Time to remember last New Year's!
Tuesday, January 30. It was snowy and windy, and I think a government official on the news was asking people not to drive if they could avoid it, so I decided to work from home. I was working in the living room when lots of birds flew around the house, as if I were in a snowglobe of birds. I had to get up and take a video with my phone.
I asked my parents if they thought I should go out on the roads to go to the temple, but they helped me decide not to. I think I ate an orange. I wrote in my journal:
"This morning there was snow on our road, and the news talked about lots of accidents because of wind, so I stayed home again. I talked to Reid. Then I finished my plans for next year's scripture study. Pops showed me how to change a battery [in a car]. Twice I was sitting in the living room when oodles of birds--probably hundreds--began flying around the house. It felt like it was snowing birds. Fearing bad roads, I didn't go to the temple, so I wrote a memory post about December 30. Then I used the elliptical while watching Gilligan's Island."
Wednesday, December 31. It was very cold, and before I went in to work, I went to the Salt Lake Temple and had to ask where to go inside. They asked about how cold it was outside. When I went home, my family had bought lots of New Year's goodies. There were birthday cake Oreos and root beer and ice cream for root beer floats. I turned my 2014 music on shuffle while my mom and niece and I played Book of Mormon Battles, which is basically glorified War. I had my music's album art showing on my computer, prompting Allie to ask, "Who's Ingrid Michaelson?" She asked who was singing when a song from the album Cheek to Cheek was playing, and when I said Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, she said it must be bad then, but I said that album was clean. Later we watched Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, and Susanne came and we watched Mr. Peabody and Sherman--I think we rented it from Amazon. Mom and Susanne thought it was hilarious when Washington and Lincoln were pardoning the dog and Clinton said, "I've done worse," and Allie didn't get it. Then we turned on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Fergie was on TV and Allie called her "Fer-jee." There was some talk about Nicki Minaj that I don't know if I should repeat here. Allie was excited when Taylor Swift was singing "Shake It Off." My mom said Taylor had kind of gone off the deep end, as she was dressed more scantily than she usually was (she must have been cold!), and I said her latest songs had more swearing. After the New Year and everyone had gone to bed, I spent some time listening to New Year songs on NoiseTrade and looked at Awkward Family Photos. (This of course was technically January 1, but I hadn't gone to bed yet.) I wrote in my journal:
"For New Year's Eve, I went to work, but first I went to the Salt Lake Temple for initiatories. It was in the single digits today. I had to scrape lots of snow and ice off my car, and while I was doing so, a guy for a glass company pulled up. He was looking for 656, which I don't think exists.
"New Year's Eve wasn't too exciting. I turned on my 2014 music while Mom and Allie and I played Book of Mormon Battles. Then we watched Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, and then Nan came and we watched Mr. Peabody and Sherman.
"After Mom and Dad went to bed, I listened to more music and looked at silly things on the internet."
Thursday, January 1. In the morning I bundled up (somewhat) and drove up to the Eagleridge church building to park my car and go running. There were lots of places where I had to run in the street because the sidewalks weren't clear, and when I got to the Bountiful golf course, the sidewalk was covered in snow and ice and I had to go really slow. On my way back, near the top of a hill I passed some girls running the other way; they said hi and I said "Happy New Year!" My cousin April came to our house to carpool up to Golden Corral in Layton. As we were pulling out of the driveway I had to tell my dad to stop because a car was coming up the road; it was Steve Moosman and he waved at us. My mom asked if we had seen the picture Sue had posted of her grandsons, and Nan said, "The one where he looks dead?" My mom was glad she wasn't the only one who thought that. April was talking about Studio C, and I said I had had a class with the short-haired girl my first semester at BYU. April liked the show but not the acting. After we were done eating at Golden Corral, I heard Jesse and Peter talking about a tree; I asked what that was about, and Peter said missionaries had visited with him and told him not to let his spiritual tree die. When we got in the car I asked how old you had to be to have tattoos, because my teenage first-cousin-once-removed had one. My mom said she didn't know how they could afford tattoos. That night we brought out questions we had answered circa 1995 and 2005 and compared our answers. Gilligan's Island was my favorite show both 2005 and 2015, and cucumber was my favorite vegetable both times. I said my favorite songs were "Memphis" by Cherie Call and "You and I" by Lady Gaga. Susanne said she loved "Brave" by Sara Bareilles, and I think she put "1D" for favorite band, as did Allie. We were amused that in both 2005 and 2015, Nan specifically said "carrots, broccoli, cauliflower" were her favorite vegetables. We discussed our New Year's resolutions. Then I watched Rudolph's Shiny New Year. This is some of my journal entry:
"This morning I bundled up and drove up to Eagleridge to go on my old running route. Due to snow and ice, I had to do a lot of running in the street and running slow. But it was glorious and invigorating, although I am a little sore. My goal was 54 minutes, but I made it 58.
"April rode with us to the Layton Golden Corral for New Year's dinner. After we got home, we set New Year's resolutions and did a 'favorites' activity. Then I watched Rudolph's Shiny New Year."
Friday, January 2. I just remember being on my computer, deciding whether to go to my stake party, and I just felt too tired to go when 9:00 came around. This is my journal entry for the day:
"I feel proud of myself for getting the year right [in my journal entry]. We'll see how long it lasts.
"I had an ordinary work day. I finished the Conversations with Mormon Historians, then worked some on the General Epistles. The Mormon Historians book annoyed me, because some previous editors 'fixed' things and made them wrong.
"I came home and took down New Year decorations, then watched Hulu. I didn't go to the stake party because it's late and I'm tired, and tomorrow we're cleaning the church, and New Year's is over."
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Saturday, December 26, 2015
December 28
This time I'm going to remember what happened on December 28, three days after Christmas. Unfortunately, I can't remember many years about this date, and I only remember 2014, 2008, and 2007.
2014. President Henry B. Eyring was at church that day, which I didn't expect. Peter Moosman was one of the speakers, and he began by saying, "You are looking at a spiritually sick individual," caused by not reading scriptures or doing other things. He shared an experience saying the prayer at his Christmas dinner, which strengthened his testimony. There was some extra time at the end, so President Eyring addressed us. He told us how he married later, and how his wife's parents didn't really approve of him, but he was very bold in proposing and she accepted. It had started snowing when we were at church. I began driving home, and I think I was listening to my new Nashville Tribute Redeemer CD. I took Eaglewood Drive up to Foxhill, and there were lots of cars coming slowly down the other direction. When I was coming down Raygene in front of my house, my antilock brakes came on. But the snow didn't last super long. My home teachers, Mike Angerbauer and Chad Hogan (substituting for Nathan Loveridge), came over. The conversation turned to my work, and I went and brought out my copy of Mapping Mormonism, so I showed them where my name was in it. I wrote my culminating blog post for the year. We played my new Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly game; we wanted to do the fast way, but even that was slow, and we had to pause the game for another day. I think my mom picked the Jack Skellington playing piece. This is my journal:
"President Eyring was at our sacrament meeting again this week, and there was extra time, so he told us about how he got married. It started snowing when we were in church, and the anti-lock brakes came on right in front of the house. I spent the afternoon working on my year-in-review blog, but there were breaks for my home teachers (Mike Angerbauer and Chad Hogan, who was subbing for Nathan Loveridge), dinner (chili), and a game night (my Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly). I shoveled the driveway once."
