Jared's First Baptism

Dear Jared,

Last week, Craig and Laura were in Boston, so we kept Megan for them. Mikayla was giving the FHE lesson on the plan of salvation. She explained where people would go after they die. Then she asked Megan where she thought she would go. Megan proudly pointed to the Celestial kingdom. Then she asked where Megan thought Taylor would go. Megan said, " I don't know what kind of choices he is going to make!" Then she asked, "Where do you think your mom will go?" Megan replied, "My mom sure does make a lot of mistakes and she gets mad at me a lot, but I still think she will go here." (as she pointed to the Celestial kingdom). We were busting up. It was so funny.

The girls and I went to Vernal for the weekend to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. We did a little yard work and watched a couple of movies. We even took Megan DeVries with us. We made it home Sunday morning in time for church. 

Mikayla got her patriarchal blessing yesterday. It was neat. She cried throughout part of it, when it talked about her future husband. So cute.

We went to grandma and grandpa Wise's for our annual Easter egg hunt last night. She even baked us a Birthday cake. So yesterday was a pretty great day.

All is well here. We love you lots. Everyone is always asking about you and how you are doing.

Grandpa Mott wants more info on the Elder Mott from Bountiful. 

Did you meet the family that ate at Spanky's last week? They are in your ward.

How's your bike?

"Be believing, be happy, don't get discouraged.  Things will work out." 
- Gordon B. Hinckley

I love you Jared, and I am so proud to be your mom.

Have a great week.

Mom


Hello everyone,

This week's been great, but the weather's been crazy. It's been raining almost the whole week and everything's turned green. It's really beautiful. Friday night I heard the tornado warning siren for the first time. I guess it happens a lot here. It was really windy with a huge thunderstorm that completely lit up the sky. We got like three inches of rain that night, but the tornadoes didn't even come close to us. Kind of a bummer. I really want to see one.

We've been meeting with a bunch of interesting people lately. I saw a lady yesterday that can grow a better mustache than I can, somebody that converted from a Satan Worshiper to a Mormon, and somebody named STEVE HOLT!... We've got a new investigator named Bob. We tracted into him a little while ago and it seems like he's interested. He read the chapter that we gave him...twice. He's a really nice guy. Hopefully we can continue to make progress with him. He really liked church. 

Since I'm companions with the District Leader, I get to go on exchanges every Wednesday. Last week I went to an area called Greencastle. All that's really out there are corn fields, Christmas tree farms, and a college. We started off the day by doing service at an old folks home. We played cards with them for our service. Yuker was the name of the game, and I'm still not really sure how it's played. All I know is that those old folks are good at their card games. I didn't win a single game. I did blow their minds with a magic trick though, so that was cool. Later on in the night we went tracting on the DePauw University campus. It was cold outside, so there weren't many people there, but we talked to a few people and managed to set up a few return appointments. It was a different experience from tracting door to door.

Thursday we had a meeting back at the mission home in Carmel for the new missionaries. They've made a few changes. New missionaries are now with their companions for at least two transfers, so I'll be staying in Plainfield with Elder Moore until at least June. We have an extra hour to study, and...new missionaries will be able to become trainers after only three months into the mission instead of six months which is FRIGHTENING. I still have no idea what I'm doing. I can't imagine training a new missionary.

And now...for the best news of the week... We had a baptism! Brother Horman baptized his wife! It was such a good day. You can really tell how much the gospel has helped their family grow closer together. They said before they were happy with where they were at, but now their life has improved so much they can't imagine not having the gospel. They're such a strong family, and I'm really proud of the decisions they've made. 

Love you guys,

Jared

PS. I don't think I'm related to Elder Mott. I asked him about grandma and grampa Mott, and he dosen't know them. I think he said his dad is the only member of the church in his family.

The bike's been great.

I met the family that ate at Spanky's...pretty crazy.

Also, Happy birthday. I'm in the process of making a card, but I've been crazy busy. I'll try and send it today though.

Indiana Slang

Hello, everyone!

Things are going great here in Plainfield, Indiana. Elder Moore (from North Ogden) and I have been busy. This week has been pretty hectic. I've gone on two companion exchanges already. Once with Elder Mott (from Bountiful!) and once with Elder Bronk, one of the assistants to the president. Both were great experiences. It's nice to see how other missionaries do things and to learn from experiences with them. We've met with a bunch of really nice people, and some crazy ones (REALLY CRAZY). We went tracting a few days ago and had a lot of success. Four people in a row were interested and wanted us to come back. It was a nice change from the usual day tracting. We've been meeting with a family called the Hormans lately and it's been great. The husband was raised a member but kind of went inactive when he was a teenager. He's married to a nonmember and they've got a five year old daughter named Lilly, and a three month old girl named Harper. They've been really interested in the gospel. He's been working really hard, and he just got his priesthood back, so now he can baptize his wife this Saturday. They're such a wonderful family, and I'm really excited for the baptism. They're already so strong. Right after they saw the movie about Joseph Smith they planned a trip to Nauvoo to see the sights and do baptisms for the dead in the Temple. Plus they have a trip planned for next year to go to the Salt Lake temple and get sealed as a family. It's families like them that really remind me why I'm out here doing missionary work.

