Jan. 07 - Mar. 07 Kirk letters

Jan 2, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,
Happy New Year! We are still in celebration mode here. G & G Trumbo left here last Thursday, Jan and Jeff left here last Fri and G & G Thompson and Charmaine came on Saturday. They are leaving tomorrow. Sunday night on the 31st we had the Hugentoblers and the Ericksons over to play games and snack and bring in the new year. Since Billy and Fisher were here, the little girls made it all the way to midnight no problem.

Last night Sean had 25 friends over for the BSU/Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game. It was the best game ever! BSU won, but there were so many ups and downs and then it went into overtime. Oklahoma scored on their first try and then BSU came down to 4th and 2 when they finally scored. Then they took a time out to decide if they should try for a 2-pt play. They ended up doing this trick play that worked so well!! and they won the game by 1 point. It was amazing. Sean was watching downstairs with everyone and the rest of us were upstairs. I think the house shook when they scored that extra point.

So today, we took down the Christmas decorations etc. I took Sean for his doctor's appt for his mission physical and tomorrow he goes for his dentist appt. Axel goes into the MTC tomorrow. Everyone said he did a good job with his farewell talk. Wish we could have gone, but we'll be down there in two months for Isaac's wedding.

It was so much fun having my sister Jan here. She's my buddy and it was great getting to spend so much time with her. I sure wish they lived up here. Maybe someday we'll be able to live by each other.

It's been fun hearing from all the mission parents about their phone calls on Christmas day. Sounds like they're all really enjoying their missions. Each one is so different. I went to Matt Kynaston's wedding open house also last week. He asked about you.

Charmaine is standing here with Sean. She got an ipod for Christmas and we're doing to download our music onto hers so she has a good supply. Sean is going to help her learn how to use it too.

The ward is doing well. Dad says there's going to be a few callings changed around, but other than that we're all still about the same. It's weird not having anyone new move into the ward for quite some time. Our ward doesn't have any area where new houses are being built so that's why there's no new families. I guess we better get on the stick and start inviting our neighbors to church...

Lacey Anderson reported her mission last Sunday and it was really good. She's so sweet and she seems a lot more grown up now. I thought she did a really neat thing. She came into the Primary and asked if she could talk to the kids for just a minute. She talked about her mission and told the kids how important they were to our Heavenly Father and how important it was that they share the gospel. She asked how many want to go on missions and pretty much the whole primary raised their hands. Then she gave each of them a 10 cent centavo from Argentina. She told them about the importance of tithing and told them to put the centavo into their piggy banks so they would remember to pay 10 percent of what was in their banks. Their centavo has a big 10 on it, so it would be easy for the kids to remember. Then she bore her testimony in spanish to them. The kids really paid attention to her, so it was great. She really had a strong spirit about her and it was neat to see.

Well, I know I promised pix this week, but Sean's waiting for the computer and dad didn't download any of our holiday pix yet, so it will have to be next week. The kids go back to school tomorrow and the Thompson's are going home tomorrow too, so things will seem pretty dull around here for a while. I'm looking forward to what 2007 will bring. We all gave our gifts to Christ again this year like we do every year. I hope you were able to do the same thing, just write it down in your journal.

I'm going to call this week to Provo about your shoes. They'll probably have it on their computer what size you got, but just in case, what size are your propets?

How is Moca? I know you're probably getting ready to celebrate the day of the kings. Do things kind of shut down there or are you able to see a lot more people because they're all out and about? I hope the work is going strong for you. Be a good leader and Heavenly Father will use you to get His work accomplished. Tell me about the people you are working with, the questions they have about the gospel and the feelings you get when you teach them. I love hearing about all that.

I love you, Kirk. Take care of yourself.
mom
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Jan 16, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,

We are having some very, very cold days here. I think you're going to have a hard time coming back to this climate. The highest it's been in while is 25 F. In Provo, they are even colder and Carolina says it's not fun any more. I talked with her today and they're busy making plans for Isaac's wedding. She also said Axel has already written them 3 letters and he sounds good. Giovanni even saw him in the MTC because he works there part time.

About BYU-I. Yes, they still have you enrolled there and said you can switch tracks to the winter/summer track which starts Jan 8, 2008. I filled out the mission deferment papers for you too, so you should be all set.

So I hope your week was better for you and that you and your comp are feeling much better. Maybe next time you have to sit around and wait, just write some talks to have on hand just in case you ever get called on. Good idea, right?

Alex is busy trying to show off for Kristina with his magic tricks. Remember when you got into magic. Well, now Alex is learning all kinds of fun tricks. I think Kristina is catching on to most of them cuz Alex needs to work a little harder on his tricks, but they're having fun.

We had family night tonight since we didn't have it last night. We talked about the scripture Love one another as I have loved you and then I showed the DVD Cypher in the Snow. It's one that I used to see in seminary about a little boy who no one paid any attention to and then one day while he was riding on the bus to school, he asked to get off and when he did, he just fell into the snow and died. No one at his school could even remember who he was. So after the whole movie was just about over, Nikki says, "See, that's why you should never get off the bus." We all laughed.

So other than the bitter cold here, everything's going well. Dad's being Bishop at the church and should be home any minute. Sean's getting into his new semester and Alex has half days the rest of this week because it's finals.

So have you found any new contacts? I went into our gospel essentials class this last sunday so I could help the missionaries teach a lesson with someone they brought. Turns out he could only speak Thai, with very little English. So he had a Thai Book of Mormon but it was so difficult just trying to get any message across. They were trying to explain to him about the Holy Ghost and how he would let him know if things were true or not and that he should pray. After the whole discussion, the missionaries asked him to pray to know if his Book of Mormon was true. He nodded and then he said, What is pray? I think we need to find someone who speaks Thai.

So with my new calling as Bear leader, I get to go to the pack mtg this Thurs which is the rain gutter regatta. They say the Pack mtgs are pretty fun here, so I'll let you know how things go there.

This next week is Stake conference here. We only have about 2 months until we're into our new building on Park Ln. The outside is all done, but they're working on the inside now. That will be fun to be in a new place.

Can't think of much else that's new around here. Everyone's kind of hibernating in their homes I think because of the weather.

Here are some tips for the week:
1. If you hang shirts immediately after coming out of the dryer, ironing can be greatly reduced. (You probably don't do much laundry, do you? Do you still have a maid in your new area?)
2. Limit candy bar consumption to one a day.
3. Learn to forgive, you'll have lots of opportunities.
4. Spend half of one district meeting allowing missionaries to write in their journals.
5. If you bear your testimony in sacrament meeting, keep it short, simple and basic. This meeting is for the members. You can bear your testimony at the next zone or district meeting.

So tell us some things about your days there in Moca. Do you have lots of appointments or are you actually tracting and knocking on doors or what? Do they have you doing anything in the ward like help bless/pass the sacrament or teach a class, etc? Just wondering.

Because you are a missionary, the spirit is speaking to you, just make sure you hear. Act promptly on the urgings you feel. In my prayers I always ask that you will be led to those who have been prepared to hear your message. I'm very proud of you and love sharing any stories you share with us with those who always ask about you.

Have a great week!
I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxox

Jan 23, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,
So here we are again. The weeks pass by quickly but a day never goes by that I don't think about what you're doing, how you're doing, who you might meet today, etc. I can't picture where you live, but that's cuz you haven't sent a pic of your place. I hope you're taking pics of each place you live. Even take pictures of the inside. It will be a fun memory.

Is it still raining a lot? I guess you're into the rainy season now. I remember how much you loved it last year since it's the time that you get to cool down. We're still in our winter season, but at least the temperature has risen a little since last week. I think we're back up in the 40's this week. Sean says it's still very cold in Provo though.

So when does Carnival start? I'd love to see the masks that Gabi and Joel made for you. It's too bad they've turned the event into something so bad. Be sure and steer clear of all of it. I'm sure that's what your mission pres would expect of you. What will you do to pass the time? Can you work on some of the less active members or something?

That's kind of a crazy story about the couple you've been teaching. The fact that she's married to her husband's brother and all. Are they still interested in getting baptized and getting married for real?

All is pretty quiet around here. Sean called tonight after he had his interview with the stake president. His papers are getting turned in this Sunday, so I'd say this is the time to make your guesses about where he gets called. Guess one stateside mission and one foreign mission. It's starting to hit me now about having 2 sons out in the field at the same time-that happy/sad feeling.

We had stake conference over the weekend. It was really good. On Saturday night they spent the whole time talking to us about financial preparedness-staying out of and getting out of debt, making yourself marketable for good jobs and being willing to learn completely new things in case you have to change fields completely, setting up trusts and wills, etc and working and talking with your spouse about everything. There's a lot of families where only one parent does all the finances and the other one doesn't know anything about what's going on. So all in all we learned a lot of good things from the meetings. On Sunday, they mainly talked about the power of going to the temple. Some speakers had some very miraculous stories. So much missionary work going on in the world, both for the living and for the dead.

So have you been learning a lot being in a leadership position? You'd probably be amazed to learn how much your comp watches everything you do and how you do it. We all learn from each other. What are some things you've learned from your companion?

Well, this weekend Sean is coming home again, this time for Aaron Anderson's farewell. Sean says we might be having 4-6 girls staying at our house. I'm thinking we'll move our girls downstairs for the weekend and let the other ones have the upstairs to themselves.

I've got cubs here tomorrow. We're going to teach them the rules of ping pong, marbles and boccerball. Boccerball is a new game we have downstairs. Should be fun.

Dad has had a sore throat for the last couple days so he's been resting a lot. He says he caught it from all the patients who come to see him in the hospital. Now probably the rest of us will catch his cold next week. I hope not. I have too much to do.