2012-2013. We were in California both years. I'm sure if I remembered one thing that happened specifically on this day, I would remember a lot, but right now I can't remember anything.
2011. I know I worked that day, but I don't remember anything.
2010. I was in Tennessee visiting my brother's family, the last time I ever visited that state, but I don't remember that day specifically.
2008. It was the day before transfers, and Elder Love was being transferred. We taught a girl who was dating a member of the Ritzville Branch, and she seemed to accept everything we taught, but we thought it was more for her boyfriend's sake. But she didn't live in our mission, although she would be going to school in Pullman. That night we had dinner at a birthday party for John Galbreath in the branch. He had received a Neal A. Maxwell quote book for his birthday, and they had ginger ale. They had a three-year-old daughter who was hilarious and talked about her imaginary friends. She said they slept in her bed, and her dad told her they couldn't sleep in her bed until she was married. She had received a doll named Lucretia for Christmas, and her mom was saying that sounded more like a black name, even though the doll was white, but there was a white Lucrecia in the branch. I journalized as follows:
"I am thirteen [months] today. We taught Sarah, the girlfriend of Andrew Burt, who lives out of the mission. We also said goodbye to a few others for Elder Love. We had dinner with John Galbreath and family. Their daughter Taylor is hilarious and very imaginative, telling us today all about Steve, Johnny, and Jackson."
2007. We visited a less-active member, not knowing how we would be received, but he invited us in immediately and was very friendly; we began regularly visiting him. I think this was the time we drove to the Franklin Park Ward's church building because Elder Chun needed to conduct a baptismal interview. There was a convert there who was enthusiastic about soon leaving on a mission, and we were telling the other elders about our upcoming appointment that we assumed would be a bash session; Elder Chun told Elder Gammon how the wife said she had read the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants, and the husband said, "How did you get a D&C?" Elder Gammon said we should have corrected him to "Doctrine and Covenants," since he had a thing about not using that abbreviation. That night after our meeting with Kristi Waylin, Elder Chun got lost and we were going down an ice-covered hill and couldn't back up, so some people came to help push him back up, and I felt awkward as I got out of the car after they were already helping. In Spokane they didn't really plow snow, and there were many times we got stuck on icy roads. We went on a road in the Greenbluff Ward to check on some people we had tracted into the previous week. We talked to a new man who said his wife had lots of Mormon family (and I think we later learned she was on our ward list). And I think we took these pictures that night, although I'd have to double check the original photo information to know for sure (I just took these from Facebook):
We liked this church sign:
I wrote in my journal:
"Today we taught Richard Swinkles, the only member in his family. We are trying to reactivate him possibly to influence his family. Elder Chun had to do some baptismal interviews, and then our potential investigator wasn't home. We met with Christi Waylin, a former investigators [sic] whose boyfriend is a less-active member. They are strengthening their relationship by wanting to come to church. The previous missionaries did an unsatisfactory job. We taught a good lesson but it was very difficult because she has very rambunctious children.
"We then got stuck on a road again by some houses so people helped us push again. We set up a return appointment for a possible investigator who was gone yesterday. Then we talked to a man on that street, and Elder Chun pulled down an enormous icicle."
2014. President Henry B. Eyring was at church that day, which I didn't expect. Peter Moosman was one of the speakers, and he began by saying, "You are looking at a spiritually sick individual," caused by not reading scriptures or doing other things. He shared an experience saying the prayer at his Christmas dinner, which strengthened his testimony. There was some extra time at the end, so President Eyring addressed us. He told us how he married later, and how his wife's parents didn't really approve of him, but he was very bold in proposing and she accepted. It had started snowing when we were at church. I began driving home, and I think I was listening to my new Nashville Tribute Redeemer CD. I took Eaglewood Drive up to Foxhill, and there were lots of cars coming slowly down the other direction. When I was coming down Raygene in front of my house, my antilock brakes came on. But the snow didn't last super long. My home teachers, Mike Angerbauer and Chad Hogan (substituting for Nathan Loveridge), came over. The conversation turned to my work, and I went and brought out my copy of Mapping Mormonism, so I showed them where my name was in it. I wrote my culminating blog post for the year. We played my new Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly game; we wanted to do the fast way, but even that was slow, and we had to pause the game for another day. I think my mom picked the Jack Skellington playing piece. This is my journal:
"President Eyring was at our sacrament meeting again this week, and there was extra time, so he told us about how he got married. It started snowing when we were in church, and the anti-lock brakes came on right in front of the house. I spent the afternoon working on my year-in-review blog, but there were breaks for my home teachers (Mike Angerbauer and Chad Hogan, who was subbing for Nathan Loveridge), dinner (chili), and a game night (my Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly). I shoveled the driveway once."
2012-2013. We were in California both years. I'm sure if I remembered one thing that happened specifically on this day, I would remember a lot, but right now I can't remember anything.
2011. I know I worked that day, but I don't remember anything.
2010. I was in Tennessee visiting my brother's family, the last time I ever visited that state, but I don't remember that day specifically.
2008. It was the day before transfers, and Elder Love was being transferred. We taught a girl who was dating a member of the Ritzville Branch, and she seemed to accept everything we taught, but we thought it was more for her boyfriend's sake. But she didn't live in our mission, although she would be going to school in Pullman. That night we had dinner at a birthday party for John Galbreath in the branch. He had received a Neal A. Maxwell quote book for his birthday, and they had ginger ale. They had a three-year-old daughter who was hilarious and talked about her imaginary friends. She said they slept in her bed, and her dad told her they couldn't sleep in her bed until she was married. She had received a doll named Lucretia for Christmas, and her mom was saying that sounded more like a black name, even though the doll was white, but there was a white Lucrecia in the branch. I journalized as follows:
"I am thirteen [months] today. We taught Sarah, the girlfriend of Andrew Burt, who lives out of the mission. We also said goodbye to a few others for Elder Love. We had dinner with John Galbreath and family. Their daughter Taylor is hilarious and very imaginative, telling us today all about Steve, Johnny, and Jackson."
