Swapping stories

So, today John, Tom and I were doing our favorite pastime...swapping missionary stories. John told about an eternal investigator who moved from his first area (Franklin, IN) and happened to move to one of John's later areas (Martinsville.)

That led to my story about a family that moved from one area to another. I need to share some background first. When I was a child I didn't talk much. It wasn't because I couldn't. I just wanted to know I was saying it right before I said it. So, when I was 4 years old I was suddenly talking in sentences after not saying much before that.

My first companion was from Honduras and had had many companions from the states. All the other companions talked and made mistakes like normal people. But not me. I only talked when I knew I had it right. She was so frustrated with me, but I told her that I was learning Spanish the way I had learned English and she'd just have to trust me and be patient.

So, there was one member family in my first area whose father liked to tease the new missionaries by talking as fast as he could and confusing them. Whenever he tried to do it with me I just quit talking. This family moved and I was surprised to see them in my third area. At that time I was speaking Spanish well, and had a companion who had been in the country one month. This man started doing his game with her and she just went along with it. He had a lot of fun teasing her. Of course, I knew Spanish well enough by then that he couldn't trip me up anymore.

Then two of John's girl friends came to pick him up and we had to stop telling stories. He starts graveyard shift tonight. That's right up his alley. He's a night owl.