I wrote you a note about your finances after I was balancing our check book and saw your acct. I don't know what your budget is that you're given every month, but make sure you try to stay within those guidelines. I realize there will be exceptions, but try hard to keep within your mission budget. How do they do that anyway? Do you get a check once a month from the mission office? Just curious.

Grandpa Trumbo keeps telling me how much he loves your letters each week. Grandma Trumbo is still having a hard time with her short term memory, so I know how much phone calls from me and letters from you mean to him.

Carolina says Axel is really enjoying the MTC. He already knew a lot of french before going in, so I hope he's not too bored with the language classes.

I signed up Alex for EFY this week. He and Brig Starr are going to room together at BYU-Utah in July sometime. Alex is also getting started officially on his eagle project. He wants to help make benches for this new park that's going to be built in Eagle. I'll let you know how that goes.

Here are a couple tips for the week:
1. Members won't be transferred on Tuesday, but you might be. Make sure investigators get attached to members rather than you.
2. Occasionally make your companion's bed.
3. Don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself when learning the language.
4. Have members sit with investigators at church.
5. If you receive several letters one day, don't open all of them that day. You might not get any tomorrow.

Well, Kirk, that's about it for this week. Life is good and we have so many blessings. I hope your testimony of the restored gospel grows more and more especially each time you share it with someone else. I love our prophet Pres. Hinckley. He has such strength and faith and confidence and that brings a calmness to my soul. It's so apparent that he communes with God and is a man of God just by the way he lives his life. My only hope is that people can tell what I believe in also by the way I live my life. We're so blessed to live in a time when we can have a living prophet amongst us.

Have a blessed and productive week. My prayers are always with you.
I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxox


Jan 30, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,

We're back into a normal groove again after having quite a few people in and out of our house this weekend. Sean came home from school with about 20 of his friends. They all came so they could go to Aaron Anderson's farewell. They all sang at the farewell too and it sounded great. Aaron did a good job with his talk. I went to his ward too. Matt Bingham was the other speaker. He just returned from Mexico last week.

We didn't have all of Sean's friends spending the night here, just Nate Carter. But they were all at our house most of the time playing games, watching movies, etc. It was fun having them all here. They left after church on Sunday. All of them are coming back again in 2 weeks for Brett Jarvis' farewell. That's the same weekend as Isaac's wedding, so we'll be going down there so Sean won't be coming up here.

I've got the little girls in the bath right now. Nikki wants me to blow dry her hair after and straighten it. It looks so pretty when it's straight, but it takes some time. Nikki got her tubes taken out of her ears today. She's had them in for 2 years, so we'll see if she gets any more earaches now.

I've been quilting a lot lately, must be the season. When it's cold outside, it seems like the natural thing to do. Do the women wear colorful clothing there? Or do they dress more American style?

Another sister in the ward got called to help do the Bear cub scouts, so now at least there will be two of us. I've decided it takes at least 2 adults. Those young boys have a lot of energy. I had them over to our house last week to learn how to play ping pong and by the end of the mtg, a couple of them were standing on the back of the couch and jumping off of it. I could be in trouble here. I'm going to have to think of something active for them to do every minute. Maybe when you get home, you can help me out with some of the activities. Do they do scouts in the DR?

We're having choir practice at our house now every Sunday. I set up the chairs in the entry and the chorister stands in the piano room to lead us. It sounds good with the high ceilings. Alex and I are in the choir.

Last Sunday night we had Priesthood Preview here at our house. That's the fireside for the 11 yr old boys who are turning 12 this year. Dad does a good job with that.

Also on Sunday, dad spoke in our ward. He talked about making our Sacrament meetings better by coming more prepared to the meetings, on time, showing reverence, etc. He did an excellent job. Bro. Houssian also spoke and introduced our ward theme for the year which is Trying to be like Jesus.

So how was your week? How has tracting been going for you? Is Moca a place where you're well recognized by most people? It seems like you really enjoy talking with people and visiting with them now. I think that's so great and it's such a wonderful attribute to develop. You've been set apart as a missionary for the Lord and can even be His mouthpiece when teaching others. The power of the priesthood is real and I love hearing the different ways that you are exercising it. Always keep yourself worthy and ready so that at any given moment when the Lord needs you, you will be ready and able, not just while you're on your mission but throughout life. I always hope that the Lord can depend on me and trust me. That's important to me.


I read a good quote the other day, so I thought I'd send it to you:
"Accountability is the natural product of agency and is the basis of the plan of life. We are responsible for our own actions and accountable to God for what we choose to do with our lives. Life is God’s gift to us, and what we do with it is our gift to him."

--Elaine Cannon, "Agency and Accountability", Ensign, Nov. 1983, 88
2 Nephi 10:23–24

Know This, That Every Soul Is Free, Hymn 240

Well, Leah just looked at my letter and announced that I've written 110 words, Nikki says she's pretty sure it's 130. They're out of the bath now and having a popsicle. Nikki is singing hallelujah and trying to teach Leah how to sing it. I think it's a song she must have learned at her 7th Day adventist school. She told me today that they told a story about some people who were praying to statues. She said to me, "Can you believe that people would pray to statues? That's crazy."

I'm trying to help Alex get going with his eagle project. He has to write up a proposal and get it approved. You remember that fun part, right? I hope he gets it approved. We'll let you know.

I hope all is well with you and your comp. We are well here, still trying to keep warm although we've had a little warm weather lately which gets us excited for spring. Barkley is the only one who likes the cold weather. haha

We sent a little pkg yesterday, so let us know when you get it. Steer clear of Carnival and all its craziness. Hope you have plenty of good things to do during that time.

I love you and hope your week is miraculous!
Love,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo


Feb 6, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,

So how's the mission field this week? We watched an amazing DVD about the pioneers and first missionaries in Africa. It looked so fun to be part of that great missionary effort. Africans got hold of the Book of Mormon from various places, would read it and know that it was true. They then shared the book with someone else who also gained a testimony. But this was all before any missionaries were there and before all worthy men could hold the priesthood. It's amazing that they formed congregations and wrote to the church requesting more and more information and just waited until missionaries showed up which was years later and then waited again until they could hold the priesthood. We watched that DVD for family night and talked about missionary work and the power of the Book of Mormon.

You probably have realized the great strength of the Book of Mormon too and how it affects people's lives.

Alex is waiting for Jake Jensen to come over. He's going to be staying with us for the rest of this week while his parents go out of town. Alex says he's so happy to have a "brother" with him again. He really misses you and Sean.

Still no mission call for Sean yet. WE're pretty sure it will be coming this week. He's says he's not nervous about it, but I'm sure anxious for him. I remember how anxious we were for your call too.

Nikki is sick tonight. She has a fever so she'll probably stay home from school tomorrow. She actually said she was full at dinner tonight, so you know that's a big sign. She never says that.

Kristina and Leah got accepted into the new elementary school being built here for next year. It's actually a K-8 school, so Kristina will go there for her middle school. It's called Galileo Math and Science School. They're going to focus a lot of hands on experiments in math and science. Hopefully, the girls will like that. We're going to keep Nikki at the Adventist School for next year.

We've been having lovely weather lately, so dad was out this afternoon with a torch and burned a bunch of bushes he had trimmed. We had quite the fire going for a while. Then all the kids in the neighborhood came over and had a big football game in our backyard.

I finished another quilt today and our quilt group is making two auction quilts for breast cancer research. So I'll be busy working on that this month.

I talked with Carolina yesterday. They're busy making all the final plans for Isaac's wedding next week. We'll be going down there for the weekend since the kids have off for President's Day weekend. Did you get a copy of the announcement? If not, I'll scan ours and send you a picture so you can see Isaac and Bethany. Carolina says Axel is loving the MTC and is finally learning some new French. He knew a lot of French before going into the MTC, but now it's all new to him. He leaves for FRance on Mar 5.

Is there any way you can put all your pictures on a CD and then just send that CD home? I've heard a few other elders who have done that. Then if something happens to your camera, etc we would at least have back-up pics. The picture I attached was taken by our neighbors across the street, the Burkes. She said she went outside on their balcony on the day that we had snow here and took the picture. She realized later that it was a nice picture of our house and thought we might like it. I love it, especially because it's so blue. Isn't it cool.




Well, here are some missionary tips for the week:
1. Arrange to have members invite investigators over for family home evening.
2. During the time you are called to be a missionary, you are entitled to special insights into the scriptures. As you receive them, write them in the margins of your scriptures so you'll remember them when you come home.
3. Having companion study leads to a good day.
4. Find the good qualities in all people.

Jake just showed up, so I'm sure Alex is a happy camper now. Dad just came home too from the church. How is your ward? Are most of the members first generation members? That's how it was in our little branch in Hilton Head. Most of them had never seen a big ward in action, so it was hard for a lot of them to fulfill their callings.

I hope all is well with you, in all ways, physically, spiritually and mentally. You're always in our prayers. I always try to picture what you're doing during the day, etc. What's your apartment like now? Do you have electricity, hot water, etc? Take care of yourself and enjoy each day.

Love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo



Feb. 13, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,
I just got back from church where they had a sweetheart's dinner for the couples in the ward. I felt a little funny since dad had to work tonight and I went alone. But the food was good and they had a talk about dating your spouse and gave lots of fun ideas. I left just as they were getting ready to have some dance lessons, which I think would have been totally fun with dad since I secretly want to be able to dance all the ballroom dances with him. Someday maybe we'll get to take lessons together.

So by now you've heard about Sean's mission call to Cordoba Argentina(Uncle Scott's mission). He's trying to brush up on his high school Spanish, will that help him any before he goes into the MTC? I'm so glad that you two will be able to keep up your Spanish with each other. I'm totally jealous though. Now I really need to get going with learning it. It's so hard when no one is speaking it around you, but my new visiting teaching companion is from Mexico, so I'm thinking about asking her to help me. She's doing great with her English.

