Happy Mothers' Day!

Yes. The apostrophe in the title WAS meant to come after the "s".

As Ross' son in "Friends" so appropriately put it, "I have lots of mommies".

My "first mom" is the original. She is the one who gave birth to me and has carried the vast majority of raising me on her shoulders. Through the years she has taught me by her incredible example of how to overcome adversity and find joy in the journey. She is the one who has taught me how to love and be loved.

My next mom is my grandma. Nowhere in the world could you find a woman who embodies such compassion and attributes of Christ as my grandma. She is the matriarch of all matriarchs. She can cook, she can clean, she can make peace among anyone and she never lets you leave the house without letting you know how much she loves you.

The third mom, "the other mother", is my best friend's mom, Joy. Since we first me, she has always taken me in and treated me as one of her own children, offering all the love, humor, and (at times) correction an adolescent boy could need. I'll always think of her as one of my mothers and she and her family will always hold a very special place in my heart.

My last mom is my Mission Mom, Sister Pehrson. Whenever I don't feel well, I'm homesick, or I have questions about laundry, I can always call her. She is an incredible woman and I am really going to be sad when she and President go home next month.

I think it is oddly appropriate that this past week in my Book of Mormon reading, I read the story of Helaman's army in Alma. Like the 2,000 stripling warriors, I stand in this fight with the knowledge that I can win because my mother(s) knew it. They knew I could be successful and they gave me the faith and courage to allow me to know it for myself.

I want to wish all my moms a Happy Mother's Day. You all mean the world to me and I love you more than you'll ever know! Thank you for EVERYTHING you have done and continually do for me.

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother(s)." -Abraham Lincoln

Vote for SUMMER!

So Summer is certainly in the air and that make a life of a missionary serving in a big city very interesting.

Let me set the scene for one of the worst days EVER. It's about 8 in the evening and starting to get dark. Elder Souza and I are walking down ghetto-trash, trailer-fabulous Park Street to an appointment. We're coming up on a group of men (the type that would be warming their hands by a trash can fire if it wasn't 80 DEGREES) and one of the starts shouting racial slurs about white people at us. As we walked past, giving him all the attention he deserved (which was none), HE THREW FOOD AT US. And not just any food. Cheap Chinese.

Being the level-headed and Christlike Elders we are, we still ignored him and kept on our way. About a block and a half further, we saw a police officer. We told him what happened and he said he'd go look for the guy. We went to our appointment and thus ended Tuesday.

Wednesday was much better. One of the best days EVER, in fact. Thanks to a State Representative in our ward, we got to go to the Capital Building and meet the UCONN basketball teams.

We met and got autographs from:

Jeremy Lamb

Alex Oriakhi

and Maya Moore.

Plus others including Coach Calhoun and Kemba Walker. Thanks Sister Kirkley-Bey!!


But what made this one of the best days EVER? A text message I received in the afternoon from the Spanish Elders which read, "Hey some cop just pulled up to us and asked us if we knew you. When we said yes he told us to tell you that he took that guy to jail last night. What's he talking about?" Justice. Served.

I guess in missionary work, just as in life, you win some and you lose some but those are the experiences that make things memorable. Have a great week, everyone. Much love!