At the age of 14 Candice shattered the state record for breast stroke. She ran marathons and triathlons. One day we came over to visit and she mentioned she woke up at 3 in the morning and went for a 6 mile run. During her college years she swam competitively winning medals and awards.
We received a call yesterday morning at exactly 10:06 AM. Candice informed us she wouldn't make it to church today because the AT&T man would be coming somewhere between one and four. I assured her she could make the 11 o'clock session and be back in enough time to deal with the cable issue. She started throwing other excuses. My favorite bluff was she said she was too tired to drive the 20 minutes to church, after all she is 63 years old. She couldn't see my smile on the other end of the line.
I replied, "this isn't the Candice I know. Where is the marathon runner?" We ended the call and she remained firm in her decision not to come-- until she called approximately 25 minutes later. "You reminded me who I am. I'm an athlete. I have my skirt on and I'm coming right now!" I love it! Sometimes people just need to remember who they are.
We waited across the street from the church for her until we realized we would miss the sacrament if we waited any longer. So we went to the foyer and waited. As the bread made it out we saw her car through the window. We ate the bread and ran out of the building. We found her outside, brought her in, then took the water. I don't think I've ever taken the sacrament more worthily in my life.
Of course her first time at church landed on fast and testimony meeting. But rather than long monotonous speeches about emotions we heard short powerful statements of belief. I know this is Jesus Christ's Church because. . . I have a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. This Church has blessed my family and my life more than I thought possible. As I listened to each testimony I smiled. God is good.
And on to more trivial matters, house keeping if you will. Brother Perkins cut his mullet down. Now he's all business, no more party in the back. Fortunately, he kept the mustache so there remains a little fun. I believe this change of venue represents the difference between a siesta and a fiesta.
Greek yogurt is not a good substitute for mayonnaise although it's a healthy alternative.
Alief is an international district so we have all sorts of food. In the past month I've had duck fetus, pho, banh, and plantains. Good stuff.
I don't know if you want to hear this but we talked with a very nice, old Hindu man wearing nothing but his boxers. I didn't know if you would appreciate this but the other missionaries in the apartment did.
The other day we were biking out to our area when we saw lightning. We used the extent of our whether predictions by counting the interval of time between the lightning strike and the clap of thunder. Four seconds meant four miles right? Well we soon found out that we needed to move back to our apartment. Loud claps of thunder started sounding simultaneously with the strike of lightning and large drops of rain began dripping on us. I reached for a crosswalk button to cross the street over to my apartment. As I did I realized the likelihood of being struck would escalate with the huge metal pole I was touching. Just as this thought crossed my mind I saw light over my head and herd the loudest thunder yet. I let out a huge yell warning my companion of the dangerous situation. When I realized the lightning didn't hit me I looked up to see Elder Baird with huge eyes and a slightly opened mouth. The lightning hit about 50 meters away!
We are protected!
I love you! Take care now!
No comments:
Post a Comment