Sean wrote that his first date of availability was May 6, but he has to report on April 25 which also happens to be his last day of finals. So he has had to talk with all of his professors and so far they all said they will just work with him and get his finals to him early. I was really hoping we'd have him home here for a couple weeks before he took off.

This weekend since we're going down to Provo for Isaac's wedding, we're going to go through the temple with Sean on Friday morning. He got his recommend tonight and is excited to go. Hopefully both grandparents will be able to be there with him. Grandma Trumbo is still having a hard time with her short term memory and it's getting worse now, so going to the temple is really hard for her, but I can be there with her and help her so we'll see.

Giovanni has moved out into his own apartment which I think will be good for him. He needs to find his own identity. Sometimes that's a hard thing to do when you're a twin, something we will never know about. With Axel on his mission and Isaac getting married, Carolina says her house is boring now. Kassie says it's very boring.

We're all feeling better now. Dad, Alex, Kristina and Nikki all got a touch of the winter flu. Nikki got her tubes taken out of her ears and got her hearing tested. They said there's just a slight hearing loss that she has. She can always use that as an excuse for why she doesn't listen to me. :)

How has your week been? From your last letter, it really sounds like you've been working hard at finding new families to teach. I hope you've been able to meet back with some of the families who were interested but who needed their husbands to be home. I think you're fortunate to be in an area where most the people have a faith in Jesus Christ and know he's their Savior. Are you still teaching Socrates?

Have you gotten our package yet? I'm still worrying about your shoe situation. Remember they'll get you another pair of shoes for free (of course, we have to ship them to you) but I hope you have some decent shoes to wear. Let me know.

Here are some tips for the week:
1. Save baptismal programs for your scrapbook.
2. One of the best ways to learn the language is to read the Book of Mormon out loud in the language of your mission.
3. If you have an electric shaver, clear the whiskers out of it periodically.
4. Keep popcorn on hand.
5. You don't actually have to throw rocks at dogs to scare them. Just picking up a rock, or acting like you're picking up a rock, will generally scare them. (Have you had any encounters with dogs???)

Thanks for sharing your testimony with us. It's so great to hear the strength and conviction of your words. I'm grateful for the internet that I get to share your letters with all my family especially those who have chosen to go the way of the world. You never know how or when or who your words will touch.

You're a wonderful son. I thank Heavenly Father every day for you. Keep up the good work.

Much love,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox


Feb 20, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,

What a wonderful weekend we had being able to be in the temple so often and especially to be with family. Both grandparents were with us when Sean took out his endowments which was nice. The Timpanogos temple is beautiful. I think Isaac and Bethany's wedding went great for them. Carolina and her 2 sisters and her mom made all the food for the family dinner the night before and boy was it good. I had to ask her for some recipes because it was that good.

Giovanni has moved out now into his own apartment, so Steve and Carolina have quite an empty house. I think Isaac and Bethany are going to live in a rental that Bethany's parents own. They honeymooned in Salt Lake for the weekend, but they had to get back to school today.

We took Sean to missionary mall and got a bunch of things he needed. They reminded us that if anything wears out all you have to do is email them the picture and you get a new one sent. They have a big world map on the wall of their new store, so I put a pin in your country for you on the map.

I had some of the priests and teachers over tonight to practice doing the Haka (the war dance of New Zealand) for our cub scout Blue and Gold dinner this week. Our theme is Hawaii and so we thought we'd try to get some polynesian dancing. I was hoping to get the guys in the Hawaiian club at BSU to perform for us, but they were too expensive. So now we have our guys and they're doing a pretty good job so far. I think it will be fun. They're going to do the dance twice, then have the cubs come up on stage and do it with them. It should be funny too.

Back to the wedding-some of my sisters were able to come, Toni, Jan, and Maria. Maria came with her boyfriend, James. We all like him a lot. He's a captain in the Air Force and he treats her great. I hope she doesn't blow it with him. He seemed like he felt at home with all of us. Anyway, we're hoping we have a fun excuse for going to California this summer-for a wedding. They're a lot of fun. I think the next wedding will be for either Giovanni or Mary or Maria.

Now we're back at home and I'm catching up with everything-the wash, the cleaning, the projects, the emails, scouts, etc. Nikki is doing well with her speech therapy. She's working on her R's, L's and S's. She can count by tens, can read a little bit and talks constantly, always asking questions about things. She's still very funny and always has to be touching you when she's talking to you. Leah is working hard in school and loves playing with her friends and having them over to our house. Today she spent most her time climbing the willow tree in our back yard and jumping rope. Kristina gets glowing reports from her teacher who loves her. School is fairly easy for Kristina and she seems to excel in math and giving oral reports. She still plays drums in a band and is still taking piano lessons. She still likes sleeping with me every night dad works, like tonight. Alex is practicing golf every day this week since try-outs are next week. He's not so sure he's going to make it, and if he doesn't he wants to try out for the tennis team.

I'm working on part of a quilt that our quilt group is making to put up for auction at a breast cancer awareness auction. I'm still trying to find the best way to learn Spanish and I wish I had more time to practice my banjo. Dad is starting to get spring fever and is researching some new gardening techniques we're going to try this year. We'll let you know how it works out. I'm hoping to have lots of tomatoes, onions and green peppers so I can make lots of salsa. Also the garden's been getting quite a few grapes now. They're so tasty.

I hope all is going well with you and your companion and that you're finding people to teach. We pray for your success in the field.

I'm going to send a few pix of our weekend. Hope they don't take too long to open. Everyone asked about you. Can't wait to hear from you this week and hear your stories. Keep true to your covenants and the Lord will use you to accomplish His work. You are a gatherer.

I love you and miss you.
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoooxox


Feb 27, 2007
Hi Elder Kirk,
How has your week been? I'm very excited to hear from you this week to see how your first week as a trainer has gone. How's your "kid"? That's great that he already knows Spanish. Is he a native speaker of Spanish or how does he know the language? I know that you'll be a great trainer, because you've been such a wonderful example for our family. You've made good choices and go where the Lord wants you to go.

Alex is officially trying out for the golf team this week. He scored a 46 yesterday and a 44 today. He's hoping to improve it even more tomorrow. He says if he doesn't make the team, he'll just try out for the tennis team. I saw him play on the tennis team in middle school and he was getting pretty good. I think you played him too.

So let's see. Sean is trying to concentrate on his studies at school but I can tell his mind is on his upcoming mission and he's anxious to begin. Two of his roommates should hear tomorrow where they are going-Brandon McKell and Nate Carter.

Kristina has been doing a lot of reports lately in school and always gets a good grade when she presents it. Her teacher said she does a great job on oral reports. She's working on one now about Harriet Tubman and she has to present it 3 times-to the parents, to the teachers and to some district judges. She also scored high enough on her math portion of the ISAT that she gets to take pre-algebra next year and she's really excited about that.

Leah is growing into a nice young woman. She sometimes gets a little wild when she's with Nikki, but overall she always wants to do right. She's having a rough time trying to learn how to tell time. Nikki is crazy as ever. She acts like she's not listening to anything, then she answers every question correctly. She's getting better at reading now and keeps trying to tell Leah how to read.

Barkley is getting older and older. He's moves a lot slower and I think he's lost a little of his hearing (or else he's just choosing not to listen to me). Right now he's shedding like crazy. I'm pretty sure I could knit a whole blanket out of his fur. He still doesn't know that his electric fence is broken. One day he'll figure it out and I'll be out on the streets looking for him.

Tomorrow I'm taking the cubs to the police dept. You probably did that when you were a cub. I think it will be a fun outing for the boys. They'll take their fingerprints,etc.

Have you mailed the picture CD yet? We'll take good care of it for you when it gets here. Anything you're in need of there? Just let us know.

Here's some tips for the week:
1. After accomplishing one goal, move on to another.
2. Don't try to "endure" a companionship, figuring you'll be transferred soon. Most mission presidents keep companions together until they can work through the problems and learn to love each other.
3. It's best to buy most your souvenirs at the end of your mission.
4. If you don't approach the stranger on the street, the answer is already no. (I like that one!)

Kirk, I hope you're enjoying the work. Heavenly Father wants us to have joy and there's no greater joy than in serving others. All the experiences you're having are building a firm foundation, and they will give you great strength many years from now. Pretend you are many years in the future and thinking back about how you served your mission. Do those things that will bring no regret, just wonderful memories, knowing that you gave your best every single day.

I think often of your big, warm smile and how great it makes me feel and I know that the Dominican people also see and feel that from you. You have an amazing attitude and always sound so positive. That will always make people want to be around you and hear what you have to say, because you have the light of Christ. Keep up the great work. We pray for you, your companion and the people you teach.

Have a blessed week.
Love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxo

March 6, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,
So how are you this week? I am exhausted tonight. We went to a very sad funeral today for the Walker family in our stake. Brandon and Tamara Walker's 3 oldest children were killed with 2 other kids when their car slid off the road into a pond. The funeral was very, very nice and actually very uplifting, but it was 4 hours long. You came away from it wanting to be a better person, a better mom. Alex and his friends sang at it too. I also helped serve at the dinner afterwards. The Walker's have a huge family so there was tons of food to get out. So all in all it was a very emotional and spiritual day. BTW, Mr. McMullin even spoke at the funeral and he did a great job. He's done a few things at our church now and he even ended his talk with "in the name of the Jesus Christ, Amen." I'm sure he felt the spirit there today.

Last week, Sean called and told us about Nate and Brandon's mission calls. Nate Carter is going to Pennsylvania and Brandon McKell is going to Brazil. Also we heard that Thomas Foote is going to Russia. It's hard to believe that Sean's MTC date is so close. Sean said he went to Isaac and Bethany's apartment last weekend and played Risk with Ben and Alisa, Heidi and Cameron and Giovanni with a date. He said it was a lot of fun. Jason will be home in a month. Did you write each other on your missions or did you lose contact? It will be fun to see him.

