Aug 22, 2011
Hi Jared,
All week long I have been thinking about Gabby and we have prayed for her every night in our family prayer. I am so excited to hear how her baptism was. Tell me all the details.
This week was busy. We spent Monday cleaning, Tuesday and Wednesday shopping. (Mikayla got at new $1600 violin). Thursday and Friday cutting hair. Saturday was a crazy non stop day with a race, a bridal shower, a baby shower, youth conference, dinner and a show.
Saturday was Mikayla's big event in North Ogden. She and Sally did the "Dirty Girl". It was a 5k run with all kinds of obstacles that drug them through the mud, through a pond, over hay bales, under nets, through pipes, etc. When they finished, they were absolutely filthy. It was pretty entertaining to watch. My favorite was when they got into the arena, which was a complete mud bog, they got into a wrestling match. So funny! They were both wallowing in mud.
Next, it was off to Draper. We stopped by the house long enough for Mikayla to shower and get cleaned up and then we went to Hollie's baby shower. I made her a quilt. She is having a little girl in about four more weeks. She is keeping the baby and will raise her on her own. It's not going to be easy, but hopefully she has enough family support that she can manage.
Then it was back to Bountiful to get to Erin Lundy's bridal shower. She is tying the knot next month. It's hard to believe that all my young women are old enough to get married.
I had to be in Salt Lake at a park by the temple at 5:00 to greet the youth from the 3rd ward as they arrived after trekking from the Bountiful temple, nearly 17 miles. We had dinner ready for the hungry kids as they arrived, hot and tired.
When I got home, I decided I was too tired to attend the swim team party at the rec center. I stayed home and watched t.v. instead. (Shocking, I know!) Ivan and Jenn showed up around 8:00. They ware starving, and we hadn't had dinner either, so we went out to dinner with them, then we came back and watched an episode of Top Gear. It was super funny, and even more so with Ivan there, so we were all laughing hard. A fun end to a busy day.
Ivan and Jenn and kids stayed the night with us, and then it was off to Tooele in the morning to go to Cody's homecoming. It doesn't seem possible that two years have passed since he left. It seems that we were just out there not too long ago. He did a good job and he bore a strong testimony. It sure is fun to see how much missionaries change and grow. He thinks that Canada is the neatest place on Earth. Maybe I need to set him up with Jamie. She has some Canadian blood in her. :)
Adam and Emily are expecting a baby boy in January. My parents will soon be Great-Grandparents to two babies.
Everyone asks about you all the time. Uncle Mark says to tell you hi.
Tomorrow is the first day of school. All three are dreading it. Hahaha
I'm anxiously awaiting news about Gabby.
Love, Mom
Hey,
Things are going really well for us this week. We've got a lot of great investigators and we have three baptism dates set for next month! Plainfield is doing excellent right now. We've been busy this week with meetings and looking for a new apartment. Aside from all that...We had a baptism this week! It went great! There was a huge turnout from the ward. I counted around 70 people there. Gabby's whole family was there to support her too, which was nice. I was nervous about performing the baptism, but I did fine. It's sweet to see how much this ward is growing and the support they give new members.
A few days before the baptism, Gabby gave us a letter with her testimony written in it. It was really powerful seeing the impact of the gospel in her life. I'm so thankful to be a missionary to be able to share that with others.
Love, Jared
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Indiana Thunderstorms
August 14, 2011
Hello Jared,
I am so happy to hear that you are staying in Plainfield. We are praying for Gabby and hope that she gets baptized this week. That's exciting about the Mormon.org ad campaign. Hopefully that will get you a lot of new investigators!
We had a super fun week here. The kids and I packed up and headed for the Snake River. Roger and Becky threw a graduation party for Rylee and let her invite 15 friends to run the river with her. They asked me to be a chaperone. We had a good time. Teenagers are so much fun! Mikayla is super crazy on the river, so of course, she fell in at Lunch Counter. It was a little scary for me as I watched her fear filled eyes as she bobbed up and down through the rapids. It took me a minute to get to her and get her back in the raft. When it was all over, she was laughing and having a good time. She was proud of her accomplishment, as she should be!
