Hatchets

I received an email a couple weeks ago from an old companion. Here's an excerpt:

"Hey -----, I know we had a rough companionship. Our personalities are pretty different, but honestly, I'm so glad we were companions. I didn't realize it until the end of my mission when I was in president's office. He handed me the card with my companions and in looking at those names it hit me pretty hard that the Lord had put me with people to prepare me and make me a better person and a better missionary. I'm sorry for being difficult at times. I know I didn't handle a lot of those situations well. I had a lot to learn. Thanks for suffering through it."

I was pretty surprised to get this and I felt pretty bad when I read it. We were companions for a very short period of time (for which I was extremely grateful) and he was the only companion I didn't get a long with (and the only companion I had that actually started crying one time because he was so mad at me). Anyway, I wrote back and told him it was no big deal and that I was sorry for not being more understanding.

That's two "hatchets" I have buried within the past few months. It's really not such a bad feeling. I still have a few more "hatchets" out there, so I should probably take care of them at some point. Speaking of hatchets, "Hatchet" by Gary Paulson was an awesome book.