End of an era

Feb. 26, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Well, today was the last day for our good ole Eagle 6th ward. I've pretty much been in denial the whole time, so that made it easy. That is until Relief Society meeting today. They opened up the floor to anyone who wanted to say anything, and the tears started to flow all around me.These are all wonderful women, many of whom I have a deep and sweet friendship with. I was their Relief Society president ten years ago, then dad was the Bishop and now I'm the Stake RS president. But more than that, we've had lots of fun with so many of the families. They've been such a support for me as a mom and have had such a great influence of each one of you kids. When Heather Pinder got up and said how much she was going to miss me and what a good friend she considers me to be, I lost it. I had to stand up after that and express my feelings too.

I was actually not even supposed to be in the RS meeting today because I was supposed to be at another ward conference, but I just couldn't not be in my ward's RS meeting and I'm glad I didn't miss it. 

When I finally made it to the Eagle 5th ward for ward conference, it was also a wonderful meeting. The Rasmussen's are very excited about their new call as mission president and will be able to announce where they are going this Tuesday. They've already called Tyler and told him, so he knows. This morning in my Stake Council mtg, we got to hear Jay Smack give his mission report and also a couple returning from Nauvoo. I love hearing the mission reports.

In the 5th ward during Sunday School a man introduced himself and said he was just moving in next week and that he was moving from the Nashville area. The Rasmussens and I talked with him afterward. He's from the Franklin Stake and his name is Bro. Wadsworth. He said he and his family have fed many, many missionaries. Were you ever at his house? He's going back to Nashville tomorrow to help pack up his family, then next week they'll be moving in here in Eagle. Small world, eh?

With the new ward changes, there are tons of new callings going on. I've been hearing from several of the new auxiliary presidents asking me about different women in each of the wards, even our new Bishop, Bishop Bingham gave me a call to ask about the families coming into his ward. It's going to be crazy for a little bit and next week it will seem very strange to sit in a brand new ward. Our ward comprises many new subdivisions so there have been several new families in the last couple years, so we will have a lot of new people to get to know. We actually know way more people who will now be in the 9th ward.

Time seems to be marching on quickly. Kristina, Leah and Nikki are already signing up for classes for next year. It's hard to believe Nikki is picking electives for middle school. She is very excited about it.

Sarah was here the whole week with us and everybody had a great time. The next time we'll see her is when she goes to California with us for Spring break in about 4 weeks. If she can live through the car ride down there with us, then it's meant to be. :)

So Maria, my friend, has met with the missionaries once so far. It's so hard for them to find both of them home because they work quite a bit. But she says she wants them to come back. I'm hopeful.

How are your investigators coming along? Neil sounds just like Bro. Condie here. When he was investigating the church and was very interested, his member wife was practically holding him back. That's very difficult when both people are not even on the same page.

We loved your ATV story especially the yeehaws and whoopin and a-hollarin. I think my sweet Georgia boy has found his roots. I went 4-wheeling one time and I can still remember the fear that possessed me while at the same time, the thrill of the ride, and you know how I'm a screamer.  Well, I wish I could have just gotten yeehaws out of my mouth instead of blood curdling yells. I'm glad you had a good time.

Coleman Madsen put his mission papers in today, so I should be able to let you know about his call in a couple weeks. Ryan McKell only has a few more weeks, then he'll be home. Myles says he's always training now and right now he's even training 2 missionaries at the same time. I didn't realize training actually had a manual, etc. That's something fairly new I think.

Well, the family is well. Dakota only has a couple weeks before she takes off for Croatia. She sounds really good in her letters, very upbeat. I believe Cole should be coming home shortly, so I hope some of us will be able to go down there for his homecoming. Grandpa Trumbo is feeling much better (I know he's feeling better because he'd threatening to make changes in his will...haha). G&G Thompson are finally getting a new floor and carpet in their basement due to some flooding problems. Kristina tried out for the ultimate frisbee team at EHS and made it. She's very excited. So she'll be playing ultimate frisbee and lacrosse at the same time. Leah starts lacrosse in 2 weeks and she's excited for that too. Nikki is still singing in Cantus and can't decide if she loves eating or singing more. Dad is working hard. I think we need to take off to Vegas every other month to help refresh him. I've got tons of things always going on and I love it, especially working in the church and being a mom-best job in the world.