2007. We visited a less-active member, not knowing how we would be received, but he invited us in immediately and was very friendly; we began regularly visiting him. I think this was the time we drove to the Franklin Park Ward's church building because Elder Chun needed to conduct a baptismal interview. There was a convert there who was enthusiastic about soon leaving on a mission, and we were telling the other elders about our upcoming appointment that we assumed would be a bash session; Elder Chun told Elder Gammon how the wife said she had read the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants, and the husband said, "How did you get a D&C?" Elder Gammon said we should have corrected him to "Doctrine and Covenants," since he had a thing about not using that abbreviation. That night after our meeting with Kristi Waylin, Elder Chun got lost and we were going down an ice-covered hill and couldn't back up, so some people came to help push him back up, and I felt awkward as I got out of the car after they were already helping. In Spokane they didn't really plow snow, and there were many times we got stuck on icy roads. We went on a road in the Greenbluff Ward to check on some people we had tracted into the previous week. We talked to a new man who said his wife had lots of Mormon family (and I think we later learned she was on our ward list). And I think we took these pictures that night, although I'd have to double check the original photo information to know for sure (I just took these from Facebook):
"Today we taught Richard Swinkles, the only member in his family. We are trying to reactivate him possibly to influence his family. Elder Chun had to do some baptismal interviews, and then our potential investigator wasn't home. We met with Christi Waylin, a former investigators [sic] whose boyfriend is a less-active member. They are strengthening their relationship by wanting to come to church. The previous missionaries did an unsatisfactory job. We taught a good lesson but it was very difficult because she has very rambunctious children.
"We then got stuck on a road again by some houses so people helped us push again. We set up a return appointment for a possible investigator who was gone yesterday. Then we talked to a man on that street, and Elder Chun pulled down an enormous icicle."
Friday, December 18, 2015
December 21-27, 2014
Time to remember Christmas week from last year!
Sunday, December 21. During sacrament meeting, I was passing the sacrament. Before church, we were sitting to get ready to pass, and Keith Savage said he was nervous to pass to the stand "because of you-know-who," since President Eyring was sitting up there. I told him that I was nervous because I was saying the opening prayer. When it was my turn to say the opening prayer, I was so nervous that I didn't want to adjust the microphone and had to stand on my toes, and I gave a very unusual prayer, and I didn't want to make any eye contact as I returned to my seat. Our meeting was largely musical, with narration by Brandon Owens and a concluding talk by President Eyring. In the evening, we watched the Rejoice and Be Merry! MoTab/King's Singers concert. I wrote my blog. Then I walked up to a game night at the Gublers' house, and I think I got there the same time as Nathan Loveridge. First we played Taboo. One of my words was "hologram," and I didn't think to mention Star Wars until it was too late in my turn. David Hawks said he would have guessed it if I had said that earlier. Bob Pedersen got "Monster," so he began singing, "I'm friends with the..." David and I got it; Rachel Baschuk said, "Isn't that Lady Gaga?" and I said no, it was Eminem and Rihanna. After the game I went in the kitchen and had some chips and salsa. I was talking with Kelton about high school teachers, and he said he had seen Mrs. Duffin (the chemistry teacher) at church in West Yellowstone, and she had remembered them. I was surprised, because I didn't know she was Mormon--I told Kelton the story about the time one of my classmates was talking about Ken Jennings with her and said, "Did you see that article in the Church News?" and she had responded "I don't get Church News" in a tone that seemed like "Don't assume that I do." While this was going on, other people were playing reverse charades. I told the Gublers that I hadn't been in their house since 1998, and I was telling them what I remembered about that day, including that Jacob was really mad they had gone to Costco without him. Then we had a discussion about how Donald's mom was about the same age as the oldest Gubler. Then I walked home, and as I was walking down Raygene, Steven Jessup said hello to me--he was at the house of his brother, who apparently lived on our street.
Monday, December 22. I only planned on working a partial day. In the morning I cleaned our fridge while watching Hogan's Heroes and The Andy Griffith Show. Then I went to work, and after work I walked over to the place downtown where my ward was having a Christmas party/dinner. I was early, but the Church History Library closed at 6. It was in a confusing location. I stuck my backpack in a hiding place so it would be out of the way, and I helped set out silverware, then I sat at a table until my bishop asked me to help move a couch. Stephanie Ogden sat by me and said she had been told she should know who I was but didn't. We talked about working downtown. Then our guests for the evening were a bell choir, and they were pretty good. There was an ugly sweater contest, but I find those pointless, and Brandon Loveridge won for his light-up sweater--no one would ever wear that, and I thought the point of ugly sweaters was that they were things that people really used to wear. Then I ate the food, including the really tasty baby carrots from a slow cooker. There were really fancy cakes, but most of them were not Christmassy. I think Taylor Miller was singing and playing songs, including "Ho Hey," a song I don't like. Then I went home, and I think we watched The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas, and my mom said it wasn't any cleaner than Elf. I think I delayed watching it to watch Christmas episodes of Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies, but that might have been a different night.
Tuesday, December 23. At work I worked on Conversations with Mormon Historians. That night my mom and I went out shopping, to Shopko and Barnes and Noble. At Shopko (I'm pretty sure) I got Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish with red and green sprinkles. Then we stopped at Atlantis Burger to get pumpkin spice eggnog shakes, and we took them home to watch Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. I wrote in my journal:
"Today I slept in before going to work. I worked for about five hours on Interviews with Mormon Historians and read interesting anecdotes about LaMar Berrett's reputation in WWII and about an early Salt Lake resident buying a ticket with a turkey and getting chickens as change.
"Tonight we went to Walmart, Shopko, and Barnes and Noble. We also got eggnog shakes for while we watched Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July."
Wednesday, December 24. In the morning I went running, and I saw an inflatable decoration at a house, and it was a different decoration than they had previously had. I saw some snow in the eaves of some of the houses I passed. When I got up to the Wild Rose Trail, it looked muddy, so then I went over to Tunnel Springs Park. I think by that point I had become exhausted and walked, but then I began running again. The Bonneville Shoreline Trail looked muddy too, so I didn't go on it, and I ran down a road to pass a house where I had been assigned to home teach but had never been. Then I ran home again, and I was disappointed that my total run/walk was only around forty minutes. I went downstairs to lift weights--there weren't any Christmas shows on that I cared to watch, so I decided to watch my Hogan's Heroes DVDs, and I was delighted that the episode just happened to have a Christmas scene in it, even though it wasn't a Christmas episode. Then I showered and prepared to make gingerbread. Susanne and Allie came over and asked why I wasn't listening to Christmas music; I said I was just going to turn it on. I expressed my disappointment that I had only run for a total of forty-three minutes that day. I put some wassail in the slow cooker. They played games while I cooked, but Allie helped me for a time. The recipe didn't call for any cloves, so I added cloves, as my mom and sister said I should. The recipe called for a cup of water, but it didn't say what to do with it, so I threw it in the batter, and it made it really runny. I put the batter in some cookie molds, but when they were cooked they were burned and terrible. I added lots and lots of flour to the batter, along with more spices, until the consistency was right. I was quite pleased with the result; for these I rolled them and used cookie cutters. Then I made frosting and put it in a plastic bag, but there was another hole in the bag, so they got progressively uglier.
