Perfection: Firing Range

Moroni 6:8 - "But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven."

Once upon a time, in a jungle far, far away, my mission friend and I were talking on the phone.

"Hey, Elder," said my mission friend. "One day, I'm going to teach you how to shoot a gun."

"Hey, that sounds fun!" I said. "I certainly wouldn't be able to find anyone better suited for the task, either."

"Before we do that, though, I have a concern," my mission friend said. "After we go shooting, you're going to want to blog about it."

"I will?" I wasn't aware I was even going to start a blog.

"You will. And you'll never actually mention me by name in the body of the post's text. No, you'll reserve that in the social media you'll use to promote the post."

I was confused. "What are you talking about?"

My mission friend continued on, not directly answering my question. "Now, I understand you never use individuals' specific names in your posts because you want to maintain a universality in your tone and language, but doesn't that drive you bonkers trying to maintain a level of continuity simple enough for your readership to follow?"

My mind was churning. I blurted my response. "WHAT?"

"Oh, sorry, I fell alseep," he said slowly. "What were we talking about again? Oh, right. I'm going to teach you how to shoot a gun."

About a year and a half later, he and his fiance met up with me to do just that: go shooting. Funny how he predicted the blog thing, too.

Shooting a Ruger P95 9x19 at 'combat range.'

Shooting a Winchester 70 .270 WIN.

Mis amigoes were incredibly kind and helpful, even when I made a few laughable shots. Of the three targets I shot at all by my lonesome, I only hit the red bulls-eye twice. My mission friend wasn't worried, though. "Look," he said. "You have a good spread, so if you were in a serious combat situation, you still would have killed your target." He concluded with these words of wisdom: "It matters less that you hit right where you're aiming, so long as you hit something."

That's true of life. We simply aren't ever going to be exactly where we want to be, at least in regards to the big picture, even up to when we finally pass away. There will always be something out of place, even if it's just enough to help remind us of the Savior's grace. The most important thing to remember from all of this, though, is that it is OK. We won't find perfection yet, but as we work to improve, we can come close. I know we can.