Ben 2/24/14

***Here is Ben's Email. He talks a ton about basketball.

Nate's team will play 3 more games this weekend and

WHEN they win all of them they will be STATE CHAMPS!

Ben talks a ton about his "Gators" too!  He loves the people he

is serving. He also mentions his companion getting transferred

tomorrow and our spring break trip to Kauai. (We haven't told him 

before now because we didn't want him to feel bad.) I included

his letter to his Mission President at the end. ENJOY!*** 

 

Happy late birthday, happy early championship!

God bless you all for your faith and example to me! I think it is wise
just to get it done. If anyone on the team isn't focused on
basketball 1000% right now with three games left- now would be a good
time to get in their face- like as in you would regret not yelling at
or picking up someone by the jersey Tuesday if focus isn't 1000%
obviously it's not going to be a run your guts out time but there
should be a lot of focused offense and defense ran and a lot of free
throws and post moves after practice. Don't worry about anything else
for 5 more days. After you win it's "we kill to win again" rather than
we live to play again.

This week was miracle filled! First one we were in a richer
neighborhood, which is rare because most people prepared for the
gospel are usually middle class. Anyways we were looking for a less
active and I just felt prompted to get off my bike and talk to this
guy working on a project. He was kind of a Tim McGraw lookin guy ha ha
he was shirtless and had just cracked open a beer. Anyways we got
talking to him about the gospel and he opened up and told us that he
still has faith but he can't help but be bitter about something that
happened to him. About a year and a half ago his only son Jeremy (18)
was out too late and he got taken by some guys and tortured in some
messed up ways and then shot in the back of the head with a shotgun
and then they dumped gasoline on his body and burned it. That might
sound pretty vivid but I got the vivid version trust me. And then he
told me I looked exactly like his son and that's why he wanted to talk
to us. Anyways we were able to answer a lot of his questions and teach
him about the plan of salvation. He goes to a nondenominational church
which is like a missionaries worst nightmare because it's basically
just a party! His name is James and we were meant to meet him.

Also this week we found Linda girlfriend of Brian (a member not
currently partaking of blessings) They go to the same party church as
James, but Brian remembers about the priesthood. They will do
wonderfully. The spirit has really been strong when we teach them.
Besides Linda wanting to hold the priesthood all is good.

Also Vivian and Mark were a miracle find this week. We were eating
lunch with Bro E. a brother we've been helping get back into
church, we just encouraged him to ask his friends if we could help
them in any way... Well three hours later we got a call from him
asking us to come help his friends move some furniture from the truck.
Manna from heaven! So we did and then we got talking to Vivian and she
pretty much understands well the apostasy, she started teaching us
about the Nicene creed and stuff and we just nodded our heads like
yes keep teaching us the restoration. So the only real thing is now
she has to know that God already restored his church, she doesn't have
to restore it all by herself! What a blessing!

Also Chris! We've been teaching the D. Family since I got here and
no progress. But when their 17 yr old grandson came to live with them
who has been through a lot. Hates his mom and had a sister die etc.
They are willing to do anything (so far) to I help their grandson.
Chris is a good kid. We taught him a lot about the gospel and he's
pretty excited about the priesthood. Manna from heaven!

Armando is the funniest Puerto Rican man you've ever met! He just has
us rolling on the floor all the time!!! He did a temple tour Saturday.
Pray that he can give up coffee! I can't wait for you guys to meet
him! When he makes his date that will set up perfect for him to take
his endowments out when we come to visit. The tidds and Shawntrese and
Luis And James V. all is going good!

Anyways I love your emails more than anything! Yes Elder Davis is
getting transferred tomorrow! We were just getting the work down I
would love to do another transfer with him, this week was record breaking in
not only key indicators for conversion, but also spiritual
progression, and also fun! The mission is the funnest time of my life!

Matt-man! have fun at whatever you're doing! I hear
whisperings all the time about how awesome you are! I forwarded that
picture of you  to all my buddies! You are a legend among
missionaries! No sleepovers on the red mountain, but you build your
fort my man! I thought about you a lot this week man!!! My favorite
part is you are taller than mom! You're going to have grown a foot
from when I left to when I come home!!! It's exciting!

Kauai will be fun! I'm not jealous
except you get to be with each other! As nice as surfing sounds it's a
bigger blessing to be familiar with a good ward and start to get the
ward on their feet! The sad thing is half the dinners we go to are on
the sisters side and we end up doing a lot of their referral work. I
wish we had all the ward to ourselves but I guess that's kinda selfish.

Nate thanks for your email this week! If no one else thought of you I
did! I can't believe you are 18!!! We really are pretty close in age!
Man there is plenty of things to focus on later, I have lots to say
about family and the mission, but that is for next week. This is
probably the last time you'll hear from me before the big dance! Just
know I love you so much and I know you're a winner! This is something
you deserve! You're a good kid and you have worked hard to be here
now!!!  Go hard in the paint!!! Win brother win!!!

God Bless the Warrior Nation

Elder G #20

President Berry,

Wow! The greatest thing of the transfer... that is a big question that
could go a lot of different ways. I think really the greatest thing was to watch
The Lords arm work in people's lives and the spirit help people to be
baptized and others prepare for baptism this next transfer. There is
always the biproduct and the blessings we receive and the lessons we
learn. I truly loved my companion this transfer and we are unified.
Ultimately though, the people. The people we serve is really what
motivates me to strive to be more than just a Utah teenager going
through the motions, and to be a little more lost in this great work.
The people make me want to be a little more die-hard for this great
cause. They are the greatest thing that has happened this transfer.

Elder Gottfredson

Kathy 2/24/14

February 24, 2014

Dear Family and Friends—

            It’s a lovely cool day today.  But Saturday we got to 60 degrees and so there’s been a major melt of all the glacial ice along the streets!  It’s supposed to snow again Wednesday but I think that it won’t last long.  Saturday sure gave a taste of spring and I’m going to start looking for time to go out walking.

            Been a very busy week.  I was quite discouraged with our FHE two Mondays ago, but last week restored my faith as we had a large group come and participate.  The trio of Sisters did a great job on their activity and everyone there seemed to have a lot of fun.  One family came back from a morning trip to Philadelphia and brought three pizzas and some soda with them.  That went over well, I promise you.  After the evening was through we went to the car and discovered one of the MW2 members trying to get rid of snow so he could back his van out of a driveway, so Lynn grabbed a shovel and heaved to.  The man was very grateful.

            Tuesday was temple day and we were busier than the previous week, but not by much.  I spent some time in Initiatory being a patron because three workers showed up and there were no patrons.  Then a strange thing happened—as I sat down to begin the process a really warm, peaceful perhaps even what can be described as “delicate” feeling came over me.  The longer I stayed the more peaceful the feeling became.  I did five names, I believe, when a patron did show up.  I changed into my regular white clothes and helped do the ordinance work for the lady who came.  She stayed for an hour.  And even though a nice feeling remained, it wasn’t the same as when I was the patron.  Then I got a note from Nancy the next morning saying that she had an unusually peaceful and quiet day on Tuesday—the best day she’s had in a long while.  She reminded me in the note that that was the 2^nd anniversary of Cheryl’s death.  Soooo—did Cher have something to do with our very special day? 

