Cowboys in the Chapel!

Sunday was our last day in Arizona. We went to church with Kristin and Brian. They live in a ward that has 100 children under the age of 2. I've known for a while that I am done having children, but after attending the sacrament meeting in their ward, I am DEFINITELY done -- in fact, I think I will go have my tubes tied even though Aaron's already been snipped -- just as an extra precaution!!

We sat down on some hard folding chairs near the back of the cultural hall -- we weren't late, it's just a BIG ward. A member of the Bishopric got up and started talking into the microphone: "Welcome to Mum . . .mmmm . . . bbbb. We are sssss . . . but ttttt . . . . Bro. C . . . .was . . . . . to . . . . ." I looked at Kristin for a translation. It turns out that the sound system was down. A nice brother from the ward had brought a home microphone system to hook up, which didn't help at all. All I heard was mumbling from the pulpit.

Unfortunately, it was a young missionary's homecoming that day. The poor guy might as well not have prepared a talk. I could hear him sobbing a couple of times and saw him wipe his eyes a lot, so I tried to guess whether his mission had been super spiritual or a catastrophe. I couldn't hear any of his stories, so I started looking around me for some entertainment.

In the row in front of us, a young couple with 3 small children were the most entertaining to watch. The mom had brought some of those cardboard shapes with holes punched out around the edges and pieces of yarn for the children to try to sew with. Instead of sewing, the 4 year old son had turned a long piece of the yarn into a lasso which he had tightened around his father's neck. The 2 year old daughter ate 3 packs of fruit snacks, left the room for a couple of drinking fountain breaks, and then conned her dad into 2 pieces of gum, which she promptly chewed up and then stuck on the ground under the chair in front of me. What a zoo!

My attention next turned to a teenager 2 rows in front of me with a red cast on his right hand/arm. I watched him pick lint out of his cast for about 10 minutes before I lost interest.

I looked over to my right. I saw Brian and Kristin taking a nap. What a good idea! Then, I noticed a boy to the right of them rubbing a glue stick all over his cheeks while his mom watched. And what do you know? She was smiling at him -- giving him a thumbs up! It must've been washable glue or else she had completely lost it!

I came away from that Sacrament Meeting with a newfound love for my own children who occassionally look bored out of their minds or color on their hands during the talks. I think I need to thank them next Sunday for being so good. At least I don't have a lasso around MY neck!