My job

I don't always love working at the MTC. But now, with only nine days of employment at the good old MTC Bookstore left, I am trying to enjoy it as much as I can.

Two things I am loving right now:

1. WAYNE is in the MTC! He and his wife came in on Monday and have been coming in every morning to say hi and yes, buy some candy to tide them over during class. The other morning I was selling Wayne some Mentos, and for some reason we were talking about the accuracy of body scanners at the airport, and he told me very simply, in his own soft spoken manner, "Well, the Israelis use dogs. That's why they're better than us." Okay then!

2. There is an Elder, we'll call him Elder Payne, who has somehow decided he is very good friends with me and Lexi. He was delayed a week due to the fact that he had to have surgery on his nasal passageway. The day after his surgery, the mail room delivered a note addressed to "the Bookstore employees, Lexi and Natalie. "

"Surgery went well thanks for the well wishes I'll be by thursday when I'm coherent

Elder Payne"

That poor Elder! He did come in later when he was coherent, but first he came in when I'm not so sure he was coherent.

The joys of our employment.

A Good Boss

Up until this week, Wayne was the store manager at the MTC Bookstore. I love Wayne; he's kind of like that boss you have who acts as a sort of grandfather. He and his wife are going to serve a mission, which is awesome, but I'll miss him! Things I will miss about Wayne include his corny jokes (A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bar tender says, "Hey. Don't start anything"), his random little jobs (putting bar codes on chopsticks, cleaning old binders), the fact that he is my wing man, and the fact that he indulges some of our whims(National Donut Day, random pizza days).

This picture was taken on one of his last days--he took us to see the new bookstore that is currently under construction. We got in trouble because we weren't wearing the proper footwear, but Wayne gave us the tour anyway (since neither he nor I will be around in the fall to see the finished product!).

Two Missionaries

Elder Orr leaves for Washington at 5am tomorrow morning, but Sister Bates still has a few more weeks. These two are going to be the best missionaries! Seriously.

...and Elder Speakmann runs away with the matches.

Burned.

I think.

So, today at work a missionary came up to me and started a conversation. This can be really awkward. Here is our exchange. Verbatim.

Elder Speakmann: Hi.
Me: Hi.
ES: You look bored.
Me: Well...yeah. But that doesn't mean I want to have an awkward conversation with you. No offense.
ES: We're leaving soon.
Me: Where are you headed?
ES: Chile. Do you ask everyone that? How do you keep all the missionaries and where they're going straight?
Me: Well, I can't keep them straight since there are thousands of you...it's really hard to remember. I do remember some people though, those that I have had extended contact with. Like...I'll remember you, since we just had this conversation!
ES: Oh...we've actually had like two conversations before this one, though.
Me: Um....sorry.

So it was kinda awkward. But THEN! The best thing that has happened to me in months happened. Who should appear out of the South entrance but LEONARD! I love this man so, so much. Not only did he appear to save the day, he appeared with a homemade banana cream "going away" pie. Leonard came to say goodbye to me (even though he doesn't even work in the MTC anymore)!

I could not have left the MTC on a better note.

Our Jim

So there is this (I don't know the PC term so bear with me) mentally handicapped man named Jim who comes into the bookstore every Tuesday morning to restock the "copies of the Book of Mormon" and vacuum. He is cute and nice except sometimes he likes to be mean. But I think he's funny so I am going to list three things he has done (I'm not trying to make fun of him...I just think they're funny stories!).

So a little over a year ago we on the closing shift kept arriving to work to find all our personal possessions missing from our apron pockets. It was so disconcerting. Every day I would find my box knife, chapstick, and pens in a different place. Finally we figured out that Jim was coming in and ransacking our aprons, so we had to start hiding them simply to keep our bearings around us.

Last week I was helping a customer when Jim came up to me and said, very pointedly, "You are a broomstick". I was like, "Um....what? A broomstick?" and he just said "Yeah. You look like a broomstick. That's my joke!" and then he walked away. I still don't know what to think...

