Halfway Through

As nearly as I have figured it, today is what (in the vernacular of missionaries) we affectionately and sadly call "hump day."  I guess the idea is that we have been climbing up to the day when we are halfway through and now we are on the downward slide.

I have to say these past 11 1/2 months have gone soooo fast.  And everyone tells me the second half will be even faster.  I am already mourning about leaving this place and these wonderful young people behind.

We went to the center today around 10:30 and stayed until 11 p.m.  That was a very loooong day.  No one came in until after 3, so I got a lot of reading done.  I am not sure how often we will be doing that, but the hope is that it will be open from 10 to 10 every weekday.  If that is the case, I will be transporting more things over to the center to do....everything but ironing!

We'll also have to get more organized with our off time, so that everything gets done.

I talked with a young woman tonight who is studying at the university.  She is taking chemistry and physics.  I loved to listen to her express her faith.  She is not the least bit concerned if they are taught things that might not harmonize with the Gospel.  The bottom line for her:  Either science doesn't yet have it quite right or she doesn't understand the Gospel well enough....and neither is cause for concern.  She will work it out.  Henry Eyring is one of her heroes.

It is that kind of faith that inspires me about these young people.

We walked home across the large city square which was mostly deserted except for a few stragglers, the neon billboards playing to an audience of no one, past Tivoli with lights glowing and sleepy cabdrivers waiting for late-night fares, down the cobblestone streets to our apartment.

Has it really been almost a year since we first came down these streets to this lovely place?