We got back on Wednesday afternoon. I did some laundry, went grocery shopping, and repacked. We left Thursday morning for our ward Campout. We went to Perception Park, the same place we were last year where we went river tubing. Three more days on a river...we had so much fun. On Saturday afternoon, once we had camp all cleaned up, a bunch of us floated down stream a mile and a half, where all the cars were waiting for us. Laura, Craig, Christian, Emma, Hallie, Mikayla, me, Mckenzie, and Brock and Dane Anderson all went on this last adventure. Dane, who I think is three, was sitting on his dad's lap. About twenty minutes into the trip, Dane suddenly got off his dads tube and went over and got on with Craig. It was so random, even Craig was taken back a little by this sudden and unexpected move. Just seconds later, we got into some pretty swift water that drug us into some thick shrubbery. Brock was the closest to the edge and it pulled him under and drug him for awhile. I think he was a little scared for his life for just a few seconds. Craig, and the rest of us just drifted through without any trouble. As soon as it was over, someone said, "Wow, I think Dane was inspired to move to Craig's tube". It was the craziest thing ever. The Lord works in mysterious ways. I guess even little children can follow promptings.
We had a really fun, exciting week. This week we will be cleaning, organizing and school shopping. Only one week left before the kids are back in school.
We were just watching the evening news and saw that Sugarland was about to perform at the fairgrounds in Indianapolis last night, when a storm came in. The stage blew down killing at least five people and injuring dozens more. Pretty wild!
I hope you are keeping a journal so that you can remember this time of your life and so that you can see the spiritual progress you are making.
Life is good! The church is true. God loves you!
I love you!
Mom
Hello,
We had a great week. We had a ton of great lessons and gained a few new investigators. We're also moving out of our rodent infested apartment and are getting a new one, which is possibly the best news of the week.
Gabby's baptism is this weekend. We're really excited for it. There's going to be a ton of people there. The support the ward is showing is great. I really love this ward. It'll be a sad day when I get transferred.
The storm on Saturday night was pretty crazy. It just hit us out of nowhere. The rain was pounding down, and there was lightning everywhere with really loud thunder. There's nothing like an Indiana thunderstorm. They're really cool. The whole sky lights up and you can see the storm happening miles away.
Love you,
Jared
P.S. I've been a good boy and written in my journal every day. :)
Hello Jared,
I am so happy to hear that you are staying in Plainfield. We are praying for Gabby and hope that she gets baptized this week. That's exciting about the Mormon.org ad campaign. Hopefully that will get you a lot of new investigators!
We had a super fun week here. The kids and I packed up and headed for the Snake River. Roger and Becky threw a graduation party for Rylee and let her invite 15 friends to run the river with her. They asked me to be a chaperone. We had a good time. Teenagers are so much fun! Mikayla is super crazy on the river, so of course, she fell in at Lunch Counter. It was a little scary for me as I watched her fear filled eyes as she bobbed up and down through the rapids. It took me a minute to get to her and get her back in the raft. When it was all over, she was laughing and having a good time. She was proud of her accomplishment, as she should be!
We got back on Wednesday afternoon. I did some laundry, went grocery shopping, and repacked. We left Thursday morning for our ward Campout. We went to Perception Park, the same place we were last year where we went river tubing. Three more days on a river...we had so much fun. On Saturday afternoon, once we had camp all cleaned up, a bunch of us floated down stream a mile and a half, where all the cars were waiting for us. Laura, Craig, Christian, Emma, Hallie, Mikayla, me, Mckenzie, and Brock and Dane Anderson all went on this last adventure. Dane, who I think is three, was sitting on his dad's lap. About twenty minutes into the trip, Dane suddenly got off his dads tube and went over and got on with Craig. It was so random, even Craig was taken back a little by this sudden and unexpected move. Just seconds later, we got into some pretty swift water that drug us into some thick shrubbery. Brock was the closest to the edge and it pulled him under and drug him for awhile. I think he was a little scared for his life for just a few seconds. Craig, and the rest of us just drifted through without any trouble. As soon as it was over, someone said, "Wow, I think Dane was inspired to move to Craig's tube". It was the craziest thing ever. The Lord works in mysterious ways. I guess even little children can follow promptings.