Last week at my Bear scout meeting, we went to the sheriff's station here in Eagle. I think the boys really enjoyed it. They practiced dusting for fingerprints and learned about what they keep in their cars, trunks and what they carry on their belts. Tomorrow we're meeting here and I'm having dad help them learn about tools. Hopefully they'll be able to control themselves while using hammers, nails, screwdrivers, etc.

Lately the little girls have become jump rope experts. They jump for hours. Leah does it constantly and is always getting in trouble for jumping rope in the kitchen. She just can't seem to help herself. I think she'll try out for the jump rope club next year.

Alex didn't make the golf team and was pretty sad for a day since Jay and Jake both made the team again. But then the next day he was on the tennis team and loving it, so now he has a new bunch of friends and loves playing tennis every day. He's got that same great attitude about things that you do and just seems to go with the flow of life. Tonight he had to tutor the Pennington girl. Her mom called here and had heard Alex was really good in math and wanted to know if he could help her. He said it was fun teaching pre-algebra things--it seemed so easy to him now especially since he's in pre-calc. So now this is the second person he's been hired to tutor.

So what's going on in Moca? Have you found some good families to teach? Is your comp enjoying the mission life? Are you guys in an apartment by yourselves, or is there another companionship with you? You haven't said much about where you're living, etc. I want details....

Here are some tips for the week:
1. Review goals often.
2. Clean the toilet weekly.
3. Keep a list of less-active members and visit several each week.
4. Follow your mission president's counsel, even if it doesn't make any sense to you at the time.

Well, dad is home now from the church meetings and he's trying to motivate Alex to get the trash out. So I better sign off. My thoughts and prayers are always with you. Sometimes I wish I could just be a fly on the ceiling in the DR so I could just watch a little bit of what you do. It's always fun to hear your stories and feel of your missionary spirit. Have a great week and let the Lord guide your footsteps.

I love you. I'll send some photos in another email...
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxoxoxooxoxxoo


March 13, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,
I had to take Alex to the store tonight to buy a pie for his math class since he says tomorrow is pi day-3/14, get it? He said it was his idea to his class and they all liked the idea, so I guess they get a little feast tomorrow in class.

How was your week? We are having wonderful weather here, very spring like. All the kids are playing outside again, dad's in the yard each day, etc. I love it. Jan says it's in the 90's in CA though. That doesn't sound quite as pleasant as our weather.

Dad said he got the release letter for Jason from his mission president. So it's official, he's coming home soon. I'll keep you up on what he does. Jill Erickson told me that Alex got accepted to UVSC today. That's the college in Provo. She's signing him up everywhere so that he has a choice when he comes home. Right now he still says he wants to go to BYU-I. Jill also said that his area had a big tornado and he's been spending a lot of time helping people recover.

I just put the girls to bed. They got in a fight over who had the better towel after their bath, so I put them to bed without a snack which started a big crying session which made Nikki's nose bleed. Whenever she gets upset or cries hard, her nose bleeds and when it bleeds, it really bleeds. We're getting kind of used to it now, even at her school they are getting used to it. She loves getting bloody noses at her school because they give her jello powder and tell her to put it on her upper gums above her teeth. It must be an old wives tale but somehow Nikki says it always stops the bleeding. Dad said he had never heard of that method. Personally, I just think Nikki loves the sweet taste of jello. So Nikki just yelled for me and said she was going to try harder tomorrow to be good.

I guess I spoke too soon. Now I just heard the shower curtain crash to the floor upstairs. Leah says Nikki was standing in there waiting for Leah to go to the bathroom and it just fell down all by itself on top of Nikki's head. Dad just came home, so he went up to put out this fire. Never a dull moment with your little sisters. :)

So other than our usual family activities, it's been a relatively quiet week. Alex is loving being on the tennis team. His first meet is this week. He's also trying to get going with his eagle project. Kristina is busy with projects in school, her band and piano and activity days with the girls at church. Leah is getting better with her reading but struggles with math. Nikki is getting good with her reading too and math seems to be pretty easy for her. She's going on a field trip tomorrow with her class to a museum to learn about the American Indians. Last week she did a little report on a state, her state was Iowa. I don't remember doing anything like that in kindergarten.

I've got a little spring fever and feel like cleaning and organizing everything. I've been starting with my quilt room. That may take me all spring to finish, but it feels good to muck things out. We're taking the family on a little trip to San Antonio Texas next week for spring break. I'm looking forward to exploring a new city. You know how I love that. We're not leaving until next Thursday.

So how's the kid? Are you having him do a lot of the teaching? It's great that you're able to attend meetings that are specifically for trainers. Are you still teaching Lucito? How about any new families?

We're getting ready to send another package to you. Is there anything in particular you'd like included or maybe your kid would like. Let us know.

Here are the tips for the week:
1.On the last page of your copy of the Book of Mormon, record the dates that you finish reading it. This will help you keep track of the number of times you read it during your mission.
2. When learning a foreign language, carry a notebook to write down new words you learn.
3. Before complaining about companionship problems to other missionaries, talk to your companion.
4. At the end of the day, identify one miracle that occurred.

Last week we ran into a sister in our stake who is from Argentina. She says she wants to cook a dinner for Sean before he leaves. Her dad was there with her and he said he actually lived in Cordoba when he was young. He said the people in that area have a sing-song Spanish and that Sean will sound a little like he's singing when he speaks after he gets back. That should be fun to hear. You'll probably notice the differences in his Spanish to most. Are you speaking the fast Dominican Spanish now? Carolina says she can't wait to hear you speak.

I hope you know how proud I am of you. It's my highlight each week to hear from you and it's exciting to hear about the work you are doing, the people you are finding and being led to. I also know that you are probably learning more as the teacher than those you are teaching. That's a wonderful fact of life. Also, this week, pray each night to find ways you can serve those around you. There's always something you can do to lift another's spirit, usually it will be something small and seemingly insignificant.

Stay strong and keep anxiously engaged in good causes. I love you and pray for you always.
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxoxo

March 20, 2007
Dear Elder Kirk,

Just got home from Alex's choir concert-pre DIII concert. They sound amazing and will do well tomorrow.
How has your week been? We loved the pictures you sent us. Were the pictures of the city taken from your apartment? It looks like you have a nice balcony compared to the rest of the city. Whatever you'd like to do about the picture CD. We can get money to you to send it home, or you can just keep it to bring home. Let us know.

I hope you've had lots of teaching appointments this week. I always pray that you'll find and have many opportunities to share your testimony. Did Lucito get baptized? How's Abel, is he still talking with you guys? It's great that you and your comp are working so well together. In the picture at the bowling alley, is your comp the one right next to you with the light hair? You look so tall in the picture. Have you grown? Also Kristina says to tell you that she thinks you're trying to grow a mustache. I told her maybe you just need a new razor... :)

This past Saturday the Priests and Teachers had basketball games with the stake. In the first game, Alex was the high scorer. He had a great game. He also had the most fouls. They won at the last second when Alex scored, so he was our hero. they also won the second game, but Alex said he ate too much for lunch and didn't play as well. We got shamrock shakes from McDonald's.

I've had a hurt back most the week, so I've just been laying around which is driving me crazy. I'm not a very patient patient. I think I'm on the mend now. I better be since we're leaving for Texas in 2 days.

Dad's been busy at work putting in a lot of shifts since we're leaving on vacation. He's really looking forward to spring break. We'll be back next Thurs so the kids and dad still have some time at home to play for spring break too. Then when we get back, it will almost be time for Sean to come home and give his farewell talk. We might be in our new church building by then too. We'll have to take some pix of the new building so you can see it. It's just up the street from the high school so it's nice and close.

Not much else going on this week. Family life as usual. So here's your tips:

1.Suggest that the investigator be baptized by a local member and not by one of the missionary elders.
2. If you're not happy, work harder.
3. Don't cross off days on your calendar.
4. Buy a squirt gun with your companion for apartment duels.
5. Let investigators make the decision for baptism.

I hope you're not feeling too trunky yet. These next 6 months should be some of your best. You know the language, the people, the doctrine, you know how to listen to the spirit and be guided and you're teaching a new missionary. What a tremendous instrument you have become for the Lord now. Work hard and continue to learn. The beauty of the gospel plan for me is eternal progression, continually learning and growing. We are learning right along with you through your letters and your example. Let me know if there are things you wish you knew before your mission and I can teach them in our family nights to Alex and the girls.

I pray for your success and happiness always Kirk. Can't wait to hear from you.
love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

March 27, 2007

Dear Elder Kirk,

Well, here we are in San Antonio, Texas. We're having a great time. Today was the first day that it's been hot. The kids are all out in the swimming pool, so I thought I'd write you now. We stayed in a hotel near Sea World for the first few days. We went to Sea World, of course, went to some fun new malls, ate at CiCi's (twice!) and went to church there too. The girl I sat next to in RS was the baluga whale and dolphin trainer at Sea World. She said she really enjoys her job there. We met some nice people in the ward. Even met one girl who said she went to Eagle High School a few years ago-Perkins was her last name.

Now we're in a different hotel on the Riverwalk. The river runs through the city here and it's beautiful. You can take boat rides to get where you want or just walk. We're going to a Spurs game tomorrow night too. Then we go back home on Thurs. I love exploring new cities.

You'd like it here. Dad's getting a pkg ready to send you from here. We put some fun things in it for you and you can give some of the things away to kids there if you like too. Hope you enjoy it.

I can't stay too long on this computer, since i"m borrowing the hotel's computer. We really need to get a wireless laptop. I think that will be my next big purchase. I'm waiting for the newest Mac system to come out. Supposedly you can get all Mac and PC on this new system which will really help. It's supposed to come out in the spring.

How has your week been? Did you have some baptisms last week? I hope it's going well for you and that those you've been teaching are feeling the spirit and becoming converted.

