Dear Elder,
Thank you so much for your letter! It was good to read that you received and enjoyed your package, and that your companion got good news from his family. Thank you for sharing what you have learned about contention. When I finished your letter last week, I prayed to know what else, if anything, I needed to write, and I felt like I needed to add what I have learned about it. I know Heavenly Father loves us and helps us strengthen each other!
Okay, may I say, THAT WAS NOT NICE! Ha ha. I’m glad I scrolled down after you wrote that about the hurricane, or I would have had one worried week. I think the only reason I did scroll down was that before you mentioned the hurricane you kept saying you’d write more about what you were saying later, and you hadn’t written more yet. I am so glad that you guys were safe, and I am so glad there were so few killed.
Your experience with helping others was very powerful, Matt. I know it was the Holy Ghost that impressed Christina’s words so deeply into your mind. Did you go help her as she helped others? I am so glad that you, your companion, and those with you found a family to serve, and I hope you found more as the week went on. Including the members as you serve is such a good idea! Then they can befriend the people you help and refer them back to you to be taught. They are probably a good resource to find people to serve, too. Your letter really warmed our hearts and made us feel happy.
It is better to preach to gospel through actions rather than words. Christ often taught that way, by going about doing good. You said, “We are Representatives of Christ, with a sacred calling ‘to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light... to mourn with those that mourn... and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.’” When we serve like you did that day, Matt, we are keeping our covenants. In the General Relief Society broadcast to the women of the church which I watched last night, the president of the Relief Society and her counselors told us to remember when we are serving that we are keeping our covenants. Sometimes I forget why I’m serving! When we remember that we serve because we love Christ and to keep the covenants that we have made with Him, it binds us to Him more fully, and then He can abide in us and we in him, and we become more effective instruments in His hands.
I hope you found many more chances to serve, Matt, and that you continue to do so. I also am trying to do that, especially in the family, but not only in the family.
Matt, this week has been a nice one. On Sunday afternoon, we went for a drive and read a conference talk. Aren’t you excited that conference is less than a week away? I hope you get to see all of it! After that, I had a meeting. Monday was a nice day at work, and Monday night, Dad and the kids and I went somewhere and did something. I can’t remember where we went! Afterwards, we met Miriam at the yogurt place again. It was a lot of fun.
Tuesday I went with my school group to the zoo. It was fun to visit with the adults as we rode the bus up there. When we arrived, we were put into groups. I was in charge of two of the higher functioning kids, an autistic boy, and a girl in a wheel chair. The zoo, as you may recall has lots of hills, and the two stronger boys and I had quite a workout wheeling their classmate up, down, and around to see the exhibits. The autistic boy was our navigator and did a pretty good job, although we had to back track in order to see the bears. He was more interested in the written information about the animals than looking at the animals themselves, and knew a ton about almost every animal we saw. The two other boys were too cool to get very excited about it all, but they kept a good attitude, especially about all the walking and wheelchair pushing. The girl in the wheelchair enjoyed seeing the animals and also all the children at the zoo. We were pretty tired by the time we got back to the bus, and I think I’ve had my fill of zoos for awhile.
Later on in the week, one evening, I began cooking up a storm. I had put some apples and spices in the crock pot to cook into hot apple cider, and the cooking apples made the house smell like Thanksgiving. Maybe that’s why Katrina and I started cooking and cooking. By the time Dad got home, we had a ton of food, and Dad wondered who was going to eat it all, but we managed to make a good dent in it, and both Dad and I had some delicious leftovers the next day. I tried to cook every night no matter how few of us were going to be home. It made for some good family time, and I am going to try and keep doing that.
Also, I’ve been working on a little recipe book for Jesse who is going to be baptized the Saturday after conference. I’ve been collecting pictures and articles from the Friend magazine, and I figured it was time to start using them. I gave Jesse many choices of books I could make for him including a gospel activity book, a piano book of primary songs, and a gospel coloring book, and he chose the recipe book. The Friend has such fun recipes! I also have been working on making a little book for Lily with Book of Mormon pictures in it. Making the books has been a fun activity for me.