As my Christmas shuffle playlist played an organ song, Susanne asked, "What is this playlist? Organs are ugly," but I told her it was my own playlist, and she was fine with it. But then later she wanted to change it, even though she initially liked it, because it was "quiet"; Allie said we could turn the volume up, but that wasn't what she meant. But she did say she loved "Oh Hush Thee, My Baby." Later, Sue, Chancey, Nicole, and the two little boys came over for something and wanted my mom to take a Christmassy picture with her good camera. She did, but she couldn't figure out how to get it on her computer. At one point the boys were eating fruit snacks, so to be doing the same thing as them Allie got the last leftover Halloween fruit snack, and I was a little disappointed because I was going to eat it at New Year's. I put on my red Sperry shoes with my festive socks, and Susanne asked when I got the shoes, and I told her the day before Easter. Three-year-old Nathan was having me play Christmas songs on the piano, including "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." At that time, my playlist played the Lower Lights' "Mary's Lullaby," and Susanne said she loved it. Then it played Korn's cover of "Kidnap the Sandy Claws," and she asked, "What is this!?" Then Sue's family left, and we discussed where we were going for Christmas dinner. My dad wanted to order pizza because there had been one time on Christmas Eve when they ordered pizza and it came loaded with toppings, so he wanted to see if it would happen again. We didn't think that was a good reason to order pizza, so we planned to go to Chuck-A-Rama. I tried to see if it was open, but Google kept insisting that it was and I couldn't find otherwise, but Google lied and it was closed. So then we went to Texas Roadhouse. The radio was playing "Santa Tell Me"; Allie asked if it was Ariana Grande singing and I confirmed it was. That restaurant was too busy, I think, so then we went to Sizzler and did their salad bar. As we left, my mom thanked one of the employees for letting us come in on Christmas Eve, and he said he was glad they weren't working Christmas Day. As we got in the car, I ate the red-and-green lollipop they gave us. I told my dad that 98.7 was a much better Christmas radio station than 100.3. (I'm sorely disappointed now that 98.7 isn't a Christmas station this year. That's the only reason I even cared about that station.) He said sometimes he liked the classic Christmas songs. The radio at that moment was playing Ryan Shupe, whose Christmas CD I had recently bought. Then we went back to our house, and I had some wassail while we watched Christmas for a Dollar. My mom pointed out that it had been filmed at This Is the Place Heritage Park, which I hadn't noticed, but once I did, I could no longer imagine it as anything else. Susanne said it was a cute movie, but they didn't stay the whole time. We went to bed, and I wrote in my journal:
"Ah, Christmas Eve.
"This morning I went running, but after thirteen minutes I had a sideache, so I walked for four minutes and ran for thirty more. The trails were muddy, so I ended up running by the landslide.
"Then I made gingerbread. The recipe was horrible, but I ended up making it work quite well. Sue and Chancey's family came to get John's stocking. Then we went to Sizzler for dinner. Then we watched Christmas for a dollar, while drinking the wassail I made."
At some point I woke up and noticed that I had turned off my Christmas tree lights in my room but didn't remember doing so. I remembered that I had left the back porch light on, so I went to turn it off, and snow was already accumulating.
Thursday, December 25. In the morning we learned that Susanne was going to bring my grandparents with her to our house, so they could carpool because of the snow. We didn't open presents until they arrived, and I had to turn off my Christmas music since Grandpa is hard of hearing. I was telling everyone about my strange night. Allie hugged me when she opened the One Direction CD I got her, and she hugged Grandma and Grandpa when she opened their present. I got walrus kitchen supplies (hot pad, oven mitt, ice cream scoop) and a narwhal screwdriver. They said they saw the screwdriver at Gordman's and had to get it for me, because they would likely never see one like it again. My mom knew I got her a calendar before she opened it. Once I had to go out and shovel snow, and I played Christmas music from my phone; I remember Mideau's version of "O Holy Night" playing. Sue's family came over, and they Skyped with my cousin Quin on his mission and she passed the laptop around the room for everyone to talk to him; I asked him if they used area books or iPads. Grandma asked him, "Do you tract?" which I found an odd question. At one point my mom read a fictional story in a biblical setting while the rest of us were just sitting in the living room. I was kind of bored. When the story was over, Grandma gave a groan of approval. Sue said that when she had bought the pumpkin pie at Kneaders, she jokingly told them not to put it in a box so we would think she made it. I don't consider pumpkin pie a Christmas dessert, so I didn't have any. Throughout the day, baby John had been taking my hands to walk him up and down the stairs. Peter at one point saw the Napoleon Dynamite TV show I had got my dad and he didn't know such a thing existed. He asked me what I liked to do besides go to concerts. He told me that when he was in Nashville, he bought my nephews presents and told them they had to like him more than me. Franklin had said, "What's wrong with Uncle Mark? He's nice to us," and Peter told him he could like me, he just had to like him more. Then he related the story to my mom. That evening we went downstairs to watch It's a Wonderful Life; Susanne had wanted to go home, but my grandparents wanted to stay. We had to turn the subtitles on for Grandpa. Meanwhile, Allie was upstairs watching Christmas episodes on Disney Channel. Grandma and Grandpa laughed at scenes in the movie, including the line "I've been saving this for a divorce in case I ever get a husband." When it was over, I said it wouldn't be on my rotation next year; Grandma said, "How come?" in her tone of almost disappointment, and I said just to give it a rest. That night I turned my Christmas music on again and washed dishes; the narrated story of the Tabernacle Choir came on. I got a friend request from Leslie Gates, which I accepted. At the same time, Jon Rose showed up in my newsfeed with my former roommate Eric Scott West, and as I hovered over his name, I saw that we had fewer mutual friends. I discovered that Nathan Garlock unfriended me, which really surprised me, because just recently he had "liked" one of my blog posts. Then I wrote in my journal:
"An enjoyable Christmas day.
"I had a weird night. I woke up in the middle of the night and my tree lights were unplugged, but I don't remember unplugging them.
"It was rather snowy, so Nan brought G'ma and G'pa to our house. I got walrus kitchen supplies, a narwhal screwdriver, a Nashville Tribute CD, a Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly, and a speaker.
"Everyone Skyped with Quin; Sue of course talked the most.
