Tornadoes, alarms and dedications - oh my!

If you haven't heard about the tornadoes they had in the South last week, see the post below this one.

Madre, Padre, Family-dre!

How're y'all? Things are going well here. No worries with the tornadoes here in Athens. We kept getting texts from the zone leaders like "If you hear tornado sirens, get in your bathtub and hold a mattress over your head!" or "Tornado watch! Stay awake and alert until 2AM!" So I definitely called the zone leaders and had this conversation:

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's Elder McGregor. Do we really have to stay awake and alert until 2 in the morning?"

"... ... ... Let me find out."

"Thanks."

Five minutes later:

"Elder McGregor?"

"Hey."

"So I talked with the assistants. They said to keep the windows cracked open so you can hear the tornado sirens. And to keep a flashlight by your bed. And shoes. But yeah, you don't have to stay awake."

"Good to know. Thanks, Elder."

"No problem. Have a good night. Oh, and turn up your phone really loud."

"You got it."

So I turned the phone off vibrate, and then I went to bed, and I don't think a tornado could've woken me up. Thankfully, Elder Williams is a light sleeper, so if a tornado had torn the roof off, he would've woken me up (at least, I think he would've...).

Oh, while we're on funny sleeping stories, I set a calendar event on the phone to remind me of Elise's birthday today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEESE! Y'all will get a letter in the mail... eventually. No promises as to when. But it'll be... eventual). Little did I know that the alarm would go off at 12:01 AM this morning. And go off it did. And it woke up Elder Williams, Elder Anderson and Elder Stevens. And then it went off again at 1:01AM. And woke everyone else up again. And Elder Anderson (according to Elder Williams) goes, "WHAT IS THAT? Oh my GOSH!" But they figured out how to turn it off.

Here's the best part:

I have no recollection of this whatever. So as Elder Williams pointed out, the alarm woke everyone except the person it was supposed to advise. Fun fun fun. So needless to say, I'm having no trouble sleeping. Huzzah.

LOL!  His poor comp and flatmates!

Let's see. No package yet. Did it get sent UPS or FedEx? Because if it did, the mission office can't forward that. If it got sent USMail, then they can. Otherwise someone will have to pick it up for me.

Oh, we didn't end up watching the cultural celebration. The branch had a barbecue that night and Robb Player (ping-pong ninja) went with us. But I hear I didn't miss out much--the UGA sister missionaries were a little disappointed with the final product. Which I seem to remember being the case with me and the Sacramento Temple Celebration.

The open house was pretty cool. We had a couple investigators make it out, and they really enjoyed it. Robb Player commented (by text message), "The temple was intricately designed and furnished. The chandeliers were lit up like Christmas trees." He's a really entertaining guy.

But the dedication was pretty awesome. President Monson and Elder Ballard were there, as were a few other General Authorities. They all gave great talks/testimonies. President Monson is a pretty jovial guy, I must say. After a few of the talks during the second dedicatory session, he gets up and proceeds to recognize the women (wives of GAs) present, and then says, "You thought you were off the hook, didn't you? We'll now hear each of their testimonies." And they all got up and bore their testimonies. It was pretty fun.

Quick note: I really think it should be called the Hosanna Chant. Much more accurate as to what it's actually like.
He's referring to the Hosanna shout during the temple dedication.  I agree with him - I remember being very disappointed the first time I got to be involved...

Daw, as far as the ambush of Christians, they were mostly trying to trip me up with being saved by grace and what that really means. It's common here in the South to believe that because we're saved by grace that works are very very unnecessary. For instance:

Baptism (a "work") can't be a requirement to be saved because if it were, we would be depending upon our own works to save us, and not upon Christ's grace.

Yep.

Well, love y'all, hope everything's still well. Have a fantastic week!

Elder Fent McGregor