Last instance: today Rob was worried about facing the long packet day ahead so he wanted to do something to cheer himself up. So he made an elephant out of towels and put it on the counter by my register. Eventually Jim came over, started at the thing, and said, "WHAT. Is. This." Then he proceeded to unroll the elephant and fold the towels the right way. The whole time I was protesting: "No! Stop! Rob made that! It's an elephant! He will be so sad if you wreck it!" etc.

I love the bookstore, I love Jim, and I love the missionaries.

The rubberband war

So I have worked at the MTC for two years. The whole two years, a great rubberband war had been raging. For some reason, I was always the target. Bradley and Gideon always, always shot rubberbands at me--and they hurt! More often than not I would retreat home with great big welts on my bare arms and legs. Bradley was the meanest. But, try though I would, I could not ever hurt the boys. I'm just not a very good shooter. When the rubberbands did meet their targets, the boys were unaffected because they rarely had any skin exposed.

Bradley and Gideon left the bookstore in due time, and the war eventually quieted down (the exception being when Gideon comes to visit). Anyway, the other day I was taking a rubberband off a packet of pamphlets and it suddenly shot out of my hand and hit Rob in the back of the head. It must have been my subconcious.

You'd think that with no more school...

...I'd have more time to blog. The trouble is that I just don't have anything interesting to say. Not like my blogs are always deep wells of knowledge and wisdom, but you know.

I just have one thought right now. There are many, many reasons why I prefer working at the MTC Bookstore rather than the main BYU bookstore. But there is one perk of working at the BYU Bookstore that very nearly trumps all my reasons I don't want to work there: they can wear jeans and t-shirts. I wish I didn't have to wear a skirt to work every day.

I should not be blogging right now

So I'm in the middle of writing an essay, which, by the way, I am loving researching. I'm writing on the topic "home can be a Heaven on Earth" because it's something I firmly believe. However, my essay is awful. But I'm learning really good stuff.

Anyway I just have a random commentary on work at the MTC. I can't lie to you; sometimes I am not in the best mood at work. I deal with a lot of missionaries. But recently I noticed something: when missionaries come up to me and are in a really fantastic mood, I treat them differently. I am more happy, talkative, and upbeat. SO I decided to do a little experiment. I started treating every missionary as if I already knew that they were in a terrific mood. It works. I'm happier, and I think I have more positive interactions with those around me.

Just a thought.

I spoke too soon

My blog has been very boring lately, yes, I realize this, and this isn't the post that's going to pull it out of disrepair, but here is a funny conversation I had today (this was the longest sentence ever. I used four commas! I am tired, if you couldn't tell).

The only preface this story needs is that an Elder was buying shampoo.

Elder: Well, I sure hope this shampoo smells good...
Me (sarcastically): Um....you could just smell it and see!
Elder: Actually, I don't have the sense of smell...
Companions to this Elder: Yeah, he can't smell. At all. He has to trust us that he isn't buying a girly scent.

I felt a little awkward. Uh, hello Elder? You could just smell the darn shampoo instead of wondering about it! Yikes...sometimes I have tact.

Happiness is smiling upon me

There is an Elder in the MTC who has become very dear to me. He is foreign (I think he may be Russian) and his English is very limited. He is very kind and sincere, though, and always takes time to speak with me. Here is a conversation we had yesterday:

Elder: Natalie, how are you? How is today?
Me: Oh, I'm good, it's been a busy day, but you know...it's okay, I guess. How has your day been?
Elder: Oh, a happy day!
Me: Why so happy?
Elder: A very happy day because I have the light of the gospel in my heart and in my life.

After he said that I just wanted to cry. It was such a simple, beautiful testimony. Even though I spend parts of my life in a myopic state, this Elder helped me remember what is true and so important. He was right, and I am happy.

