Dear Elder Alex,
I had to title this one wedding bells since I just got off the phone with Sarah's parents in Canada and we are now in the "active planning" stages of the wedding. Sarah only has one more thing left on her side of the visa, waiting for her police record to show up, then she calls the Vancouver embassy and they make an appt. for her to come in for an interview. Right after the interview, she receives her visa. So they've set a date of July 20th as their wedding and will be getting married in Idaho Falls because Kirk will still be in Rexburg finishing up his finals the day before. He had a choice of either being part of his graduation ceremony or getting married and I think it was a pretty easy choice for him. Then the next day, we'll all travel over here to Eagle for an open house at our house. The one weird thing we have to do is have their wedding reception in Canada before they actually get married because after they get married she can't travel to Canada until she gets a different visa which may take up to a month. So their reception will be on July 14th, a week before. We'll all be going up to Canada for that. I think that will be kind of weird for Kirk because he'll be part of a reception with his bride, then take off alone and go back to Rexburg. But since nothing about their relationship has been "normal", this will just be par for the course.
So my mind now has to turn to all the details of wedding/open house stuff. Wish me luck. This is all new to me.
I loved your letter last week and it was mainly because of the story you shared about Pres. McKee teaching the pastor, Alvin. I loved that and it gave me goosebumps.What a great story! Keep me posted on what happens there.
We had a nice Sunday here. The weather is beautiful, the sun stays out til late at night, everything is so green-you just feel like being outside. The testimonies were very nice today too. I especially enjoyed hearing from our local missionaries. As you've seen from some of our pictures, they are both Polynesian, and their testimonies were so wonderful. The one from Samoa talked about his dad becoming active since he's been gone and how much that has meant. The other one talked about how moved he was by a talk from one of the young Ray boys a couple weeks ago when he spoke of his older brother who is on a mission and what a great example he is and how they love receiving letters from him. The elder said when he heard that, he felt guilty because he hadn't been writing letters very often and he even knew of some problems his family was having back home. He said when he did write, they were very short, maybe just a sentence. He said he thought to himself during that talk, "please don't read a portion of your brother's letters." Then sure enough, the kid read a portion of his brother's last letter. Afterwards, the one elder elbowed his companion and said, "Is that how you write your family?" His companion said, "no." "Me either," said the one. So that week they both committed to start writing much better letters home to their families because he was so touched by how much the letters meant to the brother.
I just want you to know first off, that you write amazing letters and that they really do mean so much to all of us and I thought today that I would love it some time if you wrote your testimony to Leah and Nikki in particular, something they could always hold onto. I think it would mean a lot to them especially as they grow older.
Secondly, I want you to know that the elders bring such a powerful spirit with them whenever they speak or enter our homes. I doubt you realize it, but it's so evident to us. I hope you have many, many opportunities to be in people's homes if for no other reason than for them to feel the spirit that you bring. Always pray to have that spirit with you.
We are all well here. Sean is working, Kristina is making big plans for the summer with her friends. She's camping out with Claire this Tuesday, going to academies Thursday and the temple on Friday. Leah and Nikki love sleeping in a little, staying up a little later, getting up and making eggs in the morning. Life is good when their tummies are full and they get plenty of sleep!
Dad and I double dated with the Hugentobler's this weekend. We went out to dinner, saw a movie and then got frozen yogurt. They're just fun company to be with. The simple pleasures of life are the best-I helped the beehives with a sewing project this week, got together with my Material Girls, went to an Eagle court of honor, went to a BBQ at the Simmons (first house on the corner in Tahoe Ridge), went to lunch with dad at Carl's Jr and Taco Bell, I got to hold Rebecca Nielsen's(Justin's wife) newborn all during RS today--like I said, it's just the simple pleasures and the people you're with that make life beautiful.
Grandpa Trumbo called me tonight and we had a fun talk as usual. He's doing well and I can tell it's time for me to get back down there again for a visit and to continue working on his life history. Maybe you and I can make a quick trip down there after you get home.
Around the house here we've been sprucing some things up. Yes, we actually have a gardener come now and I can't believe how awesome everything looks. Even dad admits that. Now dad has more time to work on his other projects like the garden and landscaping, etc. I think he's enjoying it a lot more.
I hope you had a great week. How did your lesson with Kyle go? Can't wait to hear. Are you moving to Bowling Green yet? Let us know all the places you travel. It's fun to look it up on the map and track you.
Have a fun day. Always remember how many people are praying for you and the people you teach. We have a great family.
Love you,
Mom xxoo
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