Monday, December 17, 2012

Dec 17--Dear Elder: Christmas Concerts, Plays, and Parties


Dear Elder ,

Hi!  How are you this fine December day?  I hope that you are doing very well.  This morning I was thinking about you in La Paz and about how things are going a bit slow as far as missionary work goes, and I am hoping that things are getting better.  Even though the greatest service that you can give to Heavenly Father’s children is to bring them into the fold of His son, Jesus Christ, there are many other ways to go about doing good as Jesus did.  He not only taught but served.  In October’s general conference, the President of the Relief Society, Linda K Burton reminded us to “first observe and then serve,” so keep your eyes open to the opportunities to serve all around you!  I just deposited $50 into your checking account as a Christmas gift from your very sweet and loving grandparents.  Added to the money that you already had, that brings your account total to $177.00.  It’s not much, but it will help you as you look for opportunities to help others have a merry Christmas not just by sharing your means, but also your time and talents to bless their lives.

I just got an email from Grandpa that made me chuckle.  Here’s what it said,

Dear Family and Friends,

Since many from all around the world have asked, here is what I would like for Christmas 2012:

   - The world not to end before Christmas (that would be really nice)
   - A bigger lump of coal than last year (so at least I can burn it)
   - A winter cold enough to kill the bugs (but not so cold as to kill any
   trees or vegetables of course)
   - More rain (but only at night, or when I haven't washed the car)
   - Peace all around the world
   - Success to each of you
   - Freedom for all
   - Enough food for everyone
   - The president to be as good as he sounds
   - A tube of Shoe Goo
   - JB-Weld
   - Lots of good friends like you

Merry Christmas and (don't forget why we celebrate)!

A very nice Christmas list, don’t you think?  I wrote him back with a hope that he gets everything of his list, except the coal, of course!

Anyway, we’ve had a nice Christmas-y week.  Last night we were at the Beyer’s where we ate (of course!!!) and visited and sang.  It was a wonderful evening.  Tonight we are getting together with the Teicherts for a Christmas family home evening where I think we will read Luke 2 and watch the Teichert kids act out the nativity.  Oh, and we’ll eat.  Of course!!!

Saturday we saw the Hobbit.  Meh.  It was okay.  Why they ever thought that they should stretch out the story into 3 movies three hours long each, I’ll never know.  I like the Hobbit.  It’s a nice story.  In fact, I read it to Grandma in the last months of her life (I have no idea what she thought of that, but she liked having someone there keeping her company), but the Hobbit is not the Lord of the Rings, and justice could have been done it in one well-done movie.  It was fun, though, going to the movies with the fam.



Jon came over Saturday night and Dad and I enjoyed visiting with him.  He is so interesting to talk to!  He’s been working hard, so it was nice to see him for a while.  It was also nice to help him fix his shirts the other day although putting in button holes is not my speshiality, ha ha.  I also talked to Cassandra for just a sec last night which was nice and we also have seen quite a few videos of Lily on both Emerson’s and Cassandra’s Facebook.  She is such a cutie!  I wish I could send you one of those, especially the one of her “reading” a book.  If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought she was really speaking in another language :)

Saturday night we watched Thomas be Mr. Cold Miser, and Miriam and Katrina sing “I’ll have a Blue Christmas” in the neighborhood play.  They did a good job, of course, and it was fun to be with the neighbors.  Our neighborhood was getting pretty oldy moldy with all the kids growing up, but a new influx of move-ins has brought more children to our street and to our annual play and we loved seeing them sing and act for us.  Derek was Santa and made the cutest Santa I’ve ever seen!  I got a video of Thomas and the girls, kind of.  It’s pretty sad, actually.  I am going to try to get it to you one way or the other.

Thomas also tried out for the junior high play this week which is “Little Mermaid” and he made call backs for almost every male character, so he was at the school most of Friday afternoon, evening, and night.   The rest of us went to the ward Christmas party.  Miriam and Katrina went early to be Santa’s elves.  They were dressed like elves, and looked very cute!  At dinner we sat next to the missionaries.  It was nice to see them since they cover half of Spanish Fork, so seeing them is kind of rare.  They are working with fifty families right now!  We ate and watched the program.  The primary children were on the stage acting out the Christmas story as each of the other age groups (the men, the women, the young women, and the young men) took turns singing different songs depicting Christ’s birth.  We Relief Society sisters sang “When Joseph Went to Bethlehem.”  Thomas got there in time to sing with the young men and of course Miriam and Katrina sang with the young women.  It was all very nice.

Other things we did this week to celebrate Christmas were Carols and Confections at the high school and Thomas’s jazz band concert at the junior high.  This year’s Carols and Confections was the best ever!  Tear streamed down my face the entire second half as they sang about our Savior.  I grumbled (as always) about the ten dollar tickets, but it was worth every penny.  Miriam was right in front and we got to see her sing the whole time!  Thomas has his breath back and did a wonderful job on the trumpet at his jazz band concert.   I’m so glad that we could see him play.  I am so excited to hear Katrina and Thomas sing at their children’s choir Christmas concert on Tuesday.  I especially love the song they sing called “Angels are Making their Rounds” which I’ve hear them sing 3 times so far.  It celebrates Gabriel’s visits to Zachariah, Mary, and Joseph and is a beautiful song.  They sound like angels when they sing it!  On Wednesday we get to go to see Miriam’s choir sing again.  We are so blessed to be put in the Christmas spirit every year through sacred music!  Dad was just commenting on the fact yesterday.

Wow, I just looked up the current time in La Paz, and it’s the same as ours.  That is so weird, but it sure makes planning easier.  We will want to Skype on Christmas day because Jon has to work on Christmas Eve.   The missionaries are coming to eat at Cassandra and Emerson’s house on Christmas evening, so let’s plan on Skyping at noon if that works for you.  Let us know!

I love you, Matt!  I hope I didn’t write too much and take up all of your time.  It is so nice to hear from you every Monday!  I am sending you pictures, and I am going to try and send videos of the Neighborhood play. too.



Love, Mom

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Dec 10--Matt's Last Letter



Katrina: That's great! I'm so glad that you have been reading for 4 years
straight! I never actually did that.... woops I wish I would've done it
though. You took third?! That's way cool especcially in your first
compatition. How was it? What did you do? Haha, LOTR, well, although I
would like to see the hobbit I am content with waiting to see it. Movies
are like wine, the longer you wait to drink it, the sweeter it becomes. The
only bad thing is that we don't drink... haha. Heavens you always ask me
about spanish, Sí pienso mucho en español y también cuando tenga sueños,
hablo en español, pero no es algo muy grande y todavía necesito aprender
mas. Does that answer your question?