Random updates of the MTC kind

The other day I was telling my coworker that I needed to buy a stamp. A sister missionary was listening and came up saying, "No, no! Here I have stamps, I will give you some!" So she gave me a stamp, and it was very kind.

Mr. McNaughton is the new volunteer who helps direct missionaries through the bookstore on "new missionary Wednesdays". I love Mr. McNaughton. He taught me how to drive! The first time we went roading was the day after I had been on my very first date (it was with Spencer, in case anyone was wondering). Mr. McNaughton was so amazing. He let me sit there and tell him everything about my life. I remember telling him all about my date-he even offered dating pointers. "Does he get good grades?" he asked "because if not, that is a red flag!" I told him the reasons I don't play basketball. We talked about school and life and practically everything in between. I really appreciated Mr. McNaughton because he taught me how to drive but he accepted me and treated me like a real person instead of a student. Our meeting in the MTC was very similar-instead of asking about my driving record right off the bat (which is clean!), he asked about my life, school, work...I just love that man!

Today a sister missionary told me I look like a Wemmick. You know, from the book "You Are Special" by Max Lucado. The Wemmicks judge each other. But there is one Wemmick who doesn't care what people think-all the stickers she gets just fall off. That's who I want to be. I want to be the kind of person who lives her life no matter what other people may think. This is important because...

There is a boy who works in the mail room and he does not like me. Seriously, he acts like it's painful for him to even make eye contact. Usually he just smirks. I'm not even kidding. It makes me feel bad becuase I just want to know what I've done to offend him. Plus it's hard for me to treat him kindly because I'm so intimidated. It's not just me he treats this way, though, it's all the girls who work in the Bookstore. Anyway, weird.

Conundrum

Puzzling.

I work at the MTC bookstore, which I know you all know. This means that I interact with a lot of people from many different areas of the world. Sometimes it's difficult. There is sometimes a language barrier (for instance, once Russian elders were trying to ask about an energy converter. We could not understand them, as they were speaking Russian with an occasional English word, and about the only Russian word I know is "dasvidania". Eventually they drew a picture, and we got everything worked out). Not only does the language barrier cause occasional problems, but there are also vast differences between some culture's social norms. I'm not saying one culture is right and the rest are wrong, but everyone is different...it's fun and very interesting.

Anyway, the point of this blog is kind of a question. I never know what to say when an Elder says to me, "Cheers!" Because really, how does one respond to that? I feel silly saying "Cheers" back. I don't know if I'm supposed to say, "Thanks", "You too!", "You're welcome", "I enjoy mint brownies" or something else entirely.

Usually I end up saying something like, "Okay, see ya!" but I could be completely missing the mark on this one. Any thoughts?

I did the math

I added up all the hours I worked at the MTC before I left for the summer and I realized that it only added up to five weeks worth of time. That is only .48% of my life (these numbers are very, very generalized, since I didn't actually want to add up every single day I have worked. I guessed, and I know I've worked more than 5 weeks 24/7 at the bookstore because I didn't count any of the time from this school year).

Anyway, I've spent less time in the MTC than Elders who go Spanish speaking spend there, and I've worked at the bookstore for over a year and a half. Wow.

Also, I have a funny quote of the day.

Elder: "Hey! Um, can I hit on you?"
Me: "What?! No!"
Elder: "Haha, just kidding! Hahaha. Can I actually get a Russian dictionary?"

The Turbo Story

In order to dispel any alarm my last post may have caused, I have been trying to think of something clever, witty, happy, and carefree to say, but I'm not feeling very interesting lately, so I decided to post an experience I wrote up for Jarom last year. It probably will mean nothing to many of you, but it was funny at the time.

"So, previous to this story, I had seen Tony a couple of times. Each time he was so happy, enthusiastic, smiley, etc. Yesterday, he came in and just started talking to me. I’ll give you the whole story. Some of it I already told you, but I like telling the whole thing :). This is how it went:

Tony: (as happy and perky and upbeat as could be) Hey, Natalie.

