Go Hamal!

                You know Kate has been studying Spanish a lot when, during the BYU v. Georgia Tech football game, she spontaneously yells, “Go, Hamal!” Kate has been working pretty intensively on lesson prep and scripture study.  One evening, I wandered into the kitchen where she was doing some cooking.  I snapped the following, un-posed photo:

                You know you’re not in Provo anymore when you show up to perform a musical number (guitar and harmonica, Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief) at the Stake Relief Society meeting to celebrate… something… RS Birthday? Pioneer Day?. . . and find a RS choir decked out like this?

 

If you’d been the choir, you wouldn’t have worried much about looking funny in front of all the women of the entire stake, because this is the entire audience:

 

                You know you’re not in the Grandview !0^th Ward High Priest Group when, with no particular fanfare,  you hear (as I did today) a story like this from one of the regular group members:  “My work requires me to drive all over the city on a motorcycle.  It can be pretty dangerous out there.  I ALWAYS leave my helmet on, but last week, stopped at a red light, I felt like taking it off for a minute to cool down.  Two guys pulled up behind me on motorcycles.  I glanced back and saw they were armed.  Not good news.  Then I heard one say to the other, ‘That’s not him.’  The second guy said, ‘You sure?’  ‘Yes,’ responded the first, ‘that’s not him.’  And off they went.  I think I would have been shot if I hadn’t removed my helmet so they could see what I look like.”  OK, my job suddenly doesn’t seem so stressful anymore.

                You know the bishopric works fast when this happens:  I decided I could use a team teacher in Sunday School, and I know my friend and fellow senior missionary, Wayne Wilcox, dentist from Downey, had a calling which rarely required him to do anything.  After Sacrament Meeting today, I privately suggested to a counselor in the bishopric that Wayne be considered as my team teacher.  He said he liked the idea and the bishopric would consider it.  I went off to teach my class (at least in Guatemala they have the order of meetings right), and when I came in for Priesthood Meeting, the counselor pulled me aside and said they had approved it.  During priesthood meeting, the pulled Wayne out, I assume to issue the calling.  Now THAT is moving fast!  (Hey, Sara, want to send a certain bishop’s counselor down here for a lesson or two?)