PBS Kids

Good morning Jared,

As you could have guessed, you're going to get a report about trek, since that is all we did last week.

Our theme was "Remember Miracles Happen", which turned out to be really sweet since it provided a great reminder along the way for everyone to watch for them. We experienced plenty of them along the way. One happened on the way home when our bus caught on fire. We didn't realize it because all the smoke was behind us, but cars started honking and someone called the fire department. By the time the bus stopped, the entire back of the bus was completely engulfed in smoke. We got everyone off safely and got on another bus. Somehow the fire went out by itself before the fire department arrived just minutes later. After the fact, it was more scary thinking about all the "what if's". I'm really grateful for that miracle. 

The whole experience was really neat for me. I had many moments where the spirit was very powerful which immediately brought me to tears. Perhaps the most touching moment of the trip was during the women's pull. They had a slightly uphill, very sandy path which was very difficult for many handcarts, since some of them only had three girls. The young men were standing on both sides of the road at the very end, with their hats held over their hearts, watching as the girls struggled past them. The biggest tear jerker came as the last cart pulled through. Three girls, the oldest was your sister Mikayla (15), a twelve year old sister and Marissa (14) who was born with only one leg. Marissa was determined to trek the entire 20 miles with her prosthetic leg. When they came through the lineup of boys, there was scarcely a dry eye. Some of the grown men were sobbing. It was a very tender moment to say the least.

Mikayla knew she had to be the strength in her family, and she was. I was so proud of her. Marissa, although she struggled, made the entire trek without a single complaint. She was never even tempted to get a ride on the handcart even with a lot of people offering. What an inspiration to us all.

There was so much more, but I will spare you all the details. Suffice it to say that at the end I reigned victorious in a massive whip creme fight with Zach Hosman. Unfortunately there IS video evidence to prove it. You should be so proud.

I am so grateful you are working for the Lord. I know you are in good hands and I can see your progress through each letter. 

I want to share with you a quote from Winnie the Pooh, which someone used at your graduation:
"You are braver than you know, stronger than you believe and smarter than you think".

Have an awesome week.

Love,

Mom

P.S. Pray for your dad. He is in Las Vegas all week. :)


Hey,
 
We've had some fun stuff happen lately. On Saturday we got to help out at a PBS Kids event in the park in downtown Indianapolis. It was pretty cool. We were the crowd control for all the PBS characters that were there. Elder Tobler and I were at the meet and greet tent with two characters called "Super Why" and "Wonder Red" where families could get their pictures taken with them. They came out alternating every thirty minutes and we were in charge of cutting off the line after the thirty minutes were up so the characters could have a break. There were some angry parents. Haha. It was a lot of fun though. There were about 40,000 people there.
 
We just dropped Elder Rawlins off at the mission home so he can go home and prepare for his mission in Washington in a few weeks. So, Elder Matthews, Elder Tobler and I will be in a trio for the rest of the transfer unless anyone else comes out soon. We all get along well so it's going to be fun. We'll be covering both areas so we'll be busy all the time.
 
Other than that stuff, it's been a pretty slow week.
 
Love you,
 
Jared