Mother's Day

Mother's Day is soon, so I will try to remember what I can about that day. I know I'm going to forget stuff.

2012. At church, during Priesthood I sat next to David Christensen. He told me he was amazed at my memory on my blog, how much I could remember going so far back. He told me about a TED talk he had seen about memory. That afternoon we had a family gathering at our house. I think my mom and grandparents ate on the patio, but my aunt Sue ate inside. Jesse and Peter raved about my memory. Peter said, "Do you remember your birth?" and joked, "'Well, there was a bright light...'" or something like that. Sue found that really funny. Jesse said that he liked on my Year of Holiday Memories post that not only did I remember the Fourth of July ads that popped up on Facebook but who liked them. I said, "Well, it was less than a  year ago." So then they tried to remember what they had done the previous Fourth of July. They couldn't even remember what state they were in, but I think they eventually determined that they were in Utah. They asked me what I did on the day five years previously, so I told them some of the things that are found in 2007 below. I mentioned that I was thinking of starting this blog, and they said it would be awesome. Jesse found a plastic Easter egg. I told him he could eat the candy, since he found it and the candy was out of season anyway. Eventually I returned to Provo and wrote a blog post.

2011. In the morning we gave my mom the flowers we had bought her the day before. I seem to remember my extended family coming over to our house, and the flowers were on the fireplace. Then I returned to Provo and wrote a cheesy blog post.

2010. Allie's esophagus was blocked, so she couldn't eat solid food. She was excited that she would be entitled to milkshakes at my grandparents' house when everyone else wouldn't be. My mom let her eat frozen Cool Whip in the car on the way to my grandparents'; Allie said it would be like ice cream (except that Cool Whip is just oil). I was going to be going back to Provo after the family dinner, so we loaded my groceries in the trunk and put my milk in the cardboard box it came in (from Costco). As I was pulling out of the driveway, I noticed how cool the crabapple tree looked in blossom, so I snapped a picture on my phone. When we got to my grandparents' house, my mom said that she and Allie had been listening to the Cherie Call CD I had given her. My cousin April asked me, "How is it at the devil school?" I said, "I don't go there." After a pause in the conversation, she said, "No, really, how is school?" At some point I changed my phone's screensaver to the crabapple tree and I showed my mom. It wasn't that interesting, but then my grandma and aunt wanted to see it too. When I showed it to Sue, the little house icon was lit up in front of the picture, and she said that when she first saw it she wondered why we had a little house in our yard. Some of the boys were taking Allie to feed the ducks, and they gave her bread, which she started eating. My mom had to yell at her that she couldn't eat it, and Sue said "Never give bread to a starving child." (That sounds really funny out of context, doesn't it?)

2009. It was my first Sunday in the Lewiston 2nd Ward and the Lewis-Clark YSA Branch. During Priesthood, the second counselor in the bishopric introduced me. He introduced me as "Elder Medville" and said I'd been out about a year. (I had actually told him over a year, not about a year.) Then in the singles branch, we had to bless the sacrament, and then we spoke in sacrament meeting. I told them that I was shocked at how quiet their meeting was. (Little did I know that every single guest speaker in the branch would make the same comment. That's the quietest congregation I've ever been in.) I think I was assigned to talk about fast offerings. At some point I talked about James 2 and faith without works, and how some people would tell us missionaries to stay warm but would do nothing to help us stay warm. President Landeen (the branch president) laughed. That afternoon we went to the Biglers' to make our Mother's Day phone calls. Elder LaPratt (I can't say his name without my blood boiling) called on a cellphone and I called on the landline. The Biglers had a family member who kept calling and knocking me off the line. Once I talked to that person, and she felt bad for kicking me off. Allie told me something about her bike. I told her, "I can't believe you are five," and she corrected, "Five and a half." Toward the end of the conversation, my cousin Quin got on the phone, and I was annoyed because it was supposed to be an immediate family call. His voice had changed, so I didn't know who he was at first. Toward the end of the conversation, I said, "I'll see you in six months," and my mom and sister cheered, but I didn't feel the same way. I heard Chancey yell goodbye at me, but he didn't pick up the phone. That night we met with our investigator Kim [Last name withheld for privacy] at the stake center. She wanted to get baptized, but her family was opposed to it. We taught with one of the Ball boys. Tyson was her boyfriend, but it seems like it could have been Brock. We talked about baptism, and Kim told us that her family wanted her to wait (I think like two years). Tyson (or Brock) said that he thought she should wait. Elder LaPratt and I looked at each other in frustration and Elder LaPratt said, "That's reasonably good advice, but..." and we talked about how she should get baptized sooner. At some point in the lesson I brought out Doctrine and Covenants 20:37 and Elder LaPratt said, "I think Elder Melville has a scripture." After I read it, Tyson said, "Will you explain to her what that means?" It seemed clear to me that he was asking for himself more than for her. We went over the baptismal interview questions. One of the questions was, "Have you ever participated in a homosexual relationship?" She said she had made out with a girl, and we didn't know if that counted. We set a baptism date for her for May 23, and talked about what songs we could sing. Elder LaPratt suggested "All Creatures of Our God and King." I tried to plunk it out on the piano so she could hear it, but it was harder than I expected. We went home, and Elder LaPratt called President Clark and asked if kissing a girl counted as a homosexual relationship. President said it had to be more intimate. Then I think that night Elder LaPratt reported Kim's progress to other missionaries, and there may have been some Katy Perry references (but I didn't know any Katy Perry so I wouldn't have gotten the jokes.) Here is my journal entry for the day:
"Today was my first Sunday in the units. Once again I was called Elder Medville, a term I hadn't heard since my greenie days. I spoke in sacrament meeting for the singles branch. I don't think I did a very good job. I was really nervous, and I think I was short.

