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