Jan. 07 - Mar. 07 Kirk letters

Jan 2, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,
Happy New Year! We are still in celebration mode here. G & G Trumbo left here last Thursday, Jan and Jeff left here last Fri and G & G Thompson and Charmaine came on Saturday. They are leaving tomorrow. Sunday night on the 31st we had the Hugentoblers and the Ericksons over to play games and snack and bring in the new year. Since Billy and Fisher were here, the little girls made it all the way to midnight no problem.

Last night Sean had 25 friends over for the BSU/Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game. It was the best game ever! BSU won, but there were so many ups and downs and then it went into overtime. Oklahoma scored on their first try and then BSU came down to 4th and 2 when they finally scored. Then they took a time out to decide if they should try for a 2-pt play. They ended up doing this trick play that worked so well!! and they won the game by 1 point. It was amazing. Sean was watching downstairs with everyone and the rest of us were upstairs. I think the house shook when they scored that extra point.

So today, we took down the Christmas decorations etc. I took Sean for his doctor's appt for his mission physical and tomorrow he goes for his dentist appt. Axel goes into the MTC tomorrow. Everyone said he did a good job with his farewell talk. Wish we could have gone, but we'll be down there in two months for Isaac's wedding.

It was so much fun having my sister Jan here. She's my buddy and it was great getting to spend so much time with her. I sure wish they lived up here. Maybe someday we'll be able to live by each other.

It's been fun hearing from all the mission parents about their phone calls on Christmas day. Sounds like they're all really enjoying their missions. Each one is so different. I went to Matt Kynaston's wedding open house also last week. He asked about you.

Charmaine is standing here with Sean. She got an ipod for Christmas and we're doing to download our music onto hers so she has a good supply. Sean is going to help her learn how to use it too.

The ward is doing well. Dad says there's going to be a few callings changed around, but other than that we're all still about the same. It's weird not having anyone new move into the ward for quite some time. Our ward doesn't have any area where new houses are being built so that's why there's no new families. I guess we better get on the stick and start inviting our neighbors to church...

Lacey Anderson reported her mission last Sunday and it was really good. She's so sweet and she seems a lot more grown up now. I thought she did a really neat thing. She came into the Primary and asked if she could talk to the kids for just a minute. She talked about her mission and told the kids how important they were to our Heavenly Father and how important it was that they share the gospel. She asked how many want to go on missions and pretty much the whole primary raised their hands. Then she gave each of them a 10 cent centavo from Argentina. She told them about the importance of tithing and told them to put the centavo into their piggy banks so they would remember to pay 10 percent of what was in their banks. Their centavo has a big 10 on it, so it would be easy for the kids to remember. Then she bore her testimony in spanish to them. The kids really paid attention to her, so it was great. She really had a strong spirit about her and it was neat to see.

Well, I know I promised pix this week, but Sean's waiting for the computer and dad didn't download any of our holiday pix yet, so it will have to be next week. The kids go back to school tomorrow and the Thompson's are going home tomorrow too, so things will seem pretty dull around here for a while. I'm looking forward to what 2007 will bring. We all gave our gifts to Christ again this year like we do every year. I hope you were able to do the same thing, just write it down in your journal.

I'm going to call this week to Provo about your shoes. They'll probably have it on their computer what size you got, but just in case, what size are your propets?

How is Moca? I know you're probably getting ready to celebrate the day of the kings. Do things kind of shut down there or are you able to see a lot more people because they're all out and about? I hope the work is going strong for you. Be a good leader and Heavenly Father will use you to get His work accomplished. Tell me about the people you are working with, the questions they have about the gospel and the feelings you get when you teach them. I love hearing about all that.

I love you, Kirk. Take care of yourself.
mom
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Jan 16, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,

We are having some very, very cold days here. I think you're going to have a hard time coming back to this climate. The highest it's been in while is 25 F. In Provo, they are even colder and Carolina says it's not fun any more. I talked with her today and they're busy making plans for Isaac's wedding. She also said Axel has already written them 3 letters and he sounds good. Giovanni even saw him in the MTC because he works there part time.

About BYU-I. Yes, they still have you enrolled there and said you can switch tracks to the winter/summer track which starts Jan 8, 2008. I filled out the mission deferment papers for you too, so you should be all set.

So I hope your week was better for you and that you and your comp are feeling much better. Maybe next time you have to sit around and wait, just write some talks to have on hand just in case you ever get called on. Good idea, right?

Alex is busy trying to show off for Kristina with his magic tricks. Remember when you got into magic. Well, now Alex is learning all kinds of fun tricks. I think Kristina is catching on to most of them cuz Alex needs to work a little harder on his tricks, but they're having fun.

We had family night tonight since we didn't have it last night. We talked about the scripture Love one another as I have loved you and then I showed the DVD Cypher in the Snow. It's one that I used to see in seminary about a little boy who no one paid any attention to and then one day while he was riding on the bus to school, he asked to get off and when he did, he just fell into the snow and died. No one at his school could even remember who he was. So after the whole movie was just about over, Nikki says, "See, that's why you should never get off the bus." We all laughed.

