Dear Elder Alex,
So here we are in Utah for the weekend and right now we're at Steve and Carolina's. Sean's laughing at me because we've been sitting in the living room having a birthing discussion with Laura and all of a sudden I said, I need to write Alex. Fond memories almost 20 years ago. I still can remember how sad I was to have to leave the hospital without you in my arms. I guess I was a bit traumatized.
We went to Charmaine's ward this morning mainly because she had the latest ward. We got back home so late last night (around 2am) from the Manti pageant. Charmaine's ward is quite interesting. It's mainly young married couples with tons of small children. It was the largest ward relief society I've ever been in. The ward has 2 elders quorums, but all the women are in one room. It was a wonderful lesson. When it was over I turned to the sister next to me and said, "I always learn something new in every relief society lesson." And I really mean that. I think back in my life and so much of what I've learned about the church, about being a mom, taking care of my home, preparing for the future, etc are from being in Relief Society. I've also learned a lot from listening to what the other sisters say in their comments during the lessons too. So much of my testimony has been gained from being a part of relief society.
This afternoon we had lunch here at Steve's. Today we had all of us, Steve and Carolina and their 2 girls, Axel and Laura and their 2 in-utero girls, Charmaine, David Lutz and his girlfriend, Serena. We've been having fun, typical Uncle Steve type conversations all afternoon.
Yesterday we spent the day in Manti and along the way we made some stops thanks to Charmaine's local knowledge. She knows the land quite well. We met up with Dr. Moss and his family at the pageant. The pageant was a lovely show. It could use a new re-write or two, but the sheer vastness of the whole thing was impressive and the most magnificent part for me was being able to sit there right at the foot of this beautiful temple on a hill. I'll send some pictures next week when we get back home and download them.
The day before we drove to G&G Thompson's and along the way we stopped first in Twin Falls and looked at the actual Twin Falls. However, now there is only one fall. The other one got dammed up for electrical power. We also stopped in Layton to see Tracey Long Braithwaite's parents. I was very close to them growing up and I wanted to visit them in their home. Turns out they live in this absolutely beautiful site with a creek running through it. Her dad is an architect and designed and built their home. It's kind of a frank lloyd wright style home. anyway, it's really cool and I loved being there and being able to see it.
Now Steve's talking so loudly because he's upset at how many hours they ask doctors to work. I love it when the conversation gets so lively.
Tomorrow we drop off Kristina at EFY for her first EFY experience. I know she's going to love it. In fact, I know she'll love it so much that we'll hear about it for quite a while. I'm sure you remember how many new friends and stories you came home with. I'm excited for her. She and Mallory Moss are rooming together.
After we drop her off, I'm going over to Help International, the place that hosts the internships that Kirk is doing. I need to talk with them about getting some little dresses made from pillowcases sent to Uganda. Then we'll treat Sean to a lunch and take off to Sandy to spend the night with the Thompson's again. I hope we'll be able to meet up with Tani and his family too.
So how has your week been? I've been thinking about your mission president and how he's getting ready to leave. How does that transition take place, do you know? Does he stay there with the new one for a few days or does he just take off and let the assistants ease the new one in? Just curious.
Tell me a little about your new area. Do you have a car, foot, bike? Who is your companion/s? Where are they from, etc? How many wards do you cover? Who are the investigators you're working with?
Tomorrow morning Carolina, Dakota and Kassie are leaving for Spain. They're then flying to Rome with Isaac and Carolina's brothers and sisters. They'll be in Spain for a month or so.
It's definitely summer time here. People going here and there. I hope you are well and busy and happy. We pray for you always.
Have a great week and I always pray that you'll have many opportunities to share your testimony each day. Tell your investigators that it's ok to "believe" something is true, then act on that belief until one day they will "know" that it is true. It's always ok to believe until we know.
Love you much,
mom xxoo
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