June 13, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
We really enjoyed your letters and descriptions of your fun week. I'm so happy the devotional was a wonderful event for you and the other missionaries. Thank you so much for sending your notes with your insights and observations. I loved that. I felt like I was right there with you. You have a gift of expressing your observations so clearly and uniquely. I especially loved Elder Eyring's comments about Pres. Hinckley's calming and reassuring words, "Things will work out."
I'm glad you got the suit and that you like it. I picked out the ties for you as a surprise. Send us a picture of how you look in it when you get a chance. Have you been taking pictures while in the MTC? Are you going to send them home to us before you leave for safe keeping?
I couldn't find the lyrics in Spanish for This is the Christ. Looks like your district may have to work on that one. Have fun with that. Are you playing the piano or singing?
So Alex and I finally found those chips you were talking about. We found them at Winco. First we smelled them. Alex said they smelled like mustard and so did Dad. I thought it was more of a vinegar smell. The taste went along with the smells. Then Kristina and all her friends tried them. Maggie said they smelled and tasted like pickled burritos. That was a good way of putting it. Then I took them over to the Ericksons. Dirk and Oliver both immediately said hamburgers after smelling them. Eli and Joel both said they smelled and tasted like mustard and catsup. Dirk, eli and Joel all tried them, but Oliver refused saying "how disgusting, it's like a hamburger without the bun, how disgusting." Jill also refused to taste them. Anyway, we had a lot of fun with them. They certainly got mixed reviews.
I went to Brandon McKell's farewell on Sunday. It was in our old building at 1pm, so I missed going to our ward. Brandon and both his younger brothers spoke. Brandon did a great job. The group of friends on the third row is gradually diminishing, mainly girls now. I talked with Myles afterwards, his eyes still teary from the meeting. He asked me if it's gets any better with time. I tried to reassure him, but to no avail. I just love having the McKells in our stake. Myles has always been such a special person and I'm glad to call him my friend. Imagine if 20 years from now while you're attending a ward somewhere you run into one of your friends from high school and they're still as wonderful (if not better) than they were then. It's great to see.
Dad and the youth are going to the temple tomorrow to do baptisms. It's our anniversay (22 years) but I think we'll end up celebrating on Friday. We're going to go to the temple Friday morning, then probably out to lunch.
Eagle Fun Days was last weekend. The only fun part of it was the wet zone of the parade. The little girls loved it and loved loading up their squirt guns and shooting the fire trucks. We hung out with the Sorensen's which was great because they just brought their hoses over the fence to use.
Alex went to Helaman last week and really enjoyed it. He came back looking just like Kirk with a shaved head. It's kind of startling seeing him since he looks so much like Kirk. We'll send you some pix of the academies. Alex said he especially liked Bro. Shaw's talk and Bro. Cameron's talk and also Pres. McCauley's. He said "Hia Ta Ta" was intense and so was the number game.
Our shed is almost built now. I think it's really going to look nice and will hold quite a bit. We had to buy a new printer today, ours finally gave up.
Leah is enjoying Sylvan so far. She loves getting tokens and spending them most of all. I take my tennis shoes and walk while she's in class. It feels good (of course, we haven't had the sweltering heat yet!)
My dad called tonight to chat. He loves reading your letters and mentioned that he received one from you. He was going to meet with one of the Stake Presidency tonight. Said he wasn't too anxious to find out what was going to happen there. I always love talking with my dad. My mom sounded pretty good too. She's such a graceful woman even in the midst of trials.
Well, that's about it for this week. I'll bet you're getting anxious to get to Argentina. Do you know your travel plans yet? We just want to make sure we're around the day you fly out. Let us know.
Take care and remember you're always in our prayers.
Love you,
mom
xoxoxoxooxoxoxooxox
Showing posts with label Elder Sean letters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elder Sean letters. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
9 May 2007
May 9, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
Thank you so much for your fun letters. I tried to put the gist of what you said in my letter to Kirk so he could know what you were up to. It makes me sad that his camera got stolen. I was thinking that it would be a good idea for you to send us all your pix from the MTC right before you leave for Arg., at least a copy of them all. We'll be able to keep them safe here at home.
Your Spanish looks wonderful (a compliment coming from an untrained eye). It's just unbelievable to me that you're able to communicate that well already. I could easily understand your testimony. Thank you for sharing it.
I'm also going to look into the TALL method and see if it's available to us. I'll let you know.
Well, I had a great weekend in Utah. It rained, as you know, most of the time, but since we were inside for the bulk of it, it didn't really matter. Aunt Jan did great at the market. Her patterns were a hit. But the most interesting thing was seeing the workings of the wholesale world. There was so much wheeling and dealing going on and I loved being part of it. Executives from different companies would send their people around to all the booths to check out the new products. Those people would then tell us that someone would be coming by to talk with us later. Then one of the execs would come by and make an offer of some sort. For instance, the fabric companies (3 of them) asked us if we would be willing to design a new fabric line for their company. How fun would that be!! Jan doesn't want to do something like that, but I think that would be fun and so does Heidi. Maybe I'll collaborate with her on that. There was a publishing company that wanted us to make a book of the new patterns (when I say us, I was part of Threaded Pear Studios, the store Jan is working through) The owner of the Threaded Pear, Gina, is a quilter and designed some new quilt patterns for market. So we had new quilt patterns and new apron patterns. There were also four major distributors who want to carry our patterns in their catalog. The distributors take and fill orders from quilt stores around the world. Also Better Homes and Gardens wants Jan to have an apron and pattern for their Aug issue. All in all, it was a big success. Now the orders start coming in. I'm so happy for Jan. She has worked so hard on this. She called me yesterday and said, get ready now for the fall market which is in Houston in Oct. They want me to have some new patterns of my own to put out there too. So here we go....
While in SLC I stayed across the street from the Salt Palace at the Plaza which is owned by the church. The concierge there was a young return missionary and he took me around town when I needed to get some errands done. It was fun talking with him. He showed me the land that the church has bought which includes the entire block that the Plaza sits on. He also showed me where the campus for BYU-Salt Lake is going to be-right across from the Salt Palace. He went to CA on his mission and is getting married next week. He said he decided to go to LDS Business College because he wanted to stay right in Salt Lake which he loves and he wanted the best chances of finding someone he could marry in the temple. I love it. I guess it worked.
Anyway, I had a fun time and it was also a lot of work, physical labor and met a lot of new people. I probably walked 40,000 steps a day and part of that was lifting and hauling things, setting up the booth, etc. And of course I was in 7th heaven being around all the quilt world, a world I know very well. I was able to tell Jan who was who and what was important, etc. It was weird seeing all the people that I watch on HGTV quilt shows right there. Even Marie Osmond was there with a new line of fabric. And of course, I was able to purchase anything I wanted for the wholesale price-yippee!
Enough of that. Sunday we met in our new building finally. It's beautiful, clean. It felt a little odd like we were just visiting someone else's ward, but i think it will be nice. It's always interesting to see how the church refines and cuts back on the unnecessary parts of a building. I still like the old buildings. If you ever get to see some of them in SLC, you'll know what I mean.
Dad is getting ready for his first tax audit next week. I think it's pretty stressful for him. We're not the best record keepers, but perhaps from now on we will be. I know we'll learn a lot from this, I just hope we don't have to pay too highly for the learning.
This morning while getting the girls ready for school, i started to brush Leah's hair and noticed the whole front where the bangs should be had been whacked off. I asked her when that happened and she said she did it in school yesterday. I guess she wanted bangs really bad. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it. I may just take her to the hair dresser and get her hair cut short, cuz it will take quite a while for her hair to grow back to normal. Then I went upstairs and Nikki had written her name on the tread of one of the stairs and her whole bed was a bloody mess from a lovely nose bleed last night. Never a dull moment with them.
I'm taking the cubs on a hike today down the greenbelt. Wish me luck. they're about as obedient as Leah and Nikki and I'm thinking we should put leashes on them as we hike or else I'll be jumping in the river for an unexpected freezing cold dip.
Haven't heard much news from any of your friends. I know Brandon hasn't done much by way of getting ready yet according to his parents. He has some time though. I need to call the Frames to find out their meeting times. Everyone changed times last week cuz of the new building. I haven't heard from Tyler or where he is. I thought I'd check in with Jared this week and see how he's doing. Oliver is back living at home and according to Jill he's nicer than ever. She doesn't know what's going on. She's still hoping a mission is in his future. But he talks about going back to Provo in the fall and living with Jeff and Kurt. The singles ward meets right before us in the new building, so we get to see a lot of your friends each week now.
I love the song words you've chosen for your plaque. That's the most powerful song. I may have to edit it a bit to be within the word limit. Will that be ok, or do you have another choice? I'm going to check and see how many words are allowed. I think it should be ok and i'll let you know.
You asked for Kirk's mailing address. Here it is:
the easiest way right now is to send it through the pouch through SLC and it's just for letters. If you want to send something other than a letter, let me know and I can get the pkg address for you.
Elder Kirk Thompson
Dominican Republic Santiago Mission
PO Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150
We all thought about you on your birthday and even put up the sign. You're always in our prayers and most of all you're always in my heart. Work hard, the Lord will bless you with extra strength to accomplish more than you ever thought you could, but remember to always acknowledge His hand in your work.
If there's anything you need, let me know. I hope you have a great week. I'm so glad you're part of a great district and that the work is fun. Enjoy.
love you,
mom
xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxo
Dear Elder Sean,
Thank you so much for your fun letters. I tried to put the gist of what you said in my letter to Kirk so he could know what you were up to. It makes me sad that his camera got stolen. I was thinking that it would be a good idea for you to send us all your pix from the MTC right before you leave for Arg., at least a copy of them all. We'll be able to keep them safe here at home.
Your Spanish looks wonderful (a compliment coming from an untrained eye). It's just unbelievable to me that you're able to communicate that well already. I could easily understand your testimony. Thank you for sharing it.
I'm also going to look into the TALL method and see if it's available to us. I'll let you know.
Well, I had a great weekend in Utah. It rained, as you know, most of the time, but since we were inside for the bulk of it, it didn't really matter. Aunt Jan did great at the market. Her patterns were a hit. But the most interesting thing was seeing the workings of the wholesale world. There was so much wheeling and dealing going on and I loved being part of it. Executives from different companies would send their people around to all the booths to check out the new products. Those people would then tell us that someone would be coming by to talk with us later. Then one of the execs would come by and make an offer of some sort. For instance, the fabric companies (3 of them) asked us if we would be willing to design a new fabric line for their company. How fun would that be!! Jan doesn't want to do something like that, but I think that would be fun and so does Heidi. Maybe I'll collaborate with her on that. There was a publishing company that wanted us to make a book of the new patterns (when I say us, I was part of Threaded Pear Studios, the store Jan is working through) The owner of the Threaded Pear, Gina, is a quilter and designed some new quilt patterns for market. So we had new quilt patterns and new apron patterns. There were also four major distributors who want to carry our patterns in their catalog. The distributors take and fill orders from quilt stores around the world. Also Better Homes and Gardens wants Jan to have an apron and pattern for their Aug issue. All in all, it was a big success. Now the orders start coming in. I'm so happy for Jan. She has worked so hard on this. She called me yesterday and said, get ready now for the fall market which is in Houston in Oct. They want me to have some new patterns of my own to put out there too. So here we go....
While in SLC I stayed across the street from the Salt Palace at the Plaza which is owned by the church. The concierge there was a young return missionary and he took me around town when I needed to get some errands done. It was fun talking with him. He showed me the land that the church has bought which includes the entire block that the Plaza sits on. He also showed me where the campus for BYU-Salt Lake is going to be-right across from the Salt Palace. He went to CA on his mission and is getting married next week. He said he decided to go to LDS Business College because he wanted to stay right in Salt Lake which he loves and he wanted the best chances of finding someone he could marry in the temple. I love it. I guess it worked.
Anyway, I had a fun time and it was also a lot of work, physical labor and met a lot of new people. I probably walked 40,000 steps a day and part of that was lifting and hauling things, setting up the booth, etc. And of course I was in 7th heaven being around all the quilt world, a world I know very well. I was able to tell Jan who was who and what was important, etc. It was weird seeing all the people that I watch on HGTV quilt shows right there. Even Marie Osmond was there with a new line of fabric. And of course, I was able to purchase anything I wanted for the wholesale price-yippee!
Enough of that. Sunday we met in our new building finally. It's beautiful, clean. It felt a little odd like we were just visiting someone else's ward, but i think it will be nice. It's always interesting to see how the church refines and cuts back on the unnecessary parts of a building. I still like the old buildings. If you ever get to see some of them in SLC, you'll know what I mean.
Dad is getting ready for his first tax audit next week. I think it's pretty stressful for him. We're not the best record keepers, but perhaps from now on we will be. I know we'll learn a lot from this, I just hope we don't have to pay too highly for the learning.
This morning while getting the girls ready for school, i started to brush Leah's hair and noticed the whole front where the bangs should be had been whacked off. I asked her when that happened and she said she did it in school yesterday. I guess she wanted bangs really bad. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it. I may just take her to the hair dresser and get her hair cut short, cuz it will take quite a while for her hair to grow back to normal. Then I went upstairs and Nikki had written her name on the tread of one of the stairs and her whole bed was a bloody mess from a lovely nose bleed last night. Never a dull moment with them.
I'm taking the cubs on a hike today down the greenbelt. Wish me luck. they're about as obedient as Leah and Nikki and I'm thinking we should put leashes on them as we hike or else I'll be jumping in the river for an unexpected freezing cold dip.
Haven't heard much news from any of your friends. I know Brandon hasn't done much by way of getting ready yet according to his parents. He has some time though. I need to call the Frames to find out their meeting times. Everyone changed times last week cuz of the new building. I haven't heard from Tyler or where he is. I thought I'd check in with Jared this week and see how he's doing. Oliver is back living at home and according to Jill he's nicer than ever. She doesn't know what's going on. She's still hoping a mission is in his future. But he talks about going back to Provo in the fall and living with Jeff and Kurt. The singles ward meets right before us in the new building, so we get to see a lot of your friends each week now.
I love the song words you've chosen for your plaque. That's the most powerful song. I may have to edit it a bit to be within the word limit. Will that be ok, or do you have another choice? I'm going to check and see how many words are allowed. I think it should be ok and i'll let you know.
You asked for Kirk's mailing address. Here it is:
the easiest way right now is to send it through the pouch through SLC and it's just for letters. If you want to send something other than a letter, let me know and I can get the pkg address for you.
Elder Kirk Thompson
Dominican Republic Santiago Mission
PO Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150
We all thought about you on your birthday and even put up the sign. You're always in our prayers and most of all you're always in my heart. Work hard, the Lord will bless you with extra strength to accomplish more than you ever thought you could, but remember to always acknowledge His hand in your work.
If there's anything you need, let me know. I hope you have a great week. I'm so glad you're part of a great district and that the work is fun. Enjoy.
love you,
mom
xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxo
30 Sep 2007
Sept. 30, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
Well, what a whirlwind of a couple of weeks we've had. Today was Kirk's homecoming and he did a great job. It was fun to hear him speak for so long and with an accent. He even threw in a couple of Spanish words without knowing it which a lot of people commented to him later about. He spoke of the things he learned on his mission. Alex Erickson also spoke and did a good job. Such different missions but it sounds like they learned very similar lessons in life.
We got home late Wed night and were greeted by grandma and grandpa Thompson with the 3 little girls at the airport. I hurried off the plane first so I could video the event. We were all so tired when we got home that we basically just went to bed. The next day we took Kirk out shopping for new clothes because when he went to get dressed he realized he'd lost so much weight that nothing fit him at home. He lost around 30 pounds and looks great. We also realized that his license expired in August so we had to make a stop at the DMV to renew. So now he's good to go. I feel like I'm teaching 2 kids to drive now, he and Alex since Kirk really hasn't driven since before his mission. The driving was so crazy in the DR that I'm glad he didn't have to drive there.
On Friday we went to the airport (after stopping at a car lot to look at some new cars) to pick up g & g Trumbo. We had about an hour to kill so we went to another car lot with them, then headed back to the airport to pick up Charmaine. The bunch of us went to lunch and headed home. Friday night Steve and Carolina and Giovanni and Dakota and Kassie came in. So that was our group for the weekend. We had a lot of fun with everyone. It was fun hearing the Trumbo's speak Spanish with Kirk. They said he was a fast speaker but really good. Saturday we went to the movies and let Kirk catch up on at least one movie he had missed out on, Bourne Ultimatum. That night we had a big dinner with stuffed shells and Mexican rice. Kirk is really craving rice since he's been home, so I'm trying to oblige.
Steve and his family left after Sacrament and have made plans to be back for Thanksgiving this year.
Uncle Bill came over the other night and asked Kirk if he would help him drive cars for car wars this week. I told Kirk that was a sweet deal and to try to get to drive the Mustang they have on their lot right now. Kirk was really eyeing that car when we stopped by for a visit. It's a 2007 with a few custom items on it.
We got your handwritten letter this week along with the DVD's. I loved your letter and so did the family. You definitely have a writing gift, so use it and develop it. As for the DVD's. They both work, but the Transformers is missing the bottom half of the screen, so we laughed at that. Is it a pirate copy or something? CArolina said Isaac brought some home too and they laughed at them because they could see people walking in the middle of the movie with popcorn in their arms and they could hear people laughing during different parts of it. We'll let Nikki watch hers next week.
Sounds like you have some nice fun food to eat there. Take it easy on the dulce de leche, it sounds rich and lucious, and fattening. I can remember reading something about it when you were preparing for your mission and how some elders really get hooked on it and put it on everything like you were talking about. Grandpa Trumbo is reading your letter right now as I write you.
I like your new folletos. They're so nice. Gio said he had one like that on his mission except it was showing how the Book of Mormon and the Bible were connected.
We're definitely having a change of seasons here. It was so cold this weekend and so windy. Kirk has been freezing here. I don't know how he's going to make it in Rexburg this winter. There was even snow on Bogus yesterday morning. We hear it snowed an inch in Provo too.
How has your week been? I have such a better feel for what you're doing now that I've been on the streets with Kirk in the DR and meeting some of the families he worked with and been in their homes. It was an unforgettable experience for dad and Alex and I. Are you working with any families right now? How is your ward? I haven't had time to look for church guitar music yet, but really all you have to do is look at the chords of any hymn and you should be able to play it that way. Are you learning chords or picking or what? That would help me to know how you're learning. Where do you have a guitar to practice on?
It was fun having Carolina here to play piano duets with. I got into some of those ones I had purchased with high hopes of playing with you ( a little dig there)...and Carolina played them with me. It's so much fun to play duets with her. We both really enjoy it.
We had an excellent lesson in RS today about procrastination. It was from Elder Eyring's talk from last conference. Sis. Leifson taught it and she said with prayer and scriptures each day, we should be able to receive inspiration for each day to know how to spend our time that day, what things should take priority. Sometimes we have so many things to choose from in a day that it becomes overwhelming and difficult to make decisions on what to do, but Heavenly Father knows where our priorities should be and where we can do His will most effectively during the day. So we need to stay in tune to know the direction to take.