So other than the bitter cold here, everything's going well. Dad's being Bishop at the church and should be home any minute. Sean's getting into his new semester and Alex has half days the rest of this week because it's finals.

So have you found any new contacts? I went into our gospel essentials class this last sunday so I could help the missionaries teach a lesson with someone they brought. Turns out he could only speak Thai, with very little English. So he had a Thai Book of Mormon but it was so difficult just trying to get any message across. They were trying to explain to him about the Holy Ghost and how he would let him know if things were true or not and that he should pray. After the whole discussion, the missionaries asked him to pray to know if his Book of Mormon was true. He nodded and then he said, What is pray? I think we need to find someone who speaks Thai.

So with my new calling as Bear leader, I get to go to the pack mtg this Thurs which is the rain gutter regatta. They say the Pack mtgs are pretty fun here, so I'll let you know how things go there.

This next week is Stake conference here. We only have about 2 months until we're into our new building on Park Ln. The outside is all done, but they're working on the inside now. That will be fun to be in a new place.

Can't think of much else that's new around here. Everyone's kind of hibernating in their homes I think because of the weather.

Here are some tips for the week:
1. If you hang shirts immediately after coming out of the dryer, ironing can be greatly reduced. (You probably don't do much laundry, do you? Do you still have a maid in your new area?)
2. Limit candy bar consumption to one a day.
3. Learn to forgive, you'll have lots of opportunities.
4. Spend half of one district meeting allowing missionaries to write in their journals.
5. If you bear your testimony in sacrament meeting, keep it short, simple and basic. This meeting is for the members. You can bear your testimony at the next zone or district meeting.

So tell us some things about your days there in Moca. Do you have lots of appointments or are you actually tracting and knocking on doors or what? Do they have you doing anything in the ward like help bless/pass the sacrament or teach a class, etc? Just wondering.

Because you are a missionary, the spirit is speaking to you, just make sure you hear. Act promptly on the urgings you feel. In my prayers I always ask that you will be led to those who have been prepared to hear your message. I'm very proud of you and love sharing any stories you share with us with those who always ask about you.

Have a great week!
I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxox

Jan 23, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,
So here we are again. The weeks pass by quickly but a day never goes by that I don't think about what you're doing, how you're doing, who you might meet today, etc. I can't picture where you live, but that's cuz you haven't sent a pic of your place. I hope you're taking pics of each place you live. Even take pictures of the inside. It will be a fun memory.

Is it still raining a lot? I guess you're into the rainy season now. I remember how much you loved it last year since it's the time that you get to cool down. We're still in our winter season, but at least the temperature has risen a little since last week. I think we're back up in the 40's this week. Sean says it's still very cold in Provo though.

So when does Carnival start? I'd love to see the masks that Gabi and Joel made for you. It's too bad they've turned the event into something so bad. Be sure and steer clear of all of it. I'm sure that's what your mission pres would expect of you. What will you do to pass the time? Can you work on some of the less active members or something?

That's kind of a crazy story about the couple you've been teaching. The fact that she's married to her husband's brother and all. Are they still interested in getting baptized and getting married for real?

All is pretty quiet around here. Sean called tonight after he had his interview with the stake president. His papers are getting turned in this Sunday, so I'd say this is the time to make your guesses about where he gets called. Guess one stateside mission and one foreign mission. It's starting to hit me now about having 2 sons out in the field at the same time-that happy/sad feeling.

We had stake conference over the weekend. It was really good. On Saturday night they spent the whole time talking to us about financial preparedness-staying out of and getting out of debt, making yourself marketable for good jobs and being willing to learn completely new things in case you have to change fields completely, setting up trusts and wills, etc and working and talking with your spouse about everything. There's a lot of families where only one parent does all the finances and the other one doesn't know anything about what's going on. So all in all we learned a lot of good things from the meetings. On Sunday, they mainly talked about the power of going to the temple. Some speakers had some very miraculous stories. So much missionary work going on in the world, both for the living and for the dead.

So have you been learning a lot being in a leadership position? You'd probably be amazed to learn how much your comp watches everything you do and how you do it. We all learn from each other. What are some things you've learned from your companion?

Well, this weekend Sean is coming home again, this time for Aaron Anderson's farewell. Sean says we might be having 4-6 girls staying at our house. I'm thinking we'll move our girls downstairs for the weekend and let the other ones have the upstairs to themselves.

I've got cubs here tomorrow. We're going to teach them the rules of ping pong, marbles and boccerball. Boccerball is a new game we have downstairs. Should be fun.

Dad has had a sore throat for the last couple days so he's been resting a lot. He says he caught it from all the patients who come to see him in the hospital. Now probably the rest of us will catch his cold next week. I hope not. I have too much to do.

I wrote you a note about your finances after I was balancing our check book and saw your acct. I don't know what your budget is that you're given every month, but make sure you try to stay within those guidelines. I realize there will be exceptions, but try hard to keep within your mission budget. How do they do that anyway? Do you get a check once a month from the mission office? Just curious.

Grandpa Trumbo keeps telling me how much he loves your letters each week. Grandma Trumbo is still having a hard time with her short term memory, so I know how much phone calls from me and letters from you mean to him.

