Once upon a time there was a man who had a wife and a clock.  The man loved his wife, the wife loved her husband, and the man liked his clock.  They all lived together very happily.  And after many years it came to pass that they were called to serve a mission together for the Church.  They were somewhat worried, for they were stepping into the unknown.

On the first night of their mission, they were shown to a nice room in the Missionary Training Center.  They unpacked what they needed from their bags, and put a few things in the drawers. The man plugged in his clock, set the correct time, and established the clock on a night stand beside the bed.

In the black of the night the man looked over at the clock to see how the night was progressing.  Alas, he thought, the power is out.  The bright, red numerals of the clock were not visible.  Slowly, however, a memory came into his mind.  Getting out of bed he groped his way around to the other side, where he felt for the clock.  At first all he could feel were various pieces of clothing, until digging deeper, he located his clock, nearly suffocated beneath layers of cloth.  The clock was gasping and blinking, telling him that because a button had been pushed, it had no idea what time it really was, either.

Going back to his side of the bed, the man laid back down, smiling contentedly to himself.  Though they were going to strange places, and were going to do strange and unfamiliar things, everything would be all right.  Nothing had changed.  Through experience, he knew how to fix things.  Together they would manage.  He was married to a wonderfully, consistent woman, who loved him in spite of his own failings.  Together they would be successful, as they had always been.

In the morning the man unplugged the clock, moved it to the night stand on the other side of the bed, reset the time, and knew that the next two years would be a wonderful experience for all.

Application: Potential irritations can be wonderfully endearing, if allowed to be.