Pres. Shaw talked to us in RS today about replacing our fears with faith and said we cannot have faith when fear is present, so we should face our fears head on and move forward through them knowing that the Lord will help us every step of the way. I thought that would be great advice for you in the mission field too.

Have a faith-filled week and remember our prayers are always with you.

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Vegas Baby!

Feb. 19, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Kind of a crazy week here. Not only did we go to Vegas for 4 days, but then we come home and find out what the ward splits will be. We'll send you a copy of the map and boundaries because it's kind of crazy, but we are now in the Eagle 8th ward and it consists of everyone north of Floating Feather and between Ballantyne and Linder. Lots of new people apparently. I guess we'll find out more when we have our first meeting on the 4th of March. All I know is there was lots of crying of the young women at the meeting. They were not happy being split apart. Basically our little 6th ward went in all directions. Part of them are now in the new Eagle 9th ward, part stayed in the 6th ward which will be meeting at the State Street building now, and part went to the 8th ward. The new Bishop of the 9th ward is Stewart Jensen. He'll be great. Our Bishop will be Bishop Bingham.

Today was also Jay Smack's homecoming, but we weren't able to attend because we had ward conference today at the same time. Dad called him this afternoon and chatted for a little bit. He said he'd come by sometime and we can talk about Cordoba stuff. Our ward conference was wonderful. Pres. Shaw gave such a good talk in our Relief Society meeting. I know you've heard him talk about his courtship with Launette. The way he tells it is so funny. He wanted us to get the point that we all receive promptings, but the more we receive them and act upon them, the easier it is to recognize them. He also told us that as women we have our bars set too high and then we go crazy trying to achieve things that are almost impossible to reach. So he told us to focus more on what's really important in life and find things we can let go of and actually do less. He was very inspiring.

I also called the 7th ward to see when Graham was getting home and they said they'd let me know when his homecoming was. So I'll keep you posted on that.

Last night not only did we fly home from Vegas, but Sarah drove down from Canada and we all arrived around the same time. Kirk is a happy camper and was glad to have her on his arm at church. They are a cute couple. So many people came up to me and said she looks like she could be one of my daughters, so I guess that means she fits right in. 

Dad and I had a great time in Vegas. For me it's just great getting away, doing something completely different than my usual routine. We went to the temple while we were there. I have to say the Vegas temple has the most beautiful celestial room that I have ever seen. The temple is shaped just like the Boise temple but it is so much bigger, has a courtyard in the middle of it and is in a beautiful setting. I told Kirk and Sarah they may want to rethink where they want to be married, but they're not budging from the Salt Lake temple. 

We saw two shows in Vegas-Donny and Marie again (yes, they changed it up from the last time we saw them). We were so close to the stage and Donny even stepped onto the table we were sitting at and shook my hand. We also saw Cirque, the Beatles show. I really enjoyed it, so entertaining and I loved the music of course. We shopped, went to In n Out, ate at Bobby Flay's restaurant, the Mesa Grill, hit a couple quilt stores, went to a HUGE furniture design center (even bigger than the one we used to go to in High Point, NC), walked a lot, shopped some more and ate way too much, but it was very fun. Here's the view from our room. yes those are the fountains at the Bellagio.

Back on the home front, I heard from the missionaries and they had their first meeting with Maria last week with her husband too. I wasn't here to talk with her about it, but Kirk did and she said they enjoyed it and are having the missionaries back again, but that they had some homework they had to do. :)  I gave her a copy of the Liahona last week, so I hope they've enjoyed some of the articles in that. The missionaries left them with a DVD too.

The kids have no school tomorrow because of President's Day, so we may go on a little hike with the dogs. We still have not had winter weather yet and now I'm not sure we will ever have it, but since I'm not a snow person, that hasn't bothered me. 

So how is Neil Adams progressing? Sounds like you had a great week last week-meaning the week you wrote us about last week. I hope you've had lots of teaching appointments this past week.

By the way, the pics I sent you last week, yes, that was Caleb in the one picture. It's funny to hear you say that he has changed. Of course, since we see him almost daily, we can't see it. That's funny. Also, last weekend was the Junior Miss  pageant and Tara Kofoed won-of course. Tanner Myler won for Junior Mr.-which is just a spoof but Kristina said all the guys who performed were really funny-Phillip Stafford, Sean Pinder, and a few others. Kristina helped behind the scenes.

