Wall-E(ggs)

Since Jerry's last entry gave some insight into his mother, I figured I would share a bit of history about my own dear mom. Nurturing with nutrition, she rarely let us kids escape for school days without having a solid breakfast to line our bellies. The most common food she handed us as we ran out the door: a fried egg on toast. "Brain food," she calls it. I am quite certain one day she even handed me a whole plate, complete with ham, egg, knife, and fork. "I'm driving myself to school, Mom," I informed her--but apparently she feared what an empty stomach could do to me more than the risk of me driving while eating.

I have kept the "breakfast egg" habit after leaving my parent's home, and was pleased to find Jerry also grew up with something similar during his Hong Kong days.

We recently visited the dollar theater (actully, $1.25 theater with student ID) and finally got around to seeing the cute flick Wall-E. Thanks everybody who recommended it. The next morning I made a nice protein-rich breakfast (gotta love my hypoglycemic body for helping me rationalize eggs and bacon) and Jerry laughed as he stared into the frying pan. All he could say, in a mechanical robot voice, was: "Wall-E." I almost felt cannibalistic as I bit into those pleading eggy-eyes (pictured above).

We do love eggs. Foo yung, scrambled, poached in noodle soup...and of course, lovely duck egg porridge like the pot we made tonight. Jerry first made some for me when we were dating, and I ate a few bites--but it tasted unexpectedly fish-like to my uncultured tongue--so I mostly just fed the leftovers to my Great Aunt Bertella. She liked how she could eat it without chewing. Plus also, she has complete loss of vision, so the black of the egg did not affect her appetite like it did mine. The dish is growing on me, however. Tonight I even found myself looking forward to it, and while peeling the duck egg, my eyes widened in a mild awe at its beauty. Green specked on the outside shell, with a glossy, marbled black, mahogany, and turqoise flesh on the inside; I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Conversion Part 2 & Prophets

My mother went with me to a church activity for the first time in 2001. There she met many wonderful members and felt the good influence of the church.

She took the missionary lessons. For about two months straight, she read the Book of Mormon out loud every night, to a point where my non-member brother thought that it was too noisy. (Hong Kong people have very little space and small homes.)

When sister missionaries asked her whether she had read the assigned scripture, my mom started quoting from the scripture and most of the time she read more than what the missionaries assigned.

She was baptized eight months after my baptism.

Talking to her on the phone tonight, I asked her, “What helped you join the church?” She first said that “the Gospel principles are very good; and then the member’s love.” We got to worship with her at the church and temple when we went to Hong Kong last summer.

The Restored Church of Jesus Christ has a living prophet:

Courtney and I saw the prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, yesterday at the BYU Marriott Center (sat about 40 yards away from him), when he came to speak for the CES Fireside. Prophets are special witnesses that testify of Christ and write down God’s words.

He quoted a lot of inspirational stories and poems, but I think this quote came from his witty mind: the “W formula” that “Work Will Win When Wishy-Washy Wishing Won’t.” He also said, “In order to find Him [Jesus Christ], make room for Him in your life.”



image at right from http://www.nathansharpstudios.com/wst_page9.php