I hope you're enjoying the work. Remember man is that he might have joy. Stay on the straight course and obey with exactness so that the angels can be with you on your errands.
I love you Sean and always pray for you. Everyone here says to send their love to you....
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Dear Elder Sean,
Well, what a whirlwind of a couple of weeks we've had. Today was Kirk's homecoming and he did a great job. It was fun to hear him speak for so long and with an accent. He even threw in a couple of Spanish words without knowing it which a lot of people commented to him later about. He spoke of the things he learned on his mission. Alex Erickson also spoke and did a good job. Such different missions but it sounds like they learned very similar lessons in life.
We got home late Wed night and were greeted by grandma and grandpa Thompson with the 3 little girls at the airport. I hurried off the plane first so I could video the event. We were all so tired when we got home that we basically just went to bed. The next day we took Kirk out shopping for new clothes because when he went to get dressed he realized he'd lost so much weight that nothing fit him at home. He lost around 30 pounds and looks great. We also realized that his license expired in August so we had to make a stop at the DMV to renew. So now he's good to go. I feel like I'm teaching 2 kids to drive now, he and Alex since Kirk really hasn't driven since before his mission. The driving was so crazy in the DR that I'm glad he didn't have to drive there.
On Friday we went to the airport (after stopping at a car lot to look at some new cars) to pick up g & g Trumbo. We had about an hour to kill so we went to another car lot with them, then headed back to the airport to pick up Charmaine. The bunch of us went to lunch and headed home. Friday night Steve and Carolina and Giovanni and Dakota and Kassie came in. So that was our group for the weekend. We had a lot of fun with everyone. It was fun hearing the Trumbo's speak Spanish with Kirk. They said he was a fast speaker but really good. Saturday we went to the movies and let Kirk catch up on at least one movie he had missed out on, Bourne Ultimatum. That night we had a big dinner with stuffed shells and Mexican rice. Kirk is really craving rice since he's been home, so I'm trying to oblige.
Steve and his family left after Sacrament and have made plans to be back for Thanksgiving this year.
Uncle Bill came over the other night and asked Kirk if he would help him drive cars for car wars this week. I told Kirk that was a sweet deal and to try to get to drive the Mustang they have on their lot right now. Kirk was really eyeing that car when we stopped by for a visit. It's a 2007 with a few custom items on it.
We got your handwritten letter this week along with the DVD's. I loved your letter and so did the family. You definitely have a writing gift, so use it and develop it. As for the DVD's. They both work, but the Transformers is missing the bottom half of the screen, so we laughed at that. Is it a pirate copy or something? CArolina said Isaac brought some home too and they laughed at them because they could see people walking in the middle of the movie with popcorn in their arms and they could hear people laughing during different parts of it. We'll let Nikki watch hers next week.
Sounds like you have some nice fun food to eat there. Take it easy on the dulce de leche, it sounds rich and lucious, and fattening. I can remember reading something about it when you were preparing for your mission and how some elders really get hooked on it and put it on everything like you were talking about. Grandpa Trumbo is reading your letter right now as I write you.
I like your new folletos. They're so nice. Gio said he had one like that on his mission except it was showing how the Book of Mormon and the Bible were connected.
We're definitely having a change of seasons here. It was so cold this weekend and so windy. Kirk has been freezing here. I don't know how he's going to make it in Rexburg this winter. There was even snow on Bogus yesterday morning. We hear it snowed an inch in Provo too.
How has your week been? I have such a better feel for what you're doing now that I've been on the streets with Kirk in the DR and meeting some of the families he worked with and been in their homes. It was an unforgettable experience for dad and Alex and I. Are you working with any families right now? How is your ward? I haven't had time to look for church guitar music yet, but really all you have to do is look at the chords of any hymn and you should be able to play it that way. Are you learning chords or picking or what? That would help me to know how you're learning. Where do you have a guitar to practice on?
It was fun having Carolina here to play piano duets with. I got into some of those ones I had purchased with high hopes of playing with you ( a little dig there)...and Carolina played them with me. It's so much fun to play duets with her. We both really enjoy it.
We had an excellent lesson in RS today about procrastination. It was from Elder Eyring's talk from last conference. Sis. Leifson taught it and she said with prayer and scriptures each day, we should be able to receive inspiration for each day to know how to spend our time that day, what things should take priority. Sometimes we have so many things to choose from in a day that it becomes overwhelming and difficult to make decisions on what to do, but Heavenly Father knows where our priorities should be and where we can do His will most effectively during the day. So we need to stay in tune to know the direction to take.
I hope you're enjoying the work. Remember man is that he might have joy. Stay on the straight course and obey with exactness so that the angels can be with you on your errands.
I love you Sean and always pray for you. Everyone here says to send their love to you....
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
28 Sep 2008
Sept. 28, 2008
Dear Elder Sean,
I thought I'd actually write you a little early today since I have a few quiet moments. I just finished having a cub meeting here and we've planned the next few months. Alex went to Mitch Bruneel's farewell after church today and when he got home he turned around and went to BYC and now he's over at Dallas's hoping to find a meal since we aren't eating for another hour or two. Dallas had lunch over here. They say they are trying to fatten up Dallas so he will be more appealing to the college football recruiters. I told Alex to watch it though since he'll probably fatten up faster than Dallas will.
On that note-EHS won again over Mountain View. BYU and BSU didn't play this week. Sorry I don't keep up with the pros.
At the EHS game Alex and his friends had a lifesize cardboard stand of Barrack Obama, the Democratic candidate, and they put an EHS shirt on him and ran through the stands. The students loved it, the parents tolerated it. One parent even threw a Sprite can at Obama. Several people came up and wanted their pictures taken with him. Here's a picture from the Statesman and you can see Alex in the bottom corner.
The political arena should heat up this next month, lots of good mudslinging coming our way I'm sure. I hate that part of politics. Let me know if you want an absentee ballot.
I went to the Eagle 2nd ward this morning to hear Madison Flake give his homecoming report. He looked great, a little on the thin side ( lots of walking I guess) and he sounded much wiser from all his experiences of the last two years. His testimony was strong and he shared many experiences. He also told about the things he learned from his investigators. I think we can always learn lessons from the people we come in contact with. It's just figuring out what that lesson is that might be the hard part. Madison said to say hi and wanted to know what you were up to. His mom has been the one who has coordinated the Eagle missionary newsletter, but now Mitch's mom is going to take over. She's going to try to include pictures too. So if you ever have any pictures you'd like me to put into the newsletter, just let me know. At the sacrament mtg, I saw Anderson's parents, McKell's, Frames, Jared Gooch, Goodwins and Shaws. There were quite a few young ladies there (of course). Wish I knew their names. The only ones I knew were Megan Guersten and Tiffany Shaw.
How was your week? Sounds like your zone is really doing well. The numbers that you cited last week, are those from one week's work or one month? Either way, they were impressive numbers. Sounds like the companionships are working well together. Did Juan Barrosa end up getting married and baptized? I hope you're taking plenty of pictures even though we don't see many from you.
It's great to hear that Elder Nelson is coming to your mission. Always a treat. We had General Women's Conference last night and it was wonderful. Elder Uchtdorf spoke and he was funny and so relevant. He talked to the women about being creative and how that is our gift. He said creating was just making something good where it didn't exist previously. Even something as simple as making someone smile who hadn't been smiling previously is creating something. He was very motivating and I was equally impressed with Sis. Beck's talk as well as Sis. Thompson's talk. Even though I was in my room watching it on KBYU all by myself, I felt the spirit so strongly. It never ceases to amaze me how many times the spirit will bear witness to me of Christ's divinity and the great majesty of His church here on the earth. It's truly a tender mercy of the Lord to be able to have those feelings so often throughout life if we are in the right place at the right time with the right people.
This past week we celebrated Nikki's birthday yet another time. This time actually on her birthday-Sept. 24th. She opened the presents from us when she got home from school. I sent brownies in to her class which she said they just loved and wanted more.
Alex is hounding us to put a radio in the Mustang. It needs to be drip proofed first. We need to get it ready for winter driving, so I may get it fixed so water doesn't drip into the car, then we can put a radio in it.
Kristina is turning into a teenager right before my eyes. She loves middle school, socializing, organizing parties here at our house, and I can tell she even has crushes on some of the young men. I'm not sure I like this, but I know it has to happen. But she's still so good about playing with the little girls. Right now they are playing with the walkie talkies (I just thought of Brian Regan's joke about those ha ha). I hope she never feels too old to play with Leah and Nikki. They just love her and she's a wonderful role model for them.
Leah is doing better in school. I still work with her at least an hour a day 4 days a week with this Learning Technics program. I can actually see some differences in her abilities so I'm happy about that. She's not so crazy about piano lessons (already!) but I hope she'll stick with it. Right now it's a bit of a battle. She loves art and is in an after school class each week which she loves. Her school teacher Mrs. Wheadon is absolutely wonderful, quite an amazing teacher and I'm so happy Leah has her.
Nikki is growing taller by the minute. I think within a year or two she will be taller than Leah. People get the two of them mixed up all the time (can't quite see why, but they don't live with them). Nikki's developed quite a vibrato when she sings now and it's fun to sit by her in church. She's still so funny and has some quick comebacks. She still has very tender feelings which can produce crocodile tears that melt me. She loves talking about spiritual things and has some very insightful observations. I'm constantly amazed at what she understands about the gospel. I think this is knowledge she came to earth with.
Well, I better get making dinner. We're having taco salad. I need to use as many tomatoes as I can since our garden is overflowing with them. I'm still making fresh salsa every 3 days. If I could send you a peach from our peach tree, I would. They are sooooo delicious and we've been giving dozens away. Last family night we peeled and cut them into slices and froze them so I can make jam later on.
The family is all well. Axel should be getting his release date soon. Grandpa Trumbo is still inventing things. He made a stage that rises from the floor for Steve's business (Noah's) and will be coming up to Utah next week to work out some kinks.
We are going to Rexburg this Thursday for the weekend and will be going to Yellowstone for a day too with Kirk and Rachel and also Mary. We will watch general conference in Rexburg. I hope you get to see a lot of the sessions. I'm looking forward to it.
Alex and Dallas just showed up and they are still hungry. I guess they only had muffins at the Yorgason's, so they are now really looking forward to taco salad. Have a great week, Sean. I think of you all the time and I'm so grateful we get to hear from you each week.
Be true.
Love you,
momxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo
Dear Elder Sean,
I thought I'd actually write you a little early today since I have a few quiet moments. I just finished having a cub meeting here and we've planned the next few months. Alex went to Mitch Bruneel's farewell after church today and when he got home he turned around and went to BYC and now he's over at Dallas's hoping to find a meal since we aren't eating for another hour or two. Dallas had lunch over here. They say they are trying to fatten up Dallas so he will be more appealing to the college football recruiters. I told Alex to watch it though since he'll probably fatten up faster than Dallas will.
On that note-EHS won again over Mountain View. BYU and BSU didn't play this week. Sorry I don't keep up with the pros.
At the EHS game Alex and his friends had a lifesize cardboard stand of Barrack Obama, the Democratic candidate, and they put an EHS shirt on him and ran through the stands. The students loved it, the parents tolerated it. One parent even threw a Sprite can at Obama. Several people came up and wanted their pictures taken with him. Here's a picture from the Statesman and you can see Alex in the bottom corner.
The political arena should heat up this next month, lots of good mudslinging coming our way I'm sure. I hate that part of politics. Let me know if you want an absentee ballot.
I went to the Eagle 2nd ward this morning to hear Madison Flake give his homecoming report. He looked great, a little on the thin side ( lots of walking I guess) and he sounded much wiser from all his experiences of the last two years. His testimony was strong and he shared many experiences. He also told about the things he learned from his investigators. I think we can always learn lessons from the people we come in contact with. It's just figuring out what that lesson is that might be the hard part. Madison said to say hi and wanted to know what you were up to. His mom has been the one who has coordinated the Eagle missionary newsletter, but now Mitch's mom is going to take over. She's going to try to include pictures too. So if you ever have any pictures you'd like me to put into the newsletter, just let me know. At the sacrament mtg, I saw Anderson's parents, McKell's, Frames, Jared Gooch, Goodwins and Shaws. There were quite a few young ladies there (of course). Wish I knew their names. The only ones I knew were Megan Guersten and Tiffany Shaw.
How was your week? Sounds like your zone is really doing well. The numbers that you cited last week, are those from one week's work or one month? Either way, they were impressive numbers. Sounds like the companionships are working well together. Did Juan Barrosa end up getting married and baptized? I hope you're taking plenty of pictures even though we don't see many from you.
It's great to hear that Elder Nelson is coming to your mission. Always a treat. We had General Women's Conference last night and it was wonderful. Elder Uchtdorf spoke and he was funny and so relevant. He talked to the women about being creative and how that is our gift. He said creating was just making something good where it didn't exist previously. Even something as simple as making someone smile who hadn't been smiling previously is creating something. He was very motivating and I was equally impressed with Sis. Beck's talk as well as Sis. Thompson's talk. Even though I was in my room watching it on KBYU all by myself, I felt the spirit so strongly. It never ceases to amaze me how many times the spirit will bear witness to me of Christ's divinity and the great majesty of His church here on the earth. It's truly a tender mercy of the Lord to be able to have those feelings so often throughout life if we are in the right place at the right time with the right people.
This past week we celebrated Nikki's birthday yet another time. This time actually on her birthday-Sept. 24th. She opened the presents from us when she got home from school. I sent brownies in to her class which she said they just loved and wanted more.
Alex is hounding us to put a radio in the Mustang. It needs to be drip proofed first. We need to get it ready for winter driving, so I may get it fixed so water doesn't drip into the car, then we can put a radio in it.
Kristina is turning into a teenager right before my eyes. She loves middle school, socializing, organizing parties here at our house, and I can tell she even has crushes on some of the young men. I'm not sure I like this, but I know it has to happen. But she's still so good about playing with the little girls. Right now they are playing with the walkie talkies (I just thought of Brian Regan's joke about those ha ha). I hope she never feels too old to play with Leah and Nikki. They just love her and she's a wonderful role model for them.
Leah is doing better in school. I still work with her at least an hour a day 4 days a week with this Learning Technics program. I can actually see some differences in her abilities so I'm happy about that. She's not so crazy about piano lessons (already!) but I hope she'll stick with it. Right now it's a bit of a battle. She loves art and is in an after school class each week which she loves. Her school teacher Mrs. Wheadon is absolutely wonderful, quite an amazing teacher and I'm so happy Leah has her.
Nikki is growing taller by the minute. I think within a year or two she will be taller than Leah. People get the two of them mixed up all the time (can't quite see why, but they don't live with them). Nikki's developed quite a vibrato when she sings now and it's fun to sit by her in church. She's still so funny and has some quick comebacks. She still has very tender feelings which can produce crocodile tears that melt me. She loves talking about spiritual things and has some very insightful observations. I'm constantly amazed at what she understands about the gospel. I think this is knowledge she came to earth with.
Well, I better get making dinner. We're having taco salad. I need to use as many tomatoes as I can since our garden is overflowing with them. I'm still making fresh salsa every 3 days. If I could send you a peach from our peach tree, I would. They are sooooo delicious and we've been giving dozens away. Last family night we peeled and cut them into slices and froze them so I can make jam later on.
The family is all well. Axel should be getting his release date soon. Grandpa Trumbo is still inventing things. He made a stage that rises from the floor for Steve's business (Noah's) and will be coming up to Utah next week to work out some kinks.
We are going to Rexburg this Thursday for the weekend and will be going to Yellowstone for a day too with Kirk and Rachel and also Mary. We will watch general conference in Rexburg. I hope you get to see a lot of the sessions. I'm looking forward to it.
Alex and Dallas just showed up and they are still hungry. I guess they only had muffins at the Yorgason's, so they are now really looking forward to taco salad. Have a great week, Sean. I think of you all the time and I'm so grateful we get to hear from you each week.
Be true.
Love you,
momxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo
21 Sep 2008
Sept. 21, 2008
Dear Elder Sean,
Well, we survived Nikki's 7th birthday party (her actual birthday is Sept. 24th). She ended up with 5 friends here. It poured rain the whole night before and into the morning of the party, so we had to change our plans of going to a park and we just ended up having it here at the house. Our basement, of course, has a plethora of activities so it worked out just fine and everyone had fun. Nikki said she could hardly sleep the night before. I made a chocolate bundt cake and we had pizza. Our new favorite pizza is the bbq ranch chicken pizza from Winco. So that's the one Nikki wanted and Alex was our pizza delivery guy. It's so nice having him driving. We played some games, but mostly the girls just played with the dress up stuff and we took their pictures. I'll send a few after I finish writing.
How are things going in your zone? Did you meet your standard of excellence? Being out in the mission field again compared to being in the office must be a bit of a culture shock. You said you were working on obedience as a zone. Is that a problem there? You can see why they had to "raise the bar", but I know there's still problems. How's Pres. Olsen doing these days. You mentioned earlier that he had a lot on his plate and could use some prayers. Faithful and obedient elders are probably some of his best answers to prayers.
Money wise-I'm trying to check on your account regularly so that you have enough and more for any needs you might have or package debts, so don't worry. You've been very frugal on your mission and I really appreciate that.
Kirk called earlier this evening and is doing well. He and Rachel are still doing well and dating. The story could change every week, but for now that's the standing. He says he really feels good about taking it slowly and I know he's praying about it. These are big decisions after your mission and I can remember feeling the weight of the decisions, but it's also a very fun time of life, choosing your vocation, choosing your mate, etc. He's a coach for one of the volleyball teams there now and is looking forward to the season. He's also gotten back into swimming trying to stay in shape.
Alex is over at Yorgason's studying the scriptures and also planning for Homecoming. His date answered him by announcing it over the morning announcements at school. One plan he's thinking about is having a dinner here on our back porch, so we'll see what they come up with.
Dad said in his stake meeting this morning they announced they were going to be doing Dance Festival next May for the youth. I wish Kristina was old enough. Maybe they'll do it again when she's in Young Women. She just misses the deadline. But Alex should have fun with it. He loves dancing and going to dances.
We've been keeping up with the Wright's from our ward on their mission to South Africa. Remember they're on a church security mission and their mission encompasses the whole southeastern coast of Africa. They have a blog and so it's easy to access and see pictures and stories from their mission. I love modern technology. They sound great despite Sis. Wright having to eat strange and exotic foods which she has a real aversion to.
I didn't realize that Elder Christofferson had served a mission in your area. That's amazing that you've met people he taught. Some day a young elder will meet people you have taught too.
