Service on my mission... - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

MikeWaters · 12-18-2006, 11:45 PM

Archaea's threads on cougarboard reminded me of some stuff.

When I was in Guam, we volunteered at the elementary library. The librarian was an American middle-aged woman. Very nice. To my surprise she invited us for Christmas dinner (or was it Thanksgiving). Turned out her husband was some kind of officer in the military.

So yes, service pays off.

Later when I was in the middle of nowhere, on remote tropical islands, we had a 4x4 toyota that has been dropped off on the island. It was one of about 2 or 3 vehicles on the entire island (which had no electricity or running water).

We helped out one of the members who was building a dock. He would gather rocks from the side of the hill and pile them by the road. We would load them up in the back of the pickup and drive a short ways, and dump them into the ocean. We did this, on occasion, for many weeks. Our Branch President told us to stop doing it. "He's just messing with you. He doesn't care about the church. He's using you." I said, "yes, yes, yes." But we kept on helping the guy out. I guess in a way, I kind of enjoyed the work. Anyway, we finally got enough rocks for his dock. And to our surprise, he suddenly became inactive. But I told the Branch President "that's on him, not us."

Even better: we volunteered at an elementary on the same island teaching English. These kids were wild and disrespectful. So one day we had a test. And I told the kids that there would be no cheating. And furthermore I said that anyone who stood up out of their seat for any reason would get a zero. Sure enough some dunce got out of his seat, and I told him his score was a zero. Some level of chaos ensued. Kids were furious. And basically, after that, the principle said that our work was done at the school. It's kind of humorous. We were fired. But I hated it anyway, and was glad for it. I'd rather haul rocks.

12-18-2006, 11:45 PM	#1
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	Service on my mission... Archaea's threads on cougarboard reminded me of some stuff. When I was in Guam, we volunteered at the elementary library. The librarian was an American middle-aged woman. Very nice. To my surprise she invited us for Christmas dinner (or was it Thanksgiving). Turned out her husband was some kind of officer in the military. So yes, service pays off. Later when I was in the middle of nowhere, on remote tropical islands, we had a 4x4 toyota that has been dropped off on the island. It was one of about 2 or 3 vehicles on the entire island (which had no electricity or running water). We helped out one of the members who was building a dock. He would gather rocks from the side of the hill and pile them by the road. We would load them up in the back of the pickup and drive a short ways, and dump them into the ocean. We did this, on occasion, for many weeks. Our Branch President told us to stop doing it. "He's just messing with you. He doesn't care about the church. He's using you." I said, "yes, yes, yes." But we kept on helping the guy out. I guess in a way, I kind of enjoyed the work. Anyway, we finally got enough rocks for his dock. And to our surprise, he suddenly became inactive. But I told the Branch President "that's on him, not us." Even better: we volunteered at an elementary on the same island teaching English. These kids were wild and disrespectful. So one day we had a test. And I told the kids that there would be no cheating. And furthermore I said that anyone who stood up out of their seat for any reason would get a zero. Sure enough some dunce got out of his seat, and I told him his score was a zero. Some level of chaos ensued. Kids were furious. And basically, after that, the principle said that our work was done at the school. It's kind of humorous. We were fired. But I hated it anyway, and was glad for it. I'd rather haul rocks.