Dear Elder Alex,
We've been reading as much as we can about the tornadoes in your area. I feel so bad for the people of Harrisburg which is just north of you. Were there any missionaries there? Those tornadoes are so scary and there's hardly any warning. Have you gone out and done any service helping those who had damage?
Well, my head hurts tonight probably because I had to think about where I was so much today. It was just odd being in a newly formed ward. There were a few people I recognized and a lot that I didn't, so it was kind of weird. Everyone felt a little out of place. It took about 10 minutes to make all the new callings today. Dad doesn't have a calling yet, so he's pretty sure they'll put him into the high priest group. We'll see. I came through unscathed because of my stake calling, but that makes it a bit harder for me to get to know people because of my calling too. So I signed up today to take meals in for a family I'm not familiar with. Nothing like serving to help you bond with someone else-a lesson I learned early on in life.
The Borups were very happy to see us in the ward and are excited to hear any news from you. We have the largest youth group in the stake, but I think that's because there are quite a few families with 8-10 kids. The hard thing today was not being able to sit in our usual seats. In fact, all the seats up near the front were actually taken or saved and we got there about 15 minutes early. It might be difficult establishing a new spot for ourselves, but we'll work on that.
Yesterday we sent you an envelope with letters, the new ward boundaries, etc. Hopefully you'll get that soon.
Mission news this week-Rasmussens are going to be mission presidents in Birmingham, England. Tanner Mangum (EHS QB) is going to Chile in July (2 months before his 19th b-day). Hmmm, you think being a committed QB for BYU helps you get out on your mission in time to get back for summer training... Eric McKell got called to the Mexico City mission.
Dallas comes home tomorrow, which reminds me. I wrote to Dawn about you rooming with Dallas and Devin, but I haven't heard back from her. Terri Westerberg wrote me and said Austin was asking about rooming with you and also it sounds like Cameron is thinking about transferring to BYU, so he would be another possibility for a roommate. Will you just write me and let me know what you're thinking and we'll try to get things arranged on our end. Sean said he'd find places for you, but I just need to know who you'd like to room with.
This week I will have a full week orienting all the new RS leaders in all the wards that were affected. Our poor little ward got completely cut up and it's going to take a while for all of us to feel a part of things.
We just finished playing Scattergories as a family. We laughed so hard because you know how it is whenever you play anything with Nikki and Leah. Well, Nikki for her first round just read the first ward and thought she was supposed to put down 12 things just for the first word, so she thought of 12 names of boys starting with the letter "T". Then for the second round, she forgot to turn her card around, so she was answering all the questions from round 1. Then on the third round, she actually got it right, but the letter was "J". So for the clue tropical locations, she wrote down Jafuji. We laughed so hard because it actually sounded pretty good. I guess she got Jamaica and Fiji all mixed up. So now we have a new family joke with our next vacation destination--that beautiful island of Jafuji!! I made some peanut butter chocolate kiss cookies tonight because I've been craving them for quite a while. I wish I hadn't made them because now I remember that they are super easy to make and super hard to resist. I need to go on a long walk tomorrow.
Nikki had a Cantus concert last night which was very nice. They are always so professional and she loves being part of it. Kristina went out with Mitch Reeve on a double date with Trevor Leifson and Courtney Dittman. Trevor just turned 16, so they tricked him and he didn't know he was going out on a date, but it was all set up. Sounds like they had a good time.
BYU got knocked out in the semi-finals of the WCC tourney by Gonzaga. It was a lopsided loss according to dad. So now we don't know where they'll end up in the March madness tourney.
Hugentoblers are moving out of their house in two weeks. They found a place to rent in the 7th ward. Now that we're all mixed up anyway, that doesn't phase me as much. We'll always be friends with them. We're just hoping Mel will find a job he really enjoys and that pays well. There are still quite a few more families with financial difficulties just waiting to hear from the banks that they have officially lost their homes and have to move out. I can't believe how long this depression or downturn has lasted. It's affected almost everyone we know.
I'm anxious to hear about your week, how everyone's doing in your mission from the storms. Of course, the only pictures we get to see are the highly affected areas. Is this tornado season? We are starting to warm up here, getting little glimmers of spring which is exciting. Can't wait to be outside more.
Sounds like Sean will be coming home for the summer and working for Travis at the mall. He talked with his boss there in Provo at the dispatch/police station and they said he can still have his job back in the fall which will be great.
I still haven't heard anything from Graham, but his old ward said they'd let me know if he shows up. I hope he's doing well and is starting to adjust to life back home even though his new home is in California.
I've got a bunch of calls to make tonight to all the new RS leaders, so I better close up. Have a wonderful week and always remember how much we all love you. Family is everything! Everything else pales in comparison.
Love you,
Mom xxoo
No comments:
Post a Comment