Last night I could barely sleep. There's just so much coming.
I feel a lot of love. I feel the love of God for me, for all of you, and for this whole big wonderful mess we're in. I feel love from my friends and family, and I feel tons of love for them. It's great, it's all great.
I'm going to miss Italy so much. We went up to Città Alta and got a great view from behind the Fortress. Wow. Hopefully I get to the opportunity to send some pictures home soon. Maybe later today. We wanted to go to a cool island in the middle of a lake, but it's raining. Uffa.
I'm freezing cold. I should have brought my new coat that I bought last PDay. I love it, dark grey peacoat, super skinny and European. I'll wear it home. In nine days.
I'll finish this off talking about something I didn't talk about for the last two weeks but wanted to but forgot. Sorry, the cold is making my brain not work. My chest keeps shivering and my hands barely move right. How appropriate, then, that I want to write a few paragraphs about what I learned from the movie FROZEN.
I loved the movie, it was absolutely adorable. We got to watch it for Christmastime. I don't know if it's just how starved I am for entertainment and animation or if it was genuinely that good, but I absolutely loved every minute of the movie. Olaf was hilarious, I died laughing at his Summer song. "Winter's a good time to stay in and cuddle, but then in the summer I'll be a... HAPPY SNOWMAN!" BAAAHAHAHA!
Elsa's "Let It Go" was obviously fantastic. Apparently all of America agreed with me. Every greenie sister than comes into the field is crazy about Frozen. Jed told me in Skype there was some kind of Frozen Fever that took over the States for a while. I'm glad I missed that, I got to enjoy it normally.
But here's the eternal, spiritual lesson that I learned from that adorable movie that's been churning in my mind and connecting a lot of mission dots. It comes from the trolls' song "Fixer Upper", when the mother troll says these powerful words (or something like them):
We're not saying you can change him, 'cause people don't really change.
We're just saying that love's a power that magical and strange.
People make bad choices when they're mad or scared or stressed
But throw a little love their way and you'll bring out their best!
That is so, so true. A beautiful, eternal truth. Do people really change? Well, they can change what they do, but who they are is eternal. We have existed forever and we will continue to exist forever. The point of the Plan of Happiness is to help us live forever and like it, close to the people we love. And what is love? Olaf teaches us that, too: putting someone else's needs above your own.
Wow. I love that. If you're mad or scared or stressed, or you know someone who is, learn to love. Find love, give it, drink it in and share it. Get it from God, from your family, your friends. Forgive, let it go, move forward, make your own good choices. Love is such a strange, powerful magic, and I'm glad I got to learn so much about it here in Italy.
God is the best teacher ever. I hope you're learning as much from Him as I am.
Love,
Anziano Burton
No comments:
Post a Comment