My OperaMessage from Chad about Grandma March 27, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006 3:50:41 AM
From Chad's e-mail on March 27, 2006 Hi everyone.
Thanks for the emails Dad and Steph.
One part of Steph's email made me laugh because just yesterday I was
talking to Jenny and mentioned the story about when Steph got stuck in
the pantry at Grandma's. I couldn't really remember what we were doing
to get Steph stuck in there. I told Jenny that Jon and I didn't force
her in there and then close the door, but in reality, I couldn't
remember how it happened so I was really hoping that wasn't the case.
It was nice to hear that we were just playing a friendly game of
hide-and-seek.
I remember when we were at Grandma's once and we found out that she was
a region champion, or something like that, in tennis when she was in
high school. So we asked to her come play with us and tried to get her
to go to the courts right then, but she wouldn't. Then we asked why she
never told us about that before and she said something like, "because I
knew you would always be trying to get me to go play with you if I told
you." I guess she knew us all pretty well. That reminds me, somewhere
in a box at mom and dad's house there's a picture I took of Grandma
riding a bike. I remember trying to get her to ride a bike for us and
how I was so excited when she finally said yes. I think it's the only
time she ever rode a bike when she wasn't on a mission.
On my mission I met someone who knew Grandma in almost every area I was
in. One of my first Sundays after a transfer we had District
Conference. Someone from my branch knew about Grandma and said there
was someone from a neighboring branch who he thought knew Grandma as
well. When I was introduced to her she started crying and crying and
saying how much Grandma meant to her. Grandma was her missionary when
she was serving in Nagoya. Grandma is the one who challenged her to be
baptized. She was one of the many people I met that Grandma had had a
great impact on. It was amazing to meet people who immediately had
great respect for me and thought I was some wonderful person just
because I was related to Mano Shimai.
Thinking about baptisms, I don't know if Grandma ever really challenged
people to be baptized. I think it was more that she told people that if
they believed it then get baptized and they did it. I remember talking
to Grandma many times about "chicken missionaries" who were too scared
to challenge people to be baptized. I home teach a lady in her 70s who
had been an active church member whole life until about 10 years ago (I
should mention she's in perfect health and we're good friends so this
story doesn't make me sound too mean). A few months ago I said some
somewhat strong stuff about her needing to come back to church and
afterwards my companion commented about how bold that was and how he
wishes he dared to say stuff like that. I told him that I did it
because my grandma told me not to be a chicken.
I really did think Grandma would live to be at least 100. But like
Steph said, I don't know that I always had a number on it as I really
felt like she would live forever because I couldn't imagine her not
being here. I'm sad that Carli is probably too young to remember
Grandma years from now. I hope that Logan will remember. I talked to
him and asked him if he'll always remember Grandma Mano and he said he
would. I hope so much that he can keep his memories of Grandma forever.
I too am so thankful to have such a wonderful family. I was just
talking to Rachel about how when I was in junior high I was talking to a
friend who was dreading the upcoming visit from his cousins and I just
could not comprehend what he meant. I honestly thought I was
misunderstanding something. Why in the world would someone not be
excited to see their cousins? Later I met his cousins and quickly
realized that our family is not just like all other families. It's
pretty amazing to look at the family legacy that Grandma has built. I
think others would be amazed to see a family so large where everyone
gets along (Okay, I admit I was a little scared of Susan when we were
little, but that was resolved years ago. Remind me to tell you the
story) and everyone loves everyone else so much.
Love,
Chad
Thanks for the emails Dad and Steph.
One part of Steph's email made me laugh because just yesterday I was
talking to Jenny and mentioned the story about when Steph got stuck in
the pantry at Grandma's. I couldn't really remember what we were doing
to get Steph stuck in there. I told Jenny that Jon and I didn't force
her in there and then close the door, but in reality, I couldn't
remember how it happened so I was really hoping that wasn't the case.
It was nice to hear that we were just playing a friendly game of
hide-and-seek.
I remember when we were at Grandma's once and we found out that she was
a region champion, or something like that, in tennis when she was in
high school. So we asked to her come play with us and tried to get her
to go to the courts right then, but she wouldn't. Then we asked why she
never told us about that before and she said something like, "because I
knew you would always be trying to get me to go play with you if I told
you." I guess she knew us all pretty well. That reminds me, somewhere
in a box at mom and dad's house there's a picture I took of Grandma
riding a bike. I remember trying to get her to ride a bike for us and
how I was so excited when she finally said yes. I think it's the only
time she ever rode a bike when she wasn't on a mission.
On my mission I met someone who knew Grandma in almost every area I was
in. One of my first Sundays after a transfer we had District
Conference. Someone from my branch knew about Grandma and said there
was someone from a neighboring branch who he thought knew Grandma as
well. When I was introduced to her she started crying and crying and
saying how much Grandma meant to her. Grandma was her missionary when
she was serving in Nagoya. Grandma is the one who challenged her to be
baptized. She was one of the many people I met that Grandma had had a
great impact on. It was amazing to meet people who immediately had
great respect for me and thought I was some wonderful person just
because I was related to Mano Shimai.
Thinking about baptisms, I don't know if Grandma ever really challenged
people to be baptized. I think it was more that she told people that if
they believed it then get baptized and they did it. I remember talking
to Grandma many times about "chicken missionaries" who were too scared
to challenge people to be baptized. I home teach a lady in her 70s who
had been an active church member whole life until about 10 years ago (I
should mention she's in perfect health and we're good friends so this
story doesn't make me sound too mean). A few months ago I said some
somewhat strong stuff about her needing to come back to church and
afterwards my companion commented about how bold that was and how he
wishes he dared to say stuff like that. I told him that I did it
because my grandma told me not to be a chicken.
I really did think Grandma would live to be at least 100. But like
Steph said, I don't know that I always had a number on it as I really
felt like she would live forever because I couldn't imagine her not
being here. I'm sad that Carli is probably too young to remember
Grandma years from now. I hope that Logan will remember. I talked to
him and asked him if he'll always remember Grandma Mano and he said he
would. I hope so much that he can keep his memories of Grandma forever.
I too am so thankful to have such a wonderful family. I was just
talking to Rachel about how when I was in junior high I was talking to a
friend who was dreading the upcoming visit from his cousins and I just
could not comprehend what he meant. I honestly thought I was
misunderstanding something. Why in the world would someone not be
excited to see their cousins? Later I met his cousins and quickly
realized that our family is not just like all other families. It's
pretty amazing to look at the family legacy that Grandma has built. I
think others would be amazed to see a family so large where everyone
gets along (Okay, I admit I was a little scared of Susan when we were
little, but that was resolved years ago. Remind me to tell you the
story) and everyone loves everyone else so much.
Love,
Chad
