Pie Heaven?

My sister and I had a favorite joke about pie, that was more of an inside joke than anything else.  A comedian named Jack Handey once said: “When you die, if you get a choice between going to regular heaven or pie heaven, choose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if it's not, mmmmmmmm, boy.”  My sister could never remember the joke.  All she could ever remember was that it had something to do with pie heaven, and that it was funny.  So pie has become a symbol of humor in my family, simply becuase of her forgetting a bad joke.

The other day, my companion and I had a experience that I think is hilarious.  It relates to pie.  Elder Barnett wanted to buy a pumpkin pie for thanksgiving.  I suggested we wait until after thanksgiving because someone may give us a pumpkin pie, and we could never eat TWO pies.  He agreed.  Unfortunately, we didn't get a pumpkin pie.  Instead, we were given two apple pies and a cherry pie.  Determined to get a pumpkin pie,  Elder Barnett grabbed one, as soon as we entered the grocery store the following Monday.  It wasn't until we got home that he realized that he had grabbed a sweet potato pie, instead of a pumpkin pie.  Defeated, he gave up on pie and simply ate pumpkin bread instead.  He still topped it with whipped cream though.

Now we have a whole lot of pie, which brings me back to the point I made before: Mmmmmmmm, boy. Pie heaven!

(P.S.  As a missionary, I don't feel comfortable posting this without adding the disclaimer that there is no scriptural evidence that there is such a thing as pie heaven, only in a symbolic sense in our fridge :)

-Elder Blackburn

For the Lovers of Lists...

 

Thanksgiving is getting closer, and I thought that it would be appropriate to share an example of how gratitude has effected me in my life.  My sister's name is Brenda, and when she got home from her mission in Toronto, Canada she started a notebook called "things I love."  It started with just 23 things, for her age, but then it grew and grew as she added the lists of friends, families, and even acquaintances.  It became obvious that the more you think about the things you love, and the things you are grateful for, the more you are reminded of the "little things" that really count.  It has become a tradition, for me and my sister, to include in every letter and email that we send to each other, 3 things we are grateful for, and anyone who wants to, can add their 3 things too!

• I am grateful for full moons
• I am grateful for memories of playing in haystacks at Grandpa's farm
• I am grateful for those days that we actually DO find that needle in the haystack. (which doesn't happen all that frequently.  Any of the other missionaries who knows me will agree that I loose stuff.  A lot.  I have probably lost a dozen umbrellas in the last two years, but that is another story completely...)

 I couldn't resist putting in this video made by the church too.  It's great, and is a classic example of being grateful for the little things!
-Elder Blackburn