Carolina says Axel is really enjoying the MTC. He already knew a lot of french before going in, so I hope he's not too bored with the language classes.

I signed up Alex for EFY this week. He and Brig Starr are going to room together at BYU-Utah in July sometime. Alex is also getting started officially on his eagle project. He wants to help make benches for this new park that's going to be built in Eagle. I'll let you know how that goes.

Here are a couple tips for the week:
1. Members won't be transferred on Tuesday, but you might be. Make sure investigators get attached to members rather than you.
2. Occasionally make your companion's bed.
3. Don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself when learning the language.
4. Have members sit with investigators at church.
5. If you receive several letters one day, don't open all of them that day. You might not get any tomorrow.

Well, Kirk, that's about it for this week. Life is good and we have so many blessings. I hope your testimony of the restored gospel grows more and more especially each time you share it with someone else. I love our prophet Pres. Hinckley. He has such strength and faith and confidence and that brings a calmness to my soul. It's so apparent that he communes with God and is a man of God just by the way he lives his life. My only hope is that people can tell what I believe in also by the way I live my life. We're so blessed to live in a time when we can have a living prophet amongst us.

Have a blessed and productive week. My prayers are always with you.
I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxox


Jan 30, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,

We're back into a normal groove again after having quite a few people in and out of our house this weekend. Sean came home from school with about 20 of his friends. They all came so they could go to Aaron Anderson's farewell. They all sang at the farewell too and it sounded great. Aaron did a good job with his talk. I went to his ward too. Matt Bingham was the other speaker. He just returned from Mexico last week.

We didn't have all of Sean's friends spending the night here, just Nate Carter. But they were all at our house most of the time playing games, watching movies, etc. It was fun having them all here. They left after church on Sunday. All of them are coming back again in 2 weeks for Brett Jarvis' farewell. That's the same weekend as Isaac's wedding, so we'll be going down there so Sean won't be coming up here.

I've got the little girls in the bath right now. Nikki wants me to blow dry her hair after and straighten it. It looks so pretty when it's straight, but it takes some time. Nikki got her tubes taken out of her ears today. She's had them in for 2 years, so we'll see if she gets any more earaches now.

I've been quilting a lot lately, must be the season. When it's cold outside, it seems like the natural thing to do. Do the women wear colorful clothing there? Or do they dress more American style?

Another sister in the ward got called to help do the Bear cub scouts, so now at least there will be two of us. I've decided it takes at least 2 adults. Those young boys have a lot of energy. I had them over to our house last week to learn how to play ping pong and by the end of the mtg, a couple of them were standing on the back of the couch and jumping off of it. I could be in trouble here. I'm going to have to think of something active for them to do every minute. Maybe when you get home, you can help me out with some of the activities. Do they do scouts in the DR?

We're having choir practice at our house now every Sunday. I set up the chairs in the entry and the chorister stands in the piano room to lead us. It sounds good with the high ceilings. Alex and I are in the choir.

Last Sunday night we had Priesthood Preview here at our house. That's the fireside for the 11 yr old boys who are turning 12 this year. Dad does a good job with that.

Also on Sunday, dad spoke in our ward. He talked about making our Sacrament meetings better by coming more prepared to the meetings, on time, showing reverence, etc. He did an excellent job. Bro. Houssian also spoke and introduced our ward theme for the year which is Trying to be like Jesus.

So how was your week? How has tracting been going for you? Is Moca a place where you're well recognized by most people? It seems like you really enjoy talking with people and visiting with them now. I think that's so great and it's such a wonderful attribute to develop. You've been set apart as a missionary for the Lord and can even be His mouthpiece when teaching others. The power of the priesthood is real and I love hearing the different ways that you are exercising it. Always keep yourself worthy and ready so that at any given moment when the Lord needs you, you will be ready and able, not just while you're on your mission but throughout life. I always hope that the Lord can depend on me and trust me. That's important to me.


I read a good quote the other day, so I thought I'd send it to you:
"Accountability is the natural product of agency and is the basis of the plan of life. We are responsible for our own actions and accountable to God for what we choose to do with our lives. Life is God’s gift to us, and what we do with it is our gift to him."

--Elaine Cannon, "Agency and Accountability", Ensign, Nov. 1983, 88
2 Nephi 10:23–24

Know This, That Every Soul Is Free, Hymn 240

Well, Leah just looked at my letter and announced that I've written 110 words, Nikki says she's pretty sure it's 130. They're out of the bath now and having a popsicle. Nikki is singing hallelujah and trying to teach Leah how to sing it. I think it's a song she must have learned at her 7th Day adventist school. She told me today that they told a story about some people who were praying to statues. She said to me, "Can you believe that people would pray to statues? That's crazy."

I'm trying to help Alex get going with his eagle project. He has to write up a proposal and get it approved. You remember that fun part, right? I hope he gets it approved. We'll let you know.

I hope all is well with you and your comp. We are well here, still trying to keep warm although we've had a little warm weather lately which gets us excited for spring. Barkley is the only one who likes the cold weather. haha

We sent a little pkg yesterday, so let us know when you get it. Steer clear of Carnival and all its craziness. Hope you have plenty of good things to do during that time.

