School's out...

May 27, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Well, I just can't believe that school is actually over with. This getting out in May business is too soon for me and I wasn't ready for it. But the girls were definitely ready. 

Kirk called today and said that Sarah got the package from the embassy in Vancouver yesterday, so she just needs to fill out some paper work, get a copy of her police record (or lack thereof) and some birth certificates, mail everything back in, at which time Vancouver should contact her again and let her know when her doctor's appointment is and when her embassy interview is. At the embassy interview she will then receive her official visa to enter the country and be married to an American. So we are pretty close now, but not close enough to actually make a date for things.

Kirk is talking about getting married the week before finals, but dad and i think that's a recipe for disaster-not a marriage disaster, but a finals disaster. So we'll have to figure some things out. Kirk graduates from college on July 21. Anyway, we'll keep you posted.

It was good to hear a little something from you last week about your new area, duties, etc. Sounds like you cover a fairly large area. How many traveling zone leaders are there in your mission? It will be fun to see pictures of your journeys.

That's fun that you got to go back to Paducah for a musical fireside. How many more of those are you going to do? Do you guys get referrals from those?

We just returned from an Eagle court of honor. One of the guys was Sean Pinder and he asked Kristina to come, so we all went. It was very nice. There was one of the largest eagle's nests I've seen at this court of honor. 

So tomorrow is Memorial Day and we don't really have any big plans-a little working in the yard, then the neighbors are having a swim party/bbq.  These past couple weeks it's been so cold around here, but looks like we're in for some warmer weather now, finally. 

Our big news from last week was Kristina's lacrosse team won STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS!!  It was an awesome game against Centennial at Rocky Mountain.  There was a pretty big crowd there too which made it even more fun. The girls played great and we were never behind during the game, but it wasn't a blow-out either so that made for fun tension. Kristina scored a goal left-handed!! She was going in towards the goal and got blocked on her right side, so she quickly changed her stick to her left hand and shot it in. It was a beautiful shot. They won 13-9. Here are some pics from the game (Kristina is #32)-

Some of the guys came to the game with the girls' numbers painted on their backs and when the girls scored, they'd lift up their shirts, turn around and scream. It was very funny, so we had them all line up with their counterparts.

And here's a pic to take you on a little trip down memory lane:

Also the other thing from this past week was my trip to academies. I went up the first day with my presidency and I taught the girls the infamous numbers game and afterwards we sat outside by a fire pit where we read a poem that we changed the words to, Dr. Suess's Oh, The PlacesYou Go. Then I had each of my presidency talk for a couple minutes about an experience they've had with Relief Society. Then I spoke for about 20 minutes at the end. Afterwards we had them play the game one more time, this time for a large candy bar prize and we gave each girl a long licorice rope signifying the lifelines you establish with Relief Society sisters throughout your life. All in all, I think it went well and it was very fun. I enjoy going to Academies and talking with the graduating seniors. They're such amazing young women and being up in the mountains is always a treat. 

Well, I'll sign off now with a thought from our RS lesson today. We talked about Elder Hallstrom's conference talk where he talked about being converted to His gospel(the glorious plan of God) through His "church"(classes, meetings, camps, scouts, mutual, etc)  and how the purpose of the church is to help us live the gospel. I love how he said, "It is possible to be active in the Church and less active in the gospel...activity in the Church is a highly desirable goal; however, it is insufficient."  "Activity in the Church is an outward indication of our spiritual desire...by contrast, the things of the gospel are usually less visible...but they are of greater eternal importance." Great talk and great lesson today.

Have a wonderful week. Hope you're keeping cool as the southern summer starts making its appearance. Can't wait to hear from you. We pray for you always and know you are doing the Lord's work.

Love you,

Mom xxoo

End of school year

May 20, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Can you believe that the girls only have one week left of school? Well, maybe you haven't really been keeping track, but it's weird having them get out so early. They are very excited to be out and moving onto another grade. Kristina still has to take finals this week and was studying tonight with Caleb and Claire, so she's not looking forward to the week as much as Leah and Nikki who get to have field days, watch movies, have parties, clean their tables with shaving cream, etc, etc.