Mom, yeah I actually didn't understand that scripture when you shared it
with me. Now that I do I am super glad you did share it with me, during
this time I have been thinking a little bit (not too much, because more
than anything I think about missionary things) in how I am going to be able
to have a family and what kind of responsibility that is going to be and
what type of person that I am going to have to be. Well you can probably
help with missionary work with the family more than I can but I will try.
haha. Speaking of making plans, Do you all want to talk to me on Christmas
or on the 24th? at what time (in either of those days I can do it in the
time frames of 10:00 am to 2:00 pm  and 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm)? are you going
to Skye? if you don't Skye than I am going to have to give you a number to
call, ok? Also if we are going to do Skye I guess you are going to have to
send me the information of the Skye account that you are going to be using,
I might have to make a Skye account but we'll see, we (AKA you guys and I)
organize this, not the mission, you will have to pay if we are going to
make a call. Tell me an hour and if ya'll are going to use Skye or not, if
it is Skye it will only be one hour. haha, well I hope you understood all
of that. Love you Mom, Thanks again for the letter and PICTURES would be a
much appreciated Christmas present. As to what I am going to do this
Christmas, I'm going to hit the street and work haha.
Dad, you just said, my my son in Spanish.... haha. it'd be mi hijo, if you
wanted to be informal: mijo, basically sounds the same though. Thank you
for the complement but I'm sure that Spanish is just a tadd bit easier to
learn than Japanese. Thanks for the story, it is really cool. It's acts
like that, when the world would look at the situation and call it
ridiculous, that really make an impression. I think one of the things you
did for me was drive out into the middle of nowhere to pick up a bunch of
rocks, then about 4-5 months later, take those rocks and throw them back
haha! I pray for tyou too, every day.
Miriam, Why has this week been stresful for you? Have you heard about the
abilitating power of the atonement? it helps us stand up to more chalanges
than we normally can. That's great about the compatition! What exactly did
you do? Try to focus on the happy times during the stressful ones, they
always help us pick up the pieces and keep on going. Tell me more about
your life and what's up!
Thomas, I love the comics, keep it up buddy, Out there in the internet
there are a lot of people who are ready to critisise anything that they
can, I'm sure it will happen to you, not because your comics are bad but
because they are good, when that happens, look at the critism objectivly
and decided if that person actually knows what they are talking about or if
they are just being a jerk. They made me laugh! And that is no excuse for
sending me a shorter letter young man! You hardly write me! Budd, I'd
really like to know what is going on in your life! I have to hear stuff
through mom about you! Talk to me about what you do in school, hanging out
with your friends, funny experiences comic Ideas and stuff like that.

Im not going to include a bigger part below because I took up my time
writing to ya'll!




Thursday, December 13, 2012

Dec 10--Dear Elder


Dear Elder,

Hi.  How are you?  Boy, thanks for your last letter.  It was wonderful!  I
really like what you said about Dad being the repairer of the breach,
because that is what he is, and so are all of you kids in your own way.  
Thank you also for your kind words about us teaching you when you were
young.    There are so many things that we neglected to do or did wrong,
but I know that if we stay close to Jesus Christ and do our best, He will
make up the difference.

So, you opened your Christmas present early.  I don't know how
Santa feels about that, ha ha.  Actually, I am glad you made such a
generous choice.  It wasn't much, but you managed to magnify something
small into something bigger.   I did wonder what you would do on Christmas
day, but with such a giving attitude, I know you will be filled with the
spirit of Christmas and find great joy.  Much of my joy that day will come
from being able to Skype with you!

You have written to us about doing missionary work as a family, and I'm
sorry that we didn't fast about it last month.  Maybe next month?  My
guess is that it will have to come from you, not from me, to get everyone
on board.  I have been praying for help to do missionary work as a family.
 The scriptures say that all things are possible with God.  If our family
actually had a successful missionary experience, it would certainly prove
that scripture, ha ha.  We did take Christmas gifts around to neighbors as
a family last night.  We got to visit with quite a few, and it was a
wonderful experience.

I'm sorry things are slow in your area right now.  I am praying for you
and your companion.  Dad says you are having more success now than he had
in any area of his mission to Japan.  When you start out with a bang,
though, it's hard to go down to a dull roar, right?

Thomas's tests came back and showed that he has had undiagnosed mono in
the past, so he doesn't have to stay home from school or anything.  He is
allowed to do anything he feels up to.  Well, I take that back, he can't
participate in contact sports till we have him checked by our doctor to
make sure he doesn't have an enlarged spleen.  He was going to go out for
wrestling, but decided not to and to try out for the school play instead.

Tuesday night, we went to hear Katrina and Thomas sing Christmas songs with the children's choir. We met Allen and
Becky there and the kids sang beautifully.  We had a nice time with Allen
and Becky, and they treated us to Subway afterward.  Sadly, Dad had to
work and couldn't come.  

Let's see,yesterday I had lots of meetings.  Last night, Cassandra
and I made plans for when we go stay with them.  I told the family at
dinner what she and I discussed, and we are very excited.  Jon came by
yesterday, too.  I thought he was going to bring by some shirts for me to
sew.  Maybe he will today.

Today I am subbing which I am going to begin doing again now that Grandma
no longer needs my care.  I don't know how I feel about it, but it will
probably end up being good.  Dad and I have been watching LOTR in
anticipation of seeing the Hobbit on Saturday.  I'm sure we will not
finish LOTR by then, but it is fun to watch what we can.  This week is the
ward Christmas party and also the neighborhood play.  Thomas is Mr. Cold
Miser.  The girls are supposed to sing, but I'm not sure whether or not
that will happen.  Tonight we will be doing toys for tots for family home
evening.  Have a wonderful  week!

Love, 
Mom

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Dec 3--Matt's Latest Email


Dad, thank you for your letter, when I read it it came to me that you have
been leading your family as the youngest. (kinda like Nephi) and it also
brought to my mind a scripture that mom actually showed to me a long time
ago that I re-found the other day in Isaiah (I really don't remember how to
spell in English) chapter 58:12 I'd write it in English but I only have it
in Spanish so let's see...
''And your loved ones will build upon the ancient ruins. yea ye shall raise
the foundations of generations in generations, and thy name shall be:
repairer of breach-es, restorer of places of habituation.''
That scripture is actually happening and you are help it happen. Thank you
so much for that, it really touches my heart and makes me happy.