I spoke with Carolina yesterday. Axel didn't write last week, so they're just dying to hear from him in FRance. It's hard not to hear anything at all. I hope he writes them this week. When she sends me his letters, I'll forward them to you too.

My friend Jeri Moore(Monte Moore's mom) said her daughter Elizabeth is getting married in June and she's marrying Matt Dykman. I think he might be your age. Elizabeth is 4 years older than him and she says Matt is just crazy about her. But I was thinking he was a friend of yours, I can't remember.

Sean is coming to the end of his semester. He's been having fun as well as studying hard. He's got 2 basketball classes and one tennis class. Hopefully he'll get A's in those. His farewell is on April 15th. His first letters will be handwritten from the MTC so we'll just have to fill you in on how he's doing, etc. He's getting pretty anxious to go. You know how that feels.

Well, I hope the work is going well for you and that you're feeling strong and good and that your tesitmony is really growing strong. The strength that you feel now will be a source of comfort and strength to you throughout all your years. What great memories you're making right now! Stay true to all that you know is right and you will be so blessed.

My prayers are with you. Have a great week and let us know when you get our pkg. We loved the pix you sent last week. It was so interesting seeing a view from where you live, the streets you are probably walking each day, etc. Do you struggle with electricity problems there or water shortages?

Have a miraculous week. I love you. The family all says to say hi. Lot's of Spanish speakers down here in San Antonio-wish you were here to help us. :)

Love you,

mom

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Oct. 06 - Dec. 06 Kirk letters

Oct. 10, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,
Well, how are things this week? I'm sorry you weren't able to open our
letter last week but I hope you get it this week. You sound so good and
must be having so many opportunities to teach and share your testimony.

We went to Provo last weekend and had lots of fun. We saw G & G Thompson
and I got to visit Darla Weigel(Tyler's mom). She's enjoying living in Utah
so far. It's funny, she said the LDS people in her neighborhood have made
it clear to her that she's supposed to refer to Mormons as LDS, not Mormons.
But she says they're all really friendly and she's pretty happy that they've
moved there.

Then we went to STeve and Carolina's. In the morning we took the girls(oh
yeah, we didn't take Alex on the trip because he had a choir trip to
SunValley and he stayed at the Jensen's). Anyway, we took the girls on a
little car ride/walk down Provo Canyon. The girls collected yellow and red
leaves and we looked at the waterfalls. Then we took Sean and Charmaine to
lunch and went bowling. Nikki did cartwheels after each ball. She was so
funny and then she practically won the whole thing.

That night we went to a concert at BYU that had lots of choir groups,
instrumentalists, etc and it was great. Steve and Carolina went with us
and STeve was very impressed. The next day we went with Steve and saw his
new work place and then went to the BYU game. Steve had tickets in the
press box, but he came and sat with us during the game because he said it
was so boring in the box. So he gave dad and I the press box tickets for
the 4th quarter. Sean came up there too. It was fun seeing the game from
that high up and they gave us free food and drinks. But I agree with STeve
and it was much more fun watching the game with the masses. We came home
after the game so we could be here for Sunday.

Alex is constantly bugging me right now so sorry if I'm not making much
sense. He just had a concert and the groups sounded great, but he's kind of
hyper.

Dad's b-day is this week, so I'm trying to think of something fun for him.
He works hard.

Kristina is constantly making her b-day lists now too since her b-day is
next week. She's going bowling for her birthday with a few friends.

Here's some missionary tips for the week:
1. In letters to your parents, thank them for doing specific things during
you childhood, such as teaching you correct principles, giving you good
examples, etc. (This is really in there, I didn't just make it up...:)
2. Get plants for your apartment.
3. Have food on hand for Sundays in case your dinner appointment cancels.
Don't be in a situation where you feel compelled to go to the store on the
Sabbath.
4.On hot days, take a cold shower during your lunch break.
5.Read one chapter from Proverbs a day. In one month, you'll have read them
all.

Well, next week I'll attach some pix from our trip. Axel is really getting
excited to get out on his mission and they all said they love reading your
letters each week. Thank you for sharing it with so many of us. Tell your
companion hi from us, we pray for him too.

Stay true to your covenants and obey with exactness.
I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoo


Oct 17, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,

When you get this letter, it will be Kristina's birthday. She's 11 now and
very grown up. She's a good babysitter too. We had her presents tonight
since she's very busy on Wed. She has activity day where they're doing
yoga, then she has band practice where she said she's getting good at the
drums and then she has piano lessons. Dad and Alex then have young men's
where they're doing a video scavenger hunt. We also celebrated Kristina's
b-day last Saturday with a small party. She invited 4 friends and we went
bowling, then to McDonald's and then back home for cake and presents. She
invited 3 girlfriends and also Andrew Thomas. Andrew said he didn't mind at
all being the only boy. He could only make it for the cake and presents
part though.

So we've really started to cool down here this week. Our tomato plants
froze so that's pretty much the last of the garden for this year. We're
going to try a new gardening method next season, something that the church
uses a lot overseas. We'll have to see how that works.

I was reading about the Dominican Republic in the Church News this week
about how the church has a program where they distribute wheel chairs. I
think it was BYU that was in charge of the program. Have you heard anything
about it there?

Not much news here. We went to Nicole Shaw's reception. She and her
husband looked great and it was fun to see the Shaw's. Bro. Shaw asked
about you.

We had ward conference this past Sunday and everything went smoothly. Dad
did a great job with his talk to the ward. We have 9 full time missionaries
out in the field from our ward now.

Sean's having his mid-terms this week, so we'll see how things go for him.
He said he wasn't too worried about any of them. So far he said his Book
of Mormon class is the hardest. He found out he has pretty much the hardest
religion teacher you can get according to those who know. I have to tease
him about that. I told him it wouldn't look very good to fail a BOM class
and then go on a mission. Jared Westerberg has him too and is struggling.

How's your week been? How is your newest member Melvin? Do your new
members acclimate well into the ward, get callings and feel comfortable,
etc?

Were you able to find a watch? If not, let us know and we'll send one down
to you. Let us know if it needs an alarm or any special features too.

Well, we've been just working around the house lately trying to get things
ready for guests who will come for Thanksgiving. Having guests gives us a
good excuse to patch things up, paint and organize.

Here are some missionary tips for the week:
1. Leave a list of free P-day activities in your area book.
2. Tell your companion "good-night" every night.
3. After holding a district or zone meeting at the chapel, leave the
building in the same condition you found it.
4. Occasionally write an individualized letter to one family member instead
of to the whole family.
5. Surprise your landlord with a small gift.
6. Say meal prayers with your companion.

Nikki, in her prayers tonight, prayed that you would have a good mission and
that you would learn EVERYTHING. So there you go. Heavenly Father heard
that prayer and He'll help you learn everything now. :)

I hope you're happy and well and especially that you're experiencing great
moments of joy on your mission. When you live close to the Lord, that's how
life after your mission will be also-many moments of great joy. I have many
of those moments in my life and I recognize the source of that joy and am so
thankful for them. You being my son is one of my greatest joys in life.
Thinking about it brings up very tender feelings.

I love you and look forward to hearing from you each week.
mom
xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo


October 24, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,
Well, another week has flown by. Is time going by fast for you too? Can't
believe it's almost Nov. Dad is outside right now playing football with the
girls and Maggie and Amanda(from across the street) too. Alex is mowing the
lawn next door. He's made quite a bit of money this summer just mowing
people's lawns. He can't wait to get a real job next summer.

Tonight Dad and I are taking Kristina and Leah to a banjo concert in Nampa.
The Nampa Civic Center has a great concert series during the year. We went
to a couple shows last year and loved them. So this year I bought tickets
for some of the shows again. Since I'm making a meager attempt at learning
the banjo (I figured out that you really do have to practice in order to get
better), I thought it would be fun to go see Allison Brown, probably the
best woman banjo player in the country. I even have some of her music on my
ipod.

Alex and Nikki will stay here and have a little movie night. I bought a new
DVD for them to watch and they can eat bags of popcorn too. Nikki will
love it.

I had lunch today with some of the primary ladies I work with at Sis.
Leifson's house. She was thanking us for helping with the Primary program,
which by the way went beautifully. The kids did such a good job. So at
lunch was Sis. Campbell, Sis. Hugentobler, Sis. Yorgason and Sis. McCauley.
So we swapped a lot of missionary stories. Tyler Yorgason is a senior, so
he'll be going on a mission soon too.

So how is your new comp? Where's he from, etc. What area did he get
transferred from? I was glad to hear that you got to stay in your area. I
hope you were happy too. It just sounds like you're doing a wonderful job
there. You know, if people in a ward don't really click with the elder in
their area, the work just shuts down. So I know you must be very motivating
to them and they must be able to feel the love you have for them. Keep up
the good work and we'll be praying for your success here.

For Thanksgiving, so far we have Steve and his family and Toni and 4 of her
kids coming and probably Mary. We should have a house full. We're fixing a
few things in the house to get ready. We're putting slate in our bathroom
(ok, so that has nothing to do with the guests coming). I just would rather
have stone in the bathroom than carpet. Also we're getting new carpeting
upstairs since it's so stained. Barkley, in his old age, gets confused
sometimes and decides to go upstairs instead of outside.

Sean ran into Kaycie and Karly Maurer at BYU. Can you believe it? I hope
he calls them sometime and does something with them. He said they look like
their mom. Karly just returned from a mission. Krista is working for
Deseret Book in the music department and lives in Bountiful.

That's funny that people are already decorating for the holidays down there.
We still have Halloween things out, but I bet the minute Halloween is over,
we'll see Christmas stuff in all the stores. The ward is having a trunk or
treat this Friday and the youth are making a spook alley. Of course, dad is
helping out with all kinds of fun things from the hospital. We'll let you
know how it goes.

