Christmas Eve 1991 I spent in Spain as a sister missionary. I was in a companionship with two other sisters, waiting for transfers so I could get a new companion and open a new area. The other sisters had been teaching the discussions to a professional clown and his family, who had invited us to spend Christmas Eve with them. The part of town they lived in was very old and poor - in fact many of the houses were there when Columbus sailed to America. And you could tell ... the smell of age and mold in their small house was unbelievable.

Still, it was one of the best Christmas Eve's of my life. The family was great, the food was simple, but delicious and there were lots of games and laughs. Finally, for dessert, the father brought out fresh fruit and a bottle of Sidra - which he assured us was just sparkling apple cider with no alcohol. One sniff assured us he wasn't telling the whole truth. We could smell the alcohol. The other two sisters, afraid to offend their best investigator, downed the booze. I smilingly told him I didn't drink and thanked him anyway. He graciously respected that. The other two sisters got quite giggly, probably more from being "naughty" than the alcohol content of what they drank. I couldn't understand their choice. How could they drink in front of an investigator? If he got baptized, wouldn't he hear about the Word of Wisdom and remember? Would he think he just fooled the sisters and not have a WTF moment? Whatever the answer, I was proud of myself for keeping the Lord's commandment.

Fast forward 20 years. I'm no longer LDS and I got a catalog from my favorite Spanish food importer. There, on the page with the wines and sherry, I saw for sale the Sidra I missed out on. Of course I ordered it. I'm going to go to Mass tonight (like we also did that Christmas Eve in an old Spanish Catholic church), come home, put the kids in bed as early as they will allow and wrap Christmas presents and sip Sidra. Some of you who may have been to Spain and may have tried Sidra might tell me it's cheap and nasty but that isn't the point. The point is, I get to go back and redo something I only did because Mormons made me. I only skipped that glass of Sidra because I thought the Mormon God insisted I do so. Now I get to go back and rectify that choice and make my OWN choice in the matter. And that gives me a sense of satisfaction that is probably way out of proportion to the actual "accomplishment".

Merry Christmas everyone!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2011 12:22PM by CA girl.

What about the ban on loud laughter?

Maybe he would become a "sad" clown?

That's a definite.


Merry Christmas to you, CA Girl and thanks for sharing such a sweet story.


Anagrammy

I don't think the clown and his family were baptized - I was transferred a few weeks later to the other side of the mission so I'm not sure what happened there.

Also, thanks anagrammy and Merry Christmas to you too!

Southwestern Idaho Desert Racing Association

WOW...wow thats wicked crazy woman! :)

oh wait...CIDER!! OH WELL...return and report if you please! :)

a "do-over" people dont get many of those!! party on!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2011 12:52PM by bignevermo.

I would have done the same thing. I can't even explain why it's important to have that experience that you denied yourself 20 years ago, but I understand.

I served my mission in Ireland, and it seems a shame now that I didn't try Guinness even once when I was there. One day, I'll go back and visit some of the ancient pubs I used to walk past in my areas.

I've never tried Sidra. I hope you enjoy it! I enjoyed your story, too!

I'll have to look for that. It sounds fun! Sometimes the best things in life are the rustic!

Mak, you'll absolutely have to try a Guinness in an actual Irish Pub. It doesn't compare to anything else. It's so smooth and silky!

I've had Guinness at the Four Green Fields pub in Tampa, where they fly it in from Ireland. It's a cool looking place too, with a thatched roof. :)

Wow! That's awesome!!

Good for you for repenting Mak. But alas I think the gods of Irish Guinness will forgive you for your sin of omission ;)

I think that's great you get to try Sidra. I was in Japan many years ago as a mish and always wanted to try Sake. Well, I finally got around to it on my birthday last year. Good stuff!

I think that will be my new tradition, Sake on my birthday.

As a missionary in Taiwan, I probably turned down offers for tea about a thousand times. Normally the Taiwanese are quite humble and diffident about most cultural things, but you couldn't help but notice the pride they took in locally grown high mountain oolong tea. They wanted to share just how good it was with you.

My refusal to try something so obviously good, not just in flavor, but good for your body and spirit, must have come across as quite the slap in the face. It is like taking a foreigner to the Grand Canyon for the first time and their reaction is something like, "Meh, is that all?".

Now I drink oolong tea daily. I enjoy it completely. It is like a drinkable perfume.

I was such a fool. I was such a tool for LDS, Inc.

At times, I feel so liberated and happy when I get to experience all those "forbidden" things -- mission experiences included. Then I sometimes get angry that was so gullible (and/or the church was so effective) that I was convinced otherwise. And now, when I hang out with TBM family, I think, wow, you folks are so sheltered and naive. I'm glad my (adult) kids get to experience life as they want, and not how it's mandated from Salt Lake.

Thanks for sharing.

<<The other two sisters got quite giggly, probably more from being "naughty" than the alcohol content of what they drank>>

Nawww, they were probably hammered.