A Russian Miracle

September 5, 2011

Dear Jared,

Last week I was working at Spanky's. Two guys came in and I started helping them. One guy said to me, "Hey, aren't you Jared's mom?"  I told him I was and he started asking about you and how you were doing. I asked his name and he said it was Weston. Then I asked him who his friend was. He was in a motorized wheelchair. It was Gates! I was a little surprised to see him out and about, because last I heard he wasn't doing so well. He looks good and seemed to be pretty upbeat. He said he knew you as the kid who never missed a concert. :) Anyway, I finished making their sandwiches and they went to a table. A few minutes later, I looked over at them, and there was Weston feeding Gates his sandwich. My eyes instantly filled up with tears and I was so choked up I could hardly speak as I watched one friend serve another. He was doing something for Gates that he couldn't do for himself. What an amazing friend.

When I came home, I got your letter about you working at the special Olympics and   thought how you are devoting your whole life to service. I am proud of you!

Saturday night I got a call from Grandma. She asked me if I would call the Bountiful temple and put Gracie's name on the prayer roll. Nichole was at a friends house, Gracie was sitting on the floor petting their dog. He turned on her and bit her in the face. They took her to Primary Children's Medical Center to get her stitched up. He bit through her nose and several other places on her face. Nichole said it wasn't as bad as it looked once they got her cleaned up. She says Gracie is going to be ok, but it was still pretty scary.

I am training for yet another half marathon, The Halloween Half, where every runner dresses in costume. Anyway, we decided that we wanted to do a canyon run, for our Saturday run, so we had Taylor drive us to the top if Emmigration Canyon and drop us off. Little did we know it was the Salt Lake Half Marathon going on. It was pretty funny. We just joined them in their race. Today my legs are so sore I can hardly sit down. That downhill running can be tough on the body!

Life here is good. The weather has finally cooled off a little bit and the nights are a lot cooler. I find that I am less grouchy when the weather is not so hot. I hope we have a really long, beautiful fall. 

Keep up the good work.  We pray for you every night, and we are praying for Deborah!

Love, Mom





Hey,

We've had an exciting week. Last monday we had dinner with a family in our ward. Their son just moved back in with them. The son was telling us about a few people he wanted us to teach. One of them was a Russian family that lives by his grandmother. The family barely speaks any English, but he went to Russia on his mission, so he's able to communicate with them. He told us if we could get a copy of the Book of Mormon and Bible in Russian, he'd go over with us and teach them. We called the mission office about it, and they said they might have some, but they'd have to check and call us back. Elder Bair and I prayed that night that we'd be able to find the books. So anyways, the following day, we were teaching Deborah in the church. and when we were leaving the church there was the answer to our prayer, sitting right on the chair in the foyer...a Russian Book of Mormon and Bible, plus some pamphlets about the first vision. It was such a strange experience. I have no doubt in my mind that prayers are answered.

Yesterday we had a fun holiday. We had a ward pancake breakfast at the park. They were the best pancakes I've ever had. Afterwards, we played some football (I had someone that played for the Colts on my team) and then went fishing. Tons of fun!

Everything here is going great. Saturday's going to be an exciting day. We are moving into our new apartment, and Deborah's getting baptized! 

The Work's going great!


Love, 

Jared