We had a really fun, exciting week. This week we will be cleaning, organizing and school shopping. Only one week left before the kids are back in school.
We were just watching the evening news and saw that Sugarland was about to perform at the fairgrounds in Indianapolis last night, when a storm came in. The stage blew down killing at least five people and injuring dozens more. Pretty wild!
I hope you are keeping a journal so that you can remember this time of your life and so that you can see the spiritual progress you are making.
Life is good! The church is true. God loves you!
I love you!
Mom
Hello,
We had a great week. We had a ton of great lessons and gained a few new investigators. We're also moving out of our rodent infested apartment and are getting a new one, which is possibly the best news of the week.
Gabby's baptism is this weekend. We're really excited for it. There's going to be a ton of people there. The support the ward is showing is great. I really love this ward. It'll be a sad day when I get transferred.
The storm on Saturday night was pretty crazy. It just hit us out of nowhere. The rain was pounding down, and there was lightning everywhere with really loud thunder. There's nothing like an Indiana thunderstorm. They're really cool. The whole sky lights up and you can see the storm happening miles away.
Love you,
Jared
P.S. I've been a good boy and written in my journal every day. :)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Gabe
August 7, 2011
Dear Jared,
Whew! Still life in the fast lane. Summer is flying by! We're down to the last couple of weeks before school starts. And we have another really full week ahead of us.
This past week has been interesting to say the least. We had two Italians living with us who don't speak a word of English. It was really tough at first, but then I found an online translator and things got easier after that. It's still tough to get to know someone really well when you can't actually speak to them. All the trips in the car are silent because we don't have the translator. I am taking them to Music and the Spoken Word on temple Square today, and then they leave this afternoon.
Do you remember Gabe Hanson, Cooper's little brother? They lived in our ward a few years ago. Anyway, their stake did Quest, like ours, and he got home last Saturday. Later that day, a group of kids decided to have a big swim party at someones house. They all piled into a Ford explorer. There weren't enough seat belts for everyone, so Gabe and one other kid hopped into the back cargo area. The 17 year old girl who was driving went down a dirt road a little too fast, lost control and rolled the vehicle. The two in the back were ejected. Gabe died instantly. Everyone else survived.
Your dad and I went to the viewing on Wednesday night. We got there at 6:40 and stood in line to talk to the family until 10:05. I have NEVER seen such a big crowd before. Gabe liked to wear hot pink Vans and everyone knew it. I guess Vans caught wind of it and sent more than 30 pair of pink vans to the family as well as key chains and lots of stickers which they passed out at the viewing. They all had on these shoes as well as hundreds of his school friends. It was pretty cool. Many kids couldn't find pink ones, since they were all sold out so they resorted to dying their own pink shoes. It was awesome to see such support.
His dad told me that night that Gabe had gotten his learners permit just four days before he died and that he had signed up to be an organ donor. He was able to donate four organs. He said "Gabe had his spiritual bags packed and was ready to go". He had the opportunity to share his testimony four times in the last month. He was a good kid and lived an honorable life. My heart breaks for his family. I cannot imaging losing a child, but I do know that having the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes death a whole lot easier. We know we will get to live with them again.
Taylor and Mikayla spent most of the week at youth conference. They went to Flaming Gorge to run the river and to go boating. They had a good time.
Cherish every day and enjoy the journey. Life is short.
I love you with all my heart!
Mom
Hey,
Transfer calls were this morning and it looks like I'm staying with Elder Bair in Plainfield for another six weeks! Elder Bair's going to be District Leader though. Plainfield's got a lot of great stuff going for it and I'm excited to stay here.
Oops. I accidentally sent that last letter. It's a little short, but I guess that's all you need since Sister Melton already told you everything.
Our ward has grown a lot in the last few weeks. We've had a lot of families moving in. We did three moves this week. We also learned this week that there's going to be a HUGE Mormon.org ad campaign going on next month. It was supposed to be in Las Vegas, but due to some politics, it got moved to Indianapolis. It's going to be the biggest advertising campaign the church has ever done. We're really excited for that.