Also I had a nice talk with Julie Rasmussen when I found out they had been called to be mission president. Can't wait to hear where they're serving. Maybe you already know, if so, pass the news along. She shared with me how they got called and how it all happens. It was quite a surprise for them, but they will be awesome. Also Spencer Myler got his call last week and he's going to Tempe Arizona Spanish speaking, but not leaving until July. 

That's about it for our news. I think of you often, Alex, pray for you and know that you are right where Heavenly Father wants you to be, acting in His behalf through the priesthood. You have a good, strong and faithful spirit that you brought with you from heaven-all things I could see as your mom right from the start. Keep up the good work and have courage doing the hard things, you are never alone. 

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Sweethearts weekend

Feb. 12, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Well, we've survived another sweetheart's weekend. Dad and I went down to BSU yesterday afternoon and decorated, then we took tickets at the door. The hardest part was just having to yell in order to be heard over the music. Other than that, it was pretty fun seeing everyone. We had a few couples showing up from the other dance down the hall, so that was fun explaining our standards at the dance and waiting to see if they still wanted to come in. A few did, most didn't. The Purnell's put this whole dance together to give the kids an option for the other sweethearts dance that has quite the reputation for dirty dancing and bad music. Not to mention that the dress standard seemed pretty lax at the other place. Both dances were held at BSU. Ours was upstairs on the 3rd floor and the other one was on the 2nd floor, so they were pretty close to each other. The other dance is actually not even sponsored by Eagle High. It's sponsored by a group called the Daughters of Job and it's open to the whole valley. So the kids pretty much know that there's no one there that can point them out for something inappropriate and get them in trouble at the school later on, thus the reputation of the dance.

Our room was packed and it looked like everyone was having a really good time. Dad and I left around 10:15 to get home so we could get the pazookies ready for Kristina's group after the dance. Can't remember if I've told you about pazookies, seems like I have, but they were a hit. Caleb said it was the best dessert he's ever had. I'm not going to tell his mom that it was only two ingredients, cookie dough and ice cream. For dinner they had Hawaiian haystacks at the Binghams. Those are always a hit.

Kristina went with Adam Guyman (Dr. Moss's nephew). She used to complain about Adam being so geeky, but apparently he's grown up and is fun to be around now. They had a paint war using water bottles with watered down paint at the park during the day. Then they played dodgeball at the church.  Now we can rest from the dances until Prom.

Last week I took a digital photography class.  I loved it. It got me so motivated to get back into photography, but when I've been trying to use our camera for the things I've been learning, somehow it doesn't turn out like I think. I guess I need to practice more or hey, maybe I need a better camera...

I had 2 ward conferences today and didn't get home until after 6pm. They were both wonderful-the 1st ward and the 8th ward. They announced today in church that there are going to be ward splits and five wards have to meet next Sunday to see what the new boundaries are. They will be creating a new ward too, Eagle 9th ward. The wards that will have have splits are Eagle 1, 2, 4, 6, 8.  According to Pres. Stafford, our little ward will be totally obliterated because we are caught right in the middle. Those were his words. I'm really not looking forward to a big change, but it sounds like there's no way out of this. They are changing the wards to help spread out the youth too. Eagle 8th has 36 priests and E1 hardly has any. So next week, we'll let you know the new layout of the stake.

I spoke with the Smacks today. Jay is coming home on Wednesday and will be reporting this Sunday. We won't be able to go because I have another ward conference. I'll try to run into him somewhere and say hi. Also I still need to check on Graham and I'll let you know what I find out.

I'm waiting to hear from our Spanish missionaries tonight. I'm hoping they'll call me and let me know how their meeting with Maria and her family went yesterday. I wasn't happy with them last week because they had set an appointment with her for last Saturday at 9am. Maria and her husband were both there and waiting for them. The missionaries finally showed up in their p-day clothes because they had been moving or something and told Maria they didn't have time for the appointment. Maria's husband was very nice and even invited them into their house, but the elders said they were busy and set another appointment for this last Saturday. So I am anxious to hear what happened. I had to be at World Wide Training meeting this last Saturday or else I probably would have shown up at her door with Kirk just in case the elders didn't show.

So please don't ever blow off an appointment with a referral no matter what you're in the middle of. I was so sad and even Maria felt let down. I'll keep you posted.

This week dad and I are taking a quick trip Vegas, kind of like what we did last year. We're going to see a couple shows, Donny and Marie and Cirque. We're going to the Vegas temple, probably to Cici's (just because we have to), we have reservations at Bobby Flay's restaurant, etc. I'm looking forward to it. Kirk will be home to babysit. We get home on Saturday, then Saturday night Sarah gets in for a weeks' stay with us. No word or update on their visa yet.