Right now in the mission I am learning that I know nothing at all, haha,
This area is difficult, it is the sort of area that (in the sense of the
commitment to work) kills some missionaries. I'm not saying that so that
you will worry, I'm sayiing that because you have taught us kids how to be
persistant. I appriciate that and I use it every day. Thank you for helping
me get out here. It has the best thing that has happend to me. I am finally
becoming the kind of person that will be able to build upon what you taught
us, put it in practice in my own family ( my VERY much in the future
family) I have had to learn how to do other things that I didn't know how
to do, like helping other people receive revelation from the scriptures. I
know I wouldn't be able to do those things without the help that you have
and continue to give me.

Hey mom, thankyou for this letter, I always enjoy reading it weakly. Umm,
also thanks for the pictures, you and dad are looking great, The service
also looks like it was very beautiful, Thank you. BTdubbs, yes I did recive
the package, and it was a huge hit, I made to choise (or mistake) to open
it in a meeting with a lot of missionaries (11 to be exact) and you had
included 12 peanut butter cookies in the package! it was perfect! I started
handing out the cookies, honestly it was like a pack of salvage wolfs were
bearing down on me, but after everyone got a cookie they all were very
happy! haha. Thank you! also, thank you for the pictures! I love getting
pictures of the family!

Miriam, That's cool about everything, what will I be doing for christmas?
Well, i think I will be out in the street preaching, haha, no we are going
to organise a lot of family home evenings and a choir to sing to the less
active people that live here. I'll wish you luck at your deca concert right
now! I know that that kinda stuff can help you in your life later, how are
you and presty poo doing? Are you turning into a hipster? We will have to
talk about this.... Why did the hipster burn his mouth when he ate pizza?
Because he ate it before it was COOL! haha!

So Thomas, where did you get mono from buddy ol' pal? Haha, well how are
you feeling? are you still feeling weak and such? Tell me about school and
your web comic!! Send me more comics, the last one made me laugh.

Katrina, I still have a long time left on the mission, but sure, when I get
back, if you remember, we can watch LOTR, I remember the feeling of
finishing a play, everyone super tired out and wondering ''What next?''
That's really cool that you are reading the scriptures! yay!

 ok well this week has been... interesting, we tried changing the way we
are working and... the change we made... didn't work at all hah, so we had
to change again, asking the Lord for help. We are starting to see some
budds that could grow into something amazing here in the ward!

Missionay work is as simple as doing home or visiting teaching. I invite
all of you to do is to look for someone to share the gosple with. The
missionaries there will love you, I promise! If you take it one step
farther and tell them that you would love to accompany them and visit the
person they will probably die of happiness, Im hitting myself in the head
for not asking you guys to fast last week to find someone to share the
gosple with! If you don't want to do it, before you say: ''No, I cant do
that'' Think of your brother (or son) that is walking for hours up and down
the streets here looking for someone to talk to. I can promise blessings
and a spiritual improvement in your life.

I am glad that you could all sing to Grandma and tell her that you love her
before she passed away. well, I love you all and I am sad that I wasn't
able to be there. I cant wait to be able to talk to you all this christmas!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Dec 3--Dear Elder: Sally's Passing and Funeral


Dear Elder,



Hi, How are you?  Thanks for your last letter.  We really enjoyed reading it.  I’m glad you like your camera.  I know it didn’t seem like much of a gift when we gave it to you, but we knew it would come in handy.  I’m sorry the work is slow right now, but I am glad you are keeping the missionary spirit and also examining how you and Elder Trejo can improve working together.  He seems like a very serious and diligent missionary.

Matt, Grandma passed away at our house last Monday evening.  Dad, Becky, and I were with Grandma when she took her last breaths and entered the Spirit World.  She struggled the last few days of her life, but was peaceful at the end.  The kids had left to the store and so weren’t there when she passed away, but about an hour before that they had sung to her and kissed her and told her that they love her.  We have been so blessed to have had her in our home for 9 months.

We spent the rest of the week taking care of funeral plans and spending time together, especially me and Dad.  He had the week off, and I think it comforted him to just be together.  Tuesday night we watched “Savior of the World,” a beautiful play depicting Christ’s birth and resurrection.  It was especially comforting after Grandma's death to be reminded of our Savior and his resurrection which makes the resurrection of Grandma, as well as all the rest of us, possible.

On Thursday, Dad and I took Thomas up to the children’s hospital to see if the doctors up there could figure out why he is always out of breath.  He got a blood test and an EKG.  The doctor there thinks he may have mono, which as you may know is a very common illness in teenagers.  We kind of hope that he does since it is less serious than some of the things he could have.  I guess we’ll find out this week. 

Friday, Dad and I went to the temple and felt very comforted there.   Yesterday (Saturday) was the funeral for Grandma.  Dad delivered a beautiful eulogy.  He, Jonathan, and Thomas were pall bearers.  I gave the opening prayer and Miriam and Katrina sang.  Dad also gave the family prayer at the viewing and dedicated the grave.  My sister, Elizabeth, came to the funeral, and Grandpa and Grandma and all their children sent a beautiful flower bouquet.  It was comforting that my family cared so much.  After the funeral we and all Dad’s siblings, spouses and kids went out to eat.  I’m guessing that the funeral was this is the first time they have all been together since Allen moved away from home.  We had a nice time visiting. 

Today we have Allen and Becky over.  They are in town for the funeral, of course.  We just finished eating dinner together and are now visiting.  I just found out that Dad is also taking tomorrow off, so I guess things will get back to normal come Tuesday. 

I love you very much, Matthew, and cannot wait to get your next letter.  I hope everything is going good for you.  I may have pictures for you tomorrow, we’ll see.