Thomas had a pretty good week last week, I think. He played football in the rain on Thursday. He and Dad both came home freezing. He also got to hang out with friends Friday night and Saturday. He got to go target shooting with them and Hayden’s dad Saturday afternoon, and I think he enjoyed that. I enjoy visiting with Thomas. He usually comes home feeling talkative, and I love that. I also enjoyed talking with him while I drove him to and from gymnastics. Friday Dad and I picked up his first bonus check from the water park, and he used some of it to buy food at MacDonald’s with his friends. They walk there, and I think it’s great that they walk to so many places. I offered them a ride, but they said walking was part of the fun. Now that is cool.
Katrina did lots more driving this week. Yesterday she drove me to Walmart, and did a great job. We had fun just looking around. After that, we noticed how close the new temple was to Walmart and she suggested that we drive over to see it, which we did. It is coming along nicely, and only needs a spire and windows for the exterior to be complete. We had such a good time together. I’m glad I called her to see if she wanted to come with me. She is such a great kid. Katrina has been doing a lot of play practicing lately, and is enjoying it. Like most of us, she is happiest when she is busy.
Miriam has been able to talk to Preston quite a bit lately. He made it to Washington DC safely and is liking it there. They still can’t go too far, but he has more freedom than he did during training. He will be able to go out and tour, etc. as time goes on. Miriam also got to go to a dinner and a coworkers house with the other people from the office, and I think that she had a nice time. I think it was Thursday night that she and I were the only two home for dinner. We had a wonderful time visiting and eating together. She is so fun to be around.
Jon came over Friday night to help us switch phone service from one phone to another. It was very nice of him. Thomas had washed the old phone, ha ha. I’m glad I had a spare! Jon is looking very good and has a mustache now as well as a goatee. Has he ever had a mustache before? I’m not sure, but it looks awesome. He is one good looking guy.
I also talked to Cassandra a bit this week. I found a cute Hello Kitty sticker book at the grocery store and bought it for Lily. It cost more to send it than it did to buy it, ha ha, but I knew it would. I called Cassandra to let her know it was on it’s way. She said Lily would love it, and Saturday when I talked to her for just a second, she said that Lily did, indeed, love it and that she knows it came from us. She can’t get the stickers off yet, so she just looks at it and said “Hello Kitty!” a lot. I really have fun talking to Cassandra on the phone. She is such a good mommy!
Cassandra posted the cutest video of Lily on Facebook singing “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.” Emerson took the video, and in the middle of it, she stops singing. After waiting a bit, Emerson says, “That’s a very nice song you were singing, Lily, will you sing some more? And she does. It is very cute. I think her favorite word in the whole song is atmosphere, because she sang “up through the atmosphere,” over and over. Such a sweet daddy and daughter moment!
Dad has been working very hard at the laundry installing the furnace. He was there all day yesterday. I am sure he will tell you more about it. It was very sad that he had to work his entire Saturday because he had a hard week teaching. The students are really struggling right now. He could have used a break yesterday. I did go visit him, and we had lunch together. I am glad that we could at least were able to go out Friday. We drove around a bit doing errands and we also ate at Rodizio Grill. After that, we came home and watched Sherlock Holmes again.
Today is fast Sunday, and tonight is a stake youth fireside.
Okay, now we are home again from the fireside, and we just had family scriptures and prayer. It has been a good day. At church we were sitting together as a family waiting for it to begin when Kaysee, one of the kids I taught in primary years ago walked into the chapel with her two younger sisters. I used to visit her at her house often and tell her about the lesson when she wasn’t able to make it to primary. Her family moved out of the ward over five years ago. Now she is fifteen, and her little sisters are young women as well. It is hard enough to walk into an unfamiliar place with your parents, but to walk in alone with only younger siblings for support must be so frightening. I walked back, sat next to them, and welcomed them. It was such a wonderful feeling to see a beautiful smile replace the stressed frown on Kaysee’s face when she saw a familiar face. I visited them and invited them to sit with our family, which they did. It was a small but happy thing.
Today was fast Sunday since the first Sunday of the month is Conference. It was good to fast, Matt, and I can already see the blessings of it. I asked members of my family to include some of us in their fasting and prayers, and they all said that they were happy to do it. I’m so glad we can exercise our faith this way.
Dad, Katrina, and I are now all finishing up our letters to you, Matt. Your letter to us was so awesome, and I am so glad you sent it. I can’t wait to hear how your past week has been. I love you very much and hope that you will continue to learn and grow and bring people to Christ.
Love,
Mom
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