What's this word, "wassif"? I don't suppose it's familiar to many of you. I first encountered it in Colorado as I was serving a mission for my church. My mission president, the big guy in charge, would meet with us once a month and give us some words of encouragement and inspiration. He had a slow, raspy way of talking and it soon became a bit comical to those of us serving in the area. President Horne would often say, "Wassif we go out and teach everyone we come into contact with?" or "Hey, wassif this month we challenge ourselves to do a little better?" Soon the mission's cool new buzzword was "wassif"?

Of course, we used the term more loosely than it was originally intended. Soon we were saying, "Yo! Wassif?" "Hey, wassif, sister!" ...in greeting. Some elders even managed to video-tape the president (after being made aware of the phenomenon) saying very boldly "Waaas-iiifff!!" complete with two thumbs up and a cheezy grin.

It was not only hilarious to me for a good year, but "Wass-if" is now one of my favorite expressions. It brings to mind in it's original context what we can accomplish if we put our minds to it. So with a little inspiration and a little silliness, I've started my first blog entry.