We were going to go golfing today, but it looks like it's going to rain now, so our plans are canceled. We've been getting a lot of rain this week. People here don't even have sprinkler systems because it rains so much. Rain rain rain.

I've got a few minutes so I'll teach you some Indiana slang.

Hoosier: Someone from Indiana
Worsh: Wash. Examples... "I'm going down to the crick (creek) to worsh my clothes" "I'm going to take a trip to Worshington DC" etc.
Couplethree: I'm not really sure what this means. I guess it's a measurement. Could be two, could be three. Nobody knows. "I'm going to the grocery store to get a couple-three bottles of soda"
House apes and Curtain climbers: Grandchildren.

P.S. Did you ever send my driving record from the DMV? I'm going to need it.

P.P.S. Taylor, I want my $50 you owe me.

Love,


Jared

It's a Small world

Just to let you know what a small world it is. Today I was working at Spanky's and a friend of mine came in with her parents. They are visiting from Indiana. I told them that's where Jared is serving his mission. They asked me what city, and I didn't know because we hadn't heard from him yet. They are from Plainfield. When I got home and checked my e-mail, sure enough he had written and he is in Plainfield. I called Ann to find out how close they lived, and Jared is in the same ward as her brother, Steve  Melton. Her parents knew exactly where the Elder's lived. They are so excited. I showed them a picture of him, so they are going to go up to him on Sunday, call him by his first name, and ask for a Spanky's sandwich. Ha ha Pretty crazy!

Biking in the Rain!

Dear Jared,                                                                               April 10, 2011

Thursday morning I got home from a three mile run. Laura and I were talking and Mikayla came in an announced that she and Sally were going on a hike up to Elephant Rock. I wasn't all that comfortable with two teenage girls hiking alone up a canyon, so Laura and I decided that we would all go. We loaded up the cars with all of our kids and two dogs, Maggie and Bella, two kiddie back packs and several water bottles. We drove up to Mueller Park and parked next to the ranger station. We hiked up about three miles until the snow got so deep, we were sinking in up to our thighs. We finally turned around and started down without actually getting to the very top. I fell several times along the way. It was quite treacherous. One time on the way down, I lost my footing and slipped. I did a tuck and roll to lessen the impact. Laura and Sally were behind me and laughing hysterically at my very ungraceful fall. We were having a good time until we got pretty close to the bottom. We could hear a car alarm. It was Laura's. A couple of minutes later, the alarm stopped. Just about that time, Taylor came running back up the trail. He told Laura there was bad news. Someone had broken into her car. The passenger window was shattered. They had taken her bag that she had left sitting on the front seat. Luckily, she had put her wallet and Mikayla's brand new razor phone in the glove box, and they were both still there. What a bummer about her window and her bag with her phone in it. We called the police and they came to make a report, but there is really nothing they can do for her. The window cost $160 to replace and she has no phone.  Then we found out that they had downloaded a bunch of games which cost her a lot of money. It's too bad that some people have to do really mean, thoughtless things like that. 

Tammy Ensign was giving a lesson in young women on temples couple of weeks ago. She told of an experience she had a few of months ago when she and her husband went to Hawaii. They were there on a Sunday, so they found a church to go to. A native there was telling her about these small islands off of Hawaii called the Marshall islands. The people there are very poor. There are a lot of members of the church there, but they cannot afford to go to the temple. The nearest one is in Hawaii, and it costs thousands of dollars to fly there. It's more money than most of them make in their lives. The church has agreed to pay for each member to go one time to the temple. He said when these members finally got to go through the temple, they sat in the celestial room and just sobbed. They loved the temple so much and were so grateful for the opportunity to go through. That will be their only time. They will never be able to afford to return. Wow! It made me realize how much I take for granted.

I told you that I have been reading back through my missionary journals and have really enjoyed it. I can't believe all the things that I went through that I have forgotten. There were some really amazing experiences and some that are a little unbelievable. It is like reading a novel. Learning about the lives of so many people and reading their conversion stories first hand is so interesting.  Right now you think you will always remember but there will be things that you will forget. I hope you are recording all the details of things that happen, dates, names, places and especially your feelings in your journal. It will be a great treasure for you someday.

Here's your quote for the week:
"Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work." 
- Gordon B. Hinckley

I love you so much. I hope you know that we pray for you every single day and that you are always in our thoughts. Today during fast and testimony meeting, almost every one who stood up talked about missionary work. It was pretty great. We even fasted for you.

Please tell us all about your area, your companion and your experiences this week.

All is well here.

Have a fantastic week.