Next week, I'll send pics of the kids in their costumes.

Here are the tips for the week:
Look forward to your interview with the mission president. Have a question
in mind to ask him.
2. Talk with the members, not at them.
3. Be a considerate tenant in your apartment building.
4. Remember, suits can be taken to dry cleaners. Take them in at least once
a year.
5. Wash hands after using the bathroom.
6. Wipe toothpaste out of the sink.
7. Learn from your mistakes and don't make the same one twice.

I haven't been too diligent in my Jesus the Christ studying. I am making my
way through it though. I wish that I could remember everything I read.
That would be wonderful. I found that the way I remember things the best is
to teach them. When you study, then teach a lesson about something you
studied, it sticks with you.

I hope all is well for you and the people in the DR. Can't wait to hear
from you. I love you and I know that you are an important instrument in
the Lord's hands and are in the right place at the right time.

Love,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo


Oct 31, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,

Well, we've just returned from yet another freezing cold night of running
from house to house for Halloween candy. We stopped first at the Sorensen's
as usual for their homemade donuts. Yumm. Then we dropped off Alex in
Banbury where he was meeting friends to do his own trick or treating. The
girls got the biggest candy bar from a dentist's house. I guess he's trying
to drum up business. :)

Dad helped everyone with pumpkin carving this afternoon and they look great
as usual.

Yesterday I was in a little fender bender while picking up Nikki from her
school. A lady ran into me. So today we went to a couple places getting
estimates for repair. For such a minor dent, it sure costs a lot to get it
fixed. The lady who hit me was really upset about it and I tried to let her
know I wasn't mad or anything. Even today when I saw her, she started
crying and told me all about how stressed out her life has been. I felt bad
for her and tried to comfort her.

Jory Hemmelgarn gave his homecoming talk this past Sunday. He lived in Utah
when he left on his mission, then his family moved here while he was on his
mission to Hawaii. His talk was great and he shared so many things about
what he learned about life and the gospel in each of his areas. It was
really interesting.

So how are you and your new companion doing? Are you still helping him
feel comfortable in his new area? I hope you're able to work hard and well
together especially since you have such a wonderful ward to work with. You
probably already know this, but this last month's Ensign/Liahona were
devoted entirely to new members. I hope each of your new converts were
given a copy of the magazine. If not, let me know and we'll send you some.

Eagle High won its game last Friday night which gave them 1st place in their
division. This Friday they play 2nd place Meridian, who earlier in the
season beat Eagle 53-0. This should be an interesting game. Dad and I are
going to go to it. Dallas Yorgason is really starting to do well on the
team.

Not too much else different here except the very cold weather all of a
sudden. It's been in the 20's the last couple of nights and in the high
40's during the day. I bet you can't even remember what that feels like.
Could you send us a little of your warmth through the internet???

Here are the tips for the week:
1. Don't aspire to leadership. Once you get it, you'll regret it.
2. Get up early once in a while and make breakfast for your companion.
3. Service projects at rest homes are very rewarding.
4. When answering the phone in your apartment, use your name.
5. Use stain spray on the collars of white shirts.
6. Shake hands with all people.

I'm going to send some pics in the another email. Since you bought yourself
some shoes, is there anything else you've needed that we can send in a
Christmas package next month?

We think about you constantly and know that you are safe and well in the
Lord's hands. Diligence and perseverance will always reap wonderful rewards
and humble servants are greatly needed in the Lord's kingdom. My prayer is
that the Lord can always count on the Thompson family to get the work done.
Thanks for doing your part, Kirk.

I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo


Nov. 7, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,
Well,it's another week and now it's turned warm again. You just never know
living here in Idaho. The kids were all outside playing for the last couple
of days. We got the ATV fixed and Leah especially loves riding it around
the back yard. When you look out into our back yard, you could see all the
Leifson kids outside playing, all the Erickson kids, all the Kent kids and
probably a few more like some of the Yorgason's. My sister Toni called me
today from California just to tell me she was sitting out at the beach. It
was in the low 90's there. She said that she and her kids are getting
really excited to come here for Thanksgiving. Remember how we always used
to have Thanksgiving with the Caudill's in the south. McKenna and her roll
record, which I believe you broke a few years back!

Dad is at the church doing interviews and I just put the girls to bed.
Nikki has a loose tooth. Her first one and she really wants some money for
it but she won't let anyone wiggle it or try to pull it. Tonight she asked
me if she was getting money and I said no because her tooth was still in her
mouth and she got very sad. I told her she might get it out at Leah's
birthday party this Thurs.

Alex is in Washington with Sonous choir. I haven't heard from him yet. I
wish he'd call me. You know how I always like to hear from you guys when
you're on a road trip. He'll be back Friday. Well, guess what...the phone
just rang and it was Alex. He must have felt me typing his name. Sounds
like he's having a fun time.

Sean is doing well. He's got to sign up for next semester this week, so
we're trying to figure out which classes he should take. He may get a job
next semester too.

Kristina is loving being the oldest at her school-the big 5th grader. She's
made new friends this year, but Maggie is still her best friend. They're
practically inseperable. I got to hear Kristina's garage band last week.
She did really well on the drums. She also played a piece on the piano.
Next year I'll be signing up Leah for lessons.

This week is parent/teacher conferences. I met with Nikki's teacher. She
said Nikki is very talkative and very friendly, always smiling. She said
she's doing well in school. At her school she even gets to take swimming
lessons every thurs. I'm anxious to meet with Leah's teacher to see how
she's doing. She really struggles with math. If she starts falling behind,
I may have her go to Sylvan. I think she'd do well there and enjoy all the
rewards, etc that they do there.

Eagle got beat pretty badly last weekend by Meridian, so not much story
there.

Dad and I are going shopping tomorrow for Leah's birthday present. We're
getting her a new bike. Hers is too small and in bad shape. She's having a
small party on Thurs. We're going to the movies with her friends and then
back home for cake and presents. She's very, very excited.

Well, here are some tips for the week:
1. Be able to tell one book of Mormon a story dynamically by memory.
2. Figure out a budget for the month and then try to spend at least $10 less
than that.
3. Don't make fun of local dialects.
4. Keep fast offering receipts in the envelope with your patriarchal
blessing and mission call. That way you'll always know where they are.
---Do you guys pay fast offerings? I never thought about that.
5. Don't confess or discuss past sins with investigators or members.
6. Get a hair cut the first P-day of each month.

I still get chills every time I hear people bless the missionaries in their
prayers. I will always remember to bless the missionaries around the world
even after you boys are back home. It's such an exciting part of the
Savior's plan for his return. Remember Kirk, to read to your patriarchal
blessing often. Because I type all the blessings in this stake, I am
constantly reminded of what a wonderful gift this is in our lives.

Better close now. Have a great week and work hard so that others may enjoy
what we already have.
I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Nov. 14, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,
How are you this week? Our big news from home this week is that Isaac is
engaged and will be getting married March 23 next year. He's marrying
Bethany, do you remember her? He met up with her when they were up here in
Eagle that one time. She lived by them when they lived in Hawaii. They
went to buy the ring together last night and I think Isaac is still in
sticker shock! Everyone's still a little in shock about the engagement, but
we're all excited that it's Bethany. She'll be a great new sister-in-law,
daughter-in-law and cousin for all of us.

Let's see. Nikki finally lost her first tooth. The tooth fairy left it
for her to take to school for show and tell. Leah then lost another tooth a
couple days later. Nikki blessed you tonight that you'd do well on your
LDS. She must have just learned that term or heard it at church. She
blessed Sean that he'd have fun with all the boys and girls and that he'd
get to know everyone at college. So Sean has some work cut out for him.

At family night last night, I brought out our old Thompson Family journal
that we started back in 1998. Do you even remember that we did that. Every
few weeks I had each of you add a paragraph or two about what you were
doing, etc. It was really fun to read. In one of them you were talking
about that field trip we went on with your art class to Disneyworld. I'd
almost forgotten about that. You also mentioned how fun it was that you
went to Kurama's for your 12th birthday. We're going to start writing in it
again just because we could see how fun it was to read what we'd written so
long ago. Alex when he was 6 wrote something about how high you could pop
him on the tramp.

We're still trying to get things ready around here for Thanksgiving. Dad
bought an extra fryer so he could really make quite a few and do it quite a
bit faster. We're going to make a DVD for you when everyone's here.
Steve's family always tells me how much they enjoy your letters so I'm sure
they'll have fun sharing back with you on the DVD.

I met with Kristina's teacher last week and she really was complementary
about her. She said she was someone everyone wanted to be with and that she
had such great character. Kristina's really growing up into a nice young
woman.

Alex said his trip to Washington was great. He's over at Dallas Yorgason's
right now doing math homework together. Most likely they're doing a little
homework and playing a lot of pingpong. Dallas made the varsity basketball
team at Eagle. He's quite the athlete.

I have to share with you what I was reading last weekend in the Pearl of
Great Price. I was reading about Enoch and was in awe at his great faith,
and how he expressed himself and conversed with the Lord. If you can, take
the time to read the chapter, Moses 7. It's such a powerful chapter.

There were a couple mission calls last week. Aaron Anderson (Sean's
roommate) is going to Utica, New York and Leah VanWagenen is going to
Argentina.

How is the work going in your area? I've been so impressed with the caliper
of people you have taught and baptized. They're already going to the temple
to do baptisms and serving in the ward. They have such zeal, you just know
they're going to be wonderful leaders in that area some day.

Here are some tips for the week:
1. Find little ways to give community service.
2. Compile a "ratings guide" for all of the apartments in the mission and
mail a copy to the AP's. (I don't really know what that means)
3. Check with parents before promising members or investigators free room
and board when they visit you back home. (Remember how Giovanni sent a whole
family to stay with Steve and Carolina :)
4. Once in a while, call your companion by his first name and see if he
responds.
5. There's no such thing as "p-day eve".
6. Answer the questions your mother asks in her letters. (I love that one!)

