Whaddup, party people??
It
was a pretty decent week. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were consumed
by the Apache County Fair, where we set up a booth. We had all the good
stuff: Books of Mormon, pamphlets, pass-along cards, copies of the
Proclamation to the World, and we even had a TV playing all kinds of
church videos running. But at least 90% of the people that actually
talked to us were members. And then all of our dinners those nights were
like, "We'll just buy you guys food at the fair!" which was not good on
my insides.
We taught Louie a couple more
times, getting him ready for baptism, but he didn't come to church
yesterday. Since he hasn't been to church two times yet, that means he
won't be baptized before Elder Denham leaves, so that's too bad. I'm
certain I'll get to see it through though.
Also,
I love Elder Denham to death, but it won't be too bad when I get a
companion that everyone doesn't talk to about going home. We had to
drive to Eager this week for his exit interview, and a sister waiting
for her interview asked me how long I have left. Um... 22 1/2 months...
It's
okay though. Yesterday, I bore my testimony in all 3 of our wards (a
President Sweeney challenge) on change and why it's good for us. Of
course, I compared it to the movie business. Nobody wants to see a
sequel that's just more of the same. We want sequels that push the
characters in new, harder circumstances, and we want to see them come
out of it all having changed. And that's what a mission is doing for me.
Putting me in new, unfamiliar territory so I can come out of it a
better, stronger person.
Actually, I've been
thinking more about Community's lesson than that of great movie sequels.
When Community's showrunner, Dan Harmon, was fired after Season 3, they
brought in two new guys for Season 4 who kept trying to assure fans
that "nothing about the show was going to change." While Season 4 had
its moments, what ended up happening was that the show fell into a trap
of predicitability with absolutely no character development. The new
showrunners were afraid to change any of the characters or try anything
new or groundbreaking with the show.
That was
horrible of them. The great thing about Community was that it was always
pushing its characters into unfamiliar territory and it was always
trying to tackle groundbreaking concepts. Community was great because it
offered something different every week. Season 4 tried to latch onto
some kind of Community formula, and it suffered as a result.
Of
course, Dan Harmon was hired back on for Season 5 after lots of fans
started bailing on the show. Harmon not only knew he had to change the
show up to get it back the heights of greatness it reached in its first
three seasons, but he had no choice but to change the show when two lead
cast members (Chevy Chase and Donald Glover) decided to leave. Harmon
embraced the change head on and used it to fuel the entire season.
Characters changed careers and majors, characters left, characters died,
new characters were introduced. And if there's anything Season 5 of
Community taught me, it's that change is not only inevitable, but it's
okay. Because Season 5 was just as good as the first 3 seasons, because
it pushed itself in new directions.
And that's
what a mission is doing for me. I don't want my life to become Season 4
of Community. That's what I was actually thinking as I bore my testimony
on the importance of great sequels yesterday.
I'm an odd duck.
Anyway,
have a fantastic week! Mom, good luck on student teaching! Dad, good
luck on taking care of things while Mom is student teaching! I love you
all! The church is true!
<3 Elder Holladay
P.S.
You should have seen the look on Elder Denham's face when he saw what
was in the package you sent me. Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
No comments:
Post a Comment