Once again, Sunday came all too quickly. It's amazing, really, how quickly the weeks go by when the days can sometimes drag. Maybe this has something to do with us walking to church? I say that ironically because I loved walking everywhere in the States and here I am getting to walk everywhere and complaining about it. The saying about the grass growing greener on the other side boils down to 2 things, I've decided:
1. The other side is America, in general
2. This side doesn't have to be all that "brown;" it's just an attitude thing. (Well, and the fact that everyone here really IS brown. HA!)
Austin did extremely well on his tests this week. It's as if he were still at BYU. He says it was somewhat magical and must have been a blessing from Heavenly Father. While I will be the first to tell you that we are extremely blessed, I also know that Austin works really hard at school. He got 102% on one test and the others were about as high. He truly is amazing.
In response to your question, I'm not sure if smoking is a big problem here. I hear that Marijuana is a big problem; I've smelt it on our neighbor and see it on the back of some of the cars and buses, but to tell you the truth, I've only seen one local smoke. We are actually really lucky to not be surrounded by cigarette smoke and swearing like we could many places. I am sheltered from both, I feel, and also feel that the worldly influences are far from us because we don't have access to television, radio, or even advertising here. Where you would normally see garbage, there isn't any. (But trust me, there is lots of literal garbage- litter all over the streets.) Once again, this is ironic: any swearing or smoking that does happen is done by the medical students. You'd think they would know better and be of a higher caliber, but sadly, no.
Eden is officially 6 months old! We had a small celebration on her half birthday in which we made dessert for us :) It was a good excuse. She has doubled in volume, it seems, in the last few days. She mostly growls. Other sounds consist of sighs, aahs, nannas, laughs, and baby sounds. It's hard to spell out what she sounds like without hearing her. She loves coughing lately. It's not a real cough by any means. She has just figured out how to expel air in such a way that it amuses her. She sticks out her tongue and gives a little cough, cough, as if to say "excuse me!, don't forget about me, I'm here!"
The locals here all think Eden is fat. They think she is so big! Trust me, she's healthy, but she's not fat. I've seen chubby babies. They all think she's fat because many of their babies are undernourished. Interestingly, my nurse friend explained that it's because they don't use pacifiers here, but instead breast feed their babies at every little peep. Because they nurse for such short times, the baby never gets to the nutritious part of the breast milk and are therefore, undernourished and skinny little things.
After Austin's testing on Monday, it felt like a weekend because of the freedom. He took the night to go to the beach with us for a little bit and watch 1/2 the Lion King before falling asleep. Quite the contrast to all the other students who celebrated by drinking and partying. The next day at school very few students showed up, and those who did, were mostly hung over.
We went with friends last night to the Marriott to swim. Still, it's the happiest place on the island.
Today was branch conference for us. The mission president and his wife flew in for the meeting today. As I introduced myself, it was quickly made known that Grandpa and Grandma Jack live in their home ward and that Dad used to be President Boucher's doctor before he left for one of his deployments. When I mentioned that David Jack was my dad, President gave me a big hug and said how our family is some of his favorite people. He insisted on a picture. What a small world! and how easy it is to be small because of the church and having celebrities for parents and grandparents. We have such a good family. The goodness of our parents and grandparents continues to manifest itself through people they've served.
While President was here, we quickly got interviewed for new temple recommends. Austin went first and then I followed. As I walked into the room, the President asked me if Austin was going to be set apart. Quite confused, I said I didn't think so? President quickly pulled Austin back in and said only this: "President Foreman has asked if you would serve as his counselor in the Elder's Quorum. Would you be willing to accept that calling?" Austin wouldn't have time to say no if he wanted to, but of course he would say yes to anything. So, minutes later, he was set apart in Priesthood. From what Austin told me, they almost, accidentally, ordained Austin to the office of an Elder instead of setting him apart. He's that righteous :)
So it goes: Austin is now the second counselor in the EQ. I have yet to get a calling. Unless they "fire" someone, Primary is about the only place left for me, but we shall see.
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