Week 76: Anglický?
One Brazilian member here suggested that I start conversations in English. He said people would say, "Oh, that's so cool you speak English!" or something similar. Wow, that's a good idea. Let me give that a try. So I tried it on a tram. I saw two teenage girls in a nearby seat:
"Hello, do you speak English?" I asked.
"No," they said in unison and then got back to their mobile devices.
Alright, round 2. I approached a man probably a little older than I, but before I got a word out, he said in English, "Go #€@& yourself." I've started few conversations in English since then.
Week 78: He can command fifty.
Elder Akina and I woke up early to get to the foreign police station. We were going to wait in line on behalf of the new missionary, Sister Dickson. We got there at 4 am. Waiting there was a man with a sketchy-looking paper, and he told us to put our names on it so we could keep track of who came first. There were 16 before us, but they were waiting in their cars. I signed Sister Dickson's name.
A few minutes later, a man came up to me and asked for the paper. I told him who had it. He then asked, "Where are you from?"
"America."
"Are you a missionary?"
"Yes. Have you met us before?"
"Yeah, in Banská Bystrica."
"I lived there."
"His name was Alrie."
"Aillery?"
"Yes! That's it!"
"I'M Aillery!"
So we had a fun conversation for a few hours.
Later, the sisters came to take our place, but more people had arrived (that's why we came at such an unholy hour, so we could be first.) The foreign police office was not going to be opened for another hour, but people were already starting to crowd around the door. We were getting worried that no one would listen to the unofficial list that was started. Elder Akina took things into his own hands. He asked the original man with the paper where it was. He pointed to some lady. Elder Akina then retrieved the list and started lining everyone up, and they just listened. There were upwards of 40 of them. It was a sight to behold. I thought of a verse from the Book of Mormon that applies to him (1 Nephi 31):
"Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?"
Sorry, Mom, your son's an idiot.
After church, the sisters invited us to visit one of their investigators in the town Štúrovo, which is right by the Hungarian border. That brought me back to my first transfer when we had been there visiting a member. What added more to my nostalgia was the town's train station... funny story. At that time, there were four missionaries serving in Nitra, and one night we were all returning from a visit with that member in Štúrovo. After we bought our tickets, there was still a bit of time before our train departed, so we played BANG! the card game (if I remember correctly). We got on the train when it arrived (continued playing, of course), but after some time I realized that I had lost my ticket. And my junior pass. Shoot. After checking my pockets once or ten times, we decided to say a prayer together. In the prayer, I told God I was willing to face the consequences of my irresponsibility, but if there was any way I could get out of paying for another ticket (full price without the junior), I'd like that. Well, the ticket man came around and Elder Akina started to explain the situation (I didn't speak Slovak much). The man waved his hand and just let it go. Fíha! The only bad news was that I lost the proof of purchase for my junior, so I had to rebuy it... not a cheap thing.
So we told that story to the sisters on the way down to Štúrovo. We all chuckled at what an IDIOT I had been.
*one interesting visit later*
We were on the train back and the ticket man came around. I reached in my right pocket but found neither ticket nor junior. You're kidding. I checked my pockets, checked my bag. Nothing. Checked my pockets again, checked my bag again. Nothing again. The ticket man saw I was struggling so he told me he would get back to me and left. Elder Akina's face was like the face of a disappointed trainer who's greenie hadn't learned his lesson. Good news! I thought I had found my ticket, but I had actually found the proof of purchase for my junior, which, oddly enough, looks exactly like a ticket, just says different stuff on it. The man returned.
"Any luck?" he said.
"No, but I have this." I handed him the proof of purchase so he would perhaps give me a discounted ticket price.
He stared at it for a few awkward seconds and said, "This is not valid." I thought it was valid, it should be for a year. I tried to peek at it but he didn't let me. Then something I can't explain happened. He stamped it and gave it back to me and then left without another word. Now I have a stamped proof of purchase for my junior.
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