Me: Hello, Elder Rawlins.

Tony: (slightly suggestively, you know what I’m talking about) So…how’s Grant?

Me: (expecting him to ask about someone else) I, uh….who? Grant? Um…good? I don’t know, Grant and I aren’t exactly the best of friends…I barely know Grant…

Tony: Oh, I thought…you were really good friends…

Me: Um, I took him to Morp-

Tony: As a pity date?

Me: No, I like Grant! I just don’t know him very well.

Tony: Oh. Well, how’s Rachel?

Me: Good! I saw her the other night! She’s doing well.

Tony: Good. Tell her that if she wants me to write her, she needs to write me first and give me her address.

Me: Okay, I’ll tell her.

Tony: Let’s see, who else do I know that you know?

Me: Elder! We went to high school together! Who do you know that I don’t?

Tony: Tell Jarom he’s freakishly tall.

Me: That’s mean. Besides, I am freakishly tall.

Tony: No, Jarom really is extremely tall. Well, where’s my companion? We have to go. We’re 20 minutes late to class.

Me: Uh, why were you just standing here talking to me when you were that late to class?

Tony: It’s been…quite a day…quite a different…day…

Me: By the way, I’m supposed to call you Elder Turbo.

Tony: (suddenly angry, or some emotion like that) No! That is against mission rules! You can’t call me that! Who is your manager? I could have you fired right now!

Then he grabbed his companion and stormed away.

And that is the Turbo story."

Yeah, not too exciting, I know. Hang in there and I'll think of something good to say.

Warning: Really long post about a missionary

Well, I've alluded to this problem before but it isn't going away so a whole post will now be dedicated to Elder Kalil*.

To start off this post I'll just say that the aforementioned missionary does not like to act as though he likes me. So basically everything I do or say is wrong. This all started when I smelled shampoo one time (see this post). Ever since then, all our conversations/interactions consist of me doing weird things. Here is part of a conversation we had last week.

Me: So...you think I'm weird?!
Elder K: No, but the things you do are weird.
Me: Actions define a person. Who was it that said that? Oh, yeah, Thomas Jefferson. "If you want to know who you are, do not ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you".
Elder K: Okay, it's weird that you memorize quotes like that. Well I have a quote for you. "They won't remember what you do, they won't remember what you say, but they'll always remember how you made them feel".
Me: Well then, I'm sorry I make you feel weird.
Elder K: Je suis desole. (I'm sorry)
Me: Non, Elder, JE suis desolee. (No, Elder, I'M sorry)
Elder K: Why are you sorry?
Me: Parce que tu penses que je...(because you think I'm...) oh, I can't remember the word for weird...
Elder K's Companion: I think the word you're looking for is awkward.
Me: You think I'm AWKWARD now?
Elder K: It's awkward that you're speaking French.

After this conversation I was bugged, but then I started feeling guilty and resolved to always be nice to Elder Kalil no matter what. So, today...

Elder K: Natalie, how are you? How's school?
Me: I'm great! School is good.
Elder K: Yeah, BYU must be hard. I'm sure a real college would actually be a lot more difficult than BYU.
Me (trying really hard not to get mad and say something I might regret): Um...thanks, Elder.
Elder K (to companion): There she goes again. Calling me the generic "Elder".
Me: What would you have me say?!
Elder K: I have a name.
Me: Okay, good. Elder Kalil, how come I can never do anything right? I go to BYU. Wrong decision. I call you Elder. Horrible word choice! I just don't get it!
Elder K: Well, Natalie, you have a great day.
Me: Okay, Elder Kalil. You too.

So anyway, I don't understand.

*His last name has been changed to a name that means "good/best friend" in Arabic.

Tell me...

...have I played my part in the comedy of life well enough?


