Saying Goodbye to Elder Zeyer

Good morning,

I'm sure you heard about the horrific school shooting that happened over the weekend.  It's been all over the news.  Here's a clip from the newspaper, if you're interested.

Key facts related to the Connecticut elementary school shooting:

THE GUNMAN: Adam Lanza, 20, was described as a bright but painfully awkward student who seemed to have no close friends. In high school, he was active in the technology club. The club adviser remembered that he had "some disabilities" and seemed not to feel pain like the other students. That meant Lanza required special supervision when using soldering tools, for instance. He also had an occasional "episode" in which he seemed to withdraw completely from his surroundings, the adviser said.

Lanza committed suicide after his killing spree.

Newtown education officials said they had found no link between Adam Lanza's mother, who was killed before the school massacre, and the school, contrary to news reports that said she was a teacher there. Investigators believe Adam Lanza attended Sandy Hook Elementary many years ago, but they had no explanation for why he went there Friday.

The HISTORY: The Newtown massacre is the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history and one of the deadliest mass shootings around the world. A gunman at Virginia Tech University killed 33, including himself, in 2007. Only Virginia Tech and the mass killings of 77 in Norway last year had greater death tolls across the world over the past 20 years.

The gunman allegedly killed his mother at their home and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children. 

Obviously, it has been a gloomy weekend for many. On the upside, I hear that many have turned toward God looking for answers and comfort. Hopefully something good comes out of this travesty.

And a bit more depressing news from home: Kay Henrie  passed away this week. I don't know if you remember her, but the Henries lived in the ward for probably 40 years. They moved to St. George about a year and a half ago. She had a stoke a few months ago and apparently never recovered. She was a wonderful woman.

On the upside, things at home are going well. We are enjoying good health and loving the Christmas Season.

Dad and I went to a Jazz game last week and had a blast. It was a good game and the Jazz won by 3 in the last 6 seconds. It was intense.

We also had our circle party in the top of the garage. It was a good place to host it. It worked out perfectly.

We are continually praying for you and hope all is well. We are really looking forward to talking to you on Christmas.

Love you! 

Hey,

 

 I got the package from Grandma Mott a few days ago. It was great.

 

Well, we got transfer calls last night. Elder Zeyer will be leaving and I'm staying.

 

This week was cool. We had our Christmas Conference on Wednesday. It's always good to get to see other missionaries. After conference, we did exchanges, so I went with Elder Sorensen in Marion. He's a neat guy. He's been out for about four months now and he was trained in Westfield when Ryan was getting Baptized, so that's a pretty neat connection.

 

On Saturday we had a cool little miracle. We've been trying to track down a few former investigators lately, and one of them ended up showing up to the Branch Christmas Dinner on Saturday. Her name's Kelli and she's friends with a member that used to live in the branch, but moved to Illinois. The member ended up moving back (to a different ward) and came to the dinner and brought Kelli along. She's awesome! She came up to us and told us she was interested in taking the discussions. She ended up coming to church on Sunday and also the Why I Believe fireside. She loved it all. Also on Sunday we had the Relief Society President tell us that a less active member who is working her way back wants us to start teaching her nine year old daughter the lessons. Two Christmas miracles!

 

Also, we had two run-ins with Santa this week. Once, when we were walking down the street and he pulled over in his big red truck to talk to us and the second was on a bicycle. Photo evidence of one of these incidents is attached.

 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

 

 Jared

First Baptism Interview

Good morning Jared,

Christmas is inching closer every day. Last week we had three Christmas Parties and we have a couple more coming up this week. What a fun month, last night, the girls spent the evening wrapping gifts and getting ready for the big day.

Friday was our Ward Party. We had a huge turnout, I'm not sure exactly how many, but I'm guessing close to 200. The primary kids did a play, "Christmas in the Americas". It was the birth of the Savior from the Nephites and Lamanites perspective. Mikayla and Sammi Soto sang a song during the program. It was absolutely beautiful. They really helped to bring the spirit. Overall the night was a success. Kevin and Amber Gibson brought in a green screen and we did family photos for everyone who wanted to. I will send you a picture. They turned out really cute!

Tammy Clayton emailed me and here is what she said: "Also, I talked with Vickie Maag the other day.  We are friends and she told me she met Jared and sent you pictures.  Have you ever met her?  You would love her.  She loved Jared and said  he was such a great missionary, I wasn't surprised." awwwww!

Well, I think that's all for now. Good luck this week. Hope you have a lot of success and you stay warm. I love you!

Mom

Hey,

 

This week was pretty good. We've had some warm weather. It got up in the 60s last Monday. I was in a town called Marion for a few days on exchanges with Elder Davis. While with him I conducted my first baptism interview. It was with a 12 year old kid named Zane that they're teaching. The interview went well, and he's ready for baptism this Sunday.

 

This week we've been working a lot in little towns. When I was in Marion we worked in a little town called LaFontaine. We were knocking on doors in a trailer park and a couple of people came out and started yelling at us for "soliciting" and told us they were going to get our license plate numbers and call the cops on us. haha.

 

On Saturday we worked in a little town about fifteen miles away called Summitville. It's a tiny town out in the middle of nowhere. Kind of strange, but as we were walking down the street we saw an Audi with Utah license plates parked on the street. I wonder who it was and what they were doing all the way out there? Weird.

 

That's pretty much all that happened this week. Most of our appointments ended up falling through.

Tell Taylor he needs to send me more details and pictures of the Mini!

 

Love you!

 

Jared

 

P.S. Tell Grandma and Grandpa Wise thanks for the package.

God Sent You To Me

Hi Jared,

It's been another busy week, and I'm sure it'll be like that until after Christmas. We went over to Holgreen's to watch Rylee open her mission call. She is going to Russia! Holy Cow! That has got to be a little scary, to learn the language, be so far from home and such a different culture. She leaves March 13th.

Jamie Wheeler got engaged on Saturday night to her best friend from High School. His name is Mason. We don't know when yet. Most likely in the Spring after she graduates from BYU.

Taylor is quite the talk of the town with his new car. Because it is so different than anything else here, when people see it, they remember it. Topher came into Spankys with his buddies and he told his friend, this is the mom of the boy who owns the Mini. He was at Home and saw Taylor's car parked in the church parking lot. Although he didn't know Taylor had bought it, he figured it out. He found Taylor and took it for a spin. He was bragging to his friends that he got to drive it. It's pretty cute.

What ever happened with Adam and Carl's sister? Are you still teaching them?

I hope you have another great week. I love you so much!

