August 7, 2011
The Lord has a sweet way of sharing tender mercies with us. I was sitting home alone a few days ago when the phone rang. It was Ann's mom from Plainfield, Indiana. She called to give me a little report on Jared. He is serving in their ward right now. She said she was sure that Jared was telling me all the details of everything that was happening, but thought she'd report, just in case he wasn't. I assured her by the length of his letters, he wasn't giving me any details at all.
They had a ward party to celebrate pioneer day. Of course, the Elders were invited. After dinner, they did a stick pull, like Joseph Smith used to do. Jared and his companion sat down on the floor across from each other, both holding on to the stick, they said "go", and with one pull Jared whipped his companion into the air. Haha He's a pretty strong guy.
Then they had a pie eating contest. Some of the sisters had made pies for the occasion. They asked the Elders to participate. They politely declined. Soon the whole ward was chanting, "Elders, Elders, Elders". They brought out plastic to cover their suits and soon the missionaries relented and participated. Jared did a face plant into the yummy creme pie. Although he didn't win, he was a good sport and gave it a good try.
She said he is really losing his shyness and is a super great missionary.
They had Missionary Sunday and asked the Elders to speak. Jared stood up and said something like, I usually like to start my talk off with a joke, but I couldn't think of one, so instead, I wore the ugliest tie I had. The audience got a good laugh out of that. (I'm happy to know that he's still got his sense of humor.)
During his talk he used Doctrine and Cocentpants 18: 15-18
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
17 Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my salvation.
18 Ask the Father in my name, in faith believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men.
Then he bore a strong testimony. She said she could tell he came from a good family and that he was a great kid. "If he were my son," she said, " I would be standing tall and proud". She reassured me that he is doing a good job and that I should be proud to be his mom. I couldn't be more proud! I love that boy.
She told me not to worry about him. He is a good Elder. They pray for the missionaries, but especially the ones they know. It's good to know Jared is getting extra prayers.
By the time she finished, I was sobbing. I'm so thankful to know he's doing great and he's happy and having fun while he's doing the work. I'm thankful for this sweet, tender mercy!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Sister Wise Elder
August 1, 2011
Dear Jared,
I survived girls camp! We had such a great time. Our theme was "Oh the places you'll go!", by Dr. Seuss. Each ward chose a different book and had to rewrite it with a spiritual tone. I was amazed at the creativity of each ward. One chose "The Best Nest" and focused on the family. Our ward chose "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb", and did theirs on service. As the stake leaders, we chose "Go Dog, Go". DOG stood for Daughter of God.
It was so fun to see what everyone came up with. I made some cute wooden signs with Seussical sayings on them. I also made a bunch of tiles with Dr. Seuss quotes that I put along the road leading to the lodge.
We were fortunate enough to be able to get a zip line, which turned out to be super fun. The girls loved it.
I shared a room in the lodge with my presidency; Tammy Ensign, Ginger Lamb, and Tracie Terrill and the music coordinator, Leslie Dayton. We had so much fun. Everyone got real silly and started doing practical jokes. It got funnier and funnier. We decided the cooks needed to have a little fun too. I remembered when you painted the scared faces on the eggs, so we headed to the kitchen with flashlights in hand and started coloring on 12 dozen eggs. We wrote silly things too...like, "don't beat me" and "you crack me up". It was funnier at one o'clock in the morning than it was when the cooks saw them, but that's ok. We had a good time.
But the best was a bear growling sound that we had on an iPod! Every one was getting so scared. Leslie and I were laughing and enjoying it. It was super funny. I know you had to be there, but just know that we really got them good.
We got two girls from Italy on Friday, the day we got home from girls camp. They are here for Summerfest, the street dances that bountiful does every year. They do not speak a word of English, so it is a little tricky. I have had to call Craig several times and have him translate to try and figure out what they want.
Did you get your package?
Life here is good. The Lord is blessing us. Thank you for your willingness to serve, Jared. Be strong. Be happy.
I love you,
Mom
Hello,
Things have gone really well this week. We spent a lot of time tracting without many results. Elder Bair and I ran into someone with the last name Bair though. It was pretty funny. While we were talking to him on his doorstep he was just staring down Elder Bair the whole time.