It's sad to hear the news about Gabe. It breaks my heart. I hope his family is doing ok.
Love,
Jared
Dear Jared,
Whew! Still life in the fast lane. Summer is flying by! We're down to the last couple of weeks before school starts. And we have another really full week ahead of us.
This past week has been interesting to say the least. We had two Italians living with us who don't speak a word of English. It was really tough at first, but then I found an online translator and things got easier after that. It's still tough to get to know someone really well when you can't actually speak to them. All the trips in the car are silent because we don't have the translator. I am taking them to Music and the Spoken Word on temple Square today, and then they leave this afternoon.
Do you remember Gabe Hanson, Cooper's little brother? They lived in our ward a few years ago. Anyway, their stake did Quest, like ours, and he got home last Saturday. Later that day, a group of kids decided to have a big swim party at someones house. They all piled into a Ford explorer. There weren't enough seat belts for everyone, so Gabe and one other kid hopped into the back cargo area. The 17 year old girl who was driving went down a dirt road a little too fast, lost control and rolled the vehicle. The two in the back were ejected. Gabe died instantly. Everyone else survived.
Your dad and I went to the viewing on Wednesday night. We got there at 6:40 and stood in line to talk to the family until 10:05. I have NEVER seen such a big crowd before. Gabe liked to wear hot pink Vans and everyone knew it. I guess Vans caught wind of it and sent more than 30 pair of pink vans to the family as well as key chains and lots of stickers which they passed out at the viewing. They all had on these shoes as well as hundreds of his school friends. It was pretty cool. Many kids couldn't find pink ones, since they were all sold out so they resorted to dying their own pink shoes. It was awesome to see such support.
His dad told me that night that Gabe had gotten his learners permit just four days before he died and that he had signed up to be an organ donor. He was able to donate four organs. He said "Gabe had his spiritual bags packed and was ready to go". He had the opportunity to share his testimony four times in the last month. He was a good kid and lived an honorable life. My heart breaks for his family. I cannot imaging losing a child, but I do know that having the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes death a whole lot easier. We know we will get to live with them again.
Taylor and Mikayla spent most of the week at youth conference. They went to Flaming Gorge to run the river and to go boating. They had a good time.
Cherish every day and enjoy the journey. Life is short.
I love you with all my heart!
Mom
Hey,
Transfer calls were this morning and it looks like I'm staying with Elder Bair in Plainfield for another six weeks! Elder Bair's going to be District Leader though. Plainfield's got a lot of great stuff going for it and I'm excited to stay here.
Oops. I accidentally sent that last letter. It's a little short, but I guess that's all you need since Sister Melton already told you everything.
Our ward has grown a lot in the last few weeks. We've had a lot of families moving in. We did three moves this week. We also learned this week that there's going to be a HUGE Mormon.org ad campaign going on next month. It was supposed to be in Las Vegas, but due to some politics, it got moved to Indianapolis. It's going to be the biggest advertising campaign the church has ever done. We're really excited for that.
It's sad to hear the news about Gabe. It breaks my heart. I hope his family is doing ok.
Love,
Jared
Sunday, August 7, 2011
A Sweet Tender Mercy: A Phone Call from Plainfield
August 7, 2011
The Lord has a sweet way of sharing tender mercies with us. I was sitting home alone a few days ago when the phone rang. It was Ann's mom from Plainfield, Indiana. She called to give me a little report on Jared. He is serving in their ward right now. She said she was sure that Jared was telling me all the details of everything that was happening, but thought she'd report, just in case he wasn't. I assured her by the length of his letters, he wasn't giving me any details at all.
They had a ward party to celebrate pioneer day. Of course, the Elders were invited. After dinner, they did a stick pull, like Joseph Smith used to do. Jared and his companion sat down on the floor across from each other, both holding on to the stick, they said "go", and with one pull Jared whipped his companion into the air. Haha He's a pretty strong guy.
Then they had a pie eating contest. Some of the sisters had made pies for the occasion. They asked the Elders to participate. They politely declined. Soon the whole ward was chanting, "Elders, Elders, Elders". They brought out plastic to cover their suits and soon the missionaries relented and participated. Jared did a face plant into the yummy creme pie. Although he didn't win, he was a good sport and gave it a good try.