We had the sister missionaries over for dinner last night. The sister from Samoa, Sister Aleki, was funny when I asked her if there was anything she didn't like. She said tomatoes. Then I asked her if there was something she would like and she immediately said, chicken, fried chicken. I asked her if she ate the entire chicken including the bones and she said yes, we always eat the bones in Samoa. (Remember when Leah did that-quite a shocker!) The girls absolutely love her and cling to her wherever she is. She taught them some Samoan words and then she said the prayer in Samoan. Her village is very, very close to their village (in fact their village is part of her ward) and it's been so interesting to hear her stories. I probably love it more than the girls. Sister Aleki said she would like to keep in contact and that when she gets ready to leave her mission she's going to call me and I'll get her email address so we can keep in contact. She said when we go to Samoa that she would like to be there with us. I would love having her there since she speaks both English and Samoan. She keeps saying how lucky the little girls are to be here and she's always telling them to go on a mission like her. She said when she opened her mission letter she laughed because she didn't even know where Boise Idaho was in the world and her mom was sad that she wasn't staying in Samoa for her mission. But her brother had served in California and he told her where Idaho was and told her it would be great and that she would be eating potatoes all the time. She was worried about that. She says she never hears from her family because they don't have computers and don't even write letters. But she emails her brother who now is married and living in California. She took a picture of herself with the girls and is going to send it back home. I don't know what's going to happen here with this new contact in Samoa but I feel very calm about it and feel almost like Sister Aleki is family and I love it.
The girls just finished watching Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond. They liked it so much the first time, that they watched it again tonight. We used to have it on VHS but got rid of it, so I saw it the other day on DVD and bought it. I remember how much you guys liked it when you were young and thought the girls would like it. They'll be singing the songs all week now. Dad just put them to bed. He sends his love.
Here are some missionary tips from my little book before I close:
1. Have district/zone breakfasts on P-day.
2. Encourage young people to serve missions.
3. Encourage older couples to serve missions.
4. When you have one year left, serve like you have only one month left. When you have one month left, live it like you still have a year.
5. Read Nephi's Psalm in 2 Nephi 4:15-35
6. Write your family weekly, not weakly. (you don't have a problem with that one :)
7. Have new members write a letter to your family.
8. Play "Name That tune with church hymns in district meetings.
9. Make dinner for an investigator using foods and recipes from home.
10. Make use of every restroom opportunity. You never know when you'll find another one.
Have a week of hope and joy and charity. Remember each morning that I've prayed for you that day.
I love you,
momx0x0x0x0x0x0x00x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x
ps we still can't see any map that shows the names of where you are. We can't see a Parque Capital on any map. Just give a general area within Cordoba-North,South, East or West, etc.
Dear Elder Sean,
Well, we survived Nikki's 7th birthday party (her actual birthday is Sept. 24th). She ended up with 5 friends here. It poured rain the whole night before and into the morning of the party, so we had to change our plans of going to a park and we just ended up having it here at the house. Our basement, of course, has a plethora of activities so it worked out just fine and everyone had fun. Nikki said she could hardly sleep the night before. I made a chocolate bundt cake and we had pizza. Our new favorite pizza is the bbq ranch chicken pizza from Winco. So that's the one Nikki wanted and Alex was our pizza delivery guy. It's so nice having him driving. We played some games, but mostly the girls just played with the dress up stuff and we took their pictures. I'll send a few after I finish writing.
How are things going in your zone? Did you meet your standard of excellence? Being out in the mission field again compared to being in the office must be a bit of a culture shock. You said you were working on obedience as a zone. Is that a problem there? You can see why they had to "raise the bar", but I know there's still problems. How's Pres. Olsen doing these days. You mentioned earlier that he had a lot on his plate and could use some prayers. Faithful and obedient elders are probably some of his best answers to prayers.
Money wise-I'm trying to check on your account regularly so that you have enough and more for any needs you might have or package debts, so don't worry. You've been very frugal on your mission and I really appreciate that.
Kirk called earlier this evening and is doing well. He and Rachel are still doing well and dating. The story could change every week, but for now that's the standing. He says he really feels good about taking it slowly and I know he's praying about it. These are big decisions after your mission and I can remember feeling the weight of the decisions, but it's also a very fun time of life, choosing your vocation, choosing your mate, etc. He's a coach for one of the volleyball teams there now and is looking forward to the season. He's also gotten back into swimming trying to stay in shape.
Alex is over at Yorgason's studying the scriptures and also planning for Homecoming. His date answered him by announcing it over the morning announcements at school. One plan he's thinking about is having a dinner here on our back porch, so we'll see what they come up with.
Dad said in his stake meeting this morning they announced they were going to be doing Dance Festival next May for the youth. I wish Kristina was old enough. Maybe they'll do it again when she's in Young Women. She just misses the deadline. But Alex should have fun with it. He loves dancing and going to dances.
We've been keeping up with the Wright's from our ward on their mission to South Africa. Remember they're on a church security mission and their mission encompasses the whole southeastern coast of Africa. They have a blog and so it's easy to access and see pictures and stories from their mission. I love modern technology. They sound great despite Sis. Wright having to eat strange and exotic foods which she has a real aversion to.
I didn't realize that Elder Christofferson had served a mission in your area. That's amazing that you've met people he taught. Some day a young elder will meet people you have taught too.
We had the sister missionaries over for dinner last night. The sister from Samoa, Sister Aleki, was funny when I asked her if there was anything she didn't like. She said tomatoes. Then I asked her if there was something she would like and she immediately said, chicken, fried chicken. I asked her if she ate the entire chicken including the bones and she said yes, we always eat the bones in Samoa. (Remember when Leah did that-quite a shocker!) The girls absolutely love her and cling to her wherever she is. She taught them some Samoan words and then she said the prayer in Samoan. Her village is very, very close to their village (in fact their village is part of her ward) and it's been so interesting to hear her stories. I probably love it more than the girls. Sister Aleki said she would like to keep in contact and that when she gets ready to leave her mission she's going to call me and I'll get her email address so we can keep in contact. She said when we go to Samoa that she would like to be there with us. I would love having her there since she speaks both English and Samoan. She keeps saying how lucky the little girls are to be here and she's always telling them to go on a mission like her. She said when she opened her mission letter she laughed because she didn't even know where Boise Idaho was in the world and her mom was sad that she wasn't staying in Samoa for her mission. But her brother had served in California and he told her where Idaho was and told her it would be great and that she would be eating potatoes all the time. She was worried about that. She says she never hears from her family because they don't have computers and don't even write letters. But she emails her brother who now is married and living in California. She took a picture of herself with the girls and is going to send it back home. I don't know what's going to happen here with this new contact in Samoa but I feel very calm about it and feel almost like Sister Aleki is family and I love it.
The girls just finished watching Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond. They liked it so much the first time, that they watched it again tonight. We used to have it on VHS but got rid of it, so I saw it the other day on DVD and bought it. I remember how much you guys liked it when you were young and thought the girls would like it. They'll be singing the songs all week now. Dad just put them to bed. He sends his love.
Here are some missionary tips from my little book before I close:
1. Have district/zone breakfasts on P-day.
2. Encourage young people to serve missions.
3. Encourage older couples to serve missions.
4. When you have one year left, serve like you have only one month left. When you have one month left, live it like you still have a year.
5. Read Nephi's Psalm in 2 Nephi 4:15-35
6. Write your family weekly, not weakly. (you don't have a problem with that one :)
7. Have new members write a letter to your family.
8. Play "Name That tune with church hymns in district meetings.
9. Make dinner for an investigator using foods and recipes from home.
10. Make use of every restroom opportunity. You never know when you'll find another one.
Have a week of hope and joy and charity. Remember each morning that I've prayed for you that day.
I love you,
momx0x0x0x0x0x0x00x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x
ps we still can't see any map that shows the names of where you are. We can't see a Parque Capital on any map. Just give a general area within Cordoba-North,South, East or West, etc.
16 Sep 2007
Sept 16, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
The days are going by both quickly and slowly as we approach our time to go and pick up Kirk. I feel like there's so much to get done around the house, getting ready not only for Kirk, but for those who will be staying here at the house while we're gone and for those who will be coming to see Kirk when we get back. Excitement is in the air and it's also very bittersweet having him return. I love having my boys out on missions. The feelings and the blessings are incredible. I love your letters each week and my anticipation for them never diminishes. Kirk's mission I'm sure is different in many ways from yours, a different set of challenges, but all in all it's similar since you are both hunters and fishers of men whom the Lord has prepared. You and Kirk are very different, yet the knowledge you both have of the truthfulness of the gospel is the same and you have the same eternal goals in life. It's the same thing that I feel and know and it means everything to me. Keep up the this Thompson tradition.
Last Monday was Grandpa Trumbo's 78th birthday. He said they threw him a party at Susan's and actually placed all 78 lit candles on the cake. He said it was a bonfire. I'm looking forward to them coming here next week.
The girls and I were busy tonight making tons of zucchini bread. Since we planted our garden so late this year, we are just now getting the zucchini and when it comes on, there's usually plenty. So we took loaves around to some people in our neighborhood and ward. Then when we got home we found out the Kent's had dropped off some banana bread as a thank you to dad for getting this little plastic thing out of Chandler's ear. They actually had to go to dad's ER just to get it out because it was so wedged in there. So now we have sweet breads a-plenty.
Church was good. Nikki gave a talk in Primary and did an excellent job. She had almost the whole thing memorized. She's a little whippersnapper (to use some ancient vernacular). The other day she declared to us in the car that since it was the month of her birthday that she ought to be able to choose wherever we go out to eat. She knows how to work the system.
Saturday Alex had his MEN all day choir practice with a concert at the end. It was good. You can tell Mr. McMullen has fun with his MEN's group. Tonight Alex registered for the ACT. I warned him about how many questions you have to answer just to get to register. He wasn't happy about that but managed to make it all the way through.
The night before dad and I went to a primary board mtg/party at the Pinder's. Randy is the game master. In fact, he has a website partygamecentral.com. I never even knew that. Google pays him each month. I wish I'd thought of that. l love games. Anyway, he tried out a lot of games on us and I loved them. You would have been so proud of dad and I. We got split into groups of 4 for a Name That Tune game. Randy had a playlist on his iPod that he used for the game. They were for the most part popular songs, 70's, 80's and a little 90's. Every time dad and I would shout out an answer, everyone would say, Bishop, I can't believe you know that song. In the end we both shouted out the correct answer to the final question and got the win for our team. Randy played only about 2 notes from a song and I immediately shouted out The Monkeys and dad then shouted out the name of their song. No one could believe we knew it with only 2 notes. I had a lot of fun playing the games, you know how I am about games. Love em.
It's crazy to hear you talk about how hot it is now. Seems like you skipped a season there. We're in the 70's and low 80's now. My favorite time of year. I can't believe you guys don't have AC. How do you do it? I guess you must have to acclimate. Do you guys use cell phones there? Just wondering how you communicate with your ZL's and Pres, etc.
Have you gotten our latest pkg? Hopefully you got a few of the things you were hoping for. Let me know. You haven't mentioned how your Spanish is coming along--how are you doing with it? Are you feeling pretty comfortable or still struggling now and then?
Dad just called from work, his last shift before our trip. He's put in so many shifts already this month in order to take off time. I know he's going to love being off for a while. He said to tell you he loves you and will be writing you from the DR. We're taking the laptop on the trip so we can keep in touch with everyone. So next week we'll be writing from Puerta Plata on the northern coast of the DR.
How has your teaching been this week? About how many lesson appointments do you have on average a week? I know you've really stepped up your contacts with people, but I was just curious about how many of those contacts turn into lessons in the home. I know it feels frustrating to have people letting their commitments slip through, but that's even a problem in the states. Even when people are baptized, they still don't always follow through with word into action. They accept callings but somehow don't ever feel a strong level of commitment to what they've just accepted. I don't know how you instill that in a person, but I know I got it from watching my own parents, so example is a powerful teacher. I still find myself learning so much from other's examples. So it's all in who you surround yourself with. Testimony and commitment beget testimony and commitment. I truly commend the pioneers in any nation who start the trend. It's a tough beginning road. Just love the people for who they are now and help them become surrounded by people whose examples will naturally lift them up one rung at a time.
Alex said that Tyler called tonight (since Alex has your old phone) and was going to drop by, but he didn't ever show up. It would be nice to visit with him again so I hope he stops by soon. I'll write him and at least tell him when Kirk's homecoming is so maybe he'll come to that.
I hope you are doing well and enjoying the work. It must be about transfer time again since Kirk is having his last transfer this week. Have a great week.
Que tengas un bien dÃa!!
Love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Dear Elder Sean,
The days are going by both quickly and slowly as we approach our time to go and pick up Kirk. I feel like there's so much to get done around the house, getting ready not only for Kirk, but for those who will be staying here at the house while we're gone and for those who will be coming to see Kirk when we get back. Excitement is in the air and it's also very bittersweet having him return. I love having my boys out on missions. The feelings and the blessings are incredible. I love your letters each week and my anticipation for them never diminishes. Kirk's mission I'm sure is different in many ways from yours, a different set of challenges, but all in all it's similar since you are both hunters and fishers of men whom the Lord has prepared. You and Kirk are very different, yet the knowledge you both have of the truthfulness of the gospel is the same and you have the same eternal goals in life. It's the same thing that I feel and know and it means everything to me. Keep up the this Thompson tradition.
Last Monday was Grandpa Trumbo's 78th birthday. He said they threw him a party at Susan's and actually placed all 78 lit candles on the cake. He said it was a bonfire. I'm looking forward to them coming here next week.
The girls and I were busy tonight making tons of zucchini bread. Since we planted our garden so late this year, we are just now getting the zucchini and when it comes on, there's usually plenty. So we took loaves around to some people in our neighborhood and ward. Then when we got home we found out the Kent's had dropped off some banana bread as a thank you to dad for getting this little plastic thing out of Chandler's ear. They actually had to go to dad's ER just to get it out because it was so wedged in there. So now we have sweet breads a-plenty.
Church was good. Nikki gave a talk in Primary and did an excellent job. She had almost the whole thing memorized. She's a little whippersnapper (to use some ancient vernacular). The other day she declared to us in the car that since it was the month of her birthday that she ought to be able to choose wherever we go out to eat. She knows how to work the system.
Saturday Alex had his MEN all day choir practice with a concert at the end. It was good. You can tell Mr. McMullen has fun with his MEN's group. Tonight Alex registered for the ACT. I warned him about how many questions you have to answer just to get to register. He wasn't happy about that but managed to make it all the way through.
The night before dad and I went to a primary board mtg/party at the Pinder's. Randy is the game master. In fact, he has a website partygamecentral.com. I never even knew that. Google pays him each month. I wish I'd thought of that. l love games. Anyway, he tried out a lot of games on us and I loved them. You would have been so proud of dad and I. We got split into groups of 4 for a Name That Tune game. Randy had a playlist on his iPod that he used for the game. They were for the most part popular songs, 70's, 80's and a little 90's. Every time dad and I would shout out an answer, everyone would say, Bishop, I can't believe you know that song. In the end we both shouted out the correct answer to the final question and got the win for our team. Randy played only about 2 notes from a song and I immediately shouted out The Monkeys and dad then shouted out the name of their song. No one could believe we knew it with only 2 notes. I had a lot of fun playing the games, you know how I am about games. Love em.
It's crazy to hear you talk about how hot it is now. Seems like you skipped a season there. We're in the 70's and low 80's now. My favorite time of year. I can't believe you guys don't have AC. How do you do it? I guess you must have to acclimate. Do you guys use cell phones there? Just wondering how you communicate with your ZL's and Pres, etc.
Have you gotten our latest pkg? Hopefully you got a few of the things you were hoping for. Let me know. You haven't mentioned how your Spanish is coming along--how are you doing with it? Are you feeling pretty comfortable or still struggling now and then?
Dad just called from work, his last shift before our trip. He's put in so many shifts already this month in order to take off time. I know he's going to love being off for a while. He said to tell you he loves you and will be writing you from the DR. We're taking the laptop on the trip so we can keep in touch with everyone. So next week we'll be writing from Puerta Plata on the northern coast of the DR.
How has your teaching been this week? About how many lesson appointments do you have on average a week? I know you've really stepped up your contacts with people, but I was just curious about how many of those contacts turn into lessons in the home. I know it feels frustrating to have people letting their commitments slip through, but that's even a problem in the states. Even when people are baptized, they still don't always follow through with word into action. They accept callings but somehow don't ever feel a strong level of commitment to what they've just accepted. I don't know how you instill that in a person, but I know I got it from watching my own parents, so example is a powerful teacher. I still find myself learning so much from other's examples. So it's all in who you surround yourself with. Testimony and commitment beget testimony and commitment. I truly commend the pioneers in any nation who start the trend. It's a tough beginning road. Just love the people for who they are now and help them become surrounded by people whose examples will naturally lift them up one rung at a time.
Alex said that Tyler called tonight (since Alex has your old phone) and was going to drop by, but he didn't ever show up. It would be nice to visit with him again so I hope he stops by soon. I'll write him and at least tell him when Kirk's homecoming is so maybe he'll come to that.
I hope you are doing well and enjoying the work. It must be about transfer time again since Kirk is having his last transfer this week. Have a great week.
Que tengas un bien dÃa!!
Love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
14 Sep 2008
Sept. 14, 2008
Dear Elder Sean,
How are you doing this week? I hope you are acclimating well to your new area and enjoying your new responsibilities. We've tried to find your area on our map, but with no success so any other landmarks would be helpful. Are you still in Cordoba proper? Maybe that's where we're getting confused.
I've had a few correspondences back and forth with Hma Lucas this week. I'm totally enjoying being able to write in English and express myself in a more comfortable manner. I sent her a pdf of a choral arrangement for Be Still My Soul. I also got another arrangement (6 copies) that I put into your last box. If you can get it to her, that's great. If not, don't worry about it. She said she wasn't sure if they were still going to perform it since you got transferred. So are you out of their stake now too? she spoke very fondly of you and they miss you very much.
Big news from the family this week. Tyler got his mission call and is reporting to the Santiago West Chile mission on Nov. 16th. He's very excited and Allen can hardly contain his emotions. Allen is so proud of Tyler and his accomplishments and can't wait for him to experience the mission. Trevor has become very ambivalent about a mission and it's been very sad to see. He has a girlfriend (actually a very nice member girl) and can't seem to see straight right now.
Once again tonight I've enjoyed reaping what we've sewn in the garden this year. I've been making batches of fresh salsa just about every 3 days. It tastes soooo good. My new thing this year is to add black beans to it which makes it even better.
We had a great day at church. Travis Hugentobler's talk was wonderful, humble and very enlightening. He spoke of his personal experiences, trials and challenges, on a mission and what he learned personally. He very humbly spoke of how although he was obedient his entire mission, his attitude and therefore motivation for the work suffered much of the time. He felt he wasn't very effective as a zone leader because he was just enjoying the perks of the calling instead of getting immersed in the spirit of the calling. He didn't learn his greatest lessons until he was placed with a companion who was very unwillingly serving his mission. You can tell it was a great trial for Travis to be with him, but at one meeting he attended where a general authority spoke about having the right attitude for the work that was being done and how only then could the Lord work most effectively through them, that he had an epiphany and decided to change right there and then. Unbeknownst to him his comp made the same decision and that very night when they went out to work, he said they had the most effective, successful night of his entire mission. He said he was a changed elder from that point on. The lesson he learned was so powerful that he had to share what he had learned to all of us. I was really moved by his words and his spirit.
