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Michael Swinford

Hi, Everybody! It's a great NIGHT to be alive!

It's about 11:15 p.m., and I just got home from a class I teach (even though my voice is just now returning). You may remember, one of my activities toward my mission is to be the best teacher I can, to work hard, study hard, and do a GREAT job, WITH PASSION! That's just what I did tonight.

This was a new class that just met for the first time. And the topic, I must confess, is pretty boring (Theory of Communication), but NOT TONIGHT! I had 'em laughing and speaking out, and even volunteering to do extra work, all because I was PROJECTING, with PASSION. This was one of the best classes I've had in years!

I was able to tell her that NOW is the time to pick herself up, dust herself off, and HIT IT! I could feel all of y'all standing right there with me when I spoke to her.

One of the students is a woman in her 40s, who I met for the first time. One day last week, her husband keeled over and died of a heart attack in her arms. What a tragedy! After class I was able to tell her how much her courage, just to come out to class, meant to me. And I was able to tell her that NOW is the time to pick herself up, dust herself off, and HIT IT! I could feel all of y'all standing right there with me when I spoke to her. I think she understood what I meant, and she smiled for the first time tonight.

You may remember another one of my mission activities, the last one on my list, was to change the world, one starfish at a time. Tuesday I met with the director of our local Boys and Girls club. It has about a thousand members, kids between about 5 and 18, and around 275 kids (starfish!) show up each afternoon after school. I'll be working with them in some of their mentoring and tutoring programs. The director told me this is the thing that means the most to his starfish who get little or no support or attention from parents and family. This is going to be GREAT! Remember, GIVERS GAIN, and if we live our life like it matters, IT WILL!

Michael Swinford (Team 335)

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