"Allie liked her One Direction CD, Nan liked the dog shirts, and Mom liked her calendar. I don't know what Pops thought of the Napoleon Dynamite cartoon.
"I shoveled the driveway once, and we sat around. G'ma and G'pa stayed to watch It's a Wonderful Life. Then tonight I washed dishes.
"I learned that Nathan Garlock unfriended me on Facebook. I know I shouldn't let it bother me."
Friday, December 26. In the morning I cut up vegetables and made a crockpot vegetable minestrone soup. I took down the wooden outside decorations and let them sit out in the sun to let the snow melt a bit; I also took down the inflatable Snoopy for the very last time, since it was poorly designed. When we ate the minestrone, my mom asked if it was vegetarian; I said it was except that it was made with chicken stock. She said she would like it better with beans and said that was usually an ingredient in minestrone. I liked the soup, but my parents weren't impressed. That night we went out shopping. We went to Target, where I got some pencil socks. My sister liked the Christmas cactus socks, but I didn't care for them. I think I looked at sweaters but didn't get one. We went to Shopko, and there I got some Nightmare Before Christmas socks. I made a memory post, while listening to New Year music and 2014 music. When the "What manner of man is this?" song came on, my mom asked what it was; I told her it was on the Redeemer CD she just bought me. I didn't really care for the song. I wrote in my journal:
"Today I made slow-cooker minestrone and shoveled the driveway. I took down the pink Christmas tree and the ones downstairs and in my room. Then we went to Target and Shopko; I got pencil and Nightmare Before Christmas socks. Then tonight I wrote my week's memory blog."
Saturday, December 27. I took down my mom's Christmas village. Later, my grandparents came over, and Grandma said, "Oh, she took down her village." I said, "I did that," and she once again replied "How come" in the same disappointed, "why would you do that" tone she had used on Christmas. I said because it takes a long time to take down Christmas stuff, but the more obvious answer was that Christmas was over. My mom was out getting Little Caesars pizza for our family gathering. Jesse asked me if I had an opinion on "My Favorite Things" as a Christmas song, and I said I did have an opinion (Sue wasn't surprised). I said it had nothing to do with Christmas. Lisa said, "But we don't listen to it at other times," and Grandma said, "But we could." We were going to play games, and Sue said she had forgotten her new Telestrations game. I said I used to play it all the time at college; all you needed was paper and pencils, so I handed out paper and pencils and explained the rules. I found that this family group wasn't as fun as college kids. I was next to Jesse. At one point his picture had Santa Claus, so I wrote, "Santa tried to get by with only four reindeer." On another occasion, I wrote, "The galactic giant tried to put the moon back into orbit," because that's what it looked like, and Sue (next to me) said she didn't like sitting by me because she didn't know how to draw what I wrote. One of the things Jesse gave me was "a girl crying in a snowstorm," which wasn't even a complete sentence and therefore wasn't fun. While we were playing, Baby John was walking around, and as he got to our stairs, Grandma said, "There he goes," and he tumbled down the stairs and began crying. Chancey rushed over to him, and I was feeling annoyed that he hadn't been watching him more closely, while I worried for the baby's welfare. He was OK. Then we read and looked at all the pictures. I noticed that Lisa's snowflakes had eight points instead of six. Some of the responses were bizarre. My grandpa had drawn a picture that was obviously a bunch of men playing volleyball, but Grandma interpreted it as "Shepherds at the manger." I guess she thought the ball was a moon. Sue shared some cheesecake bites with us, and I started out with a strawberry one, which wasn't as good as I expected. John took his and put it in my hand--he evidently liked me--and he even pushed my hand up, as if motioning for me to eat it. It was cute and funny. Nathan threw something at one point, and all of us told him he couldn't do that; Allie later said she didn't know why he did that, because he wasn't even mad. Lisa was holding Nathan, and he asked her what our star decoration said ("Wisemen still seek Him"). After they left, I said, "Do you think it was weird that they let the babies eat pizza on our couch?" and Mom responded "And cheesecake," and I brought up the meme expression "This is why we can't have nice things." This is a portion of my journal:
"This afternoon I took down Christmas decorations. I thought Mom didn't like me doing so, but apparently she was fine with it.
"Jesse, Lisa, Sue, Chancey, Nicole, John, Nathan, and G'ma and G'pa came over to play games and eat pizza. We played the Pictionary/Telephone game. It was fun....John remembered me from Christmas, remembering that I would take him downstairs. At one point he fell down the stairs. And at one point, Nathan was throwing things."
Sunday, December 21. During sacrament meeting, I was passing the sacrament. Before church, we were sitting to get ready to pass, and Keith Savage said he was nervous to pass to the stand "because of you-know-who," since President Eyring was sitting up there. I told him that I was nervous because I was saying the opening prayer. When it was my turn to say the opening prayer, I was so nervous that I didn't want to adjust the microphone and had to stand on my toes, and I gave a very unusual prayer, and I didn't want to make any eye contact as I returned to my seat. Our meeting was largely musical, with narration by Brandon Owens and a concluding talk by President Eyring. In the evening, we watched the Rejoice and Be Merry! MoTab/King's Singers concert. I wrote my blog. Then I walked up to a game night at the Gublers' house, and I think I got there the same time as Nathan Loveridge. First we played Taboo. One of my words was "hologram," and I didn't think to mention Star Wars until it was too late in my turn. David Hawks said he would have guessed it if I had said that earlier. Bob Pedersen got "Monster," so he began singing, "I'm friends with the..." David and I got it; Rachel Baschuk said, "Isn't that Lady Gaga?" and I said no, it was Eminem and Rihanna. After the game I went in the kitchen and had some chips and salsa. I was talking with Kelton about high school teachers, and he said he had seen Mrs. Duffin (the chemistry teacher) at church in West Yellowstone, and she had remembered them. I was surprised, because I didn't know she was Mormon--I told Kelton the story about the time one of my classmates was talking about Ken Jennings with her and said, "Did you see that article in the Church News?" and she had responded "I don't get Church News" in a tone that seemed like "Don't assume that I do." While this was going on, other people were playing reverse charades. I told the Gublers that I hadn't been in their house since 1998, and I was telling them what I remembered about that day, including that Jacob was really mad they had gone to Costco without him. Then we had a discussion about how Donald's mom was about the same age as the oldest Gubler. Then I walked home, and as I was walking down Raygene, Steven Jessup said hello to me--he was at the house of his brother, who apparently lived on our street.
