Chicago Letter #9

Just the other day, I was playing the movie Princess Bride in my mind (not really, but saying so adds to the character of my story). Westley is parading courageously (pridefully, if you ask me) through the fireswamp, and sweet, helpless Buttercup says "What about ROUSs???" To which, Westley replies " Rodents of unusual size? I don't believe they exist."

Well, sweet Westley, Hermana Hoer has news for you. Go to Chicago! They're real! They're big. They're gross. They creap around our alley at night and in the yard during a lesson...As the sun goes down, the ROUSs emerge to wreak havok on the innocent missionaries!

Seriously. There are some ridiculously large, nasty rats around this city.

Headlines:

"Villains are teaming up and on a RAMPAGE!"

We were leaving an appointment last night. It was just before 9pm. It was hot. Muggy. HumidHeat was out terrorizing the city. HumidHeat invited FerociousFriz to drive me crazy. (There is some photo documentation which I may or may not release to the Blog press. We'll have to see about that). FerociousFriz is still on the loose, but SuperBike doesn't have anything to fight that. The helmet is my friend for protection, but not a friend for those who look at my hair...

Anyways...it's 9, and we're headed for home. It's still a little light - the sun is just going down. We get to an intersection. In literally no more than a minute, the strongest wind picks up and the water begins to dump from the sky. The rain is nearly horizontal, with large amounts of water being swirled across the intersection like a river. I've seen some weird, crazy weather in Chicago. However, this was unquestionably the worst yet. I couldn't ride my bike. The wind nearly knocked me off several times. We took shelter under some construction scaffolding. SuperBike was knocked over by WickedWind, and took a good beating. It messed up the brakes and disconnected the chain. The wind was that crazy! It was monsoon-style!

However, the locals say: if you don't like the weather in Chicago - wait five minues. We waited 15, but then we were able to get home safely. A bit wet. But, as we went home, it was hot again. The image in the mirror was hilarious. The helmet kept the top half of my hair in check. However...the bottom half had become a fro. It was so funny.

Stats for the week:

- # of times people changed sides of the street (while walking) to avoid us: 5 that I counted
- Puerto Rican flags on streets, cars, homes, etc: thousands this week
- Crazy woman dancing, waving flag, who wouldn't let go of my hand when I shook hers: 1, but that was more than enough.

Not a ton of statistics this week. We'll try to get SuperBike back to normal and see what happens this coming week.

We had Zone Conference this week. For those who don't know about it, you're asked to prepare a talk (everyone is) and about five or so people are asked on the spot to speak. Hermana Hoer was one of the five. But it was great! We talked about small and simple things, from Alma 37:6-7. I thought a lot about what are the small and simple things for me personally. Willingness, dilligence, attitude, obedience. Those are not easy to develop though. So, how are they small and simple things? Well, let me tell you what I think. (If you don't want to know what I think, this is where I suggest you stop reading).

Each and every day we have small and simple opportunities, small and simple decisions. It is in each of those small and simple moments that we have the choice to be obedient, happy, committed, etc. Each of those small decisions builds us, develops us. In each of those simple ways, God molds us. As we apply those small and simple things in the small and simple moments of life, they become large, intricately woven parts of who we are. They work together to create a better version of ourselves. But that doesn't happen overnight. It happens through each and every small and simple decision that we face every moment.

As we give the deserved importance to those small, simple moments in life each day, we are allowing Heavenly Father to shape us into what He knows we can become.