Amazin"!

 I made several calls about our poor dead dishwasher this morning.  The first lady was impatient, bordering on the rude.  I finally found the correct person to call.  He answered with a cheery hello.  I love a cheerful Brit!  Even their language is different.  He asked me several questions about the said appliance, and when I gave a proper answer, he enthused "Brilliant!"  I think it is a figure of speech for most people, little thought of, but nevertheless, I felt brilliant.

When we finished our conversation, he cheerily closed with "Cheers!"  And I felt cheered on my way.

I love the figures of speech here.  When we used to go shopping in person at a small grocery store nearby, there was a middle-aged checker there who called us Darling, with a British accent.  The first syllable is pronounced down low and then the voice rises much higher with the second syllable.  I know she calls everyone that, but I like it.  She is plump and pleasant and doesn't hurry us along....just calls us "Darling."  And I feel valued.

Elder Akuoku, a brilliant and darling missionary, who is a most cheerful, energetic and enthusiastic leader and who made us all stretch to do better, loved to use the word "amazin'."  To him, everything and everyone was amazin', and he was unfailingly optimistic about the future.  He always told us that we are amazin'.....and I felt amazing.....at the very least loved.

I think there is a valuable lesson for me there.

I spoke with two of my dearest and most cherished friends today.  I miss them and have been so grateful for that time.  Facetime is a wonderful thing.  When SK and I lived in Chicago, I would get so homesick for my parents and siblings.  The first several months, we would go in search of a pay telephone, which we fed all the coins we had.  Later when we had the luxury of a telephone in our apartment, we would call from the safety and security of our own place.  But there was always that feeling of rushing to get everything said, and to listen to all the news in five minutes or less, because every tick of the clock tallied a higher cost.

Both my father and SK's father fretted as we talked, and for good reason.  It was wildly expensive to call long distance.  Today, there are so many ways to communicate.  Facetime is absolutely free.  You look at each other while you talk and listen, and quality is nearly always excellent.  It is a blessing.

We attended Family Home Evening - along with about a dozen young adults.  We played balderdash.  They all seemed to have a great time.  We enjoy being a part of those things.  After that we had a zone call, which lasted a half hour.  

It's been Amazin'!