Love, 
Mom





Dear Mom,                                                                               April  11, 2011

Things have been crazy. We've been so busy with appointments. It's really different actually being out here instead of being stuck inside the MTC. We left the MTC on Tuesday at 4:00 in the morning. Our first flight took us to Detroit, and then we had a 40 minute flight to Indianapolis. We met the Mission President and his wife at the airport and drove to the mission home. The next day we had a transfer meeting and I met my new companion, Elder Moore. We got assigned to an area called Plainfield that's West of Indianapolis. It's really nice here. It's been 60-85 degrees every day, and it's really green. We've had a lot of appointments with some great people (and some crazy people!). We have a part member family that's becoming more active, and they should be setting their baptism date soon, so that's pretty exciting. We've been fed really well (also exciting). We've only had one day where we had to make dinner for ourselves. We've mainly been meeting with part member families, and less actives so far, but we've been tracting a few times (including once where we were biking for a few miles in a thunderstorm).  It's been hard, but I know it's worth it. 

Elder Jared Wise
342 1/2 North Center Street
Plainfield, Indiana 46168

Taylor, I want my $50 that you owe me.

Seriously.

Love, Jared

Safe and Sound

April 5, 2011

I was working on a quilt tonight when I got a call that went something like this: "Sister Wise, this is Sister Collins from the Indianapolis, Indiana mission and I just wanted to let you know that we have your son safe and sound here". I couldn't believe what she was saying and asked her to repeat it. Jared is already in the mission home! We thought he would by flying out tomorrow, since that is his preparation day.

She said that he arrived earlier today. She sat by him at dinner and said he was very personable and he is a fine young man. She assured me that they would take good care of him and she told me how much she and President Collins love the missionaries. Boy, did that make the tears well up in my eyes. I got so choked up that I could hardly talk.

She said that early this morning they sent a batch of missionaries home just before the new ones came in and she is always amazed at what a difference two years can make in the life of a young man.

After dinner, they had a testimony meeting.  Tonight he will sleep in the mission home. After breakfast in the morning, there will be a training meeting where President Collins will talk to them and let them know about the mission. After that he will meet his new companion and find out where he will be serving.

His p-day will be on Monday, so hopefully we'll get a letter from him then. Sigh....another week without a letter. Well, I know that he is in good hands and that he arrived safely.

Spring Break

April 4, 2011

Dear Jared,

Another week has zipped by. 

Topher and Natalie had their baby. He apparently wasn't all that excited to leave the comfort of mamas tummy, and stayed in there a little longer than expected. He was born at 11:05 and weighed 11'05. They named him Sawyer and I hear that he is adorable.

We really enjoyed General Conference. There were some great talks. Ivan, Jenn and Nichole came down to spend the weekend. So as you can imagine, the house was a little crazy and full of people. The guys were in the family room tying flies and building model airplanes. The girls were scrapbooking in the craft room while all the kids ran screaming through the house. There was plenty of food and It was a good time for all. 

Ivan took Taylor and Jonathan to the conference center to go to Priesthood Meeting. On the way down, Ivan's Suburban broke down and they had Marion pick them up and he called one of his guys to haul it back to his shop. So Ivan and Jenn were stuck here until Monday when the shop opened and they could fix his car. Nine hundred dollars later, they were packed up and on their way home.  Ivan said that was the most expensive free tickets he has ever had. Bummer of a weekend. 

It's spring break this week, and as usual, we have no plans to do anything. Dad is going to Vernal to go fishing later in the week but the rest of us are doing nothing amazing.  Maybe we will clean out your room and move Taylor in. :)

Mikayla has five girlfriends over for the day. Taylor and I are hiding upstairs and there is a lot of laughing and screaming coming from downstairs. It sounds like they are having fun. 

I was pretty excited to get to sleep in on Sunday but 5am rolled around and I woke up. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I sat there thinking about you and your week. The excitement of actually getting to your Mission, meeting your new companion, flying on an airplane, moving into your first apartment and meeting your mission president. There are so many new and exciting things happening this week. It made me do a little reminiscing and I finally pulled out my mission journals and read about my life. I remember sitting on the plane headed for Madrid, wondering what my life would be like in just s few short hours.

I am so excited for you and all the great experiences that lie ahead. I hope you have a fantastic week. Take some pictures of the MTC and of your friends for you shall never pass this way again.

Keep your chin up. Work hard and obey ALL the rules.

Love,

Mom

April Fool

I miss Jared today. What is April fools day without him? It's just another day. Ever since he was just a young boy, he would get up early and put a rubber band around the sprayer on the kitchen sink and aim it right for the unlucky soul who came first to the sink. Inevitably, it was me. I would innocently come into the kitchen and turn on the water and would get hosed down while I was standing there in complete shock. Every year it happened. You'd think that I would remember his little trick, but he got me every time. 

Kent finally changed out the faucet and removed the sprayer to put in a filter. But I still think of him every April fools day, hiding and waiting to see me get a cold shower every April first.