March 24--Dear Elder

Now I remember what a flibber is! Haha, I also remember those bear thingies very vaguely. I don't really remember them too much.

Anyway, I really enjoyed your letter this week mom, and i would love to comment on the things that you wrote there, but, as usual we are pressed for time, and I only have a half hour to write. I think I'm getting better at writing letters on the fly! haha.

 

This week we found a woman named Rosa Maria, she's a grandma now and has a lot of little Nietos (Grand children) An RM brought us to her house and told us to teach her. She had gone to church before in the past but had stopped coming because she got disappointed with life and as she would say she: "let the devil win" and decided that it was easier not to go to church. We invited her to read, pray and come to church this week, which she did. She wants to be a good example for her little grandchildren and bring them up in a "God fearing" way (I really don't know how to say that in English) I respect her a lot and we have a lot of hope that we can help her become a member of the church and be able to be the example that she wants to be.
We have an appointment with her tomorrow. It's fun to teach her. We haven't gotten to know her that well, but we are going to care for her as much as we can.

Carlos and Rocío haven't been progressing as much these past weeks, although we hope that we can help them and their family to progress. 

José is doing good right now. We are trying to teach his family because we want to help them to re-activate so that José doesn't just go inactive if he gets baptized. It's slow going but with a lot of help from the ward, I'm sure that they can come back.

This week, I started looking at the Atonement of Christ more in my studies and I noticed that the Atonement is extensive..... And that the Atonement is only one of the things that Christ did, the most significant for us was the Atonement, but there are still a lot of other things he did for us. So, I have a lot to study! Man do I have a lot to study, and a lot to put into practice. 

Other interesting things about this week: I got stung by a bee this Saturday in a ward mission activity. I survived don't worry. :)

Imagine your son, sitting in Mexico, in a small room jammed with computers, sweating to death. Yup. That's about what's going down right in this moment.  

I love you Mom thank you so much for everything you do! I hope that you and the family have a wonderful day today and all during the week.

March 23--Two Photos to Matt

      

Wheat Grass, Bear Village

March 23--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,
How wonderful it was to get your last email!  I love reading about the people that you are teaching and what is happening in their lives.  I am so sorry that Jose's uncle died, and I hope that you will be able to talk to everyone that you want to this week, including all of the smiling families you encounter while you are walking in the street.

I think that is wonderful that you were able to apply what you learned in D&C 58 to your life and that doing so blessed you so much.  I hope that you have lots of success contacting the people that the members at the activity referred you to.

The clay pots that you described sound really neat.  It will be so fun to see them!  The best thing, though, was reading that you really love me.  I love you, too Matt.  Thank you so much for being my boy.  My love for you wouldn't change no matter what, but the good things that you do in your life bring me a lot of happiness, and there isn't a nicer thing you could do for me than to be such a faithful missionary.


We have had a very nice week this week.  It was the last week of the term, so I spent a lot of time at work helping students to finish up their assignments and get the turned in.  We have had a lot of substitutes lately because my one co-worker is still out after being in a car accident, and my other co-worker took some time off to be with her daughter who had a baby this week.  They will both, hopefully, be back to work tomorrow.  Their being gone didn't increase my workload or anything, but I miss having them around.

Neither Katrina nor I can remember what we did on Monday night, but I do remember getting to talk to Lily on the phone Monday after work while I did my grocery shopping.  Cassandra was making pizza, and Lily was pretty excited about that.  She had fun telling me all about stuff, and I had tons of fun listening.  I think we had chicken soup for dinner that night.  It's weird that I can't remember what we did that evening.

Tuesday Thomas's track team was doing a fundraiser at the school.  It was a hypnotist, and Thomas wanted to go, so that is what we did for family home evening.  It was kind of a boring thing to watch, but I think the students on stage were having fun.  Anyway, we did our duty and supported the track team.

Wednesday night, Thomas did most of his eagle scout project.  He had 10 kids and 9 adults all over at the church working hard to clean and repair PE equipment for Hayden's mom who is the PE teacher at the elementary school.  We cut, filled, and sewed beanbags, scrubbed stuff, and tried to repair the big parachute, but we didn't finish that yet.  Sister Spotten I are going to work on that some more this week.  Thomas worked hard going door to door and calling on the phone getting people to help out, and everyone really came through.

Thursday was the last day of school for the term and for the week, so Dad and I took advantage of the long weekend to book a 2 night get-away.  We left Thursday after Dad taught night school and didn't get back home again till 4:30 in the afternoon on Saturday.  We had lots of fun together.  We didn't really have any plans of what we wanted to do.  It was just fun to spend time together doing whatever we felt like at the moment.  Let's see... we ended up touring the state capitol, going to a museum, visiting a family history center, watching the new Muppet movie, eating lots of good food, and kicking back and taking it easy.  The state capitol is so cool.  If I had realized how beautiful it was, I would have visited it much sooner, ha ha.  It was a very fun weekend.

While we were gone, Thomas had a track meet.  He participated in a co-ed relay, and he handed off the baton to Abby, but she wasn't running fast enough and he almost ran her over.  Luckily there was no on in the lane next to them, so he dodged her, and for some reason they weren't disqualified for that, so that's good.  Thomas has been doing a lot of reading lately which is good since he has a hard time falling asleep at night.  First he read "The Other Side of Heaven," and now he is reading Brandon Sanderson books which he really seems to enjoy.  In fact, everyone seems to enjoy Brandon Sanderson's books, so I think that when I finish reading Les Miserables, I am going to read one of his.  I'm at the part in Les Miserables where Jean Valjean has emerged from the sewers of Paris, bearing Marius on his shoulders and is again accosted by Javert.  I'm glad I'm reading it again because I'd forgotten how detailed and gripping the story is, having only watched the play these last few years.  I'm reading the unabridged version, Matt, but I have to admit that I skip some of the parts where Hugo goes off on tangents, ha ha.

