He's busy

Missionary planting seeds, literally. The Crocs?
They aren't his. I repeat, they aren't his!

As TMFKATB's time in the mission field grows shorter and shorter (don't get me wrong, it's not like he will be home tomorrow; he's' still got nearly five months to go), he seems to be busier and busier. His letters are a mirror image of that shortness and today's update was no exception.

It was a few highlights of his impressions of the Church's General Conference that occurred this past weekend. He was able to attend one session in person with the rest of his zone, which he really enjoyed. He did point out that he wished he'd paid more attention to Conference sessions when he was younger and that he appreciated how the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML and I had tried to get him to do so (score one for the parents!). I couldn't help but smile as I read that.

The rest of his week was good, based on his brief commentary. He got to "deal" with a couple of missionaries that, in his words, "wanted to kill each other." That's bound to happen when you put a couple of 18, 19 or 20 year old guys together from disparate backgrounds for 24 hours a day and put them into challenging situations. It's not a lock that everything's going to be sunshine and roses. It's experiences like these that he won't be have in a classroom that will serve him well for the rest of his life. There's something to be said for this.

He did share his new favorite food:

Arepas, Venezuelan style.

Me, I like Colombian arepas better. I see a cookoff/smackdown in the offing upon his return. I'm looking forward to it!

Doing a solid

After a solid tennis set today

Getting today's letter from TMFKATB was a major relief, if for nothing else because it relieved me from hour seven of the Broken Tankless Water Heater drama that enveloped our home here in the 'Stan today. More on that later...

The past week was a big one for TMFKATB and his companion. They saw a family that they have been teaching make a significant commitment through the ordinance of baptism and it was, in his words, 'awesome.' Not even a shredded white shirt (accident while helping some people move) a few hours before brought him down that day. He got creative, cutting off the sleeves but still wearing the shirt under his suit coat. His late grandfather did the same thing when he was a waiter / bartender (For reals! For those of you that knew my dad - that's a little known and basically impossible to believe tidbit - he tended bar.) at the Grand Canyon's North Rim. He and his buddies cut the sleeves off their white shirts to stay cool in the summer while wearing their required serving jackets. Genius!

Given that he is serving behind the Zion Curtain, TMFKATB and his companion were able to attend a session of the Church's General Conference this weekend. While disappointed he didn't get a seat in the skyboxes (because there are none), he enjoyed the opportunity to be there surrounded by his Spanish-speaking friends and companions. He's having some experiences that one would not have thought possible safely ensconced along the Zion Curtain. As he put it, it's all solid. He's doing a solid.

Speaking of doing a solid, it's a well-known fact that I am no handyman. I'm not. My idea of being handy around the house is the ability to write a check to the repairman who will do me the solid of fixing junk at my house. I mean I am more comfortable with Nurse Ratched than I am a ratchet set. My attempts at home repair have typically ended badly, usually involving open wounds (my own) and a furry of super-fun cursing. So when I turned on the hot water to shave before showering (yeah, that's how I roll) this morning and all I got was a whole lot of cold, I sensed things were not going to end well. No hot water emerged for my shave and there was nothing but a freezing stream of cold water making its way out of the shower head. So after a quick spit shine, it was time to figure out the problem. Given that we have a tankless water heater that literally has a mother board controlling it, this was not going to be simple. So I determined to just call a plumber / coder. Long story short, when the only plumber qualified to work on our one step away from a robot water heater said he couldn't get to us for a week, it was game on. I was going to figure this out. I am delighted to report that ten hours after the drama began, hot water was restored to the Den. I did not do it on my own. Thanks to some guy who had the misfortune of taking my call on the manufacturer's 800 number, all was once again well in the world. And here's the thing...no open wounds (tools, albeit none were power, were used) and not even a mild curse word. It was a swear word-free affair. Maybe I've turned a corner.

All I know is that I'm going to go jump in the shower now. It better be hot. If it's not, I suspect that the cursing will be a little more than mild.