Mom

Hey,

 

We've had a great week with a lot more teaching than last week. On Tuesday we had a great lesson with Sandra. We brought over Brother and Sister Hamilton, who are awesome. They shared their conversion storeis, invited her to dinner and a church tour, and helped her dispel some fears about church. She's doing great. I'm going to be in a city called Marion for today and tomorrow with another missionary on exchanges, but Elder Zeyer will be teaching her tomorrow.

 

We had exchanges with our Zone Leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday and it was good. We started teaching a new family named Mark and Brooke. They have met with missionaries before, but they weren't really taught anything. It sounds like they were just there to hang out, so I don't know how much longer we'll be teaching them. We had a pretty good lesson, so we'll see how it goes.

 

Saturday was fantastic. We picked up the car the day before, and it's ours full time now, so we decided to work in a litte town a few miles away from Elwood called Frankton. We were tracting in a trailer park and we had someone let us in, which doesn't happen often. It was a guy probably in his 80s named Harry. We had a great lesson with him, and Elder Zeyer will be going back tonight to teach him again. The miracles kept continuing that day. We got back to Elwood and had dinner and then got out to work again. We were going to be stopping by some people on the west side of town. While driving over there I decided to park in a parking lot and walk the rest of the way, which was only a few blocks. We ended up running into a less active, part member family on the street. Without getting into details, they said that they knew that God had placed us in their path that night. They are going through a tough time and need our help.

 

We had another similar experience right after. We stopped by a woman named Judy. She had a baptism date about a year ago but kind of fell off the path. When we met her at the door she said the same thing, that God had sent us to her door that night.

 

Lots of miracles this week.

 

Also, one funny story. It's a rule that whenever we need to back the car, the junior companion needs to stand outside and direct. When we were leaving church, Elder Zeyer was standing in the parking lot motioning me out. A three year old girl named Ave was watching and started yelling at him. She yelled, "Elder Zeyer! You get in that car right now! He's going to run you over!"

 

It was pretty funny.

 

Love,

 

Jared

Three Thanksgiving Dinners

Good Morning, Jared,

We had a most unusual Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. The Priests were preparing the Sacrament and we were finishing the song when the priests looked a little distraught.  Brother Zumwalt hopped up and hustled out, then Brother Whitehead hurried out, then they summoned Sally Olea out, and then Brother Howlett left. The Bishop conversed with President Allred from the stake Presidency. The song went into overtime as we sang all the verses. When the song ended, the Bishop stood up and told us not to be surprised. We would soon find out what was going on. Then he announced the speakers. It was bizarre having thing out of order. After the first speaker, we sang the Sacrament hymn again and then had the sacrament. When Taylor sat back down with us, he told us it was because no one brought bread. Oops!

Craig and Laura had a baby girl last week. Laura was shocked! She was positive that they were going to have a boy. It was pretty funny. Craig grew his hair out the whole time she was pregnant. The day after she delivered, he came over for a haircut. I cut it into a mullet for him. He proudly sported his 80's hairdo for several days, including Sunday. Laura was mortified and mad at me for embarrassing her so much. He did look a little ridiculous, but in spite of it, got lots of compliments on his new look.

We spent four days over Thanksgiving at a Bed and Breakfast in Eden, by Pineview. Everyone was there except Vance and Sherrie and their family. We had a lot of fun playing games, doing crafts, playing pool and eating. It's good to have such neat family.

What did you do for Thanksgiving? I hope someone treated you well and you got lots of good home cooked food.

Mikayla was in charge of the Mutual activity last week. She did such an amazing job. I was really proud of her. Her activity was "Trip to Paradise". As everyone arrived, she handed out boarding passes for their "trip" to Hawaii. As the kids boarded the "plane", they each got a lei. She did the whole flight attendant spiel and then they served dinner and watched an in flight movie. The plane crashed and they all died. They visited each kingdom  where there were people telling their stories and why they ended up where they did. They finally ended up in the RS room where they were all embraced by their families. I thought it was very powerful and thought provoking. I am so proud of your sister. She is quite the party planner and organizer.

Three people in our ward died this week. All on Wednesday. Kind of bizarre. They were all elderly and you probably don't know them, but it was was a little crazy.

Holden is going back into the mission field in a couple of weeks. This time he is going to the Ogden Mission. I hope things work out for him this time.

Now, the news of the week. I was hoping that Taylor would tell you, and maybe he did. But I'd not, here goes. He found a Mini on KSL. It was in Provo. I think he was asking $4500. When Taylor inquired about it, the man said he had had such an enormous interest in it, that he decided to do a silent auction. The car would go to the highest bidder. Taylor put in his bid and anxiously waited three days. He finally got a call. The man told him there was one bid higher than his, but because he knew how badly Taylor wanted it, he gave him the chance to bid $100 higher. Taylor looked at me, and asked if he should do it. Of course, I said yes. The other bidder offered to pay even more AND give Taylor $300 to back out, but the seller stood strong and Taylor is the proud owner of the cutest car on the planet! You can get all the details from him. I have to say that I have never seen him smile more! He is so happy. He even let Grandma take a picture of him. The only downside to this is the fact that I have been evicted from the garage. My poor car is now parked out in the frosty cold. I should have seen it coming.

Keep your chin up! Work hard and enjoy the journey! I know you are a fantastic missionary. I am so proud of you.

Lave, Mom

Hey,

This week was great. We didn't get as much teaching done because of the Holidays, but it was still pretty good. Things were a little mixed up. We had our Preparation day on Thanksgiving, but emailed on Monday. Tuesday I had a Leadership Training Meeting in Indianapolis, so another companionship in the area stopped by that morning and I left with one missionary to the meeting and Elder Zeyer stayed with the other in Elwood. The elder that stayed with Elder Zeyer was sick that day, so they ended up staying inside all day.

Thanksgiving day was great. The weather was fantastic. It was sunny and in the high 60s. We had two dinners and they were both great. The first one was at noon and we had a great time there. We left for our next meal at about 2, which was way too soon to eat again, but the food looked so good that we did anyways. The second meal was with another family in the branch who rented out a church because their house wasn't big enough to fit everyone. We stayed there for the rest of the day playing games.

The day after Thanksgiving was FREEZING. it dropped about 35 degrees and we had terrible wind the whole day. The wind and humidity combination here cuts you right to the bone. It's cold! We didn't have any appointments that day, but  we were blessed with the tender mercy of another Thanksgiving meal. We went to see a family in the Branch and we were invited back in a few hours to have a Thanksgiving lunch with them. They had it the day after Thanksgiving because a lot of their family had to work the day before. It was good to get a break from the cold.

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.

Love you,

Jared

A Tender Mercy!

A few days ago I had the need to call the Mission Home to get some info, and who should answer but Sister Collins? (The Mission President's wife). I introduced myself and told her who my son was and she proudly responded, "Elder Wise! I had lunch with him yesterday. I just love him. He is such a great missionary and is so much fun to be around!" She went on to tell me what a good job he is doing and how happy he is. She feels a kinship to him because they are from the same place. (They are from North Salt Lake.) I could feel my throat swelling up as she spoke and a few little tears trickled down my cheeks. I couldn't have been happier. I needed that little boost. It's always so great to hear from someone else that your son is doing well.

She couldn't answer my question and told me to call the mission office. Boy, was I grateful I made that mistake and called the mission home instead of the mission office. I am one proud mama. Thank you Sister Collins!

Just a Coinsidence?

November 19, 2012

Dear Jared, 

I came home from work today, and suddenly realized I had forgotten to send you a letter this morning. Boy, do I feel like a loser. In my defense, I was caught up in service this morning and let everything else go. I checked my email and there was nothing from you. So either you are mad that I sent you nothing and so I get nothing in return, or your p-day has changed, or your library hours. Anyway, I hope somehow you'll get this today.

I got a letter from your Mission President letting us know you have been made a district leader. I think you will do awesome at whatever job you are given. That's the kind of man you are.

Life continues to be busy. I like it that way.  I got offered a job last week at the Utah State Capitol. It's just temporary, while the legislature is in session, January through March. I am really excited for this opportunity. I will be a Page in the House of Representatives.

Taylor found a Mini in Provo that he wants to check out. He and Dad are headed down there in a minute to look at it.

I love you lots!  Mom

Hey,

 

Elder Zeyer and I had a pretty great week. Things are really starting to pick up. Last Monday had quite a few interesting events. We got a call that morning from Brother Hamilton in the ward telling us that a member named Carl who was baptized about a year ago, was in the hospital. while he was in there Brother Hamilton and another guy were giving Carl a blessing and Carl's sister and brother in law walked in. Naturally, they had questions. Brother Hamilton and the other member answered the questions and invited them to church. They said they'd love to come and also meet with us. After dinner that night we went to see Carl in the hospital. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him, so while we were there they released him to go home. When we left the hospital we decided to see Adam, one of our investigators. His phone was shut off and we hadn't heard from him in a while so we decided to stop by. He had just moved in to a bigger house across town with some friends so they could split the cost and save some money. When we got to his house, he invited us right in. Turns out the friends he moved in with were Carl's sister and her husband. We had met them a couple times and talked briefly, but they never knew we went to the same church as Carl. They had about a million questions, so we sat down with them right then and taught them.

 

Our Branch had a fish fry on Saturday, and it was great. Lots of good food, and Adam and his friends all came. The Branch did an awesome job of welcoming them all. They were planning on coming to church on Sunday, but they ended up being sick. They said they'll be there next week though.

 

We also had a great lesson with Sandra. She's doing pretty well, but she needs a little bit of a push to do things. We'll be bringing over some sisters from the Relief Society next visit, so that should help her to be able to be more comfortable with coming to church.

  

Well, that's about it. Hope you have a good Thanksgiving!

 

Love,  Jared

District Leader in Elwood

Hi Jared, 

So much for the incredible weather. The girls and I headed off to sunny California. When we returned, we were shocked to find that we had over a foot of snow. And to think that last week it was in the 70's. This morning it was 20 degrees when I went running. Winter is officially here.

We had fun in Disneyland. I thought that three days in the park would be too much, but we didn't even scrape the surface of what there is to do there. Although the weather was cool (in the 60's) it was still so much fun. They had the whole park decorated for Christmas. It looked so cute!

I heard on the news this morning, that there was a huge explosion in Indianapolis over the weekend. It killed a couple of people and displaced dozens of others. They aren't sure what happened. At first they though an airplane had crashed, or perhaps a bomb, now they are thinking that it's a gas explosion. It completely obliterated a few houses. I hope all the missionaries are alright. 

Bummer about the election. Four more years of the same. Maybe it's a good thing Romney didn't get in. He brought the church some positive publicity and now we won't be blamed for everything that goes wrong in America. The Lord is in control.

I love you, Jared, and I hope you week is great.

Love,  Mom

Hello,

 

Well, it's that time again for transfer calls. This time was different from the last few times. Elder Zeyer and I are both staying in Elwood, and I'm becoming a District Leader.

 

We've had a pretty great week. The weather has been nice. The last two days it's been 65-70 degrees. It cooled down this morning and it was rainy while we were studying. By the time we got out the door though the rain had turned into snowflakes. It's in the process of melting though.

 

We were able to pick up two new investigators this week, which is great, because we've been dropping them like crazy lately. The first is Melissa. She and her husband investigated the church at one time, but got busy and quit. We had a member with us for a different appointment, which fell through, so we stopped by and she invited us in. The lesson went pretty well. We've got another appointment with them on Wednesday, so we'll see how things go.

 

We've spent a few days in a town we cover called Alexandria. We were there last night and we met with one of our investigators named Jim. He's a neat guy. I like him a lot. He's one of those people that really takes in what you say and thinks about it. He has great comments about everything we teach. I've got really high hopes for him.

 

The second new investigator was a girl named Lindsay. She's been to tons of different churches and hasn't found one she agrees with. We taught her about the Restoration and it was fantastic. She said when we recited the First Vision she had goosebumps. She's awesome. Next time we go back we're meeting with her boyfriend as well.

 

Things are going well in Elwood!

 

Love you,

 

Jared

Trick or Treat

Hi Jared,

Your package was delivered yesterday while we were at church. We didn't open it, like you instructed. It would have been more exciting if it was for us, full of photos and video footage. Sigh. Oh well. :)

This week has been another crazy busy week. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to get everything done that I would like to. I'm glad I enjoyed my long summer days quilting and relaxing. I forget how busy fall gets. We have spent the last few days on a service project for a ward member. Although it has been an ENORMOUS amount of work, it has been  very gratifying. I spent 16 hours on Friday, and quite a few hours on Saturday working. I don't ever remember feeling quite so exhausted at the end of the day as I have the last couple, but it feels good to have made a difference in someone else's life.

I am a poll manager for the Elections tomorrow. That is another long day but I also enjoy it. I'm anxious to see who will be spending the next four years leading our country. Is is possible that we might have a Mormon as President of the United States? Crazy!

I get the staples out of the top of my head on Wednesday. I'm pretty excited about that.

There is no school today, so the girls are home. Taylor is working for Ryan. That has sure been a good thing for him. He needs to stay busy.

Dad starts physical therapy on his shoulder today. He's on the mend now.

Last night we had a party to mourn the passing of your dads youth. He turned 50 yesterday. We had a bunch of friends come over and bring ridiculous gifts like a walker, shredded wheat, enemas, and other assorted old age appropriate gifts. It was funny. He was really a good sport about it.

The weather here has been incredible. The days are warm, in the 70's, and the nights are cool. We couldn't ask for nicer weather. I would like it if we had weather like this through mid December. Trick-or-treating was very pleasant. It's hard to believe there is such terrible weather in other parts of our country. We feel so fortunate.

Have an amazing week. I hope things are going well for you. We love you so much and we are really proud of you for all you have done. 

Love, Mom

Hello,

 

We've had a pretty good week, and quite a miracle. I think I talked about it last week, but we started teaching a girl named Jessica. She's pretty prepared for the gospel. The only problem is she was moving to a town called Peru soon after we started teaching her. After we taught her last week we set up an appointment for the next Tuesday to teach her one last time before she left. Our appointment on Tuesday ended up falling through, and we had no way to contact her. The phone number we had saved in our phone was disconnected. On Thursday we planned to stop by to see if by chance she was there. When we got there signs weren't promising. there was a note on the door from the electric company saying the power was shut off. We knocked and nobody was home. Later on in the day we had a bunch of plans change which led us to her area again. We felt like we should try by Jessica one more time, and we caught her home. Her and her mother were making one of their last trips to pick stuff up. We were able to get all of her contact information for the Sisters in Peru so they can start teaching her.

 

Halloween was pretty quiet for us. We had our Zone Conference for most of the day, and then had dinner with our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Phillips. We got to pass some candy out to the trick or treaters. What a surprise that must have been for people knocking on our door for a change

We had a great lesson with a lady named Sandra. I've got a really good feeling about her. We're teaching her tomorrow and we're bringing one of my favorite families in the branch, so it should go very well.

 

Love you,

 

Jared

 

A Birthday Celebration

Hi Jared,

You package never came. You should check with the place you sent it from. Perhaps they can track it and see where it ended up.

On Friday the 19th, while I was at the cabin scrapbooking, I got a call from the dermatologist. The biopsy came back positive. She told me I had cancer, but the good kind, that's slow growing and doesn't spread to other places. It was right on the top of my head. Most likely caused from too much sun as a kid. Within a few minutes, the doctor who would perform the surgery called to schedule a date. It all happened so fast. Thursday I went in for surgery to get it removed. On the outside, it was the size of a pencil eraser. When he got in there it was much bigger, like the size of a fifty cent piece. The surgery was strange, just in his office and because they just use local anesthetic, I was a wake during the procedure, which is so bizarre. I could feel the sensation of cutting and hear the sounds amplified through my head, but it was completely painless. When he finally finished, I had a fairly large hole in my head. He cinched it together and closed it with 15 staples. It sounds creepy but it's honestly not too bad. A mere flesh wound. I'm grateful he was able to get it all and be done with that.

Two days later I was feeling pretty good, so I ended up running a half marathons. The Halloween Half. Mikayla and Laura did the first part of it with us. We had a good time with our cute little costumes.

I'm watching the news and it looks like there is a terrible storm on the East coast. The New York Subway is shut down and thousands of flights have been canceled. Ironically, we are enjoying beautiful weather here. It is supposed to be the warmest Halloween in history. It should be in the mid 70's. 

Thank you for your willingness to serve a mission. Our family has been richly blessed because of you. We are so grateful for you and we are praying for your success. Keep the faith and continue to work hard. I know that there are so many more blessings in store.

I love you so much!

Mom

Hey,

 

The package should get there pretty soon.

 

On Monday, I had a pretty good birthday. We share a car with the elders in a city called Noblesville, which is right by the stake center for northern Indianapolis. It was our turn for the car, so we got a ride down there to pick it up. We decided to spend our preparation day down there. All the Elders in the Indy North Stake (Carmel, Westfield, etc.) get together to play dodgeball. We had a lot of fun there. When we got back to Elwood we met the Marlers, an awesome family from Kokomo. They drove down here to take me out for my birthday. It was great to see them again.

 

It's been another pretty difficult week. We haven't been able to meet with many people. It's just one of those weeks where every appointment fell through. We did get a new investigator this week though. We met a girl named Jessica who's pretty cool. She's really looking for guidance in her life right now. We caught her at the perfect time. She's great, but she'll be moving soon, so we'll have to turn her over to the missionaries where she'll be living.

 

Other than that, not much has happened. We've found some pretty cool people lately, so hopefully we'll be able to teach them soon.

 

Love you,

 

Jared

 

 

Happy Birthday

October 22, 2012

Happy Birthday Jared,

Do you get to do anything fun for your Birthday? Did you get your package?

It was so fun to talk to you on the phone, even if it was just for a few minutes. Did you get the medicine that you need? How much was it?

Amber Gibson was home Monday night with her two kids, Kevin was still at work. She heard people upstairs, so she went up to see who was in her house. She found four teenage boys coming out of her bedroom. She asked what they were doing and they said they were looking for "Mike ". They apologized for getting the wrong house. She didn't think too much about it, but later posted the incident on Facebook. People around the ward started calling her and told her they had seen the same four boys. Larkin's home was missing a couple of iPods and some other small items. This continued on all week adding to the list of victims. Topher heard on the police scanner Saturday night that the police found the boys and a huge stash of stolen loot in the attic of a nearby home. (Behind The Square). We are all relieved to have those delinquents in custody. 

Dad is recovering well from his surgery. He will see his doctor this morning and get his stitches out. He just has four more weeks in the sling.

I went on another scrapbook retreat this week and spent three days trying to get caught up on all the pictures that I've taken this summer. I had a good time, but now it's back to reality.

I was asked by the Bishopric to be in charge of our ward Christmas Party. I think we will do "Christmas in Zarahemla", and do a reenactment of the events in America after the birth of Christ. I'm kind of excited about it. We've never done anything like this before. I'll have to let you know how it turns out.

Did you get to baptize Ryan on Saturday? I'm so excited to hear about it. Have a really great week. Keep up the good work., and have a super Happy Birthday!

Love, Mom

Hey, 

This week has been pretty good. Elder Zeyer has still been sick, so we've been inside a lot. I got the package on Wednesday. Thanks. I loved the no-bake cookies. I wish I could say that they lasted longer than a day. Haha. 

We had a great lesson on Thursday with a woman named Sandra. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and it went very well. She's really seeking truth in her life right now. She's really open and loves everything we teach. We also taught a woman named Angel. She's going through a really rough time. Really rough. She said she felt really good about what we taught. This is exactly what she needs in her life right now.

On Friday we had a good lesson with Adam. He didn't show up to church this Sunday like we were hoping, but he's still doing pretty well. I think his wife might be holding him back though. We had the Trunk or Treat later that night. I really like being in a branch. It's got a unique feeling. Everybody knows everyone here. It was a fun night. 

