Having served a two-year mission myself, I know that there are days and weeks of service that are far from perfect. There are frustrations and disappointments. The trick is how those days are handled and what you learn from them. If learned well, those are lessons that will serve you well the rest of your life. TMFKATB is going learning those lessons right now.
His letter this week reflected the challenges a twenty year old has when things aren't turning out exactly as you'd hoped. One of the things he's loved about his service is the chance to teach and in the last couple of weeks, those teaching chances have been few and far between. In the regimented (and rightfully so) world of a Mormon missionary, your options for working through those frustrations are limited, so you have to get creative in how you deal with them. So TMFKATB wrote that he we focusing on changing his mindset, with this quote in mind:
As I read and reread his letter, as a father and as one who has been in his shoes (albeit 30 years ago now), I tried to read between the lines to make sure I wasn't missing anything or if there was some magic bullet I could share with him. I realized he's learning these lessons for himself and when he can challenge himself to focus on being his own agent of change, I could breathe a little easier.
It didn't hurt that he also shared how a recent meal of higado (liver) drilled right through him faster than the #8 Combo Meal at Taco Hell Bell. You know that all is right in the world. That's my boy.
If we were playing a game of "Three Lies and A Truth" and it was my turn, which of the four responses above would you choose as the truth? Stymied? Let me help you out.
The Zombie one is somewhat believable, as I've posted one of my high school senior portraits as proof of my latent puberty, Zombie-esque mien. The Werewolf one is somewhat believable too, especially if you've seen me after a day without shaving or even worse, sans a shirt. The Male War Bride is out of the question. I was too young to go to Vietnam and the only war being fought in my teenage years was Nancy Reagan's uber-successful war on drugs. Ladies and gentlemen, just say no.
And speaking of Mrs. Reagan, that leaves us with the Teenage Republican option, and if you chose that one, you chose wisely. In fact, in high school, I was a card-carrying member of the Maricopa County sect branch of the Teenage Republicans. So committed to the cause was I that I served as Treasurer (as I recall) of said organization. I was always interested in current events and politics as a youth, but I was even more interested in girls. What girl wouldn't want to date a dork kid interested in politics? By my count and experience in high school, none of them. Except for one girl, who was with her sister very active in the TAR organization. Suddenly, I was politically active. Here's what I learned: our club was affiliated with the College Republicans chapter at our nation's most respected and academically challenging university, ASU, and their sole purpose was to date the high school girls since they were not exactly BMOC material. I also got to see a little of the train wreck machinations of the state political machine and my disillusionment with the GOP, and political parties in general, was underway. It didn't help that a few years later my home state would elect an off-kilter slightly racist auto dealer as a governor and that I watched my fellow students at BYU lose their collective minds when a woman had the testicular fortitude to run for student body president. Did I mention that was in 1989? Not 1889. So is it any wonder I am where I am politically today? To my Mittite friends, I promise it does not make me the Anti-Christ.
I suppose it could have all turned out a little differently. Perhaps if there had been a more effective way to discuss all things political back in 1982, I'd have a different perspective on things? In 1982, the Internet wasn't a thing. Cable TV really wasn't much more than HBO and something creepy called ONTV. There was no public access cable to speak of, but that was soon to come. Without it, we'd never have met Wayne and Garth and been reminded of the glory of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." But today, thanks to the interwebs, there is no end to the options for a teenager or any maniac (I give you the flotsam that is the Kardashians) for that matter with an opinion, valid or otherwise. There's a lot of junk when it comes to the never-ending discussion of politics and current events, but I've stumbled onto a political discussion show that gives me hope. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Unnamed Political Podcast.
(Full Disclosure - I know one of the co-hosts, Clark, and his family well. Clark didn't tell me about this. I found out about his efforts through some other friends.)
