Hobbies

I realized after I was done that this was a long post. Sorry guys!

Yesterday as I was sitting on the couch, I started thinking about what I could do as a hobby. I think what might have gotten me started on that was Jacob’s enthusiasm for one of his own hobbies, writing (he is in the middle of writing a book and the other day asked me to look over the prologue, which is very good. Go to his website to see his writing link!).

I was thinking about what I currently do to take a break from looking for a job during the day: play some guitar or piano, read a book (recent good book: Anne Frank). Sometimes I go running in the mornings or go on a bike ride. But then I asked myself, what is something else I could do? Like making something? Jacob’s writing a book, but I don’t like writing very much. I don’t care for quilting or sewing (and don’t have the materials), and wouldn’t get much out of cooking or baking as a hobby–I only do those things because we have to eat 🙂

I’m not into scrapbooking either; I think the farthest I get in that department is “scrapboxing:” all the mementos and tidbits end up in a box that sits in the closet until I wander into it on occasion, happily surprised to find that one random art project I did in the third grade etc.

So I really wanted to do something creative, but couldn’t think of something other than maybe art or painting or something. However, the only artsy thing we own is a box of colored pencils.

Sitting on the couch, I reached for the August Ensign, which I thought I’d already gone through. Turns out I missed several articles, though, so I started reading, and came to the article about the newest member of the Twelve, Elder Neil Anderson. One paragraph stuck out to me:

“Once, when Kathy commented on the countless hours Neil devoted to learning languages, he expressed that he had been given a spiritual gift and that the Lord expected him to labor diligently to realize that gift. Elder Anderson now speaks French, Portuguese, and Spanish.”

That struck a chord with me. I feel the same way as Elder Anderson, knowing I’ve been given a gift for languages–and the Lord expects me to labor diligently to realize that gift. I’ve always had a passion for that kind of thing, but have kind of fallen out of it recently with all the  business of finding a job.

So I decided to rededicate myself to learning languages, especially Portuguese and Romanian. Why?

Back story Portuguese:

Working at BYU TV International, I had a boss from Colombia who encouraged me to learn Portuguese, since that was one of the languages of the channel. Several coworkers were Brazilian and my two bosses spoke Portuguese, so I got into it. I’m not sure why, but I think it will come in handy some day. I finished the Book of Mormon in Portuguese a month or so ago, which helped–to anyone who wants to learn another language, I recommend reading the Book of Mormon in that language.

Back story Romanian:

It’s a long story but I’ll try to make it short. On my mission in Chicago, we were teaching a couple in the internet cafe they owned. They introduced us to someone who they thought needed help. This someone was a Romanian family whose daughter had a very rare tumorous growth overtaking her whole body. We didn’t speak Romanian, they didn’t speak much English or Spanish. But we set up a time to go to their house anyway. For that first visit, we’d gotten a Romanian copy of the Book of Mormon and just read some scriptures about faith from it. They liked it. They ended up coming to church in Spanish with us, even though they didn’t understand. And they kept coming. Fortunately, in the ward was a Romanian man (Alex Enache) who’d gone on a Spanish-speaking mission and married a Guatemalan. No coincidence for sure. Eventually we taught the family, the Bots, the missionary lessons with the help of Hermano Enache and another sister from the singles ward who’d gone to Romania on a mission. Veronica, the mom, got baptized on December 24, 2007

The whole reason the Bots came to America was to get medical help for Lavinia their daughter. They’d already been to other places in Europe and even to China. So with ward and stake leaders we tried everything to help them out with their medical situation. They had no money whatsoever. But even with everyone’s help, nothing came of all the doctor visits and the Bots’ visa to the States expired, so they went back to Romania. (Contacting the mission in Romania was funny, as I found out later: How random would it be to get a call from a Spanish missionary in the States saying “Hey, you’ve got a newly baptized member coming your way!”)

I have no idea how they’re doing right now, but should I ever get the chance to meet up with them some day, I would love to be able to speak to them in their native language.