One of my favorite Authors is Thornton Wilder. Thomas Monson, who must also be fond of Wilder, used an example from Our Town in one of his first talks as President of the church. He explains, ''In the play Emily Webb dies in childbirth, and we read of the lonely grief of her young husband, George, left with their four-year-old son. Emily does not wish to rest in peace; she wants to experience again the joys of her life. She is granted the privilege of returning to earth and reliving her 12th birthday. At first it is exciting to be young again, but the excitement wears off quickly. The day holds no joy now that Emily knows what is in store for the future. It is unbearably painful to realize how unaware she had been of the meaning and wonder of life while she was alive. Before returning to her resting place, Emily laments, “Do … human beings ever realize life while they live it—every, every minute?” I remember being very struck by Emily's experience the first time I read Our Town. Every single moment of our lives is amazing, we don't, however ''realize life...every, every minute.'' But when we do, it is something that changes you completely. When we visited Moses, I realized life.
We rang bell 3.2 on the outside of the apartment found over the old, local restaurant. The door unlocks and through the speaker we hear ''vær så god, third floor, end of the hall'' in Norwegian more broken than mine. Once inside his small, simple apartment, all three of us were in awe as we watched him scurry about. His tea making was amazing... pouring hot water into cups without spilling a thing. We sat on the couch, speechless. He had some African spiritual music playing, and before we started talking he went to turn it off. But this is the moment that really made me realize life. He paused before he turned it off to really listen, and to sing. I didn't understand a word of the music, but there was a strong feeling of peace that instantly came into the room. He looked nowhere in particular and sang from the bottom of his heart. I guess I just felt how beautiful his life was, and how much I knew he mattered. His soul is of so much worth, and we are lucky to have him here. We often talk of the beauty in nature or the beauty in music...but more beautiful than that is the beauty of another soul, another life.
We have been to visit Moses 3 times now. He can't read The Book of Mormon, so we are kinda at a stand still because his Norwegian isn't too good. But, we ask him if we can help him with anything each time. This morning we went over just to help him start his laundry machine and fold his cloths. I love that I have a whole year left of trying to find opportunities to help people as they live their normal life. I am so glad in being a missionary.
Finally, I'll being to Oslo on Wednesday for splits and a training meeting. Next Wednesday I will be getting my very own, brand new, fresh from the MTC missionary. And I am scared out of my mind. With not many sisters in the mission they don't have too many options, because training after 3 1\2 months isn't ideal. I'll need an extra dose of mail and prayers.
Love you all!
Katie
