Keeping Up w/ Pen Pals

I've noticed something in my pen-pal letters to friends serving missions. It seems like the first few months they're cool and normal, loving their mission but more in the mind set of 'HOLY COW, WHAT AM I DOING?!! THIS IS SWEEEET!!' After the 9-12 month mark however, the letters start to change. They become spiritual manifestations of how true the gospel is, expressions on the beauty of the atonement, testimonies of faith and prayer, witnesses of miracles.

If I could link every missionary letter to my mission blog I would. Most of them are emails though and have no link so I can't share them. P-day is the day I can be spiritually fed by my friends; how many people do you know that lift your spirits on a weekly basis? I look forward to Mondays becuase that's the day when moms all over the world post the weekly email of their little missionary to the WWW for anyone and everyone to read. They are so great! Both the moms and the missionaries.

When I first started college and the boys started leaving for the MTC I was totally naiive and of course, completely boy crazy. I promised to write every boy I knew every week! That was dumb haha. While that would have been nice and all, I definitely didn't keep it up. I'm lucky if I send one letter every few months to one of my freshman buddies. It isn't from a lack of time though. Some of these missionaries are so full of the gospel that I don't know what to say that wouldn't be a waste of time or just plain silly. It's a tough job being a pen pal. My guess is that for all those Elders and Sisters out there who wonder why their friends stop writing mid-mission is that it isn't becuase their friends have forgotten them but because their friends aren't on the same level, thats all.

So, why write about this on my mission blog? I want you to know that no matter what I will always be myself no matter what stage of MissionaryMode I'm in. When I hit that switch where my letters become super churchy instead of/including "oh my goshhh! this is awesome!!!" then tell me!! I want to know. I think it'll be cool to become someone who writes uplifting letters like so many of my friends have become. I anticipate 'the switch' but I hope you'll still write me even and especially when it happens. =D