One thing I'm looking forward to this week is Kristina's state championship lacrosse game this Tuesday evening against Centennial. It should be a good game. Last time we played them, we won in a sudden death over time, so it may be close. They play at Rocky Mountain.

Leah had her championship game on Saturday, but they lost by a couple points. They went undefeated the whole season until the very end when they lost one game, so they really had the best record, but had a bad day on their last day at Ann Morrison park. Nikki is convinced more than ever now that she wants to play next year and she was even talking about how you'd be able to come to her last game of the year next year. Now that's thinking and planning ahead.  :)

Kristina had her end of the year concert last Tuesday. I thought everyone did a great job and Seth managed to keep things moving along at a pretty good clip so it didn't go on too long. Kristina is very excited to be in Sonous next year and she's also going to be playing bass in Premium Blend the first semester and singing in it the second semester. So she brought home the big bass to keep over the summer. One of my friends, Erika Soelberg, will be the choir booster president next year, so you know what that means when you're friends with the president. She's already given me the word that I'm in it with her. So we'll see how busy that keeps me.

Also this week I have academies to go to. My presidency and I will go up this Wednesday to Legacy. We'll do much of the same as we did last year, but I'm the only one in my presidency who actually went last year. The other two have now been released, so the new ones don't even know what this is all about. We'll definitely play the numbers game with them again, that's always a winner, then we'll each take some time talking with them. I remember it being a lot of fun last year, but this past week I've been working on what I'm going to talk about. Kristina goes to her first academy the following week. I'm excited for her.

Tonight we also had Quinn come over for games, etc. He's taking off for Missouri in two days, so he's making the rounds with all his friends one last time for the summer. I heard some SSB's going on downstairs. He's very funny and has been taking his mission president's admonition about getting married very seriously and has been putting in quite a bit of flirting, but he's always had a flirty side. Today in Sacrament, one of the seniors, Preston Tiegs, who spoke said he learned an important lesson from Quinn Hugentobler when he came to mission prep and spoke. I thought to myself, wow, I wonder what great insight Quinn shared with all of them. Well, Preston said he learned that all the girls loved Quinn and they really loved all returned missionaries, and even though he was always planning on serving a mission, now more than ever he had even more motivation to serve. I thought that was very funny.

Thank you for slipping a little note in during the week. You know I love hearing from you and that you were in your new area. I can't wait to hear all about it.  I was telling the elders in our area about what you were doing and they thought that sounded cool. One of them said his brother or cousin served in your mission just last year but is home now. His name is Elder Ika. Did you know him? He's Tongan.

Last night I helped at Melanie Hugentobler's wedding reception. It was fun being there the whole time and getting to see everyone and especially getting to help Jodie. Melanie looked beautiful and happy. Her husband Christian is a very patient young man which will come in handy... :) Many people there asked about you and wanted to know how you were doing.

Dad had to work again today. He seems to be doing his full share of Sunday shifts now. It was truly a tender mercy for him that while he was Bishop he worked at a place that totally understood his calling and he rarely worked on Sunday. I know he's feeling a bit out of it with our new ward because of that, but I told him I still don't know over half the people there and I go every week.

Be sure to give us your new address too so we can send a couple more packages your way and let us know what your days are like now, what your responsibilities are, all about your companion, etc. I hope you are doing well, meeting lots of new people and having plenty of opportunities to share your testimony. I pray that you will have the power of discernment in the work you are doing so you can led to those who are pure in heart and have pure intent. 

Have a great week and remember always who you are and who's guiding your very steps each day.

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Mother's Day 2012

May 14, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

It was GREAT talking with you this weekend. You look good, you sound happy and even through all your fun humor I could feel a sweet spirit of Christ coming through and into our home. I love that you are serving the Lord 24/7. This one decision alone, deciding to serve a mission, will be source of happiness throughout your whole life. I love serving the Lord in any calling I receive. It's always an honor to be doing my part in building the kingdom one soul at a time.