After church the Hugentobler's invited us over to their house for dinner. Jodie said we are like their family here in Idaho and wanted us to be with them. We had bread bowls of soup and it was delicious. It was fun being there with them and sharing in this fun reunion. Travis is thinking of working where Kirk did after he got home from his mission for Bro. Jensen. Then he's going to BYU-I in January. It's hard to believe that it will be one year since we went to pick up Kirk.
Speaking of Kirk. He called today and said he'd had a fun weekend. Sounds like he had another talk with Rachel and they're going to keep on dating but just take it much slower. I'm not sure what that means. Some kind of dating lingo. I can tell Kirk really likes her so I hope it turns out to be a good experience for him.
We went to the air show at Mountain Home yesterday and I loved it. I guess I'm kind of an air show groupee. I just love going and hearing the roar of the F-4's and watching the stunt pilots.
Football reports from the weekend: BYU 59 UCLA 0 (this was UCLA's biggest loss since 1929!!) BSU 20 Bowling Green 7, EHS 32 Meridian 21. We went to the EHS game and watched the BSU game on TV. EHS has yet another new band director. So far the kids say they like him, but the band size is truly suffering for whatever happened last year. Unclear on that story.
Leah is plugging along with her piano lessons. When I hear kids just starting out on the piano, it's hard to imagine them ever playing like you one day! It's almost painful listening to the practicing. But she likes me to play the little duets that come along with her lessons. Hey, maybe she'll be the one who will actually play a duet with me one day ;)
Nikki's fever pitch is rising as her birthday gets closer. She's having a friend birthday this year and can't wait. She gets to invite seven 7 year olds.
Kristina is in Middle School heaven, loving every day and even going to their football games. I've got more projects on my to-do list than I can count, but that's the way I love it. Stickies dot the cupboard walls with all my to-do's and my quilt room now includes all kind of mandolin music on my counters.
Dad managed to take out a dead tree this week (the big one in front of my quilt room window), dug a new hole, dragged a huge new tree behind the truck, and with the help of Alex, Devon (Alex's new friend from Georgia), our new neighbor Jeff Adcock and myself, we got the tree into the ground in the right position. This is a huge feat. It's a Sweet Gum tree and should have nice color for the fall.
How is your new ward? Is it big or little? What are the ward's strengths and weaknesses? Can't wait to hear your stories.
I hope you are finding those who have been prepared to hear what you have to share. They are out there and the Lord won't let them down. Stay in tune with the spirit, be humble and teachable and love these new brothers and sisters the way you loved in the past. People will always respect sincerity.
You're in my prayers and in my heart.
Love you,
momxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxooxoxooxox
Dear Elder Sean,
How are you doing this week? I hope you are acclimating well to your new area and enjoying your new responsibilities. We've tried to find your area on our map, but with no success so any other landmarks would be helpful. Are you still in Cordoba proper? Maybe that's where we're getting confused.
I've had a few correspondences back and forth with Hma Lucas this week. I'm totally enjoying being able to write in English and express myself in a more comfortable manner. I sent her a pdf of a choral arrangement for Be Still My Soul. I also got another arrangement (6 copies) that I put into your last box. If you can get it to her, that's great. If not, don't worry about it. She said she wasn't sure if they were still going to perform it since you got transferred. So are you out of their stake now too? she spoke very fondly of you and they miss you very much.
Big news from the family this week. Tyler got his mission call and is reporting to the Santiago West Chile mission on Nov. 16th. He's very excited and Allen can hardly contain his emotions. Allen is so proud of Tyler and his accomplishments and can't wait for him to experience the mission. Trevor has become very ambivalent about a mission and it's been very sad to see. He has a girlfriend (actually a very nice member girl) and can't seem to see straight right now.
Once again tonight I've enjoyed reaping what we've sewn in the garden this year. I've been making batches of fresh salsa just about every 3 days. It tastes soooo good. My new thing this year is to add black beans to it which makes it even better.
We had a great day at church. Travis Hugentobler's talk was wonderful, humble and very enlightening. He spoke of his personal experiences, trials and challenges, on a mission and what he learned personally. He very humbly spoke of how although he was obedient his entire mission, his attitude and therefore motivation for the work suffered much of the time. He felt he wasn't very effective as a zone leader because he was just enjoying the perks of the calling instead of getting immersed in the spirit of the calling. He didn't learn his greatest lessons until he was placed with a companion who was very unwillingly serving his mission. You can tell it was a great trial for Travis to be with him, but at one meeting he attended where a general authority spoke about having the right attitude for the work that was being done and how only then could the Lord work most effectively through them, that he had an epiphany and decided to change right there and then. Unbeknownst to him his comp made the same decision and that very night when they went out to work, he said they had the most effective, successful night of his entire mission. He said he was a changed elder from that point on. The lesson he learned was so powerful that he had to share what he had learned to all of us. I was really moved by his words and his spirit.
After church the Hugentobler's invited us over to their house for dinner. Jodie said we are like their family here in Idaho and wanted us to be with them. We had bread bowls of soup and it was delicious. It was fun being there with them and sharing in this fun reunion. Travis is thinking of working where Kirk did after he got home from his mission for Bro. Jensen. Then he's going to BYU-I in January. It's hard to believe that it will be one year since we went to pick up Kirk.
Speaking of Kirk. He called today and said he'd had a fun weekend. Sounds like he had another talk with Rachel and they're going to keep on dating but just take it much slower. I'm not sure what that means. Some kind of dating lingo. I can tell Kirk really likes her so I hope it turns out to be a good experience for him.
We went to the air show at Mountain Home yesterday and I loved it. I guess I'm kind of an air show groupee. I just love going and hearing the roar of the F-4's and watching the stunt pilots.
Football reports from the weekend: BYU 59 UCLA 0 (this was UCLA's biggest loss since 1929!!) BSU 20 Bowling Green 7, EHS 32 Meridian 21. We went to the EHS game and watched the BSU game on TV. EHS has yet another new band director. So far the kids say they like him, but the band size is truly suffering for whatever happened last year. Unclear on that story.
Leah is plugging along with her piano lessons. When I hear kids just starting out on the piano, it's hard to imagine them ever playing like you one day! It's almost painful listening to the practicing. But she likes me to play the little duets that come along with her lessons. Hey, maybe she'll be the one who will actually play a duet with me one day ;)
Nikki's fever pitch is rising as her birthday gets closer. She's having a friend birthday this year and can't wait. She gets to invite seven 7 year olds.
Kristina is in Middle School heaven, loving every day and even going to their football games. I've got more projects on my to-do list than I can count, but that's the way I love it. Stickies dot the cupboard walls with all my to-do's and my quilt room now includes all kind of mandolin music on my counters.
Dad managed to take out a dead tree this week (the big one in front of my quilt room window), dug a new hole, dragged a huge new tree behind the truck, and with the help of Alex, Devon (Alex's new friend from Georgia), our new neighbor Jeff Adcock and myself, we got the tree into the ground in the right position. This is a huge feat. It's a Sweet Gum tree and should have nice color for the fall.
How is your new ward? Is it big or little? What are the ward's strengths and weaknesses? Can't wait to hear your stories.
I hope you are finding those who have been prepared to hear what you have to share. They are out there and the Lord won't let them down. Stay in tune with the spirit, be humble and teachable and love these new brothers and sisters the way you loved in the past. People will always respect sincerity.
You're in my prayers and in my heart.
Love you,
momxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxooxoxooxox
9 Sep 2007
Sept 9, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
How are you? We've had a nice week. Tried to get lots of things done while the kids were in school and it's felt like our home has been more organized. We're into a little schedule now. Kristina probably has one of the busiest this year. She's got piano on Mon, ballet on Tues and Wed, activity day on every other Wed, after she turns 12 she'll then have mutual every Wed, a High School Musical dance/singing class on Thurs afternoon and garage band every Thurs night. She's pretty excited about her schedule. I told her she just needs to keep her grades up.
Alex is busy but it's a bit more sporadic. He's still taking voice lessons with Jeff Baker on Tues and mutual on Wed. But it seems like something comes up just about every day that he has to do and of course he still loves doing his homework with his buddies. Over the weekend, Bro Shaw put on a Laurel/Priest date night for the stake-a nice dinner and an etiquette course and a dance.
Nikki had her first spelling test last week and she aced it including the two bonus words. She says she doesn't get in trouble in class but the teacher has to keep telling her to not put her head on the desk. You know how she is-if she's not moving she tends to fall asleep, so I wouldn't be surprised if she fell asleep at least one time this year.
Leah is doing well so far. She has a good attitude and really likes her teacher so she will listen to every word he says and follow what he says.
Dad had the young women here tonight with their mothers for a standards fireside. He did a great job. Kristina got to go to it this year since she's so close to going into young women's. She can hardly wait to get in there. She sang in Sacrament mtg today with the activity day girls and as I watched her she just looked so beautiful up there, she's really changing right before my eyes into a young woman.
At Sacrament today we had quite the surprise. Pres. McCauley walked in right before it was going to start with a man who went right up to the stand. He was introduced to dad and his counselors, they promptly all made room for him right next to dad and then the meeting started. Turns out it was Elder Natchez (sp?) from the 70. He was here visiting Pres. McCauley and wanted to attend some sacrament meetings. He and Pres. McCauley both spoke at the end of the meeting. He spoke mainly about getting to meet with Pres. Faust right before he passed away and how Pres. Faust talked to them about teaching the next generation and sharing our testimonies with them so that they will be strong and share that same testimony with their posterity. It was good. The Cameron's were our regular speakers, and Sis Cameron said she was so nervous on the stand when they announced who he was, but in my mind it couldn't have been a better family speaking. It was a wonderful meeting.
Last week I took my Bear group to the Houssian's to pass of some swimming requirements. It was a good day for it, great weather. The boys had fun trying to master the different requirements too. They're very full of energy and didn't mind swimming lap after lap.
Fri night dad and I went to the EHS game-they lost rather miserably. The band is over 100 kids now. I didn't care for the music. It was all from the opera Carmen. I usually like the third movement El Toreador, but I didn't really like this rendition. Kelly Dykman is one of the drum majors, I didn't know the other two. They didn't do anything dramatic or noteworthy, lacked the flair of you and Bonnie.
BSU also lost, so it wasn't a good football weekend for the fans. First loss since Travis opened his store.
We are down to the last week before we take off to pick up Kirk. It's so hard to believe yet I look back and so much has gone on in his two years. I hope he can transition well. We're so excited to see him face to face and to meet some of the people he's worked with over the years.
We got your snail mail letter last week too. Thank you so much. It was great. I loved it. I wrote you right back, so hopefully you'll get something soon. I don't really know how long it takes to travel by pouch. Have you gotten our latest package that we sent?
Did you hit your 300 goal? What are escogidos? What did you decide about the families Chazampi and Melo? As a mom, I'm so grateful that you are blessed to have such a wonderful mission president who is so in tune and cares so much. He sounds great.
Charmaine called me last night and said she and Lanny had broken up. She was feeling very devastated. They have been together for 11 years. It must feel like a divorce a little bit. We called her again tonight to check on her, she's having a hard time. I'm hoping this will open some other doors for her, doors that will lead to a fuller, more gospel centered life, to more joy and commitment. I know it's hard now, but I told her this will be a blessing in disguise once some time goes by. I told her to immerse herself in activities, work and a full schedule so she won't have too much time to dwell on sad thoughts. Anyway, it's very sad for her, but I am hopeful also.
That's about it here. I will try and send some pix also.
Here are a couple tips from my little missionary book:
1. Invite companions, converts and others to write short notes in your journal.
2. Always eat a good breakfast.
3. When your companion gets transferred, make sure you claim the apartment's best mattress and blankets.
4. Get the home address of each companion and your mission presidents. They'll expect to receive wedding invitations.
5. The Lord blesses the families of missionaries. (I can attest to that one!)
Well, it's late as usual. Hope you have a fun day. Learn how to let the spirit guide you each day. The Lord knows where His elect are and those He's prepared. My thoughts, my prayers and my heart are always with you.
Love you much,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo
Dear Elder Sean,
How are you? We've had a nice week. Tried to get lots of things done while the kids were in school and it's felt like our home has been more organized. We're into a little schedule now. Kristina probably has one of the busiest this year. She's got piano on Mon, ballet on Tues and Wed, activity day on every other Wed, after she turns 12 she'll then have mutual every Wed, a High School Musical dance/singing class on Thurs afternoon and garage band every Thurs night. She's pretty excited about her schedule. I told her she just needs to keep her grades up.
Alex is busy but it's a bit more sporadic. He's still taking voice lessons with Jeff Baker on Tues and mutual on Wed. But it seems like something comes up just about every day that he has to do and of course he still loves doing his homework with his buddies. Over the weekend, Bro Shaw put on a Laurel/Priest date night for the stake-a nice dinner and an etiquette course and a dance.
Nikki had her first spelling test last week and she aced it including the two bonus words. She says she doesn't get in trouble in class but the teacher has to keep telling her to not put her head on the desk. You know how she is-if she's not moving she tends to fall asleep, so I wouldn't be surprised if she fell asleep at least one time this year.
Leah is doing well so far. She has a good attitude and really likes her teacher so she will listen to every word he says and follow what he says.
Dad had the young women here tonight with their mothers for a standards fireside. He did a great job. Kristina got to go to it this year since she's so close to going into young women's. She can hardly wait to get in there. She sang in Sacrament mtg today with the activity day girls and as I watched her she just looked so beautiful up there, she's really changing right before my eyes into a young woman.
At Sacrament today we had quite the surprise. Pres. McCauley walked in right before it was going to start with a man who went right up to the stand. He was introduced to dad and his counselors, they promptly all made room for him right next to dad and then the meeting started. Turns out it was Elder Natchez (sp?) from the 70. He was here visiting Pres. McCauley and wanted to attend some sacrament meetings. He and Pres. McCauley both spoke at the end of the meeting. He spoke mainly about getting to meet with Pres. Faust right before he passed away and how Pres. Faust talked to them about teaching the next generation and sharing our testimonies with them so that they will be strong and share that same testimony with their posterity. It was good. The Cameron's were our regular speakers, and Sis Cameron said she was so nervous on the stand when they announced who he was, but in my mind it couldn't have been a better family speaking. It was a wonderful meeting.
Last week I took my Bear group to the Houssian's to pass of some swimming requirements. It was a good day for it, great weather. The boys had fun trying to master the different requirements too. They're very full of energy and didn't mind swimming lap after lap.
Fri night dad and I went to the EHS game-they lost rather miserably. The band is over 100 kids now. I didn't care for the music. It was all from the opera Carmen. I usually like the third movement El Toreador, but I didn't really like this rendition. Kelly Dykman is one of the drum majors, I didn't know the other two. They didn't do anything dramatic or noteworthy, lacked the flair of you and Bonnie.
BSU also lost, so it wasn't a good football weekend for the fans. First loss since Travis opened his store.
We are down to the last week before we take off to pick up Kirk. It's so hard to believe yet I look back and so much has gone on in his two years. I hope he can transition well. We're so excited to see him face to face and to meet some of the people he's worked with over the years.
We got your snail mail letter last week too. Thank you so much. It was great. I loved it. I wrote you right back, so hopefully you'll get something soon. I don't really know how long it takes to travel by pouch. Have you gotten our latest package that we sent?
Did you hit your 300 goal? What are escogidos? What did you decide about the families Chazampi and Melo? As a mom, I'm so grateful that you are blessed to have such a wonderful mission president who is so in tune and cares so much. He sounds great.
Charmaine called me last night and said she and Lanny had broken up. She was feeling very devastated. They have been together for 11 years. It must feel like a divorce a little bit. We called her again tonight to check on her, she's having a hard time. I'm hoping this will open some other doors for her, doors that will lead to a fuller, more gospel centered life, to more joy and commitment. I know it's hard now, but I told her this will be a blessing in disguise once some time goes by. I told her to immerse herself in activities, work and a full schedule so she won't have too much time to dwell on sad thoughts. Anyway, it's very sad for her, but I am hopeful also.
That's about it here. I will try and send some pix also.
Here are a couple tips from my little missionary book:
1. Invite companions, converts and others to write short notes in your journal.
2. Always eat a good breakfast.
3. When your companion gets transferred, make sure you claim the apartment's best mattress and blankets.
4. Get the home address of each companion and your mission presidents. They'll expect to receive wedding invitations.
5. The Lord blesses the families of missionaries. (I can attest to that one!)
Well, it's late as usual. Hope you have a fun day. Learn how to let the spirit guide you each day. The Lord knows where His elect are and those He's prepared. My thoughts, my prayers and my heart are always with you.
Love you much,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo
7 Sep 2008
Sept. 7, 2008
Dear Elder Sean,
We are just cleaning up from a youth fireside here tonight. We had it on the back porch because the weather is so nice. It was dad's yearly standards fireside. He talked about being temple worthy and had the kids take a quiz with questions that are similar to the temple recommend questions. There was a good turnout and there's only Alex and his buddies here now.
Bro. Pinder was here and took a look at my new mandolin. He played it for a while and he showed he a few good tips. He's going to have a jam session every month and wants me to come. I'm trying to get Alex and some of his friends to come too. The mandolin is coming along a lot easier than the banjo, probably because the strings are exactly the same as a violin and surprisingly all the notes came back to me from when I played the violin in middle school.
At church today there was a huge list of releasings and callings, so that was fun. There's a new Relief Society presidency. Sis Gill is the new president, Sis. Yorgason is the 1st counselor, Sis. Campbell is the 2nd counselor and Sis. Hugentobler is the secretary. They'll be great and it brought back sweet memories of when I was called and released.
Yesterday was the STOMP breakfast for the ward. Remember our program for reading the Book of Mormon. There was quite a handfull of us who finished reading the whole book during the summer. I'm proud to be part of that group. Actually I liked reading it quickly like that so much that I'm going to start it over again. Monday I'm going to Deseret Book to pick up some extra BOM's for our family and at family night we will be putting our testimonies in them as part of your program.
How was your week? Did you transfer to your new area? I can't wait to hear how things are going for you out in the real world. I read Jared's letters each week and it sure sounds like he's walking a lot. Remember to keep your knee strengthened.
Your experience in the office was priceless, what a treasure. I'm sure you learned so much and I'm also sure you were such a great asset to the president.
The kids had off school on Monday for Labor Day. Dad had to work but we went to the Leifson's for a bbq and volleyball game. We really had a fun time especially playing volleyball. The Cameron's and Kents came too. I forgot how fun volleyball can be. Then on Tuesday, Rachel and her roommate Laura came. They spent the night and we got the inflatable slip and slide and had a bbq. Kirk took off with them to BYU-I on Wednesday after a farewell lunch at Costa Vida.
