Greetings from the South! Not exactly the Deep South, but the South, nonetheless. I'm more aware of it everyday, particularly from the new phrasology (sp?) I'm trying to acquire. One new phrase that everyone uses here: "fixin' to." It's approximately the equivalent of "about to begin," but so much more colorful. "I was just fixin' to leave." "I'm fixin' to make dinner." "You're fixin' to get yourself in trouble." You get the idea. Think of your own best uses for it and send them my way. A lady in my ward also taught me a good one. I think I was slighly aware of it, but now I've heard it from a true Southern lady. She says that when she asks her grandkids for a peck on the cheek, she always says, "Give me some sugar!" Put that in a Charlie Brown dancing song and give it a whirl. Ah, euphemisms! This one I like, though. My grandkids better prepare themselves now to "give me some sugar."
But the best Southern vocabulary experience this week came when we met with Charles Marshall, Sr., esquire. We got his name from Church headquarters a few weeks ago because he requested a bible. Actually, his son, Charles Marshall, Jr., requested it, but we only knew it was going to Charles Marshall. In any case, both Jr. and Sr. live on Marshall Lane, a street that leads right up to their house and nothing else, and shouldn't technically be called a street, since it has no pavement. This place looked like something out of a William Faulkner story. Not "A Rose for Emily," but "Barn Burning," which is basically all about these white share croppers who live in very poor circumstances. This week as we drove up, crickets started flying everywhere, jumping away from the vibrations caused by our tires on the pure, grassy earth. And there was Charles--SR.--just sitting on his broken down porch like he was expecting us. Which he wasn't, but he nonetheless let us talk to him some more about the Restoration of the gospel and even leave a Book of Mormon this time. Although he did mention that his pastor (he attends a Baptist church in Bryan, where he is actually a deacon) sometimes talks about it... And we're not sure if he thinks the Second Coming will be of Christ or the Father, because he kept saying the Father would come to earth and clean it up before He gives it back to the Son. As we left the Book of Mormon with him, these were his exact words: "I can read. I left school at about four or six and never looked back. Just quit at four or six, like a jackrabbit." Yeah. You decipher it, Nancy and Frank. Your guess is as good as mine. But jackrabbit really is a pretty great word. So I'm going to start using it when I can. And that whole story is true, expect the part about him being an esquire. I just like the way his name rolls of my tongue when I say it in a nice, slow, Southern drawl. You try it. You'll like it, too.
In other news, Pai-Shan is growing in her testimony all the time. This week we took her with us to one of our dinner appointments because the family wanted to get to know her, and on the way home she was asking us about everyone having a job in the church, and said,"what's my job?" She's asking for a calling! She doesn't think it's a bother: she thinks it's a blessing. I just love her. We took her to institute that night, too, so she would be comfortable going to a few classes on her own. It was great--all about revelation, and she just soaked it up. She's already in the book of Alma in her reading. She's amazing!
Sister Davis is feeling a little better but mostly the same. No real answers yet. She went to a doctor yesterday who had a very poor bedside manner and belittled her description of her symptoms. Keep her in your prayers that an answer will be found and all will be well.
While she was at her appointment, I went with the Bryan University Sisters. At first we were watching this old church movie about the Three Witnesses. We're talking produced somewhere in the mid 60s or 70s. Oliver Cowdery wasn't bad looking, I may have spied Johnny Whitaker, but overall it was so bad it was good. If you get a chance to watch it, don't deprive yourself of the laughter. I was holding it in, since they were teaching a recent convert, but it was certainly an effort of will. Then I went on campus and tried to contact people. We had the same conversation twice with two girls. They were very skeptical about a living prophet on the earth today, and really weren't very open to learning. I managed to control my tongue and not become a Bible-basher, but it's so hard to look into their faces and see how they are closing their hearts to truth. Blinded by the craftiness of men.
Now to comment on recent events, both tragic and triumphant. First, I'm saddened to hear your news about the Mortensens. It really does take the intrigue out of fiction. When we were at the temple on Thursday, I put Sister Mortensen (sp?) and Aunt Polly on the prayer roll. I only wish I could do more. I would like Sister Mortensen's address, although I don't know how much comfort I can be. Share my condolonces with her if you have the oppportunity. I did see, too, that Patrick Swayze died. I wonder whose more in mourning, Jennifer Grey or Demi Moore? I'm going to guess Jennifer Grey because while her career will enjoy a small blip as the TV stations no doubt have 24-hour "Dirty Dancing" marathons, it will eventually just fade into oblivion. Ouch.
Bigger ouch that the Cougars can't hold on even for a week to their victory, but somehow not surprising. I'm sounding more like Dad every day, but I could just sense that this would not be a big year for the Cougars. And I'm glad to hear the Seminoles next door have a reason to rejoice. That picture of Saylor is the cutest, but I guess that's just because she is. Along with Max, Cameron, Jace, Cade, and most especially Eli "Razor" Sorensen. What a savant! I'm trying to think of a difficult math problem, but you know me, I'm better with words. Have him watch "Matilda." He can at least learn to spell "difficulty" with a neat little ditty (but only if he's not afraid of school in any way). And the answer to the Jonas Brother problem is "naturally." Lastly, congratulations to Mark Tobias for his call to Chile! El va a ser excellente!
Enjoy SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS. Is it at the Playmill? The girl never called me back about the flat tire, so I guess the money was unnecessary. A brown or gray skirt would be great. Shirts that are light fabric, short-sleeved, but would still look good with a cardigan. I'll say Large on shirts to be safe, but I'm not sure about skirts, so use your best judgment. Any scripture case will be fine. You can keep sending things to the College Station address at least for this week, but next week you might send them to the mission office just to be safe. Transfers are coming up, and just in case I go to a different area, it's better to send things there.
Medical stuff quickly: I'm working on getting the prescriptions filled here at Sam's, but it's like playing phone tag with three people, and everyone seems to want to use a fax machine. I'll work it out, no worries. I also might be able to lower the lab work fee, so let me call the office and sort it out. They said if our insurance doesn't cover it or something, they can charge it through their office instead of through the lab and the price is lower. I'll let you know.
Love,
Sister Whitney Mikell Sorensen
P.S. Hello to the Marlows. Keep talking to those goats!
P.P.S. I'll be watching the broadcast this weekend, too. I'll think of you. All of you.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment