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