Another funny experience... We were having dinner with a family in our ward. They have two funny little kids named Jay and Eli who are four and two. They love having us over for dinner. Jay and Eli are super talkative, are always asking us really random questions, and always address us as "missionaries". Their parents were explaining to them that my name was Elder Wise, not missionary and they told them that Elder was a title, just like brother or sister. Eli looked a little confused. A few minutes later Eli tried to get my attention to ask me a question and said "Hey Sister Wise Elder, did you know that Cookie Monster loves cookies?" We all got a good laugh out of it.
Gabby's getting baptized on August 20th and I hope I'm still here in Plainfield for it. Transfers are on the 10th, so there's a chance I could be gone before it happens, which would be a bummer, because she told us that she wants me to baptize her! We're really excited for the baptism and the ward is really excited too. It's going to be great.
Thanks for the package. Hope you're doing well.
Love,
Jared
Dear Jared,
I survived girls camp! We had such a great time. Our theme was "Oh the places you'll go!", by Dr. Seuss. Each ward chose a different book and had to rewrite it with a spiritual tone. I was amazed at the creativity of each ward. One chose "The Best Nest" and focused on the family. Our ward chose "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb", and did theirs on service. As the stake leaders, we chose "Go Dog, Go". DOG stood for Daughter of God.
It was so fun to see what everyone came up with. I made some cute wooden signs with Seussical sayings on them. I also made a bunch of tiles with Dr. Seuss quotes that I put along the road leading to the lodge.
We were fortunate enough to be able to get a zip line, which turned out to be super fun. The girls loved it.
I shared a room in the lodge with my presidency; Tammy Ensign, Ginger Lamb, and Tracie Terrill and the music coordinator, Leslie Dayton. We had so much fun. Everyone got real silly and started doing practical jokes. It got funnier and funnier. We decided the cooks needed to have a little fun too. I remembered when you painted the scared faces on the eggs, so we headed to the kitchen with flashlights in hand and started coloring on 12 dozen eggs. We wrote silly things too...like, "don't beat me" and "you crack me up". It was funnier at one o'clock in the morning than it was when the cooks saw them, but that's ok. We had a good time.
But the best was a bear growling sound that we had on an iPod! Every one was getting so scared. Leslie and I were laughing and enjoying it. It was super funny. I know you had to be there, but just know that we really got them good.
We got two girls from Italy on Friday, the day we got home from girls camp. They are here for Summerfest, the street dances that bountiful does every year. They do not speak a word of English, so it is a little tricky. I have had to call Craig several times and have him translate to try and figure out what they want.
Did you get your package?
Life here is good. The Lord is blessing us. Thank you for your willingness to serve, Jared. Be strong. Be happy.
I love you,
Mom
Hello,
Things have gone really well this week. We spent a lot of time tracting without many results. Elder Bair and I ran into someone with the last name Bair though. It was pretty funny. While we were talking to him on his doorstep he was just staring down Elder Bair the whole time.
Another funny experience... We were having dinner with a family in our ward. They have two funny little kids named Jay and Eli who are four and two. They love having us over for dinner. Jay and Eli are super talkative, are always asking us really random questions, and always address us as "missionaries". Their parents were explaining to them that my name was Elder Wise, not missionary and they told them that Elder was a title, just like brother or sister. Eli looked a little confused. A few minutes later Eli tried to get my attention to ask me a question and said "Hey Sister Wise Elder, did you know that Cookie Monster loves cookies?" We all got a good laugh out of it.
Gabby's getting baptized on August 20th and I hope I'm still here in Plainfield for it. Transfers are on the 10th, so there's a chance I could be gone before it happens, which would be a bummer, because she told us that she wants me to baptize her! We're really excited for the baptism and the ward is really excited too. It's going to be great.
Thanks for the package. Hope you're doing well.
Love,
Jared
Priesthood Blessings Work
July 25, 2011
Hello again,
It's been another week in the fast lane. I've been making final preparations for girls camp and trying to make sure everything is completely ready. It is a big undertaking to take 175 people camping. Hopefully everyone does their part and everything goes smoothly. We leave Monday and get back Friday. I'll let you know how it goes next week.
