The other day whilst enjoying dinner with some members in a local hamburger joint, we were all sharing funny animal stories. I'm not sure how we got on the topic, but our Guatemalan Elder (he's so much funnier now that I can understand him) shared about 6 stories involving him and some kind of tragic/hilarious animal death. I started laughing so hard my body was shaking and then I couldn't control my shoulders, then my head shot back and then forward right into my beverage...dead on the straw that was sticking out. That's right, I stabbed myself in the head with my own straw. My forehead started bleeding and everyone just laughed even harder. So now I have a tiny, circular wound right in the middle of my forehead. Classic.
In other news...a bird lady came to church. She was wearing about 500 different colors because she said the birds like it and they will follow (and sing) her all the way down the street. Sure enough when I looked outside the hall, I saw birds pounding on the window just to get closer to her. True story. Anyway, pretty sure the birds guided her to the church because she loved it. She even got up and did the hand motions to Popcorn Popping with us in primary. That's a solid baptism right there. We'll just have to get a drop cloth for the birds.
We were back at our apartment pretty early on the 4th of July for safety reasons. After dark, we started hearing tons and tons of fireworks so we all ran outside to the tot lot to see if we could see them if we stood on top of the plastic castle. We could not. But we listened and imaged for a bit. Then we walked back to our apartment and realized we'd brought the wrong keys. I then watched as the 3 sisters took turns hoisting each other up into the tiny window. After about 20 min they finally pushed one through...with a little too much force and she landed face first on the carpet inside. I bet we never forget our keys again...well at least the Sister that face planted, I might on purpose just to watch that again.
This past week I had a leadership meeting at the mission office with a special guest speaker who was some kind of organization coach for the coach of the BYU football team. He taught us some strategies for how to help missionaries...using football. No, seriously, he made us all get up and practice how to be an offensive lineman. Now I know that a successful blocker depends on 4 things: your stance, how low you can get, the power you can explode through your butt and your ability to keep moving your feet. So, the next day when I went on exchanges I obviously tried my newly learned talent on the sister I was with. I took her down hard on the ground. I think we both learned some good things that day. It really is all in the stance.
My sweet new companion who said she prayed me here (oh man, she had no idea what she was thinking) shared with me a quote from President Ezra T Benson I'd remembered for years but could never find. He talked about the power of the Book of Mormon. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to get up and bear testimony during sacrament meeting and I shared my testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon. That book and I have had an interesting relationship throughout my life, but one of the things I am most grateful for is the opportunity to really come to love it on my mission. There are very special and powerful promises included in the sacred words that were preserved especially for us. As I have watched this beautiful book change lives and mine, the words of President Benson are seared on my heart (in my own words because I have a terrible memory). There is great power in the Book of Mormon. It gives us greater power to resist temptation and to avoid deception. I can't think of anything we need more than these two things in today's world. It's like Vitamin C on steroids...uh, healthy kind. We need these words every day, even just a little, and with them comes the power to resist temptation and to avoid deception. Thank heavens because Satan is getting really sneaky.
xoxo,
Hna Hall
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