Saturday after that, Dad went off into the boonies and had a ton of fun.  Katrina, Thomas,and I made and ate dinner together and had fun talking.  After that, we decorated for Easter, and the kids got a surprise.  Matt, do you remember the mini bear village that we'd bring out at Easter time when you were little?  Well, I found one on Ebay and bought it.  I put the little pieces in medium and small plastic Easter eggs.  A couple of weeks ago I began growing wheat grass, and it is now tall and green, so yesterday when we decorated, I put the plastic eggs in the grass. After all the decorating was done, I told the kids that they hadn't inspected the decorations good enough, so they started examining things and found the little bears, cars, swings, houses, etc, in the eggs.  They were pretty excited, especially Katrina.  Now we have a little bear village in the living room for Easter.

Jon just came by for a minute and I showed him the village.  He remembered it, and thought it was cool that I found one on Ebay since we'd lost all the bears from the original village and I had gotten rid of it.

Katrina gave a talk in church today, and did a wonderful job.  She chose for her topic "Individual Worth,' and shared with us Doctrine and Covenants chapter 18 verse 10 which says, "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." She asked the question, why, when we are so weak and fallible, and God is so great and perfect, are we of worth to him.  She reminded us of Christ's words in Moses 1:39 which says "Behold this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." and again asked why are we worth so much to God and His son that they make it their entire work and glory to bring about our eternal happiness.  She said that she thinks the answer is love and quoted John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son."  It was a wonderful talk, Matt, and I am so grateful to know that we are God's children and that He is our father and loves us individually and infinitely, enough to give us His son to atone for our sins and bring to pass our immortality and eternal life.

After church, we had family home evening, because Dad has a meeting Monday, and Katrina and I might have a meeting on Tuesday.  Katrina gave a lesson on the atonement of the Savior, and it was wonderful.  She read some of the talk that Bruce R. Mckonkie gave about the Savior, and she asked dad and me if we remember when he gave the talk and she gave us the opportunity to share our feelings about it, which we really appreciated.  It was wonderful to spend some time talking and rejoicing in Christ.  We also had a bit of a family meeting afterward where we discussed the calendar for the next couple of weeks.  It looks like we may celebrate Easter early in order to include the whole family.

In about an hour and a half, we are going to Skype with my Aunt Ida who takes care of Great Grandma.  She is going to have Grandma on Skype, and it will be good for the kids to get to see her since who knows how long she will be around.  She's not always very lucid, so we'll see if she'll even get that we are Skyping.  Whether she does or not, it will be good to see her.

After that, I have about three hours of meetings and while I am gone, Dad and the kids are going on a drive.  It was so wonderful yesterday when it was seven o clock at night and still light outside.  Yay, spring is here!  Popcorn is starting to pop on the apricot tree, and Dad and I saw a couple of robins while we were walking together this weekend.  Katrina said she saw some weeks ago, but the point is that after a long winter, spring is here.  We wanted to have family home evening outside today, but Katrina said it was too cold.

Welp, that's just about it, Matt.  I hope that we get to hear from you tomorrow.  Have a wonderful prep day and a wonderful week sharing the gospel!

Love,
Mom

PS I attached a picture of flibbers for you,  Now do you remember them?   :)

March 17--Letter From Matt

Ok, I'm sorry this is going to be another short letter!

We are still trying to help Rocío and Carlos but we haven't been able to see them too much this last week because Carlos started helping his dad out with his sushi business.
Leticia is another person that we are teaching. She is an amazing person and has been progressing a lot in the Gospel, she's gone to church, she reads her scriptures and says her prayers, but she is living with a man. They can't get married because he's married in the U.S. and hasn't been able to get divorced. I really hope she can eventually get baptised.
We haven't been able to talk to José at all this week, because his uncle died. How sad. They had a wake for him on Saturday and the barriul this Sunday.
We haven't been able to find Berenice yet! But we are still going by her house, Maybe this week she'll be able to see us.
Our mission president has told us to contact all of the smiling families we see walking in the street. We are going to do that this week!



My studies this week have been focused on Rendir Cuentas, or in other words,  Accountability. It talks about D+C 58 which says:

 "For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
 "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
 "For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.
 "But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned."

 This Saturday, we had a stake activity, and as part of it, us missionaries were supposed to give tours of different booths and at the end of the tour, we were to ask: "Do you know anybody that could benefit from hearing the message that we have to offer?" and then take down addresses and names to visit them later.

Well, the activity was not very organized, and we missionaries only received vague instructions as to what we were supposed to d. I had read those verses that morning before leaving home, and they ran through in my mind again and again while we were in the activity. No one was commanding us, we were our own agents. If we didn't want to work, we didn't have to work. If we wanted to be successful, we had to work by our own free will, and do a lot of things without anyone to tell us to do them.
So we worked! Hahah, It was a great activity, and we received many names and addresses to visit, but it wouldn't have been that way if we wouldn't have been self motivated!

Thanks so much for your letter this week mom. I loved reading it. It's nice to hear that Missionary work is still a family focus. If we do it constantly it will change our lives for the better. How are you doing with Family History? I noticed that Katrina was reading about one of our ancestors, is that part of family history?
I love you mom, I think I'm going to buy some clay pots for you. They are large mouthed and look like huge frying pans with handls. They look like your style. I love you so much. Thanks for everything you do for me and for the family.

