Traffic for 2006 January 29

Today's Christian capers started in Sacrament Meeting. This new couple spoke. As is customary, the woman went first. About five minutes into her talk she informs us that she can't go on and excused herself to the bathroom. So they had two ward members bear testimony. She came back, apologized, and finished her talk. When she initially ran out I wasn't sure if it was stage fright, morning sickness (since Susie and I are the only childless couple in the ward), or the normal sick bug. Apparently it was the third option, as she came back and finished up. And it was a really good talk. It was just something I've never encountered before. I think, had I been in her situation, I would have just cut my talk short, bore testimony, and left. But her method is commendable.

Then came Primary. The general session was a disaster. The new primary chorister came in completely unprepared, and the President was missing. Her husband was supposed to assist me today, or so I thought. And Spencer (our little boy with down syndrome) refrused to sit still today. So I had to hold him the whole time. Standing up. Five year-olds are heavy. Kudos to the rest of my class who sat reverently in the meantime. I think Spencer likes me; this justified him testing my boundaries today.

Primary general session ended 15 minutes early. That meant I had to adapt my 45 minute lesson into a 60-minute lesson. And, since it was the fifth Sunday, all the adults were right next door, waiting for me to screw up (our class is on the stage). Luckily, I was very entertaining. I decided to play hangman. Now, I should mention that these kids don't read. Or know how to spell. But they really enjoyed this game. We played it three times, and it filled up the time, cuz they kept picking odd letters like X, Z, and Q. Needless to say, I can't believe I didn't think of hangman sooner. That was the story of my childhood church experience.

I worked out for 2 hours yesterday on the treadmill while I watched "The Pelican Brief." My body aches. But, no pain, no gain.