I love you and hope your week is miraculous!
Love,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo


Feb 6, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,

So how's the mission field this week? We watched an amazing DVD about the pioneers and first missionaries in Africa. It looked so fun to be part of that great missionary effort. Africans got hold of the Book of Mormon from various places, would read it and know that it was true. They then shared the book with someone else who also gained a testimony. But this was all before any missionaries were there and before all worthy men could hold the priesthood. It's amazing that they formed congregations and wrote to the church requesting more and more information and just waited until missionaries showed up which was years later and then waited again until they could hold the priesthood. We watched that DVD for family night and talked about missionary work and the power of the Book of Mormon.

You probably have realized the great strength of the Book of Mormon too and how it affects people's lives.

Alex is waiting for Jake Jensen to come over. He's going to be staying with us for the rest of this week while his parents go out of town. Alex says he's so happy to have a "brother" with him again. He really misses you and Sean.

Still no mission call for Sean yet. WE're pretty sure it will be coming this week. He's says he's not nervous about it, but I'm sure anxious for him. I remember how anxious we were for your call too.

Nikki is sick tonight. She has a fever so she'll probably stay home from school tomorrow. She actually said she was full at dinner tonight, so you know that's a big sign. She never says that.

Kristina and Leah got accepted into the new elementary school being built here for next year. It's actually a K-8 school, so Kristina will go there for her middle school. It's called Galileo Math and Science School. They're going to focus a lot of hands on experiments in math and science. Hopefully, the girls will like that. We're going to keep Nikki at the Adventist School for next year.

We've been having lovely weather lately, so dad was out this afternoon with a torch and burned a bunch of bushes he had trimmed. We had quite the fire going for a while. Then all the kids in the neighborhood came over and had a big football game in our backyard.

I finished another quilt today and our quilt group is making two auction quilts for breast cancer research. So I'll be busy working on that this month.

I talked with Carolina yesterday. They're busy making all the final plans for Isaac's wedding next week. We'll be going down there for the weekend since the kids have off for President's Day weekend. Did you get a copy of the announcement? If not, I'll scan ours and send you a picture so you can see Isaac and Bethany. Carolina says Axel is loving the MTC and is finally learning some new French. He knew a lot of French before going into the MTC, but now it's all new to him. He leaves for FRance on Mar 5.

Is there any way you can put all your pictures on a CD and then just send that CD home? I've heard a few other elders who have done that. Then if something happens to your camera, etc we would at least have back-up pics. The picture I attached was taken by our neighbors across the street, the Burkes. She said she went outside on their balcony on the day that we had snow here and took the picture. She realized later that it was a nice picture of our house and thought we might like it. I love it, especially because it's so blue. Isn't it cool.




Well, here are some missionary tips for the week:
1. Arrange to have members invite investigators over for family home evening.
2. During the time you are called to be a missionary, you are entitled to special insights into the scriptures. As you receive them, write them in the margins of your scriptures so you'll remember them when you come home.
3. Having companion study leads to a good day.
4. Find the good qualities in all people.

Jake just showed up, so I'm sure Alex is a happy camper now. Dad just came home too from the church. How is your ward? Are most of the members first generation members? That's how it was in our little branch in Hilton Head. Most of them had never seen a big ward in action, so it was hard for a lot of them to fulfill their callings.

I hope all is well with you, in all ways, physically, spiritually and mentally. You're always in our prayers. I always try to picture what you're doing during the day, etc. What's your apartment like now? Do you have electricity, hot water, etc? Take care of yourself and enjoy each day.

Love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo



Feb. 13, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,
I just got back from church where they had a sweetheart's dinner for the couples in the ward. I felt a little funny since dad had to work tonight and I went alone. But the food was good and they had a talk about dating your spouse and gave lots of fun ideas. I left just as they were getting ready to have some dance lessons, which I think would have been totally fun with dad since I secretly want to be able to dance all the ballroom dances with him. Someday maybe we'll get to take lessons together.

So by now you've heard about Sean's mission call to Cordoba Argentina(Uncle Scott's mission). He's trying to brush up on his high school Spanish, will that help him any before he goes into the MTC? I'm so glad that you two will be able to keep up your Spanish with each other. I'm totally jealous though. Now I really need to get going with learning it. It's so hard when no one is speaking it around you, but my new visiting teaching companion is from Mexico, so I'm thinking about asking her to help me. She's doing great with her English.

Sean wrote that his first date of availability was May 6, but he has to report on April 25 which also happens to be his last day of finals. So he has had to talk with all of his professors and so far they all said they will just work with him and get his finals to him early. I was really hoping we'd have him home here for a couple weeks before he took off.

This weekend since we're going down to Provo for Isaac's wedding, we're going to go through the temple with Sean on Friday morning. He got his recommend tonight and is excited to go. Hopefully both grandparents will be able to be there with him. Grandma Trumbo is still having a hard time with her short term memory and it's getting worse now, so going to the temple is really hard for her, but I can be there with her and help her so we'll see.

Giovanni has moved out into his own apartment which I think will be good for him. He needs to find his own identity. Sometimes that's a hard thing to do when you're a twin, something we will never know about. With Axel on his mission and Isaac getting married, Carolina says her house is boring now. Kassie says it's very boring.