Kirk called over the weekend and said he and Rachel have cooled things off for now. He says he's okay with it and they are still friends (if that is actually possible). So today he called and there's all new girls in his ward and he and his roommate had to go to each apartment tonight and visit all the girls. His roommate was called as FHE coordinator and his bishop asked him to select one young lady to work with him, thus the visits. Kirk was looking forward to going along with him, so he sounds like he's in good spirits and not too down about the break up. He was also going over to Tiffany Shaw's apartment later on for a visit. He starts school tomorrow and because I got his track changed at the last minute, he didn't have any classes and has had to try and add them slowly. He still needs one or two more and will have to add them this week. He's still going for a Biology major.
Dad saw Jared Gooch at the single's ward today and he said to tell you hello. He's going to BYU-I in the winter. I'm going to try to get to Madison's homecoming later this month. I missed going to Leah VanWagenen's and I really wish I had remembered. It would be fun to hear a report from Argentina.
Alex is taking Government with Odale, English with Mrs. Eaton-Burkle, Health with Mrs. Case, Seminary with Bishop Tanner and 2 choir classes. He says it's a pretty easy year. He's going to apply early for BYU and will get his papers in this month. He was debating taking the ACT again to get a higher score, but we'll see if he can fit it into his schedule.
It was great seeing the missionary from Samoa again. The girls went up to her and gave her a big hug and she just hugs them back and walks arm in arm with them through the halls. She comes from a family of 12 kids and her father died 13 years ago and had set up some kind of account that made sure every kid could have money to serve a mission. I'll get more particulars from her when they come for dinner because it sounds like such an incredible story.
I'm still searching for Be Still My Soul for Hma Lucas. I will write her this week either way.
We will also go hunting for the shirts and socks you need and get those off to you.
I hope you are well, happy and still full of the zeal for the gospel that you've had each week in every letter you've written. I love your enthusiasm for the work, it's contagious. Every Monday I live to hear your words, your stories, your testimony.
My prayers and love are always with you.
love you,
momx0x0xx0x0x0x0x00x0x0x0x
Dear Elder Sean,
We are just cleaning up from a youth fireside here tonight. We had it on the back porch because the weather is so nice. It was dad's yearly standards fireside. He talked about being temple worthy and had the kids take a quiz with questions that are similar to the temple recommend questions. There was a good turnout and there's only Alex and his buddies here now.
Bro. Pinder was here and took a look at my new mandolin. He played it for a while and he showed he a few good tips. He's going to have a jam session every month and wants me to come. I'm trying to get Alex and some of his friends to come too. The mandolin is coming along a lot easier than the banjo, probably because the strings are exactly the same as a violin and surprisingly all the notes came back to me from when I played the violin in middle school.
At church today there was a huge list of releasings and callings, so that was fun. There's a new Relief Society presidency. Sis Gill is the new president, Sis. Yorgason is the 1st counselor, Sis. Campbell is the 2nd counselor and Sis. Hugentobler is the secretary. They'll be great and it brought back sweet memories of when I was called and released.
Yesterday was the STOMP breakfast for the ward. Remember our program for reading the Book of Mormon. There was quite a handfull of us who finished reading the whole book during the summer. I'm proud to be part of that group. Actually I liked reading it quickly like that so much that I'm going to start it over again. Monday I'm going to Deseret Book to pick up some extra BOM's for our family and at family night we will be putting our testimonies in them as part of your program.
How was your week? Did you transfer to your new area? I can't wait to hear how things are going for you out in the real world. I read Jared's letters each week and it sure sounds like he's walking a lot. Remember to keep your knee strengthened.
Your experience in the office was priceless, what a treasure. I'm sure you learned so much and I'm also sure you were such a great asset to the president.
The kids had off school on Monday for Labor Day. Dad had to work but we went to the Leifson's for a bbq and volleyball game. We really had a fun time especially playing volleyball. The Cameron's and Kents came too. I forgot how fun volleyball can be. Then on Tuesday, Rachel and her roommate Laura came. They spent the night and we got the inflatable slip and slide and had a bbq. Kirk took off with them to BYU-I on Wednesday after a farewell lunch at Costa Vida.
Kirk called over the weekend and said he and Rachel have cooled things off for now. He says he's okay with it and they are still friends (if that is actually possible). So today he called and there's all new girls in his ward and he and his roommate had to go to each apartment tonight and visit all the girls. His roommate was called as FHE coordinator and his bishop asked him to select one young lady to work with him, thus the visits. Kirk was looking forward to going along with him, so he sounds like he's in good spirits and not too down about the break up. He was also going over to Tiffany Shaw's apartment later on for a visit. He starts school tomorrow and because I got his track changed at the last minute, he didn't have any classes and has had to try and add them slowly. He still needs one or two more and will have to add them this week. He's still going for a Biology major.
Dad saw Jared Gooch at the single's ward today and he said to tell you hello. He's going to BYU-I in the winter. I'm going to try to get to Madison's homecoming later this month. I missed going to Leah VanWagenen's and I really wish I had remembered. It would be fun to hear a report from Argentina.
Alex is taking Government with Odale, English with Mrs. Eaton-Burkle, Health with Mrs. Case, Seminary with Bishop Tanner and 2 choir classes. He says it's a pretty easy year. He's going to apply early for BYU and will get his papers in this month. He was debating taking the ACT again to get a higher score, but we'll see if he can fit it into his schedule.
It was great seeing the missionary from Samoa again. The girls went up to her and gave her a big hug and she just hugs them back and walks arm in arm with them through the halls. She comes from a family of 12 kids and her father died 13 years ago and had set up some kind of account that made sure every kid could have money to serve a mission. I'll get more particulars from her when they come for dinner because it sounds like such an incredible story.
I'm still searching for Be Still My Soul for Hma Lucas. I will write her this week either way.
We will also go hunting for the shirts and socks you need and get those off to you.
I hope you are well, happy and still full of the zeal for the gospel that you've had each week in every letter you've written. I love your enthusiasm for the work, it's contagious. Every Monday I live to hear your words, your stories, your testimony.
My prayers and love are always with you.
love you,
momx0x0xx0x0x0x0x00x0x0x0x
30 Sep 2007
Sept. 30, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
Well, what a whirlwind of a couple of weeks we've had. Today was Kirk's homecoming and he did a great job. It was fun to hear him speak for so long and with an accent. He even threw in a couple of Spanish words without knowing it which a lot of people commented to him later about. He spoke of the things he learned on his mission. Alex Erickson also spoke and did a good job. Such different missions but it sounds like they learned very similar lessons in life.
We got home late Wed night and were greeted by grandma and grandpa Thompson with the 3 little girls at the airport. I hurried off the plane first so I could video the event. We were all so tired when we got home that we basically just went to bed. The next day we took Kirk out shopping for new clothes because when he went to get dressed he realized he'd lost so much weight that nothing fit him at home. He lost around 30 pounds and looks great. We also realized that his license expired in August so we had to make a stop at the DMV to renew. So now he's good to go. I feel like I'm teaching 2 kids to drive now, he and Alex since Kirk really hasn't driven since before his mission. The driving was so crazy in the DR that I'm glad he didn't have to drive there.
On Friday we went to the airport (after stopping at a car lot to look at some new cars) to pick up g & g Trumbo. We had about an hour to kill so we went to another car lot with them, then headed back to the airport to pick up Charmaine. The bunch of us went to lunch and headed home. Friday night Steve and Carolina and Giovanni and Dakota and Kassie came in. So that was our group for the weekend. We had a lot of fun with everyone. It was fun hearing the Trumbo's speak Spanish with Kirk. They said he was a fast speaker but really good. Saturday we went to the movies and let Kirk catch up on at least one movie he had missed out on, Bourne Ultimatum. That night we had a big dinner with stuffed shells and Mexican rice. Kirk is really craving rice since he's been home, so I'm trying to oblige.
Steve and his family left after Sacrament and have made plans to be back for Thanksgiving this year.
Uncle Bill came over the other night and asked Kirk if he would help him drive cars for car wars this week. I told Kirk that was a sweet deal and to try to get to drive the Mustang they have on their lot right now. Kirk was really eyeing that car when we stopped by for a visit. It's a 2007 with a few custom items on it.
We got your handwritten letter this week along with the DVD's. I loved your letter and so did the family. You definitely have a writing gift, so use it and develop it. As for the DVD's. They both work, but the Transformers is missing the bottom half of the screen, so we laughed at that. Is it a pirate copy or something? CArolina said Isaac brought some home too and they laughed at them because they could see people walking in the middle of the movie with popcorn in their arms and they could hear people laughing during different parts of it. We'll let Nikki watch hers next week.
Sounds like you have some nice fun food to eat there. Take it easy on the dulce de leche, it sounds rich and lucious, and fattening. I can remember reading something about it when you were preparing for your mission and how some elders really get hooked on it and put it on everything like you were talking about. Grandpa Trumbo is reading your letter right now as I write you.
I like your new folletos. They're so nice. Gio said he had one like that on his mission except it was showing how the Book of Mormon and the Bible were connected.
We're definitely having a change of seasons here. It was so cold this weekend and so windy. Kirk has been freezing here. I don't know how he's going to make it in Rexburg this winter. There was even snow on Bogus yesterday morning. We hear it snowed an inch in Provo too.
How has your week been? I have such a better feel for what you're doing now that I've been on the streets with Kirk in the DR and meeting some of the families he worked with and been in their homes. It was an unforgettable experience for dad and Alex and I. Are you working with any families right now? How is your ward? I haven't had time to look for church guitar music yet, but really all you have to do is look at the chords of any hymn and you should be able to play it that way. Are you learning chords or picking or what? That would help me to know how you're learning. Where do you have a guitar to practice on?
It was fun having Carolina here to play piano duets with. I got into some of those ones I had purchased with high hopes of playing with you ( a little dig there)...and Carolina played them with me. It's so much fun to play duets with her. We both really enjoy it.
We had an excellent lesson in RS today about procrastination. It was from Elder Eyring's talk from last conference. Sis. Leifson taught it and she said with prayer and scriptures each day, we should be able to receive inspiration for each day to know how to spend our time that day, what things should take priority. Sometimes we have so many things to choose from in a day that it becomes overwhelming and difficult to make decisions on what to do, but Heavenly Father knows where our priorities should be and where we can do His will most effectively during the day. So we need to stay in tune to know the direction to take.
I hope you're enjoying the work. Remember man is that he might have joy. Stay on the straight course and obey with exactness so that the angels can be with you on your errands.
I love you Sean and always pray for you. Everyone here says to send their love to you....
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Dear Elder Sean,
Well, what a whirlwind of a couple of weeks we've had. Today was Kirk's homecoming and he did a great job. It was fun to hear him speak for so long and with an accent. He even threw in a couple of Spanish words without knowing it which a lot of people commented to him later about. He spoke of the things he learned on his mission. Alex Erickson also spoke and did a good job. Such different missions but it sounds like they learned very similar lessons in life.
We got home late Wed night and were greeted by grandma and grandpa Thompson with the 3 little girls at the airport. I hurried off the plane first so I could video the event. We were all so tired when we got home that we basically just went to bed. The next day we took Kirk out shopping for new clothes because when he went to get dressed he realized he'd lost so much weight that nothing fit him at home. He lost around 30 pounds and looks great. We also realized that his license expired in August so we had to make a stop at the DMV to renew. So now he's good to go. I feel like I'm teaching 2 kids to drive now, he and Alex since Kirk really hasn't driven since before his mission. The driving was so crazy in the DR that I'm glad he didn't have to drive there.
On Friday we went to the airport (after stopping at a car lot to look at some new cars) to pick up g & g Trumbo. We had about an hour to kill so we went to another car lot with them, then headed back to the airport to pick up Charmaine. The bunch of us went to lunch and headed home. Friday night Steve and Carolina and Giovanni and Dakota and Kassie came in. So that was our group for the weekend. We had a lot of fun with everyone. It was fun hearing the Trumbo's speak Spanish with Kirk. They said he was a fast speaker but really good. Saturday we went to the movies and let Kirk catch up on at least one movie he had missed out on, Bourne Ultimatum. That night we had a big dinner with stuffed shells and Mexican rice. Kirk is really craving rice since he's been home, so I'm trying to oblige.
Steve and his family left after Sacrament and have made plans to be back for Thanksgiving this year.
Uncle Bill came over the other night and asked Kirk if he would help him drive cars for car wars this week. I told Kirk that was a sweet deal and to try to get to drive the Mustang they have on their lot right now. Kirk was really eyeing that car when we stopped by for a visit. It's a 2007 with a few custom items on it.
We got your handwritten letter this week along with the DVD's. I loved your letter and so did the family. You definitely have a writing gift, so use it and develop it. As for the DVD's. They both work, but the Transformers is missing the bottom half of the screen, so we laughed at that. Is it a pirate copy or something? CArolina said Isaac brought some home too and they laughed at them because they could see people walking in the middle of the movie with popcorn in their arms and they could hear people laughing during different parts of it. We'll let Nikki watch hers next week.
Sounds like you have some nice fun food to eat there. Take it easy on the dulce de leche, it sounds rich and lucious, and fattening. I can remember reading something about it when you were preparing for your mission and how some elders really get hooked on it and put it on everything like you were talking about. Grandpa Trumbo is reading your letter right now as I write you.
I like your new folletos. They're so nice. Gio said he had one like that on his mission except it was showing how the Book of Mormon and the Bible were connected.
We're definitely having a change of seasons here. It was so cold this weekend and so windy. Kirk has been freezing here. I don't know how he's going to make it in Rexburg this winter. There was even snow on Bogus yesterday morning. We hear it snowed an inch in Provo too.
How has your week been? I have such a better feel for what you're doing now that I've been on the streets with Kirk in the DR and meeting some of the families he worked with and been in their homes. It was an unforgettable experience for dad and Alex and I. Are you working with any families right now? How is your ward? I haven't had time to look for church guitar music yet, but really all you have to do is look at the chords of any hymn and you should be able to play it that way. Are you learning chords or picking or what? That would help me to know how you're learning. Where do you have a guitar to practice on?
It was fun having Carolina here to play piano duets with. I got into some of those ones I had purchased with high hopes of playing with you ( a little dig there)...and Carolina played them with me. It's so much fun to play duets with her. We both really enjoy it.
We had an excellent lesson in RS today about procrastination. It was from Elder Eyring's talk from last conference. Sis. Leifson taught it and she said with prayer and scriptures each day, we should be able to receive inspiration for each day to know how to spend our time that day, what things should take priority. Sometimes we have so many things to choose from in a day that it becomes overwhelming and difficult to make decisions on what to do, but Heavenly Father knows where our priorities should be and where we can do His will most effectively during the day. So we need to stay in tune to know the direction to take.
I hope you're enjoying the work. Remember man is that he might have joy. Stay on the straight course and obey with exactness so that the angels can be with you on your errands.
I love you Sean and always pray for you. Everyone here says to send their love to you....
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
23 Sep 2007
Sept. 23, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
I'm sitting here in the internet caffe in Puerto Plata in our little resort on the beach. It's beautiful here and the water is so blue/green and clear. Although we aren't spending much time in the water since Kirk is still a missionary.
Today we went to church to one of Kirk's old wards. I loved it even though I couldn't understand very much of it. In RS when the sisters started singing As Sisters in Zion in Spanish I started crying. I just felt such a bond with these women because of the gospel and because Kirk had been with them. We went around to some old neighborhoods also with Kirk in the afternoon. It was such a poor section of town and the streets were so narrow that we had to get there only by walking. We felt a little like how missionaries feel for a couple hours today. We took lots of candy so we could give it to the kids we would see. We became very popular very fast. The families were all so welcoming offering us drinks (which meant they would leave the house and run to the nearest Colmado to make a purchase) or else they made a fruit/milk type smoothie for us out of papaya. I got the feeling that they would literally give you anything yet they had so little. And everywhere we went they would should Thompson, with the accent on the end, because they were so excited to see Kirk again. It was great to see. He has made some wonderful friends here and i"m glad we got to be a little part of it.
Yesterday we took a tram up to a mountain, yes, I even went up despite my crazy fear of heights, but it didn't bother me at all and it was a great view of the entire city. Also it was about 20 degrees cooler up there, so it was well worth it. It is so hot and humid here. I am sweating everywhere we go.
How has your week been? It was great getting your letters while we were in Santiago. We're so much closer to you now. How is Cordoba treating you? Do you feel at home there yet? What are some of the differences? Can't wait to hear how things have gone for you this week.
I think all is well at home. Kristina just wrote me and said she was so sad without me that she's been crying tonight, so that doesn't make me feel great, but i tried to reassure her that we'd be home in just a few days. Grandma and Grandpa Thompson are now in charge. Jan and JEff left tonight to go home. I'm sad that I won't even be able to see Jan. She came after we left and has now left before we get home.
Hearing Kirk speak Spanish so fluently is great. We went one whole day without him and it was miserable. Even with Alex proclaiming that he was a spanish expert, it sure didn't show up when we needed it. Dad can't understand anything and I know it's hard on him. Alex and I can understand much better than we can speak, so it really doesn't help much. So when we got Kirk, life was much better. He really knows his way around everywhere we've been. It's pretty amazing. There's no rhyme or reason to most of the towns, but he seems to always know right where we are. How is your Spanish coming along? Do you feel somewhat fluent at this point?
Well, i'm actually on a timed computer, so i don't have much time left. I'll check in again tomorrow so we can hear how you're doing. Is there anything you want from the DR? We'll be out tourist shopping tomorrow. We'll probably send you something from here.
Here's Kirk:
que lo que, hermano, pues yo tengo 6 minutos para hablar, entonces. como esta la mision? ya, yo tengo que irme, ahora no hay mas tiempo. cuidate mucho. elder t
Hope you have a great week and remember how much we all love you. Still 2 elder thompsons for 3 more days......
Love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxooxoxoxooxoxox
Dear Elder Sean,
I'm sitting here in the internet caffe in Puerto Plata in our little resort on the beach. It's beautiful here and the water is so blue/green and clear. Although we aren't spending much time in the water since Kirk is still a missionary.
Today we went to church to one of Kirk's old wards. I loved it even though I couldn't understand very much of it. In RS when the sisters started singing As Sisters in Zion in Spanish I started crying. I just felt such a bond with these women because of the gospel and because Kirk had been with them. We went around to some old neighborhoods also with Kirk in the afternoon. It was such a poor section of town and the streets were so narrow that we had to get there only by walking. We felt a little like how missionaries feel for a couple hours today. We took lots of candy so we could give it to the kids we would see. We became very popular very fast. The families were all so welcoming offering us drinks (which meant they would leave the house and run to the nearest Colmado to make a purchase) or else they made a fruit/milk type smoothie for us out of papaya. I got the feeling that they would literally give you anything yet they had so little. And everywhere we went they would should Thompson, with the accent on the end, because they were so excited to see Kirk again. It was great to see. He has made some wonderful friends here and i"m glad we got to be a little part of it.
Yesterday we took a tram up to a mountain, yes, I even went up despite my crazy fear of heights, but it didn't bother me at all and it was a great view of the entire city. Also it was about 20 degrees cooler up there, so it was well worth it. It is so hot and humid here. I am sweating everywhere we go.