She said he is really losing his shyness and is a super great missionary.
They had Missionary Sunday and asked the Elders to speak. Jared stood up and said something like, I usually like to start my talk off with a joke, but I couldn't think of one, so instead, I wore the ugliest tie I had. The audience got a good laugh out of that. (I'm happy to know that he's still got his sense of humor.)
During his talk he used Doctrine and Cocentpants 18: 15-18
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
17 Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my salvation.
18 Ask the Father in my name, in faith believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men.
Then he bore a strong testimony. She said she could tell he came from a good family and that he was a great kid. "If he were my son," she said, " I would be standing tall and proud". She reassured me that he is doing a good job and that I should be proud to be his mom. I couldn't be more proud! I love that boy.
She told me not to worry about him. He is a good Elder. They pray for the missionaries, but especially the ones they know. It's good to know Jared is getting extra prayers.
By the time she finished, I was sobbing. I'm so thankful to know he's doing great and he's happy and having fun while he's doing the work. I'm thankful for this sweet, tender mercy!
The Lord has a sweet way of sharing tender mercies with us. I was sitting home alone a few days ago when the phone rang. It was Ann's mom from Plainfield, Indiana. She called to give me a little report on Jared. He is serving in their ward right now. She said she was sure that Jared was telling me all the details of everything that was happening, but thought she'd report, just in case he wasn't. I assured her by the length of his letters, he wasn't giving me any details at all.
They had a ward party to celebrate pioneer day. Of course, the Elders were invited. After dinner, they did a stick pull, like Joseph Smith used to do. Jared and his companion sat down on the floor across from each other, both holding on to the stick, they said "go", and with one pull Jared whipped his companion into the air. Haha He's a pretty strong guy.
Then they had a pie eating contest. Some of the sisters had made pies for the occasion. They asked the Elders to participate. They politely declined. Soon the whole ward was chanting, "Elders, Elders, Elders". They brought out plastic to cover their suits and soon the missionaries relented and participated. Jared did a face plant into the yummy creme pie. Although he didn't win, he was a good sport and gave it a good try.
She said he is really losing his shyness and is a super great missionary.
They had Missionary Sunday and asked the Elders to speak. Jared stood up and said something like, I usually like to start my talk off with a joke, but I couldn't think of one, so instead, I wore the ugliest tie I had. The audience got a good laugh out of that. (I'm happy to know that he's still got his sense of humor.)
During his talk he used Doctrine and Cocentpants 18: 15-18
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
17 Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my salvation.
18 Ask the Father in my name, in faith believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men.
Then he bore a strong testimony. She said she could tell he came from a good family and that he was a great kid. "If he were my son," she said, " I would be standing tall and proud". She reassured me that he is doing a good job and that I should be proud to be his mom. I couldn't be more proud! I love that boy.
She told me not to worry about him. He is a good Elder. They pray for the missionaries, but especially the ones they know. It's good to know Jared is getting extra prayers.
By the time she finished, I was sobbing. I'm so thankful to know he's doing great and he's happy and having fun while he's doing the work. I'm thankful for this sweet, tender mercy!
Sister Wise Elder
August 1, 2011
Dear Jared,
I survived girls camp! We had such a great time. Our theme was "Oh the places you'll go!", by Dr. Seuss. Each ward chose a different book and had to rewrite it with a spiritual tone. I was amazed at the creativity of each ward. One chose "The Best Nest" and focused on the family. Our ward chose "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb", and did theirs on service. As the stake leaders, we chose "Go Dog, Go". DOG stood for Daughter of God.
It was so fun to see what everyone came up with. I made some cute wooden signs with Seussical sayings on them. I also made a bunch of tiles with Dr. Seuss quotes that I put along the road leading to the lodge.
We were fortunate enough to be able to get a zip line, which turned out to be super fun. The girls loved it.
