7/28/19

 Hey, Great week here! 22 Years of Marriage today!!! (I've now been married longer than single)

Finished off our time in GA visiting old friends (Anderson's for lunch, Madsen's for dinner) & going to the temple.  Doing initiatories, one ordinance worker was one of my dearest Beehive leaders, and another was the mom of a good teenage friend in my stake (& the rest had sweet Southern accents-;) ).  It was kind of Heaven-like erasing all those years/miles to be blessed by sweet hands that have already blessed my life.  We flew in EARLY the morning of Pioneer Day (making our own Utah entrance-ha!), and have been sleeping hard trying to catch up ever since.  Did sparklers that night, lots of laundry/cleaning up, and enjoyed a bit of Tremonton Days over at the library park together Friday night.  They were serving Chinese food in honor of all of the Chinese workers on the railroad (celebrating Golden Spike 150th), and the sweet Sister Missionaries were handing out Chinese toys (chinese yo-yos, finger cuffs, & whistles), so we thought of you while we stood in line!

I took the younger girls to free Ogden stuff Saturday since they got their jobs done super early: ice skating and then to the Dinosaur Park.  Then Dad took me out to Le Nonne (A-MAAAAAZing Italian place in Logan) for our anniversary--had some of the best-cooked shrimp of my LIFE-mmm.

I had an experience this week where I felt the need to pray HARD, & the verse we studied in Come Follow Me (Acts 12:5) of praying without ceasing kept coming to mind.  It was not instant, but by the end of the week, I could feel real blessings and reassurances that the Lord hears & answers our prayers! 

We prayed for Dad too this week in his Judge Interview Friday.  There are lots of factors out of our control, but he felt like he expressed himself like he wanted to and clearly (had one lady in tears as he talked about the work he's done for child sex-abuse victims!).  He's SO good on his feet, I would've loved sitting in just to watch him, but no matter how it turns out, we can feel good about him having done his best!

We were learning about missionary work in CFM this week, and Jane is taking her name tag very seriously--she carries around a bandaid in her pocket so that she's ready to help anyone who gets hurt!

Love you so much! Loved seeing pictures from Sis Peterson of you at Zone Conference! Keep up the great work and amazing attitude! Love, Mom

7/21/19

 Oh, that is awesome to have so much teaching going on!!—& yay for Debi & Mike!—the South American woman hunt is hilarious!!—Spencer just got to be fresh meat at the fireside—all of Rosie’s friends were gawking at him & getting his #!—Haha

Be careful with typhoons & crazy drivers!—& LOVE the Starbucks inspiration!!—we’ve talked about revelation w/ Come Follow Me a lot today—& we had Cal’s baptism today, so feeling missionary spirit! Love you so much!!—so so proud of you ️

Oh, he hated the attention & couldn’t wait to leave ; it’s been a fun time being with family—spent 3 days up in the smoky mtns—hiking , having Dalmuti tournaments (Maddie won after 2 nights of many rounds!), loving on Nick & Laurie’s new baby Caleb, & just being together; 

Had an awkward time when everyone decided to go tubing at the last minute one day —it was going to be an extra $100 for our family, & it just seemed to expensive after all we’ve had this year: broken fridge, broken a/c, giant solar panel payment, baby, wedding, etc.,—so I tried to make it no big deal that we’d just do something else, to which they all wanted to pay for us (worse!!)—& then Anne & Lucy crying about missing it, etc.,  in the end we sent the kids except Jane & they were fine to pay their own way—turned out fine, but I felt pretty dumb about it—& hard not to compare w/ things being financially tight + Dad’s health zapping his energy, etc while my energy is already pathetic, BUT

It was tender to visit w/ everyone, & remember we ALL have real struggles;