Tell everyone that I love them.
-Matt

March 16--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

How are you?  It was so nice to get your letter after a bit of a dry spell.  I really like reading about the people you are teaching, and I hope that they will fill the Spirit, become truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and be baptized.  Thank you, also, for sharing with us some of the things that President Velez taught you.  I can tell that he is an inspired man.  Was this last week as difficult and awesome as you hoped it would be?  I hope so.  I hope you have some time to tell us about it.  Before I forget, I deposited $100 spending money into your bank account.  Sorry it took me so long to remember to do it.

We have had a very nice week this week.  Sunday night we tried cheese fondue again and it didn't work out so well again, but we ate it, and I know what to change about it, so we will try it again sometime in the distant future.  On Monday I took Thomas to the doctor.  He has a sprained sternum and can't do push ups or bench presses for awhile.  When we got home, we had my sister Elizabeth, Daniel, and her kids over for dinner and family home evening.  We ate curry, which most of her kids ended up really liking, although I'm not so sure the two youngest were very impressed.  We also had a nice lesson given by Moroni, and we had root beer floats for dessert.  It was a very fun visit, and they only left for home a half hour later than they wanted to which isn't too bad, really. 

Wednesday after school and work, we said goodbye to Dad who left for a two-day teacher's conference.  After that, Katrina and I dropped Thomas off at gymnastics and then went to give blood.  Turns out that I am still anemic, so Katrina gave blood all by herself.  I am really proud of her for doing it with such a positive attitude.  It was very fun to spend time with her.  When I got home, there were enough leftovers, etc, that I was able to take a break from dinner making which was really nice.  That night, Thomas went swimming with the young men, and Miriam and Katrina and I had a fun girl's night watching a movie and eating ice cream.  

On Thursday, Katrina and I made chicken roll-ups for dinner.  We took some to a family in the ward whose mom was not feeling well, and we ate the rest.  It was a good dinner, and it was good to eat it with the kids. When they brought our dishes back, the family asked for the recipe.  That always makes me feel like my meal is appreciated. After that, Thomas went swimming with his friends, and Katrina and I went to see a play at the university.  It was wonderfully done, and we really enjoyed ourselves even though we got home much later than we both would have liked.  Dad had called me earlier and asked me to come up to the conference and go out to eat with him, but I couldn't because of bringing dinner in and because of the play.  

Friday at work I was busy helping the students get caught up in their classes for the mid-term.  I think everyone is fairly caught up.  I am teaching one of the students earth science, but yesterday first period, I learned that he still doesn't know how many days in a week, month, year, etc even though they spent all last year trying to get him to remember these facts, and he knew them for awhile.  Anyway, I spent the rest of the day brainstorming a way for him to make a poster that models these facts.  I don't know if it will help him remember it or not, but last week he made a model of how the earth rotates around the sun and the moon rotates around the earth, and it helped him remember facts about that stuff, so maybe a visual will help him remember these other facts, too. We'll see.

When I got home from work, Dad was home from his conference!  Yay!  We went out pretty early.  We ate early because we had both had small lunches.  After we ate, we went to a running store and bought me two pairs of shoes, so I don't have to wear shoes with holes in them to work anymore.  My old shoes cost $100 and lasted two months before they got holes, which I was very unhappy about, so I wore them around for about five months with holes in protest, ha ah.  After that, we went on a good long walk together, and I think the shoes I bought are going to work out fine which is a relief.  It was such a pleasant walk, and we had so much fun being together.  I missed Dad while he was gone, and I am very glad that the conference ended up being a good one for him.

Saturday was fun because Dad and Thomas went on an adventure together, and the girls and I went out for lunch and shopping.  After Dad and Thomas got home, Dad, Katrina, Thomas, and I all went to the Saturday session of stake conference.  I said the opening prayer, and the conference was on...missionary work!  It was very inspiring, Matt, and we are going to try harder to reach out to other people.  It sure is a hard thing to do!  After that, it was 8:00 at night and we were all starving, so we went out to eat as a family.  It was wonderful to do those things together!

Today was stake conference again, and the talks were very good.  I also had a meeting with the stake youth planning committee.  I had the 14-15 year olds.  I helped them brainstorm and plan an activity for their age group to help them prepare to date when they turn 16.  I think they chose some fun and informative activities for the youth to do.  Later, we went for a drive as a family which included stopping at Renee's to drop something off.  We talked about temples and read scriptures on the ride.  Back at home, I made dinner, Dad wrote to you, Thomas indexed, and Katrina read some of Great Grandma's life history.  Dinner was cabbage with cheese sauce, muffins, and salad.  Now Katrina is driving Thomas around so that he can ask people to sign up to help with his eagle scout project on Wednesday.  He was just going to send around a sign-up sheet in church, but it was stake conference, so he couldn't do it there.  He needs to get 5 people to bring sewing machines and lots of people to donate other stuff.  The teacher's quorum is going to help him do the project.  

I love you, Matt. We are praying for you to stay well and have the Spirit with you.  I am studying 1 Nephi chapter 8, and I know that it is important, once we partake of the fruit of the tree of life, to love others enough to share that fruit with them.  I'm sorry our efforts are so small and slow.  I hope that I (and we) can do better.

I love you, Matt.

Love,

Mom

March 11--Email From Matt

I'm writing today because yesterday we were in the hospital from 11am to 8pm. An Elder had to get a medical tube taken out of him

What is a flibber???? I have no idea. What is it?

Sounds like you guys did have an adventure! I slightly remember going to the little canon. I really don't remember it though.