Well, not much has happened since we spoke  haha. I'm just cleaning up from all the cooking that took place yesterday. Here are some pics of my wonderful mother's day meal. Hope you're not hungry, because my food was delicious.

 Making bruschetta with the artisan bread

 Caprese salad-my new all time favorite salad

 Artisan bread loaf-prep time 5 minutes. Sean made it.

Chicken alfredo casserole-yummy

Jumping for the ball after the draw...we love how the ball is actually on its way down.

We'll try to get some pics of Leah this week. Playoffs are this week for both of them. Kristina plays in the quarterfinals tonight, semi-finals on Wed and next week is the championship game. So we'll keep you posted.

I forgot to tell you that Zach Crosgrove got his mission call-Guatemala, leaving in August. Megan Leifson put her papers in yesterday, so we should have her news in a couple weeks.

I hope you're having a fun time with all the Elders in Franklin, sounds like a party apartment to me. Can't wait to hear about your new assignment and keep me posted about Drew. I know I don't know her, but I think about her and pray for her.

I'll close with one thing that I remember from the talks yesterday at church. The graduating seniors spoke.  One of the guys spoke about inspiring women in the world and mentioned a few of them and the wonderful things they accomplished in their lives, Juliet Howe and Audrey Hepburn. Then he talked about inspired women, his grandmother and mother and what they have done in their lives in their families, callings and with friends. He talked about the difference between being inspiring and being inspired and that we should always strive to be inspired in our actions and all else will fall into place in the Lord's plan in the Lord's way-don't worry about trying to be inspiring. I loved what he said. It was very profound. 

I love you so much Alex, just can't really put it into words, but I hope you always know how I feel, how tender it is to me (oh, great, now I can't see cuz I'm crying) and how happy it makes me to know that you know for yourself that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that we are Heavenly Father's children, away from Him for a brief moment in time, learning our lessons, developing faith and then helping many others know the same things. I love that we get confirmations of the spirit constantly throughout our lives, not just once. It would be like me telling you I love you just one time in life and expecting that to be good enough. 

Have a wonderful week!!

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Sean's birthday

May 6, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Just finished some rousing family games. Well, actually it was just Sean, Leah, Nikki and I, but it was a lot of fun. It's a new game that you and Austin and Cameron should like a lot. Kristina just returned home from the Braithwaite's where she was working on her personal progress with Tracey. Tracey has some of her young women over occasionally and helps them with their personal progress goals. Kirk left earlier today...oops forgot to mention he came home for the weekend. I think he just needed to get some wash done and he's getting bored living in an apartment all by himself. Dad had to work today so we did most our b-day celebrating yesterday.

Yesterday we went to the mall where Sean was working and we took him out to lunch--well, not actually out to lunch. We took him to the food court-woohoo. Then in the afternoon we all went to the new Avengers 3D movie. It was really good.

Today was a good Sabbath day. I enjoyed our testimony meeting because it gave me a chance to get to know some new people and hear their stories and feel their testimonies. There are still a ton of people I don't know yet.

Still no word on Kirk and Sarah's visa. Technically we're supposed to hear something this week. It will officially be five months since they sent it in and that's how long it's supposed to take. So they're very anxious about it and frankly, so am I. I would like them to just be able to move forward in life.

I'm going to call BYU tomorrow morning to see if your paperwork has been processed yet. If so, I will email you again so you can let your president know to get his endorsement in. They said it would take 3-5 days to process your end of it. At least I got you a place to live in the same ward as Austin and Cameron. Cameron's mom can't believe that he has changed his mind and wants to go to BYU. She's still in shock about that. Also I called Elder Prudencio and he knows we'll be coming to pick you up, so it's all arranged. We just have to make the reservations now. We're going to wait until after we talk with you on Mother's Day. 

I couldn't believe when you said that Drew was taking off for a month. I'm praying for her because I know that will be difficult. Have you made any other contacts this week?  I spoke with my friend Maria this week and she is anxious to start getting her copies of the Liahona in her home. Maybe if it's laying around, her husband will pick it up and read it.