I think it's no secret that I love the MTC and my job there. The people I work with honestly are some of my best friends-we all get along brilliantly. I'm lucky we all get along so well, because I often do awkward things that I will never live down. Trust me, I've got quite the list. Normally I get teased by my coworkers. But new people are taking interest in my awkward moments...the missionaries. Oh great.

I already had an experience where Elder Taylor accused me of slacking off (I was. Gideon and I were talking). Anyway, here's a conversation of something that happened today.

Elder K: Natalie, I almost had Jordan help me but then I thought I'd come to you.
Me: Thanks, I guess...even though you made fun of me for smelling shampoo.
Elder K: Well it was weird! Seriously, my whole district agrees with me.
Me: Elder, why in the world would you tell your whole district that I smelled shampoo?!
Elder K: Because it was so weird!
Me: Well, I told that story like three times over the weekend and no one thought that it's weird to smell shampoo. People always smell shampoo.
Elder: Um, yeah, if they are planning on buying it!

Whatever. I don't think it's weird...

Funny conversation

Elizabeth: Where are you headed, Elder?
Elder: Sweden.
Elizabeth: Oh, cool! How's your Swedish coming?
Elder: It's perfect, with just a slight Southern accent.
Elizabeth: Southern? Where are you from?
Elder: Skalsbo*
Elizabeth: Oh....
Elder: [slight pause] You have no idea where that is, do you?
Elizabeth: No. Where?
Elder: It's in southern Sweden. I am Swedish.
Elizabeth: Ah.

*Name of town has been changed, on account of the fact that I can't remember where he said he's from. I know it started with an 'S'.

I miss the MTC!

It was so easy to be happy there. I didn't even have to try.

Observations

Observation 1: I never want to work in an ice cream parlor. End of story.

Observation 2: I miss the MTC bookstore with every little crevice of my heart. I miss the missionaries. I miss the diversity. I miss the computer system. I miss blue cards and multiple languages. I miss my best friends. I miss the camaraderie. I miss scheming, and McKesson, and random food days, and Jordan seceding from the Union. I miss the vacuums. I miss my nametag. I miss blue and yellow packets. I'm totally going through withdrawals. Right now, I even miss being stopped by security.

Observation 3: I really couldn't be happier with the situation up here. I like the computer system we use. I like seeing families together-even though the kids can be crazy. The boys I work with are perfect-we couldn't get along any better. I like feeling as though the store is "ours" in a sense. I love that we all feel like family already. I love walking into the "living room" and having every one there talking and laughing. I love having best friends to confide in/write books with. I love the peace of being in the mountains. I love going outside in the morning and feeling the crisp mountain air.

I really like it up here. But I do want to go back to the MTC in the fall.

The evening shift

Random things about my job. In--surprise!---a list.

1. I have to wear Sunday clothes every day.
2. But, I get to wear an apron! Which, let me tell you, is delightful. I love being able to keep all the pens, box cutters, money, candy, chapstick, and notes that I might need right in my pockets.
3. I get mistaken for a superhero. A lot.
4. They play the same music over and over. Sometimes it's Christmas music...even though it's February. Sometimes it's cliche. But it's nice.
5. I've become so used to hearing different languages that I just kinda respond to everything now. Even if I don't understand what they're saying...I know I can respond with either, "Hello" "thanks" or "you too" depending on what part of the transaction we're at.
6. Some of my best friends are the people who work with me. I tell them everything (but sometimes we have to speak in code). Even the full-times know most everything about my life. And they usually aren't shy about offering advice :)
7. We have food parties randomly, and it's fun.
8. I really didn't order enough McKesson this week, and I was shocked. I mean honestly, we're almost out of toothbrushes...Thursday. I will order much more than I think I'll need on Thursday.
9. I am so impressed with all the missionaries. I love the examples they set for me. I'm so grateful for this job.
10. I love when the missionaries share their testimonies with me. No matter what language, the spirit is the same, and it's great.