Ok, about me,
Who have we been teaching this week? Well there is a matrimony that we are teaching. Carlos and Rocío. They are parents of 2 little kids, and they do sushi in their house. It's hard to explain, they have a large, open covered porch, and they make it there. Carlos started talking to the missionaries first, but afterwards, Rocío got interested too. We haven't really gotten to know them, but they seem to be great people.

We prayed to be able to find someone to teach, because there aren't many investigators here, and we both felt impressed that we had to go and talk with a lady called Berenicia that we found in the area book. We've gone to her house, but we haven't been able to talk with her, but we have talked a little bit with her kids: Raul and Ivana. Today we have an appointment with her. Let's hope that she's there.

Today we had a muti zone conference. It was most excellent. I wrote down a few things that President Velez said: "We cannot be successful if we are prideful," Later he gave us a promise: "The missionary that loves his companion as himself, will have the success that he has always wanted to have in his mission." Wow. That's a pretty darn good promise! He said a lot of really good things that I just couldn't write down, but basically he invited us all to follow verse 74 from D+C 88
"And I give unto you, who are the first laborers in this last kingdom, a commandment that you assemble yourselves together, and organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean;"
Sister Velez also gave an excellent section of the training.

This week, we are going to be working really hard! I'm loving it! It's been a hard week last week, but I think that this week is going to be a fuller, possibly more difficult week, but it's going to be amazing!
I hope that you're all doing well. I'm going to finish up right now but if I had time, I would write more.

I love you Mom, Thanks for your faithful letters! Even though sometimes I cant write!
-Matt

March 9--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

Hi!  How are you?  How was your first week back in Culiacan?  I hope it was good and that you are feeling well.  I also hope that you and Elder Toledo are getting to know each other better and are working well together.  It was fun to chat with you last week, although I like getting a nice email from you better, I think.  I am very glad, though, that you were able to chat with Jon and Miriam.  I can't wait to get your letter tomorrow.  It will be the first "real" email from you in two weeks.

Let's see...Last Sunday ended well.  We did, indeed, have a food-fest and watch the Church Educational System fireside.  Sister Linda K Burton spoke about having the Holy Ghost in our lives, and it was a really good talk.  Each person made one type of food to share.  We had guacamole made by Miriam, deviled eggs made by Katrina, and cowboy beans made by Dad.  Also we had chips, sauted mushrooms, and little smokies.  Thomas, who couldn't find enough ingredients to make 7-layer dip, helped by bringing it all downstairs.  We got set up and were mostly done eating by the time the fireside started, which was nice because we could concentrate on what Sister Burton was teaching.  It was a very nice experience.

On Monday, which is not our family home evening day anymore, Thomas went to Hayden's church's youth group and had tons of fun. The rest of us didn't do much.

Tuesday, Thomas's astronomy teacher was giving out credit for kids who would go to a planetarium show, so we all went to the planetarium with him.  We had a fun time learning about the stars, and a couple of us also got a good nap, ha ha.

Wednesday Katrina and I drove Thomas to gymnastics together and then went to Walmart to buy a cake mix to make a cake for the Relief Society birthday party on Thursday night.  Later, after Dad got home, he and I went to pick Thomas up, and then all three of us went to the laundry to pick up some materials to fix something.  We ended up staying there forever because the cable guys were there installing the new cable, and they had all these questions for Dad.  After that, he had to set up all the parental controls.  When we got home, Katrina and Thomas went to young men and young women and Dad and I went to KFC.

On Thursday, I took Thomas to the DMV and he got his driver's permit.  He begged me and begged me to let him drive home and just could not understand why I wouldn't let him, ha ha.  After we got home, I let him drive around a bit and he realized very quickly why letting him drive out in traffic would not have been a good idea.  He got better as we drove, but he was a humbler kid for the experience, ha ha.  Later, while Katrina and I were at the RS birthday party, Dad let him drive on the stick shift for awhile.

Saturday, Dad wanted to have an adventure, so the kids hauled their lazy carcasses out of bed, Dad put on his Indiana Jones hat, I stuck some snacks in a bag, and we headed off for the boonies.  It was beautiful weather and a beautiful drive.  We drove along a river, hiked up a couple of hills, and followed a wash.  Then, while Katrina and I slept in the back seats, Dad let Thomas drive for a good long time.  We also went to a little canyon that was very beautiful.  We went there once when you were younger, Matt, but I don't know if you remember it.  We really enjoyed the beautiful sight, and after that we headed for home.  We didn't get home till 8:00 pm.  Jon and Miriam were gone out to dinner, and it was nice to see them both for awhile when they got home.  We haven't seen Miriam much this week, but I have visited with Jon at Costco a couple of times.

Now it is Sunday.  Church was good, Dad's in bed, and I am writing to you.  We plan to have fondue again tonight.  Remember how I told you that the fondue pot I bought didn't work, well, I had the cast-iron base upside down.  The base looks like a three-legged stool, and I thought that it should stand like a stool with the pot sitting on the "seat" of the "stool."  Later, I looked at the picture on the box more closely, and I found out that the "seat" was supposed to be on the counter, with the legs sticking up.  The pot rests on the three legs.  This is important because the way I was doing it made two layers of cast iron for the fire to heat through--the cast iron of the pot and of the base.  The right way to do it only makes one layer of cast iron for the heat to penetrate.  Anyway, I have high hopes that it will work better this time, ha ha.

I hope that we can Skype with Cassandra, Emerson, and Lily today.  That would be awesome!  I sent Lily some clothes and a little sicker activity, but I don't think she's gotten them yet.  Cassandra posted a really cute video of Lily waving around a flibber and dancing.  Trivia question of the week:  What is a flibber????  On her Facebook page Cassandra wrote, "I didn't realize that parenthood would involve so many requests to "please speak whale."  So cute!

