would we be doing that? Well, they weren't kidding. That's exactly what we did and it was a HIKE, like a Y Mount hike. There were about 10 times along the way where I really thought I better just lay down because I was going to die right there. The Elders were carrying these long pipes and we were just lagging behind them occasionally shouting out "is this poison oak?!". For the record, it was poison oak. We got to a really high point and I was done. Like, done, done. The Elders were still going straight up and my companion and I said we were just going to stay and wait here. A few of the Elders turned around and came back. They were so precious. No, Hna Hall, you can do this. We started this together and we are going to finish together! You can do this! Come on. They were so sweet to the old lady missionary that somehow ended up on this trek up Mt Everest. By the way, I'm still confused as to what kind of service this was because I for sure did nothing for nature except almost die in it. Finally, after A LOT of help and encouragement and probably just sheer miracles, I made it to the top to enjoy the beauty of the tiniest natural spring I have ever seen in my life. I didn't even care that the spring was so pathetic I could have made one myself about 300 feet below, I was overjoyed that I actually made it and shoved my face under that water and drank and drank and drank. It was the best water of my life!
Obviously on the way back down, us missionaries were joking about this being the metaphor of life. There were so many times where I really was going to give up, but thanks to the help, encouragement and love of others I made it to that spring and it was glorious! Totally worth it. In fact, after I made it up to the top I had forgotten all the pain, shortness of breath and negative/murmuring thoughts that had accompanied my journey all the way up. Indeed, that is life. The trials come, they are hard, and we may at times want to give up, but the end is always worth the effort. Thank heavens we have angels along the way to encourage and support us. I would have never made it without my companion and my Elder Angels and there are many times in my life when I have felt the same. This week I'm going to try to be an angel to someone else in return, hopefully not up another hike. See who you can be an angel to this week where you are. Help someone climb their Mt Everest today!
xoxo,
Hna Hall
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