Yesterday was our last day with Ana and Maria. They were a lot of fun and got along so well with Mikayla, Hallie and Sally. The ride to the airport was so quiet. Nobody spoke a word. When we said goodbye, they were both crying and didn't want to go. I think they are going to miss it here. We are going to miss them too.
How is Bob doing? Is he still progressing? He sounds like a good guy.
Well, we are headed off to the Days of 47 parade to be Judges for the floats again this year and we have to be there before 6:00, so I'd better get going.
I love you. Have a great week.
Love,
Mom
Hello,
This week's had it's ups and downs. It seems like most of our appointments have fallen through, but we did have some really great lessons. We committed Gabby to baptism on August 20th, and she accepted! There's always opposition and we knew it was coming. That opposition came in the form of a pastor at her previous church. He told her we weren't Christian and she was making a big mistake, but she stuck strong to her decision. It's awesome because the day before her pastor told her this, a member of our ward gave us an article from the New Era that he felt inspired would help her. The article describes someone situation that is almost exactly the same as hers. We gave it to her, and I'm sure it helped her out. Funny how this inspiration comes...
We also had a great lesson with Bob. I won't get into details, but let's just say that Priesthood Blessings work.
Well, the weather's nice today for a change, so we're going to play some golf.
Love you,
Jared
Hello again,
It's been another week in the fast lane. I've been making final preparations for girls camp and trying to make sure everything is completely ready. It is a big undertaking to take 175 people camping. Hopefully everyone does their part and everything goes smoothly. We leave Monday and get back Friday. I'll let you know how it goes next week.
Yesterday was our last day with Ana and Maria. They were a lot of fun and got along so well with Mikayla, Hallie and Sally. The ride to the airport was so quiet. Nobody spoke a word. When we said goodbye, they were both crying and didn't want to go. I think they are going to miss it here. We are going to miss them too.
How is Bob doing? Is he still progressing? He sounds like a good guy.
Well, we are headed off to the Days of 47 parade to be Judges for the floats again this year and we have to be there before 6:00, so I'd better get going.
I love you. Have a great week.
Love,
Mom
Hello,
This week's had it's ups and downs. It seems like most of our appointments have fallen through, but we did have some really great lessons. We committed Gabby to baptism on August 20th, and she accepted! There's always opposition and we knew it was coming. That opposition came in the form of a pastor at her previous church. He told her we weren't Christian and she was making a big mistake, but she stuck strong to her decision. It's awesome because the day before her pastor told her this, a member of our ward gave us an article from the New Era that he felt inspired would help her. The article describes someone situation that is almost exactly the same as hers. We gave it to her, and I'm sure it helped her out. Funny how this inspiration comes...
We also had a great lesson with Bob. I won't get into details, but let's just say that Priesthood Blessings work.
Well, the weather's nice today for a change, so we're going to play some golf.
Love you,
Jared
Monday, July 18, 2011
O be wise; what can I say more? Jacob 6:12
Jul 18, 2011
Hello Jared,
Last Sunday, our stake did a fireside with Carmen Rasmusen as the guest speaker. She went to Woods Cross a few years ago, and made it on to American Idol. She was so cute and did such an amazing job talking to the youth. She talked about how the For the Strength of Youth book helped her keep her standards high during her time on the show. Afterwards, she gave everyone a book that she had written. Mikayla and Hallie even got her autograph. It was really cute. Hallie was so excited to meet someone famous. Deseret Book was there and they did an audio recording that they are going to sell. It will be fun to buy that and hear our own voices laughing in the background. She is going to do a concert next week in the Bountiful Park. We are all now fans of Carmen.
Craig and Laura have been looking for a new car for several months. This week, they went to a car dealership to compare the Honda Pilot to a Honda Odyssey. They did NOT want a mini van. They drove both and decided the odyssey was a much more practical solution. It has more cargo space and easier access to the seats. They ended up buying the van! Hahaha. They went home that night and looked on the Internet, and wondered if they had done the right thing. Then they found a van in California for $10,000 less. They decided to buy that instead, but the dealership would not let them out of their contract. Craig planned a quick trip to California and took Taylor with him. We got a buddy pass from Mark for $50 and they were on their way. They even ended up in first class! They bought the van and drove it home, stopping in Vegas along the way. Now they have two minivans. They are going to sell the first one and keep the less expensive one. What a crazy adventure.
Friday night we had a ward party. We did a street carnival. We had a really good turnout. I borrowed Marion's shave ice machine, which was a big hit. We also did a fishing pond, pie throwing, hot dog stand and Mikayla did face painting. The pie throwing got out of hand and it ended up being an enormous food fight. it was a good time!
Topher and Natalie have put their home up for sale. It is the saddest thing ever. We do not want to lose them, but what can we do?
Funny story from Nichole: Shane was eating a piece of fudge. Dash said, "what dat?" Shane replied, "medicine". Without missing a beat, little Dash said, "I sick!" hahahaha He's so adorable.
We are just watching the weather. It looks like there is a heat wave in Indiana. I bet you are melting!
We still haven't made your missionary plaque to hang up at the church. We need to know your favorite scripture.
I am so proud of you Jared. I hope things are going well. Do your best. Work hard. Keep the faith.
I love you,
Mom
Hello!
It's been a HOT week this week. On Monday it was 95 degrees with 95% humidity. We were dying in our apartment. We had dinner with some members, and they loaned us an air conditioner that they didn't need anymore. When we hooked it up it had a little screen telling the current room temperature it read 89 degrees. This was at 9:30 at night with both of our other air conditioners running all day!
After a little bit the temperature cooled down to a nice 68 degrees. Our apartment is pretty bearable now.
It's been a pretty crazy week. We've had stuff going on all the time. There was a leadership conference this week, so we had an extra missionary with us for two days and two other missionaries staying in our apartment at night.
This week's been crazy for investigators too. We've had a few drop us or move out of our boundaries, which was tough, but we've also been able to commit one of our investigators to baptism. She's really ready, so it's looking like she's going to be baptized sometime around August. It's cool seeing the influence ward members have on nonmembers. This girl got interested because a member just had the courage to open his mouth and share his beliefs. It's neat to see the impact it has on people.
If you want, you can put Jacob 6:12 on my plaque.
I love you,
Jared
P.S. I really need some music!
"Why I Believe"
Jul 10, 2011
Hello Jared,
What a week! Last Sunday we picked up Ana and Maria from the airport. They are super cute girls, very outgoing and eager to experience America. We fell in love with them instantly. They are a lot of fun and are excited to try everything new.
We took them to Vernal with us over the weekend. It was our annual trip with friends. Maxwell's, Burt's, Wheeler's, De Vries, Gibson's, Olea's, Johnson's, McKenzie Lundy and Mikayla's friend, Maya, all went with us. As we were driving out there, Friday afternoon, it was pouring rain all the way. We got into Vernal and Main Street was completely flooded. I was really nervous because we had brought all these people to camp with us and it was pretty miserable. The sky was dark in every direction. It looked pretty hopeless. We fixed dinner and hung out for an hour or so on the patio and the sky slowly cleared. It ended up being a perfect evening. It was a comfortable 68 degrees. Saturday was hot and sunny. Six of us went on a fun bike ride around the valley. The kids rode the train, ate shave ice, played on the monkey bars and the adults played games and visited.
Ana and Maria said over and over again how much they loved that place. They said it was like a dream, or it was like being in the movies. I think it must be very different than the life they live. They have big tall fences around their homes to keep out the criminals. The crime rate is very high there.
Anyway, it was really fun although I came home exhausted from cooking and cleaning. Not to mention the fact that we stayed up half the night Friday night and didn't get home until almost midnight on Saturday night.
Mikayla started voice lessons last week and loves it so much. She has wanted to do this for a really long time. Its kind of funny how it came about. A couple of months ago, Grandma Mott came out and took all of the girls to the play, Annie, in the new Centerville theatre. I was reading the bio's in the playbill and noticed that Daddy Warbucks, Chuck Gillmore, was a voice teacher and had a studio. Becca told me a while back that her dad owns a voice studio in Bountiful. After the show I waited until he came out and met him. Sure enough that was her dad.
Not too long after that, he offered an online coupon for super cheap lessons. I bought a whole bunch to get her through the summer and to see how she likes it.
He says she's a natural and has great potential. I love that it makes her so happy and that she is so passionate about it.
Ana and Maria both play the guitar, so we got mine out and dusted it off. That made Hallie interested in learning, then Mikayla wanted to learn. I taught them both a couple of cords and they have been fiddling around on it all week. Mikayla has already learned a few songs. Her goal was one new song a day.
Taylor is working full time for Ryan and he really likes staying busy. But he really LOVES the money. Grandpa Wise gave him a welder and he has really enjoyed it too. He is practicing all the time. They other day, Cole asked if he could help Taylor weld. I looked out, and there was Cole, out in the garage welding. Hahaha He is so cute. He's a lot like Taylor.
Sorry to ramble on. It's been a fun week. Life is good here. We are all healthy and happy. Thank you for serving the Lord. I am so proud of you!
Thanks for sending Hallie pictures. That made her day!
I love you, Jared.
Mom
Hello,
Not a lot of new stuff is happening right now. It seems like this week we've been the replacement for the moving company this week. We helped two families move. It's a bit of a bummer, because one of the moves was for a family of investigators and it may have moved them out of our ward. We're not completely sure yet.
Yesterday we took Bob to a fireside called "Why I Believe". It's a testimony meeting for new converts to the church to tell their story and why they believe. It was a neat experience hearing all the testimonies, and I think it really helped him out.
I really can't think of anything else to write about.
Hope you're having a nice week.
Photos
Date: July 5, 2011
Hey Hallie,
Here are some pictures of some of the animals in Indiana. I thought you'd like them. They're everywhere!
The work is going great in Plainfield
Jul 4, 2011 at 1:17 AM
Hey Jared,
I am so excited to hear about your new companion. How is he? Where is he from? Are you getting along?
This week we had a boy from Brazil stay with us. He was an interesting kid. His dad picked him up Sunday morning and then we went to the airport and picked up two other girls. They are darling. I think we will get along just fine. They are really outgoing and super cute. They will be with us for three weeks.
We went to Vernal for our family reunion. We went to Flaming George and ran the river. It was a really amazing day. It was super hot and sunny and the water was icy cold. The river was running really fast and high and I didn't dare get in, so it was a pretty quiet ride. I didn't push anyone in, because I didn't want to get in myself. Mikayla was asking the whole ride down if she could get in, but I was a little nervous so I kept telling her no. Then I saw Hallie, who was on the other boat, jump in. Then several people followed suit.
What are you going to do to celebrate the 4th? I hope you have a really fun holiday. We missed all of the festivities here at home, because we were out in Vernal, so we are just staying home tonight. We will light a few fireworks and make s'mores. I'll roast a marshmallow in your honor.
Happy Independence Day!
God Bless America and God Bless YOU!
Love,
Mom
Hello,
My companion and I are getting along great. His name's Elder Bair, and he's from Blackfoot, Idaho. He worked as a potato farmer, but what else is there to do in Idaho? I miss Elder Moore, but I really like Elder Bair too. Elder Moore got transferred to Muncie to train a new missionary. We've been doing really well this week. We've gotten tons of new people to teach. We got a call from someone in the mission presidency that has been talking with one of his employees, and he says their family is ready to be baptized. He said that missionaries taught them in the past, but when the missionaries were double transferred out of Plainfield, the family kind of got forgotten. But, President Hilton referred them to us, and we'll start teaching them in the next few weeks. We've had a few other strange encounters, like a few days ago, we were teaching someone on the grass outside of the library and a lady walked up to us. She said the missionaries taught her when she lived in Arizona a few years ago, and she really liked our church. She said she'd like to learn more, and invited us to come over sometime.
We've been having great lessons with our current investigators too. Bob is doing great. He really loves the church and he's working on quitting smoking right now. I'm positive that this is something he's going to stick with. I really love this guy and have seen huge changes in his life. We've got another investigator named Mike who's making great progress. We just finished teaching him the Plan of Salvation and he pretty much knew it all already. We were able to set a baptism date for next month with him.
The work is going great in Plainfield
Jared
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