Love,
Mom 

Nov 26--Matt's Last Letter


Hey,
Hi mom, I am doing well, thank you again for your nice long letter about
the week, I always enjoy reading it. I don't really use the money that
much, I did in my last area because the bus money ran out, but really you
would be surprised at how little I need to have to get along comfortably in
life, to come over to La Paz, I took one suitcase with my pillow in it and
mostly cloths, I couldn't think of anything else to use. Also we have to
use ATMs here because they usually don't accept cards. No, my present
didn't get here yet, I don't think that there will be any problem with
Skype here, they have a pretty stable Internet connection here. I don't
know why you think I need so much stuff haha, what would I buy here? I did
see some things that you guys might want as souvenirs but I couldn't take
pictures. anyway, I don't remember if you had any other questions.
Katrina: That's pretty impressive with the target thing! I'm really glad
that you had a great time with the family! Let's see, what did I do for
thanksgiving? I ate Oreos with milk.... that's about it haha. I didn't even
realise that it was thanksgiving until night time. Man, it's hard to
remember how to write in English. :P Tell me about your life and stuff!
Miriam, First things first, I hope I am not losing my sister to that
''Hipster'' crowd... I'll have to have a talk with Preston about that haha.
(I'm joking, mom sent me a picture of ya'll and ya'll look great) To answer
your question: ''Am I in one of the most beautiful places on earth?'' If I
am, there are a lot more cactuses here than I thought there would be...
haha, no I don't know, we are always far away from the beach here. Thank
you for telling me about your week, I love hearing what is going on with
you.
Thomas, Just remember that the computer really sucks your life away,
Looking back now in all of the times when you would ask me if I wanted to
play sports with you and I said: ''No,'' I wish I would've said ''Yes''
now. How is it going in school for you? Also to write a blog, you have to
actually get out and do stuff haha! so go out and do stuff! haha, I have
been telling Elder Trejo that when I get back, I'm not going to play video
games anymore.
Dad, That's some... news the
re about Grandma, Mom talked about it a little
bit too, that means that it is probably really hard on you guys. Maybe
Grandma has something on her mind that she feels like she needs to finish
before she goes and maybe that's why she has been hanging on so long, maybe
you could put her in contact with the Bishop or something like that. Dad, I
would love to see you too but that would be something really bad, haha
don't do it! La Paz or at least the part I'm in right now is not that
pretty and there is a ton of sand everywhere. I came here in plane it
costed about 25$, no I can't stay here after my mission but I'd love to
come back, we could probably travel to sinaloa in bus and then hop over to
La Paz, it'd be cheaper. haha, Dad, I haven't even been here for a year yet
don't think about that stuff!

Anyway, so Manuel has disappeared from off the face of the earth, that
isn't that uncommon here, and it probably means that he doesn't want to
talk to us any more so he is avoiding us. We are trying to find the people
that need and want to hear us, it is a hard thing to do sometimes and
requires that we always have a vision of all of the time that we are going
to spend here because sometimes we have to do something that isn't even
going to help us in the short run. Sorry if I use some weird phrases or
something like that, having a Mexican companion is really taking it out of
my English. Right now it's all about keeping that missionary fire, because
it can be hard to keep a good attitude after a few days of looking and not
teaching much. We have had to look at ourselves, our companionship and how
we are working, very closely to see what the Lord wants us to change or
improve so that we can bring His children back to him.
The picture I'm sending is the only picture I took this week, woops haha
sorry I forget to take pictures... I'll try harder next week but, don't
expect too much.

Elder Trejo and La Paz
P.S. The camera is awesome and perfect for missionary work because I can take a picture of the map and then use it like a little portable map. haha!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Nov 26--Dear Elder: Thanksgiving weekend


Dear Elder,
Hi!  How are you?  I’m glad you got a lot of letters from the mission last week.  Does that mean letters from home sent to the mission home and then delivered to you, or does it mean letters from your Mission President?  Good either way, right?  I hope you do get letters from home, though.  Have people been writing to you?  As far as calling or Skyping goes, I think we will try 3 way Skyping with Jon.  Dad is really concerned that Skype won’t be really reliable and that it may end up not working.  If that happens, can we do calling as a contingency plan?  Sunday is fast Sunday, and I want to ask the family to fast that Skype will work!  Like I said in the family letter, don’t worry about spending money on things you need, that’s why it’s there.  I’m hoping that since you couldn’t think of anything to request for Christmas, that you are able to find most things you need.  Is that true?

We had a really nice weekend.  Yesterday, Sunday, we had a nice sacrament meeting.  Brother Hannett spoke about his dad who was an amazing man.  You’d think that listening to someone talk about someone you don’t know for twenty minutes would be boring, but it was very inspiring.  Sunday School and Relief Society were wonderful, too.  We got to get a couple of ornaments off the giving tree, and we are looking forward to buying gifts for unnamed needy kids in the ward.  Also, since I visiting teach Jennifer Hannett, and Dad and Thomas home teach the Hannett family, we plan to do 12 days of Christmas for them.  That should be really fun!

Grandma is having a hard time right now.  I hoped that when the time came, she’d just sleep longer and longer and then at some point never wake up, but that’s not how it’s going.  Passing away is becoming a miserable struggle for her.  Much of Sunday was spent with Grandma singing to her and keeping her company.  Last night, Becky came over to be with her, and we used that time to have family home evening.  Dad gave a lesson on making long-term career goals.  The kids all wrote in their journals about where they want to be in 15 years.

Saturday we also spent a lot of time with Grandma.  Dad wrote to you about putting up Christmas lights.  He really got into it Saturday, and the house is very sparkly.  We bought lighted candy canes at Costco and got to see Jon in the process.  We also saw him on Sunday when he dropped by for a second  after church.  He and Thomas are working very hard on Thomas’s comic blog.  The kids helped a bit with the lights and also just had a bit of lazy time.  Saturday night we all went to Walmart just to get some of us out of the house.  Later, Dad and I went to Taco Bell and then watched a show at home.  The kids ate pizza, sat with Grandma, and played video games.  Paul came over late to see Grandma.  He hasn’t been here for over a month, maybe two, so he was pretty taken aback by her condition.  I know Grandma was happy he was here to visit.

The Stoddards were in town over Thanksgiving and spent it with James’s parents.  On Friday we had them over along with Rick and his family and Elizabeth and hers.  It was a really fun day.  The weather was good and some of the dads and kids went over to the school to play.  The older girls went shopping, and we moms and Mercy went down town ourselves and checked out the thrift and consignment stores.  Dad spent a lot of time with Grandma and also put lights up that day as well.  That night we went to Festival of Lights with Elizabeth and her family and had lots of fun.  Their boys rode in our car and Katrina rode in their car, just to mix it up a bit.