Before I close up, I wanted to share a true story that Bishop Sam Smith told today at ward conference. He was talking about using the Book of Mormon as a tool in our lives. Sam is friends with this young man who was getting ready to graduate from high school. He was an awesome basketball player and was being recruited heavily by a few schools, one of them was BYU. His decision came down to 2 schools, BYU and another one. Sam didn't want to tell the name of the other one. The boy couldn't decide and one night he saw his Book of Mormon in the drawer next to his bed. So he took it out and laid it on the side table, halfway on and halfway off. He said a prayer and told Heavenly Father that he would go to BYU if in the morning his Book of Mormon was on the floor. Guess what happened???     Well, he chose the other school.  Bishop Smith said this was an excellent example of how not to use the Book of Mormon as a tool. Only by reading the words on the pages written by prophets of God will give us answers to our problems and questions. Reading the book is the only way that the Book of Mormon becomes a tool for us to use in our lives and a tool to bring the spirit into our every day lives.  I loved this example of how not to use the Book of Mormon. (also thought it might be a good story for you to use when you're teaching)

I hope you are well and that you were able to reach your goals from last week. I remembered your goals in my prayers and I know Heavenly Father is very aware of people in your area who are ready to hear the gospel message, ready to walk down another street as I say in my ward conference talk.

As I go to ward conferences, several people ask me about you, want to know some of your stories and how you are doing. There are many people who love you and care about you, not as much as me though. :)

Act in harmony with the spirit. Reading the Book of Mormon will bring you an abundance of the spirit and your very footsteps can be led by the Lord. Have a wonderful week.

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Brownies-Our Sunday Tradition

Feb. 5, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Well, I just finished making brownies at the request of your younger sisters. The warning on the box about not eating the brownie dough raw didn't stop them one bit (it didn't stop me either :).

So how are things going there in Kentucky? I just sent a box to you, so hopefully this week you'll get a few goodies. This past week hummed along pretty normally until Thursday morning when I got a call from my family that my dad wasn't feeling well. Dad talked with him while he was at the Winn and from there they took him to the ER. We all thought it was his heart because of how weary he's been feeling and how he hasn't been able to lift anything or do physical things and that's how he felt in Hilton Head when he had his heart problems. 

There's nothing like having 11 brothers and sisters all trying to ask questions, report back, etc about what's happening when there's a family emergency. I think I was literally on the phone for 2 days straight with someone in my family. After a battery of tests, it turns out that he has pneumonia. He stayed in the hospital for 2 days and last night when he called me, he sounded really good and doesn't want to follow his doctors orders of staying at home for 2 weeks. Rest is not part of his vocabulary. While he was in the hospital Cheyenne stayed with my mom overnight and Susan also stayed one night. People are now pouring into the house with food and good wishes. I think he'll get exhausted again with all his company. But grandpa says he has thoroughly enjoyed having time to visit with so many people. Scott came to his hospital room and they had 3 uninterrupted hours of conversation which he really enjoyed since they hadn't talked in depth for quite a while. So all in all, it's been something positive for my dad. He always looks at things positively anyway. 

Another good thing that happened was that he was able to get his heart completely checked out and had a leading cardiologist come in. He said his heart has no change whether at rest or during the stress test, so grandpa was happy about that. I think every so often in life, all people need undivided attention and pampering. It does a soul good.

Church was wonderful today. Trish, our newly baptized member of our ward, bore her testimony and it was beautiful. She has had some really tough times since joining the church and she said thanks to some talks at our Stake Conference, she learned that having faith didn't mean tough things wouldn't happen, it just meant that we can be carried through the tough times and she's been truly experiencing that. She is now caring for her daughter's baby full time because her daughter is hooked on crack.

Dad and Kirk have been busy working shifts. My job is to make our home a place where they and anyone else can come home and feel peace, fun, order and a heavy dose of the spirit, a safe haven from the outside world. 

Kristina had her first Sweethearts dance this weekend, the one that the church sponsors. She went with Cardston Payne. They had a great time. For dinner each couple had to tie both their hands together and make a pizza. After the dance, they had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs, marshmellows and starburst candies. Apparently Starbursts taste amazing roasted over an open flame. You just roast them for a short time so that they are crispy on the outside and all soft on the inside. Here are some of her pictures. Notice their great Dane in the upstairs window...

