Home Again, Home Again

Well, the dream from my last post sorta came true. I went to class yesterday but between coughing fits and a variably hoarse, squeaky or silent voice, I was alternately grossing my classmates out and perplexing them with the noises I made in attempts to speak. So I basically got sent home, where I still am today, doing independent study in Spanish. ¿Qué tal?

I flipped open the Conference edition of the Ensign last night and read a talk by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. I think it was one Neil used for Home Teaching, because it was marked up with pencil. The one paragraph he didn't mark was about learning to laugh at things. Like, in Elder Wirthlin's example, when they got lost driving. I felt a little guilty, because Neil is so forgiving -- the way I behave while in the car, you'd think he would have circled that section in red and posted it on the bathroom mirror for me. I do need to learn to laugh more at things and not "flip out" when we get lost (a pet peeve of mine -- between Google Maps on my phone and, well, Google Maps, there is no excuse for getting lost these days!). Also our inevitable tardiness, usually to Church, makes me get irritated easily when we're in the car. Or rather, I choose to react by getting irritated, right?

So I would like to make a more concerted effort to see the bright side of things. Like last night after I read the article, when we burned the garbanzo beans. Oh, that was hilarious! :) I guess that's what happens when an unskilled cook and a raw foodist collaborate in the kitchen. Instead, we should STOP, collaborate and listen ...

This morning, I was mentioning this goal to Neil, and he said he read about that in the Ensign. I said I know, I think I opened it to the article you used for Home Teaching. I mentioned how Elder Wirthlin talked about when he used to play football, and I noted how funny it is he uses those examples, because it's hard to picture him playing football.

How ironic, then, that later this morning I heard the news that Elder Wirthlin died.

I'm glad he was able to share that message of laughing together for me to apply to my life.

Looking on the bright side, without the constraints of an aged physical body, it's easier for me to imagine him playing football now.