"It was pretty weird making my final phone call home. I only have six months left :(. Allie was specific about being five and a half. I was shocked to hear the Christensens divorced back home.

"We had a lesson with Kim, to put her on date. She has family opposition. We were annoyed when her fellowshipper was advising her to wait. It was also weird when she said she'd made out with a girl. But hopefully she'll be baptized May 23." 

2008.  Elder Condie had made a dinner of a bean burrito, but then the Welshes (the couple we lived with) made dinner and let us have some. I ate their dinner, but Elder Condie ate his burrito. Except that he didn't. He was so trunky that he couldn't finish his dinner because he wanted to call home. His family told him that they weren't going to get cable after the government changed it. After dinner it was my turn to call home. I was kind of nervous to call home for some reason. I didn't get to talk to Susanne but I talked to my parents. My mom told me about Susanne's boyfriend Matt. I played on the Welshes' ridiculous piano for my mom. I avoided looking at my watch so that I wouldn't know how long it had been. Then it was time to say goodbye. Here is my journal for the day:
"No one [investigators] showed up at church today.

"But I had a very nice talk with my family. Allie is sounding so old. Most of the conversation was trivial but it was wonderful to talk with them. Mom, of course, cried a lot. They said Allie is talking a lot. I can't believe how much more clearly Allie talks. She's almost five! Grandpa apparently said he's feeling old. He just has to wait for me." 

2007. I think this was the year I got one of the Work and the Glory movies for my mom. We had the family over. My mom was telling them that a newspaper article made her sad--it was about how missionaries got to call home for Mother's Day, and it reminded her that the following Mother's Day I would be on my mission. We had my senior picture in a frame in preparation for seminary graduation the following Sunday. Allie saw me in my tux and said, "Oh, when did you get married?" Later that night her mom showed up and parked on the street. My grandma or my aunt said to her, "Allie, who just showed up?" and she said excitedly, "Susanne!" They thought that was hilarious.

2006. I got my mom the DVD of Mary Poppins. I think that day I cut up strawberries for strawberry shortcake. I asked my mom if I could take a nap and she said I could, and I think I even double checked. But then I found out later that she was mad at me for taking a nap. But I had asked her! That night we watched the special features on the DVD.

2004. I think I got my mom some Snoopy socks and other socks. She got a black pearl for Susanne with a note that was supposed to be from baby Allie that said "Maybe when I'm 25 I'll have enough money to buy you a whole string." The family came over. I think this was the time I was in the kitchen buttering garlic bread. I said something about not wanting too much butter on the bread. Wayne said, "It's good for you," and I wondered how he could possibly think that garlic butter was actually good for you. That evening Wayne was a long time in the main bathroom. Then it was discovered that he was downstairs in Susanne's bathroom, even though he had just been in the upstairs bathroom. It was deduced that he just wanted to snoop in Susanne's room, and when Susanne found out she was furious and creeped out.

2002. I think this was the year I made French toast for my mom. I picked tulips from the garden, but I did that several years.

2000. I gave my mom a hooked garden pole. I snapped pictures when David gave her the flower arrangement he had made from the dried yellow roses that my late aunt Darleen had given her. I also took a picture of my grandpa. That night my siblings asked if I wanted to contribute to the picture book they had bought my mom of the "Touch of the Master's Hand" poem. I hadn't heard it before, but they told me my mom loved it.

1999. I wonder if this was the year I gave my mom the garden gnome with daisies.

1998. I think this was the year Susanne had to work but she left a mug full of candy for my mom.

1996. I think I gave my mom a garden gnome and a birdhouse I had painted myself. In school we had made our own wrapping paper and I drew flowers with glow-in-the-dark crayons. I had drawn something with a story about my mom, and I think my mom was a little embarrassed. I had heard this story and I thought that my mom had said an acceptable word but one of the kids in her student-teaching class misheard her and said, "Mrs. Melville, you didn't have to swear!" That was the picture I drew. But I later found out that my mom had actually said the swear word, and when she retold the story she said the acceptable word because it sounded similar to the swear word.

Mother's Day was a hard holiday to remember.