Saturday was great. We got a ride down to Carmel for Ryan's baptism. It was a small event. Not many people there, but that's the way he wanted it. I was able to baptize him, and it was a great feeling. I like Ryan a lot, and I was happy to see how far he's come. He'll be a great member of the church. 

Love you,

Jared

The Sun Came Shining on a Gloomy Week

Hello Jared,

This week has been a little out of the norm. Dad had shoulder surgery on Tuesday. It was supposed to be a pretty simple procedure with a fairly easy recovery. After nearly three hours in surgery, the doctor came out to talk to me. It was worse than he thought. He ended up fixing a tear and it turned into six weeks in a sling instead of 5 days. He's doing great though and has had a really positive attitude. He will most likely take one more week off of work and go back next week. 

Josh Sims is a new Sunday School teacher. He does a good job but seems a little nervous. He has taught twice now and both weeks he has done a little opener, once with an optical illusion, and yesterday with a little slide show about a horrible earthquake in Chile that happened in 1960. Both weeks, Good old Brother Casper belts out, "What does this have to do with the gospel?" Josh patiently responds, " Give me a minute. I'll tie it in". Which he does, quite well. I just think it's funny, and Josh seems to take it in stride.

Is there anything you need/want for your birthday? I feel really out of touch, and I'm not sure what to send you. I would love an idea or two.

Hope your week is awesome! I love you!

Mom

Hey,

It's been a bit of a roller coaster of a week. We didn't get much teaching done, and it seemed like everyone we stopped by this entire week wasn't home. Monday was our Preparation Day, so we're not out and about a lot. On Tuesday Elder Zeyer got sick, so we spent all day inside. It was possibly the most bored I've ever been in my whole life. Wednesday we had a Zone Training Meeting in Muncie for about half of the day. On Thursday morning we met with Michael, who had a baptism date for next month. Well, things went really downhill for him. He used to be excited about everything we taught, but when we went over this time he didn't agree with most of what we taught him. He said he won't come to our church. He's committed to his. So that was a pretty big letdown. Friday night though was where things started picking back up. We taught a guy named Adam. He's been taught for about a month and a half, but it's been pretty sporadic and he's been lacking commitment. Things changed when we went over this time. He's been reading and praying almost every night. He's been so excited to meet with us that he bumped it up to two meetings a week. He's doing awesome. Saturday though, is when the sun really came shining on this gloomy week. We were walking around a little town called Frankton in the rain when the phone rang. It was the missionaries in the Westfield Ward. They asked if I'd be available to come to a baptism on Saturday. Ryan is getting baptized, and he wants me to baptize him! This is pretty exciting news. From what they told me, he's been doing great. He's just finished reading the Book of Mormon for his second time, and he's been at church every Sunday. I'm pretty excited for him. 

To be honest, I really don't know what I want for my Birthday. I really don't need anything right now.

Love you,

Jared

Welcome to Elwood

Hi Jared,

I'm really excited to hear how your transfer went. Did you stay with Elder Joos? Make sure you give me your new address. 

This week we had some strange things happen. First, our mama hen turned up missing. Gone, without a trace. A couple days later, Mikayla's favorite baby chick, Suzanne Gimperton, turned up missing. We searched and searched, but to no avail. A few days ago I saw Bella over at the Wheelers, digging in the dirt. I went over to investigate, and found that she had just buried a baby chick. We are assuming that she has done the same to the other three. I never knew she was a serial killer. 

The next crazy thing that happened was on Friday morning. I went out to take care of the chickens and found to my amazement that there was a pheasant in the chicken coop. He is really beautiful and has stayed there ever since. I think he likes his new home. He's had many visitors so far and nothing has scared him off. It'll be interesting to see how long he stays here.

Can you believe the crazy missionary announcement Saturday morning? We asked Taylor if he would be ready to leave on his mission as soon as he graduates and he said, "no way". He wants to wait another year. I can't blame him, that is a huge change. That means Mikayla could go in just over three years. That's pretty cool.  I think we'll see a lot more sisters serving now that the age is only 19. It's pretty exciting. What do you think about it?

I had a super stressful moment...Mikayla asked me to wax her eyebrows. We heated the wax and I started to apply it but a big glob dripped off the applicator and right onto her eyelashes. I about had a stroke. I hurried and googled how to remove wax from eyelashes, but there wasn't much. We tried several things, but nothing really worked. She ended up pulling out a huge chunk of her eyelashes. It was pretty much horrible, but she was good natured about it, and even saved the hairy clump of wax for her scrapbook. She thought it was funny. I still don't see the humor in it. Maybe when they all grow back in.

Other than that, it's been a great week.

Love you. Mom

Hello,

My new companion is Elder Zeyer from Spanish Fork. He's been out for just about three months. We're in a little town of about 8,000 people called Elwood. There's not much here. This is the first branch I've served in. Everything's so different here. The chapel is pretty small and doesn't have any pews. There are only chairs set up. We live in a tiny house owned by one of the families in the ward. There are factories all over town. Red Gold ketchup is made here, so the air here smells like ketchup once in a while. The Branch here is really nice. They're pretty close-knit. I've made a lot of connections with a lot of them because I know family members that live in other places I've served. It's pretty neat. 

The missionary work is going pretty well here though. We're teaching a lot of people, and we have someone who's getting baptized next month. 

General Conference was great. I really loved it. We were pretty much the only ones there on Saturday, but yesterday a lot of the ward showed up. Between sessions we all went to dinner at the home of one of the sisters in the branch. there were about thirty people there. It was a great way to get to know the people here. 

My new address is

2816 S. K St.

Elwood, IN 46036

Love you!  Jared

Ground Breaking for the Indianapolis Temple

Happy October,

Can you believe that it is already October? Where does the time go?

We pretty much enjoyed the best Sacrament Meeting of the year yesterday. It was the Primary Program. The four of us sat there laughing throughout the entire program. During "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus", specifically the verse where it says, "be gentle and loving...", Kiara shoved the girl standing next to her. Haha The Nelson boy pulled his name tag off his chair and put it on his chin, where it bobbed up and down while he sang. In general, the kids were super entertaining. Some yelled into the mic, others were too shy to even say their part, and others were just down right ADORABLE. But I think the biggest show stealer was Dane Anderson with his most charming facial expressions. He was so cute. He would have his angry eyes on for a minute, then he'd let out a big sigh and rest his head on his hands. So cute. It's too bad they don't allow video recording. That would be a hoot.

