Week 87: -21: Hurrah for Israel

Sitting and waiting for church to start, I was watching our handful of members gradually roll in. 1... 2... 3... 4... nice! Time to start. Just one problem: one of the two members that were supposed to give talks was absent. Uh-oh. And Elder Barton and I decided beforehand that if such would be the case this week, I would be the one to give a backup talk, which I did not have prepared. Bigger uh-oh. But there was hope: that member might walk in late. Let's hold our thumbs ("držme palce" basically means "let's cross our fingers".)

Through the entire first talk, I was paying attention the whole time, but I was also trying to think up what I would talk about for 15 minutes if this member didn't show up. Well, he didn't. As the speaker concluded, I resolved to talk about member-missionary work and had a few stories in mind. What happened next was magic (it was at least *pretty good*.) But I call it magic because I managed to use a scripture, share stories, speak from the heart, and take up all 15 minutes. And it was in Slovak. That's amazing to me because when I was giving my farewell talk before my mission (in English, mind you), even after a lot of preparation (if you consider the night before a lot), I struggled to cover 10 minutes.

I do believe in member-missionary work. Many months before I left on my mission, the missionaries in my home town invited me to teach with them a particular person on a regular basis. That person and I became so close, even to a point that full-time missionaries couldn't reach. For example, we would drive together to and from meetings with the missionaries, bumping to some sweet music. Those are some great memories.

***

Elder Barton and I called the missionaries from Budapest to tell them about someone they should call. When the phone call was coming to a close, an elder on the other side said, "Hurrah for Israel!"

*phone call ended*

Elder Barton: "What does that mean?"

Me: "What?"

Elder Barton: "Her offer is real. Whose offer?"

Me: "No, Elder. Hurrah for Israel!"

Then we had another one of those uncontrollable-laughter moments while saying to each other, "Hurrah for Israel!" or "Her offer is real!"; I couldn't tell which one we were saying.