Once again dad went straight from work to the church. After this week,
he'll have quite a bit of time off, so I know he'll be able to write to you
better. We love you so much and know that you're in the right place at the
right time spreading the right message. Have a wonderful week and we're
looking forward to getting some packages in the mail to you in the next
couple weeks.

Love you,
mom
xoxoxxoxoxoxooxoxxoxoxoxoooxoxoxxoxoxoxo

Nov. 21, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,
It's pretty late tonight when I'm writing you, but I've been up talking with
Toni and her kids. They got in this evening after having their car break
down in Burly. They were able to get it fixed, but it made them later than
expected. It's fun having them here and tomorrow Steve and Carolina will be
coming with all their kids.

Dad's working tonight, but has the rest of the week off so he can enjoy time
with the family too. We're still having unusually warm weather here, which
I love but the skiers aren't too happy.

So how has your week been? What great news you had last week about getting
to go to the temple. Your December trip sounds like it will be a lot of
fun. How will you get down there? Do you all travel together? I wonder
if a lot of other missions will get to go to the temples in their areas too.
Do you keep in touch with any friends who are on missions?

We went to Nikki's school's Thanksgiving lunch today. They had a lot of
food and since it's a Seventh Day Adventist school and they don't eat meat,
I'm not sure what the thing is we ate that looked like turkey. It tasted
okay, nothing like our good fried turkeys. Leah and Nikki are a bit hyper
these days because of the cousins coming. They can barely sit still with
all their excitement.

Sean is going to the high school tomorrow to see the choir. Alex is in a
small group of 6 people that Sis. Koefed put together. They're going to
perform Christmas songs at different places this season.

My spanish learning has come to a halt. I need to get going with it again.
There's a lady next door to us that babysits for the family and she only
speaks Spanish to the babies there. I think I should go over there each day
and have her teach me. I'm really jealous of you with a second language
now. I can't wait for you to hear Steve's family speaking to you in
Spanish.

So are you guys killing a turkey again this year? Even if you don't get a
chance to celebrate Thanksgiving with the traditional meal, be sure you make
a special note of what you're grateful for in your journal. In fact an idea
that might be fun, for the next year just mention one thing each day that
you're grateful for and see if you can get 365 different things by the end
of the year.

Here are some tips for the week:
1. Find out if your apartment has a garbage disposal before putting food
down the sink.
2. Clothes dry faster if you clean the lint out of the dryer first.
3. Assign your companion the hard questions.
4. Make sure your parents save your letters home. This acts as a back-up
journal in case something happens to the one you have in the mission
field.(We've got that one covered)
5. Have a district meeting that focuses on safety, bike and car and
pedestrian safety.

I better get to bed now since it's so late. I just realized we forgot to
take the trash out to the curb tonight. Now we need to do it early in the
morning. That's what happens when family comes. We just forget about
everything else--too much fun. I love having Sean here too cuz he helps get
Alex out of bed for school so I don't have to. :)

We'll be thinking about you a lot this week not only because we'll be
talking to you on our DVD, but also because at Thanksgiving I spend more
time thinking about what I'm grateful for and I am so thankful for you,
Kirk. What a wonderful son. Keep the great letters coming. I am learning
so much from you and your example of humility, faith and kindness. Have a
sensational week.
I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo


Nov. 27, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,

So it sounds like we all had quite a feast this past week. Hope you enjoyed yours as much as we did ours. It was lots of fun having Steve and Carolina and their family and Toni and her kids here. I had to buy lots of food each day to keep up with how much everyone ate and we even had lots of leftovers.

We're getting your package ready for you. Did you say that you have a way to watch a family DVD? Let us know if that would be a problem and we'll just send lots of pictures to you instead. Also if there's anything else you can think of that you'd love or need, let us know now.

We are having a really cold spell going through Boise. The girls are all wearing their gloves and scarves to school now to keep warm. Sean just called and said it has been snowing for 2 days in Provo and he needs some big gloves. We'll try to find yours to send him. Now he can say he's walked to school in the snow.

While all the cousins were here we were able to go visit my cousin Ryan at his new house. Bill and Nancy and my other cousins were there too with their families so it was fun to see everyone. Of course, we had the big Turkey Bowl football game here. Uncle David and his kids came over to play in it too. They were up here visiting their other grandparents in Nampa for Thanksgiving. The night before Thanksgiving, we had a pie night. It was much better having the pies the night before because everyone was hungry and they tasted great. Usually on thanksgiving, everyone's too full to enjoy the pies. I think we'll have a pie night on Thanksgiving Eve each year now.

Nikki and Leah both got sick over the course of the weekend, but I think it was mainly because they ate way too much. I'm hoping they learned a lesson. It was fun having Sean home too. He loves BYU, but I think he really enjoyed being home too.

Isaac has moved his wedding date up to Feb now. It seems so quick. His fiance didn't come with him, but we met her when we were down there one time. Axel is busy studying French so he can be fluent before he even enters the MTC. He and Isaac and STeve all went to the Boise temple while they were here. They try to go to temples wherever they visit. Axel also had his 19th birthday while they were here. He got some books for his mission.

So have you started teaching Helson's family yet? Are they thinking about getting married at all? That's really neat that an 11 yr old boy has led the way in his family. Are you still teaching Manuel too? That's funny that people tell you they are related to Sammy Sosa. I guess we're all related in some way.

Grandpa Trumbo called me the other day and said he's going to deposit $200 into your account for your mission spending. I think it must be for Christmas. I told him you'd really appreciate that since you're getting a little low on funds going into 2007. I fax your letters to him at the Winn and it just seems to bring back so many memories for him about his own mission and how much he enjoyed his mission. He always comments on what a great attitude you have and how you always look on the positive. Grandma Trumbo's having a hard time remembering things now and so it's been hard on Grandpa. He calls me a lot more and I've really enjoyed our chats. He still loves working at the Winn and they just got a big account with Toyota so they've been really busy. Working hard brings him a lot of satisfaction and it sounds like working hard on your mission does the same thing for you. Always remember that in life, that being anxiously engaged in good causes will always gladden a sad or lonely heart.

Here's some tips for the week:
1. Before entering a yard, shake the gate to check for dogs.
2. Your journal is being written for posterity. Use a pen instead of a pencil.
3. When teaching a first discussion, use the new investigator's Bible instead of yours. though the wording may be slightly diffgerent, it allows the person to see that the verses you share are in his/her version.
4. Be especially nice to the Mission President the week before transfers.
5. Early on in the discussions, set up a fellowshipper for your investigator.

You asked about my spanish studying. I need to get on that again. It's so hard getting anywhere with it when no one around me is speaking the language. Maybe there's a class I can take. I can understand quite a bit of what Carolina and her family are saying, but I can't respond.

Well, that's about it for this week. It was lots of fun, but now we're back to the real world again, running errands, cleaning, quilting, making phone calls, quilting, homework, etc. Speaking of quilting, have you seen any good fabric there in the DR? Always checking....

Have a wonderful week. You're always in our prayers.
I love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox


Dec. 5, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,
How are you, my son? Jill Erickson and I were just talking on the phone about our missionary sons. We're so proud of both of you and we both look forward to your letters each week.

So it's still cold here, not snowing, but just cold. I think we're getting used to it now. We put lights up on the house this year. I put them on the front porch, but they looked kind of wimpy compared to some of the neighbors, so dad put some more out on the trees and bushes today. I'll try to get a picture of what it looks like to you next week.

We got your packages mailed to you this week. Let us know when you get them and if they've been opened or if it looks like something might be missing. You never know. I guess if someone wants something bad enough, maybe they need it.

So I'm anxious to hear about your new area and new companion and your life as a Sr. companion. How are things going? Are you both new to the area or does your comp. know the area well? Were you able to teach anyone this week? On the map it doesn't look like a resort area like the one you just came from. So that's probably a change for you.

Do you have any news about when you'll be going to the temple this month?

We had our ward Christmas breakfast last Saturday. It was fun. After the breakfast we all did some humanitarian aid projects like newborn nightgowns, toy blocks, wood cars, picture books for kids, quilts (which of course is where Kristina and I spent most our time). The ward got a lot of work done and it was fun working with everyone.

Alex sang in a small ensemble over the weekend and he did a great job. Sis. Koefed led the group and he even sang a short duet with one of her daughters. He's loving singing.

Dad's getting started with tithing settlement season. Even though he's busy with that, I think it's a lot of fun for him to get to meet with all the families. We're going in next Tuesday.

I can't think of any newsy items here. Lacey Anderson is coming home from her mission the day before Christmas. Her parents are leaving next week for Argentina to go pick her up. Sis. Stafford said Brittney is loving her mission in New York city. I think she's in the Bronx right now speaking Spanish.

Here are some tips for the week:
1. Don't visit church members on Monday evenings unless you have been invited by them to do so. (do the members down there hold family home evenings regularly?)
2. When your investigator leaves the room for a few minutes, swap ties with your companion and see if they notice.
3. Trust your mission president. He is entitled to inspiration on your behalf.
4. If youy have an answering machine, make sure the message is tasteful and appropriate.
5. Don't solicit dinner appointments.
6. When training, carefully plan your new companion's first day so it includes a combination of tracting and teaching.

Dad just got home so I'll sign off and let him add his own words of inspiration for you on this letter. I hope you're enjoying your new area and getting to know your way around so that you can accomplish all the goals you set for yourself each week. Stay true to your covenants and the Lord will guide your every footstep. I love you, Kirk and know you are in the right place with people who have been prepared to hear your message. Keep up the good work. Let me know if there's anything we can do for you here.
Love you much,
mom
x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0



Dec 13, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,
We are all busy counting down the days for Christmas, especially the little girls. They're getting more and more hyper each day just knowing that it is getting close.

