Remember that Toyota recall that’s shaking up the world? Well, we had to take our Corolla in for some work. And of course the nearest Toyota dealership is clear out in Milford, and we’re going to be here at least 2 hours. They have a fancy little waiting room full of tempting forbidden things like TV’s and computers with unlimited Internet access. Time to break out the willpower guns! “Bang bang! I’ll fight you off with my white handbook and my Book of Mormon.” Who needs TV anyway?
Well, at least we can do our Internet hour today while we’re here since the libraries were closed yesterday. So get ready for a long, drawn-out novel while I struggle vainly to block out the sounds of Dr. Phil and the radio.
Unfortunately I don’t have a ton to report on about this week, because we were attacked by a flu bug and shut up in the apartment, and are just now starting to feel one hundred percent normal. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a missionary and be stuck inside the apartment? I ALMOST LOST MY MIND, I was so bored. After I’d read through every single Ensign in the apartment, we started coming up with REALLY creative things to do, like making up word searches (when we weren’t sleeping). We learned lots of useful facts. For example, did you know CVS (it’s a pharmacy chain) makes a generic of Mucinex? They also sell orange juice there.
On Friday we helped a family in the ward with their son’s baptism. His grandparents were supposed to fly out from Texas to give talks, but they were stuck with snow in Dallas. (Snow in Dallas?) So we spoke at the baptism which turned out to be pretty entertaining.
You really have to know this kid to completely understand the humor. He is very, very smart for his age. His dad described him as having “the vocabulary of a 40-year-old without the social skills”. He takes everything very literally and wants to understand everything he is told. So, as is often done at baptisms, we addressed our talks to him and spoke mostly to him. And instead of listening and nodding, which people usually do at their own baptisms, he replied to everything we said, and asked us questions, while the congregation listened, highly entertained. Here are some examples:
M: “Ben, have you ever made a promise to someone?” (about to lead into talking about covenants)
B: “No, I haven’t. I’m not the most popular kid in school.”
M: “So you’ll keep going to church and taking the sacrament every week, just like you did before you were baptized.”
B: “I’m not baptized yet.”
M: “When you’re baptized you promise to stand as a witness of Christ and take His name upon you.”
B: “Could you translate that?”
In her talk Sister Johnston referred to the invitations Ben’s mom had made for the baptism. They had his picture on the front and a copy of the Articles of Faith on the back. Sister J. mentioned that the Articles of Faith list some of our basic beliefs. Ben said, “Is that why those are on the invitations? I thought my mom was just being cheap.”
When Sister J. stuck some visual aids on the white board to represent faith, repentance and baptism:
Ben: “Faith is crooked.”
She tried to straighten it.
“It’s still crooked.” She tried again.
“Faith is STILL crooked. Oh well. Whatever.”
Love you!
-Sister Monson
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