Thoughts on friends

I looked at my email just a few minutes ago and saw that my friend Thomas from Texas wrote a reply to me. He had gotten sick between the last time he wrote and now and his dad was still having trouble at work. He was very grateful that I was praying for him and I told him that I would continue to, but I just feel stuck.

Along time ago I resolved that I would try to be there for my friends when they need help or were feeling down. I just don’t know if there is anything more that I can do beside that. I haven’t found myself here often as most of my friends are “happy go lucky” Americans, or if they’re  feeling down I send them a little note or something—the point is, I think it’s safe to say that to the best of my abilities, I'm there for my friends. But what makes this particular friend so important to me is that he is also an M.K.

His family had been working in Mexico for a really long time, like most of his life. Coming back to the U.S, was a big culture shock to me, and I had only been out for three years—imagine what it would be like for someone who grew up outside the U.S, for the most part. The only people who understand what you’re going through are other missionaries and M.K.s.

Now I don’t mean to make mission work seem traumatizing, although it does take a certain type of persistence to do it; it is fun to be a missionary kid. I would never for the whole universe have chosen a different life. I had come back to the U.S, not changed, but strengthened. I brought back amazing and funny stories; the kind that most people dream about having. I am almost certain that if you asked any M.K, they would tell you the same, that every year of their life outside the U.S, (even with its comforts and conveniences) is worth ten years in the U.S.

So any way I’ll have to think on this, probably try to find a way to reach out to him more personally, or something.