That's about it for the week, Matt.  I have been having sleep issues this week, Matt, but I think I have an idea of how to fix them.  The last few nights have been better.  Anyway, that has really been adversely affecting my scripture study, although I have been reading scriptures every day, just not studying them in depth.  Now, just when I have the sleeping thing possibly licked, my little notebook laptop thingy is all messed up and my documents aren't opening, etc.  This will really mess up my scripture study as well. I'm not sure what to do about it.  If I tell Dad, he'll buy me a brand spanking new expensive thingy to use, but I really want to fix this one and not spend the money.  I guess I'll take it over to the neighbor to have him look at it.  Well, long story, Matt, sorry.  I haven't been spiritually productive this week, and I really need to get my act together.  I hope that next week will be better.  I love you, Matt.  Please write and tell us about everything!!

Love,
Mom

March 2--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

Hi!  How are you?  Thanks for sending the scholarship essay to us.  I sure hate to bug you about that kind of stuff when you are busy serving the Lord.  You will be happy to know that all the applications, etc have been sent off, so we shouldn’t have to bug you again for awhile.  It was hard not to get letters from you last week, but I was glad that you got to read some from us.  I was the one who had Dad tell you not to send us letters because I figured you wouldn’t have time to do that and the scholarship essay.  I hope, however, that you did have time to read our emails.  That is what matters to me most.  We heard on the news about the capture of the drug czar, and have been praying for your safety because we figure things might be more violent where you are, now.  We have faith that you are in the Lord’s hands and He is watching over you.

This has been such a wonderful week.  We have family home evening on Tuesdays instead of Mondays now, so Tuesday we all, including Jonathan, went out to eat for Miriam’s birthday.  She didn’t really want any birthday money spent on her, so I asked her if she wanted to go to the movies or out to eat with the family instead of getting a present, and she liked that idea.  The plan was to go Thursday, but Jon wasn’t available then, so we went out for family home evening instead.  It was so wonderful to be there surrounded by the kids and Dad and laugh and talk.  I’m so glad that Jon could come; we see him so very seldom.

Wednesday Thomas went to a young men activity at the church.  Katrina missed her young women activity because it was on Tuesday night, and she needed to be with the fam.  I went to bed early, and Dad read scriptures and said prayers with the kids.  It was very nice of him, and appreciated the extra sleep.

It rained a lot on Thursday, which was kind of a surprise after many days of sun, even though the weatherman had predicted it.  I went on a field trip with my class.  We went bowling and then to the mall to eat lunch.  The field trip went well.  Later when I was back home and Dad got home, he wanted to go for a drive, so we took Katrina with us for a drive.  Dad wanted to go into a sporting goods store, and Katrina and I wanted to check out the scented candle outlet, so we split up for awhile.  Katrina and I bought a candle warmer and scented wax for Miriam’s birthday to make her room smell good.

That night, Miriam gave the family home evening lesson that she had planned for Tuesday.  She showed us all how to scan a document and save it as a pdf.  I guess Dad didn’t know how to do that and had been asking her to show him.  She also showed us some stuff on Excell.  It was very informative.  After that, we had cake and ice cream for her birthday.  It was a fun little celebration.  I hope that she liked it.

Happy Birthday, Miriam

Friday, Katrina and I got to talk to Lily on the phone.  She was in a very loud mood, ha ha.  She sang Camptown races for us with lots of “doo da’s,”  At that point, Katrina told me I could take the phone off "speaker;" she could hear just fine without it, ha ha.  Lily also treated us to an ear-splitting rendition of the chorus to “Angels We Have Heard on High.”  You know,  “Glooooooooooooooooooria!”  sung over and over with an even louder and very long-drawn-out note at the end.  It was the cutest thing ever, and we totally loved it.  I told Lily that it was nice and lound and that I liked it.  I wonder if someone was telling her to sing softer, because I heard Lily say to someone, “Grandma likes it.”

Later, Dad and I went to see the Lego movie.  We ate at the theater first, which is always fun, and then went out for frozen yogurt afterward.  It was so good, that we went out for frozen yogurt again on Saturday.  We found a place that always has one low-carb flavor and one no-carb flavor, so we like to go there sometimes when we’re in the area.

On Saturday, we decided to get some things done around the house, so we went to some stores to get the supplies we needed.  When we went to Auto Zone, Dad showed the kids how to change the tail light on the van.  The weather was cold and windy, and Dad couldn’t get the tail light off, so we bought a manual to make sure we were doing it right, and we were.  When he finally got it off, the casing broke.  The van is getting old, Matt, and the plastic broke before the pin snapped out like it was supposed to.  Anyway, we replaced the light, and also the windshield wiper blades and then headed to Home Depot to look for some clear epoxy to fix the broken light.  Dad ended up repairing it with super glue.  We’ll see how long that lasts, ha ha.  When we finally got back home, we hung a couple of pictures and then Katrina and Thomas were through.  Thomas went to Hayden’s house, Katrina exercised, etc, and I took a nap.

Later that night, Dad wanted to go buy some stuff from a guy so he and I drove up to meet him.  We made another date of it and had a delicious dinner at our favorite teryaki place.  It was fun to drive and talk.  On the way home we stopped at the candy outlet and bought sugar Easter eggs for the kid’s Easter baskets and then went for frozen yogurt like I said.

The kids have been indexing and reading family history, Matt, isn’t that nice?  I didn’t sleep well last week, so I wasn’t real productive, but I did do visiting teaching, and I took some prints of the museum paintings to the one sister I’d invited to go with me to the museum.  I have been reading Les Miserables, which I love.  It is so nice with a smart phone to have a library of books with me always in my pocket.

