Thursday, October 14, 2010

life.

so school has finally caught up to me, and now its starting to get hard. lets face it...Jonni hates to study, in fact i can not force my self to study, 2 minutes in i get distracted and do something else. but after my first american heritage midterm, i decided i really need to do better and buckle down. but beiside all the crazyness of life and school, i have found something that i absolutly love. For AH we are required to do 10 hours of service through certain programs. megan, michaela, and i decided to do it through a program called "adopt a grandparent". I was so excited to get started, but the first day we did it was probably the worst day ive had yet. i had jsut taken my american heritage test (lets just say it wasnt good) and i was feeling homesick and i just really wanted to lay in bed and sleep through the day. in case you cant tell failure does sit to well with me. but since we were signed up to do it, i had to. so i got in the car, determined that it was going to be stupid and boring and i would just be more miserable. boy was i wrong. when we first arrived in the center i was super nervous. all of the residents there are either physically or metally handicapped. when i first saw all the people in the living area and saw the looks they gave me, i was scared and didn't know how to approach them or how to talk. the main lady, Melanie, gave us a tour, and the first person she showed us i started crying. being me, i kept it to my self because i hate when people see me cry, but the Holy Ghost just testified to me very strongly at that moment that this was what i was supposed to be doing, and that these people need my help and how much i can do that i am not currently doing. also, to see the horrible conditions in which their minds and bodies have been left made me feel so ashamed for feeling down early that day. i have been given soo very much, and i am able to do so much for myself and for others and instead i am focusing on myself and why life didn't seem fair at that moment when these sweet people have so much "unfairness" in their lives. it was truly a humbling experience. as we went along to other rooms just meeting some people, every time i was touched by the Spirit and how truly special these people are and how much visiting with them will bless my life. when we were about to leave, we met the most hilarious man i have ever met. the second he saw us he yelled and got soo excited with the hugest smile spreading across his face. he noticed we were new, and thought it was the coolest thing in the world. we went and talked to him and even though it was hard to understand what he was saying, he was hilarious. his name was Russ, but his last name was Lincoln. when i said "oh like the president!" he got so excited that i knew who Abraham Lincoln was. then he told us we could call him Abe. he then asked us what our last names were, and when i said Clark, he said "like Clark bar?!" and thought that was the coolest thing ever, then when he found out Megan's last name was Bahr, he started cracking up! we were Clark Bahr. i could go on and on about Russ and his funny things, but it would be sufficient to say i found a new best friend. we back again last Friday, and when he saw me again he got so excited! and then he saw my BYU sweatshirt and got even more excited. it was great to see my bff again :] but this last time we went we met some even more amazing people. first we went into this one room, and these 2 sweet ladies named Ruth and Helen. Me and Megan started talking to Ruth first and Michaela went and talked to Helen. at first it was a little hard to talk to Ruth, she didn't really register when we asked her questions, but once i noticed some old picture frames on her TV and asked if they were her children she got so excited and started showing us all these pictures. she would laugh at what we said and started answering our questions, always with a huge smile. she scooted her wheel chair and got an old photo album and started telling us who all the people were and laughing as she went. it was so much fun to look at the old pictures and learn about her family. then we started to talk to Helen, she was such a sweet woman, but because she had a stroke she was paralyzed. she talked about how much she loves flowers and how she used to work at a floral shop with her nephew. there were pictures lined up of children, so i asked if they were grandkids so she started talking about sweet they all were, it was adorable. Michaela told us late in the car the saddest story about her husband, it made me want to cry. after we left Ruth and Helen's room, we walked over to this one lady's room named Geri. she was the funniest woman ever! she first started off by saying she didn't want any visitors then just started talking and told us to sit down. we then went on forever about college and how she never went and how she wants to get a job in the fall. she then told us she was 20...she was at least 80 folks. basically this woman would not stop making me laugh. she was so sassy, and blunt, you cant help but love her. but with all of this joy and happiness...i must tell a not so fun story. soooo when Geri told us to sit down, the only open spot was the other persons bed. Michaela took the chair and Megan took the end of the bed, so i was in the middle. so in the middle of our amazing convo, we heard this lady yelling for help, so i ran out into the hall to help her. but after i got up....i realized i sat on wet bed. and lets just say it was NOT water. my whole left side was wet and i wanted to barf. it was completely gross, but i had to wait like 20 minutes before we got back home! needless to say the second i got through my door i ripped my pants off. may sound awkward...haha sorry circumstances call for awkward statements. but i am now in love with Tuesdays. i cant wait to go back and see my new friends. also we are going to buy Helen and Ruth flowers and get Geri something cute ;]

3 comments:

The Skousens said...

Sorry to hear about the stress of school...keep up the good work Jay, you'll do fine (just remember to keep your priorities straight and things will work out)! Sounds like a great experience Jonni!!! I wanted to barf when I read that last part...yuck!

Stacey said...

The average on the first AH test in my class was like a 60%. Everyone is always shocked by the first one. You'll be fine.

Taylor said...

ok jj...that is such a cool experience!!! i got choked up reading some of it. i love you...you are awesome! i am glad you are going to bring ruth a helen flowers...i was going to tell you to do that :)and you should get "abe" a clark bar! haha. have fun next tuesday!!