"This week I vacuumed erasers..." (Week 7)

September 14, 2012

Hey everyone!

We have been having a good time this week, working hard, getting ready to go. It feels like the week has gone by really fast-- we only have two more p-days left before we leave! We are still enjoying classes, the devotionals, study time (except for language study time which gets pretty boring and sleepy), and there are lots of fun little things and spiritual experiences every day to keep us going strong.

So we have started playing soccer a lot more because you get a better workout than half-court basketball-- I scored a goal the other day. It was sweet. It was a chip shot over like three elders right into the top corner of the goal. With my left foot. Gave me some street cred with all the Latino elders we play with. Funny elders.

This Sunday night we watched the Testaments, again, but in Espanol! It was fun. And funny. The voiceover was very dramatic-- when the main guy is talkin’ with the love interest and she asks him why he hasn’t asked her his name, he says "Ya se tu nombre" which means, “I already know your name,” but the guys voice is super suave. In an entertainment starved environment, that phrase has been quoted WAY too much. But we are not really here to be entertained constantly, so its whatever.

Our Spanish is really improving-- I keep typing words in Spanish randomly and have to change them. I’m pretty sure my English has never been worse, though. Other fun things we have been doing: Service on Tuesdays is always fun. This week I vacuumed erasers, under the pretense of cleaning them, but I’m pretty sure the girl in charge just had too many elders and so just sent me to the basement to "clean erasers." It was fun. I sat there with like eight big buckets of erasers and just vacuumed them all. I was sittin’ there, in the basement, vacuum on, all alone, singin’ some Les Mis, Lion King, Phantom, etc, and next thing I know I look up and President Brown is standing right there laughin’ at me. It was also funny because the second week we were here me and Elder Clawson had to mop, and we finished with like forty minutes left, so we just played shuffleboard on the stairs with the dryer stick thing and the rags. Since then we have had some REAL great games, including once when we were aiming for the railing, Elder C nailed it, and then mine pushed his off to clinch the win. Real good stuff. But this time Elder Walton and Howe were mopping and were playing when Pres. Brown walked up. Elder Howe started freaking out because he wasn’t holding anything and they were laughing and playing and everything. But when Pres. Brown walked by he was just like “oh sorry to walk on your wet floor” and kept going, and then when he came back he said what great workers they were. Funny stuff. We have lots of little games like that to keep it fun in here.

We have been talking a lot about receiving personal revelation this week-- how when we really get into the scriptures and apply them you can get a lot of different personal insights. We have been working on how we can help those we meet do that, too. There are some real good stories in the LdM and Bible that if you read while comparing to others, or with a different perspective, can really be more meaningful. Like when the Brother of Jared asked how he could give light to the barges, the Lord let him try it out. He worked to make some stones, and then the Lord helped him out by touching them. If we work hard and give our best effort to figure things out, the Lord will touch and light up our efforts as well. So there ya go.

Elder Brown