These are two high school kids who actually know what they are talking about, especially if you lean uber-conversative (note the Bill O'Reilly - it just pains me to type that - book over the shoulder of one of the co-hosts). These guys have done their homework. They're savvy, placing themselves on the YouTube and the Instagrams. They are pumping this stuff out on a regular basis and it's pretty great. By and large, I don't agree with 95% of what they say but I can't get enough of this. For my conservative friends, you'll think you've died and gone to heaven. I'm telling you, these two could replace Joe and Mika on Morning Trump Joe tomorrow, but I think Fox News would be a little more welcoming environment. Also, I think after you've watched the clip included above, you'll agree with me that the "Chairman Mao" kid needs his own segment on every show. Seriously, these guys should make the leap!
It's so refreshing to see this level of engagement in politics, current and world events from a couple of high schoolers. Like I said earlier, it gives me a little hope for what lies ahead. Given how different their version of public access is from the aforementioned Wayne and Garth, I don't think we'll see the boys of the Unnamed Political Podcast doing this anytime soon:
An effective reminder that it's colder for him in the Zion Curtain than here in the 'Stan
TMFKATB has been really good about his weekly letters being sent at the same time every week. It's rare that he deviates and when he does, it's weird and it seems to send our schedules into disarray. Today's letter was one of those that arrived quite a bit later than normal. Fortunately, the reason for his tardiness was simple (in his own words, 'lazy') and not concerning, like being hospitalized when he was in Mexico.
Not only was his letter a little later than normal, it was pretty brief. He'd had a busy week and saw blessings come into the lives of some of the people they've been working with, so that made a busy week even better. There's some buzz in his mission about a worldwide meeting for all missionaries on the 20th of this month as everyone is trying to figure what it might be about.
He's managing the cold and snow. Funny that our climates have switched completely. We have yet to experience any real snow to speak of and he's seen more in the last month than he'd like to see in a year's time. Through it all, though, he's got a positive attitude, still happy to be learning and growing. It's a good perspective to have as the new year dawns.
So we are three days into the new year - 2016 - and I am already exhausted. Quite simply the last three weeks of non-stop activity (there was that little matter of the Oranges of Wrath tour) came to roost this morning at 330AM when the alarm went off. On purpose. Someone in the Den needs to stop, and I mean stop right now, opting for first flights out of any city. Given that said someone is me, it's time to listen to myself. Perhaps that will be my one and only resolution this year...
Three weeks of not sleeping in your own bed, moving through multiple time zones, and hotels that only seem to offer Satanic feather pillows that offer as much as support as the Duggars have birth control tend to make a person weary.
That weariness was made plain this morning as we boarded our connecting flight in Atlanta. As the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML made her way into the window seat, her purse brushed the lady in the aisle in front of us. The lady proceeded to flop as if she were playing in the Barclays Premier League. She grabbed her shoulder and writhed as if she had been shot while storming Omaha Beach. Had an attorney been present, I'm quite certain she would have filed suit right then and there. It was ridiculous. Had I been a little less exhausted, I might have asked, nicely, if there was a problem. Instead I wanted to react poorly. I was stopped by my more level-headed companion of twenty-seven years. She reminded me that I was tired and to let it go. For the most part, I did. Let's just say, though, I wouldn't have felt bad had an errant bag from the overhead compartment bonked her on the noggin when we landed. Like I said, exhaustion does funny things to a person.
When we finally landed back in the 'Stan, it felt like we'd just won the Exhaustion Games. I ran the figures in my head as we taxied to the gate. 18 days of travel. 13 states. 3,365 miles of super fun cross-country driving. 3,800 miles of flying. Countless amounts of Coke Zero consumed. One spectacularly good burger demolished in St. Petersburg.
I'm going to use that burger (the Rasta Monsta, if you were interested) as an omen for 2016. If this year is even half as good as that burger was, it's going to be a great year. For right now though, I'll focus on getting some sleep. Quick nap, some dinner with whatever we can pull together in the house, and then a full night's sleep.
It's back to work tomorrow. Let the great 2016 begin.
