It's Later Than I Thought

It would appear that we are back to the gray days....even though we had daylight today, it looked as though the sun never quite made it up.  It has drizzled most of the day, so I took the Mary Poppins umbrella with us to Danish class.  I never opened it, but since we left for the center, there has been a constant downpour.  

I am sitting in the center now....it is about 9:30 p.m. and our activity night is going strong.  It began at 7 but people are still arriving.  It looks like we have about 25 here, some whom I haven't seen before.  Several returned missionaries from farther out of town...as much as a 2 hour trip.

The sounds of voices talking, laughing, roaring (they are playing crud...and yes...they really do roar) is resounding through the center, and it is a happy happy noise.  So much excitement....they really enjoy being together.  Besides the CRUD game there is a game of Phase 10, something called Backpack, and several other board games that look like a lot of fun.  Every one of the games is quite noisy.  As with every other Friday night activity that we have had, I am struck with how much fun these guys have and they don't need alcohol, drugs, obscene music or anything else that the world relies on.

Another game that I saw for the first time tonight was group ping pong.  We had up to about 12 people circling the ping pong table.  Each had a paddle.  As they moved, one by one they took a swipe at the ball, and the action went back and forth to a new person each time until someone missed.  So everyone was hitting the ball on each side of the table as they neared the ends of the table.  When someone missed, they were out.  So a round went very quickly, but as the numbers got down to 5, 4 and three, the players had to move very fast to get to the end to play.  It was a great game.

The Telfords told us many times that this is the best mission in the Church.  I know that is true.  At first glance, you may think it is because we live in a beautiful apartment overlooking a lake, or you may think that it is because we are serving in one of the most charming cities in the world, or possibly you might think that working with the young single adults has to be a great joy, or perhaps you think that it is because we get to associate with so many other wonderful missionaries.  

And you would be right on all counts.  I can't begin to describe what it is like to meet with these young people regularly and to get to know them.  I love them.  I am in awe of them.  They each have challenges to overcome and get discouraged with life from time to time, but they have an inner strength and faith that is so compelling.

With the addition of newly returned missionaries, the strength of the program is increasing and I can feel the enthusiasm here.  We have most of our new committees organized which means that we have 43 individuals serving here in one capacity or another.  The missionary spirit is strong here too.  This evening, the sister missionaries were here for a couple of hours with a marvelous young man who is taking the lessons.  They had to leave...mission rules, but he has stayed and fits in like he has been coming here for years!

I had a nice conversation with our investigator tonight.  He is searching for a solid base of faith, for a career and for a place to feel like he belongs.  I think he felt good being here tonight.  He seems like a very good young man

So the fun thing is that when we get a new location for our center, if it is very small, we may have to start looking for a larger one!  We are praying that we can stay here for as long as possible.  For now, we have it through the end of March...and it could extend to as long as the end of May if no one rents this set of rooms, and if nothing is found for us to move into.

It is now 2:45 and time to crawl under that marvelous down comforter.  I think we had at least 30 YSAs there tonight.  I would say it was a very successful activity.  The YSAs have another activity at a member's home tomorrow night (we will not be there), a broadcast at the center Sunday evening (we will be there), FHE Monday evening, classes at the center on Wednesday evening and Institute on Thursday evening.  And for those who can go, there is a weekend activity for YSAs from all over Scandinavia in Gotteborg Sweden, covering Friday night, Saturday and Sunday.

I hope they have more energy than I have....they are going to need it!