So you survived the quilt expo, huh? I told you there'd be tons of women all over the place. Those are like the places Jan and I would go to to sell to those ladies. They come with tons of money, in good moods and ready to talk. It's pretty fun being on the selling end.

Pres. Stafford was asking about you last week in my ppi. He was asking about your future plans, etc and I told him you changed your mind about chemical engineering. He said that was his degree and even though there are varied fields you can go into with that, he's glad he's out of that now and really enjoys appraising commercial sites for businesses. He said the chemical engineering degree is one of the most difficult also. He says he knows you well and also knows you will do very well in whatever field you pursue so he's not worried about you at all.

Just so you know for this coming Sunday, Mother's Day, our ward meets from 11-2 MST. We're usually home by 2:20 or so, so whatever time works for you, we'll be home all day just waiting for your call. :)  Are we going to skype again? Our skype address is Thompson6idaho. Or if you want us to call you on a cell, just let us know.

The rest of the family is doing well. You should be getting a package from us this week or maybe you already got it. Dakota sounds really happy on her mission and Cole is trying to figure out what to do in life. He's thinking of going to LDS Business College. Axel is almost through with law school, Cameron is officially practicing law now but is finding it very time consuming, more than he ever thought. Grandpa is still not letting go of the Winn (probably for good reason). I need to plan another trip to Calif to get more of his life history done. Jan and Jeff are moving this week to Santa Maria in central Calif. Things are always changing.

I'm keeping busy with Stake Relief Society. I love the work, the sisters and I honestly feel the ward RS presidents are awesome and I learn a lot from them. I'm also still typing blessings for the new patriarch. He doesn't get as many per week, but it's slowly picking up. I think no one wants to be the first one. :) Dad and I have been making plans for the yard, trying to get it in shape especially if we're going to have an open house here this summer. 

We've have so much rain lately that the Boise River is overflowing and there's a danger of flooding in some areas. It's beautiful to see it overflowing and running so high and fast though. I really miss seeing all the water from Hilton Head.

Have a fantastic week and share your testimony as often as you can, that's why you're there.

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Quinn's Home

April 29, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Well, another elder safely home. Dad and I went to the airport Thursday and greeted Quinn as he came home. Only his immediate family was there and dad and I stood off to the side and waited for a bit. I was crying and he wasn't even my son. It's just so good to see him and to see you missionaries as you return. Melanie was there and she's getting married in 2 weeks, Joel came and he had a full beard and a mullett. He was quite the site. Last night we went to Hugentobler's for an open house. I took care of the food for it, so it was fun to be there the whole time and see everyone who came by. Then today we went to the 6th ward for his homecoming and Quinn did such a good job with his talk. He didn't actually tell us much about his mission, but he did call us all to repentance. :)  He and Joel are taking off in 3 weeks to go to Kansas to sell security systems (who isn't?). They'll be selling with Oliver Erickson.

Also this week I went to Melanie Hugentobler's bridal shower given by Melanie Cameron. It was a kitchen shower which means all our gifts were something for her kitchen. She got lots of good stuff. Danielle Viehwig was there and her wedding was this weekend, which was a bit hard on Quinn. He got home on Thursday and went to her reception Friday night. 

It was fun going to the old 6th ward. It basically seemed the same especially with so many of us returning for a visit today. I'm still not used to our new ward yet. I'm trying to meet one new person each Sunday. I sat by someone today who just moved here from Dallas. They adopted all four of their children and just returned from the Congo with their most recent adoption. So we exchanged adoption/Africa/new ward stories.

Today we had Jared over for dinner and games. Kendra is out of town, so he's batching it. Scott Adcock and some of his kids came over also later on and flew airplanes in our backyard, so that was pretty entertaining for all of us. While we were out there, the Hansen's came walking by including Derek and Kimmi, so they stopped in also. Then just after scripture reading tonight, Mel and Quinn stopped by. I love having people stop by especially on Sundays.

Both Kristina and Leah's lacrosse teams are still undefeated. Some games have been pretty close, but they are all fun to go to. Nikki says she definitely wants to play next year. We have another week of games.

