Throwback to the Mission

Yesterday I got to spend the day with a friend from when I served as a missionary in Hawaii. It was great fun and made me think back to several great stories before I knew Paula was Paula. Quite frankly, it was even before I knew my noises were Tourette Syndrome! I simply made noises back then, having no idea why.

Love this mission

There was one meeting where our leaders wanted to say something good about each one of us that would uplift us and help us feel better about ourselves, as serving a mission had some very difficult moments. This came from some very wise boys, considering the group consisted of 4 guys and 20 girls. When it came to my turn, the question was asked to the group, "What is our favorite thing about Sister Smith?" followed by a chorus of various chirps. It made me laugh hearing so many echos and variations of Paula.

Our wise, energetic leaders

Great people, great friendships

Many of these attempts, were a far cry from the real deal. Paula has a unique sound that is really hard to imitate. I can't imitate her noises, though I am often asked to attempt the feat. There has only ever been one person who was really able to sound like Paula. No one else has nailed the sounds coming out of my own mouth, including me!

Back then, Paula was going through a phase where the were like a creaky door taking it's time opening. These were some of the hardest noises to imitate. Most in the group chose the simple version of her noises. Even then, they were still a little off.

Sister Bolo, on the other hand, could imitate almost perfectly anything that Paula could throw at her. She hit these noises so dead on, some were never sure if it was me or her that were making the noises. As always, Paula liked the attention and gave Sister Bolo every chance she could to imitate her. Bolo was always up for the challenge and kept up quite well. As much as Paula has changed in recent years, I wonder if she is still able to keep up with Paula's sounds. I'm pretty sure she could, though.

The talented Sister Bolo (now Bacigalupi) herself