Called to Serve....Sloppy Joes Anyone?

Why is it that some meals take so long to fix and then turn out mediocre? 

Case in point:  Sloppy Joes, Crazy Broccoli Salad, Watermelon and Lemon Sheet Cake.  All I can say is that it took the better part of the evening last night and the entire day today.  I don't know why....maybe I am just very slow.

Part of the problem is that I was preparing for 40, and that is a lot of broccoli and onions to wash and chop.  Also a part of the problem this evening is that only about 20 ate.  And the lemon cake was only warmly received....probably because it looked more like a cinnamon cake.

I know what you're thinking:  "How on earth do you get a lemon cake that looks like a cinnamon cake?"

We don't have Mexican vanilla here....we have an odd weak little substitute.  Most serious cooks just use real vanilla beans.  Casual or amateur cooks like me use the odd weak little substitutes - when they have them.  Otherwise, they use vanilla powder....which is very dark brown.  There you have it....light brown cake, light brown frosting.....which tastes of tart lemon.  It just doesn't work!

When everyone had eaten, we ended up with two bags of buns, a couple of pounds of sloppy joe mixture and about a half gallon of broccoli salad, some of which was sent home with YSAs. 

It was an OK meal....but it could have been better.  Ah well.  Everyone is always so charming about it.

It was a marvelous marvelous evening.  I spent some time when class first started visiting with Sister Hadley and Sister Barrett.  They are the "Center" missionaries, and they are so dear.  They were hoping a young man they have been teaching would come tonight, but he never showed up. 

But they mentioned something really nice.  SK talked to this same young man at length a couple of weeks ago, and just got a fire going in him to read the Book of Mormon.  So the next time we see him, SK and he will have a wonderful conversation about it I am sure.

Phillip, our oh-so-very-kind and patient returned missionary sat in the kitchen with me tonight for at least 45 minutes patiently conversing with me in Danish.  I have never seen anyone like that.  He will be a wonderful young father someday.  I can imagine him teaching his little children and I can imagine they will always remember his gentle patience with them.

It can be so trying to listen to someone stumbling along slowly in another language.  Just listening to others in our Danish class, and hearing myself always makes me wonder how our teachers keep from going berserk all day!

Phillip and I were joined by Elijah and Samuel, and we talked about many things.  It is so good for me, but I feel like such a dunce!  Later in the evening, two very compassionate and kind YW came to me to say good-night and mentioned that they had heard me with Phillip, and wondered if I wanted them to speak Danish to me too.  Isn't that so incredible?

Why hasn't that ever occurred to me to be so very caring with people who are trying to learn English?  I am going to change my ways when I get home.

I didn't realize when we were given this mission call that I would be learning so much from the marvelous individuals we have been called to serve.