Grumpy. Grouchy.

That’s what I’ve been this week, for absolutely no good reason. So I’m getting over myself right now. But, a good thing is that thinking about how grumpy I’ve been has brought back happy memories of my mission companion from Cambodia that have made me smile. I love this girl with all my heart. She was so much fun to serve with.

She loved learning new English words. We made a deal. I learned one Cambodian word every day; she learned 2-3 new English words a day (two particularly useful ones being government and dictator). She especially loved funny sounding words. One day I taught her the word bong. She loved it. She wrote it in big letters on her missionary planner and practiced it all day long. What a funny word it was for a sweet sister missionary to be practicing (in my defense, I had good reason for teaching it to her…we saw a man cleaning a bong, and she asked what it was).

How does this relate to the title of this post? Her companion just prior to me had taught her the words grumpy and grouchy. She loved these words, and applied them to any situation where I was feeling a bit negative. So we’d have conversations like this:

Her: “Sister, you grouchy…ah, you grumpy!”
Me: “Well, no, really, I’m more frustrated (or impatient, or sad, or tired).”
Her: “No, you grumpy! I know, I can tell.”
Me: “Okay, okay, I’m grumpy.”

Sometimes, my defense was a bit more extended than that. But it was pretty hard to convince her of anything, so after awhile, I kind of gave up. I told her once that the 210 freeway extended the entire length of our mission. She didn’t believe me, even after I tried to explain that in American some roads stretch really long, and that really, our mission was pretty small in size (it was; without traffic, you could drive across it in an hour). I told her I could show her on a map. She just said “No, you lie.”

She also didn’t believe me that I didn’t wear a bikini. Since all American women we saw laying out in California were wearing bikinis, she didn’t believe met that I didn’t, even after I explained that it was different for LDS people, what with our standards of modesty and all. As missionaries we taught about modesty under the principle of the law of chastity, so when we would see immodest women she’d say “Oh, Sister, they break the law of chastity.” At first I tried to explain that it wasn’t exactly the same thing, but then I decided maybe she was right.

I decided she was right about lots of things, especially important things like service, work, and faith. When I accidentally stepped on an ant, she’d say “Oh, Sister, you sin. You murder.” At first I tried to explain that it wasn’t intentional, that I didn’t even know the ants were there, but then again, I decided she was right. Still today I try to pay more attention to where I’m stepping so I don’t accidentally kill, even a little ant. And when I do, I think of her and smile. She was full of passion, and love, and faith, and I miss her. If she was here this week, she would have scolded me for being grumpy. And she'd have been right.