We're all feeling better now. Dad, Alex, Kristina and Nikki all got a touch of the winter flu. Nikki got her tubes taken out of her ears and got her hearing tested. They said there's just a slight hearing loss that she has. She can always use that as an excuse for why she doesn't listen to me. :)

How has your week been? From your last letter, it really sounds like you've been working hard at finding new families to teach. I hope you've been able to meet back with some of the families who were interested but who needed their husbands to be home. I think you're fortunate to be in an area where most the people have a faith in Jesus Christ and know he's their Savior. Are you still teaching Socrates?

Have you gotten our package yet? I'm still worrying about your shoe situation. Remember they'll get you another pair of shoes for free (of course, we have to ship them to you) but I hope you have some decent shoes to wear. Let me know.

Here are some tips for the week:
1. Save baptismal programs for your scrapbook.
2. One of the best ways to learn the language is to read the Book of Mormon out loud in the language of your mission.
3. If you have an electric shaver, clear the whiskers out of it periodically.
4. Keep popcorn on hand.
5. You don't actually have to throw rocks at dogs to scare them. Just picking up a rock, or acting like you're picking up a rock, will generally scare them. (Have you had any encounters with dogs???)

Thanks for sharing your testimony with us. It's so great to hear the strength and conviction of your words. I'm grateful for the internet that I get to share your letters with all my family especially those who have chosen to go the way of the world. You never know how or when or who your words will touch.

You're a wonderful son. I thank Heavenly Father every day for you. Keep up the good work.

Much love,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox


Feb 20, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,

What a wonderful weekend we had being able to be in the temple so often and especially to be with family. Both grandparents were with us when Sean took out his endowments which was nice. The Timpanogos temple is beautiful. I think Isaac and Bethany's wedding went great for them. Carolina and her 2 sisters and her mom made all the food for the family dinner the night before and boy was it good. I had to ask her for some recipes because it was that good.

Giovanni has moved out now into his own apartment, so Steve and Carolina have quite an empty house. I think Isaac and Bethany are going to live in a rental that Bethany's parents own. They honeymooned in Salt Lake for the weekend, but they had to get back to school today.

We took Sean to missionary mall and got a bunch of things he needed. They reminded us that if anything wears out all you have to do is email them the picture and you get a new one sent. They have a big world map on the wall of their new store, so I put a pin in your country for you on the map.

I had some of the priests and teachers over tonight to practice doing the Haka (the war dance of New Zealand) for our cub scout Blue and Gold dinner this week. Our theme is Hawaii and so we thought we'd try to get some polynesian dancing. I was hoping to get the guys in the Hawaiian club at BSU to perform for us, but they were too expensive. So now we have our guys and they're doing a pretty good job so far. I think it will be fun. They're going to do the dance twice, then have the cubs come up on stage and do it with them. It should be funny too.

Back to the wedding-some of my sisters were able to come, Toni, Jan, and Maria. Maria came with her boyfriend, James. We all like him a lot. He's a captain in the Air Force and he treats her great. I hope she doesn't blow it with him. He seemed like he felt at home with all of us. Anyway, we're hoping we have a fun excuse for going to California this summer-for a wedding. They're a lot of fun. I think the next wedding will be for either Giovanni or Mary or Maria.

Now we're back at home and I'm catching up with everything-the wash, the cleaning, the projects, the emails, scouts, etc. Nikki is doing well with her speech therapy. She's working on her R's, L's and S's. She can count by tens, can read a little bit and talks constantly, always asking questions about things. She's still very funny and always has to be touching you when she's talking to you. Leah is working hard in school and loves playing with her friends and having them over to our house. Today she spent most her time climbing the willow tree in our back yard and jumping rope. Kristina gets glowing reports from her teacher who loves her. School is fairly easy for Kristina and she seems to excel in math and giving oral reports. She still plays drums in a band and is still taking piano lessons. She still likes sleeping with me every night dad works, like tonight. Alex is practicing golf every day this week since try-outs are next week. He's not so sure he's going to make it, and if he doesn't he wants to try out for the tennis team.

I'm working on part of a quilt that our quilt group is making to put up for auction at a breast cancer awareness auction. I'm still trying to find the best way to learn Spanish and I wish I had more time to practice my banjo. Dad is starting to get spring fever and is researching some new gardening techniques we're going to try this year. We'll let you know how it works out. I'm hoping to have lots of tomatoes, onions and green peppers so I can make lots of salsa. Also the garden's been getting quite a few grapes now. They're so tasty.

I hope all is going well with you and your companion and that you're finding people to teach. We pray for your success in the field.

I'm going to send a few pix of our weekend. Hope they don't take too long to open. Everyone asked about you. Can't wait to hear from you this week and hear your stories. Keep true to your covenants and the Lord will use you to accomplish His work. You are a gatherer.

I love you and miss you.
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoooxox


Feb 27, 2007
Hi Elder Kirk,
How has your week been? I'm very excited to hear from you this week to see how your first week as a trainer has gone. How's your "kid"? That's great that he already knows Spanish. Is he a native speaker of Spanish or how does he know the language? I know that you'll be a great trainer, because you've been such a wonderful example for our family. You've made good choices and go where the Lord wants you to go.