How has your week been? It was great getting your letters while we were in Santiago. We're so much closer to you now. How is Cordoba treating you? Do you feel at home there yet? What are some of the differences? Can't wait to hear how things have gone for you this week.
I think all is well at home. Kristina just wrote me and said she was so sad without me that she's been crying tonight, so that doesn't make me feel great, but i tried to reassure her that we'd be home in just a few days. Grandma and Grandpa Thompson are now in charge. Jan and JEff left tonight to go home. I'm sad that I won't even be able to see Jan. She came after we left and has now left before we get home.
Hearing Kirk speak Spanish so fluently is great. We went one whole day without him and it was miserable. Even with Alex proclaiming that he was a spanish expert, it sure didn't show up when we needed it. Dad can't understand anything and I know it's hard on him. Alex and I can understand much better than we can speak, so it really doesn't help much. So when we got Kirk, life was much better. He really knows his way around everywhere we've been. It's pretty amazing. There's no rhyme or reason to most of the towns, but he seems to always know right where we are. How is your Spanish coming along? Do you feel somewhat fluent at this point?
Well, i'm actually on a timed computer, so i don't have much time left. I'll check in again tomorrow so we can hear how you're doing. Is there anything you want from the DR? We'll be out tourist shopping tomorrow. We'll probably send you something from here.
Here's Kirk:
que lo que, hermano, pues yo tengo 6 minutos para hablar, entonces. como esta la mision? ya, yo tengo que irme, ahora no hay mas tiempo. cuidate mucho. elder t
Hope you have a great week and remember how much we all love you. Still 2 elder thompsons for 3 more days......
Love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxooxoxoxooxoxox
9 Mar 2008
March 9, 2008
Dear Elder Sean,
Hi, how was your week? We had a wonderful Sunday. Today was Ashton Beagley's farewell and many Beagleys were here. Last night we went to his non-open house. It was like a ward party at the Beagley home. He spoke on faith and looks very ready to go and serve. He said he's going to Disneyland. He'll be very needed speaking Spanish in southern Cal. We also had David and Shirley Clegg report their mission. Dad and I went over earlier in the week to visit them and they said their hearts are still in Nauvoo. What a great experience they had there. They were not able to proselyte, but conducting the tours at various sites in Nauvoo including Carthage jail was so spiritual. They also took part in the pageant, worked at the temple and put on plays, so they were extremely busy the entire time. Bro. Clegg talked about his relationship with his wife after 50 years and how wonderful it was. Then their children and grandchildren sang the closing song. It was an amazing sight and it made me want that same thing with dad by my side in another 20-25 years. I'm looking forward to hearing from them at a fireside.
This past week I ran into Tyler D. and told him to stop by our house, so this afternoon he showed up and it was just in time for a nice roast beef/mashed potatoes/broccoli with cheese sauce dinner. He stayed until just a little while ago. He said he was anxious to hear from you, so send him a letter sometime. If you just send it to us, I can forward it to him. He read scriptures with us, played the dice game with us, ate gooey orange rolls for dessert with us, helped shoot down helium balloons from the family room with nerf darts, etc. He's doing well. He's going to BSU finishing up his GE and trying to decide what to go into. He's torn between pre-med and computers. Right now he works full time with an outsourcing firm that Apple has hired for tech support. He says he thinks about working for Apple. I'm going to forward all the Eagle Elders' newsletters to him so he can read a little from all of you.
Alex got his wisdom teeth out on Friday and he's still trying to milk it, but on the night he got them out he actually went to a friend's house and ate a hamburger, so I can't imagine that he's suffering too badly. We had Dr. Brad Robertson from the 8th ward take them out. He was very fast and very affordable. Just did it in his office. I don't think you could have had that option though with all those extra wisdom teeth you had. Also Dr. Robertson mentioned that his parents were on a mission in Samoa, so I asked if I could email him some pictures and a letter and have him forward it to his parents and see if they could deliver it to the girls' birthmom. It would be great to actually hear from someone that she received news from us. I'll let you know if I hear anything back.
A couple of mission calls this week-Cory Campbell is going to Monterey East, Mexico mission and Phil Gulbrandsen is going to Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Your emails using the myldsmail is kind of goofy. Sometimes when you write 2 letters, we get one in the afternoon, then we get the second one late at night but on the email it says that you wrote them around the same time. I think we get them all, but it's been kind of weird on the arrival times.
Kirk called today. It's still cold in Rexburg (what else is new?). He's trying to keep up with the school work and the social life. I think the habits you establish on your mission can really help you in all aspects of your life. The girls are all doing well. I'm busy with plenty of things. Still typing Patriarchal blessings. We have at least 2 every week. In a couple of months I'll have typed over 300 blessings. I consider it such a privilege and a blessing to be able to do this. I'm also studying the Old Testament using the BYU channel where they have 4 religion professors discussing the OT. I love it. I did it all the way through with the BOM too and I learned so much. Now I'm getting incredible insights into the Old Testament from the best of the best.
Dad just got back from helping give a blessing to a sister in the ward. We had a rough start this morning. We set our clocks ahead last night, but since dad has clocks that automatically set themselves, he didn't do anything different last night. I woke up and looked at my clock and it said 7:30am and dad was still in bed next to me. That's the time his Bishopric mtg started, so I woke him and he couldn't believe neither of his clocks changed but mine had. So he really scrambled to get to church. I'm going to love having it stay lighter later. I love the sunlight. It lifts my spirits. Do you guys change your clocks there?
You sound so good in your letters. Being anxiously engaged is a great feeling. Always remember how you feel now when you are busy in the Lord's work. You are focused on other people and that's what will always bring you true joy in life. Your mission president is an inspired spiritual man. Continue to heed his counsel.
Here are some missionary tips for the week:
1. Write in your journal every day, preferably at night.
2. Read all the standard works at least once during your mission.
3. Make bookmarks for investigators by writing a favorite scripture, thought, or hymn on a card.
4. Get a good night's rest.
5. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know."
Well, I'm going to say good-bye and dad is going to add a little note. We'll send you a couple pix too. If you have any, send them our way. I love you very much. Keep up the good work.
Love,
momxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxooxox
Dear Elder Sean,
Hi, how was your week? We had a wonderful Sunday. Today was Ashton Beagley's farewell and many Beagleys were here. Last night we went to his non-open house. It was like a ward party at the Beagley home. He spoke on faith and looks very ready to go and serve. He said he's going to Disneyland. He'll be very needed speaking Spanish in southern Cal. We also had David and Shirley Clegg report their mission. Dad and I went over earlier in the week to visit them and they said their hearts are still in Nauvoo. What a great experience they had there. They were not able to proselyte, but conducting the tours at various sites in Nauvoo including Carthage jail was so spiritual. They also took part in the pageant, worked at the temple and put on plays, so they were extremely busy the entire time. Bro. Clegg talked about his relationship with his wife after 50 years and how wonderful it was. Then their children and grandchildren sang the closing song. It was an amazing sight and it made me want that same thing with dad by my side in another 20-25 years. I'm looking forward to hearing from them at a fireside.
This past week I ran into Tyler D. and told him to stop by our house, so this afternoon he showed up and it was just in time for a nice roast beef/mashed potatoes/broccoli with cheese sauce dinner. He stayed until just a little while ago. He said he was anxious to hear from you, so send him a letter sometime. If you just send it to us, I can forward it to him. He read scriptures with us, played the dice game with us, ate gooey orange rolls for dessert with us, helped shoot down helium balloons from the family room with nerf darts, etc. He's doing well. He's going to BSU finishing up his GE and trying to decide what to go into. He's torn between pre-med and computers. Right now he works full time with an outsourcing firm that Apple has hired for tech support. He says he thinks about working for Apple. I'm going to forward all the Eagle Elders' newsletters to him so he can read a little from all of you.
Alex got his wisdom teeth out on Friday and he's still trying to milk it, but on the night he got them out he actually went to a friend's house and ate a hamburger, so I can't imagine that he's suffering too badly. We had Dr. Brad Robertson from the 8th ward take them out. He was very fast and very affordable. Just did it in his office. I don't think you could have had that option though with all those extra wisdom teeth you had. Also Dr. Robertson mentioned that his parents were on a mission in Samoa, so I asked if I could email him some pictures and a letter and have him forward it to his parents and see if they could deliver it to the girls' birthmom. It would be great to actually hear from someone that she received news from us. I'll let you know if I hear anything back.
A couple of mission calls this week-Cory Campbell is going to Monterey East, Mexico mission and Phil Gulbrandsen is going to Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Your emails using the myldsmail is kind of goofy. Sometimes when you write 2 letters, we get one in the afternoon, then we get the second one late at night but on the email it says that you wrote them around the same time. I think we get them all, but it's been kind of weird on the arrival times.
Kirk called today. It's still cold in Rexburg (what else is new?). He's trying to keep up with the school work and the social life. I think the habits you establish on your mission can really help you in all aspects of your life. The girls are all doing well. I'm busy with plenty of things. Still typing Patriarchal blessings. We have at least 2 every week. In a couple of months I'll have typed over 300 blessings. I consider it such a privilege and a blessing to be able to do this. I'm also studying the Old Testament using the BYU channel where they have 4 religion professors discussing the OT. I love it. I did it all the way through with the BOM too and I learned so much. Now I'm getting incredible insights into the Old Testament from the best of the best.
Dad just got back from helping give a blessing to a sister in the ward. We had a rough start this morning. We set our clocks ahead last night, but since dad has clocks that automatically set themselves, he didn't do anything different last night. I woke up and looked at my clock and it said 7:30am and dad was still in bed next to me. That's the time his Bishopric mtg started, so I woke him and he couldn't believe neither of his clocks changed but mine had. So he really scrambled to get to church. I'm going to love having it stay lighter later. I love the sunlight. It lifts my spirits. Do you guys change your clocks there?
You sound so good in your letters. Being anxiously engaged is a great feeling. Always remember how you feel now when you are busy in the Lord's work. You are focused on other people and that's what will always bring you true joy in life. Your mission president is an inspired spiritual man. Continue to heed his counsel.
Here are some missionary tips for the week:
1. Write in your journal every day, preferably at night.
2. Read all the standard works at least once during your mission.
3. Make bookmarks for investigators by writing a favorite scripture, thought, or hymn on a card.
4. Get a good night's rest.
5. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know."
Well, I'm going to say good-bye and dad is going to add a little note. We'll send you a couple pix too. If you have any, send them our way. I love you very much. Keep up the good work.
Love,
momxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxooxox
6 Apr 2008
April 6, 2008
Dear Elder Sean,
We've had a wonderful weekend here being able to watch all sessions of conference and having dad and Alex attending conference sessions in Utah. They had a great time and were able to do a lot of things in a short period of time. Alex sent me pix through his phone of the apostles they got to talk with and dad called me often to report on what they were up to.
The girls and I had a girls weekend. We went to the movies "Horton Hears a Who", went on walks, Nikki and Leah got to sleep with me and we watched conference together. Dad and Alex got home last night so we all watched together today. I made waffles this morning and Costa Vida pork for dinner tonight. Then as a family we walked to the Mylers to drop off some supplies for Spencer's Eagle project. The weather has been beautiful and it feels good to get outside now.
Your letter last week was fun to read. How is the war with the farmers and government getting along? I hope they work things out. It's little things like this that escalate and cause havoc in many countries. I also enjoyed hearing about your visit with Sis. Olsen's parents. I could picture them as you were writing.
How are the families doing that you've been teaching. I thought about the Gonzalez family during many of the talks at conference. I hope they were able to see it. I especially thought about them during the talk given this morning by Pres. Uchtdorf which was about the faith of our fathers. I also enjoyed Sis. Lant's talk on family traditions, Elder Bednar's talk on prayer and Elder Zwick's talk on "Do we lower our standards for our peers? Also Pres. Monson's talk in the morning Sunday session. I felt so strongly while he was talking that he was truly called of God, talked with God and that I could place my total faith in him. His pledge to us that he would give his life in the work of the gospel was so powerful to me and the spirit bore witness so strongly to me at that moment of the truthfulness of what he was saying. The beauty of the gospel for me is that I can continue to receive strong and powerful witnesses of it's truthfulness throughout my life (if I am in the right places at the right times) and that I don't just receive it once and then have to rely on a fading memory. Continual spiritual experiences are a tender mercy from the Lord.
Anyway, I am anxious to hear how the Moreno's and the Gonzalez family are doing and I hope they've been able to make some friends in the ward. That is so key for their progression.
Last week I took a copy of last month's Ensign which was the one all about Christ, over to Gigi Burke's (our neighbor across the street). I had a nice talk with her and I put a card in it bearing my testimony of Christ to her. We've talked about the church before and I know we have our differences but I told her I also knew that we believed in the same Christ and that I knew He loved and cared for all of us. It's a beautiful Ensign and the church's new website about Christ is also wonderful.
You mentioned something about Jessica Thompson getting married and we didn't even know that. So you are actually telling us news. Since she's in the 2nd ward and her family is in a completely different building we rarely hear news of their ward. I try to keep you in touch with whatever I know. The only person I heard anything about that you know is Megan Guerston (sp?). I heard she's back home and is a sub for the schools around here. Also Ashley Gooch is home and will be having her homecoming talk this coming Sunday. Kirk said he is going to go to it. He will be home from school on Friday. I can't believe his semester is already over. He has finals this week. He said he had a fun time this past weekend at his mission reunion and had a nice one on one talk with his first mission president-Devin Cornish-who by the way, just got called into the 70's.
The other news from the family is that Katie and Greg have postponed their wedding until at least the end of the year now. They want to take more time dating, etc. which all of us are in total agreement with. So now we'll have to think of another place to go for our summer vacation. We were planning on going there and to help Jan with the wedding. I've also heard that Trevor and Tyler are starting their paperwork for their missions too. Tyler is living in Orange now and working for grandpa and grandpa has been helping him get ready for his mission.
They finished testing Leah at school and they're going to put her in special ed 20%of the time which I'm very happy with. She'll always be in a normal class for most of the day, but just pulled out for extra help. She actually loves being pulled out and getting the one on one attention. She's doing very well. She and I are working very hard, not only on academics but also on having positive thoughts and becoming a strong young woman. Nikki is still living life largely. I met with her teacher last week and she said nikki has come a long way. She is very respectful in class, works hard and is a joy to have around. Kristina is working hard with ballet, drums, piano and High School Musical. This week is her ballet recital. I'll send pix next week. Alex is getting ready for prom next weekend. We're going to get a tux tomorrow. Dad and I are busy and happy. I'm anxious to get the garden going this year. I've been craving fresh tomatoes to make salsa with, sweet peas picked and eaten right from the garden and potatoes (I think Idaho is starting to rub off on me!)
I'm glad you liked the packages we sent. We sure have fun putting them together for you. As far as Mother's Day (which I'm totally excited to hear from you!), I don't have your cell number any longer. So we'll have to get that from you if you're still in the office.
I hope you have a miraculous week. My prayers are with you.
Love you,
momxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxox
Dear Elder Sean,
We've had a wonderful weekend here being able to watch all sessions of conference and having dad and Alex attending conference sessions in Utah. They had a great time and were able to do a lot of things in a short period of time. Alex sent me pix through his phone of the apostles they got to talk with and dad called me often to report on what they were up to.
The girls and I had a girls weekend. We went to the movies "Horton Hears a Who", went on walks, Nikki and Leah got to sleep with me and we watched conference together. Dad and Alex got home last night so we all watched together today. I made waffles this morning and Costa Vida pork for dinner tonight. Then as a family we walked to the Mylers to drop off some supplies for Spencer's Eagle project. The weather has been beautiful and it feels good to get outside now.
Your letter last week was fun to read. How is the war with the farmers and government getting along? I hope they work things out. It's little things like this that escalate and cause havoc in many countries. I also enjoyed hearing about your visit with Sis. Olsen's parents. I could picture them as you were writing.
How are the families doing that you've been teaching. I thought about the Gonzalez family during many of the talks at conference. I hope they were able to see it. I especially thought about them during the talk given this morning by Pres. Uchtdorf which was about the faith of our fathers. I also enjoyed Sis. Lant's talk on family traditions, Elder Bednar's talk on prayer and Elder Zwick's talk on "Do we lower our standards for our peers? Also Pres. Monson's talk in the morning Sunday session. I felt so strongly while he was talking that he was truly called of God, talked with God and that I could place my total faith in him. His pledge to us that he would give his life in the work of the gospel was so powerful to me and the spirit bore witness so strongly to me at that moment of the truthfulness of what he was saying. The beauty of the gospel for me is that I can continue to receive strong and powerful witnesses of it's truthfulness throughout my life (if I am in the right places at the right times) and that I don't just receive it once and then have to rely on a fading memory. Continual spiritual experiences are a tender mercy from the Lord.
Anyway, I am anxious to hear how the Moreno's and the Gonzalez family are doing and I hope they've been able to make some friends in the ward. That is so key for their progression.
Last week I took a copy of last month's Ensign which was the one all about Christ, over to Gigi Burke's (our neighbor across the street). I had a nice talk with her and I put a card in it bearing my testimony of Christ to her. We've talked about the church before and I know we have our differences but I told her I also knew that we believed in the same Christ and that I knew He loved and cared for all of us. It's a beautiful Ensign and the church's new website about Christ is also wonderful.
You mentioned something about Jessica Thompson getting married and we didn't even know that. So you are actually telling us news. Since she's in the 2nd ward and her family is in a completely different building we rarely hear news of their ward. I try to keep you in touch with whatever I know. The only person I heard anything about that you know is Megan Guerston (sp?). I heard she's back home and is a sub for the schools around here. Also Ashley Gooch is home and will be having her homecoming talk this coming Sunday. Kirk said he is going to go to it. He will be home from school on Friday. I can't believe his semester is already over. He has finals this week. He said he had a fun time this past weekend at his mission reunion and had a nice one on one talk with his first mission president-Devin Cornish-who by the way, just got called into the 70's.
The other news from the family is that Katie and Greg have postponed their wedding until at least the end of the year now. They want to take more time dating, etc. which all of us are in total agreement with. So now we'll have to think of another place to go for our summer vacation. We were planning on going there and to help Jan with the wedding. I've also heard that Trevor and Tyler are starting their paperwork for their missions too. Tyler is living in Orange now and working for grandpa and grandpa has been helping him get ready for his mission.
They finished testing Leah at school and they're going to put her in special ed 20%of the time which I'm very happy with. She'll always be in a normal class for most of the day, but just pulled out for extra help. She actually loves being pulled out and getting the one on one attention. She's doing very well. She and I are working very hard, not only on academics but also on having positive thoughts and becoming a strong young woman. Nikki is still living life largely. I met with her teacher last week and she said nikki has come a long way. She is very respectful in class, works hard and is a joy to have around. Kristina is working hard with ballet, drums, piano and High School Musical. This week is her ballet recital. I'll send pix next week. Alex is getting ready for prom next weekend. We're going to get a tux tomorrow. Dad and I are busy and happy. I'm anxious to get the garden going this year. I've been craving fresh tomatoes to make salsa with, sweet peas picked and eaten right from the garden and potatoes (I think Idaho is starting to rub off on me!)
