A Night on the Couch

Out of the terminal he came.  The guy I was waiting to see: Maksym.  He was my trainer on my mission and it had been years since the last time I has seen him.  I was excited that he taught me his native tongue and now he was in the United States to learn mine.  After an hour delay I was grateful to finally see him.  I introduced him to my new friend Ali, we gathered Maksym's baggage, and off we went to my car.  In the car Ali was so excited to see snow and when we arrived to my house he couldn't help but start his first snowball fight.  We went inside and I showed Maksym and Ali their rooms and then we all ate a little before going to bed.  After Maksym and Ali had lied down I stayed up a little longer reading and eating.  As I went back down to the basement where all three of us were staying I heard noise in the living room.  I glanced around the corner and to my surprise Ali was in there.  I was unsure what to say so I didn't say anything at all.

After a good nights rest I woke up Ali (who had spent the night on the coach for reasons known only to himself) and Maksym.  Ali asked what time it was and when I told him that it was nearly 10am he was shocked.  He told me that he had never slept so late in his life.  I didn't have the nerve to ask him why he hadn't slept in the bed I offered him, so I simply gave him a towel so he could shower and told him he could come upstairs to breakfast when he was ready.  For breakfast he asked if I could warm up his milk for him.  Warm milk and Cheerios with no sugar. Yum.

After breakfast Maksym and Ali piled all of their belongings into the car and we went into the backyard to take a picture of Ali in the snow. We took a few shots and then got into the car and began the journey to Provo.  I exited the freeway and turned into a parking lot at UVU.   Ali and I said our goodbyes and I promised him that we would see each other again and that I was always willing to help him out if he needed anything. Shortly there after I dropped Maksym off at his apartment and went off to work.

By the end of all of my conversations with Ali I had learned several things about him: he had never seen snow, he loved to talk, Christmas is extremely important to him, he has a strong relationship with his family, but what stood out to me the most was when he told me he had been meeting with LDS missionaries in Nigeria.