Today, as you know, is fast Sunday.  I am fasting for you, Matt.  I don’t have meetings on fast Sunday which is nice.  Besides, ward conferences are now over, so I will have less meetings now.  That is good since I don’t think my poor aching back could have taken much more of it, ha ha.  We just got home from church.   Dad is doing some family history, I am writing to you, Thomas is taking a nap, and I’m not sure what Katrina is doing, but she has a family home evening lesson to prepare, family history to do, and a letter to write to you, so she’s probably busy doing one of those things.  There is a church educational system devotional at 6:00 which we may watch.  I want to ask each person to make a snack to eat while we watch it.  That will also be our dinner for the evening.

Well, that’s about it.  I have had a harder time staying focused on Jesus Christ and feeling the Holy Ghost than the week before.  I am trying to figure out the reason, and I think that one reason is lack of sleep, another one is less focused prayer and scripture study, and also, I think that different experiences bring out different sides of my character, and this week’s experiences did a good job to show me where my weaknesses are.  It seems like Heavenly Father intersperses unsuccessful times with successful ones so that I stay humble, but don’t get too discouraged.  I know His hand is in my life and in your life, Matt.  I hope that you feel His guidance and spirit with you this week as you go about His work.  I love you very much and look forward to receiving your email.

Love,
Mom

Feb 24--Email From Matt

To make up for the lack of letters, here are some pictures!

Waking up with sushi

I made this little house while waiting around for a bus

Blog note:  Matt's comment on the picture of Miriam, Katrina, and Thomas in the last post: "Thomas looks really creepy!"

Feb 23--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

Hi!  Thanks for the letter you wrote last week.  I’m sorry that some sad things happened, and I hope that Guillermo isn’t doing drugs after all, Lizeth is able to get married, and that Elder Sullivan will soon restored to his previously awesome state.  I am so glad that Grandpa and Grandma sent you another package.  That really warms my heart.  I am also glad that you liked your Valentine.  Do they celebrate Valentine’s Day in Mexico?

Thank you for the picture of your zone.  I couldn’t pull it up on my phone earlier, but now I can see it because I’m on my little notebook, and may I say that you are all a very handsome group, especially the elder on the upper right!

I sure am glad that good things happened this week and not just sad ones.  I am so glad that your are testifying of the truthfulness of the atonement to your investigators, although I think that the message of the atonement and the restoration go hand in hand.  It’s awesome that you are learning so much!

Well, I don’t know if it is helping the missionaries, but I did invite my visiting teaching sister to go see a museum exhibit of sacred paintings.  We didn’t end up going, but I think inviting her was a good thing.

Francisco sounds like a nice guy and I’m glad that you had a good conversation, even if the only ones who were helped were you and your companion.  It sounds like meeting him was a blessing.
Thanks for sharing with me your question about Amulek’s conversion.  It is a good one and I hope I will remember to study it when I get to Alma 11.  I am still in first Nephi, so it will be a long time to remember!  I hope that you can teach Benjamin’s wife and the rest of his family and that they will be baptized.  Nick said that in Columbia there will be tons of baptisms, but the attendance at church doesn’t increase all that much.  Is that how it is where you are?  I hope not.

Wow, Matt, I always think that I’m going to remember everything that happens in the week, but when I sit down to write I realize that I’ve forgotten most of it.  One thing that I did this week was to try very hard remember Jesus Christ and do what he would have me do.  I taught the kids, invited a friend to an art exhibit, indexed records on Family Search, talked to loved ones on the phone, studied, shared memories,  etc.  The Lord made much more of my week than I ever could have.

As I told you in my last letter, we had Monday off.  Here is some of what I wrote about Monday in my study journal:

02 18 2014

"Thomas and Katrina went with us on an outing to the temple visitor’s center where we watched videos about prophets and saw the Christus.  As I gazed at that beautiful statue, I marveled at its perfection.  The folds and curves of Christ’s garment look as if the marble were draped about Him instead of carved from a massive piece of rock.  His form seemed soft and real instead of cold stone.  I contemplated Christ’s perfection and felt the comfort and peace in Christ.

Queene Katrine

We also visited Brian’s aging aunt, and I visited my co-worker and friend in the hospital.  Later, I was able to talk to my sweet neighbor and visiting teaching sister to further our plans to attend a museum exhibit.  It was a wonderful day, made better through the grace and guidance of God."

A Valentine for Dad

I’m glad I wrote that down, Matt, because my memories fade so quickly!  On Tuesday I grocery shopped and we had soup with left over spaghetti squash and roasted red peppers in it.  I’m not so sure it was the best soup in all the world, but it used up leftovers…kind of.  I hate it when I make a dish with leftovers and then there are leftovers of the dish I made!  If I’m not careful, it can go on and on forever.  The next night I made barbeque chicken salad to go with the leftover soup, and luckily the rest of the soup got eaten so I didn’t have to make something with the leftover soup made from the leftover vegetables, ha ha.


Thomas would not make a normal face, so he deserves this picture.

Katrina got her driver’s license on Wednesday.  She’ll probably write to you about it.  It’s kind of scary to let her drive the van.  Ususally we’ve had a kid car for the kids to drive, but Miriam drives the kid car to work everyday, so if Katrina wants to drive, she takes the van.  On Thursday she drove herself to voice lessons which was nice for me although, like I said, I was a bit nervous.  I’m sure thankful for prayer.

King Dad

I also got to talk to Lily on the phone sometime last week; I can't remember which day.  She is talking really good these days, and it is so wonderful to be able to have little conversations with her.  Emerson also posted a video of her singing "Protocolligorically Correct."  It was the cutest!