I shared a room in the lodge with my presidency; Tammy Ensign, Ginger Lamb, and Tracie Terrill and the music coordinator, Leslie Dayton. We had so much fun. Everyone got real silly and started doing practical jokes. It got funnier and funnier. We decided the cooks needed to have a little fun too. I remembered when you painted the scared faces on the eggs, so we headed to the kitchen with flashlights in hand and started coloring on 12 dozen eggs. We wrote silly things too...like, "don't beat me" and "you crack me up". It was funnier at one o'clock in the morning than it was when the cooks saw them, but that's ok. We had a good time.
But the best was a bear growling sound that we had on an iPod! Every one was getting so scared. Leslie and I were laughing and enjoying it. It was super funny. I know you had to be there, but just know that we really got them good.
We got two girls from Italy on Friday, the day we got home from girls camp. They are here for Summerfest, the street dances that bountiful does every year. They do not speak a word of English, so it is a little tricky. I have had to call Craig several times and have him translate to try and figure out what they want.
Did you get your package?
Life here is good. The Lord is blessing us. Thank you for your willingness to serve, Jared. Be strong. Be happy.
I love you,
Mom
Hello,
Things have gone really well this week. We spent a lot of time tracting without many results. Elder Bair and I ran into someone with the last name Bair though. It was pretty funny. While we were talking to him on his doorstep he was just staring down Elder Bair the whole time.
Another funny experience... We were having dinner with a family in our ward. They have two funny little kids named Jay and Eli who are four and two. They love having us over for dinner. Jay and Eli are super talkative, are always asking us really random questions, and always address us as "missionaries". Their parents were explaining to them that my name was Elder Wise, not missionary and they told them that Elder was a title, just like brother or sister. Eli looked a little confused. A few minutes later Eli tried to get my attention to ask me a question and said "Hey Sister Wise Elder, did you know that Cookie Monster loves cookies?" We all got a good laugh out of it.
Gabby's getting baptized on August 20th and I hope I'm still here in Plainfield for it. Transfers are on the 10th, so there's a chance I could be gone before it happens, which would be a bummer, because she told us that she wants me to baptize her! We're really excited for the baptism and the ward is really excited too. It's going to be great.
Thanks for the package. Hope you're doing well.
Love,
Jared
Dear Jared,
I survived girls camp! We had such a great time. Our theme was "Oh the places you'll go!", by Dr. Seuss. Each ward chose a different book and had to rewrite it with a spiritual tone. I was amazed at the creativity of each ward. One chose "The Best Nest" and focused on the family. Our ward chose "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb", and did theirs on service. As the stake leaders, we chose "Go Dog, Go". DOG stood for Daughter of God.
It was so fun to see what everyone came up with. I made some cute wooden signs with Seussical sayings on them. I also made a bunch of tiles with Dr. Seuss quotes that I put along the road leading to the lodge.
We were fortunate enough to be able to get a zip line, which turned out to be super fun. The girls loved it.
I shared a room in the lodge with my presidency; Tammy Ensign, Ginger Lamb, and Tracie Terrill and the music coordinator, Leslie Dayton. We had so much fun. Everyone got real silly and started doing practical jokes. It got funnier and funnier. We decided the cooks needed to have a little fun too. I remembered when you painted the scared faces on the eggs, so we headed to the kitchen with flashlights in hand and started coloring on 12 dozen eggs. We wrote silly things too...like, "don't beat me" and "you crack me up". It was funnier at one o'clock in the morning than it was when the cooks saw them, but that's ok. We had a good time.
But the best was a bear growling sound that we had on an iPod! Every one was getting so scared. Leslie and I were laughing and enjoying it. It was super funny. I know you had to be there, but just know that we really got them good.
We got two girls from Italy on Friday, the day we got home from girls camp. They are here for Summerfest, the street dances that bountiful does every year. They do not speak a word of English, so it is a little tricky. I have had to call Craig several times and have him translate to try and figure out what they want.
Did you get your package?
Life here is good. The Lord is blessing us. Thank you for your willingness to serve, Jared. Be strong. Be happy.
I love you,
Mom
Hello,
Things have gone really well this week. We spent a lot of time tracting without many results. Elder Bair and I ran into someone with the last name Bair though. It was pretty funny. While we were talking to him on his doorstep he was just staring down Elder Bair the whole time.