Monday, December 22. I only planned on working a partial day. In the morning I cleaned our fridge while watching Hogan's Heroes and The Andy Griffith Show. Then I went to work, and after work I walked over to the place downtown where my ward was having a Christmas party/dinner. I was early, but the Church History Library closed at 6. It was in a confusing location. I stuck my backpack in a hiding place so it would be out of the way, and I helped set out silverware, then I sat at a table until my bishop asked me to help move a couch. Stephanie Ogden sat by me and said she had been told she should know who I was but didn't. We talked about working downtown. Then our guests for the evening were a bell choir, and they were pretty good. There was an ugly sweater contest, but I find those pointless, and Brandon Loveridge won for his light-up sweater--no one would ever wear that, and I thought the point of ugly sweaters was that they were things that people really used to wear. Then I ate the food, including the really tasty baby carrots from a slow cooker. There were really fancy cakes, but most of them were not Christmassy. I think Taylor Miller was singing and playing songs, including "Ho Hey," a song I don't like. Then I went home, and I think we watched The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas, and my mom said it wasn't any cleaner than Elf. I think I delayed watching it to watch Christmas episodes of Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies, but that might have been a different night.
Tuesday, December 23. At work I worked on Conversations with Mormon Historians. That night my mom and I went out shopping, to Shopko and Barnes and Noble. At Shopko (I'm pretty sure) I got Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish with red and green sprinkles. Then we stopped at Atlantis Burger to get pumpkin spice eggnog shakes, and we took them home to watch Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. I wrote in my journal:
"Today I slept in before going to work. I worked for about five hours on Interviews with Mormon Historians and read interesting anecdotes about LaMar Berrett's reputation in WWII and about an early Salt Lake resident buying a ticket with a turkey and getting chickens as change.
"Tonight we went to Walmart, Shopko, and Barnes and Noble. We also got eggnog shakes for while we watched Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July."
Wednesday, December 24. In the morning I went running, and I saw an inflatable decoration at a house, and it was a different decoration than they had previously had. I saw some snow in the eaves of some of the houses I passed. When I got up to the Wild Rose Trail, it looked muddy, so then I went over to Tunnel Springs Park. I think by that point I had become exhausted and walked, but then I began running again. The Bonneville Shoreline Trail looked muddy too, so I didn't go on it, and I ran down a road to pass a house where I had been assigned to home teach but had never been. Then I ran home again, and I was disappointed that my total run/walk was only around forty minutes. I went downstairs to lift weights--there weren't any Christmas shows on that I cared to watch, so I decided to watch my Hogan's Heroes DVDs, and I was delighted that the episode just happened to have a Christmas scene in it, even though it wasn't a Christmas episode. Then I showered and prepared to make gingerbread. Susanne and Allie came over and asked why I wasn't listening to Christmas music; I said I was just going to turn it on. I expressed my disappointment that I had only run for a total of forty-three minutes that day. I put some wassail in the slow cooker. They played games while I cooked, but Allie helped me for a time. The recipe didn't call for any cloves, so I added cloves, as my mom and sister said I should. The recipe called for a cup of water, but it didn't say what to do with it, so I threw it in the batter, and it made it really runny. I put the batter in some cookie molds, but when they were cooked they were burned and terrible. I added lots and lots of flour to the batter, along with more spices, until the consistency was right. I was quite pleased with the result; for these I rolled them and used cookie cutters. Then I made frosting and put it in a plastic bag, but there was another hole in the bag, so they got progressively uglier.
"Ah, Christmas Eve.
"This morning I went running, but after thirteen minutes I had a sideache, so I walked for four minutes and ran for thirty more. The trails were muddy, so I ended up running by the landslide.
"Then I made gingerbread. The recipe was horrible, but I ended up making it work quite well. Sue and Chancey's family came to get John's stocking. Then we went to Sizzler for dinner. Then we watched Christmas for a dollar, while drinking the wassail I made."
At some point I woke up and noticed that I had turned off my Christmas tree lights in my room but didn't remember doing so. I remembered that I had left the back porch light on, so I went to turn it off, and snow was already accumulating.
Thursday, December 25. In the morning we learned that Susanne was going to bring my grandparents with her to our house, so they could carpool because of the snow. We didn't open presents until they arrived, and I had to turn off my Christmas music since Grandpa is hard of hearing. I was telling everyone about my strange night. Allie hugged me when she opened the One Direction CD I got her, and she hugged Grandma and Grandpa when she opened their present. I got walrus kitchen supplies (hot pad, oven mitt, ice cream scoop) and a narwhal screwdriver. They said they saw the screwdriver at Gordman's and had to get it for me, because they would likely never see one like it again. My mom knew I got her a calendar before she opened it. Once I had to go out and shovel snow, and I played Christmas music from my phone; I remember Mideau's version of "O Holy Night" playing. Sue's family came over, and they Skyped with my cousin Quin on his mission and she passed the laptop around the room for everyone to talk to him; I asked him if they used area books or iPads. Grandma asked him, "Do you tract?" which I found an odd question. At one point my mom read a fictional story in a biblical setting while the rest of us were just sitting in the living room. I was kind of bored. When the story was over, Grandma gave a groan of approval. Sue said that when she had bought the pumpkin pie at Kneaders, she jokingly told them not to put it in a box so we would think she made it. I don't consider pumpkin pie a Christmas dessert, so I didn't have any. Throughout the day, baby John had been taking my hands to walk him up and down the stairs. Peter at one point saw the Napoleon Dynamite TV show I had got my dad and he didn't know such a thing existed. He asked me what I liked to do besides go to concerts. He told me that when he was in Nashville, he bought my nephews presents and told them they had to like him more than me. Franklin had said, "What's wrong with Uncle Mark? He's nice to us," and Peter told him he could like me, he just had to like him more. Then he related the story to my mom. That evening we went downstairs to watch It's a Wonderful Life; Susanne had wanted to go home, but my grandparents wanted to stay. We had to turn the subtitles on for Grandpa. Meanwhile, Allie was upstairs watching Christmas episodes on Disney Channel. Grandma and Grandpa laughed at scenes in the movie, including the line "I've been saving this for a divorce in case I ever get a husband." When it was over, I said it wouldn't be on my rotation next year; Grandma said, "How come?" in her tone of almost disappointment, and I said just to give it a rest. That night I turned my Christmas music on again and washed dishes; the narrated story of the Tabernacle Choir came on. I got a friend request from Leslie Gates, which I accepted. At the same time, Jon Rose showed up in my newsfeed with my former roommate Eric Scott West, and as I hovered over his name, I saw that we had fewer mutual friends. I discovered that Nathan Garlock unfriended me, which really surprised me, because just recently he had "liked" one of my blog posts. Then I wrote in my journal:
"An enjoyable Christmas day.
"I had a weird night. I woke up in the middle of the night and my tree lights were unplugged, but I don't remember unplugging them.
"It was rather snowy, so Nan brought G'ma and G'pa to our house. I got walrus kitchen supplies, a narwhal screwdriver, a Nashville Tribute CD, a Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly, and a speaker.
