Dear Cole,
Thank you for the wonderful letter. Yes, it was short, but it was also powerful. It means so much to me to read your words of encouragement, faith, and determination. We read it to the family last Monday at the dinner table, but I hope that we can read it again together tonight (Sunday) and ponder and talk about what you said.
I am so glad that Nicole and all of the missionaries in the Philippines are safe. What a terrible tragedy happened there. Dad has been praying for the people there in every prayer he has given. I have not done as well, but I will do better. I have been praying for the young men and all the people that you are teaching. I am sorry the one young man started drinking. That is really heart breaking. I’m glad for your successes, though.
Matt, you asked how I am doing, and I am doing very well. I’m sorry if anything I said made you worry because I’m doing great. Why have I not been getting much sleep lately? For the same reason I haven’t been getting much sleep for the last decade—I’m a mom. It’s as simple as that, ha ha. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night because I realized or remembered something someone needs, and I can’t get back to sleep. Sometimes I think that the Holy Ghost has to wait till the middle of the night to give me promptings because that is the only time I’m still enough to hear, ha ha. Also, I am now getting old, and so I get tired earlier and earlier at night and wake up earlier and earlier in the morning, but with teenagers and night-owl Dad, I don’t get to bed any earlier. Anyway, all of that makes for very little sleep, but don’t worry, Matt Heavenly Father blesses me, and I think things have been getting a bit better and hope they will continue to improve.
Speaking of waking up in the middle of the night with a prompting, that actually happened to me this week. When I picked Thomas up from wrestling Monday afternoon, he informed me that he’d gotten hit on the chin and chipped three teeth during practice. We were pretty concerned about the teeth, but nothing else. Later that day, he told me about a “dream” he’d had while he was walking from the wrestling room to the bathroom to spit out the teeth chips. He “dreamed” that he’d lost an entire tooth. He was so worried about it, that he started looking around the ground for the missing tooth and asked some the other guys to help him search for it. He told me about the dream to show me how tired he was lately. I thought that was weird, and I told Dad, and he thought it was a bit weird, too, but it wasn’t till the middle of the night that I realized that Thomas had sustained a concussion. Neither Dad nor I had thought about a concussion, because Thomas didn’t get hit on the head. I really think it was the Holy Ghost helping me to realize what had happened. The next day we had him checked, and, yep, he’d gotten a concussion. He felt really nauseated and had a headache and stayed home from school for three days.
The good news is that the dentist said the chips were only to the enamel and he was able to smooth it and give Thomas special toothpaste to use. Also, he is feeling better now and is almost totally caught up on the homework he missed, so that is a real blessing. When he couldn’t watch or play anything on screen, Katrina started reading “Rifles for Watie” out loud to him, and now he’s half way done with the book. I don’t think he’s going to do wrestling anymore, but he’s still doing basketball, so that is good. This will also give Thomas time to work on his cooking merit badge which he needs to have done before January.
Monday night (before we realized that Thomas should be resting because of his concussion) we went to see Katrina perform in Aida. It was nice to have Miriam home from DC and there with us, too. Katrina was one of the Nubian slaves, and she did such a good job! Her face is so expressive. Matt, she is a really good actress. We really enjoyed watching the play, and Miriam took lots of pictures which I hope I can send you. We gave her roses and bought her (and everyone else) ice cream to celebrate. It was a wonderful evening. Another play, Emma, is coming up, and Katrina is trying to convince Thomas to try out for it, too. That would be nice.
Dad got to take a day off from teaching this week and go to see other GED programs in the state. He had a nice time and got to eat some paella while he was there. He said it was delicious. He also said that he got a lot of good ideas about GED programs. I’m glad he got a break from teaching. He also gets to take off Dec 2, 4, and 5 for different meetings and conferences. I’m very glad because he is kind of burned out. I’m also glad that he gets to have a break for Thanksgiving.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, Matt, I hope you have a good one. Good luck baking the pie. I hope that it works out well and tastes delicious. Say a prayer before you start making it, ha ha, but seriously. BTW, When we visited Yelapa on our cruise up the Mexican Riviera, a woman was selling pieces of pie on the beach, so I know that there is at least a little bit of pie baking going on in Mexico here and there.
I have been reading Jesus the Christ lately, Matt. When you mentioned that you were reading it and asked me if I had read it, I decided to read it again. I knew it would help me in my efforts to forget myself and remember Christ, standing as a witness of Him at all times, and it has. I am on chapter 11, and I value the reading of it more than I ever have before. This morning I showed Thomas how to download it onto his ipod, and he said that he is going to read it. I really hope that he does. You may want to encourage him to do it.
The women in our ward had the opportunity to make treats for the men working on the temple last week, so I signed up to bring some. I made gluten-free chocolate peanut butter bars because, thinking of Thomas, I figured there might be a gluten-free worker who would appreciate having a treat that he could eat. As I cut and packaged the bars, I thought about the women in the early church and of all the work and sacrifice that they gave to build temples. Doing that little service made me feel close to them and increased my joy to know that another temple is being built on the earth.
Also this week I made a Thanksgiving snack mix and took it to visiting teaching sisters and friends with a little note telling them how I am thankful for them. Emily and I did visiting teaching this week, and we also took Shana (the woman at the assisted living home) on an outing to do a bit of shopping at Costco. Jon came over and talked to us, which I thought was nice of him, It was a good experience. Dad also saw Jon on sat while he was getting a prescription there on Saturday. He seems to be doing good.
Dad and I went out Friday night to a Latino restaurant. We ordered tacos and tamales. It was delicious! On Saturday Dad and I took Katrina and Thomas on some errands and we had a very fun time driving around, shopping, and talking. When we got home, I talked to Cassandra on the phone awhile. They are happy, but busy. Lily wanted to talk on the phone, but after I said, “Hi, Lily, How are you?” she changed her mind, ha ha. Later, Dad and I went out to get some dinner and then returned to watch a movie. Today we had breakfast together as a family which was nice and then after church and home teachers, we went on a drive and got a treat at the laundry. We also read the talk you recommended to Dad, Matt, and then Dad talked to us about trusting in God and honoring Him. It was a very good family experience.
Well, that’s all, Matt. I am so happy for Thanksgiving time. We have a lot to be grateful for. I am thankful for you and for all of our blessings. I love you very much, Matt. Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Mom
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