Alex is officially trying out for the golf team this week. He scored a 46 yesterday and a 44 today. He's hoping to improve it even more tomorrow. He says if he doesn't make the team, he'll just try out for the tennis team. I saw him play on the tennis team in middle school and he was getting pretty good. I think you played him too.

So let's see. Sean is trying to concentrate on his studies at school but I can tell his mind is on his upcoming mission and he's anxious to begin. Two of his roommates should hear tomorrow where they are going-Brandon McKell and Nate Carter.

Kristina has been doing a lot of reports lately in school and always gets a good grade when she presents it. Her teacher said she does a great job on oral reports. She's working on one now about Harriet Tubman and she has to present it 3 times-to the parents, to the teachers and to some district judges. She also scored high enough on her math portion of the ISAT that she gets to take pre-algebra next year and she's really excited about that.

Leah is growing into a nice young woman. She sometimes gets a little wild when she's with Nikki, but overall she always wants to do right. She's having a rough time trying to learn how to tell time. Nikki is crazy as ever. She acts like she's not listening to anything, then she answers every question correctly. She's getting better at reading now and keeps trying to tell Leah how to read.

Barkley is getting older and older. He's moves a lot slower and I think he's lost a little of his hearing (or else he's just choosing not to listen to me). Right now he's shedding like crazy. I'm pretty sure I could knit a whole blanket out of his fur. He still doesn't know that his electric fence is broken. One day he'll figure it out and I'll be out on the streets looking for him.

Tomorrow I'm taking the cubs to the police dept. You probably did that when you were a cub. I think it will be a fun outing for the boys. They'll take their fingerprints,etc.

Have you mailed the picture CD yet? We'll take good care of it for you when it gets here. Anything you're in need of there? Just let us know.

Here's some tips for the week:
1. After accomplishing one goal, move on to another.
2. Don't try to "endure" a companionship, figuring you'll be transferred soon. Most mission presidents keep companions together until they can work through the problems and learn to love each other.
3. It's best to buy most your souvenirs at the end of your mission.
4. If you don't approach the stranger on the street, the answer is already no. (I like that one!)

Kirk, I hope you're enjoying the work. Heavenly Father wants us to have joy and there's no greater joy than in serving others. All the experiences you're having are building a firm foundation, and they will give you great strength many years from now. Pretend you are many years in the future and thinking back about how you served your mission. Do those things that will bring no regret, just wonderful memories, knowing that you gave your best every single day.

I think often of your big, warm smile and how great it makes me feel and I know that the Dominican people also see and feel that from you. You have an amazing attitude and always sound so positive. That will always make people want to be around you and hear what you have to say, because you have the light of Christ. Keep up the great work. We pray for you, your companion and the people you teach.

Have a blessed week.
Love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxo

March 6, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,
So how are you this week? I am exhausted tonight. We went to a very sad funeral today for the Walker family in our stake. Brandon and Tamara Walker's 3 oldest children were killed with 2 other kids when their car slid off the road into a pond. The funeral was very, very nice and actually very uplifting, but it was 4 hours long. You came away from it wanting to be a better person, a better mom. Alex and his friends sang at it too. I also helped serve at the dinner afterwards. The Walker's have a huge family so there was tons of food to get out. So all in all it was a very emotional and spiritual day. BTW, Mr. McMullin even spoke at the funeral and he did a great job. He's done a few things at our church now and he even ended his talk with "in the name of the Jesus Christ, Amen." I'm sure he felt the spirit there today.

Last week, Sean called and told us about Nate and Brandon's mission calls. Nate Carter is going to Pennsylvania and Brandon McKell is going to Brazil. Also we heard that Thomas Foote is going to Russia. It's hard to believe that Sean's MTC date is so close. Sean said he went to Isaac and Bethany's apartment last weekend and played Risk with Ben and Alisa, Heidi and Cameron and Giovanni with a date. He said it was a lot of fun. Jason will be home in a month. Did you write each other on your missions or did you lose contact? It will be fun to see him.

Last week at my Bear scout meeting, we went to the sheriff's station here in Eagle. I think the boys really enjoyed it. They practiced dusting for fingerprints and learned about what they keep in their cars, trunks and what they carry on their belts. Tomorrow we're meeting here and I'm having dad help them learn about tools. Hopefully they'll be able to control themselves while using hammers, nails, screwdrivers, etc.

Lately the little girls have become jump rope experts. They jump for hours. Leah does it constantly and is always getting in trouble for jumping rope in the kitchen. She just can't seem to help herself. I think she'll try out for the jump rope club next year.

Alex didn't make the golf team and was pretty sad for a day since Jay and Jake both made the team again. But then the next day he was on the tennis team and loving it, so now he has a new bunch of friends and loves playing tennis every day. He's got that same great attitude about things that you do and just seems to go with the flow of life. Tonight he had to tutor the Pennington girl. Her mom called here and had heard Alex was really good in math and wanted to know if he could help her. He said it was fun teaching pre-algebra things--it seemed so easy to him now especially since he's in pre-calc. So now this is the second person he's been hired to tutor.