This is our new handrail in the front of our house:

All right. Took a little break and played some games, What If, Times Up and then read the scriptures. We actually made it all the way through the Book of Mormon and are now starting over. As we read we are looking for attributes of Christ and marking our scriptures when we read a phrase describing Christ. I like reading with a purpose and hopefully this will give us the incentive as a family to keep up on our reading.

Looks like we are having similar weather except we are getting very cold at night, but it's been almost pleasant during the daytime. I also made a note about the movie you want us to watch, the Butterfly Circus and we're going to watch it Tuesday night when dad is home with us.

We checked and Graham comes home this month. So I will for sure go to his homecoming, but I need to check with his Bishop and see if he's going to report here or where his mom is now. I'll let you know what I find out.

So here's my Liahona story of the week. I have a key on my keychain that is the master key to the Stake Center. It opens, yes, everything! So there are 2 keys on my keychain, car and master key and my keychain that says I Love My Doctor. The master key is on its own ring attached to my key ring. It also has a round tag attached that says Master Key Stake Center and on the back it says, Eagle Stake. 

So anyway, I had my keys with me a week ago last Saturday at the Stake Women's Conference. I'm constantly having to open the library and sometimes get into the Stake clerk's office, etc. I remember having them at the very end because I had to put a TV away in the library. Shortly afterward, I went home. 2 days later, Tuesday, dad and I are getting ready to go to the Stake Center and he grabs my keys and notices the master key is missing.  I'm sick about it. I never take it off. If someone needs to use it, I always hand them my entire key chain. Plus it's practically impossible for that key to just fall off based on the type key ring it's attached to. In fact, it has never fallen off in all the time I've had it and I use those keys every day. So we look everywhere, all our pants pockets, purses. I call my presidency and several other people and ask if they have it. It's no where. Dad says I need to let Pres. Stafford know because of what it can access. So now I'm even more sick about it. I check with each of the girls as they come home from school and put off letting Pres. Stafford know. In the meantime, of course, I'm praying about it.

That afternoon around 5pm, Kristina is getting ready to take off and decides to take the Mustang on a quick errand because she hasn't driven it in a while. She walks back into the house and says, "What's this key doing in the Mustang?" and she holds up my master key. She said it was laying right out on the center console next to the seats. I'm flabbergasted sp? How would the key end up there? First off, someone had to remove the key from my keychain and then for some unknown reason decide to bring it back to me and go into our garage and put it in our old car sitting in there. Dad and I run through scenarios trying to figure out what could have happened and then he just declares, it's a miracle. I'm calling it my Liahona, it just appeared outside our tent. I kept thinking I'd hear from someone asking me if I found the key in the car that they'd put there, but it's been a week and not one person has said anything. 

Now that the key is back in it's spot, everyone agrees that there's no way it could possibly just fall off. It had to have been taken off.  The whole thing is so bizarre! I need some closure with this story, but right now I am just so happy that I have it back. I'll keep you posted...

So how are your investigators coming along? Did you find any new people this week? 

I'm officially typing for the new patriarch now. I finished #1 and he has 3 more this next week. Looks like I'll be pretty busy. That will be nice for him to just jump right in and be busy. Bro. Sorensen had a hard time last week trying to figure out what his purpose was. I talked with Jean. He's really enjoying doing indexing online now though. I also sent him a link to the vineyard.lds.com where it has several volunteer opportunities to do from your home.

Here's a couple missionary hints for the week from my missionary hint book:

1. Put fun stickers on the back of your name tag--children love that.

2. Make sure you and your companion each carry a set of keys for the apartment and car.

3. Prepare a 2 1/2 minute talk oni Mosiah 15:1-4

4. Remember, the harder you work on your mission, the better looking your spouse will be.

5. Sing hymns while you tract and try to harmonize.

6. Always carry a pen.

7. Leave at least a quarter tank of gas in the car at transfer time.

8. Create trivia questions from Church videos.

9. Record the most creative rejections you receive in a separate section of your journal.

10.Surprise your companion by rearranging the furniture in the apartment while he is in the shower.

Better close up for now. Enjoy your week and I'll leave you with a quote I love:

"When we have done our very best, we may still experience disappointments, but we will not be disappointed in ourselves."

Julie B. Beck

Love you very much,

Mom xxoo