"Everyone Skyped with Quin; Sue of course talked the most.
"Allie liked her One Direction CD, Nan liked the dog shirts, and Mom liked her calendar. I don't know what Pops thought of the Napoleon Dynamite cartoon.
"I shoveled the driveway once, and we sat around. G'ma and G'pa stayed to watch It's a Wonderful Life. Then tonight I washed dishes.
"I learned that Nathan Garlock unfriended me on Facebook. I know I shouldn't let it bother me."
Friday, December 26. In the morning I cut up vegetables and made a crockpot vegetable minestrone soup. I took down the wooden outside decorations and let them sit out in the sun to let the snow melt a bit; I also took down the inflatable Snoopy for the very last time, since it was poorly designed. When we ate the minestrone, my mom asked if it was vegetarian; I said it was except that it was made with chicken stock. She said she would like it better with beans and said that was usually an ingredient in minestrone. I liked the soup, but my parents weren't impressed. That night we went out shopping. We went to Target, where I got some pencil socks. My sister liked the Christmas cactus socks, but I didn't care for them. I think I looked at sweaters but didn't get one. We went to Shopko, and there I got some Nightmare Before Christmas socks. I made a memory post, while listening to New Year music and 2014 music. When the "What manner of man is this?" song came on, my mom asked what it was; I told her it was on the Redeemer CD she just bought me. I didn't really care for the song. I wrote in my journal:
"Today I made slow-cooker minestrone and shoveled the driveway. I took down the pink Christmas tree and the ones downstairs and in my room. Then we went to Target and Shopko; I got pencil and Nightmare Before Christmas socks. Then tonight I wrote my week's memory blog."
Saturday, December 27. I took down my mom's Christmas village. Later, my grandparents came over, and Grandma said, "Oh, she took down her village." I said, "I did that," and she once again replied "How come" in the same disappointed, "why would you do that" tone she had used on Christmas. I said because it takes a long time to take down Christmas stuff, but the more obvious answer was that Christmas was over. My mom was out getting Little Caesars pizza for our family gathering. Jesse asked me if I had an opinion on "My Favorite Things" as a Christmas song, and I said I did have an opinion (Sue wasn't surprised). I said it had nothing to do with Christmas. Lisa said, "But we don't listen to it at other times," and Grandma said, "But we could." We were going to play games, and Sue said she had forgotten her new Telestrations game. I said I used to play it all the time at college; all you needed was paper and pencils, so I handed out paper and pencils and explained the rules. I found that this family group wasn't as fun as college kids. I was next to Jesse. At one point his picture had Santa Claus, so I wrote, "Santa tried to get by with only four reindeer." On another occasion, I wrote, "The galactic giant tried to put the moon back into orbit," because that's what it looked like, and Sue (next to me) said she didn't like sitting by me because she didn't know how to draw what I wrote. One of the things Jesse gave me was "a girl crying in a snowstorm," which wasn't even a complete sentence and therefore wasn't fun. While we were playing, Baby John was walking around, and as he got to our stairs, Grandma said, "There he goes," and he tumbled down the stairs and began crying. Chancey rushed over to him, and I was feeling annoyed that he hadn't been watching him more closely, while I worried for the baby's welfare. He was OK. Then we read and looked at all the pictures. I noticed that Lisa's snowflakes had eight points instead of six. Some of the responses were bizarre. My grandpa had drawn a picture that was obviously a bunch of men playing volleyball, but Grandma interpreted it as "Shepherds at the manger." I guess she thought the ball was a moon. Sue shared some cheesecake bites with us, and I started out with a strawberry one, which wasn't as good as I expected. John took his and put it in my hand--he evidently liked me--and he even pushed my hand up, as if motioning for me to eat it. It was cute and funny. Nathan threw something at one point, and all of us told him he couldn't do that; Allie later said she didn't know why he did that, because he wasn't even mad. Lisa was holding Nathan, and he asked her what our star decoration said ("Wisemen still seek Him"). After they left, I said, "Do you think it was weird that they let the babies eat pizza on our couch?" and Mom responded "And cheesecake," and I brought up the meme expression "This is why we can't have nice things." This is a portion of my journal:
"This afternoon I took down Christmas decorations. I thought Mom didn't like me doing so, but apparently she was fine with it.
"Jesse, Lisa, Sue, Chancey, Nicole, John, Nathan, and G'ma and G'pa came over to play games and eat pizza. We played the Pictionary/Telephone game. It was fun....John remembered me from Christmas, remembering that I would take him downstairs. At one point he fell down the stairs. And at one point, Nathan was throwing things."
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Gingerbread houses
There is only one time in my life when I remember making gingerbread houses. And I'm talking about real gingerbread, not graham crackers.
It was at Christmas time in 1996. One night I remember my mom using molasses to make the pieces of gingerbread houses. The next day, we went to my grandparents' house, and my cousins also came. At that time, blue M&Ms were pretty new. I think my cousin Tammy said she had a hard time getting used to the blue ones, but I didn't remember what the tan ones looked like. My aunt had brought Snowman Peeps, which I think was the first time I saw non-Easter Peeps. A commercial on the TV had dogs barking "Jingle Bells." My cousin Chancey was singing in a nasal, highly-vibrato, pop-imitating voice, and after we left, my brother asked about his singing.
My mom and sister said it would be something we would do only every ten years. But 2006 came and went without us ever making gingerbread houses.
(Sorry this was so short; I just haven't had time.)
It was at Christmas time in 1996. One night I remember my mom using molasses to make the pieces of gingerbread houses. The next day, we went to my grandparents' house, and my cousins also came. At that time, blue M&Ms were pretty new. I think my cousin Tammy said she had a hard time getting used to the blue ones, but I didn't remember what the tan ones looked like. My aunt had brought Snowman Peeps, which I think was the first time I saw non-Easter Peeps. A commercial on the TV had dogs barking "Jingle Bells." My cousin Chancey was singing in a nasal, highly-vibrato, pop-imitating voice, and after we left, my brother asked about his singing.
My mom and sister said it would be something we would do only every ten years. But 2006 came and went without us ever making gingerbread houses.
(Sorry this was so short; I just haven't had time.)
Friday, December 4, 2015
Post-mission awkwardness
This post is more introspective rather than anecdotal. Six years ago at this time, I had just returned from my mission, and I was incredibly awkward. I got progressively better, but I think my awkwardness lasted about two years.
Let's face it, I'm still awkward. But I'm talking about the awkwardness where I think back and cringe.
I was awkward in high school. Then I did my mission. And then I knew that since I had returned, I didn't want to be the same person I was before my mission. So I had three different persons coming together--my old awkward person, my missionary persona, and the person I wanted to be. The results weren't always pretty.