So what's going on in Moca? Have you found some good families to teach? Is your comp enjoying the mission life? Are you guys in an apartment by yourselves, or is there another companionship with you? You haven't said much about where you're living, etc. I want details....

Here are some tips for the week:
1. Review goals often.
2. Clean the toilet weekly.
3. Keep a list of less-active members and visit several each week.
4. Follow your mission president's counsel, even if it doesn't make any sense to you at the time.

Well, dad is home now from the church meetings and he's trying to motivate Alex to get the trash out. So I better sign off. My thoughts and prayers are always with you. Sometimes I wish I could just be a fly on the ceiling in the DR so I could just watch a little bit of what you do. It's always fun to hear your stories and feel of your missionary spirit. Have a great week and let the Lord guide your footsteps.

I love you. I'll send some photos in another email...
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxoxoxooxoxxoo


March 13, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,
I had to take Alex to the store tonight to buy a pie for his math class since he says tomorrow is pi day-3/14, get it? He said it was his idea to his class and they all liked the idea, so I guess they get a little feast tomorrow in class.

How was your week? We are having wonderful weather here, very spring like. All the kids are playing outside again, dad's in the yard each day, etc. I love it. Jan says it's in the 90's in CA though. That doesn't sound quite as pleasant as our weather.

Dad said he got the release letter for Jason from his mission president. So it's official, he's coming home soon. I'll keep you up on what he does. Jill Erickson told me that Alex got accepted to UVSC today. That's the college in Provo. She's signing him up everywhere so that he has a choice when he comes home. Right now he still says he wants to go to BYU-I. Jill also said that his area had a big tornado and he's been spending a lot of time helping people recover.

I just put the girls to bed. They got in a fight over who had the better towel after their bath, so I put them to bed without a snack which started a big crying session which made Nikki's nose bleed. Whenever she gets upset or cries hard, her nose bleeds and when it bleeds, it really bleeds. We're getting kind of used to it now, even at her school they are getting used to it. She loves getting bloody noses at her school because they give her jello powder and tell her to put it on her upper gums above her teeth. It must be an old wives tale but somehow Nikki says it always stops the bleeding. Dad said he had never heard of that method. Personally, I just think Nikki loves the sweet taste of jello. So Nikki just yelled for me and said she was going to try harder tomorrow to be good.

I guess I spoke too soon. Now I just heard the shower curtain crash to the floor upstairs. Leah says Nikki was standing in there waiting for Leah to go to the bathroom and it just fell down all by itself on top of Nikki's head. Dad just came home, so he went up to put out this fire. Never a dull moment with your little sisters. :)

So other than our usual family activities, it's been a relatively quiet week. Alex is loving being on the tennis team. His first meet is this week. He's also trying to get going with his eagle project. Kristina is busy with projects in school, her band and piano and activity days with the girls at church. Leah is getting better with her reading but struggles with math. Nikki is getting good with her reading too and math seems to be pretty easy for her. She's going on a field trip tomorrow with her class to a museum to learn about the American Indians. Last week she did a little report on a state, her state was Iowa. I don't remember doing anything like that in kindergarten.

I've got a little spring fever and feel like cleaning and organizing everything. I've been starting with my quilt room. That may take me all spring to finish, but it feels good to muck things out. We're taking the family on a little trip to San Antonio Texas next week for spring break. I'm looking forward to exploring a new city. You know how I love that. We're not leaving until next Thursday.

So how's the kid? Are you having him do a lot of the teaching? It's great that you're able to attend meetings that are specifically for trainers. Are you still teaching Lucito? How about any new families?

We're getting ready to send another package to you. Is there anything in particular you'd like included or maybe your kid would like. Let us know.

Here are the tips for the week:
1.On the last page of your copy of the Book of Mormon, record the dates that you finish reading it. This will help you keep track of the number of times you read it during your mission.
2. When learning a foreign language, carry a notebook to write down new words you learn.
3. Before complaining about companionship problems to other missionaries, talk to your companion.
4. At the end of the day, identify one miracle that occurred.

Last week we ran into a sister in our stake who is from Argentina. She says she wants to cook a dinner for Sean before he leaves. Her dad was there with her and he said he actually lived in Cordoba when he was young. He said the people in that area have a sing-song Spanish and that Sean will sound a little like he's singing when he speaks after he gets back. That should be fun to hear. You'll probably notice the differences in his Spanish to most. Are you speaking the fast Dominican Spanish now? Carolina says she can't wait to hear you speak.

I hope you know how proud I am of you. It's my highlight each week to hear from you and it's exciting to hear about the work you are doing, the people you are finding and being led to. I also know that you are probably learning more as the teacher than those you are teaching. That's a wonderful fact of life. Also, this week, pray each night to find ways you can serve those around you. There's always something you can do to lift another's spirit, usually it will be something small and seemingly insignificant.

Stay strong and keep anxiously engaged in good causes. I love you and pray for you always.
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxoxo

March 20, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,

Just got home from Alex's choir concert-pre DIII concert. They sound amazing and will do well tomorrow.
How has your week been? We loved the pictures you sent us. Were the pictures of the city taken from your apartment? It looks like you have a nice balcony compared to the rest of the city. Whatever you'd like to do about the picture CD. We can get money to you to send it home, or you can just keep it to bring home. Let us know.