In the way of news: Holden was sent home after only 10 days due to health problems. The family, as you can imagine is devastated. They think it's due in part to his poor eating practices and the fact that the Elders had no food in their apartment, so he just wasn't eating enough. He sees a doctor today, and hopefully they can figure things out and he can try it again.

Dad is scheduled for surgery next week. His shoulder has been bothering him a lot and he's finally going to get it fixed. Hopefully all goes well and will be back in the saddle before long. 

Other than that, things are going well. Keep up the good work. We love you so much!

Love, Mom

Hey,

Well, the unexpected happened today. We had transfer calls and Bother Elder Joos and I are leaving. There's a lack of missionaries, so they're temporarily shutting down a few of the areas, Kokomo being one of them. The other Elders in our district are in a town called Logansport, which is the largest area in our entire mission. It's only a branch there with about sixty people attending weekly and their ward boundaries are bigger than some of the stakes around. They'll be taking over Kokomo for a while and teaching the investigators here. I don't know how they're going to do it, because it's about thirty miles from here to Logansport. 

It's a bummer we're being shut down because we had a great week. We've been teaching a lot. The last lesson with Larry and Jane went well. We'll be meeting with them again tomorrow.

There's a family in the ward that I really love, and they have us over for dinner about every two weeks. They're from the Philippines, and they're great. We might be eating with them again tonight to say goodbye. It's funny because they knew Elder Moore, my trainer, when he was a brand new missionary and they lived in the Logansport Branch. 

We met a pretty cool member this week. His name's Aaron, and he's a paraplegic. He hasn't been to church in about four years. We talked with him and he shared a scripture with us that his friend shared with him the other day. It was in Ephesians 6 about putting on the armor of God. We talked to him about how it opened his eyes. He showed up at church on Sunday, which was neat. 

On Saturday we got to go to our church building and watch the groundbreaking ceremony for the temple. It was fantastic. Elder Hallstrom from the Presidency of the Seventy presided and All the Stake Presidents and Bishops in Indiana were there. I spotted a few people from Carmel, which was neat. They said the temple would be finished in about two years. It will be a huge blessing for the people here. 

Well, that's really all for now. I'll let you know where I'm at next week. 

Love,  Jared

Going Fishing

 

Hi Jared,

Today was the Brigham City Temple Dedication. It was broadcast to our chapel and we had to show a recommend to get in. It was a really nice meeting and pretty sweet to get to go early in the morning and have the entire day to relax and enjoy. Elder Packer is getting up there in age. Holy cow, he looks old.

Mikayla and Hallie are both practicing their violins together right now, it's pretty cute. I like it when they work together. They've been getting along so much better lately. It's nice. I like it when there is peace in the home. It's a wonderful thing.

This past week was our annual quilt retreat. That's where all of us quilters hang out in our garage all week and work on projects together. We've had a lot of fun and I was able to work on a couple of quilts for Christmas. It's really nice this year, because we actually have a nice place to do it now. I love my quilting room a lot!

I can definitely feel fall in the air. The nights are getting so much cooler and the days are much more pleasant.  Next week I think some storms are coming in. How's the weather in Indiana?

I talked to Nichole this morning. She said to tell you hi, and she's thinking of you. She told me that every time Oakley says the prayer, she blesses "Jared on his mission", every time, without fail. So this is just a reminder that you have a lot of prayers being said in your behalf. Not to mention all the random, "bless all the missionaries", prayers that are said by millions of members all over the world. Know that you are loved very much by many people, and we are all praying for your success.

Have a wonderful week. I can't wait to hear how you're doing.

Love, Mom

Hey,

Elder Joos and I are doing well. We've picked up a few new people to teach this week. We've had a lot of less active members wanting to come back that have been popping out of the woodwork lately. We had a guy named Rob come to the church a few weeks ago and talked to the people at the family history center about getting his membership records from the ward in Germany that he was baptized in. Turns out he has someone who works for him that's a member, and he talked to him about meeting with us so he could get back to church. So, we met with both of them a few days ago. Rob's wife was also there and she's not a member. We were able to teach all three of them. It went really well. We gave Rob's wife a copy of the Book of Mormon and challenged her to read it and pray about it. 

Brother Parker, our Ward Mission Leader got called to the Bishopric so we got a new one. A few minutes after he was called he rushed out of the Sacrament Meeting. He was having heart trouble, so his family rushed him to the hospital. I hope he's doing alright. 

Well, we don't have much more time at the library. We're going fishing today. 

Love you!    Jared

Looking for Brighter Days

Hello Jared,

This week I got an unexpected message from Vicky Maag in Kaysville.  She sent me a few pictures of you with a really sweet note telling us what a great missionary you are and how well you are liked by everyone. What a pleasant surprise!

We had a fantastic gut busting, laugh out loud, experience Wednesday night.  The kids were headed out the door to mutual when Taylor came screaming back in the house, sounding just like Seinfeld. He thought it was starting to rain, but the sky was clear and blue. He put his hand up on his head to see if it was wet, it sure was, but not from rain...hahaha...poor unfortunate boy was pooped on by a bird! I don't know how he imitated Seinfeld, because he couldn't do it later when I asked him, but it sure sounded like Jerry that night. Maybe he watches too much t.v.

The new family that moved into Todd and Brenda's house has a part member family. The girls have been coming to mutual, and they came to Girls Camp. They are fitting into the ward really well. Saturday they were baptized. It was fun to see four missionaries there and all the support from the ward and their family. I had forgotten how neat convert baptisms can be.

Well, it's off to the races for me. Enjoy your week. The Gospel is true. God loves you.

Love,  Mom

Hey,

This week has had it's ups and downs. We've had almost every appointment fall through but we're just building up for next week. We've found a lot of great people that we'll get to start teaching soon. We're teaching a family tonight that have a lot of potential. Their names are Larry and Jane. Their son moved to California about a year ago and ended up joining the church. He's been talking to his mom and got her to listen to us. I'm excited for this appointment. 

Cody's doing really well. He's been reading his scriptures and praying every day. Now we're just waiting for his dad to say he can be baptized. 

Love you,

Jared

A Sweet Ride in a Shelby Cobra Mustang

What a week...

It all started on Monday. grandma and Nichole came to spend the day quilting so we could get our Christmas gifts all wrapped up. We had a fun day together and got a lot done.

Tuesday, Grandma had an appointment up at the U to see a Doctor. She called me about a half hour after she left to tell me she had been in an accident. Taylor, Mikayla and I hurried up there, and sure enough, she had totaled her car. She collided with a lady who had four small children in her car. Everyone walked away with no real injuries. All the airbags in both cars deployed, and there was substantial damage to both cars. I'm pretty sure Grandma's guardian Angel works overtime just to keep her alive. 

