Getting caught in the rain

We spent a good chunk of our Saturday cleaning out the back shed.  It all started quite nicely; the weather was beautiful and warm, and we had no problem getting all our stuff out of the shed and spread all over the lawn.

Once we got to that point, the thunder began to clap and an ice-cold rain fell, drenching everything.  We worked frantically to fill the shed again, but in no time we ourselves were entirely soaked. 

And I loved every second of it.

I remember a Monday evening on the southeast side of San Antonio.  My companion and I hit the streets to find people to talk to, and it was an overcast day much like today.  Then a flood of rain suddenly came down, and we had left our umbrellas at the apartment, so whaddya do, you know?  I'll tell ya, though, that was some of the most fun I ever had street contacting on my mission.  We surrendered to the elements, so we didn't even care that it looked and felt like we had just jumped into a pool with all of our clothes and proselyting materials.  In that moment we truly lost ourselves, and we were having so much fun that we radiated happiness.  Anyone who was crazy enough to still be outside definitely heard from us in that neighborhood that night.  There was no escape.  And I like to think we left at least some of them feeling better about their day.

In Texas we had plenty of hot days.  One summer I was there, Austin broke a record for the most consecutive days over a hundred degrees.  Church marquees all over the place could be seen inviting people to pray for rain, and in two of my areas, there were even stake-wide fasts for rain (which were all answered the very next day--cool stories, I won't get into them right here though).

But man, when it rained, it rained.  One evening I passed an empty flood basin, and the next day it had risen over eight feet and become a roaring rapid.  I saw swimming pools that had overflowed so that they were just the deep part of a much larger puddle.  And there was at least one occasion in San Antonio when it seemed almost pointless to keep our windshield wipers on, because the rain was just coming down too hard and too fast.  It doesn't rain in Utah the way it does in Texas.

I love it when it rains because it takes me back to my mission, and thus motivates me to become a better person.  Today's rain took me back.  So, in tribute to the rains of my mission, a few videos from some such times.