            BTW—Tuesday was also Andralyn’s twelfth birthday and she is now going into Young Women’s.  They do grow up!  We love you Andralyn—you are the best!!

            Wednesday was Institute prep.  I had to finish getting ready for that night’s lesson and have the next  week’s lesson ready to be handed out.  I was ready to go and actually went to church early to do all the copying and stapling.  We had ten members show up for class—two were new, so that was great.  We were discussing part of the Lectures on Faith and much to my surprise when I asked the class how many had even heard of the Lectures on Faith, only one lady raised her hand.  She had been raised in the church, went inactive, and then came back so she had a very small acquaintance with the Lectures.  Although there was some good discussion and important information given I didn’t feel completely comfortable with the lesson and will stick to Ensign or Conference talks from now on.  The best part of the evening was a BYU professor’s slide presentation on the magnitude of the universe with written dialogue (very gospel oriented) on some of the slides.  It was a most excellent presentation.  You’ll have to ask Lynn where he found it.

            I was up and going early Thursday morning because I had a doctor’s appointment at nine.  Despite being there on time, I still had to wait a long time to see the doctor.  The rash is now close to being gone so that part was easy but I reminded her about a mole-like thing that appeared three months ago.  Yes, indeed, that needs to be checked.  She pumped the thing up with anesthetic and sliced off the top so quick and neat—pretty cool to watch.  It was a biopsy procedure and if there is anything wrong I’ll get a phone call about it.   I then fast walked to the nearest train station, did the train ride, walked to the apartment and did a few things for a half-hour before having to go to the “F” train to the temple.  I got there just in time to be ushered into the room to be the witness couple with Lynn.  We had thirteen missionaries there to enjoy the experience with.  Got to see the newest movie, this time face-on.  I love that new movie!  Afterwards we gathered the Elders together, took them through Central Park and then to a place on 57^th which has a good view of Times Square.  There was a lot of talk then about coming back and really seeing Times Square.  We got back to the mission office late and that caused problems on the way home—took us more than twice as long to get back because of traffic.  But, we did get home ok and reflected on what a great day it was.

            Oh, just a note—the kids in New York get a one week vacation in February so there were a lot of kids on the trains.  I love that because I like to interact with the youth and find out what their activity is going to be for the day.  Many of them were with moms who were taking them to museums. It’s easier for me to talk to kids than adults.

            After eating some dinner, Lynn and I went to visit Carline and Zebb Pierre.  She has been doing better with her financial situation so that was good news.  We will go with her to court on March 4^th to support her as she tries to get money from Zebb’s father.  Lynn has been showing the video about Joseph Millett who gave flour to a man that was out and was told in answer to prayer to go to Joseph Millett for flour.  We’ve shown this video to several home teaching families with kids and the response has been so positive.  The kids were able to answer questions Lynn asked them about the movie and understood the concept of personal revelation and helping others.  We need to use more of the church’s videos, I can tell.

            Went shopping Friday morning then got back in time so Lynn and I could go to lower Manhattan to eat at the Delmonico Restaurant.  The Delmonico Restaurant is a very famous high-end restaurant which has been operating continuously since 1837, I believe.  It was the first restaurant in the United States that was only used as a restaurant rather than part of some kind of room and board situation.  Two of their famous “inventions” are Baked Alaska and Lobster Newburg.  This past week has been restaurant week in NY and many restaurants have a set menu for lunch at a reduced rate so people will come out and try their fare.  We got there at a good time, before the rush came in.  Most of the customers were young 20 and 30 somethings who were working in the financial district.  We were a little concerned that we might not receive good service by not ordering wine, but much to our surprise most of the people that were there didn’t order wine—just had water like us.  I had their one pound Delmonico steak ( I think I finished ¼ of it) and Lynn had the Lobster Newburg.  I’m glad I got the steak—like it better than the lobster.  I did try their version of Baked Alaska and was very disappointed since I didn’t care for the flavor of ice cream that came in the middle.  But, that was the only thing that was a disappointment.  The place sure is elegant inside and we DID get excellent service.  They had a cook book for half price which has the recipes for some of their exotic dishes—more of a coffee table kind of thing than a practical thing for me, but ½ price was too much to resist so a copy went home with me.

            On Saturday afternoon we had the Tenney’s over for lunch.  They are replacing the Ahlborn’s as CES teacher for the Young Single Adult groups in our stake.  She’s not taught in the church system and he has taught in seminary, so dealing with the older group is going to be a challenge for them.  They mentioned that the Staten Island group has dwindled down to just two people and they can’t justify the cost of going on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge for just two people.  If things don’t change they wanted to know if they could teach our Midwood group.  It is a tempting thought, but I like teaching my class.

            Church was fairly normal with the exception that one former evangelical turned Mormon feels that we are making a big mistake studying the Old Testament in S.S. class, and was more than happy to make a big deal out of it.  I had to talk to him afterwards about what he was trying to say since it's hard to understand his accent.  I did stay afterwards for ward choir, or actually, ward female quartet.  But, we’re singing a wonderful arrangement of two hymns and I enjoyed the experience.  In the afternoon we went to see Tanya and her mother, Lana.  Lana believes strongly in feeding her company so we had some delicious Russian dumplings—one with chicken inside, the other with sour cherries.  We also had cheese, oranges and dark chocolate, an interesting combination for sure.  We showed Tanya the video I talked about and she was really good at catching on to what was happening.  We had a great experience with them.

            Talked with Bob and Moira and their cute family last night.  I’m guessing most of you know that Emily decided to play hairdresser on herself.  Moira took her a beauty salon so she could finish up what was started and the results are very cute looking bob.  We were Skyping on Moira’s new computer, so yay! Moira.  New toys are always such fun. 

            Also as many of you know, Margie’s mother has been having some serious problems with one of her eyes.  We’re waiting to see exactly what the problem is.  Margie has requested prayers for her mom. 

            The Church is true.  I’m grateful for the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon.  I’m going to be speaking in church in a few weeks about the Articles of Faith and decided to just get it done last night.  Reviewing our church doctrine is such a satisfying experience.  I  just wish I could let everyone experience what I experienced in the temple this past Tuesday— and just like Joseph Millett, I am glad to know that God knows who I am too.  I often wonder who hovers around when I’m at the temple. 

Love to you all—Kathy/Mom

           

           

            

Aaron 2/24/14

February 24, 2014

First off, we were sent an awesome quote this past week from the mission. It's from President David O. McKay about happiness. PASTE!

