Boring Mission…NEVER!!!

We have been having some trouble around the institute building with some little vandals.  Kids have been taking rocks from around the parking lot and throwing them at cars as they drive by.  One night they drew swastikas on the side of the building.  We have chased after them a few times, but they always managed to disappear into the thick hedges across the street and from there onto the university grounds.  Saturday night, as we drove by, we noticed a couple of boys sitting around back in the parking lot.  We decided to cut off their escape route.  John got out of the car and circled the building to the east, and I drove into the parking lot from the west.  They didn’t run away this time, so I just got out of the car and asked them very nicely if they knew anything about the kids that had been throwing rocks at cars.  One of the boys answered, very respectfully, that he didn’t know anything about that.  The other one, however, got very agitated.  When John came around from the other direction and asked a similar question, he became extremely angry, started swearing like a marine, and headed for a car across the street.  He came back with a knife.  I high-tailed it for the car and yelled for John to follow, but John didn’t run.  The other boy and someone from the car stepped in to calm him down and no one was hurt.  The more sensible kid talked to us after and apologized for his friend.  He said that he had been having a very difficult week with his girlfriend—an online girlfriend who lives overseas.  What an excuse!   A kid with that much anger could really hurt someone.  Brother Bell and Amy think that we should have called the police.  Perhaps we should have.

University is now back in full swing.  In lieu of ruined classrooms and buildings, there are tents and porta-loos set up in the parking lots.

These are okay for right now, but winter is on its way and these tents will not keep the bitter cold and wind out.  I’m sure they’re working frantically to get the buildings back in shape.

It seems that the university students around here can think of nothing to do for entertainment that doesn’t involve a large consumption of alcohol.  On Fridays and Saturdays the grocery stores are full of young people buying bottles and cases for their weekend parties.  We have a house across the street and one behind us that are full of college students.  Sometimes we watch their antics from our windows when the noise is so loud that we can’t sleep, and we wonder what their parents must think.  I suppose they think it is all a part of the college experience.  I would be worrying about what that kind of alcohol consumption must be doing to their bodies.

I can’t help but contrast them with the young adults we spend our time with.  They come to family home evening every Monday night, take turns giving wonderful gospel lessons, play a few games, eat some refreshments, and, if they’re really feeling energetic, go to Denny’s for an oreo shake.  They manage to have a good time with their peers, without driving the spirit away.  They’re not perfect, none of us are, but they are trying.  The gospel makes a huge difference in lives.  I reread this thought from President Ezra Taft Benson this week.  I have seen evidence of its truthfulness my whole life.

“Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that he can make a lot more of their lives than they can.  He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace.”

Aren’t those the very things the kids across the street are seeking in the bottles they spend so much of their money on?

Fun without a drop of alcohol.

At some point, moose were introduced to this island.  No one has seen one since the early 1900’s, but there are people who believe that they are still living somewhere in Fiordland.  There have been “moose sightings”—pictures that don’t look like a moose to me—and other signs of their existence.  Someone has offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who can photograph a live moose.  So, knowing how John feels about that animal, I think he’d be the perfect one to track one down and snap a picture.  We could use the extra cash.  Brother Bell says he’ll go along, but only if Brad will go too.  They both feel confident they can outrun Brad with his bad knees.  Brad, are you in?

We are still boiling water and it has been five weeks since the earthquake.  Whenever I am tempted to complain, I think one word…Japan.

The best news of the week…Andrew and Laurie are having a girl!