Saturday, April 6, 2013

April 5--Dear Elder: Visiting Family

Dear Matt,

Egg Hunt

Hi!  Thank you for your last letter.  I liked the picture you sent and am very grateful for the person who put the fence in that dog's way!  I really enjoyed reading about what you are up to and hope that Praxaedis and Kamy will come to know that the gospel is true.  Tell us about your new companion.  Campos sounds Mexican.  Is he native to Mexico?  How is the work coming along?

I appreciated your encouraging us to examine how we are spending our time and to draw near unto the Lord.  I have been pondering on these things, myself, lately.  I love that scripture,

 ''Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.'' (D+C 88:63)

I have been thinking a lot about it since you reminded us of it.  I also appreciated when you said, "Don't sacrifice that relationship that you could have with the Lord for anything."  I have been thinking about sacrificing in the similitude of the Savior's sacrifice and how I need to give up worldly thoughts and habits, put off the natural man, and draw closer to Christ.  What you said made me realize that we all sacrifice something, so if we don't give up my worldly pursuits I am actually sacrificing my relationship with the Lord. 

I am really looking forward to watching conference this weekend!  I know it will help me draw closer to the Lord.

We have really been enjoying our visit with Grandpa and Grandma.  It's a good thing Grandpa keeps such a detailed journal or I wouldn't remember half the stuff we did!

Grandpa and Grandma

On Monday we went to a nature preserve and enjoyed walking the trails with Grandpa and Grandma.  We took a lot of pictures and really enjoyed each other's company.  As we walked down the trail, we were surprised to hear someone calling Grandpa's name.  We turned around and his sister, Donna came running up.  Imagine the chances of that!  It was nice to visit with her for awhile before resuming our walk.  Thomas had a little incident with a cactus while we were there, but I'll let him tell you about that. 

At the Nature Preserve

After that we went to Great Grandma's and visited with her awhile.  We invited her to go out to lunch with us, and she said that sounded like a good idea, so we had a nice lunch with Grandma.  After that, we drove her to see the temple they are building near by.  We went to the temporary visitor's center and learned all about how they are constructing it.  It was really interesting, and I think that Grandma had a nice time.

Out with Great Grandma

Tuesday Dad had to order a new radiator for the van because the A/C had stopped working, and the radiator was leaking.  Tuesday night, Julie's family and Tom and Michael came over and we had lots of fun visiting.

Visiting with Unca Tom

Wednesday Dad took the van in to get the radiator put in, and we all drove around in Grandpa's car.  We went to the university and listened to Celeste's husband, Jacob play the organ.  He is amazing!  Then we went to hole-in-the-rock, and ate at a Mexican restaurant.  Katrina asked us if could eat something besides Mexican food for a change, and we said, "nope!"  The food was delicious!  After that we came home to watch "Miss Potter," a movie about Beatrix Potter who wrote "Peter Rabbit."  It is a wonderful an uplifting movie.  After that, Dad and I went on a date and Grandpa and Grandma drove the kids over to do some activities with Julie's kids.

Setting Out 

Yesterday we drove about an hour and a half north to get out of the heat, and Grandpa, Dad, and Thomas hiked to some springs while Grandma, Katrina, and I sat by a stream in the shade and had a nice chat.  It was 4 miles to the springs, so the guys were gone a good long time, and we all really enjoyed ourselves.  When we got home we ate dinner with Julie and fam and also Tom.  It has been so nice to see so much of family.  I pushed little Mandy in the swing and listened to lots of fun conversations.  I was too tired to talk much, myself, and ended up going in and taking a little half hour nap.

No comments:

Post a Comment