Wednesday night, Mikayla turned on the shower and the knob broke off, leaving the shower running. There was no way to turn it off. We ended up turning off the water main for the night. The next morning, Dad turned the water back on so everyone could shower. Then the water main got shut off again when everyone was done. I had a hair appointment and needed the water, so I turned it back on. When I was done, I tried to turn it off again, but the valve to the water main broke off! Talk about going from bad to worse! Haha Luckily your dad is a handyman and he was able to weld the piece back together and get it taken care of. We went into town and bought a new cartridge for the shower and he got that fixed too.

I had an appointment with a cornea transplant specialist on Thursday morning. I had been referred to him by an ophthalmologist who told me my eyes were so bad that I needed a cornea transplant. Turned out, he didn't know what he was talking about and I get to keep my own eyes. I no longer have to depend on some guy on a motorcycle dying so I can continue to enjoy life. What a relief!

Thursday night, Ed called Dad to have him come look at some video footage. He had been  robbed! Dad pulled the tape and found a blazer with a trailer that was parked there for over two hours wile he cleaned out a storage shed, then he covered the load and drove off. This was during broad daylight!  While they were there discussing what they should do, the same guy came back for more! They jumped in their cars and chased him until they got his plate number. They gave the info to the police. This guy has a long history of criminal behavior, including drugs.They haven't found him yet, but they've talked to his parents and they are cooperating with the police. CRAZY!

While Dad was helping the criminal justice system, I took the kids to the Utah State Fair. I entered four quilts and won four ribbons. Three of them

Forged Concert Tickets

September 5, 2012

Hello Jared,

How are you liking your new area and new companion? We hope things are going well. 

Holden put in his mission papers and is waiting for his call. They are going to send him on a mini mission locally for three months to see how he does, just like one of the missionaries you told us about. I think he's excited to find out where he will be serving. 

This past weekend we went out to Grandma and Grandpa's and took Gibson's and Whiteheads with us. We had a lot of fun with all the little kids. Taylor helped Grandpa get the fire truck running and even fixed the lights and siren! That sure was a hit with all the little kids. Taylor was giving rides all day Saturday. That place is more fun than Disneyland.

Today is the first day of school and Hallie is in 8th GRADE! She, Emma and Jackson all just left in their brand new clothes. Mikayla and Taylor headed off to the High School bright and early. They are all growing up! It is going by so quickly. Summer came and went in the blink of an eye and now fall is rapidly approaching.  

Sunday morning I dropped our French Foreign Exchange Student, Christie, off at the airport. She was with us for five weeks. She just emailed me to let me know she made it safely home.

The house is all quiet with the exception of the chirping baby chicks and a few cackling hens. Although they are clear out in the chicken coop, their piercing little chirps can be heard all the way in the house.

Our prayers are always with you. We love you and pray for your continues success. We are so proud of you!

Make sure you send me your address just in case I need to send you something.

Love,  Mom

Hey,

Things are going pretty well here in Kokomo. I'm getting used to things still. It's a big change from Carmel. The ward is great here though. They really love the missionaries. There's some sweet people. One family in the ward were talking to us about how they were going to a Kelly Clarkson concert that night and Elder Joos got really jealous and asked them to get him something from the concert. Well, they called the next day and asked if we could come over for lunch. When we sat down at the table, brother Hines pulled out two tickets and one of them was signed. Elder Joos was speechless...until Brother Hines broke the news that it was fake. He had signed it. Haha, it was funny. 

The work is going pretty well here. We've got a 17 year old named Cody that is pretty close to baptism. We just need to make sure he'll be committed.  We've also got an 11 year old named Ethan, and his grandmother, Melody that we're working with. We couldn't meet with them this week due to sickness, but they're doing really well. Melody is taking great steps to quit smoking. 

Love you!

Jared

Way down in Kokomo

August 27, 2012

Dear Jared,

It's been another busy week here in the desert heat.  Mirranda and Russell got Married on Saturday morning in the Salt Lake Temple. The ceremony was beautiful and they looked so happy. It took me back 22 years when your dad and I were young and we married in the same temple. That was without a doubt one of the happiest days of my life. My face hurt from smiling all day long. That was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.

Saturday evening we were getting ready to head out to Tooele for the reception. We were standing in front of the garage talking. Grandma moved her foot and stepped on Bella. She let out a yelp, so Grandma moved quick, tripped on Bella and fell flat on her back. She blacked out for a few seconds and them came to. Grandpa yelled for me to call 911. Within a couple of minutes we could hear sirens. Here came the firetruck and the ambulance. They took her to the hospital and checked her out. After a few CT scans, they determined she had no bleeding on the brain and no fractures. We were so relieved. Brain trauma can be so horrible. She is really sore and feels like she has been run over by a semi, but we feel really blessed that it was nothing serious.

Sunday was Stake Conference, scheduled at 2:00. I got a call from President Hawley at 8:00 a.m., telling me there had been a mixup and we were really scheduled at 11:00 a.m. We made a few quick calls to let as many people know as possible. Mikayla was one of the youth speakers. She got up and was super calm. She gave a really awesome talk and didn't even appear to be nervous in spite of the fact she was speaking to over 1200 people. You would have been so proud of her. She did a great job and seemed so confidant and sure of herself. She is a gifted speaker.

The topic of Stake conference was temple. It made me wonder where the Indian temple is at in the construction. Do you have any idea what's going on?

We are anxious to hear about transfers. Where did you end up and with who? Give us the details.

Lots of love,  Mom

Hey,

My new companion's name is Elder Joos (pronounced "Johs"). He's been out for 4 1/2 months. I'm in a little town called Kokomo (insert Beach Boys joke here). Elder Santy, my companion from Bloomington took my place in Carmel, and I took his place here. It's a fairly nice little town. It's definitely a change from Carmel, which I heard was just ranked #1 in the nation for being one of the nicest places to live. Kokomo is an automotive town. Chrysler is a big employer here. The ward here used to be thriving a few years ago until Chrysler cut a ton of employees. I've heard that when that happened, about half the ward moved out. There's definitely a lot of work to be done here. 

To answer your question about the temple in Carmel, they haven't even broken ground yet, or announced a date for it. Rumors are going around saying it'll be in September. Elder Smith and I took some photos on the temple lot on Sunday, but I don't have my camera cable, so I can't send them. 

Not really much to talk about this week. We've just been going around getting to know the ward. 

Love you,

Jared

No More Carmel

Dear Jared, 

You never did tell me if you got the package last week.  Hallie wants to know if you like your shoes.

Last week was super quiet around here. The girls were gone to camp for four days and Taylor worked everyday. It was amazing how clean tho house stayed with no one to mess it up. This week we are back into our routine, if you can call it that. 

