Dear Friends and Family that are either 21/2 hours away or 8 or further,
Well hello everyone. It has been quite the ride leaving the bubble of the MTC to arrive in the Lewis Center area of the Columbus Ohio Mission. Let me first state that my Mission President is a man that gets things done. He really is an inspired man of God who loves everyone of his missionaries. I've only had the chance to chat with him for a little bit with the initial Mission home barbeque and then an interview at 12:30 at night...I thought I was breaking mission rules but since I was with President I figured it could slide.
By the way this is my new address:
Elder Ian Forsyth
8855 Lake Ridge Drive
Lewis Center, OH 43035
Send me anything. food. care packages. letters would be the best. pictures of what is happenin' in the good ol' 215. teddy bears. really anything.
My trainer is Elder Twogood...yeah that is his last name. He is a stud. He plays guitar, piano, hilarious (he is hilarious he doesn't play it), was in professional marching bands across the USA playing tuba and is from Kaysville Utah but doesn't know the Watts. I just had to ask him that. My other companion is Elder Culler. He is a quiet guy and pretty reserved but he has been in the area for 4 1/2 months now so he knows all of the members and where they live. That has been a really big help. It's a fun bunch to be around and share the Lord's gospel.
Random Thought. Ohio looks alot like Bucks County without the deer breeding problem, crazy Philadelphia sports fans, streets and middle schools named after indian tribes, and also with a little bit less trees. This one is for Francesca. Remember the people at the Toledo Zoo? What they looked like. That is everyone in Lewis Center. You know what I mean. I don't need to explain. You can use your imagination so I don't say something rude.
Door Approaches.
It was nerve wracking at first. Everyone who thought it would be easy for me to just talk to random strangers with ease was wrong. It is so much harder when you feel like you have people's salvation at stake. I got over that though after the first two days and realized it is just so much better to stay good ol' Ian. I have found that staying who you are, keeping that normal personality and loving who ever it is you talk to, gets you into the house. They really do feel the Savior's love when you try and show as much love possible as soon as you ring that doorbell. Seriously, it works...sometimes:) Though we have only been in 4 houses so far, you can tell the ones that do let you in really have a need for us to be there. Sometimes they just don't know it yet. Sometimes I just want to sing and dance at their front door...would that be too much? Of course not! Well, maybe. I am slowly becoming a little bit better as time goes on and I know it has only been 6 days so there is only room for improvement.
2 sentence sob story. This past week has been really difficult because no one is really open to what we have to say. It is soo hard sometimes to get rejected over and over when all we want to do is share with them a message of love. okay it's over.
I have been thinking of ways to always be able to manage that happiness. Sometimes it is hard to muster up even the littlest bit. So I have created a plan. A paradigm shift. It is inevitable that I will fail almost everyday. There is no way that I will be able to teach the gospel to everyone we try to contact and I won't always present it in the best way for them through the spirit. So, in my planner I write down some extra goals along with the default ones like lessons with members present, referrals and such. I figure that in order to get that one golden person waiting for the light of Christ to be re-insterted back into their life, I will have a lot of doors slammed in my face. So, like for every 12 doors that get slammed I get one person who wants to talk to us. It gets kinda funny because when they close the door I'm just like, Ha, I still win. I planned for this to happen. It isn't the greatest of plans but it really helps the happiness meter inside of Elder Forsyth to be close to the top at all times.
Food. I need it.
I don't want to lose weight. I am riding a bike almost all day.. yeah we rode for 13-14 miles the other day and by the end of it I am usually starving. Really starving. I pray for the food that I do eat to hold me over but sometimes it is still tough. I would love care packages. It would seriously help me out. I gained weight in the MTC which I was pumped about and I am trying to keep that chub on. This sounds funny but it is kinda what I think about alot. The Lord being first of course.
I didn't take any pictures. I am so sorry. So Mom, next week you will have what Elder Twogood and Culler look like. We can take some with our nerdy helmets and backpacks on. We look sweet...super sweet.
Pray for that Visa. But not too soon because Mo-tab is performing in Columbus and our President got all of the missionaries in the mission tickets. It is a perfect missionary opportunity. It is June 12. I really cannot wait for some seriously good music. Alex Boye better be there so I can see his awesome dance moves and soulful voice that makes my heart cry. Once again I say, I cannot wait.
Love,
Elder "Ian" Forsyth, the new greenie trainee
p.s. stay sweet. And mama! I need some more Chanticleer, por favor. You have no idea how many times I will be listening to Shenandoah. I need the Ave Maria Franz Biebel arrangement. For my spiritual well being. Joe will know what I mean. He feels me on this one.
Kyle, my man. you stud, congrats on winning Mr. East. I knew you had it in you. I love you.
Seguines and Francesca and Daniel -- prepare for a letter sometime in the next week. I am so sorry I have been super busy.
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