We thought only Don and Renee would be with us on Thanksgiving, but they called and asked if Brett and his family could come, too.  They were going to spend the day with Emily’s parents, but they were sick, so we had them over, too.  It was really fun to have kids over on Thanksgiving.  Grandma spent most of the day sleeping, but I don’t think she’s slept at all since then, poor lady.  The kids and I did most of the Thanksgiving preparations and we had fun cooking and making a turkey-shaped dinner roll for each person.  They were really cute!  We also got to Skype with Emerson, Cassandra, and Lily on Thanksgiving morning.  It was nice to have Dad and Emerson on since they are often at work when we Skype.  They are doing good and had Thanksgiving with a family in the ward.  We are doing “gifts from the heart” with them this year.

On Wednesday we went target shooting as a family.  I shot one of Dad’s pistols about three times and was done.  I really don’t like the noise and the jolt of shooting.  It’s too bad because I really like hitting targets.  I told Dad that from now on whenever we go shooting, he needs to bring the little squirrel gun along for me.  Everyone else had fun, though, and so did I really because I enjoyed being with the fam.  The rest of the day was spent cleaning up and relaxing.  Katrina went to a friend’s that night, and Dad and I brought Café Rio home for the rest of us.

Tuesday, Katrina was feeling sick and only went to her cast party for a while, poor girl.  Thomas was disgusted to have to go to a choir practice on the evening before Thanksgiving break.  That night, Dad and I went out on a date and the kids stayed home, ate brownies, and watched Brave.  On Monday, family home evening didn’t work out real well, I can’t remember why.  That’s just the way it goes sometimes! 

Well, that was our week.  I have been one chapter ahead of the family in the Book of Mormon so that I can look for questions to ask, insights to share, and actions to encourage when we read it as a family.  I also am learning about the Christ-like attribute of patience in Preach My Gospel.  I finished reading Joseph Smith’s journal while I exercise and am now reading the institute church history manual.  I’ve read it before, and it’s really interesting reading.  I’m considering reading it to the family on the way to Texas and back.  That may start a mutiny though, so we’ll see.  I love you, Matt.  I hope your week is a good one.  I’ve been praying for your success with Manuel and with reactivating members.  Let us know how it all is going!

Love,
Mom
P.S.

Here's a picture of the family.  Can you believe that we didn't take any pictures of the whole weekend?  I planned to and then forgot.  I could kick myself!  This is us after church on Sunday.  Garred took it, so if it is a bit fuzzy blame him, ha ha!


Friday, November 23, 2012

Nov 19--Email From Matt


Hey all of you!
Mom, I use the money to buy food, pay for area transfers. I don't think I
have withdrawn money in like.... 2 months... something like that. I wont
draw any more out haha. Thank you for your nice long letter it helps me get
a nice peak into the family life. Have you decided to Skye or to call? How
is Jon going to be able to participate?   Thank you for your prayers.

Thomas, that made me laugh, the ''Holy Cow'' thing, also the comic thing
too, they do not say stuff like that here, they eat ALL OF THE FOOD, every
time. haha, thank you for telling me about your week end, please tell me
more about your life :)
Katrina, that is very good to hear that everything is running smoothly, now
the play should be ending right? Tell me about it! :) La paz is full of
sand, and yes it is a very cool place. We do have some investigators right
now, his name is Manuel, we are having a hard time with finding him and
teaching him,
Dad, here, they already had their version of ''Black Friday'' so don't even
worry. They don't celebrate thanks giving, that's just a USA thing. I love
you too Dad, thank you.
Miriam, that's just how life is haha, well. They don't celebrate
Thanksgiving here. Are you guys out of school? How much time did they give
you? A lot of having a car is giving rides to other people, although I'm
sure that you are nicer about it than I was haha.
Hey everyone, well we had a lot of letters to read from the Mission so I
don't have all the time in the world to write to you haha. This last week
has been a good week because we've been able to learn a lot. We are
hopefully going to baptise a young man named Manuel but I think that he is
having trouble with us because he seems to be avoiding us. 
We are
concentrating our time and effort mostly in helping the ward, How is the
winter wonder land over there? I'm over here suffering the 70 degree
weather haha! but actually we have been walking a lot so sometimes I wish
it was a little bit colder but not much haha. I love you all and you all
are always in my prayers.

Nov 19--Dear Elder


Dear Matthew,
Hi!  How are you?  How is life in La Paz?  I just looked up La Paz on the internet and I see that it is a very clean and safe place, and that the standard of living is quite high by Mexico standards.  I also see that it is probably about 75 degrees at this time of year, and that there are plenty of tourists in La Paz, but that is probably close to the beach.  How do you like it there?  You say that there is a very low activity rate in the church in La Paz.  Why is that, do you think?  I’m glad that you and Elder Trejo can work to help members come back into activity.  Tell Elder Trejo “hi” for us, and tell him I admire his commitment to be a missionary even though the others in his family aren’t members.

This morning I helped to train the leaders of the young women in two different wards, and then I also taught the relief society lesson as a substitute teacher.  I basically just read amazing quotes by the prophet George Albert Smith and asked questions so that the sisters could share their insights on the subject.  It went pretty well although I’ve since thought of a million ways that I could have improved the lesson.  Tonight we are going to Katrina and Thomas’s Thanksgiving choir concert in American Fork, and I really look forward to it.  The concerts are always so inspirational!    

Last night we went to see Katrina in the Ensemble of “Annie Get Your Gun,” the MMHS fall musical.  Katrina did a wonderful job.  She’s an amazing actress even when she doesn’t have any lines, and she looked so pretty in her costumes, especially her ball gown.  We got to sit on the very front row and enjoyed the entire play immensely. 

On Friday, I worked on an ABC book that Katrina is making for Lily, and I am helping her.   Then on Friday night, Dad and I went to see the movie, Lincoln and we really enjoyed it. Do you remember that edited movie Cassandra had, the “Last of the Mohicans?”  The main character, Hawkeye, was played by Daniel Day Lewis, the same guy who plays Lincoln.  He did an amazing job!  I felt like I really got a glimpse of how Lincoln actually looked and acted.  Anyway, we had a nice time.

Thursday was basically visiting teaching day.  My visiting teachers, Sis Mathis and Sis Fjerstad came to visit teach me, and then later, Emily and I went to visit our visiting teaching sisters.  We had wonderful time catching up on what they’ve been up to since we saw them last month, and Emily gave them a message from President Uchtdorf’s talk in general conference.  Did you get to hear that talk, Matt?  It was basically on lessening regrets in life by 1) Spending more time with family, 2) Working on becoming the person God wants us to be, and 3) Letting ourselves be happy and enjoy the journey of life.  It was a wonderful talk.  
Later Brother and Sister Zhart came over and helped me with some family history.  It was a very nice day.