David O. McKay’s 10 Rules For Happiness
1. Develop yourself by self-discipline.
2. Joy comes through creation—sorrow through destruction. Every living thing can grow; use the world wisely to realize soul growth.
3. Do things that are hard to do.
4. Entertain up building thoughts. What you think about when you do not have to think about shows what you really are.
5. Do your best this hour, and you will do better the next.
6. Be true to those who trust you.
7. Pray for wisdom, courage, and a kind heart.
8. Give heed to God’s messages through inspiration. If self-indulgence, jealousy, avarice, or worry have deadened your response, pray to the Lord to wipe out these impediments.
9. True friends enrich life. If you would have a friend, be one.
10. Faith is the foundation of all things—including happiness.

Number 10 has been a big one that I've pondered much on this past week. With whatever struggles I'm dealing with, or even when I'm doing awesome, I have always felt the most happy at those times when my faith is strongest. So it's my goal to always increase my Faith! I know that I'm imperfect, but the Lord has promised me that he will guide me if I believe. "Be not faithless, but believing." As I've been reading though Jesus The Christ again, I've noticed how often Christ has to remind his apostles to have faith, and repeatedly addresses them as "O ye of little faith." If the Apostles of the Lord had "little faith", then how weak is mine? Would I believe enough to cast out a devil in His name, or to walk on water if the opportunity were presented to me? Do I have enough faith to wake up ready to do as the Lord asks every hour of every day without fail? Do I have enough faith that he will guide me to those who are ready to embrace the Gospel? I pray that I do, and I have made it my goal to increase my Faith every day, little by little. And it has already brought me much happiness!! It's amazing the contrast between feeling faithless and feeling faithful! I urge each of you to take every chance you get to feed your faith, wherever it's at. It will bring you joy!

You already know half of this past week, thanks to transfers. The other half has been a little of the roller coaster, since my companion has been struggling with a whole lot of stress and a couple of our investigators are just not progressing, which is sad! But we were able to get two of our new investigators to church, both of which are part-member families, and that was awesome! Alisha just got home from a physical therapy place after a terrible car wreck last September, and we have begun teaching her, and hope to soon begin teaching her boyfriend. Her foster parents are recent converts, and she has seen the incredible change that has happened with the gospel coming into their lives, and she wants that. Josh is the son of a semi-recent convert, and he promised his Mom that he'd come to church and try it out. We hope that we will be able to sit down and teach him, since we have only been able to talk for short periods of time. Something really funny we found out though is that the same recent convert who brought their foster daughter knows Josh too! They both have incredible testimonies of the Gospel, so I pray that their influence will help him also. 

I'll have a better email next week, I promise. :)
I love and miss you all! Hope you hear from you soon!

~Elder Aaron Toombs

Ben 2/17/14

Dear family!!!

Always a blessing to hear from you! This whole mission is just a
dream! Dreams do come true! The district is really improving
especially the sisters are doing night to day better! It's crazy this
is probably my last week with Elder Davis! It has Flown!!l probably
because he's a good companion! We have a relationship like me and Ben
Smiths- which by the way the little guy turns 20 this week! Anyways ya
we are always just like Elder I wish you'd understand your purpose and
quit being so apostate! Just having fun and stuff like that! Since
he's 24 he teaches and finds and everything a lot better than a new
missionary. He's definitely one of my favorites up there with my
firstborn in the wilderness Cain aka elder Harman. By the way mom I
really wanted to do something for valentines like last year, but with
the time I had last week I wrote Brady a letter. I need no blood on my
hands. Anyways, that's too bad we let Rusty get away with one but from
the sound of it Cedar is a better team anyways. I don't know if it's
just me, but looking at the pictures of all the d hills kids they
still look like baby's! This is the big week though! Cut down those
nets! Matt-  You look sharp my friend! Like really sharp with your women!

Dude this week is
all focus! No preference no student council. Just nets and (stake pres
interview Sunday) then back to ball!!! Do it man take state! Don't
think anything but win. That would be cool to open the call on big
red, but you should have the fam go with you at least. There is a
special spirit about opening a call. You will want to remember the
people that were a part of it. It will be a wonderful day man. I still
remember the fam there and Dennis Leavitt and James McPherson and all
my best friends. Anyways for now just focus on getting your lungs your
legs and your heart right for a state championship run!

For me this week we saw miracles! I've gotten especially close with
Armando. He knows the Book of Mormon is True. We've felt the spirit
with him. He still struggles with the godhead and the plan of
Salvation in some parts but those are easy fixes. See: Christoffel
Golden Jr "the father and the son!" Also in exchanges were seeing
improvements all across the board. The biggest miracle for our area
was that we found Colleen T. Miles T. is a really cool RM with
the cutest 7 yr old daughter named Alexa! Bro T had a messy divorce
and of course bishops really have no choice but to get involved with
temple divorces. Anyways Bro T. is remarried and was super hesitant
to introduce us to his new wife. I felt prompted to teach the plan of
happiness instead of the restoration for the first lesson, which is
usually a hesitant move.  The spirit was so strong but she committed
to read and pray and I feel like slowly but surely she'll get baptized
and come contribute to this ward! He's the principal of a private
school! He's like an uncle Ryan type guy. Like picture if Ryan would
have married a non member, that's who we're teaching hahahhaha it's
fun to teach people like that where it's kind of a gamble for them but
they know it's right. Also since we are so close to Young Single Adults I lot of
people we find teach and prepare for baptism we turn over to Young Single Adult
missionaries right before baptism- so we don't really count them as
ours but it's still cool to hear about all of them getting baptized
and doing well. There are SO many people here! I love the country, but
as a missionary the city is the place! You can't really teach a
country sunset and it's a lot easier to walk between high rise
apartment doors five feet then a quarter mile walk between houses on
the outskirts of town. I love the other places for different reasons
but this is definitely the most populous. The ward is coming around
and we are starting to have a pretty good network. The Lords work will
continue to be furthered here! I could spend a happy 5 transfers here!
It's a good life! The best life really! Mom if you want a mama C from
this ward your best option is probably brother Tice! Super fun to mess with!

These are good times for the Gottfredson family!  Matt it's
weightlifting season my friend! Freshman football is already here! Hit
the weights and keep playing the off season ball as well! It can only
help! When I get home I'm going to have you train me and get me back
into shape and also I'm going to have you give me pointers for women!
Nate I was so tempted last year to sneak off and watch all the games
on line, this year I'm even more excited, but I know I can't! Just
know that of all the 1000s of fans screaming for you the next few
days, your biggest fan will not be in the gym, but will be cheering
from 2000 miles away, always in my prayers. Dad I'm so proud to be
your son! Mom I'm proud to be your Valentine! (; when I think of the
examples that you have set for me, I think of a principle I'm focusing
on a lot right now in the mission. Jesus Christ was the greatest
example of being a living testament of this great work. No one can
dispute that. His life is in the way of anyone who chooses to
disbelieve or not follow the gospel, his life is evidence irrefutable
and undeniable of the things that happened, the Book of Mormon is a
similar testimony, etc. And lately I've realized that my parents go
above and beyond in being a living testimony of the work. There is no
way an honest son or daughter could grow up in the home I grew up in
and deny the blessings and truthfulness of the gospel, and that's a
good goal for my home. I thank and recognize you for that. And I'll
always be thankful! I love you and I pray Gods choicest blessings on
our home and family! I love ya a million!

