I am SO grateful for electricity and running water! I thought I was grateful before…I used to pray and thank God for these things…but I had no idea how grateful I am for them. Please…don’t take these things for granted. You can even try to go without for a day so that you can more fully understand how lucky we are to reliably have those things.
Yesterday, Marian told me I needed to go to the school to take payments from the boarders who were returning from mid-term break. It was about 1:30, and she wanted me to go at about 4, so I decided to go for my run at 2, come home and rinse off, go to the school, and then shower when I got home (I knew I’d get sweaty and dusty walking to and from the school…and I didn’t want to use too much water, so I decided not to shower twice). Well…so glad I decided to rinse off in between because when I came home the second time, there was no more water. So today…I wore a head scarf because my hair was so oily and gross, even though I really wasn’t digging how I was looking with it on. The reaction I got was not what I was expecting…haha = ) First, Melinda said she thought I should take it off because she liked how my hair looked underneath (it took a lot for me to even show it to her). She said they try to make their hair look that way (later Mandy said she wished her hair produced more oil, too, and that she thought I had just worn the scarf “for life,” which means “for fashion”…haha = ) And then, I got a lot of compliments about looking really “sweet” today from guys who’ve never commented on how I look before…it was so funny to me!
When I went home, I got to talk to Mandy for a long time (it feels like we haven’t really had a good, long conversation for awhile…or maybe it was just that I had gotten so used to being with her all the time over the long weekend that I was just really excited to spend time with her after being gone the whole day). Anyways…it was interesting because I just, out of the blue, asked Mandy if she’s had a hard time with the fact that blacks couldn’t hold the Priesthood until 1978. She said that she’s never struggled with it, which surprised me…but her reason surprised me even more. She said that the church hadn’t been in Africa for too long before that time. She said, “The Priesthood is the authority to act in God’s name. It can’t just be given out lightly. The men here needed time to be ready to receive it.” I’d never thought of it from that perspective before. Then right after that, I went into my room and saw an email from my mom with an article and websites regarding that exact matter!...it was crazy! But yeah…after reading that, I guess the truth is that some questions won’t be completely answered in our time on earth. I know our Prophets are called of God to be his mouthpiece, so I have faith that the direction they give the church is what God wants, even if I don’t completely understand it. I guess it makes sense that God knows more than me…haha = )
I'm trying to imagine if I could really do what you suggest -- try going without running water and electricity for a day! If I do it, I think I'll have to prepare for weeks in advance -- even just seriously thinking about it is tough! Thank you for the perspective, sweet Jaclyn. And who knew the fun little tidbit that would come from it this time -- learning about the desire for more oily hair!! I'm glad the email regarding Blacks and the Priesthood came at an opportune time -- I've really been enjoying doing some research on it and some other very interesting topics. Thanks for sharing Mandy's thoughts on it -- there's so much to learn! One day, I'll get to study some more, but for now I need to get back to my day-to-day responsibilities! I have a question for you -- how would you feel about helping us with checking in the kids for Project Grad after graduation, and then being a chaperone??? Jeri and I will be going, too, and probably, Camille. What do you say?
ReplyDeleteHaha...you're so cute to even contemplate the idea = ) Thanks for the comment, mama...I love hearing your thoughts! And I'd love to! It'll be kinda my graduationish...arriving from a foreign country and going right into an all-night deal...haha
DeleteYou poor thing!! But I bet it's amazing to learn the things you can go without when you HAVE to make do :) That is so neat about your conversation with Mandy. I love her humility. I can learn a lot from her :)
ReplyDeleteOh...no worries! = ) But yeah...it really is! When you don't have what you "need", you just figure it out. And yeah...what a sweet perspective you have on Mandy = )
ReplyDelete