Wednesday, Dad came home early.  Katrina was at play practice and Miriam and Thomas were out at the malls buying Thomas a coat.  Dad and I enjoyed puttering around town just the two of us.  It seemed like a wonderful reprieve from the hustle of weekday activities. 

Tuesday evening, I went to a meeting and Dad worked.  Earlier in the afternoon, Jon called me and I went to Costco and picked up the turkey he got for being a Costco employee.   It will sure be nice on Thanksgiving, and I look forward to having him and also Don and Renee here to celebrate it with us. 

Monday we played Mormon Bridge as planned and we had a very fun time!  That’s really all I remember about Monday except getting your letter, Matt.  Remembering back that far sure strains my brain, ha ha!  Anyway, that was our week.   I hope that your week was as good and that this week is even better!
Love,
Mom

Monday, November 19, 2012

Nov 12--Email From Matt


Hey!
Katrina, I always hated doing detention, I never did understand it, you just sit there in a room and read, which is actually pretty cool now that I come to think about it, so maybe you should do it more.... haha. Tell me about your play ok? tell me if anyone messes up and the good parts and all that. You are going to get a little behind with the school work I bet but I think you'll be able to handle it :)
Dad, They don't drink the water here. you have to buy Garafones, so they
don't ration in that way. Also everyone has these gigantic water dispenser
bucket that they put on the top of their house and they run all of the
water that goes to the house though that, so it fills up constantly and if
they turn off the water we don't even notice because we use water
dispenser. My companion was completely shocked when I told him that we just
drink out of the tap en los estados unidos. He was also weirded out when I
asked him about the water dispenseres. 

I have noticed what you said about
re''inventing'' yourself, it is possible to do here especially when I have
so little time in the mission and hardly know anyone. Later it will be hard
because I will start building up a good or bad reputation. You found that
old video? wow, I thought I had deleted that! well, that's cool, I wish I
would've been able to finish that before coming over here, oh well haha.
The branch thing does not sound fun at all, I'm glad that you were able to
do it all without hurting yourself and that's really cool how you did it
all before the family got there so you could go to Brick Oven. Thanks Dad!
hahaha
Miriam,  !t is great that you got into snow! That school is a nice
school even though it is very boring, I'd suggest that you look on-line for
some scholarships, it would be worth your time. There are so many people
that say that they want to do that and few that actually do it (like me! :)
It would rock because then you might not have to pay for housing or maybe
for food or something. Hey! don't worry about your presentation thing, You
can do it, you have the drive. That counts for a lot.
Thomas, I already wrote you but, here it goes again, you will have to send
me a picture of your web comic on here so that I can read it! Tell people
about your web site in school! see if you can announce it in a class or
something haha. How is the sports life doing? Are you playing anything?
Remember when we used to drive to your wrestling practice and I was always
a grumpy pants? Write me more you bumb!
Mom, I was surprised to not hear about the megaplex place haha, Thankyou
again for the nice long letter, it really helps me get a handle on what is
going on down there. I didn't know if it had snowed or not before that.
haha, Tell me when you guys decided about calling or skyping, I might say
calling but then again it would be nice to see you all so I don't know.
haha,

Ok, well this week has been very very interesting, it has been filled with
some trials and it has been filled with a lot of looking for people to
teach. The goals here are totally different, right now we are trying to
help the ward get up on its legs again, the size of our area is
gigantic... I don't know how big it is but it takes us about 1 hour in bus
to get from one side of the area to the other. The ward here has about 50
people that attend weekly and it has a lot of less active people that live
here, a lot of them have just slowly stopped going to church and have
wanted to come back but have needed a little push to get them started.

My companion is named Elder Trejo, he is a convert to the church, he was
baptized at the age of 18, and he left on the mission at age 19. There is
some real drive right there. His family are not members of the church, he
has been out here for about 15 months. 

Elder Trejo


Umm, la paz is very peaceful, and
lives up to it's name. There is a university and a lot of young people here
that go there. Actually the campus is part of our area. It is brown
here... and there is a lot of sand. You can't see the ocean but that's
because we are on the other side of the city.... ummmm what else... I'm
forgetting english at an astonishing rate. casi no hablo ingles, entonces
voy a regresar y ustedes no me van a entender, ¡jaja güeros! anyways... so
that's about it... haha

Monday, November 12, 2012

Nov 12--Dear Elder


Dear Elder,

Hi!  Thank you for the email on Tuesday.  It was so nice to hear about you getting a new companion and also being transferred to La Paz.  Do you have to ration water there?  I know they did in Cabo when we were there.  Hmmm…Skype for an hour, or talk for two hours.  Wow, that’s a really hard choice!  How are we supposed to choose?  Most of the kids say, “Skype.”  What’s really sad is that Jon won’t be there with us in Texas when you call.  That’s really exciting that you get to stay on your mission longer.  I hope we can stand waiting!  Thanks for the heads up.  How did that come about, anyway?  Ya, I know I really should be on a commercial for the movies, ha ha!

Yesterday was such a nice day.  I thought I was going to be in meetings from 1:00 to 9:00 at night, but our last meeting was cancelled, and I was able to be home by 6:00.  Miriam and Katrina had a dinner of salmon cakes and baked sweet potatoes waiting for us, and we had a wonderful dinner and fun conversation.  We had family home evening last night.  Katrina conducted and also read your last letter.  Thomas had the family history portion of the lesson, and he read family memories of Grandma Haws to us.  Dad gave the lesson on Lehi’s journey across the desert and we learned that there is still a place called “Nahom,” and it is a place of burial and that a day’s journey east of it is a lush place by the ocean with date palms and trees large enough to provide wood for ship building.  I made a sugar free pumpkin pie for treat, and it was a hit, so I guess Dad will get pie on Thanksgiving.

Saturday started with Dad going to the laundry, Katrina going to play practice, Thomas going sledding, and Miriam and I going to the church for Super Saturday.  It was a crazy morning because there was snow everywhere.  It started Friday and was still going strong Saturday morning.  We did lots of snowy driving.  Miriam and I enjoyed Super Saturday where we did crafts, visited with the ladies in the ward, and ate soup and dessert.  When we got home, Miriam and I hand-sewed repairs on costumes for Katrina’s play.