Elder G

Kathy 2/17/14

February 17, 2014

Dear Family and Friends—

            Happy President’s Day—we are most fortunate as a country to have had George Washington as the Father of our country at a most critical juncture, and Abraham Lincoln at another critical juncture.  We are celebrating in NY by having a sunny, very cold day.  We have had a lot of snow these past several weeks—more than twice the amount than normal, and it’s been difficult in many respects since having a lot of unremoveable snow in a large city where you have to park on both sides of the road just about everywhere and then have the snow turn to ice makes for lots of problems.  The train system also doesn’t like really cold temperatures and we as well as others have experienced a, well let’s just say, a sluggish system causing a lot of people grief.  It’s supposed to warm up this week. 

            Happy Birthday to dear Andralyn, whose birthday is tomorrow.  Can you believe it—she will be turning twelve!  She is celebrating by going skiing today with Sean, Kyle and Kyle’s friend.

            I’ll start out my letter by telling about yesterday.  We had ward conference yesterday which is nothing unusual.  But, they did release our RS president who has been in that position for 7 ½ years and she has been the RS president for this ward off and on for 40 years.  Alice Miller is the giant rock that holds MWI together.  She was replaced with a very nice young mother (1^st baby born four months ago) who now really has her hands full.  But, Suvi is a committed woman and she’ll bring her own special talents to the job.  They did leave Alice in the capacity of being the welfare coordinator and since half the ward is on welfare, well, Alice is vitally necessary in that position.  We also found out that the YW leader and family are moving out of our ward this week, so she was replaced too.  There are about 250 RS sisters on the rolls and about 5 young women on the rolls so you can see the difference in the size of the responsibility of the job.  No, we don’t have 250 women come to RS a week, but I’d say we get about 60-70.

            It was a long day for us yesterday—we got to church an hour early supposedly for  ward council but found out after we got there that it was going to be held after church.  Grr.  No one told us.  But, we put our time to good use by doing copying for Institute.  Had our meetings per usual, then a leadership meeting afterward, home for some dinner, then went home teaching to the Nielson’s.  They have three adorable children so it’s fun to go visit with them.  Lynn showed the video about Joseph Millett who gave flour to another needy family.  We talked to Sean’s family in the evening and caught up with what was going on with them.  Have you seen Kyle’s friends posting on Facebook where Kyle and friends are singing?  What, no?  Go to my home page and you will find it there.  Kyle has a great voice.

            Back to last Monday—I believe we had the worst attendance at FHE since we started.  It was a very cold day and that kept down the crowds.  We had the Banana family (three members) do the activity but only two ward members showed up along with the missionaries.  We still had a great time but I’ve been quite worried that our attendance has been really slacking off.

            Tuesday was temple day.  There were not a lot of patrons and so my morning was pretty boring with not a lot to do, but Lynn and I were officiators for the 2 pm session and got to see the new movie out of the corner of our eyes.   I can’t wait to see it as a patron.  Loved the movie! 

            After we were done with the temple we took the train to Times Square and found the E&E Grill House that we had made reservations for.  This was my Valentine present (that and a play) from Lynn.   We had a good meal, and the place came highly recommended, but the service was awful.  When it came time for us to get dessert, we had to wait twenty minutes for a very simple situation.  No one came to fill water/drink glasses.  But, luckily we got there really early so we had plenty of time for them to be slow.  : )

            Then we went to the Gershwin Theater to see “Wicked.”  I have been looking forward to this for quite a while; heard so many say how much they enjoyed it.  The theater is the best we’ve been in, with a good rake for the seats.  The staging was just the best.  The acting/dancing/ singing was the best (especially from the woman who played the main role).  Costuming, everything, was just wonderful.  But, I didn’t like the play.  I didn’t like the story line, neither did Lynn.  Guess we’re just too much into the movie “The Wizard of Oz” to have the plot changed the way Wicked did. 

            Wednesday was prep day for Institute and we went with the expectation that few would show up because, again, it was a cold night.  Much to our delightful astonishment, we had 10 class members show up—the most we’ve had since the start of Institute.  And, with a lesson on God, there were some new things for the members to learn and some excellent questions asked.  We had the main lesson from Pres. Hinckley’s talk on the Godhead and I read some from the King Follett Discourse, finished by barely starting into Lectures on Faith. 

            Thursday it started to snow again but not enough to keep us from going to Sr. Denniston’s place for dinner with her, Ivy Julien and a helper lady.  Sis. Denniston has always had an elegant way about her and her place reflected that, small as it was.  It was like going into a small drawing room at someone’s palace.  The things she had were not expensive, but like so many others of Caribbean ancestry, there were a lot of china/crystal knick-knacks around.  We had dinner at her elegant table set with gold dishes and silverware (gold plated) and found out the lovely place mats were made by Sis. D just the day before.  We found out that in her youth, instead of getting to go to high school like so many of her friends did, her family thought that was for kids of “higher’ breeding and so therefore she was forced to be a seamtress, which she hated until she got good enough that she found out that people would pay her personally for sewing.  She came from Jamaica and Sis. Ivy came from Trinidad—both countries with British background.  They explained that you were distinguished not by how much money you made, but by what your social class was.  There were a lot of things we discovered that night, most importantly that too many blacks from the Caribbean feel a certain sense of being socially inferior; it makes it harder for them to interact/feel comfortable with those of different races, i.e. whites.   Dinner was very nice, but more important than that, the company was delightful. 

            The next morning, I found a red bag with tissue paper and some high end chocolate in it from a high end store (called Teuschers) at Rockefeller Plaza—Lynn was still doing Valentines.  Of course he also got me a card.  But, he had also gone to the flower shop of some members of our ward and bought three long stemmed roses, the good sturdy kind.  So those three went in the vase with the still blooming carnations I bought the previous Saturday.  That afternoon I spent in the kitchen and made apple crisp, a big variety veg/relish tray,  fixed fresh broccoli which got steamed, made homemade onion soup complete with gruyere cheese (now that took time), I popped a potato in the oven and grilled a steak on our Lodge grill.  Now that was good eating!  So, dinner and a card were my gift to him.

            Saturday was shopping; Lynn went on a bike ride in the snow and then we went to the Bien-Amis and the Claude’s for home teaching.  Savannah and Sabrina and their four year old extended family members (one of the boys is their mother’s brother—not lying) really enjoyed the video we showed and were pretty perceptive when we asked questions about what was happening.  It took Sr. Claude a while to get over the dismay and shock of us showing up unannounced, but she never answers her phone.   Eventually she warmed up and truly seemed to enjoy our company.  She and too many like her really like what the church will do for them, blessings, welfare, etc., but come to church?  No… no thank you.  Others will come to church most of the time, but take a calling?  No….no thank you.  That’s why members of the ward who do come, who do accept callings are like gold--rare and prized.