I'm glad you liked the packages we sent. We sure have fun putting them together for you. As far as Mother's Day (which I'm totally excited to hear from you!), I don't have your cell number any longer. So we'll have to get that from you if you're still in the office.
I hope you have a miraculous week. My prayers are with you.
Love you,
momxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxox
16 Mar 2008
March 16, 2008
Dear Elder Sean,
I'm sitting down to write you after a fun weekend of stake conference meetings. We had Elder Hammond of the 70 visit us. He is probably the most disciplined man I have ever met and boy, does it show in his speaking. Bro. Yorgason told me that his college buddy asked Elder Hammond (15 years ago when he was Bro. Hammond) how he got to be so well versed in the scriptures and could speak so eloquently. Bro. Hammond told him his schedule. He said every day he gets up at 5:45am and exercises for 30 min. with his wife, then showers and gets ready for the day. He has breakfast, then studies scriptures, etc for 45 min. Then he helps get the kids to school, then studies the scriptures with his wife and makes himself a sack lunch. Then he walks to work every day (he's a dentist) and takes a half hour lunch and returns home at 4:30pm. He gets things done around the house and has dinner then goes to meetings. He tries to always be home by around 8:30-9:00pm, then he studies again for 45 minutes before getting ready for bed.
He could quote every hymn, knows where all the major scripture references are, quoted several poems and has tons of stories. For our Sat. evening mtg, he fielded questions about missionary work and why we have trouble sharing what we know with others. He answered using the scriptures and stories. He had the elders in our area come up and they bore their testimonies. Then he had all 4 elders come up front and as they stood there, he said, "Here is the future of our church, of our world." I couldn't help but cry thinking of you the whole time, knowing that you are doing the same thing. He said you missionaries are there for the members. You should always be asking, "What can we do for you?" to the members, instead of the members asking what they can do for you.
Today he spoke of our individual sepulchres. He told of how Pilate demanded that every precaution be taken to make sure that the tomb could not be broken into and Christ's body stolen. He asked men to stand guard and place the heaviest stone possible in the way. And with all that in place, how easily Heavenly Father caused an earthquake to happen and an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. Despite every mighty effort of "man", there is nothing that can thwart the grand plan of our Heavenly Father. Elder Hammond said that we all have individual sepulchres that Satan tries to keep shut and keep us from our Savior. He said some of us have addiction sepulchres, gambling sepulchres, pornography, anger, financial problems, marital problems, etc. Satan tries to seal us in our sins in these sepulchres with strong efforts made by "man" to where we think there is no way out. But we need to know that our Savior is the only one who can free us, remove the stone door and lead us into the light. That was just one of the points he made today, but it was the one that really touched me.
The bishops and wives got to have dinner with the Hammonds last night in between meetings and he spoke to mainly us women in the room. Very tender words for women living in these latter days and also how beautifully a man and a woman compliment each, but are so different.
Right now dad and Kristina and Alex are at a fireside. The little girls and I made a dump cake, read, then I put them in bed. Leah was very cute, she wanted to leave the lights on so she could read her scriptures.
We have been praying for you and the Gonzalez family all week. I put their names in at the temple when dad and I went on Tues also. How did your family night go with them? How is the Moreno family coming along? I hope they both were able to come to church today. I have been thinking about them a lot.
Kirk called today and said Joe Kjar has been with him all weekend. He drove to Rexburg with a friend and stayed with Kirk. Kirk said they had fun and were busy all weekend.
This week we're going to be getting ready to go to California for spring break. We're leaving Saturday and will be back the following Friday. We are staying in Orange over the weekend so we can have Easter dinner with my family at Susan and Mike's. Kirk is also going to fly down for the weekend. He's going to go to Universal studios with us on Monday, then fly back home on tues. Mary will take him to the airport. We are then going down to San Diego for the rest of the time to explore the city. I'll take plenty of pictures so you can see the Calif. family.
Last Friday night Kristina's garage band performed at Rembrandt's. They did a great job. I'll let you know when they release their first CD.
Other than all this, that's about it for the week. I'm anxious to hear about your week. Next week we'll write you from Jan and Jeff's place. I hope you have a nice Easter. Send us some pictures and let us know when you get packages.
Lose yourself in the service and remember always I love you very much.
momxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Dear Elder Sean,
I'm sitting down to write you after a fun weekend of stake conference meetings. We had Elder Hammond of the 70 visit us. He is probably the most disciplined man I have ever met and boy, does it show in his speaking. Bro. Yorgason told me that his college buddy asked Elder Hammond (15 years ago when he was Bro. Hammond) how he got to be so well versed in the scriptures and could speak so eloquently. Bro. Hammond told him his schedule. He said every day he gets up at 5:45am and exercises for 30 min. with his wife, then showers and gets ready for the day. He has breakfast, then studies scriptures, etc for 45 min. Then he helps get the kids to school, then studies the scriptures with his wife and makes himself a sack lunch. Then he walks to work every day (he's a dentist) and takes a half hour lunch and returns home at 4:30pm. He gets things done around the house and has dinner then goes to meetings. He tries to always be home by around 8:30-9:00pm, then he studies again for 45 minutes before getting ready for bed.
He could quote every hymn, knows where all the major scripture references are, quoted several poems and has tons of stories. For our Sat. evening mtg, he fielded questions about missionary work and why we have trouble sharing what we know with others. He answered using the scriptures and stories. He had the elders in our area come up and they bore their testimonies. Then he had all 4 elders come up front and as they stood there, he said, "Here is the future of our church, of our world." I couldn't help but cry thinking of you the whole time, knowing that you are doing the same thing. He said you missionaries are there for the members. You should always be asking, "What can we do for you?" to the members, instead of the members asking what they can do for you.
Today he spoke of our individual sepulchres. He told of how Pilate demanded that every precaution be taken to make sure that the tomb could not be broken into and Christ's body stolen. He asked men to stand guard and place the heaviest stone possible in the way. And with all that in place, how easily Heavenly Father caused an earthquake to happen and an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. Despite every mighty effort of "man", there is nothing that can thwart the grand plan of our Heavenly Father. Elder Hammond said that we all have individual sepulchres that Satan tries to keep shut and keep us from our Savior. He said some of us have addiction sepulchres, gambling sepulchres, pornography, anger, financial problems, marital problems, etc. Satan tries to seal us in our sins in these sepulchres with strong efforts made by "man" to where we think there is no way out. But we need to know that our Savior is the only one who can free us, remove the stone door and lead us into the light. That was just one of the points he made today, but it was the one that really touched me.
The bishops and wives got to have dinner with the Hammonds last night in between meetings and he spoke to mainly us women in the room. Very tender words for women living in these latter days and also how beautifully a man and a woman compliment each, but are so different.
Right now dad and Kristina and Alex are at a fireside. The little girls and I made a dump cake, read, then I put them in bed. Leah was very cute, she wanted to leave the lights on so she could read her scriptures.
We have been praying for you and the Gonzalez family all week. I put their names in at the temple when dad and I went on Tues also. How did your family night go with them? How is the Moreno family coming along? I hope they both were able to come to church today. I have been thinking about them a lot.
Kirk called today and said Joe Kjar has been with him all weekend. He drove to Rexburg with a friend and stayed with Kirk. Kirk said they had fun and were busy all weekend.
This week we're going to be getting ready to go to California for spring break. We're leaving Saturday and will be back the following Friday. We are staying in Orange over the weekend so we can have Easter dinner with my family at Susan and Mike's. Kirk is also going to fly down for the weekend. He's going to go to Universal studios with us on Monday, then fly back home on tues. Mary will take him to the airport. We are then going down to San Diego for the rest of the time to explore the city. I'll take plenty of pictures so you can see the Calif. family.
Last Friday night Kristina's garage band performed at Rembrandt's. They did a great job. I'll let you know when they release their first CD.
Other than all this, that's about it for the week. I'm anxious to hear about your week. Next week we'll write you from Jan and Jeff's place. I hope you have a nice Easter. Send us some pictures and let us know when you get packages.
Lose yourself in the service and remember always I love you very much.
momxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
30 Oct 2007
Oct 30, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
Happy Halloween eve. I flew home this morning from Houston and am glad to be back home. I need the rest. It was a lot of work as usual at the quilt market. Jan had a harder time physically so I really needed to be there for her and she was even in a wheel chair most of the time, so I was the official chair pusher too. The market is so huge. It's hard to even put into words what a large space it takes place in. The convention center was an amazing place for it and enormous. We stayed at a luxurious hotel where they waited on us hand and foot. If we had to go anywhere, they took us in this little black London Taxi car. Very classy. I would definitely stay there again. My driver this morning that took me to the airport was originally from El Salvador. He came here a few years ago and learned English, then started a chauffuer business and has a small fleet of 4 cars right now. It was fun talking with him and I told him all about you being in Argentina. He said he always hears how beautiful ARgentina is. He asked about what a mission is and he remembers seeing missionaries in his own country. I told him if they ever come to his door that he should let them in and remember what we talked about. He told me that last week he drove Ricky Martin around. He was in town for a concert.
Jan made a lot of good contacts at this market and I think she's going to start taking her apron line in a new direction pretty soon. The big pattern companies McCall and Vogue want her to be a licensed pattern maker and make patterns for them. Also the owner of Alexander Henry fabrics want her to collaborate with him on designing a line of aprons to sell in the store Anthropology, which is a really fun, popular store. It will be fun to see where all of this takes her. I'm really pushing her to set up a website though. I think it's imperative at this point and I may even have to take a crash course to learn how to do it so I can help out.
I also picked up a couple little things from Houston that I'll slip into your next pkg.
How are you feeling this week? We got your hand written letter and I enjoyed reading the more intimate details of what you're doing. Kirk said he has never heard of some of the foods you were mentioning that you really like, must be native to your area. What are kioscos? I love hearing anything about the culture, the people, etc. Over the next years I will develop an allegiance to Argentina just because you are there. It's amazing how that happened with Kirk being in the DR. I have a love for a group of people I don't even know. But now even more after having visited the DR. Today the DR was in the news because of a tropical storm/hurricane hitting the country. So much flooding and rains and mudslides and I can picture now the streets and the people and care deeply for them and their well being. As you write about different people and situations there, I am starting to have those same feelings for Argentina and I love it.
The ward here is doing well. I missed the primary program last Sunday which I was sick about. The girls told me their parts over the phone each time I called. I also went to their practice last Sunday so I could see them. Kristina wasn't in it this year since she's in YW now and I think she missed it. Mary Jane Ramsey had to have her appendix taken out suddenly a couple days ago so dad has been dropping in on her. He said she's still pretty sick and dad's not happy that the doctors let her go home so soon.
Tonight dad went to Thomas Gulbrandsen's setting apart. He's entering the MTC tomorrow. It will be interesting to hear some reports about his mission to SLC south. We'll have to tell grandma and grandpa Thompson to look out for him.
When dad came home tonight, he tells me that Pres. Stafford wants to talk with me. So I get nervous trying to think about what calling it might be, then dad says it's not a calling. It took me about 20 seconds before I realized he was going to ask me to speak in Stake Conference. Now I'm really nervous. I'd much rather serve the Lord through callings and helping people in their homes, with their families the rest of my life, etc than have to speak. I don't know what the subject is yet or why he wants me to speak, so not knowing is even worse. I'll keep you posted on that.
Alex is busy as ever. It sometimes seems he's with friends much more than with us any more and that makes me a little sad, but I take solace in knowing that he has such great friends. They are so supportive of each other,much like yours are. Alex took the ACT over the weekend. He said the science part was really hard, things he hadn't learned yet. So we'll see how that goes. Kirk goes to work each day now, so he's home at night with us. He isn't much into dating yet, but there aren't too many girls here right now so I understand. Kristina is sometimes my steadying buoy in a tossing sea. The little girls demand so much of me sometimes that it leaves me with little energy. Kristina is the ying to their yang, so we have a nice balance. Nikki is still the little actress/comedian. You never know what's going to come out of her mouth, but it's usually very intuitive or funny. Ku is a thinker and a pleaser, but she needs a lot of reassuring. The older she gets, the more I can see what a devastating effect it must be on her to be given up at age 4. She simply wants and needs to belong and I desperately want her to feel that.
I am so proud of you Sean and I love telling people I meet what you are doing. You are a wonderful example to me and to our family and many more that you are probably not aware of. Let me know how your knee is doing and what you're doing about it. My prayers are always with you. Next week we will get some pix to you. Do you have any to share yet? We'd love to see anything you have.
I'm sending another email with a short essay by Dr. Beckham, a retired BYU professor. Use it as a little inspiration. I love you very much. Take care and tell Elder Richards hello if he is still with you after this transfer.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxomom
Dear Elder Sean,
Happy Halloween eve. I flew home this morning from Houston and am glad to be back home. I need the rest. It was a lot of work as usual at the quilt market. Jan had a harder time physically so I really needed to be there for her and she was even in a wheel chair most of the time, so I was the official chair pusher too. The market is so huge. It's hard to even put into words what a large space it takes place in. The convention center was an amazing place for it and enormous. We stayed at a luxurious hotel where they waited on us hand and foot. If we had to go anywhere, they took us in this little black London Taxi car. Very classy. I would definitely stay there again. My driver this morning that took me to the airport was originally from El Salvador. He came here a few years ago and learned English, then started a chauffuer business and has a small fleet of 4 cars right now. It was fun talking with him and I told him all about you being in Argentina. He said he always hears how beautiful ARgentina is. He asked about what a mission is and he remembers seeing missionaries in his own country. I told him if they ever come to his door that he should let them in and remember what we talked about. He told me that last week he drove Ricky Martin around. He was in town for a concert.
Jan made a lot of good contacts at this market and I think she's going to start taking her apron line in a new direction pretty soon. The big pattern companies McCall and Vogue want her to be a licensed pattern maker and make patterns for them. Also the owner of Alexander Henry fabrics want her to collaborate with him on designing a line of aprons to sell in the store Anthropology, which is a really fun, popular store. It will be fun to see where all of this takes her. I'm really pushing her to set up a website though. I think it's imperative at this point and I may even have to take a crash course to learn how to do it so I can help out.
I also picked up a couple little things from Houston that I'll slip into your next pkg.
How are you feeling this week? We got your hand written letter and I enjoyed reading the more intimate details of what you're doing. Kirk said he has never heard of some of the foods you were mentioning that you really like, must be native to your area. What are kioscos? I love hearing anything about the culture, the people, etc. Over the next years I will develop an allegiance to Argentina just because you are there. It's amazing how that happened with Kirk being in the DR. I have a love for a group of people I don't even know. But now even more after having visited the DR. Today the DR was in the news because of a tropical storm/hurricane hitting the country. So much flooding and rains and mudslides and I can picture now the streets and the people and care deeply for them and their well being. As you write about different people and situations there, I am starting to have those same feelings for Argentina and I love it.
The ward here is doing well. I missed the primary program last Sunday which I was sick about. The girls told me their parts over the phone each time I called. I also went to their practice last Sunday so I could see them. Kristina wasn't in it this year since she's in YW now and I think she missed it. Mary Jane Ramsey had to have her appendix taken out suddenly a couple days ago so dad has been dropping in on her. He said she's still pretty sick and dad's not happy that the doctors let her go home so soon.
Tonight dad went to Thomas Gulbrandsen's setting apart. He's entering the MTC tomorrow. It will be interesting to hear some reports about his mission to SLC south. We'll have to tell grandma and grandpa Thompson to look out for him.
When dad came home tonight, he tells me that Pres. Stafford wants to talk with me. So I get nervous trying to think about what calling it might be, then dad says it's not a calling. It took me about 20 seconds before I realized he was going to ask me to speak in Stake Conference. Now I'm really nervous. I'd much rather serve the Lord through callings and helping people in their homes, with their families the rest of my life, etc than have to speak. I don't know what the subject is yet or why he wants me to speak, so not knowing is even worse. I'll keep you posted on that.
Alex is busy as ever. It sometimes seems he's with friends much more than with us any more and that makes me a little sad, but I take solace in knowing that he has such great friends. They are so supportive of each other,much like yours are. Alex took the ACT over the weekend. He said the science part was really hard, things he hadn't learned yet. So we'll see how that goes. Kirk goes to work each day now, so he's home at night with us. He isn't much into dating yet, but there aren't too many girls here right now so I understand. Kristina is sometimes my steadying buoy in a tossing sea. The little girls demand so much of me sometimes that it leaves me with little energy. Kristina is the ying to their yang, so we have a nice balance. Nikki is still the little actress/comedian. You never know what's going to come out of her mouth, but it's usually very intuitive or funny. Ku is a thinker and a pleaser, but she needs a lot of reassuring. The older she gets, the more I can see what a devastating effect it must be on her to be given up at age 4. She simply wants and needs to belong and I desperately want her to feel that.
I am so proud of you Sean and I love telling people I meet what you are doing. You are a wonderful example to me and to our family and many more that you are probably not aware of. Let me know how your knee is doing and what you're doing about it. My prayers are always with you. Next week we will get some pix to you. Do you have any to share yet? We'd love to see anything you have.
I'm sending another email with a short essay by Dr. Beckham, a retired BYU professor. Use it as a little inspiration. I love you very much. Take care and tell Elder Richards hello if he is still with you after this transfer.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxomom
14 Oct 2007
Oct. 14, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
How are you this week? I got an email from Hermana Carranza. What a fun surprise. Kirk translated it for me. She also included a picture of her husband with her little baby. It will be fun to keep in touch with her.
How is your ward doing? We had quite a few people in church today. I think there were a lot of visitors for some reason. Bro. Jack Stewart bore testimony today and told of knowing Elder Eyring when he was just a young man. Bro. Stewart said he was his home teacher at one point. In SS we learned about Paul in Acts 21, 22 and then watched a short video about his life. To see his life in a synopsis like that was amazing. What a life of sacrifice and struggles, yet never wavering showing such faith. 30 years of missionary service. He's really been on my mind all day because of our lesson.
Kirk went to the singles ward for the first time today and has decided to attend that ward until Jan. when he goes to college. They released Bishop Martinez today and called Bishop Leavitt. Bro. Tinghey and Bro. Stillman are the counselors. Some of Kirk's old friends called him and last night they all went bowling, so I think he really enjoyed it and will like being in the ward with them. He's still looking for a job. Supposedly Rocky Mtn is going to hire him for the front desk but they need to fire someone first. Also we talked with Andrea and Kirk put in an application for Carl's Jr. He may get an application for the new Winco which should be opening Nov. 1. This week Kirk is supposed to do jury duty though. His number didn't get called up for tomorrow, but it looks like he may get called on Tues. Should be interesting for him.