We all went to tithing settlement tonight. Happy to report we're all full tithe payers. Even Nikki and Leah make some money this year with their b-day money.

Well, we have the house all decorated, the lights are on outside the house even in the backyard this year. The people across the street, the Poulson's, have great lights so we really enjoy being able to see them every night. They moved here from Arizona and bought them there. They have 3 kids living at home and the others are grown.

Last week I had lunch at the Bingham's. Leah plays with their daughter a lot and is in her class. Us missionary moms love talking about our kid's missions too.

So how is December in the DR? I'm anxious to hear about your new area. How's your new ward or are you over a couple wards? Did Nacho get baptized? I like his name.

It's fun hearing how fully immersed you are in your mission now. It's great to hear how well you are speaking Spanish too. Do you say your personal prayers in Spanish too? I can tell that you love the people there by how you talk about them. You still have that great attitude about whatever happens and with whomever you meet. I like how you feel everyone is so interesting and enjoy speaking with everyone. I know that means a lot to the Lord that you realize the worth of every soul even if it isn't the right time for them to hear the gospel message.

Jan called me yesterday and was saying how excited their family is to come up here for Christmas. I'm not sure if Jeffrey will also be coming or not, it depends on his work. But Heidi and her husband will be here and of course all the other kids. You might get to talk a little to them when you call on Christmas too. It's been a little difficult for Aunt Jan to hear about the cousins going on missions when Jeffrey made a different choice, but she says she just loves reading your letters and can see so much growth in you.

You mentioned a few letters ago that you needed more garment tops. Is there a store next to the temple there where you can buy some? I'm thinking that would be a lot easier for you to do. That is if you are still going down there the end of the month. Let me know. If they don't have a store there, I can always send you some.

Tomorrow is Leah's Christmas program at Eagle Elementary. She's pretty excited about it. They get to wear their pajamas in it and sunglasses. You remember how she loves to wear sunglasses! Nikki had her program at the ADventist church last weekend and she did a great job. I think she actually knew most the words to all the songs and there were a lot of songs. She loves music and loves just sitting at the piano and playing some of the pre-set songs and pretends like she's playing them. I think she's going to enjoy piano lessons. Leah, on the other hand, tells me she wants to be an artist so she can draw all the time. She actually does a pretty good job, much better than my stick figures.

Kristina has a recital this weekend and still loves playing drums in her band. Alex has his Christmas choir concert this Saturday too. He's at the EHS basketball game tonight, so hopefully he's not yelling too much. He tends to lose his voice after every game and he needs to really be careful since they need his tenor voice. All of a sudden today, he announced that he wanted to learn some magic tricks. He said it's cool to know magic tricks at school. Alex is still such a fun kid to be around and has lots of friends. He's a good example of the gospel wherever he goes too.

Dad and I have been busy christmas shopping not only for our family, but for secret santa stuff which is the most fun. Some of the things we put in your pkgs, feel free to share with little kids you meet, etc. I'm just about done with my gift for my grandma and grandpa Trumbo. I'll send you a picture when I finish it. I just love it and can't wait for them to see it. It's not a great christmas for me unless I've made a quilt for someone or made something by hand to give away. I get so excited to give it.

Here's a few tips for the week:
1. Tracting in a threesome isn't a good idea. It looks like the Mafia has arrived on the doorstep.
2. Don't let non-missionaries ride in mission cars.
3. Play miniature golf at least once a month on p-day.
4. When a customs officer asks you if you have anything to declare, respond with, "Yes, we are living in an era when the gospel has been restored."
5. Label your photos immediately with full names. (That's a good idea, cuz you think you'll always remember everyone's names, but you meet so many people it becomes almost impossible to remember everyone)
6. Don't refer to missionaries as "studs".

Well, I hope your life right now is full, peaceful, spiritual, at times exciting and at times mundane, but most importantly I hope you're really experiencing the happiness, the true happiness that only living the gospel can bring. Remember to repent often to keep yourself as clean as possible while on the Lord's errand. Heed the promptings quickly and you will receive more and more often. I've experienced that in my own life.

I love you and miss you, Kirk. I'm really looking forward to our fun phone call in a few weeks and can't wait to read what you've been up to this week. You're always in our prayers.

Love,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Dec 19, 2006
Dear Elder Kirk,
I'm writing you like usual on Tues night even though you said you weren't having p-day until Thurs. We just finished with dinner and Alex and Brandon and Jay Smack are now downstairs playing Halo (not our game). Alex is "allowing" the girls to watch. Today was their last day of school and it's Christmas break now.

Dad will be leaving in a bit for the church to do more tithing settlements. People are dropping off little goodies just about every day now. They're very hard to resist. We're getting ready for the Lutz family this weekend. It will be great to have them all here. They'll be here for about a week, then they're going down to Provo to hear Axel give his farewell talk. Then the next week, grandma and grandpa Thompson and Charmaine will be coming here. So I'll just have time to wash the sheets and put them back on the beds when our next guests arrive.

I'm excited to hear about your temple trip. I hope it was wonderful for all of you. Dad and I went to the temple last week and we ran into Bro and Sis. Shaw, so we had lunch with them in the temple cafeteria. Were you able to buy the garments that you needed?

Also, have you gotten our packages yet? Just checking. I'm hoping customs doesn't decide to open them and then charge us more like last time.

Dad got me a rowing machine for Christmas. I've been using it already. I love it. What kind of workout do you do each day? Are you keeping in good shape?

Tomorrow I'm taking Nikki to a speech pathologist. She's still slurring a lot of her words, so I'm going to have her evaluated. It's cute right now to hear her talk, but I'm sure it won't be so cute when she's 15.

Well, Sean is officially starting his mission paperwork. When he's home for break, I have his dental and physical appointments set up. Everything's done online now so it's much smoother. Axel goes into the MTC on the 4th of Jan. Did you want me to forward any letters we get from him to you or do you have enough time for other people emailing you?

We got a letter from your mission pres this week telling us how you well you were doing and kind of announcing to us that you were now senior comp. We already knew that, but it was still fun to get a letter from him. How's Moca? Maybe I shouldn't ask too many questions, since we'll be talking on the phone in a few days. Can you believe it? I'm very excited. Let us know about what time you'll be calling. We have a calling card, so we can just call you back and have it on our bill like last time.

Sunday evening our stake had a Messiah sing-a-long and Mr. McMullen led it at our stake center. He did such a good job and made it fun for everyone. We laughed a lot, because most of us were such rookies. He sang a solo and it was beautiful. He seemed right at home in our church, it was nice.

Here are some tips for the week:
1.Remember the missionary version of D&C 4:3 "If ye have desires to serve God (in a particular area of your mission), ye are called to the work (in the opposite end of the mission.)
2. Never insult the owner of a pit bull.
3. Live your mission with no regrets.

I hope you had a great time in Santo Domingo. Did it bring back good memories of the MTC? Did you get to meet with some of the missionaries who are in the MTC?

It's been fun telling the Christmas story to the little girls. They're actually finally old enough and can speak well enough to understand it. Leah knows it quite well. We watched the DVD Luke 2 last night and they loved it. Leah said she just doesn't like the part where Jesus gets killed. It makes her sad. She asks a lot of questions. You can tell she's getting old enough to be baptized. She's already talking about getting baptized next year. She said she's nervous and wants to go to Uncle Bill's pool so she can practice.

Well, I better send this letter on its way. Have a great day and we'll talk to you in a few days......
Love always,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoox

Dec 27, 2006

Dear Elder Kirk,
ok. So I'm back. I was talking with Jill on the phone and she was telling me things that they talked about with Alex and all of a sudden I looked on the calendar and realized it was Wed.

It was so fun talking with you. You sound good. We're all well here, we're just off kilter a little bit because it's vacation time. Dad is at work today and tonight Jeff's family is coming over here for a game night. It will be nice to have them all here.

I'm going out shopping with Jan today and taking her around to some fun places (fun places for me and her like quilt shops, antique shops, etc.) She really wants to see the bulk section at Winco too. Do you remember that? It's a great place, but it sounds funny that we're going to a grocery store for fun.

So how was your second dinner appointment. I"m glad they're taking good care of you there.

Tomorrow I'm taking Sean to Peterson's Clothing to pick out a suit, so I'm going to talk with them about your shoes. They should have all your info on file, but do you think you need a bigger shoe or did you just wear it out? let me know.

Jill said that Alex is thinking about going to BYU-I also. You guys might want to room together. I got a phone number there to call and talk with them about you changing your track. If they let you change, would you like to change it to Winter/summer? They changed things a little bit there. Now summer starts April 12 and ends July 20. Then you have 7 weeks off and go back Sept 12. So if you go winter/summer, you'd get those 7 weeks plus all of fall to work in between semesters.

The other option is to ask for fall/winter semester and you'd just go winter and work until fall. They say that's the hardest one to get into, but if you want I'll check and see if you can get that one. Let me know because I'll be talking with the guy there this week.

It sounds like grandpa and grandma Trumbo will be coming up here this week for a short visit too. They drove up to Provo and since they're so close he said he'd like to come up here for a couple days. That will be a lot of fun to have them here. Everyone's migrating to Provo to be there for Axel's farewell. We can't make it but we said our good-byes when they were here for Thanksgiving. I think G & G Thompson and Charmaine are going to come up here next week after Jan and Jeff leave. We're going to have a busy house.

Did you get a chance to do anything special for Christmas? Did you do any secret santa things. Feel free to give anything away that you feel prompted to to the people around you. That's the fun of Christmas, isn't it.

Well, I better get this off to you. I love you so much and you know i'm always here for you. Keep up the great work, work hard, set a great example for your companion and always stay anxiously engaged in good causes.

Love you,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo

ps next week we'll get some pix to you