I hope you've had lots of teaching appointments this week. I always pray that you'll find and have many opportunities to share your testimony. Did Lucito get baptized? How's Abel, is he still talking with you guys? It's great that you and your comp are working so well together. In the picture at the bowling alley, is your comp the one right next to you with the light hair? You look so tall in the picture. Have you grown? Also Kristina says to tell you that she thinks you're trying to grow a mustache. I told her maybe you just need a new razor... :)

This past Saturday the Priests and Teachers had basketball games with the stake. In the first game, Alex was the high scorer. He had a great game. He also had the most fouls. They won at the last second when Alex scored, so he was our hero. they also won the second game, but Alex said he ate too much for lunch and didn't play as well. We got shamrock shakes from McDonald's.

I've had a hurt back most the week, so I've just been laying around which is driving me crazy. I'm not a very patient patient. I think I'm on the mend now. I better be since we're leaving for Texas in 2 days.

Dad's been busy at work putting in a lot of shifts since we're leaving on vacation. He's really looking forward to spring break. We'll be back next Thurs so the kids and dad still have some time at home to play for spring break too. Then when we get back, it will almost be time for Sean to come home and give his farewell talk. We might be in our new church building by then too. We'll have to take some pix of the new building so you can see it. It's just up the street from the high school so it's nice and close.

Not much else going on this week. Family life as usual. So here's your tips:

1.Suggest that the investigator be baptized by a local member and not by one of the missionary elders.
2. If you're not happy, work harder.
3. Don't cross off days on your calendar.
4. Buy a squirt gun with your companion for apartment duels.
5. Let investigators make the decision for baptism.

I hope you're not feeling too trunky yet. These next 6 months should be some of your best. You know the language, the people, the doctrine, you know how to listen to the spirit and be guided and you're teaching a new missionary. What a tremendous instrument you have become for the Lord now. Work hard and continue to learn. The beauty of the gospel plan for me is eternal progression, continually learning and growing. We are learning right along with you through your letters and your example. Let me know if there are things you wish you knew before your mission and I can teach them in our family nights to Alex and the girls.

I pray for your success and happiness always Kirk. Can't wait to hear from you.
love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

March 27, 2007

Dear Elder Kirk,

Well, here we are in San Antonio, Texas. We're having a great time. Today was the first day that it's been hot. The kids are all out in the swimming pool, so I thought I'd write you now. We stayed in a hotel near Sea World for the first few days. We went to Sea World, of course, went to some fun new malls, ate at CiCi's (twice!) and went to church there too. The girl I sat next to in RS was the baluga whale and dolphin trainer at Sea World. She said she really enjoys her job there. We met some nice people in the ward. Even met one girl who said she went to Eagle High School a few years ago-Perkins was her last name.

Now we're in a different hotel on the Riverwalk. The river runs through the city here and it's beautiful. You can take boat rides to get where you want or just walk. We're going to a Spurs game tomorrow night too. Then we go back home on Thurs. I love exploring new cities.

You'd like it here. Dad's getting a pkg ready to send you from here. We put some fun things in it for you and you can give some of the things away to kids there if you like too. Hope you enjoy it.

I can't stay too long on this computer, since i"m borrowing the hotel's computer. We really need to get a wireless laptop. I think that will be my next big purchase. I'm waiting for the newest Mac system to come out. Supposedly you can get all Mac and PC on this new system which will really help. It's supposed to come out in the spring.

How has your week been? Did you have some baptisms last week? I hope it's going well for you and that those you've been teaching are feeling the spirit and becoming converted.

I spoke with Carolina yesterday. Axel didn't write last week, so they're just dying to hear from him in FRance. It's hard not to hear anything at all. I hope he writes them this week. When she sends me his letters, I'll forward them to you too.

My friend Jeri Moore(Monte Moore's mom) said her daughter Elizabeth is getting married in June and she's marrying Matt Dykman. I think he might be your age. Elizabeth is 4 years older than him and she says Matt is just crazy about her. But I was thinking he was a friend of yours, I can't remember.

Sean is coming to the end of his semester. He's been having fun as well as studying hard. He's got 2 basketball classes and one tennis class. Hopefully he'll get A's in those. His farewell is on April 15th. His first letters will be handwritten from the MTC so we'll just have to fill you in on how he's doing, etc. He's getting pretty anxious to go. You know how that feels.

Well, I hope the work is going well for you and that you're feeling strong and good and that your tesitmony is really growing strong. The strength that you feel now will be a source of comfort and strength to you throughout all your years. What great memories you're making right now! Stay true to all that you know is right and you will be so blessed.

My prayers are with you. Have a great week and let us know when you get our pkg. We loved the pix you sent last week. It was so interesting seeing a view from where you live, the streets you are probably walking each day, etc. Do you struggle with electricity problems there or water shortages?

Have a miraculous week. I love you. The family all says to say hi. Lot's of Spanish speakers down here in San Antonio-wish you were here to help us. :)

Love you,

mom

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo