A Flaming Inferno

Good morning Jared,

What a flaming hot week here in Utah. We have had record breaking hot weather after a very dry, mild winter. We have had no rain for more than a month, making this hot, dry desert a tinder box. We have had countless wild fires burning all week. They are started so easily by target shooters, cars parked on weedy patches, barbecues, and careless actions by cigarette smokers.  It seems that every day we hear of another fire. It sort of feels like the last days when "the earth shall be burned as stubble"... 

Bountiful city outlawed fireworks East of Orchard Drive. Wahoo! Southview Circle is still on for our annual firework festivities, but we will be cleaning out the ditch before Wednesday to reduce the risk of fire. It is a big change from last year when they allowed all kinds of fireworks and the sky was exploding with color everywhere you looked. What a difference a year makes.

Ryan didn't have work for Taylor for a few days last week. He gets a little antsy with nothing to do and starts to drive me crazy. He and Hallie got into a huge pillow fight and started destroying the house, so I called Grandma to see if there was anything that Grandpa needed Taylor to do. Sure enough, he was wanting to work on his fire truck and get it ready to sell. Taylor and Hallie drove out (in dad's new car) on Friday morning and stayed until Sunday morning. Grandpa really appreciated the help and I got a little quiet time. Grandpa called me after they left to tell me how amazing Taylor is with fixing things and how much he helped him. He really is pretty handy. Hallie discovered that a donkey had just given birth and she was excited to be the first one to see it. It is pretty cute.

Mikayla went on a three day backpacking trip with the young women. She had the time of her life. They went up into the High Uintah's and did some fishing a long the way. They even ate the fish they caught. I am really proud of that girl for all she accomplishes. She was a trooper and loved every bit of the adventure. This morning she is off to BYU Idaho for OYA (Outdoor Youth Adventure.). She will do some crazy stuff; whitewater rafting, rappelling, ropes course and so much more. She will be gone all week. What a life!

Dad and I were home all alone on Saturday. That was weird. I hate the thought of everyone moving out. It's going to be so lonely.

Uncle Marion bought a mountain bike a few weeks ago. last Tuesday he went up in the mountains behind the Draper temple. I guess there are some pretty good trails. As he was coming down, he went over a small jump, caught a couple of inches of air and landed in some really soft dirt. The front tire dug in and he went over the handle bars. He tried to get up and get back on the bike, but he was in too much pain. He walked out the last mile of the trail. His buddy took him to the hospital where he spent the next few days. He broke his clavicle, and eight ribs, some in more than one place, and punctured a lung. I guess you could say he's not doing so great right now. Hahaha! Those stinking bikes can sure inflict a lot of pain. Luckily the human body is fantastic when it comes to repairing itself. He'll eventually recover. 

Mikayla did the music in Primary. She did so well. I was grateful to not have to do it, and she was excited to, so it worked out well. She has a natural music ability, and you should hear her sing. Wow! She is amazing.

Craig and Laura just announced last night that they are expecting. Baby #5 is due at the beginning of December. Hallie is so excited for them.  It'll be good to have more kids in the circle. It's getting kind of quiet around here.

Keep up the good work. We love you so much.

Mom


Hello,
 
It's been pretty hot and dry here as well. The normal green landscape of Indiana has turned yellow. We've had some rain in the past few days though and it's starting to cool down. We had a big storm roll through on Friday and there were even some tornados touching down. On Thursday we were helping a family in the Westfield ward move. It was about 105 that afternoon. After the move we all had to take showers and change because we were soaking in sweat.
 
We've had some great miracles this week. We had a great lesson with one of the less-active members we've been working with. You could tell it really touched her. She showed up at chruch on Sunday and received some great fellowship. There were some sisters in the ward that gave her big hugs and sat right next to her. It was really great to see.
 
On Monday, the Assistants to the President, who live down the street from us and go to the Westfield Ward, were shopping at Meijer and they had a cool experience. A family came up to them and introduced themselves. They just moved here from Virginia and the husband is a member. He was baptized in 2000 but went less-active for a long time. He's making his way back, and his wife and kids are not members. They wanted them to come over and start teaching them. Turns out, they live in our ward boundaries, so we'll be the ones going over. What a miracle!
 
Friday night we had a lesson with Brother Thompson. It's been hard to get ahold of him and we hadn't talked with him or seen him for five weeks. We ended up having a great lesson with him. The last time we saw him was when he went with us to Will's baptism in Westfield's ward. He had to leave the baptism early, but as he was leaving he told us, "Man, that really did it for me." When we went over this time we asked him about how he felt at the baptism. At the baptism they had the programs typed up and Will's testimony was written in it. Brother Thompson said as he read Will's testimony he felt like he received revelation for himself. He asked what would be expected of him after he was a member. Brother Thompson has come a long way. We're really close with him!
 
Last night was pretty cool as well. We had dinner with a new family in the ward. They're here for the Summer while he's selling security systems. As we were talking at dinner the ususal "Where are you from?" question came up. When I told them Bountiful he asked if I knew Amanda Wheeler. It's a pretty small world. He's friends with her from BYU Idaho. He's been to the Wheelers' house before so chances are, he's been razzed by dad. You should ask Amanda about Blake Bedke. 
 
After dinner we went to try by some potential investigators. We stopped by a woman named Martha and she was in her garage smoking. She put out the cigarette and we were able to have a lesson with her. She lives in a group home and one of the men that lives there as well came out during the lesson to listen to us. I'm not sure both of them are all there mentally. But they had a pretty good understanding of what we were talking about. It was a neat experience.  
 
Hope you have a good Fourth of July.
 
Love you,
 
Jared