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
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