So I haven't put a blog up FOR-EH-VER~! Holy cow! So this one is for sure going to be a BIG, FAT, JUICY one!
Let' s see here! Lots-n-lots of things have been going on these days! Where to start?
Summer has started! Get out your brots and grills cause it's summer time!
Anyone up for a swim?
This week we have 3 of our energetic nieces over to hangout with Grandma and Grandpa! So we are having all kinds of fun! Arts and crafts, movies and popcorn, & cooking with grandma! Busy, busy, busy! Yesterday we went swimming in Grandpa's pool... aka the pond out back! Grandma, Grandpa, Tristan and I were out for TWO whole hours! Around high noonish! I am TOASTED! Even my eyelids are burnt! Yikes! But hey, it was wicked fun and I got to wear my new bathing-suit!
This is me after 3 days filled with coloring, (even delving into my own personal collection.) listening Emily's made up songs for an hour, swimming aka Throwing my nieces over and over into the water, swimming to the center of the lake and back, oh and how could I forget playing Mermaids!
How is it that I don't look sunburnt in this picture? I totally look like a lobster in real life! NO JOKE!
Service.... BAhumbug!
So you may be asking! Why do I have a picture of some Sister missionary randomly in the middle of my blog about summer. Well If you look closely you will come to realize that this is no regular "sister" missionary... this here is an Hermana! Not just any Hermana either! This is Hermana Cammack from the Barcelona, Spain mission! woot woot! She was my wonderful companion and this was the very beginning of our summer. Hot? Yes. Humid? That too. Lots of random things happening to us? All the time.
but I want to take the opportunity to share one special experience that has been engraved upon both our memories FOREVER!
It all started with deciding to serve missions. We got a bug! The bug lead us to want to serve as many people as we could or die trying. So there we found ourselves giving up our lives and some morning study time to go and teach a woman that otherwise would not be able to visit with us. Well, the area we worked in was on the other side of the city from where we lived. So we started the 30 minute walk out to her house. Upon arriving to the Gypsy ghetto, we were greeted by a few men shouting "Guapa"(hott stuff) as loud as they could. Very common over there... and for some reason they these random cat-calls seemed to be directed at us with more vigor than usual. I always found it funny because we just looked like little american Nuns. :D
Anyhow, we are nearing her home and the smell of turkish kebab is getting stronger and the women seem to be wearing more "gold" jewelry and sweats, with bigger ratted hair the deeper we get into this area that we weren't aloud to visit after nightfall.
Then it happened we turned down an alley and fixed in our view this small, absurdly dark, shriveled woman basking in the harsh early morning sun!
"She dropped her lap blanket," we both thought.
Without saying a word we hurried over to help! duhn-duh-nuh-nah! We picked up the blanket and placed in on the non-responsive -had-to-have-been-at-least-98 year old woman. Then the valiant Hermana Cammack noticed that this old woman's bootie covered foot had fallen off the foot-thing of her wheelchair. She quickly remounts it to its proper place and then we were on our way again. I was quite happy that we had had an opportunity to help this poor unfortunate soul. (little mermaid reference anyone) when I realize my companion had stopped and was holding her hand as if she had leprosy. I looked closer and she did have leprosy! okay so it was just this nasty, yellow discharge from the lady's old, crusty leg!!!! You should have seen this thing it was nasty! I saw the yellow goo oozing to the surface of the crusted leg skin but had no idea that it had somehow transplanted itself on my companion's hand.
So there we were... we had no water. And to just do a "wipe-off" on the side of some building would do no good. Our cita ( appointment) fallared(fell through) on us. Yes indeed, this was a situation we found our selves in. Luckily for us there lived a recent convert 5 minutes away!
My poor companion raved that by then she would have already conduced all three types of herpes, cancer and mad cow from this nasty puss!
"You try and do one nice thing for someone else... a poor defenseless old gypsy and look what happens! I get aids from a mysterious, yellow puss!"
It was so funny. You have to know Hermana Cammack! She said something along those lines.
"Service! HA! I swear I'm never gonna do that again! Stick my hand out to care and tah-duh magic, yellow love juice all over my hand. That'll be the day when service gets the best out of old Katie Cammack," "Never AGAIN!"
Anyway just threw that in for old times sake. She obviously didn't mean everything because she is a companion that really taught me about service.
I would fall asleep reading the handbook at night before prayer or while I was saying the prayer at night. Seriously I was so tuckered out and She would always tuck me in and get me to bed. one night she put me into my pj's and brushed my teeth and brought me a cup to spit in! Insisting that I not get up! I love that girl! She taught me how to receive service. I miss my little Cammackcita!
Toju(from Nigeria) and Hermana Katie Cammack