Kristina had a date Friday night with a guy that has a crush on her. Sounds like it was a fun date. They went back to his house and did Iron Chef with the other couple. Then they went ice skating and then to a pizza place (which his family owns) where they practiced throwing pizza dough and made monkey bread and breadsticks. 

Then on Saturday night, I guess there was a huge game of Fugitive in Eagle, at least a hundred kids showed up from a facebook invite. We let Kristina go but warned her that people would most likely call the police. They were starting at Seven Oaks and had to end up at the Middle School. About an hour and a half into it, dad and I just happened to be driving down Floating Feather back home and we saw tons of kids running and walking down the street and a police car pulling over a truck with lots of kids in the back. I thought for sure we'd see Kristina in the back of the truck, but when we didn't I decided to call her and warn her. She was back aways on Floating Feather and said she was so tired that she wanted a ride back to her car, so we went and picked her up. Turns out the police just wanted to know when the game was going to end and then they let them all go. Kristina says the police even do a fugitive game of their own once a year in Eagle with a cop car looking for the fugitives. That would probably be fun. It seems like I remember you playing that game once.

I loved your letter from last week. It just sounded like it was a wonderful week. Those pictures from the upper room at the Methodist church were cool too. Pretty impressive that you got to meet there. I also love hearing all the little miracles that are happening around Drew taking the lessons. I hope she is doing well. I love hearing your Bro. Potter stories. There's always Bro. Potters in every ward.

Can't believe this next week is May already. I know Kirk and Sarah are really getting antsy about their visa situation. It better come this week! It's also the last month of school for the girls. That's crazy. Nikki will be in middle school!! No kids in elementary. (actually I'm pretty happy about that)

I'm loving the new wood floor dad put down in my quilt room. The carpet was getting so old and dirty. Everyone likes it except for Roxy who refuses to step on the floor. Eddy could care less though. Good ole Eddy. Also we have a new screen door on the family room door that is magnetic (As Seen on TV) so Roxy and Eddy can just walk through it and let themselves in and out of the house. Eddy, of course, walked right through first thing, but it took a couple days for Roxy to realize it was a safe and good thing. Eddy would always walk through first and open it and Roxy would then run through. This is where Eddy has the advantage of not being much of a thinker.

Jared said Austin and Cameron are signed up to live at Liberty Square for next fall, so I was thinking of putting your name in there too since I haven't heard any plans from Dallas at this point. I think it would be better to at least get your name in somewhere. Let me know if you have any big objections to that.

That's about it here. We're all just plugging along trying to do our best. I hope you are well, happy and always in tune with the spirit. There's a scripture that says it all, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." D&C 82:10  I love that He has made a promise to us that He is bound when we do what He says. I believe that He truly loves us and wants to be bound to His promises so that He can bless us as any loving parent would be. I can totally understand that kind of love being a parent. 

Have a week of faith, hope and joy.

I love you very much.

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Sean's Home

April 22, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Well, we shipped one son off and got another one in return. Kirk is all situated in his married student housing in Rexburg, living all alone with only a couple pieces of furniture, a mattress and a folding table. He went to his ward today and said there were a lot of fun people in the ward and met the Bishop, so he said he'll like living there even though he has no roommates (as of yet). He likes his classes a lot. I guess they get a lot more interesting when you're just about to graduate.

Sean came home this week and has now taken over the basement as his domain. He's working at the Blue and Orange store. In fact, his first day was Saturday and it just happened to be the day that Kellen Moore was coming in to sign autographs. So Sean had to go in to work at 6am. People had started lining up two days before. They passed out 400 tickets for the first people in line and the tickets were gone in the first few minutes at 4:30am. So the people who came at five thinking they'd be pretty early were not happy. Sean took the picture of Kellen and Leah (the one I took of them when we ran into him at Best Buy a few months ago) and had him sign it. He signed it personally for her. Sean said it was the only one he signed personally with her name on it. The rest were all just his signature. Sean then took it and had it framed before he brought it home.Leah is very happy with it.  Here it is:

Today we went to Ryan McKell's homecoming. His dad spoke first, so it was a really nice meeting. Ryan did a great job and told some stories from his mission and lessons learned. He's here for the summer and will be working with his dad. He told me to tell you hello. I also spoke with Bro. Borup who said he's looking forward to your date and will be planning it.