            Again, all spare time for me is devoted to nit-picky life chores and doing preparation for Institute; it’s just never-ending.  Studying the gospel at a greater depth has truly been a wonderful thing though.  I wish all the other stuff wouldn’t interfere with it.  The gospel is true.  I love my Savior and I’m so grateful for what he has done for me.  It is an unbelievable blessing to be raised as I was in the church with committed parents.  Boy, you really don’t realize how critical that is until you run into others whose family background can only be described as completely messed up.  Still I admire those who overcame those handicaps and have been faithful. 

            I wish you all a great week ahead.     Love, Kathy/Mom

            

Kathy 2/10/14

February 10, 2014

Dear Family and Friends—

            How’s everyone this very cold day.  We actually got about a ½ inch of snow last night—just enough to be pretty, not enough to do damage, like cause major problems with the public transportation system.

            Well, let’s see, this week has not been quite as adventurous as last week.  Last Monday we had quite a bit of really wet snow and I was concerned with what I saw outside.  I told Lynn that we ought to cancel FHE so that people wouldn’t cause themselves problems by trying to show up.  That never happened and when we got to the church early there were two members and a few missionaries.  I had some copying to do and ran off to do that, and when I returned more missionaries showed up.  Turns out that the Q/ B trains weren’t running at all—a serious problem since these trains are a major line.  The family doing the FHE that night called to say they weren’t coming because of the train situation.  So, OK, what do you do?  We ended up having a great home evening.  Elder DeCrescenzo played his guitar (he’s pretty good at it) and sang.  The other missionaries kept at him until he played four pieces.  We asked each missionary companionship to come up with a favorite scripture, some others contributed a favorite and it ended up being a really wonderful evening.  We didn’t have refreshments so we didn’t have to worry about cleaning up—nice.  BTW, a few more people showed up much later—did what they could to get to church.

            The next day (Tuesday) was pretty quiet—did a lot of mission history and Institute prep.  Then in the evening Lynn and I went to Koch Hall at Lincoln Center to watch the New York City Ballet.  We got seats on the main level which were pretty good, but moved up quite a ways to two seats on the aisle that no one was claiming.  The company did three ½ hour performances and they were all completely outstanding.  It was the second piece that intrigued and excited me, a very Avant guarde type of piece that you would normally see a modern dance troupe perform, but NYCB had the sets, the powerful dancers and the athleticism to pull off the ballet which was trying to depict the opening of the high speed train in France.  Weird subject to dance to, but with everyone in body suits looking like they were in motion like a train (or not looking like a train) you really got to concentrate on their skill in what can only be described as graceful athletic dancing; it was an incredible thing to see, a very difficult dance.  They got four curtain calls.

            Just thought I would mention here, that Lynn has been helping me with the mission history work this week.  He’s been going through pictures, labeling and color framing them and getting them ready to be printed off at the mission office.  I’m still supposed to get some information from Sis. Calderwood before we can call the project done.  Lynn has also been putting in long hours getting an addendum done for the ward picture directory, adding about 30 adults and their children with pictures and then address/phone/email information.  That has been a huge project for him the past several weeks.  The addendum got handed out at church this past Sunday.

            Wednesday was getting various chores done, more work on getting ready for Institute and major fussing over the information that the last time Doug Lee talked to Pres. Calderwood, he told Pres. that he was going to go to Institute despite the fact that we dis-invited him.  We went over various scenarios as to how we would handle that.  I was a basket case by the time we got there that night.  Doug never came.  We had a good group—one new class member and the missionaries came with AJ Johnson, their investigator/autistic guy.  We just showed the video by Brad Wilcox  “His Grace Is Sufficient” and then opened the floor up to comments.  The comments were quite thoughtful and the evening ended up being so relaxing.

            When we got home that night the doorbell rang and there were four sisters at the door, which included Sr. Lewis and Sis. Williams!   Pres. had just brought those two back from the mission home that evening.  Sis. Williams said she had two pieces of news:  first, she was going to go back home to Utah and two, Elder and Sis. McKell were going to take her to the airport the next day.  Whoa!  All right.  We were ready for that.

            The next morning, with everything set to go, we had the English and Spanish districts over for breakfast.  We cracked 36 eggs, got them beat up and cooked into scrambled eggs.  I had what I thought was plenty of batter for pancakes.  After everyone settled in and ate their first pancake and were into a second, I realized that I didn’t have enough batter.  I hadn’t really thought through carefully that the times in the past when I’ve made pancakes, it was only for one district at a time—ended up with left-overs.  This time, I could tell I wouldn’t be able to fill those Elders up so went into do the next best thing mode—grab my loaf of bread and get it sliced up and into a quickly made French toast batter.  It worked out ok, but then next time I make pancakes I’ll make three recipes.  Still, everyone had fun, and was very grateful. 

            After that, a quick clean-up (leaving a lot left to do) and we took Sis. Lewis and Williams to the airport.  We quickly realized that taking I-278 was not going to work; it was a parking lot, so we went a different direction and still got Sis. Williams there in plenty of time.  There were tearful hugs and goodbyes as we left her ready to go in the terminal after checking her bags outside.  We found out yesterday from Sis. Lewis (who is now in a trio with the English sisters) that Sis. Williams was going to have an MRI today.  So, hopefully, I’ll find out tonight if a report on that got texted.

            We got back and dropped Sis. Lewis off at the chapel so that she could start a new experience with the English sisters (Lewis is Spanish).  It’s a difficult situation all around because now the three have to go to both meetings on Sunday, go to two different district meetings and go to each other’s investigators, English and Spanish.  They have to put up with that for three weeks.

            On Friday, Lynn and I got a panicked phone call from Elsie Behar.  The man that she is responsible to take care of (who has been in a hospital for two weeks) had been brought home that morning in an ambulance and the hospital did not send his oxygen home with him, plus other things that he needed.  Elsie was so beside herself with frantic concern she started to cry.  Before Lynn and I went to her place, we grabbed two Elders and brought them along to shovel snow in front of Elsie’s place.  She originally wanted our help to remove snow so she could better use the side walk in front of her home to walk to Alfonso’s place.  We left the Elders to do the best they could removing the very icy snow.  We took Elsie to Alfonso’s and met the caretaker who is hired to stay with him 24/7 and saw what we could do about moving Alfonso to the main level to help the caretaker.  Then, we got the Elders, had them work on Alfonso’s icy snow and we went to a medical supply store to get a blood pressure machine—I was the guinea pig to show Elsie how it worked—90 over 60.  Hurray for my team!  By the time we returned those two great young men!!  got things cleaned up enough that we could get our car into Alfonso’s driveway.  Then the missionaries, Lynn and Joseph the caretaker brought down the bed from upstairs, got the dining area all cleared away, got the bed set up and everything was ready to go.  Alfonso loves antiques and metal work—his place was full of stuff, but the thing that intrigued one of the missionaries is the discovery of old books that seemed to be quite valuable.  I brought a very old Uncle Tom’s Cabin back with me to read at some point, plus two cheap glass vases that still looked quite nice.  Just a quick explanation—Elsie is legally responsible to see that all of Alfonso’s needs are met and taken care of but she hired Joseph to be the full time live in caretaker.  Hopefully she can be less anxious now about the situation.

