The Race 8/25/12

so i wanted to start out my email with this poem that i found in a missionary book thing. it helped me alot this week and i related alot to it. i hope you like it. 

The Race

"Quit, give up, you're beaten"
They shout at you and plead
"There's just too much against you
This time you can't succeed".

And as I start to hang my head
In front of failures face
My downward fall is broken by
The memory of a race

And hope refills my weakened will
As I recall that scene
Or just the thought of that short race
Rejuvenates my being

Childrens race, young boys
Young men, how I remember well
Excitement sure, but also fear
It wasn't hard to tell

They all lined up so full of hope
Each thought to win that race
Or tie for first, or if not that
At least take second place

The fathers watched from off the side
Each cheering for his son
And each boy hoped to show his dad
That he could be the one

The whistle blew and off they went
Young hearts and hopes afire
To win and be the hero there
Was each young boys desire

And one boy in particular
Whose dad was in the crowd
Was running near the lead and thought
"My dad will be so proud"

But as they speeded down the field
Across a shallow dip
The little boy who thought to win
Lost his step and slipped

Trying hard to catch himself
With hands flew out to brace
And amid the laughter of the crowd
He fell flat on his face

But as he fell his dad stood up
And showed his anxious face
Which to the boy so clearly said
"Get up and win the race"

He quickly rose, no damage done
Behind a bit that's all
And ran with all his night and mind
To make up for the fall

So anxious to restore himself
To catch up and to win
His mind went faster than his legs
He slipped and fell again

He wised then that he had quit before
With only one disgrace
"I'm hopeless as a runner now
I shouldn't try to race"

But in the laughing crowd he searched
And found his fathers face
That steady look which said again
"Get up and win the race"

So up he jumped to try again
Ten yards behind the last
If I'm going to gain those yards he though
I've got to move real fast

Exerting everything he had
He regained eight or ten
But trying hard to catch the lead
He slipped and fell again

Defeat, he lay there silently
A tear dropped from his eye
There's no sense running anymore
Three strikes, I'm out, why try?

The will to rise had disappeared
All hope had fled away
So far behind so error prone
A loser all the way

"I've lost, so what", he thought
I'll live with my disgrace
But then he thought about his dad
Whom soon he'd have to face

"Get up" the echo sounded low
"Get up" and take your place
You were not meant for failure here
"Get up", and win the race

With borrowed will "Get up" it said
"You haven't lost at all"
For winning is no more than this
To rise each time you fall

So up he rose to run once more
And with a new commit
He resolved, that win or lose
At least he shouldn't quit

So far behind the others now
The most he'd ever been
Still he'd give it all he had
And run as though to win

Three times he'd fallen, stumbling
Three times he'd rose again
Too far behind to hope to win
He still ran to the end

They cheered the winning runner
As he crossed the line first place
Head high and proud and happy
No falling, no disgrace

But when the fallen youngster
Crossed the line, last place
The crowd gave him the greater cheer
For finishing the race

And even though he came in last
With head bent low, unproud
You would have thought he'd won the race
To listen to the crowd

And to his dad he sadly said
"I didn't do too well"
"To me you won", his father said
"You rose each time you fell"

by D. H. Groberg

 

 

 

          it is super good huh? i liked it alot, mom im sure you are crying right about now because of the poem if i know you like i think i do ha ha. well how are youall this week. sounds like all is well everyone is happy back at home and working hard. ha ha im glad that rusten got his regestration all taken care of with our puking ha ha. that is so nuts that he is going into 7th grade that blows my mind. i hope that grandma is getting better. im praying for her that is for sure. tell her how much i love her for me. tell her that our father in heaven is cheering her on, to get up and take her place. our heavenly father is so great. he understands us all so perfectly and he knows exactly what we need and when we need it. he also knows when we need to learn something. and this week i really learned a very great lesson.

          so this week we got our hands on this talk that was given by Elder Aidukaitis, of the seventy. he gave a training at a zone conference in 2004 and this training that he gave seriously moved my mission and my life. i realized that i was lacking alot of faith and i still am but the difference is that now im trying to build my faith alot more and to trust in the lord with all i have got. this talk was amazing it is what every missionary needs to have sucess. it talks about everything. so that was good this week.

           tthe lord is blessing us so much in our work. we are showing the lord that we trust in him and we are doing are part and the lord is doing the rest. me and my comp have been having some great studies this week and practicing alot our teaching and it is helping us be more prepared so that the lord can bless us more.

        so this week we marked a baptism with nilda. she is so elect. she has already gone to church 2 now and she likes it alot. well we taught her on wednesday this week and we marked a date with her, after she expressed a fear of hers to us. she said that she doesnt want to feel tied down with the churhc and the comandments. so we told her to pray and that she would receive a answer. well we went there last night and we showed up and she was just smiling so big. and we were all how are you, how are you feeling and she is all im super happy and then we asked about the prayer and she was all well something weird happened. she told us that normally she doesnt take things very seriously but when she does that she really takes it super serious. so she prayed and told the lord that she didnt want to feel tied down to the chruch and the rules. well as she was praying she heard a voice say to her " this will not tie you down the will free you." we were so flippen amazed it was seriously a miracle that the lord answered not only her prayers but our prayers. this work is so amazing. the lord is behind his missionaries 100%. oh and as we were leaving she was all hey i bought you guys a present. and were like thinking it is food so were all excited and she had gotten us socks. so there is a story behind it. my comp bought new shoes this week, the first day that he used them he got huge blissters on his heal. so we got to the lesson and my comp was telling her about his blissters and she was all let me see. well he takes his shoe off and his socks had all these big holes in them and she was all o my goodness no wonder you have blissters. so the time we showed up there(last night) she had gotten us both new socks ha ha. yup for sure she is an elect ha ha.

     well we had a great week this week the lord is really helping us alot. we are putting forth all of our effort and the lord is doing the rest for us, it is really like he is doing all but were trying ha ha. oh ya i forgot to tell you, me and my comp started on the subway diet. they opened up a new suway in front of the office and so we are eating subway every single day and i think it will work out for the better ha ha we will have to see what happens?

       have a great week, im praying for you all. dont forget to help the missionaries in your ward. you will be blessed so much for doing so. lvoe you all

Love Elder Furrows

 

Ps. the picture is of the socks that we got.

and the other picture is of some pants that we found in our house that i put on that were way to small for me. it was intense ha ha