Dear Elder,
Good Morning! Actually, I guess it will be afternoon when you get this. I hope you received the package we sent you yesterday. Hopefully now you have everything. I will transfer $400 into your account so that you will have money for baggage fees, phone calls, etc. After you get safely to Mexico, we will probably withdraw some of that, but not all. I just want to make sure that you have enough money for any contingency while you are traveling.
I am so excited that you will be able to call on Monday morning! You'd better believe I'll stick around. Dad is so sad that he can't be here. The kid haven't gotten their schedules for next week, but they really want to be here, too. Maybe it will be so early that everyone, even Dad, will still be around. I hope so! Call as early as you can :)
Wow, ten out of the 12 apostles! That's pretty unusual, isn't it? I sure wish I could have been there. Thank you so much for writing to me about Elder Bednar's talk. I read it and studied it this morning. It increases my understanding of and my love for the Savior, Jesus Christ. I tried to cut and paste his talk here on dearelder, but it is way too long. I will have to send it to you, so you have that to look forward to.
It's amazing how much that talk goes along with what I am studying and pondering on right now. Remember what I said about Christ not resting after his crucifixion, but going straight to the spirit world to minister to the spirits there? This is another example of his consistently loving character that always put others' needs above His own.
Trying to be like Christ is so hard to do. I am learning a lot, but really struggling to apply it, but this talk has helped me realize that If I study and pray and yearn to be like Christ, and then do everything in my power to act like Christ, He will, in His own time, bless me to have the pure love of Christ—Charity. This is my ultimate goal.
I also read section 122 of the Doctrine and Covenants. I thought about your insights as I read it and it made it even more meaningful. It shows that Christ expects us to try it be like Him even in our suffering. His high expectations for us show His love for us and shows that we can do it!
Well, yesterday Katrina, Miriam, and Dad worked, I cleaned and took care of Grandma, and Thomas went to a birthday party in Salt Lake. Actually, Dad only had to work half a day because up the canyon was evacuated due to a fire, so he only taught at the blue and brown houses yesterday. Today, they are is unevacuated, and Dad is back to teaching there. Don't worry about your friend Rachael, fire fighters acted heroically and saved the town; no homes were burned, and everyone is safe. The news said that burned brush circles untouched houses and barns. It is a real blessing.
Last night, Miriam and Katrina had young women's, but Thomas didn't have young men's. While the girls were gone, Grandma wanted to go for a ride. At first, she thought that she would be doing the driving, but I told her, no, Brian would drive, and I warned her that he would drive really fast (since she thinks that even 25 mph is fast).
She said that would be okay, so we loaded her up and took her and Thomas for a drive. On the ride, she didn't tell Dad to slow down once. She did ask for chocolate ice cream two or three times. We didn't think she'd be able to eat an ice cream cone alone in the passenger seat, so we got her a pina colada Slurpee instead. She seemed to quite like it. We drove by Becky's house and also Don and Renee's, but no one was home. It was a nice drive and I enjoyed getting out of the house.
Well, that's it. We love you. We loved getting your email. Thanks for sharing all the spiritual things with us. I wish I could have heard more about your studies and the devotionals you attended. You are doing a great job, and I know that Heavenly Father is blessing you. Have a great day, Matt.
Love,
Mom
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