Our baby chicks aren't doing so well. One has a gimpy leg, so it can hardly walk. Mikayla brought it inside and put it under a heat lamp to try and nurse it back to health. Another baby chick turned up missing a couple nights ago. Gone, without a trace. There must be some predator on the loose. Poor thing.

We have an exciting week coming up. Mirranda is getting married on Saturday, so there's an occasion to celebrate. Stake conference is this weekend and Mikayla gets to speak. Wow! That's exciting! Not for her, but for the rest of us.

Only two more weeks until school starts. Wow! Summer went so fast.

Have a wonderful week and enjoy the journey. I love you!

Mom

Hey,

I got the package and loved the shoes. Thanks for them.

Elder Smith and I are doing great, well that is, until this morning. We got transfer calls, and I'm leaving Carmel. I'm sad about it, and I'm going to miss the people, but it's great to know I'm leaving the area better than I found it. Things are really progressing here. Matthew, JoAnn, and Jordan are doing great. They've been reading scriptures as a family and they all came to Stake Conference together.

Well, pretty much all of our investigators are doing really well. We had a lot of people at church and our number of lessons have been steadily increasing for the past six weeks. Carmel is great. I'm sad to leave, but excited to see where I'm going. I've been in the city my whole mission, so I have a feeling that I'll be sent to some tiny town in the middle of nowhere...

Love you,

Jared

Another Week of Miracles

Dear Jared,

It's been another really busy week with lots of random things. Nothing really amazing has happened, just every day life. We have Nichole's kids again for a few days while she and Shane are vacationing in Las Vegas, so that makes life a little more adventurous. 

I went to the orthodontist today and saw Tammy Clayton. She said Bridger is doing great and is loving his time there.  I am so proud of you two boys. 

You should get your new shoes in the mail today. The girls picked them out, so I hope you like them. Let me know if they do not come. 

How are Matthew, JoAnn and Jordan doing? We are always anxious to hear about your investigators. Keep us posted.

Love,

Mom

Hey,

 

This week has been awesome. Another week of miracles. We've been getting a lot of new investigators. We had our Zone Conference on Thursday. Elder Golden, from the 70 was there. It was pretty powerful. He spoke about following the spirit. That night we had dinner with a part member family that just moved in a few weeks ago. They're from Salt Lake. Sister Miller grew up there her whole life, but didn't have any religion growing up. Brother Miller is a returned missionary. Anyways, after dinner we invited Sister Miller to take the lessons, and she accepted. We went over the next day and taught the Restoration. It went really well. The ward is doing a great job at welcoming all these families we're teaching. 

Matthew, Jo Ann, and Jordan are doing really well. We had lunch and a lesson on Saturday. They hadn't had time to read that week so we picked up where they had left off. We read 2 Nephi 11. After reading we asked Jordan, the 10 year old, if anything stuck out to him. He told us "Well, verse 7 reminded me of a verse I read. It's 2 Nephi 2:13" It blew our minds. This kid is smart! He's got a really good understanding of everything we talk about.

 

We also had a cool experience. A few weeks ago we tracted a couple streets called Bridle Ct. and Bridle Cir. and had no success on either of them. Well, we got a referral about two weeks later from someone that lives on Bridle Ct. who visited Mormon.org and requested a missionary visit. We went to go find this person, Josh, who lived on 867 Bridle Ct. When we got to the street we found that the house number didn't exist. Later that day we looked in the phone book and the city directory with no success. Nobody with that name lives on either of those streets. We decided to go back again the other day to see if by chance we could find this person. There were some house numbers that were similar so we decided to knock on their doors. We didn't end up finding Josh, but we found a sweet guy named Scott. We talked a little with him and set an appointment for Saturday so his wife could be there too.

 

It was a neat experience to see that sometimes you miss someone on a street that needs to hear you, so God will send a fake referral to get you to knock a few more houses on the street.

 

Love you,

 

Jared

An Amazing Family

August 3, 2012

Hello Jared,

We had kind of an exciting week. On Monday two baby chicks hatched. On Tuesday two more hatched, so we have a total of four new babies. They are so adorable! Only one did not hatch. I think it is amazing we got any, because several times over the last few weeks, I went out and found Fiona sitting on the wrong eggs. I would pick her up and move her to the right nest and collect the other eggs. So it was definitely a pleasant surprise.

Tuesday Christi from France came to stay with us.  She will be here for one month. She is super nice and very cultured. She fills our home with beautiful classical piano music. She practices for at least an hour a day.

I neglected to tell you a super funny story. Last fall, Dad took a class and got certified with the State of Utah in the Department of Public Safety. He got his own badge to wear with photo ID. He has sported this proudly around his neck for at least eight months. The other day, a man came up to him and introduced himself as a former newspaper editor. He asked dad if he had actually ever read his badge and pointed out a small, but very important typo. It actually reads, "Department of PUBIC Safety". Oops! I guess he won't be sporting that badge any longer.

The girls and I, along with a half dozen friends ran a midnight 5K in Sandy on Friday night. It was a lot of fun. We covered ourselves with glow sticks. You should be proud of your sisters. They did so great.

Saturday we went to the cabin for a work project. We got the place dejunked. It looks so much nicer. I'm actually excited to go up there and stay sometime. We're thinking we could go up this winter and try out Taylor's new snowmobile.

This week is crazy so far, and it's only Monday. We are fish sitting for Ensign's while they are at Lake Powell. We are dog sitting for Whitehead's while they are in Canada, watching Maggie while DeVries are at Bear Lake. We have three of Nichole's kids and one foreign exchange student from France. Grandma and Grandpa are coming to stay with us later this week too. Can you say MAD HOUSE?  Life is always an adventure.

Have an awesome week. We love hearing from you.

Love,

Mom

Hello,

 

Things have been going really well here. Yesterday was awesome. We had five people at church. Three of them were Matthew, Jo Ann, and Jordan, who I told you about last week. It was fast and testimony meeting, which are usually a little sketchy with investigators there, but this Sunday was great. We had a few great testimonies and then Matthew went up. He told everyone that he was a convert and fell away, but he's excited to be in this ward and to get rebaptized. He said "I may have fallen away but I know that this church is God's Kingdom here on the earth once again, and I'm excited for my family to join so we can go through the temple together." WOW, it was great! The ward were all over them after sacrament meeting was over. They made a ton of new friends. We had a lesson with them after church where we taught them the Plan of Salvation. It went great. We asked if they had been reading together and they said they've been in different parts of the country for work, but they've been reading over Skype. At various times during the lesson we would teach something and Jo Ann would lean over to Jordan and say "Remember? We read about this this week." This family is amazing!

 

Love you,

 

Jared