Alex went to homecoming. I was hoping to have some pictures for you, but guess what??? We actually bought a new computer this week. The new operating system isn't out yet, but at the Mac store they told us not to get Leopard until it's been out for 3-6 months, but that we might as well get the computer that it will go on now. So we did. It's beautiful. But there's a big learning curve and it's frustrating that none of our music, email addresses, or photos etc transferred over. Some things made it over, other things for some reason just didn't. So we have been painstakingly spending our time putting things we want on the computer. We got plenty of memory this time. Kirk is helping out a lot with setting it up. It's a flat screen 20" iMac, but of course it will be out of date by the time you get home. I also managed to pick up a new iPod for myself. It's the touch iPod and has everything that the iPhone has except the phone. It's way capo as you would say.
The old computer is now in my quilt room, so if I need info I just use that one.
BTW-BYU won last night and BSU is playing as we speak. The score in the 3rd quarter is 41-44 against Nevada. We're hoping BSU will be able to pull this one off, but they are struggling tonight.
We had dad's birthday dinner today since he had to work yesterday on his birthday. Kristina and Maggie made a 4-layer German chocolate cake. they learned that it isn't a good idea to go that high as it was quite the leaning tower of Pisa. Kristina is looking forward to her 12th b-day this Thursday. She had her last day of Primary today and is very excited about going to Young Women's. Her first activity is going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Her big thing she wants is pierced ears, so I'll take her this week for that.
Nikki has been learning about Columbus and tells me all about him and especially about his boats, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. She says she loves the names of the boats. She is still so funny and I can't believe how bright she is. Leah is trying awfully hard in school, but is struggling academically. I met with a committee at school this week to see what they can do for her. They are all very anxious to help her and her teacher was there to tell what he had observed too. I just want her to feel some successes in school so her self esteem doesn't suffer. She wants to please so badly, but just doesn't get a lot of what's going on in her class right now. She went over to a friend's house on Sat. Her friend is adopted from China.
Also on Saturday, we went over the Kofoed's where they had a CD release concert in their backyard. The name of their group is E11even since they have 11 in their family. Sis. Kofoed wrote all the music and then they went to Utah where they hired backup musicians and got a recording made. Deseret Book is going to carry it. I bought an extra copy of their CD for you and will send it in the next pkg. Every single kid in their family sings well and it was so fun to see them performing together. They trained Alex on the sound mixer and he practiced quite a bit with them. He did a good job. Sis. Kofoed said it was a good skill to learn and very needed in the industry and she was really impressed with Alex and how fast he learned it all. He managed to do it all on Saturday in between his homecoming date plans. I can't remember if I told you he asked Dana Rasmussen. Bro. Tanner (Ken) took their pix for them so they didn't have to pay an expensive photographer. He's going to give the pix to them all on CD's which will be nice.
Uncle Scott was asking about where exactly you are right now. He served in Cordoba and had a very good experience there, so if you get a chance to let him know a little more about your area, that would be great.
Today when Sis. Sorensen gave me the patriarchal blessing tapes there was another surprise in the bag for me. She had canned something called green tomato chow-chow. She said you put it on hamburgers or hot dogs as a relish. It looks good and was so fun to get. I really love typing the blessings and working with them. What kinds of things are you eating on a regular basis now? Do you get a chance to do much cooking? If you need or want recipes, just let me know.
Dad said to send his love. He's working the 9pm to 7am shift tonight. On the weekends now they're trying some different shifts. This is much better than him going in at 7pm. But a night shift is still a night shift. He's a good man and works so hard and is pulled in so many different directions. I think it's my job to just help him feel calm in his life and keep a little humor going too.
Well, I better sign off for this week. I know you're where you should be right now and that Heavenly Father is anxious to use your talents and skills to find His elect. Trust Jesus Christ and know that He is always on your side.
I love you very much, have a great week,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxox
Dear Elder Sean,
How are you this week? I got an email from Hermana Carranza. What a fun surprise. Kirk translated it for me. She also included a picture of her husband with her little baby. It will be fun to keep in touch with her.
How is your ward doing? We had quite a few people in church today. I think there were a lot of visitors for some reason. Bro. Jack Stewart bore testimony today and told of knowing Elder Eyring when he was just a young man. Bro. Stewart said he was his home teacher at one point. In SS we learned about Paul in Acts 21, 22 and then watched a short video about his life. To see his life in a synopsis like that was amazing. What a life of sacrifice and struggles, yet never wavering showing such faith. 30 years of missionary service. He's really been on my mind all day because of our lesson.
Kirk went to the singles ward for the first time today and has decided to attend that ward until Jan. when he goes to college. They released Bishop Martinez today and called Bishop Leavitt. Bro. Tinghey and Bro. Stillman are the counselors. Some of Kirk's old friends called him and last night they all went bowling, so I think he really enjoyed it and will like being in the ward with them. He's still looking for a job. Supposedly Rocky Mtn is going to hire him for the front desk but they need to fire someone first. Also we talked with Andrea and Kirk put in an application for Carl's Jr. He may get an application for the new Winco which should be opening Nov. 1. This week Kirk is supposed to do jury duty though. His number didn't get called up for tomorrow, but it looks like he may get called on Tues. Should be interesting for him.
Alex went to homecoming. I was hoping to have some pictures for you, but guess what??? We actually bought a new computer this week. The new operating system isn't out yet, but at the Mac store they told us not to get Leopard until it's been out for 3-6 months, but that we might as well get the computer that it will go on now. So we did. It's beautiful. But there's a big learning curve and it's frustrating that none of our music, email addresses, or photos etc transferred over. Some things made it over, other things for some reason just didn't. So we have been painstakingly spending our time putting things we want on the computer. We got plenty of memory this time. Kirk is helping out a lot with setting it up. It's a flat screen 20" iMac, but of course it will be out of date by the time you get home. I also managed to pick up a new iPod for myself. It's the touch iPod and has everything that the iPhone has except the phone. It's way capo as you would say.
The old computer is now in my quilt room, so if I need info I just use that one.
BTW-BYU won last night and BSU is playing as we speak. The score in the 3rd quarter is 41-44 against Nevada. We're hoping BSU will be able to pull this one off, but they are struggling tonight.
We had dad's birthday dinner today since he had to work yesterday on his birthday. Kristina and Maggie made a 4-layer German chocolate cake. they learned that it isn't a good idea to go that high as it was quite the leaning tower of Pisa. Kristina is looking forward to her 12th b-day this Thursday. She had her last day of Primary today and is very excited about going to Young Women's. Her first activity is going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Her big thing she wants is pierced ears, so I'll take her this week for that.
Nikki has been learning about Columbus and tells me all about him and especially about his boats, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. She says she loves the names of the boats. She is still so funny and I can't believe how bright she is. Leah is trying awfully hard in school, but is struggling academically. I met with a committee at school this week to see what they can do for her. They are all very anxious to help her and her teacher was there to tell what he had observed too. I just want her to feel some successes in school so her self esteem doesn't suffer. She wants to please so badly, but just doesn't get a lot of what's going on in her class right now. She went over to a friend's house on Sat. Her friend is adopted from China.
Also on Saturday, we went over the Kofoed's where they had a CD release concert in their backyard. The name of their group is E11even since they have 11 in their family. Sis. Kofoed wrote all the music and then they went to Utah where they hired backup musicians and got a recording made. Deseret Book is going to carry it. I bought an extra copy of their CD for you and will send it in the next pkg. Every single kid in their family sings well and it was so fun to see them performing together. They trained Alex on the sound mixer and he practiced quite a bit with them. He did a good job. Sis. Kofoed said it was a good skill to learn and very needed in the industry and she was really impressed with Alex and how fast he learned it all. He managed to do it all on Saturday in between his homecoming date plans. I can't remember if I told you he asked Dana Rasmussen. Bro. Tanner (Ken) took their pix for them so they didn't have to pay an expensive photographer. He's going to give the pix to them all on CD's which will be nice.
Uncle Scott was asking about where exactly you are right now. He served in Cordoba and had a very good experience there, so if you get a chance to let him know a little more about your area, that would be great.
Today when Sis. Sorensen gave me the patriarchal blessing tapes there was another surprise in the bag for me. She had canned something called green tomato chow-chow. She said you put it on hamburgers or hot dogs as a relish. It looks good and was so fun to get. I really love typing the blessings and working with them. What kinds of things are you eating on a regular basis now? Do you get a chance to do much cooking? If you need or want recipes, just let me know.
Dad said to send his love. He's working the 9pm to 7am shift tonight. On the weekends now they're trying some different shifts. This is much better than him going in at 7pm. But a night shift is still a night shift. He's a good man and works so hard and is pulled in so many different directions. I think it's my job to just help him feel calm in his life and keep a little humor going too.
Well, I better sign off for this week. I know you're where you should be right now and that Heavenly Father is anxious to use your talents and skills to find His elect. Trust Jesus Christ and know that He is always on your side.
I love you very much, have a great week,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxox
21 Oct 2007
Oct. 21, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
We just finished with a youth fireside here tonight, so it's finally feeling a bit calm so I can write you. Kirk and Alex Erickson were the main speakers tonight, with me and Dirk Erickson also having a little time to speak. They both did a great job complete with a little power point show. Alex E. met a girl at his work, Rocky Mtn and she wants to be baptized. She came to our ward today and I had a chance to be with her during the 3rd hour. She already seems Mormon to me. She dated a Mormon guy for a year and a half and went to church with him. So after meeting Alex, she was actually more than ready and willing to get going back to church. She missed it. Kirk double dated with her and Alex over the weekend. They carved pumpkins (Kirk's pumpkin was amazing-I'll have to have him email you a picture of it) and then they went to Rembrandt's for hot chocolate and then watched a movie at the Erickson's.
Our Alex had a big movie night here at our house on Friday and about 15-16 kids came. It seemed like a huge amount. They watched Transformers and the house was definitely rocking with the surround sound stereo.
We had Kristina's birthday this week and she finally turned 12! Today dad called her up and she got to recite an article of faith-she chose the 8th. She looked so grown up standing up there. I think you're going to be surprised by how much she changes while you're gone. She went to Young Women's today for her first time and LOVED it! She even got to come to the fireside and not have to babysit the little girls.
All week long, I've been worried about your knee and have kept you in our prayers asking for blessings of strength in your knee. How is it feeling now? Kirk said most missionaries had sore knees from walking so much and they all put gels into their shoes and it really helped. I picked up a pair here and will send it in your next pkg. Anyway, I really hope you're doing ok and that the swelling has gone down. Dad even called Dr. Smith and talked to him about it. Let us know if there's anything you need.
Speaking of packages, have you gotten our latest? We are still trying to figure out a cheaper way to send things to you but it's hard on our end because they don't really know about the charges that you have to pay. Ask around if you get a chance and let us know what the packages are called that you don't have to pay extra charges for. We love gathering things for you and we'll keep sending things nonetheless, I'll just try to remember to put extra money in your account every time we send something.
I'm jealous from your last letter about getting to hear loud thunderous thunderstorm noises. I would love to hear sounds like that again. Could you bottle them up for me?
Alex got asked to Sadies over the weekend too. He got the old popcorn all over the bed asking. So now he's trying to figure out how to answer. Tessa Butterfield asked him.
Also we went to Alex's choir concert last week. It was awesome. They are getting so huge. I went a half hour early and could barely find a place to sit. I may purchase those reserved seats they sell. Kirk went to it and he and Alex talked with Mr. Mc afterward. He was talking about when you get home, you 3 will be quite the trio. Alex is really starting to blossom (for lack of a better word) with his singing. Mr. McMullen has placed him right in the middle for performances which according to Kiley Kofoed means he's one of the best. Kiley actually told me that she thought Alex was the best tenor in the choir now. I guess his singing lessons are really paying off. All the choirs actually sounded wonderful. Kudos go to Mr. Mc, it's obvious he loves what he does and what he does, he does extremely well. I'm glad you guys all got to work with him.
Today at church was Thomas Gulbrandsen's farewell. He is so excited to get out there and start being a full-time missionary. He's a wonderful speaker too. He goes into the MTC on the 31st. The next one in our ward will be Ashton Beagley and also Lindsay Gill.
Also at church dad asked Kirk to teach a gospel essentials class in Spanish. We have a couple in our ward visiting from Cancun with their daughter for 2 months and they only speak Spanish so I think they really enjoyed having a class where they could speak freely. Bro. Pinder, Bro. Lewis (from the high council) and the Jensen's went into the class too. I think Kirk is going to the single's ward, the Leavitts really want him there, but I sure love having him sit with us again in our ward.
Dad said to send his love, he's beat from the days activities. He started out with a 6am mtg and has been going ever since including getting a flat tire in his truck. So he and the boys had to fix it tonight. Kirk will be taking the Mustang to work tomorrow. He'll be driving back and forth to Bro. Jensen's work each day. I hope the stang can muster up the strength to be a full time car again. Maybe it would feel better if I gave it a new paint job....ha haha .
Let's see....BYU won, BSU won, Eagle lost.
I'm anxious to hear from you especially since I've been a little worried about your knee this week. I hope it hasn't hindered you too much and that you're still enjoying the work, the people and the service. Here are some tips for the week from my missionary booklet:
1.Upon arriving in a new area, find a good bakery.
2. Read to and talk with all children--in homes, on the street and at church.
3. Find an answer for Revelation 22:18-19 (I have one if you need it).
4. Learn what annoys your companion -- and do it on occasion.
5. Learn what pleases your companion -- and do it on occasion.
6. Cook bacon weekly, just for the smell of it.
Have a great week, enjoy your spring weather. I am loving the autumn colors. Bogus actually got a dusting a snow this past week. I wonder if that means we're in for a harsh winter. We'll see...
Take care and remember I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
I meant to tell you something. I was thinking about what you said about Tonio and him not getting the answer when you thought he might. Always remember that the spirit can be felt in many different ways. Music is powerful and for me it's sometimes the fastest way for me to feel the strength of the spirit. Singing with an investigator or playing some music may bring the spirit. The other way is to invite investigators to perform service with you. Giving of themselves for the sake of others will invite the spirit into their lives whether or not they're looking for it.
Dear Elder Sean,
We just finished with a youth fireside here tonight, so it's finally feeling a bit calm so I can write you. Kirk and Alex Erickson were the main speakers tonight, with me and Dirk Erickson also having a little time to speak. They both did a great job complete with a little power point show. Alex E. met a girl at his work, Rocky Mtn and she wants to be baptized. She came to our ward today and I had a chance to be with her during the 3rd hour. She already seems Mormon to me. She dated a Mormon guy for a year and a half and went to church with him. So after meeting Alex, she was actually more than ready and willing to get going back to church. She missed it. Kirk double dated with her and Alex over the weekend. They carved pumpkins (Kirk's pumpkin was amazing-I'll have to have him email you a picture of it) and then they went to Rembrandt's for hot chocolate and then watched a movie at the Erickson's.
Our Alex had a big movie night here at our house on Friday and about 15-16 kids came. It seemed like a huge amount. They watched Transformers and the house was definitely rocking with the surround sound stereo.
We had Kristina's birthday this week and she finally turned 12! Today dad called her up and she got to recite an article of faith-she chose the 8th. She looked so grown up standing up there. I think you're going to be surprised by how much she changes while you're gone. She went to Young Women's today for her first time and LOVED it! She even got to come to the fireside and not have to babysit the little girls.
All week long, I've been worried about your knee and have kept you in our prayers asking for blessings of strength in your knee. How is it feeling now? Kirk said most missionaries had sore knees from walking so much and they all put gels into their shoes and it really helped. I picked up a pair here and will send it in your next pkg. Anyway, I really hope you're doing ok and that the swelling has gone down. Dad even called Dr. Smith and talked to him about it. Let us know if there's anything you need.
Speaking of packages, have you gotten our latest? We are still trying to figure out a cheaper way to send things to you but it's hard on our end because they don't really know about the charges that you have to pay. Ask around if you get a chance and let us know what the packages are called that you don't have to pay extra charges for. We love gathering things for you and we'll keep sending things nonetheless, I'll just try to remember to put extra money in your account every time we send something.
I'm jealous from your last letter about getting to hear loud thunderous thunderstorm noises. I would love to hear sounds like that again. Could you bottle them up for me?
Alex got asked to Sadies over the weekend too. He got the old popcorn all over the bed asking. So now he's trying to figure out how to answer. Tessa Butterfield asked him.
Also we went to Alex's choir concert last week. It was awesome. They are getting so huge. I went a half hour early and could barely find a place to sit. I may purchase those reserved seats they sell. Kirk went to it and he and Alex talked with Mr. Mc afterward. He was talking about when you get home, you 3 will be quite the trio. Alex is really starting to blossom (for lack of a better word) with his singing. Mr. McMullen has placed him right in the middle for performances which according to Kiley Kofoed means he's one of the best. Kiley actually told me that she thought Alex was the best tenor in the choir now. I guess his singing lessons are really paying off. All the choirs actually sounded wonderful. Kudos go to Mr. Mc, it's obvious he loves what he does and what he does, he does extremely well. I'm glad you guys all got to work with him.
Today at church was Thomas Gulbrandsen's farewell. He is so excited to get out there and start being a full-time missionary. He's a wonderful speaker too. He goes into the MTC on the 31st. The next one in our ward will be Ashton Beagley and also Lindsay Gill.
Also at church dad asked Kirk to teach a gospel essentials class in Spanish. We have a couple in our ward visiting from Cancun with their daughter for 2 months and they only speak Spanish so I think they really enjoyed having a class where they could speak freely. Bro. Pinder, Bro. Lewis (from the high council) and the Jensen's went into the class too. I think Kirk is going to the single's ward, the Leavitts really want him there, but I sure love having him sit with us again in our ward.
Dad said to send his love, he's beat from the days activities. He started out with a 6am mtg and has been going ever since including getting a flat tire in his truck. So he and the boys had to fix it tonight. Kirk will be taking the Mustang to work tomorrow. He'll be driving back and forth to Bro. Jensen's work each day. I hope the stang can muster up the strength to be a full time car again. Maybe it would feel better if I gave it a new paint job....ha haha .
Let's see....BYU won, BSU won, Eagle lost.
I'm anxious to hear from you especially since I've been a little worried about your knee this week. I hope it hasn't hindered you too much and that you're still enjoying the work, the people and the service. Here are some tips for the week from my missionary booklet:
1.Upon arriving in a new area, find a good bakery.
2. Read to and talk with all children--in homes, on the street and at church.
3. Find an answer for Revelation 22:18-19 (I have one if you need it).
4. Learn what annoys your companion -- and do it on occasion.
5. Learn what pleases your companion -- and do it on occasion.
6. Cook bacon weekly, just for the smell of it.
Have a great week, enjoy your spring weather. I am loving the autumn colors. Bogus actually got a dusting a snow this past week. I wonder if that means we're in for a harsh winter. We'll see...
Take care and remember I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
I meant to tell you something. I was thinking about what you said about Tonio and him not getting the answer when you thought he might. Always remember that the spirit can be felt in many different ways. Music is powerful and for me it's sometimes the fastest way for me to feel the strength of the spirit. Singing with an investigator or playing some music may bring the spirit. The other way is to invite investigators to perform service with you. Giving of themselves for the sake of others will invite the spirit into their lives whether or not they're looking for it.
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