As a Costco employee, Jon gets a free turkey which is very cool.  He called me Saturday to drive over and get it, but he couldn’t find the turkeys.  Later he found out where to get them, so I think I get to go get it tomorrow.  It will be nice to have that for Thanksgiving.  It’s even pre-cooked!

About six o’clock, all 4 of us bundled up and left for Provo to rescue Dad who was working on the fallen tree limb at Grandma’s house.  By the time we got there, though, Dad had finished and he took us out to Brick Oven for dinner.  It was a nice surprise to go out to eat instead of loading up wood in the cold!
Friday Dad and I went to the mall and ate at Chick-fil-a.  We had fun just being together and then we went home and watched the latest episodes of “The Middle” and “Once Upon a Time.”  It was nice to hunker down in a warm bed on a cold snowy night and watch shows together.

We didn’t do much on Thursday and on Wednesday Dad and I went to Miriam and Katrina’s “Young Women in Excellence” over at the church.  They had a wonderful program put on by the young women, and Katrina had a part.  Miriam and Katrina both displayed something they’ve been working on for Personal Progress.  Miriam displayed a plate of cookies with a card explaining her manners project where she encouraged the family to have good manners at dinner time and rewarded them with a treat for being polite.  The card invited people to take a cookie, and they did!  Katrina displayed the flower fairy ABC book that she is sewing for Lily.

One day this week, I got to Skype with Lily and Cassandra.  I showed Lily all my puppets and she especially liked the monkey.  When she saw it, she stood up, danced, and said, ooo,  ooo, ooo like a monkey.  She showed me the little people ferris wheel that Sarah had brought her and a little person that goes on it.  She also showed me her toes, her nose, and her belly button.  We sang “Eensy Beensy Spider.”
Tuesday Dad had to work on the roof at Wash Hut all night, and I can’t remember what the rest of us did.  On Monday we watched an old Jimmy Stewart movie as a family.  It was called “Pot of Gold.  We also read a conference talk.

Today Miriam interviews for sterling scholar in business.  I hope she does a great job!  Katrina’s  dress rehearsal for “Annie Get Your Gun” is this afternoon.  Also this afternoon we hope to get a letter from you.  Hooray!  Tonight, we will do the family home evening activity that we didn’t get to last night chosen by Miriam.  It is to play “Mormon Bridge” which I Googled, and found out that it is similar to a card game called “Oh Heck” except they don’t say “Heck.”

I have been studying many things lately.  Here are some things I am learning:  I want to work less on making others like me and more on helping others feel Christ’s love when they are around me.  I want to judge less and understand more.  I want to remember Christ more, and remember that He is the reason I do what I do as a wife, a mom, and a daughter of God.  What have you been studying, Matt?  Are you teaching anyone the gospel?  I pray every day that you will find people ready to hear the gospel and that you will teach with power from on high.  I love you, Matt!  Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Mom

PS  Your uncle, Don, kindly sent us some pictures he took at your farewell open house, so I will attach some of those to this letter!





Nov 5--Email From Matt


Katrina, Have you thought about show choir? I do NOT remember how to spell
that, sorry. Just go to school, it will make the day a little more funner!
Are you excited for Thanksgiving? what are you going to do? How are you?
ha ha
Miriam, Don't worry, they didn't report my crash, but I guess that does
make you the ''best driver'' you watched ''Zombies'' what's that? The
walking dead? Holy crap, I forgot that there is Halloween over there. wow.
Something with the weather always being hot screws things up. That is
lamentable with Preston, but it does mean that you could wait! ha ha. I hope
you do.  How goes with the long board? Tell me about how school is, is
there snow on the ground? I guess you will know one thing not to do when it
snow. ha ha.
Thomas, that is a very short letter of a long week. Please send a longer
one. ha ha. How is your asthma thing doing buddy? So did people say that you
did good or that you sucked? Did you tell the coach what I told you to say?
Do it!!! ha ha.
Mom, Try not to let the movie company take over your computer the next time
you write. ok? Send that in, they might make it into a commercial or
something hahaha, but really I did enjoy your letter,
Dad, I was not board at all with your letter, I enjoy reading about what
you do.
Hey, Sorry I have less time to write today!!!! 3 things, I have a new
companion, I am now in La Paz, that's in the Baja California, and number 3
is this Christmas, I can have 1 hour of Skye with you guys or I can have 2
hours of phone time, but I cant have both. So, what do you think? Which? I
have another thing to tell ya'll too, I have 3 more weeks in the mission so
I'm not going to get back on may 2nd I'm going to get back on..... may
28th! so that's some more news! I will try to write more next week!

Nov 11--Dear Elder: Halloween, The Movies, Family History, Food Storage,


2012 11 05
Dear Elder,

How are you?  I hope you got the pictures that I sent you.  We have been praying that you will find people to teach the gospel to, has it been working?  You mentioned time change, do you mean daylight savings time?  We just did that yesterday.  It was sure nice to sleep in!  I’m sorry that people open their doors less now that it gets darker earlier.  You said that transfers were last week.  Did you stay in the same area like you thought you would?  Are you with the same companion?  How are things going for you now?  I can’t wait to get your email today!

We have had a nice week.  Yesterday was especially nice because it was fast Sunday so I was able to fast for the blessing we need, and also I don’t have any meetings on fast Sunday so I was able to be with the family.  After church we took Grandma for a ride which she loved.  She didn’t  say “orange” or  tell Dad to slow down once.  Then we came home and made sweet potato soup and bread for dinner. 

 After dinner, we had family home evening.  Dad read about the conversion of Grandpa's family to the gospel.  It was really wonderful to hear it.  Dad especially loved it and didn’t remember ever hearing it before.  The account was written by the sister missionary who helped to convert the family.  Her name is Margaret Madsen and one of her children live quite close to us, just past the four way stop on our street.  She contacted us a few years ago to ask if we wanted her account of her conversion.  It was wonderful to meet her.  How grateful we are that she went on a mission and brought Grandpa’s family the gospel.  Another interesting thing is the Elder Leif Shumway, related to me through Charles Shumway, is the elder who baptized them!  Small world J

Also for family home evening, we bore our testimonies of what we know to be true.  I cannot express to you how it warms my heart to be able to sit with the family and hear their thoughts and feelings about the gospel of Jesus Christ!  I am most happy and secure in my life when I know we are doing these types of things—things that bring us closer to each other and to the Savior.   I’ve never really thought I had a favorite scripture, but writing this to you, I suddenly realize that I do!  “I have no greater joy than to hear that my  children walk in truth”  3 Jon1: 4.   Tonight we will continue our family home evening by reading a conference talk, having an activity by Katrina, and a treat by Miriam.

