5 Oct 2008

Oct. 5, 2008
Dear Elder Sean,
I guess you had lots of changes last week, getting a new companion and all. I'm glad to hear that you are really happy about the change and it sounds like you and Elder Crandall will make a great team. I knew a guy with that same last name in college, I'm blanking on his first now. I was also glad to hear that the baptism happened. The pictures were fun to see. Thanks for sending them.

Be sure and tell us about your experience with Hno Villa. You only alluded to it in your last letter.

Our trip to Rexburg was quick but fun. It was good to see Kirk and Mary too. Last night after we got back from Yellowstone, Mary came and got the girls so they could have a sleepover at her place. Mary called Nikki back on her birthday and asked her back then if she wanted to have a sleepover at her place. Nikki has been so excited about it ever since then. They watched movies, ate chips and fresh salsa (from tomatoes we brought for Mary), made an ice cream run, then they made pancakes and cinnamon rolls in the morning. They stayed there and watched conference with Mary and her roommates. Mary said she loved having them there and the girls said it was the best part of the trip.

We drove to Rexburg Friday morning. On the way in we stopped in Rigby at the quilt shop that Mary works at. The owner is a friend of mine, so you know I have to support her business :) That afternoon we met up with Kirk and Rachel who were watching a men's volleyball game. It was actually a pretty exciting match. Both teams were good. Rachel's roommate was the coach of one of the teams. Since Kirk is coaching a girl's team, he's a bit more interested in the sport now. Wish we could have seen his team playing, but they had a bye this week. We also went bowling at BYU-I with the kids, then went to dinner at a pretty tasty pizza buffet called Craigo's. Mary came along with us. Back at the hotel, the girls went swimming and Alex decided to stay with Kirk both nights. He's getting kind of excited for college life.

Yellowstone was beautiful and it was fun looking for wildlife along the way. Every time we saw a car stopped along the side of the road, we knew there must be something worth looking at so we stopped too. We managed to see bison, elk, deer, and even almost saw bears 2 times. By the time we got out of the car, we were only able to talk to people who had seen the bear. Oh well. Dad said in all his times going to Yellowstone he has never seen a bear, so we were really trying hard to see one. Kirk invited Rachel to come along, so she came with us too. We left at 8am and didn't get back into Rexburg until 8pm, so it was a long day, but since we had many stops along the way the time went by pretty fast. Old Faithful was just that, old and faithful. The waterfalls are always my favorite. Very mesmorizing.
Here's a bison we saw right next to the road and us walking through Mammoth Falls. Funny thing-while we were walking around Mammoth Falls, I saw someone and she looked so familiar so I walked up to her and said I think I know you. She said yeah, you look familiar too. I said, where are you from. She said, Utah but we just moved there from South Carolina. Then I recognized her. It was Erin Bergmann. She is Jennifer Bergmann's daughter. I don't know if you remember Sis. Bergmann. She was the Primary president just before me and she also had a daughter named Isabelle the same year I had Kristina. She and her husband Carl owned a sandwich shop in Bluffton. Erin said her parents got divorced a couple years ago and Jennifer is back living in Ridgeland where most her family is from. Anyway, it was just so odd to run into her in this remote place.




As you can see by our sweatshirts, the weather was a little nippy throughout the day.

I enjoyed conference today and thought about you listening to it at the same time. I really enjoyed Pres. Monson's talk on change. And I was so excited to hear the news about a temple in Cordoba. I bet the members are very excited about it. Will any of Chile be using it too or will it only be for Argentina? The other talks I liked were Boyd K. Packer's Elder Eduardo Gavarret's talk about bringing people back home. Since we missed all the Saturday sessions, I'll have to get back to you about those later after I watch Tivo.

Last night coming back to Rexburg you can see the new temple all lit up on the hill from far away. Nikki just kept saying how beautiful the temple was and wanted me to keep looking at it. The next day we went up to the temple and Nikki kept talking about how pretty it was and especially how pretty it looked at night. Then on the way into Boise, she got very excited to be the first one to spot the Boise temple. I love seeing and feeling her excitement. She can't wait until she's 12 so she can go back inside again.

You sound so good, Sean. The love of the gospel and your testimony have given you a fire within and I can feel it through your letters. Keep up the good work and remember that the Lord is always by your side helping you further His work. Don't forget to show your gratitude to Him.

Love you always,
momxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxooxo