The Joy of a Thing and Special Encounters

First and foremost, Cody is coming for a visit.  She arrives tomorrow and hands down, there is little else that makes us smile more than a visit from our daughters.  It is going to be a very happy next four days! 

Walking home from the supermarket yesterday we noticed two young men dressed in dark pants and white shirts.  We recognized them immediately as young Mormons serving their voluntary missionary service.  Typically, young Mormons volunteer for service when they turn 18, and they serve for two years.  Even though they pay their own living expenses during the two-year service period and receive no pay, they get no say in where they are sent to serve.    

From behind them a few steps, Stan called, “Excuse me, Elders.”  They stopped in their tracks and turned to see us.  Smiles and grins broke out all around.  They were thrilled to see fellow Americans.  We introduced ourselves, shared handshakes, and shared stories about our travels.  We told them about how we dearly loved meeting the young missionaries who worked with us at Solidarity Sandy Springs in Atlanta during the pandemic.   It was then that we came to learn about Mormon young adult missions and what incredibly nice and gentle people they are.   

These two young men were sent to do their service in Paraguay and are now at the end of their two-year mission period.  They said during their time here they have learned to love the people and the country and will miss being here.  Stan and I will as well.  Next for them, however, is to return to normal life at home next week, get a job, look for a wife, and get on with life.  Those guys were the ideal of wholesomeness and pure gentlemen.  They asked for a photo together.  I told them I’d post that photo of their cheerful, handsome, happy faces here on my blog, and one of them said, maybe we will become famous!   

Imagine . . . there we were, just walking down the street loaded with groceries, and boom!  Waiting for us there was an unexpected meeting that touched our hearts and made our day. 

The Church of Latter-Day Saints has a huge temple complex here in Asuncion.  We pass it almost every day.  A little research told me the stately Asuncion Paraguay Temple as we see it today, with the golden statue of Angel Moroni in flowing robes, with a long horn standing prominently on the temple’s steeple was completed in 2002 but was built on the grounds of the original Asuncion meeting house established in 1964.  The temple in Asuncion has an astounding 68,000 members. 

And here is another accidental but incredible encounter . . . We attended service at our tiny-house church again today; we are enjoying it very much.  Returning home, Stan and I were just walking along chit-chatting, talking to dogs frantically barking at us from behind their walled yards, admiring this house and that, and avoiding obstacles in the landmine sidewalks here when we passed a house with an open garage.  Inside was a Volkswagen Thing, that clunky jeep-like vehicle introduced for use by Nazis as a utility vehicle in WWII.  There is a special group of people with a keen fascination with Things.  Stan and the man in the garage are just two of them.  Stan could not help himself.  “A THING!” he almost shouted when he saw it.  The man turned to us with a huge grin on his face and said, “Yes, a THING!”  He has had his car since 1993 and has been slowly restoring and accessorizing it.  Since 1993 is indeed slow! 

In about 1998, Cody who was only 16 at the time, off-handedly said, “If I had a Volkswagen Thing, I’d cover the seats in spotted cowhide.”  Within two weeks Stan came home with a rusted-out Volkswagen Thing.  I don’t think that particular vehicle was THE Thing she had in her mind.  He was diligent, though, and spent the next year restoring it in our garage.  He removed all the fenders and replaced all the felt between them; he replaced the floorboards, the seat covers, and the convertible top.  He had it painted to the original color.  When it was almost done and “drivable,” he turned it over to Cody.  Stan does not mind driving a car held together with bailing wire and duct tape needing special operational instructions.  That is a very bad exaggeration, but it just didn’t work for Cody, and it certainly would not for me.  

Soon after, he sold it for a nice profit.  Stan’s Thing now resides as a beach car in the Hamptons, Long Island, New York.  Standing in the man’s garage, the two exchanged Thing stories and when his wife came out to meet us, we both rolled our eyes at our men’s Thing passion.   

During our thirty-minute visit with David and Marcela, we exchanged numbers and promised to spend an evening together soon.  I can’t wait. 

Here again, good things just happen sometimes, especially when we are open to them and take the first step . . . like calling to strangers, “Excuse me, Elders” or exclaiming, “A THING!”  The reward is pure joy and one of the best things in life.