It is hot here. It can be very hot here, but it is hot in a different way. That wasn't much of a shocker, but was shocking was the difference between the sun beating down on my forehead, and the all pervasive mist of heat. The other night, I had an experience like the one Dad had in Texas. We went into the library to do some mormon.org stuff, and when we walked out at about 8:45 it was like a blanket of heat hit us. I looked at the street lights, and the light was shinning through the water droplets in the air. When we got into the car, it said it was 101. It was Crazy.
Right now it is tornado season, and I swear we almost had our first tornado this past week. That morning we had been talking in District meeting about tornadoes, and that evening as we were going into a lesson, I could feel the kind of eerie, excited feeling that I get before storms. Everything just felt heavy, and still, and the clouds were thick and tinted with green. A young woman that was with us said, "the trees are still- that means something is about to happen. We are in for a rough night." It was beautifully crazy! Being here in Alabama is going to help me SO much when I am trying to describe scenes and weather in my writing... not that a mission is for that, but it is still awesome.
But, the even more beautiful thing was what happened in the lesson. We were supposed to be teaching a less active, and we walked as she was eating dinner with a brother who had disappeared for 17 years, his wife and her sister. I'm not entirely sure about everything that happened with her brother while he was away, but he served some time in prison, had his kids taken away by the State and spent the last three months living on the streets. This less active also lives in incredibly humble circumstances, but she at least has a roof over her head. It was one of the most beautiful and joyous reunions I have ever witnessed- it was a true Prodigal son story. To make the story even more beautiful, the Lord allowed Sister Jackson and I to walk in. In a room no bigger than Dad's office, reeking of cats, cigarettes and beer, with four people who have no money and no means of support outside of each other, Sister Jackson and I were blessed to do as all missionaries do in every circumstance- we bore testimony of the restored gospel and of the hope we can receive through Jesus Christ. We gave each of them a copy of the Book of Mormon, and then read the story of Enos. They took them with incredible reverence and we had an incredibly spiritual experience as we read. It was amazing! The Spirit was SO strong, I could almost feel it. Once again, I have no idea what will end up happening with them (this area tends to lose people... everyone is so poor- very few people have phones or cars and they just disappear), but I am SO incredibly grateful that for at least that one night we had the opportunity to give them the light of the restored gospel.
And in other news- Guess what?!!?!?!? I finally got my bike!! :) My bike decided to take a trip without me to Athens, Alabama before coming to rest here in Vestavia Hills. So, we were super excited when it showed up. I have a picture that I'm sending of me and my bike in the car. It was quite interesting getting the bike into the car...as you can probably tell by the picture. We have a car, which is amazing, but because we have to be careful of the miles, we are hopefully going to start biking more often.
Oh! I had the startling realization the other day. I am a nerd. I'm not homesick, things are fine here, but the one thing I really miss right now is school. I want to go back to BYU and jump back into the books and learning about English and the papers and studying all night and stretching out in the sun to a good book. :) Yeah... That will have to wait. But I do miss school and I hope Allison enjoys it. Also, one thing I forgot to mention- tell her to watch the mormon.org movie about Lyndsey. It is really quite an inspiring story, but it is actually rather common at BYU. Not in the specifics, but at BYU it is rather easy to lose your identity. Because EVERYONE plays the piano, EVERYONE is pretty, EVERYONE reads, EVERYONE sings, EVERYONE has a 4.0, EVERYONE did EVERY sport in High School, EVERYONE runs, ect. :) Sometimes it really does feel like everyone is the same and most people have a really hard time, because the individual identity that they built up while they were high school, is suddenly the exact same identity that everyone else has. So, I don't know what she would do with that... but it is important to remember that she is an individual and she is different and unique in her own special way... even if she can't for the life of her figure out how. Maybe she won't have as difficult of a time because she lived in Germany (very few people do that...), but it is a good thing to watch for.
Yep!!! I get a new mission President!!!!! :D I am SUPER excited for President Hanks. He is the son of Marion D. Hanks- who was mission President to Elder Holland and I think Elder Cook... I know the son will probably be incredibly different, but being raised in a Mission home with a father like that... Yeah. I'm excited. I loved President Holzapfel- he was INCREDIBLE. But I am super excited to finally meet the Mission President of my Mission. I think the Lord has great things in store for Alabama, and I can't wait to see how President Hanks works with us.
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