Coeur d'Alene

June 17, 2012
Dear Elder Alex,
Well, I've learned how to spell Coeur d'alene now that we've spent a week here. We are leaving tomorrow to go back home and we'll drive through the middle of the state to get there. We drove the freeways through Oregon coming here, so we'll try a different way going home.


We've had a great time exploring this new area. We're staying in a house on the lake here and it's been great. Here are the highlights of the few things we did while here:
toured the lake on a tour cruise boat
played games
rode the Hiawatha bike trail
rented a jet ski
played laser tag
ate
shopped
watched a car parade with hundreds of cars
attended the Coeur d'alene 3rd ward
bar-b-qued
visited a town that never left the 40's
ate some more


My favorite thing was the Hiawatha bike trail. We had to go into Montana to start the trail and it was almost downhill the whole way. There were lots of tunnels including one that was over a mile long, pitch black and freezing. Our bikes had little lights on them so we could see a little. The views on the trail down the mountain were amazing and breathtaking. I would highly recommend the bike ride. It took us about 3 hours. When you get to the bottom, a bus takes you and your bike back up to the first tunnel, the long one, where we get back on the bikes and ride back to the start.


On the way home from that, we stopped at a little town called Wallace that looked like time had stood still. It was almost freaky. We had huckleberry shakes in a little diner, walked around the entire town where Sean made the observation that there didn't seem to be any stores where they sold something new. Very strange.


We went to Spokane one day and played laser tag in a 3 story building. Lots of fun as usual and Sean beat us all as usual, but I actually came in second in the family in the first game (and it wasn't by shooting all the little kids).


Sean said his best thing we did was renting a jet ski. It really was a lot of fun. Kristina, dad, Sean and I got to drive and we took the little girls for rides.


Today at church, a young man was giving his homecoming report. His parents spoke before him talking about fathers and in fact, the RM also spoke about fathers. He didn't say very much about his mission at all, so I was a little disappointed in that, but he gave a good talk. In fact, right at the beginning of his talk, he said something very funny. He said, "It's so great to see everyone here and it's great to see my brothers here and my sister, and my girlfriend with her husband..."  Everyone laughed so hard.  We found out later that his family is related to the woman who was my first counselor last year before the stake split. We always seem to find at least one connection with people wherever we go. I enjoy meeting new people and attending new wards.


In our RS lesson today, we talked about missionary work and several sisters related their stories about their conversions. Many of them joined as adults. One joined as a 12 year old when her mother became dissatisfied with their new minister who couldn't answer the one question she had for him, Where did we come from? Another was wondering about the purpose of life and decided one day to pray to find the true religion. She said the missionaries showed up at her door within one week of her praying. That's a testament to me about the importance of staying in tune with the spirit. Each sister seemed to have this in common. They were really contemplating about life, religion, etc and wanted to find answers, and in each case they were either spontaneously contacted by the missionaries or a friend or family they knew(who were members) happened to get into conversations about life with them. So trust the spirit to guide you.


Dad had a good father's day today. He wanted to cook the entire meal which I was more than happy about (he's becoming quite the cook these days), so he put together 3 types of tacos-fish, chicken and steak with a grilled corn salad. He grilled peppers and tomatillos and blended them for a really tasty taco sauce. I think he really enjoyed it, all the cutting, grilling and prep work and it turned out great. We gave him cards and a book about how to train your human from a dog's point of view-very funny. We're also getting him a new golf bag.


I called my dad today and he was in good spirits. He had heard from all 12 of us kids, so he was pretty happy about that. He's still working hard at the Winn and taking care of grandma too, which is a ton of work at this point. She needs help with everything, but he never complains about it. He told me today that he likes calling me a lot because I'm like his therapist for him and I always make him feel better about things. That made me feel good and I always enjoy talking with him. He's always been a fun conversationalist.


Well, everyone is asleep now, so I better turn in. Next week, I'll have  more pictures for you. I'm typing on dad's laptop for now.

 Hiawatha Trail tunnel

 One of the passes we rode our bikes over

 visiting the town of Wallace

I hope you had a good week and that you were able to teach many lessons. Hearing all the women tell their conversion stories today made me think of you and got me excited with a renewed faith that there really are people out there searching for answers and ready to learn. Tell us about where you spent your time this week and keep us posted on the ones you've been teaching.


Have a great day and a spirit-led week.
love you much,
mom
xxoo