Katie is dealing w/ hard depression stuff after years of not having problems, Kristen has a sister who has completely left the church, Caden has been dealing w/ a lot of depression himself (privately), Rebekah keeps working while Scott stays at home—& Jack seems to be doing well, but autism is always a struggle—Dad kept trying to connect w/ him & Jack couldn’t stand it!—he finally said to Dad when he was asking why he couldn’t be his favorite uncle: “I just can’t trust you!!—you’re too untrustworthy!”—& Scott explained that he really can’t do sarcasm b/c he seriously doesn’t get it & can’t distinguish—crazy huh?, but made sense in a weird way.  Nick & Laurie are getting ready to pick where to live as he’s finishing his last year of residency &—everyone’s lives have joy AND hard things—& a talk today was saying how learning to obey even when things are hard is part of how we show our love for God.  That’s when faith is learned & strengthened, & I loved a verse in Mosiah I read this week about faith: Mosiah 8:18 about how faith allows us to be more of a benefit to others—I love that faith makes us better able to serve/more useful (& more happy).

It’s fun to see Bro Madsen as Bishop!—he spoke at the end of the baptism & told Cal he was like Nephi—“of goodly parents” & good siblings who had the Gospel—then sweet Natalina looked at me & said, “I guess that makes me Laman or Lemuel!”—haha, she’s about the most thoughtful person on the planet!—here are a few pictures—it’s crazy how big everyone is getting!—hope you’re enjoying time w/ a great companion!—& we’ll pray your upcoming Baptisms go well! Super proud of you—lots of love, Mom

7/14/2019

 Dear Brent, 

Lots of fun this week!

Visit from ministering sister Monday morning, supersweet RS Temple trip Tues w/ lunch at the cafeteria after (was OVERWHELMED with feelings of Lord's love the minute I walked in), seeing Savannah set apart that night; Wed-Pickleball, violin, and errands Wed, bookclub on Pres Nelson's biography that night, then a quick Dr appt Thurs (baby is estimated to be around 5 lbs; 47th % in size) & hot sunny day at the Logan Aquatic Center.  Friday we took the kayaks on the Bear River--I had just mowed the lawn & was pretty dead, but Spencer & Emily were heroes making things happen, and it was SOO refreshing being out on the water!! (at least until hangry/tired whining set in).  Saturday was a free at Treehouse Museum, so Dad & I took the girls down to Ogden for most of the day, then came home and made pizza (while Em & Spencer were at parties).  We're all getting excited for reunion time this next week--we'll be writing from GA next week!

I was grateful for that trip to the temple this week.  It's a challenge, having physical limitations/discomfort and staying in tune w/ the Spirit! I don't know how people w/ more chronic issues do it! I know I'm happier when I'm serving/doing good, but when I have such limited energy/ability it's a bummer having to do less.  The body & spirit are definitely tied together, and it makes me grateful for the health I DO have (and the temporariness of pregnancy!), but I also remember how even the prophet Lehi (at least in his vision 1 Ne 8) had that time in a dark and dreary waste BEFORE he prayed, and then could see the tree.  I feel like those dark and dreary wildernesses must be an important part of living (though I'm constantly trying to avoid them!).  It helps to at least know it's sometimes a part of the journey, not a mark of failure, so bad days don't equal a bad life, and I can be a little more patient. I've loved reading Pres. Nelson's biography this week too.  He's SOO POSITIVE & SOOO TALENTED, but his parents were not active as he grew up, he didn't serve a mission, and he was turned down for jobs/promotions for living his religion.  There was a time when he had to represent the Church w/ the IRS since they wanted to make mission funds taxable, but BECAUSE he hadn't served a mission, they were forced to adjust their argument that missions were a necessary rite of religious passage (& therefore taxable)--he was the perfect one to handle the situation, even with attorneys and more experienced apostles available.  I love how the Lord used even his imperfections to be a perfect part of his personal mission.  (And I loved reading that his wife was 46(!!!!) when their last child was born!!--& 5 years after their youngest!).  He's also known to say when he hears noisy children in church meetings, "That's how we know we're in the right church" or "That's the future of the church I hear, and it sounds wonderful!" Ha! Also SO cool to read more details of how connected he is to China! I would not be at all surprised to see him be the prophet that is able to bring the Church into China! (the girls took a couple of Chinese pictures for your benefit at the museum--there was no Taiwan, but at least the chopsticks/language were similar!).  Hope you're adjusting well to so much newness! Love you so much! Love, Mom

(also wedding pictures back!)