The Nebraska of Mexico: Sympathy and Empathy

Hey quick message this week.

So yesterday at the end of the week we were going over our numbers, and I came to the realization that I suck at this stuff.

It's hard being a missionary. Sure it's fun, and I love it. But, it's hard...

And people expect a lot of you too. You're expected to be this and this and this, and never be late to appointments, and always know what you're doing, and to get up at 6:30 and sleep by 10:30, and never be grumpy or tired or fight with your companion, even if he's an idiot, cause if you fight with him, game over, people are gonna notice you are not happy and then no one will want to listen to you.(no he didn't fight with his companion)

And I think it's just a little bit of all that that's stressing me out..

And what just came to my mind was about Sympathy and Empathy.

Sympathy being like "oh hey, I've never had something like that happen, but stick with it and it'll all be alright!"

and Empathy being like "I know exactly what that's like. I've been there before. I know it'll be okay."

Here in the mission. Having that sympathy and love is key for the people. If you don't they'll never listen to you.

But the moment when you can empathize with someone, it's a completely different level. There's a new tone in your voice, something else in your eyes. And the people can feel that difference.

Now for us, obviously we can't empathize with all the people. But for these 2 short years we're supposed to be representatives of the Savior, who suffered every single pain imaginable on this earth.

And with that we can tell the people that even though we have no idea what kind of hell is passing through their lives, there's someone who does, and through that weird bond we can empathize with the people.

So that's my goal for this week, to Empathize more with the people.

Just wanted to end by saying how much I love you all. I'll see you soon. (Well, not until Christmas when we Skype again)

Elder Arvanitas