From: Ian Durrant <ian.durrant@myldsmail.net>
Date: July 25, 2018 at 8:50:23 AM MDT
To: karlak@cachemeadow.com
Subject: Letter numero uno

Hey everyone! Its kind of a crazy feeling that im the one writing home now to everyone but this place is pretty cool so thats ok. Wednesday the 18th was one of the longest days of my life. I just had tons of places to be and lots of stuff to do and it was exhausting but its really starting to pick up. My companions name is Elder Bowman and he is a really fun guy. We laugh together a lot and we are both glad to be here. Weve had to teach a few lessons to a fake investigator and that has been going alright. Sometimes she says something and look at each other because we have no idea what was said but hey, its only been a few days so its fine. So spritiual experience of the week. 

We had a devotional last night and a lot was just how missonaries should act and all that good stuff but one of the presidents wife talked about lehis vison for a bit and showed the picture. I would send it but these computers are stupid. Anyway she was talking about it and I was studying the picture and all the different groups of people in the picture and what they symbolize and i had a realization that the artist had forgotten about a group of people and they werent in the painting. There is another group, those souls who struggle along the iron rod but keep pressing forward and make it to the tree of life. They taste of the fruit and see that it is sweet and desirable above all other fruits and they care not of the people mocking them from the great towers. Then something different happens, they are asked to return to the darkness and find those that are lost and lead them to the iron rod and help them reach the tree of life. Those are the missonaries, we havent tasted of the fruit for long but we know its good so we leave our loved ones at the tree and venture off into the dark to lead others to the light. I have a very different viewpoint on the tree of life story then I ever have before. Ok ill talk to you all next week!

Elder Durrant