            We came back and I made a triple batch of goulash that night, some for now, some to freeze for later. 

            The next day was Saturday and it was Institute prep day, plus a lot of odds and ends, including filing.  I also bought two bouquets of flowers when I went on my weekly trip to COSTCO—some pink roses with baby’s breath and carnations.  I got those arranged and put in the vases I got on Friday.  Sure looks like Valentine’s Day here in the apartment.

            Yesterday the meetings were quite good.  Pres. Calderwood showed up early to be at the ward missionary leadership meeting and also talked in sacrament meeting on the principle of priesthood keys.  He was very specific and very thorough—best talk on priesthood keys that I have ever heard.  After all the meetings were over, we stayed to eat dinner with the other missionaries because there was a lot of food left over from the Valentine’s dance/dinner that was held at Bensonhurst chapel for the Stake youth Saturday night.  I was told it was the best turnout that could be remembered—70 youth from one stake.  Small numbers for a big city like New York, but active teenagers are so rare in Brooklyn.  We sure enjoyed all the spaghetti, meatballs, sauce and rolls, and the Elders inhaled their share.  : )  We came home, ate vegetables and had dessert—finishing off the meal with some healthy choices.  Then we talked to Bob, Moira and kids and Ken, Margie and the two boys.  We finished off the evening talking to J.D.  He is pleased with how he is doing in school, getting top grades—yay!  J.D.

            The Church is true and it is wonderful being in New York representing Jesus Christ in this work.  It really is hairy and nerve-wracking at times, to be sure, but the love and gratitude of the members makes it such a worthwhile experience.      Wish you all my love—Kathy/Mom

Aaron 2/10/14

February 10, 2014

Springtucky!

Hey all! 

First to explain the title- Everyone here is from Kentucky. Everyone. People from Kentucky decided that they'd just move to Springfield, of all places. haha.

So I forgot my planner at home today, so I won't be able to remember most of this past week. Sorry about that. I'll just tell ya'll about our investigators!

Our most progressing investigator at this point is Jake. He's a senior at OSU, but his family and girlfriend live here, and he's here every weekend. He's getting baptized on March 16! We taught him twice this past week with Brother Vandiford Jr, who is awesome fellowship for him! He's had a few concerns, but after we were able to explain and the spirit was able to teach him, he's readily accepted all that we've taught him. Last night we had a very awesome lesson about the commandments, and at the end of it he came out with one of his big concerns- the fact that as Latter-Day Saints we don't wear or use the cross as a symbol of our faith. We'd talk about it a little before, but we dug deep this time! Basically we helped him explain that while we do reverence the cross as a symbol of the sacrifice, we "take up the cross" ourselves, and, through our obedience, make ourselves that symbol of our faith. We don't need a symbol around our neck to stand out as Christians, because our actions already make us stand out as we live our faith. It was an awesome learning experience for all of us, since I've never really thought of it that way until after teaching it. Learning by teaching ftw!

Our next most progressing are still Terrance and Ciera! They've been coming to church every week, but they still haven't set a date to be married! They have a few problems that they're trying to work out, and a lot of that is due to their limited financial situation. A major step is that they'll be moving out of their apartment this week and into a real house! The Elder's quorum will be helping a lot with that!

This past week we were tracting and knocked into this awesome guy, Doug! He's in his 60's I'd guess, was recently divorced, and has been searching for more in his life. He hasn't grown up religious in the slightest, and was a wild guy when he was a lot younger. Since the divorce he's been through a lot, and a big help to him was his friend, Reverend Williams, who helped him to be "saved" by accepting Christ. Doug told us that he just did it because he was desperate, and that he didn't feel his heart was actually in it. Our first lesson was actually over an hour and a half long! The spirit was very much so there, and he had the greatest reaction to "Moroni's Promise" that anyone else I have ever met. He gets it. He loves that he can have a personal relationship between him and Heavenly Father, and when we read to him from Alma 32 about faith, and about you can have even "no more than a desire to believe" he said "That's me. That's totally me." It was awesome!

Nikki is another awesome investigator, though right now she has a roadblock with her being a "Devout Catholic." It very strange, how she knows she feels the spirit when we talk about Joseph Smith being a prophet, she loves the Book of Mormon and believes it's the word of God, and she understand and believes the Plan of Salvation. But she uses all that to help her be a better Catholic! We'll be going over the importance of Priesthood authority again, so please pray for her! 

Thanks to everyone who sent answers to my question about helping this 12 year old! They were awesome ideas, and I feel they'll really help!

Thanks for all you do! I really do feel your support and prayers! I know that this is the Gospel, and that Heavenly Father really does have a plan for us! I know that because of His Love and Mercy, he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and to "succor his people."

I love and miss you!

Elder Aaron Toombs

Kathy 2/3/14

February 3, 2014

Dear Family and Friends—

            It’s been a wild week and part of the reason for that is sitting on my couch while I am writing this!  Will explain later.  It’s nice that the snow held off for the Super Bowl (or the thimble bowl) held right close by in New Jersey.  We are supposed to get quite a bit of snow but it is so wet that it’s not doing much in the accumulation department; the trees sure look pretty.

            Last Monday—well, FHE struggled with fewer people and a game that was hard to catch on to.  We’ve had two girls from a very active family start attending our FHE because they have friends that come on a regular basis and their mother works on Monday night.  They did the activity that night and still need to catch on to what makes things work and what doesn’t.  But we NEVER look a gift horse in the mouth and are very grateful to all those who take a turn to do the FHE activity.

            The next day was mission history, all day, all the time.  I made a great dent in the job and Lynn has now started taking responsibility to really help me out.  He wants to put a lot of pictures in the history and I’m happy to let him get that done. 

            Sis. Williams and her comp, Sis. Lewis came by and explained that she has been having headaches, bad ones, for two weeks.  They needed to use the computer to do some research for doctors.

            The next day was spent preparing for Institute that night—a lot of work to be done.  I was uptight because I knew that Doug Lee would be coming to class that night and he is a major disturber of the peace.  He did show up that night along with just two regulars and two new men that have, well, problems—one is szchsophrenic and the other is a somewhat higher functioning autistic that is 19, not a member of the church, (and may never be—the Elders think he may not be responsible enough to have that happen) a stutterer and excessively polite.  Both of these men are very sweet but don’t know how to relate normally on a social level and neither are able to be at a level for Institute.  But, they have been embraced by the ward and welcomed and found Institute to be one more venue to interact with the warm and fuzzy ward members.