On Saturday, Dad worked very hard at the laundry.  Miriam also worked there, cleaning to earn some money.  Katrina was at play practice, and Thomas hung out with Jayden.  I did a humongous shopping at Costco.  With having only half the children at home than we used to, and with changing our diet drastically, I found that I had lots of food in my 3 month’s supply that was going bad, and I also found that I was lacking lots of food that we needed.   My Costco bill came to over $500 and my Walmart bill on Friday came to over $400.  I still need to go buy some stuff at the grocery store.  Also, on Saturday, Dad and I took an inventory of our year’s supply, and bought what we needed for the kids who can’t tolerate whole wheat.  We spent another $400 there.  Don’t worry, I have a preparedness account that I make deposits into, and I have been saving up for a long time so that I could do this!

Friday night, Dad and I went to see a movie.  We started late because Dad got home late, and to be honest, I wasn’t ready till then either, because I was busy putting Walmart purchases away and fine tuning my inventories.  Anyway, I love Megaplex theaters!  For one thing, you can reserve your seats when you buy the tickets online so that you don’t have to get to the theater early in order to get a good seat.  Besides, it’s stadium seating so there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.  For another thing, they sell food right there in the lobby that is reasonably priced, tastes good, and can be taken right into the theater in a nice lap tray.   Last, I love their drink machines!  You can get any flavor and type of drink imaginable.  I always get Fanta Zero, and there at least eight flavors of that alone!  I don’t drink much pop, but it is my favorite movie treat because I can sip it all movie long.   More about movies:  wait for next month!  Not only will the hobbit be coming out, but also Les Miserables, and the Stephen Spielberg movie about Lincoln!  The trailers for all three look incredible. 

On Thursday, Dad worked all evening.  Preston came over to the house and we made dinner and played “Mormon bridge” which was a ton of fun.  Wednesday was Halloween.  Thomas and Miriam both went to parties.  Katrina stayed home and watched Phantom of the Opera, and Dad and I sat outside, gave out candy and watched “Nightmare Before Christmas.”  

On Tuesday we went to the temple!  It was a beautiful experience.  I am so glad that Dad and I are sealed to each other and to you and your siblings for eternity.  When I think about the eternity we'll get to spend together, I guess giving you up to the Lord for two years is not so much for Him to ask of me.

Also on Tuesday I got to talk to Cassandra.   She was taking Lily to a Halloween party with Lily dressed as a pumpkin. Remember I sent you a pict of Lily in her costume?  So cute!  Anyway, Grandma is in Texas right now and she and the Stoddards are going to go visit Cass, Em and Lily tomorrow.  It will be the first time Grandma and the Stoddards have ever seen Lily!  Plus they will get to see their new house!  I wish so much that I could be there with them all.  It will be so nice to see most of them in December!

I got to see Jon a couple of times this week and had a really nice time talking to him on the phone this morning.  He was on his way to the dentist.  It is so nice to see him when I go to Costco!  It makes it way more fun.  He's sold the highest percentage of memberships since they opened, and is liking it pretty good although it can be stressful.

 Monday we had Family Home Evening.  I told a story called “Saved by the Faith of our Mother which was written by your Great Grandpa Haws.   It is about a time when his mother  loaded up the kids in the car and left  Mexico for Arizona.  They stopped on the way to warm a bottle for the baby and somehow ended up starting a fire that burned up their car.  A group of men stopped to give them a ride, but instead of driving them to the border they drove them to a ranch and it was obvious that they had nothing good in mind.  Your great great grandma began praying and singing hymns non-stop till the men’s hearts were softened.  They drove her to the border where Great great grandpa came to get them.  Miriam also gave a lesson on the Christ-like attribute of obedience. 

Sorry this is so long, Matt!  I guess I didn’t leave you much time to reply, but I’d rather you get a nice long letter than me, although it is a pretty big sacrifice!  I love you so much and I hope your week is wonderful!  Please please let us know about anything you need.

Love,
Mom

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Oct 29--Email from Matt


Hey,
Miriam, That's cool about the Kid car, I just feel bad that the truck broke
down. Yeah good luck with the long board, I just don't want it to be a
problem between you two. That's really cool about Preston! I hope that
everything turns out there, The marines is a good groop of lads, haha. but
really that shows a lot of devotion for our country. What does he have to
do now? Go to boot camp? How is highshcool? How was the birthday party
thing?
Katrina, I hope your play turns out ok, you say you're writing a script?
How's that going? Tell me 'bout it. How is DECA? Have you thought about
joining school choir? How was the birtday party thing?
Mom, That's fine with me, and if you want to, you can post pictures or
what-ever haha. I also want you to log onto my E-mail address, just log on
and then you can get off again, I'll send you passwords and stuff. Thankyou
for the long letter! I love hearing about stuff and I do remember writing
that up on the calander, that seems like years ago. Haha, I also remember
washing my cell phone. I pray for you all too!
Dad, I can tell that you have been buisy, becuase your letter was the
shortest! :P anyway, I hope everything goes well for you. What happened to
the truck?
Thomas, I told you that that team sucks, ditch them and get on the freaking
long horns! haha, That's really nice of the Hannetts! Take that
responsibility seriously ok budd? I promise it will help you later in your
life.

Well this is the part when I am supposed to write something spiritual,
haha, but really this week has been a good week to learn, we have seen a
lot of challenges but with that we saw a lot of blessings. I know that the
Lord has been helping us. We have struggled this week to find people to
teach. We weren't able to talk with the Ochoa family this week but
we will be able to teach them this week. The time change has made things a
little more difficult for us because now it gets darker earlyer and people
don't want to answer their doors. We are also about to have transfers again
this week but I feel like I'll be staying here. I'm happy with that. Next
week I'm going to write about an experience for you all! I just don't have
time right now.

ok this is about the picture, we were walking down the street and I just
happend to glance at this door, (there are a ton of doors like this in
mexico) I looked at it, didn't take too much notice, and keept on walking.
Suddenly somthing clicked in my brain and I noticed that... That door leads
to no-where, a brick wall. I stopped in the middle of the road with one
question running through my mind: ''Why? I don't understand, Why?'' anyway,
that's all for now.