Wow, Matt, I need to at least take notes as I go along because I really can’t remember much of went on last week.  Happily, I had no church meetings, though, but I am making up for it today.  I was in meetings from 9-2 and will be having more meetings from 4:30 to 9:00.  This should be the last week of so many meetings, because ward conferences are over, now.  Hooray!

Nick is home from his mission and talked in church today.  He said that God lets us be born free and then gives us commandments to keep us free.  He also said that he hopes the we can have faith stronger than the cords of death.  He talked a lot about the atonement, and his talk was very good.  He didn’t share any experiences from his mission, though, so that was sad.

Work has been good.  I have a student who wants to graduate with his graduating class but doesn’t have enough credits, so I am working with him to help him get Earth Science credit.  We have a special needs earth science textbook, and I take lessons from that.  I brought in a globe and an atlas to help him learn about maps, and I made cards with pictures and simple words for him to match together.  This helps him remember what he learned.  Friday he took his first “test.”  We went to the teacher and he showed her how his cards matched together to explain different earth science fields and different map symbols.  He did a great job, and the teacher was impressed, so that is nice.

Dad and I went to the temple Friday, and we took Katrina and Thomas with us.  They did baptisms while we did sealings.  It was a wonderful experience.  Afterward, we took the kids to eat in the temple cafeteria.  After we dropped them off at home, Dad and I went out for awhile and then came back to watch a movie and eat….ice cream.  Saturday I got to see Jon at Costco, help Thomas do some indexing, and watch a movie with the kids.  That night we read a conference talk and 2 Nephi chapter 12.  It was a nice day.

Well, Matt, I know it’s short, but I also know you need to take some time to do some scholarship stuff, so I guess it will be good enough.

Feb 17--Emails From Matt

Re: A Valentine for You

Wow, That was really nice! Thanks! I printed it off and I'm going to save it! :)

****

Hey, Thanks for your letter! I really enjoyed both of them. Hmmmmmm...... I didn't write too much last week because we had a meeting on Monday and it took away all of our p-day so when we did get to write it was a very short letter. I'm so glad that you were able to have a happy Valentine's day. I actually got a package last week, so I'm going to count it as my Valentine's package from you guys! (It was from Grandma and Grandpa, and I'm also very much counting it as theirs too :]) that along with your email has made this a very good Valentine's this year. Thank you so much.
I never really got to thank you too much for your email that you sent a week ago. It was absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much mom.

Our Zone

As for this week:

A few sad things happened:
Guillermo disappeared, we are 99.9% sure that he's back into using drugs.
We found out that Lizeth isn't married, which is not good but at the same time it's good because we found out what she really needed to hear which is awesomely great!
Elder Jara had to go home (He is a missionary in our zone) because of medical reasons and Elder Juarez went to his area to be companions with the missionary that Elder Jara left behind. Elder Jara has only been in the mission for about 3 months and so it's sad to see him go. The good news is that he does have a 6 month period of time to fix his medical problems and get back into the field which is good.
My companion is doing good which is a pretty sad thing, because normally he is unbelievably awesome. (That's a joke, Elder Sullivan wanted me to add that in there)
And that's about it for this week.

Good things:
We started testifying of the Atonement and not of the truthfulness of the church. Why, you may ask, did we do that? Because the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the only thing that brings salvation unto the children of God,"Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise." 2 Nephi 2:8

Because we have started doing that, I feel like we are really learning more about the Atonement and the Sacrament. Both are vital things that very member needs to understand. I'm very thankful that the Lord is hastening His work.

Speaking of which: HELP THE MISSIONARIES! YOU CAN DO SOMETHING!!!!! YOU COULD HELP SOMEONE! SOMEONE OUT THERE NEEDS YOU! :) We love you, we trust in you. Help the Lord in His work, and He will give you your recompense.

We had the opportunity to talk to an atheist man yesterday named Fransisco. We talked for a solid 3 hours with him about the existence of God and what happens after we leave this life. My companion, after our discussion, made an interesting connection: Almost all of Fransisco's doubts of the existence of God where based on a miss-conception of free agency and what it does to help us in our lives. It is important to have a firm understanding of the basic principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We weren't able to help Fransisco (mostly because he didn't want our help) but we were helped quite a bit. We were able to define our beliefs in our minds and solidify our testimonies. We also found out a very important fact: Not all atheists are unpleasant people. Fransisco is one of the nicest people I've met recently. It is very important to be polite no matter what we or other people believe. I say that because we believe that the first two greatest commandments are these: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. and: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. couple that with 3 nephi 11:29-30 and.......... yeah. Let's be nicer. I need to work on that a lot still! :)


In my scripture study: Well I was reading Alma 11 and I was wondering how Amulek became converted so much to be able to testify as much and as powerfully as he did. I looked at the specifics of the chapter and I decided on a few major things that he did. I don't have them here with me, nor is my study going to seem very life changing for anyone else, but I really liked it! :)


Because there are only 2 missionaries in La Cruz and not 4, we are now teaching a family that previously the other Elders were teaching. The Dad's name is Benjamin and he has 4 kids: Erik Daniel Linda and Jimena. They are a wonderful family, all of them listen to us except for Benjamin's wife. It's vital for the progression of this family the Benjamin's wife starts listening to us so that is going to be one of our goals this week. I'm sure that this week is going to be hard, stressful and fun.


I love you all and I hope that you are all having a wonderful week!

-Matt

Feb 17--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

Hi!  I hope you liked your Valentine from me.  How are you doing?  Are you still in a trio?  How is that going?  Thanks for writing a little to us last week even though you couldn’t write much.  It was still nice to hear from you and know that you are okay.

