Week 34: Have you volámed your sas today?

From Miles's personal write to me:

There was an interesting experience on the train yesterday. A guy had some whacked ideas about spiritual matters. He said church wasn't necessary. Raymond asked him, "Why do you think we need ordinances, like baptism? Jesus showed us by example that we need to be baptized."

The guy responded, "Jesus got baptized to show us that we need to be cleansed."

Elder Raymond: "Exactly!"

The guy continued: "To show us that we need to take showers. Also, if we eat bread and drink water for 40 days straight, our bodies will be purified and we will see angels all around us."

I said, "I don't even know what we're talking about anymore." That made everyone else in the train car laugh.

My son, making jokes in a foreign language! This mother couldn't be prouder! "End transmission" (Galaxy Quest)

At the start of what I thought was just "another day," I got in the shower and began warming up the cold water, testing its temperature every so often on my feet. The water remained cold, even after 20 seconds.

"Elder!" I cried, "The water isn't hot!" Elder Raymond investigated and found out that we didn't have working gas to heat up our water. I sighed and said, "Môže byť," before taking the worst shower of my life. A shower under 10 minutes just isn't sufficient to get the job done.

Next was Elder Raymond's turn, but he was stalling, thinking perhaps the gas would eventually kick in. It never did, and I was happy that Elder Raymond got to experience what I had to.

Outside of our panelák, we found construction. "Cool, just make it fast," I thought. Not so. We found a posted note on our front door, informing us that we were out of gas for 18 days, which is conveniently a few days before I'll probably leave Trenčín anyway.

***

Here are some common "questions" (I put them in quotations because they're only real concerns if the person asking has real intent) to which I have answers:

Q: Each person has his own truth.

A: Truth is only one. If we could learn God's truth, why would we hold to any false perception of reality?

Q: Church is only for weak people.

A: Aren't we all weak? When do you become too good for God's inspired organization, which is designed to help keep us on the covenant path? Even if you are strong, what have you against further progression? What about helping and serving others through the medium which is God's organized, true church?

Q: I was born a (certain Christian denomination) and I will die a (certain Christian denomination).

A: I know it's hard to change from something into which you were born, but rather than just accepting whatever default chance has given you, try seeking truth. Maybe you've been born into a fair amount of truth already, but if a greater fullness of truth exists elsewhere, go for it!

I realize most of those "questions" were actually statements and most of the "answers" were actually questions. But you get the point.

Soblahov

Slav Squat has been confirmed by the natives. When talking about what surprised us most about Slovakia, we told them that everyone in Slavic countries regularly squats. They were surprised that we didn't have such a phenomenon in America.