One of the first things I did was join Facebook, which I hadn't done before. I didn't even do the MySpace thing. I cringe at a lot of the things I wrote. Particularly comments on other people's stuff. For example, when someone talked about snow plows, I used it as an opportunity to explain all about how in Washington and Idaho they don't plow the roads very well and it just packs down. No one cares, buddy. When someone asked how my mission was, I had to go in depth on all five of my areas and how great it was. My Christmas-day status is typical of how I always had a mission story to tell:
One of my first weeks there, our ward did a dance party. I spent most of the party standing against the wall, even when I was painfully conspicuous. Then I had to leave early because I had to be in bed by 10:30 (on a Friday night). In all my classes, I was always making comments about things on my mission.
I was trying to find a job in Provo, but the job market was really tough in 2010. As a last resort, I applied at the MTC, since nothing else had worked out. I prepared a lesson for my interview, and then I went. It was an awful experience. I could tell that the interviewers could tell I knew what missionaries were supposed to do but I wasn't a great teacher. I didn't have a teacher personality. I went back to my apartment just feeling embarrassed about it. My roommate was in the apartment and could tell I wasn't happy; he might have asked me about the interview. I told him how awful it went, and in my frustration I blurted out "because I'm just an awkward person." He said, "Now Mark, you know that's not true," and I responded, "And you know it is true." He responded, "Everyone's awkward when they get home from their mission." I thought to myself that I was more awkward than most. Which was probably true.
My roommates the Jeffs were great roommates to help me adjust. They didn't judge me. My room roommate, James, may have been the worst roommate I ever had, but the Jeffs, and later Alex, were wonderful.
I could go on, but I just wanted to get some of these thoughts down.
However, in fairness, this was probably a little too harsh on my post-mission self, because, like Jeff said, everyone's awkward when they get home. I also made some great decisions and overcame my former awkwardness in many ways. It was during this awkward time that I took up running, which started simply as a means of exercise but has morphed into an activity that brings me great satisfaction. I tried to dress better. I wasn't successful, but I tried. I also began to listen to popular music, having previously subscribed to the old-person theory that old music is inherently better than new music. (It's not.) And that first semester, I was more diligent in my studies than I was in any other semester of college (and probably high school, for that matter). I took some tough classes, and I don't think I could have handled it if I didn't have the work ethic I had then.
I've moved on with my life now, but I still think about my mission. Why, just last night I had a dream that my mission had been extended, and my extension was ending, and on one of my last nights I was visiting a tiny town that was mostly Italians. One of my recurring dreams is tracting without a companion or without proper proselyting clothing. (My other recurring dream is about Lady Gaga at church.)
And although I was awkward after I got back, I think a mission was the best thing I ever did. If I hadn't--well, I just tried to imagine it, and it wouldn't have been pretty.
Let's face it, I'm still awkward. But I'm talking about the awkwardness where I think back and cringe.
I was awkward in high school. Then I did my mission. And then I knew that since I had returned, I didn't want to be the same person I was before my mission. So I had three different persons coming together--my old awkward person, my missionary persona, and the person I wanted to be. The results weren't always pretty.
One of the first things I did was join Facebook, which I hadn't done before. I didn't even do the MySpace thing. I cringe at a lot of the things I wrote. Particularly comments on other people's stuff. For example, when someone talked about snow plows, I used it as an opportunity to explain all about how in Washington and Idaho they don't plow the roads very well and it just packs down. No one cares, buddy. When someone asked how my mission was, I had to go in depth on all five of my areas and how great it was. My Christmas-day status is typical of how I always had a mission story to tell:
Ah, to think that last year at this time I was snowed in at a member's house in the middle of a wheatfield just outside of Edwall, WA! Merry Christmas everyone!Then just four weeks after I got home, I started at BYU. I had never done college before, so this was a new adjustment for me. It wasn't as much an adjustment as I might have expected, since I had already experienced being on my own and living with other people. But I remember my first FHE in Provo, explaining how I had just got home. Someone decided to have us go around and say a guilty pleasure (like silly websites or something). Mine was listening to Cherie Call. Honestly I don't think I had any guilty pleasures at that time. (Today I would probably say listening to Lady Gaga.) Then we played two truths and a lie. Of course, I had to use "I lost sixty pounds on my mission." It would have been better if I said "I once weighed 250 pounds." Someone else said they had built lots of Lego Star Wars sets, and one girl was quite confident that I was the one who put that--even though I wasn't. Then we had an activity where we were supposed to say something like a great challenge or a great accomplishment we did--I had to say my mission.
One of my first weeks there, our ward did a dance party. I spent most of the party standing against the wall, even when I was painfully conspicuous. Then I had to leave early because I had to be in bed by 10:30 (on a Friday night). In all my classes, I was always making comments about things on my mission.
I was trying to find a job in Provo, but the job market was really tough in 2010. As a last resort, I applied at the MTC, since nothing else had worked out. I prepared a lesson for my interview, and then I went. It was an awful experience. I could tell that the interviewers could tell I knew what missionaries were supposed to do but I wasn't a great teacher. I didn't have a teacher personality. I went back to my apartment just feeling embarrassed about it. My roommate was in the apartment and could tell I wasn't happy; he might have asked me about the interview. I told him how awful it went, and in my frustration I blurted out "because I'm just an awkward person." He said, "Now Mark, you know that's not true," and I responded, "And you know it is true." He responded, "Everyone's awkward when they get home from their mission." I thought to myself that I was more awkward than most. Which was probably true.
My roommates the Jeffs were great roommates to help me adjust. They didn't judge me. My room roommate, James, may have been the worst roommate I ever had, but the Jeffs, and later Alex, were wonderful.
I could go on, but I just wanted to get some of these thoughts down.
However, in fairness, this was probably a little too harsh on my post-mission self, because, like Jeff said, everyone's awkward when they get home. I also made some great decisions and overcame my former awkwardness in many ways. It was during this awkward time that I took up running, which started simply as a means of exercise but has morphed into an activity that brings me great satisfaction. I tried to dress better. I wasn't successful, but I tried. I also began to listen to popular music, having previously subscribed to the old-person theory that old music is inherently better than new music. (It's not.) And that first semester, I was more diligent in my studies than I was in any other semester of college (and probably high school, for that matter). I took some tough classes, and I don't think I could have handled it if I didn't have the work ethic I had then.
I've moved on with my life now, but I still think about my mission. Why, just last night I had a dream that my mission had been extended, and my extension was ending, and on one of my last nights I was visiting a tiny town that was mostly Italians. One of my recurring dreams is tracting without a companion or without proper proselyting clothing. (My other recurring dream is about Lady Gaga at church.)
And although I was awkward after I got back, I think a mission was the best thing I ever did. If I hadn't--well, I just tried to imagine it, and it wouldn't have been pretty.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)