We had a good Sabbath day today, even though the little girls thought we went to too many church meetings. I hope you had a great day too. Did you have any investigators show up to your Stake Conference-like Drew?  Our home teacher came tonight too. Mike Roberts, around the corner with the tennis court, is our home teacher. We all sat out on the back porch on the couches. He said he didn't want to leave because it was so nice out there. I'm loving this spring weather except for the wasps.

Still no word on the fiance visa. According to the government timeline, we should hear something by May 6th. I sure hope we do. It's hard not knowing when things are going to happen for Kirk and Sarah. Keep them in your prayers.

This coming week I'm going to a bridal shower for Melanie Hugentobler. She's getting married on May 11.  Then on Thursday, Quinn comes home so dad and I will try to get to the airport. I'm also helping Jodie with an open house for him at their house this Saturday night. We'll go hear him speak on Sunday. It seems like we're going to homecomings and farewells almost every week now. I love it.

Megan Tanner got her mission call last week. She's going to the Richmond Virginia mission and leaving in August.

Kristina is still in the midst of auditions for next years' choirs. She got call-backs to Sonous, Acapella and Premium Blend.

I'm glad to hear that you're having fun with your "roadshow" to all the different stakes. Are there speaking parts with it too, or is it just music?  The group picture you sent last week, was that the mission choir group?

In my scripture study this week, I ran across something I had written down a while back and thought I'd share it with you. It's in Alma 19 where it's talking about Abish, who was a lone convert in her area, and I wrote down a quote by Melvin J. Ballard (he was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve) about why there are sometimes one or two people in an entire city who has accepted the gospel. He said, "Why is it that sometimes only one of a city or household receives the gospel? It was made known unto me that it is because the righteous dead who have received the gospel in the spirit world are exercising themselves  and in answer to their prayers, elders of the Church are sent to the homes of their posterity that the gospel might be taught to them and through their righteousness they might be privileged to have a descendent in the flesh do the work for their dead kindred."   You are obviously working in concert with many on both sides of the veil.

I told my friend Maria that I got her a subscription to the Liahona and she was so excited. I'm hoping that her husband will just happen to pick it up and read it occasionally to start softening his heart. We talked about Family Nights this week. She loves hearing anything to do with keeping the family together.

About our plans for August. Yes!! dad and I are planning on a trip to Nashville. We were just kind of waiting to hear if you have a release date yet. Then based on that, we can start making plans, reservations, etc. I tried to figure it out and by my calculations, you will be released the week of Aug. 6.  Is that right or do you know yet? About how many days would you like to tour around your mission after you're released? Once we make plans, then we call Salt Lake and let them know when our flight home is and they either book you on the same flight, or they just reimburse us. That's the way it was with Sean and Kirk anyway. So just let your side know that we will be coming there. We can get into more specifics later, but I'll be watching airfares, etc. Let us know if there's anything else we need to do on our side.

Better send this on its way. I hope you can always feel our prayers for you. There's never a day that goes by that I don't pray, think or speak about you. Have an awesome week!

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Tax Day

April 15, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Yes, it's tax day, but we got ours sent in a few days ago, so it's just a nice Sabbath day. I was going to be taking off today after church with Kirk to help him get set up in his married student housing apartment, but he got an email just yesterday from the school saying that they wouldn't allow him to live in that housing since he doesn't have the visa yet. I'm not so upset about the decision as I am the fact that they waited until two days before school starts to let him know. He's already put money down and signed a contract with them, so now we have to figure things out. I have to make some mean mommy phone calls tomorrow to the school and see what we can do about it. So he's going to wait to leave until tomorrow since he doesn't even know where he's going to live. It's a little bit of a mess.