            Got going on the lesson and then came to a point where we talked about the parents of Helaman’s stripling warriors following the wise council of their priesthood leaders.  Doug raised his hand, stood up when I called on him and angrily denounced the leadership of the church as being those that should not be followed.  He didn’t believe any authority should be between him and Jesus Christ.  He has intimated this in the past because he can’t stand the fact that leaders of the church are preventing him from getting baptized, with #1 on his “I can’t stand you list” being Pres. Calderwood who has responsibility to deal with non-members.  I was stunned, as was Lynn.  (I’m not sure how the others felt because we haven’t talked to them about it).  I was thrown completely off track and limped through the rest of the lesson listening to more of Doug’s angry, arrogant questions or responses to my questions.  By the end I was past furious to livid but kept it all inside till Lynn and I got to the car and I told him that Doug Lee will no longer be allowed to be in my class.  I said that if he comes, I will ask him to leave and if he doesn’t I would get up, dismiss the class and leave myself and would be more than happy to tell him to his face that he couldn’t come anymore!

            Lynn tried to calm me down and talk me out of such a radical thing.  “Would you let him come to class and just sit there and not say a word?”  I reluctantly agreed to that compromise.  I got ready for bed, grabbed the current book I was reading and read for a long time so I could settle down.  But, I didn’t sleep well and voices inside of me said I had to tell Lynn in the morning that Doug was not welcome in class under any circumstances. 

            While I was putting on my make-up in the morning Lynn came in and told me that he felt like I did, that Doug was a very arrogant person, difficult to deal with, he’s been patient with him for a year but last night’s exposition was, for Lynn, a tipping point.  He strongly felt Doug could no longer come to class.  I knew that was right and had absolutely no regrets coming to that conclusion.  Lynn said he had spent a long time on the phone talking to Br. Bennett that taught Doug the gospel in the NY penitentiary system.  Bennett has defended Doug to the hilt (and helped him to the tune of $4000) but after Lynn explained to him his behavior in the Institute class and other off the wall comments Doug made in Sunday School class he was horrified and said “What have I done.”   It’s his first admission of guilt for having taught Doug contrary to church policy and going against his mission president’s  (Bennett and his wife were senior missionaries in New York) council not to teach inmates.

            The next day Lynn went to Doug’s place and told him.  Doug tried to persuade him to change his mind by using a number of tactics but Lynn did not budge.  Doug said he was going to go to higher authorities to overrule me.  (Hah!)  But, he finally conceded.  Lynn told him he could still come to church (because Lynn has no jurisdiction there) and to FHE.  Yesterday at church I shook Doug’s hand.  He was warm and cordial and we talked about his plans to find a job. 

            I feel like King Kong has stepped off my shoulders.

            Next adventure:  Remember me telling you about Sis. Williams and her head aches?  Well, she has been in close contact with the mission doctor and the NE United States mission doctor who works out of Boston.  They have been advising her and helping her to get to a doctor here locally so she could be examined.  Can’t tell you the number of hours we went through to finally get a doctor recommended and make sure she made it to his office.

            The doctor was lousy and did a lousy exam.  So, the next day she and her comp came to our place and used my computer to find a place with an MRI, one that was close and reliable.  Now that also is a trick.  Getting a good medical situation in NY should be easy but it is super hard.  Finally she decided on NY Methodist (which I have been in) and made contact with an insurance agent in Utah and a contact at the MRI place at NYM. 

            So, Lynn and I took her there about 5:30 on Friday afternoon.  We get to the MRI department.  The woman in charge said she couldn’t get ahold of the contact person in Utah.  Groan.  Lots of options were discussed and finally we settled on going to the emergency room per the advice of two ladies in the MRI department.  Yay!  Off we go.  It’s not far away and the two sisters, after a little paper work (without much wait) were ushered to the back emergency area.  Lynn and I sat for a long time waiting, then Lynn went to Five Guys which is not far away, but he went at dinner hour and it took him a half-hour to get back.  We ate our hamburgers and fries and continued to wait and wait.  Finally we called the sisters and they said they hadn’t been seen by anyone and were continually waiting for this or that doctor to help them who were busily helping others.  They suggested we go home and they would call when they were done. 

            Time continued on.  Two Elders from their district called Lynn and asked him to take them to a fast food place and get some food and deliver it to the two sisters.  OK.  I just stayed home.  Finally got a call from Sis. Williams.  The threesome had got there.  Sis. Williams couldn’t stand the thought of more sandwiches and wanted a “home cooked meal.”  I talked with her and she and her companion liked shrimp.  So, while Lynn and Elders kept the sisters company, I started cooking at 10:00 at night.  I put oil and butter and garlic in a frying pan and slightly cooked the shrimp, made some spaghetti parmesan from scratch and fixed fresh broccoli. 

            Then it was a waiting game.  Finally the sisters show up at my door about eleven completely and totally exhausted and I brought them in, put the food on paper plates so they could go to their apartment and relax.  Lynn came in later and told me the story that he and the two Elders helped an elderly gentleman who had run out of gas.  They took him to a nearby gas station, got a can of gas, brought it back and filled up the man’ gas tank.  A discussion of religion ensued and Lynn gave him a pass-a-long card.  The man was extremely grateful. 

            I haven’t told you half of everything that happened that afternoon and night.

            The next day we took the sisters to the MRI place—turns out they had an opening for an MRI on Saturday.  Such good news.  But, it was an MRI across the street, so off we went.  Found out that Sis. Williams needed a special MRI which required blood work, so we went back to the main hospital and got that straightened out, went back across the street to get the blood work.  Then, home.  The special MRI only was open Monday through Friday.

            She had an appointment for the special MRI this afternoon, but the MRI place called and said the machine was broken and she would have to wait for another week and a half for an appointment.  There are no words to describe how we all feel.  So, late this morning the two of them came over and sat on our couch and did work while we kept them company—it’s now 4:30 and they just left.  They came to our place because we have WiFi.

            Right now, it’s uncertain what will happen next.

            So, there you go—mission history, Doug Lee and Sis. Williams with severe headaches.

            Two nice things happened:  I had my hair done Thursday afternoon and then came home to get some warm clothes.  Lynn really wanted to go to Times Square and see the Super Bowl activities that had been set up along four blocks of Broadway, renamed Super Bowl Boulevard for five days.  So, we went and really didn’t get involved with very much—the lines were quite long and it was more fun just to look.  We saw the line people were in so they could get a picture of themselves with the Vince Lambardi Trophy.  I’m guessing the line was 3-4 hours long.  We did get free M & M’s at the Mars candy place and free pizza from Papa John’s trailer—two slices so we could decide whether we like extra cheese pizza or double cheeseburger pizza.  We LOVED the latter.  We walked around for about four hours and then returned home.

            Sunday was fairly relaxing—had ward council in the morning and then meetings.  Well, correction, RS was very relaxing.  When you have someone that doesn’t know what they are talking about teaching Gospel Doctrine, it is stress time.  After the meetings were over, Elder Joseph asked Lynn to help him give Tanya Golikova a health blessing which Lynn was happy to do.  Tanya has been suffering from fevers I guess.  Lynn is her home teacher.  So, that was very nice.  We went home and enjoyed the rest of the day doing mission history and me preparing for Institute for a week from this Wednesday.  Nice to talk to Andra and Sean after the game was over.  We didn’t watch the game but on occasion I checked the score and read the banter with Bob and Kyle.  Poor Denver Broncos. 

