March 25--Excerpts from Family Letters to Matt

Dear Matt,

So this week has mostly been about dental work.  I've had a sore tooth that has had way too many fillings in it and I knew that I would eventually have to get a root canal and a crown.  It has been killing me for months, every time I would have something cold that hit it, it would just about put me through the roof.  So I went and got a root canal last week.  then I am going in Tuesday to get a temp crown and then a real crown two weeks after that.  I also went and got new eyeglasses because it was time, my prescription was old and I couldn't see things close up. My boss told me he wants me to work night school for the rest of the year. It will help make up the money I've lost.  I might go ahead and teach night school next year as well.  Being home by 6 isn't so bad.  funny, I bet people iin Mexico would kill to make what I will make an hour teaching night school, but to me I think, hmm, not really worth it!  It is much less than half what I make at my day job but still better than I could make somewhere else.

I loved your letter, as always, and don't worry, I will wait till 3 months before the end of your mission to bug you about visiting you!  I will say one off topic thing, I mean, you are a good missionary and focused on the work, but even so, as you get towards the end, I know it is hard to not think about what will happen to you when you get back.  Don't worry, things will work out and you will be able to get back into school, there, I said it, now I'll leave it alone and let you focus on the important work of sharing the gospel!

I should get preach my gospel, I hadn't thought about it as a study guide, that is a good idea.

Jon is thinking about moving.  Evidently it is easier to move in Costco up back East, he would be only a few hours from Cassandra, all in all it might be really good for him.

Thanks for the scripture in Alma about Lehonti, that is good food for thought.
Next Sunday we will be writing from Grandpa and Grandma's!  I AM excited to see them and the rest of the clan.  the older I get, the more important I realize family is.

I can't wait to hear about your week, I will make sure and send you pictures from our vacation.  Hopefully, we will have the upstairs 100 percent done before we go.
I am so proud of what you are doing and jealous(in a good way) of you!  being on a mission was one of the highlights of my life!
Love,
Dad


Dear Elder,
We can talk while we watch.  :P Well, you see, the thing about the one act is that it’s surreal and has a weird story line.  There are only two speakers, a boy and a girl, who speak for everyone.  It starts out with a photographer whose camera is out of order and things keep coming out of it.  An ostrich, a bathing beauty, a lion, and a baby all come out of the camera.  The photographer keeps trying to take a picture of the wedding party on the Eiffel Tower, but those things keep appearing.  In the end you find out that it’s a painting and I, the art collector, buy it.  Then everyone leaves the picture.  It’s really weird.  Anyway, I’m currently reading the Screwtape Letters.  Have you ever read it?  What you talked about in you letter about temptation reminded me of it.  It’s a really good book.  I’m glad to hear that you like your mission.  That’s really good.  Home’s going to be very different when you get back.  The kitchen and living room look different, as you know, but mostly we look different.  Thomas is getting really tall and buff.  Miriam has short hair that’s brown and she has no glasses. I, well, I don’t know how I’ve changed.  You’ll have to see for yourself.  Oh! Last night I had a dream about you.  You died and it was really sad.  The saddest part was that I convinced myself that it wasn’t a dream.  Yeah.  Please don’t die.  Anyway, I can’t wait to go to the warm weather this week. It snowed here yesterday and that made me sad.  Tell me something cool that’s happened.
Love,
Katrina

Matt,
There’s not much to say about my life! I’ve been working every day. I had to drop half of my classes to fit in my work schedule. I’m still going to graduate though. Every day pretty much goes like this: 3 hours at school, 6 hours at work, 1 hour to eat and rest, 40 minutes to do Insanity and then another hour and a half to get ready for bed and write Preston. I still haven’t gotten a letter from him yet, but I know he’s going to church down there. I’m sorry my life is so boring! I hope everything is going well for you! Have a good week.
Miriam

Dear matt,
 So in this week I was going to go golfing with Jon but the weather was bad so I went on a campout with the scouts instead, it was really fun and all we did was play games with other troops. I gave a talk in church this Sunday and It was pretty good, here I’ll send it to ya:

(Blog Note:  The following is an excerpt from Thomas's talk.)

                So In this talk I'm going to shy away from the death of Jesus and more of the resurrection of Jesus and what he did. So I like to imagine that right after Jesus died him going to the spirit world and the angels being like “hey Jeb there’s another new one coming you go welcome him.” “Oh bill I welcomed the last guy that came in!” “Stop complaining and go show him around!” “Fine…” and then he would be all like “hey how’s it going welcome to the spirit world-“ then his eyes would get all wide and then he would go nuts, cus I mean this is his oldest brother and not only that! He is the one that is going to make it possible for them all going to be forgiven! And the fact that he is here and back means that Jesus did it, he did it, were saved! We are all going to be resurrected! And then everyone gathers around so full of joy, so happy and just when they think that there’s nothing else better that they could hear right then Jesus says: “Hey guys guess what, we are now going to be able to teach the people in spirit prison the gospel and be able to teach them and convert them if they accept the gospel.” This is the biggest moment in history guys! And now the angels in heaven can’t even control themselves I imagine them just flying around playing their trumpets and singing songs of joy. I can just picture one angel flying around Jerusalem and just doing a double take, because there down on the earth there is a woman and, she is crying. Of all things she is crying! So he flies down there wondering how anyone could cry at such a time as this? “why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen”

President Thomas S. Monson said
“No words in Christendom mean more to me than those spoken by the angel to the weeping Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when, on the first day of the week, they approached the tomb to care for the body of their Lord.”

                Guys, this means that now everyone will be resurrected, Easter is a promise to everybody that we will be resurrected no matter who we are, no matter what we’ve done we will all get our bodies back. No unclean thing can enter into the kingdom of god, Jesus suffered for our sins so that we can be clean but it is our choice whether we take advantage of this amazing thing called the atonement or not it is our choice to be made clean. I bear my testimony that Jesus is the only way back into heaven and we would all be lost without him, in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

It was pretty cool
-Thomas