May Day

May 1, 2011

Dear Elder Alex,

It's a beautiful day here to start things out for May. How is your weather? We sure have been seeing some devastating scenes from the South with the tornadoes that ripped through there last week. There were even some in Tennessee so I hope your area is doing well.

Ashton Beagley and his wife just came over. He wants to talk with Kirk about working for Pro Image. Ashton got Kirk's old job since Kirk is taking off this week for Uganda. Actually I think Ashton just wanted to play Super Smash Bros cuz that's what I'm hearing down in the basement. I hope his wife likes to play.

Last week the Beagley's moved out of our ward and into Star 3rd ward. I'll miss having Diane so close. She's been a great friend. Luckily she's still in Material Girls! When I was RS president in the ward, Diane was one of my counselors and we had a blast working together. She had a garage sale on Saturday and Nikki and I got up early and did some fun shopping there.

Today was fast Sunday. I bore my testimony today. I wasn't planning on doing that, but in the middle of the meeting it hit me like a wave. I fought it for a bit, but at the end, literally, I went up. Afterwards there were a few people who came up to me and said they were so thankful for my words and that they were just what they needed to hear today. I can never really remember what I say when I get up there, but I'm happy the spirit I was feeling was able to touch some others.

Leah gave a talk in Primary today and she did a great job. She spoke clearly and slowly. She has really come a long way and now she only has a few more months til she goes into Young Women.

Bro. Teuscher came over today to give Kirk a rock for his pocket while he's in Uganda. He said you have one too. Kirk had never received one when he went on a mission so this will be nice. He'll have to do a lot of rubbing in order to make it smooth in just four months. His roommate was going to come here today and then both of them drive to SLC on Tues, but Kevin had to go to SLC early which left Kirk high and dry. So now he's flying to SLC on Tues and grandma and grandpa will pick him up. Then on Wed he flies to Chicago, to London(for a 12 hour layover-he'll do some sightseeing while there), then to Kenya, then to Uganda. He finally gets to Uganda on Friday. He's very excited for this adventure and I know it will be a great opportunity for him. Tyler Yorgason is actually doing the same thing but for a shorter period of time. Tyler will show up in Uganda the end of July to the end of August, but he'll be in the same exact village as Kirk. Tyler's just going for fun, Kirk is going to get credit for his internship.

Kristina's big news for the week...she got her license. She actually had Chad Arnell from Excel as her driving test person and he said she was a very good driver. So far, she's driven to Albertson's in the black car and to Cameron's in the black car and one time to her lacrosse game in the Mustang. Pretty exciting I know, but I'm keeping a pretty short leash on her driving for a while. I'm sure you'll approve.

Yes, Nikki loved your cat poop story. She was laughing the hardest.

The woman who is taking the lessons here is having a hard time. She's trying to quit smoking while at the same time take care of her daughter who is on meth and is pregnant. Of course, right when she decides to get baptized, her life gets turned upside down. So we fasted today for her to have the strength to quit smoking.

This past week has been busy here. Busy with lacrosse games-Kristina's team is undefeated and she continues to score at least 1-2 goals each game, Leah's team has only lost once. I'm also spending a huge amount of time helping Jan get ready for the quilt market. This week I'm working with a local design typesetter and getting the pattern ready for printing. I'm enjoying the process and looking forward to working with both Jan and Toni in Salt Lake in 2 weeks.

Sean is now gainfully employed in Provo. He's training to be a 911 dispatcher. He gets paid while in training and then gets a $2 an hour raise after that. This week he's in classroom training, on the job training, a ride along with a police officer and a scavenger hunt of BYU to get to know the entire campus. Sounds like fun training to me. He likes his new condo too. He had dinner at Steve's and said Laura is really getting large. They're pretty sure it's just twins, but she looks like she's having triplets. On the pregnancy band wagon is also Heidi and Katie. So 4 more great grandchildren for my parents this year.

How are your investigators coming along? Did Cynita kick the cigarette habit? If so, maybe she can write to Trish here in our ward and help her along.

So it sounds like you had a great Easter Sunday. I hadn't heard of the Lowe family before, but I looked them up on the internet and I guess they are quite successful and good at what they do. They look like a fun family to hang around with and very talented too. Sorry David Archuleta couldn't make it. :( You could have sung a duet.

Here's a couple pictures. This is a quilt I just finished.(I know these aren't the most exciting pictures. Just nod your head and say," Nice"

This is the dollhouse quilt(the new pattern) still in the sewing stage.

Well, that's about it for now. Every week there's at least one person or family that ask about you. You're very much in all our thoughts and prayers and I can't tell you how much your letters mean to us. I can't believe we get to talk with you next Sunday, my first Mother's Day call from you! Kirk was trying to work out something on Skype so we could do a 3-way calling, but then he realized it will be late at night when you call and he isn't allowed out of their compound at night. Remember our mtg time is 9-12 on Sunday. Other than that, we will be anxiously awaiting your call. Let us know how you want to do it.

A couple missionary tips for the week:

1.Make sure you have a good answer for Revelations 22:18-19

2.Always keep a copy of a talk with you so if you're called on without warning, you'll be prepared.

3.Take the time to write a letter to your companion's parents or family.

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

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

Have a great week. Heed the promptings you receive and act on them quickly, then more and more promptings will come your way.

Love you,

Mom

xxoo