Another funny experience... We were having dinner with a family in our ward. They have two funny little kids named Jay and Eli who are four and two. They love having us over for dinner. Jay and Eli are super talkative, are always asking us really random questions, and always address us as "missionaries". Their parents were explaining to them that my name was Elder Wise, not missionary and they told them that Elder was a title, just like brother or sister. Eli looked a little confused. A few minutes later Eli tried to get my attention to ask me a question and said "Hey Sister Wise Elder, did you know that Cookie Monster loves cookies?" We all got a good laugh out of it.
Gabby's getting baptized on August 20th and I hope I'm still here in Plainfield for it. Transfers are on the 10th, so there's a chance I could be gone before it happens, which would be a bummer, because she told us that she wants me to baptize her! We're really excited for the baptism and the ward is really excited too. It's going to be great.
Thanks for the package. Hope you're doing well.
Love,
Jared
Priesthood Blessings Work
July 25, 2011
Hello again,
It's been another week in the fast lane. I've been making final preparations for girls camp and trying to make sure everything is completely ready. It is a big undertaking to take 175 people camping. Hopefully everyone does their part and everything goes smoothly. We leave Monday and get back Friday. I'll let you know how it goes next week.
Yesterday was our last day with Ana and Maria. They were a lot of fun and got along so well with Mikayla, Hallie and Sally. The ride to the airport was so quiet. Nobody spoke a word. When we said goodbye, they were both crying and didn't want to go. I think they are going to miss it here. We are going to miss them too.
How is Bob doing? Is he still progressing? He sounds like a good guy.
Well, we are headed off to the Days of 47 parade to be Judges for the floats again this year and we have to be there before 6:00, so I'd better get going.
I love you. Have a great week.
Love,
Mom
Hello,
This week's had it's ups and downs. It seems like most of our appointments have fallen through, but we did have some really great lessons. We committed Gabby to baptism on August 20th, and she accepted! There's always opposition and we knew it was coming. That opposition came in the form of a pastor at her previous church. He told her we weren't Christian and she was making a big mistake, but she stuck strong to her decision. It's awesome because the day before her pastor told her this, a member of our ward gave us an article from the New Era that he felt inspired would help her. The article describes someone situation that is almost exactly the same as hers. We gave it to her, and I'm sure it helped her out. Funny how this inspiration comes...
We also had a great lesson with Bob. I won't get into details, but let's just say that Priesthood Blessings work.
Well, the weather's nice today for a change, so we're going to play some golf.
Love you,
Jared
Hello again,
It's been another week in the fast lane. I've been making final preparations for girls camp and trying to make sure everything is completely ready. It is a big undertaking to take 175 people camping. Hopefully everyone does their part and everything goes smoothly. We leave Monday and get back Friday. I'll let you know how it goes next week.
Yesterday was our last day with Ana and Maria. They were a lot of fun and got along so well with Mikayla, Hallie and Sally. The ride to the airport was so quiet. Nobody spoke a word. When we said goodbye, they were both crying and didn't want to go. I think they are going to miss it here. We are going to miss them too.
How is Bob doing? Is he still progressing? He sounds like a good guy.
Well, we are headed off to the Days of 47 parade to be Judges for the floats again this year and we have to be there before 6:00, so I'd better get going.
I love you. Have a great week.
Love,
Mom
Hello,
This week's had it's ups and downs. It seems like most of our appointments have fallen through, but we did have some really great lessons. We committed Gabby to baptism on August 20th, and she accepted! There's always opposition and we knew it was coming. That opposition came in the form of a pastor at her previous church. He told her we weren't Christian and she was making a big mistake, but she stuck strong to her decision. It's awesome because the day before her pastor told her this, a member of our ward gave us an article from the New Era that he felt inspired would help her. The article describes someone situation that is almost exactly the same as hers. We gave it to her, and I'm sure it helped her out. Funny how this inspiration comes...
We also had a great lesson with Bob. I won't get into details, but let's just say that Priesthood Blessings work.
Well, the weather's nice today for a change, so we're going to play some golf.
Love you,
Jared
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