I had a nice Sunday. The weather's great. We just went on a walk. Kristina and Leah are at a youth fireside. Bishop Bingham has those once a month, so they come up frequently. Every other one, he just has the 14 and up gang. Today at church all the priests sang. There were 18 guys up there singing. It's an impressively large group.

Kristina had a great time at her first prom. The guys really did a good job planning it. For the day date, they came and blindfolded the girls for the first 45 minutes of the date. Kristina had no idea where she was. Then all of a sudden they picked her up and set her into what she thought was a sled on an incline. Two girls were in the sled and their dates got in and pushed off. Down the hill they went when all of a sudden they were in water. Kristina said the girls were screaming. Then they could hear the guys rowing when they ran into ground again. The dates picked them out of the boat and set them on some rocks. Then all of a sudden they could hear police officers on their megaphones yelling to them that they weren't allowed to be there. So the guys took the blindfolds off. Preston Tiegs then rowed back over and spoke with the officers telling them that his dad owned land in there and he had to get hold of one of his parents to prove it. Then all was well and they all had a picnic lunch on this little island. Afterwards they rowed back over and took the girls home.

That night they all met at our house for pictures. Most of them as you can see were outside. From there they went to PF Chang's and then to the dance. After the dance they went to Myler's for pazookies (which are now a crowd favorite) I think we were the first ones to have them at our house after a dance. 

We had the missionaries over to our house last night too amid all this. One is from Samoa and the other from American Samoa originally. It was fun having them for dinner and dad gave them cans of Spam as a going away gift. They were pretty excited about that. I told them they could come by our house any time when they ran low on Spam. They said they would.

Last night we also went to Jake and Kayla's wedding reception. Devin and Dallas were both there and pretty much most of the 6th, 8th, 9th wards. Dallas says he's now going to Hawaii to sell security systems because his dad is going there to do the same thing. I guess Royce is having a hard time with jobs with now. They will be there for a couple months and the entire family will even go to Hawaii for a few weeks of that time. Sounds pretty fun to me.

At the reception I talked with Bro. and Sis. Borup. He's so funny. He told me to tell you that he is planning on having the first date with you when you get home, so he's keeping the third week of August open for you. He says to count on it! I told him I'd tell you so that you can put it on your calendar.

Last week we spent a lot of our time going to lax games. Both Kristina and Leah have great teams this year and win most of the time. At one of the games I got to see Jill Erickson. She looked really good and happy. She said she's engaged and will be getting married in December and showed me his picture. Eli is frustrated because he hasn't been able to get his travel visa yet. I think he's being sent to Texas.

Were you able to get answers to your questions about signing up for classes?  Let me know if there's anything I can do on my end.

Sean is coming home this week for the summer and has a few more finals to get through first. So we'll switch out Kirk for Sean this week.

How was your week?  Have you been able to make any progress with any of your investigators? I know that must be frustrating when people aren't responding. I'm frustrated that I can't make any headway with Maria, but I'm learning patience. Have you been able to teach Drew?

I love that you're doing so much service for people. I think about how Christ served so many people yet many of those people were not converted, they were just loved. You're doing what Christ would do and being a disciple of Christ should be our goals. It's all a part of our mission as members of the tribe of Israel and more specifically the tribe of Ephraim.

I asked the elders this question when they were here yesterday...how often do you run into people who have never heard of our church?  Just curious.

Well, Kristina and Leah just got home. They had a fun time. They had to act out one of the talks from conference. They said their team didn't do too well but they still had fun. 

Just so you know, right now Kirk and Sarah have a date set of June 22nd. They changed it since last week, but we're really hopeful that they will get the visa and be able to move forward. Our family and Sarah's family all fasted today asking for the visa to move along quickly. I'll keep you posted on that and on Kirk's BYU-I housing dilemma.

I hope you have a great week. Keep the pictures coming. We love those! Let me know if there's every anything I can do on my end to help you...pray, email and chat with someone, etc. I love feeling a little part of your mission.

Love you,

Mom xxoo

 Nikki relaxing on the porch with a wet towel and rocks over her eyes.