            We have “earned our money” with missionary work this week—that’s for sure.  Of course, we still have serious issues to deal with with Sis. Williams but eventually it will all work out.

            I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His Atonement and his power of love and ability and comfort.  I’m grateful for the Holy Ghost—I could strongly, strongly tell I was being guided this week.  I love the Gospel and the Church and despite difficulties, I love this mission.  People just love you, tell you so openly.  It’s nice to know you make a difference.

Love,   Mom/Kathy

           

           

Nancy 2/2/14

February 2, 2014

Happy Ground Hogs day!

I just thought I’d share a bunch of things going on around here.    The temps were in the 60’s today – a far cry from the single digit numbers that came with the snow and ice this week!    The roads were really icy –so school was closed Tues afternoon through Friday.  

I’ve had enormous problems with my eyes being very irritated from the cat and rat dander.   I let Boo the cat stay upstairs because of the cold.   However, she’s been banished since Saturday morning; I washed quilts and blankets and vacuumed and things are much better.  We’ll see what happens at work tomorrow.   My primary care doctor basically said I need to find another job.   The first allergist opening is JUNE 10.   Grrrrrr.   

This weekend I went with my recruit, Anne, and the other Pampered Chef girls to a big regional meeting at the Charlotte Convention Center.   It. IS.BIG.     There was a huge volleyball tournament going on in another part of the complex – with 16 games going on at once.    The meeting was lots of fun and I’m really excited about the new spring products!    Anne is in my ward and we got to know each other better on the way down.  Her Dad worked for United Airlines so we had a lot of “child of airline employee” stories to share.

Every time I’m in Charlotte I can’t get over how much downtown has changed and become so much like a big city.   So much has been torn down to make way for apartment buildings – remember the area around Irwin – Brett’s school?   It used to be all small homes.

I met Emily after the meeting at her place and we went to Ikea.  It was our first time, so we had meatballs and looked all over.   I had no idea their prices were so reasonable.    I really liked the kitchens – they had drawers, like Kathy’s.   Makes so much more sense than traditional cabinets.   I wish I had some of the organization stuff when the kids were little, to organize their toys.   Emily was really positive about her life and we had a great time together!

I watched some interesting programs this weekend.   On PBS, there was “Hawking,” the story of Stephen Hawking’s life.   I had no idea that he completely lost his speech and hand movement so long ago; he communicates with his cheek muscle– wish Cheri could have had a set up like that when she lost her ability to communicate.   The more he lost control of his body, the more he thought about the universe.  Did you know his book sold 10 million copies and was a New York Times best seller for 4 years?  

On Sunday after Church I always watch BYU-TV on my Roku.   The Joseph Smith papers episode was especially fascinating because they were discussing how Joseph Smith has risen to prominence in the history and shaping of American culture (and world influence) especially in the last 10 years.    Some non-mormon scholars especially have studied him exhaustively and their comments  are AMAZING!

Here’s some things I noted:

-          LDs people have a responsibility to do their homework (about Joseph Smith)

-          Joseph Smith has met the test of a prophet

-          Joseph Smith is the most unstudied genius of American religious history.

Today I got talking with Starr Eckholdt about the temple films.  (He’s a temple worker).  Raleigh hasn’t got the newest film yet.   Starr said that Eloheim in the August film is played by Wayne Bills  (WS 1^st ward)!!.   I knew he had a really good speaking voice.  Apparently the guy they selected fell through and he got called at the last minute.  Now Starr said that not all the actors are LDS, but I have a hard time believing that.

For those of you who knew Jeff and Nicole Skinner – they officially adopted 2 foster children Friday!  They are soooo excited to be parents!!   They’ve waited a LONG time.  The boy and girl are around 7-10 years.    Apparently there is another older sibling who couldn’t be with them.

I’m starting to get hooked on the group “Imagine Dragons.”  I got bored with my usual playlists and decided to check them out and created a Pandora station.  

Sis Bowman, our firecracker of a missionary , goes home this weekend.    The baptisms in our ward totally skyrocketed while she was here!    It’s interesting because she’s from Price Utah, and her dad didn’t join the Church for a long long time, kinda like my dad.

Ben 2/3/14

Family,
Sorry if this email is short. I'm emailing on my new IPad! Which I just typed you an email on but somehow it got deleted...... So technology goes both ways. But anyways the iPad takes over everything. No paper planners no teaching records. No scriptures! Well I still take my scriptures, I try not to show anyone the iPad so it doesn't look flashy. It's been a fun week though!!!  2 baptisms in G rod and 1 in T Ville! The work is true!!!  This week we went to be trained on these things Wednesday and then went to the Orlando Temple for endowments Friday!!! It's been a while!!! The Orlando Temple really is beautiful! Florida Esk!!! It was dedicated the year I was born! Its the lock pic on my iPad and the Saint George temple is on my inside screen saver. This has been a happy week! The district had a blow up week even with all the business! I love these missionaries!

Elder Davis and I are having the time of our lives!!! We mess around like me
and my buddies would but we love each other like me and my buddies do! It's guys like him and Elder Patten that give me hope for my buddies who aren't out yet, but might decide to come  later! They find it on their own six years later and really bless the mission. Hopefully, they realize like these comps that there is really nothing better.

We have a great system in place with the ward for getting members out now!!! We bike a lot but have a car with 800 miles per month. Relatively low amount. Members help there. We focus on having an escalator area rather than a elevator area. I don't know if I've explained that before? Basically means always finding always teaching always helping people make covenants. Instead of going all the way from the top and having to go all the way back down. So we set two dates with Shawntrese and Armando and did a lot of finding to keep things going!!! The baptisms were beautiful and spiritual and one funny thing was we never plugged the font so they ended up getting baptized in like 2 feet of water!!! Jennifer went twice but they are both ready to be members of the church! President also told me about Joe (Pentecostal pastor) who said in his interview how much he learned with me. Elder Ferrimagnetic got him there. Life is so good!!! 

Nate you are a man among men!!! Dad UCF is one ward over but I drive through it all the time. Haha there's like four colleges right here though. Mom I love you tons!!! Be relentlessly loving with our dear Polygamist friend!!!  Don't tell me about fights in CV and Wilstead game winners right before we're about to play a little zone b ball! Last time I was sore for days! I have faith and prayers! I think coach Staheli is right. Defense is key!

My supply is good. Maybe gum and stuff like that would be all. This week we were teaching a part member family and it was something I'll never forget. The dad was a really cool guy and really nice and he brought up some pretty legitimate concerns about the church etc. Really things that in my mind I had no answer for, but right now I have come too far and I know the gospel is certain and irrefutable and undeniable. It was a time and maybe not the only, but definitely the most specific time I can remember just relying on the Lords promise to open our mouth. We opened our mouths and confounded doubt. The things we say are never us, but that night we truly had no part in it. Gods purposes roll forth and we testified of the future of this great church and our living God.  Everyone in the family knows in their heart the right choice.

I love you so much! I pray for you and love you and cheer for the W in all parts of life!
Elder G