This has been a good week.  Monday after work, Dad and I drove in the washing machine together as planned.  It was nice to be together and visit.  After dinner we went to the play at the high school for family home evening because Katrina had to be an usher before the play.  The play was “Emma” and the students did a good job—we really enjoyed it. 

Tuesday I grocery shopped and we had asparagus soup and muffins for dinner.  Besides that I can’t really remember what we did.  It must not have been all that spectacular.  Wednesday Katrina and I dropped Thomas off at gymnastics and then went to parent teacher conference.  It took us an hour to see all their teachers, then we had to go pick up Thomas, and then we went back to talk to their seminary teachers.  I had been coming down with a cold, and by the time it was all over, I was very sick.  By the time we got home from all of that, Dad was home.  He had me go to “bed,” or should I say “couch” and Katrina made tacos for the family for dinner which was real nice of her.  I felt awful. 

Thursday I was supposed to give blood, but I was still sick, so I didn’t go.  They called me to see where I was.  They like my blood.  Last time I went to give blood, they sent me home because I was anemic, and then the next week they called and begged me to eat spinach, drink o.j. and try again.  Too bad it didn’t work out the second time.  I spent the evening on the couch again and Dad and the kids brought dinner home from Wendy’s.   While I sat on the couch I made paper lace gift bags and cards to give for Valentine’s Day.

Friday was awesome!!!  My co workers loved their Valentine’s goodies, and I had so much fun passing out Valentines to my students.  By the time school was over, I was laden down with cookies and chocolate from the students, the rest of the stuff, like the donuts, I turned down or gave away.  I was supposed to pick up Thomas and Katrina from school and then hurry to meet Miriam and Dad at Miriam’s work, and go to see Les Miserables from there.  But when I got to the car, Jon called, and I was very excited because I had Valentine’s stuff for him and thought I was going to have to drop it off at his house without ever seeing him, but he said he was at the house, and so I said I’d come home to see him.  I picked up the kids and then went home.  It was so nice to see Jon and give him a hug because I haven’t seen him since my birthday.  He surprised me with chocolate covered strawberries from Costco which were so delicious and fun to eat, especially because I had been surrounded by sugar all day and had not eaten any of it.  It was very fun to give Jon his Valentine’s stuff and visit with him while we scarfed the gifts we’d given to each other.  Miriam met us at home instead, and I gave her and the other kids their Valentines, too, and then Dad came home and I gave him his Valentines, and it was so fun, especially visiting with Jon.  For Valentine’s I made everyone a special card and gave them chocolate.  I also gave the girls roses, Thomas and Jon balloons, and Dad filet mignon.  

After Jon left, we loaded up and headed for Les Miserables which was Dad’s Valentine’s gift to us all.  Matt, I cannot begin to describe how amazing it was.  It was so wonderful.  The cast was amazing, the singing was beautiful, and the staging was perfect, the performance was family-friendly.  We loved every bit of it.  During intermission, we got a call from Cassandra.  They called to thank me for the Valentines, and I was so happy they’d gotten them on Friday, because I didn’t end up sending them till Wednesday.  I had made a card for Cassandra and Emerson and also a card for Lily with a little girl in a pretty dress on the front, and inside I enclosed four more cut-outs of girls in different pretty dresses.  Plus, Dad had a necklace for Lily, so I put it on a heart for her to find inside as well.  She loved it all, and it was so fun to talk to her about it and to tell her and her parents “Happy Valentine’s Day.”  I’m so glad they liked the cards it was a wonderful, wonderful day.

For all of that, Saturday was even more wonderful, Matt, because that morning during scripture study, I saw my way so clearly and knew that I needed to rely on the Lord all day to direct my actions.  The whole day, I tried to ask myself what Jesus would do, I prayed and sought the guidance of the Holy Spirit at every turn, and the day was amazing.  I talked to loved ones, visited a lonely friend, and other friends, too.  As I was visiting with one friend, I had a feeling of perfect peace come over me, and I knew without a doubt that I was doing at that moment exactly what Heavenly Father wanted me to do.  The day was so wonderful, every bit of it.

Today, I once again tried to seek the Lord’s will and guidance throughout the day.  After church I got to talk to more family members, Skype with Cassandra, Emerson and Lily, eat with the family, and do family history with Dad and the kids.  Now we are going to have family home evening on keeping the Sabbath day holy, a subject I’ve felt inspired to choose. 

Well, now my lesson is over, and I think it went well.  Most of us are sitting around the table eating milk and cookies.  It has been a wonderful day.  Oh!  Do you know what makes it even more wonderful???  There’s no work or school tomorrow because it’s president’s day.  How awesome is that? 

I love you, Matt.  Have a great day and a great week and remember how much we love you and are praying for you. 

Love,

Mom  

Feb 17--A Valentine for Matt

Dear Elder,

Happy Valentine’s Day!   I love you!  Thanks so much for being my son.  Here are some of the things I love about you from A-Z…

Active—Your active mind and body help you be an effective missionary.

Bold—You have learned to declare the word of the Lord with boldness.

Compassionate—Your compassion for others emulates the pure love of Christ, and they can feel His love through you.

Diligent—even during hard times, you are diligent and wait upon the blessings of the Lord.

Earnest—As you teach the gospel, I know you do it with a deep earnestness that brings the spirit to the hearts of the people you teach.

Faith—You have a deep and abiding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ which enables you to teach with power from on high.

Good—Matt, your goodness radiates from you and inspires me and the people you teach.

Humble—You work with an eye single to God’s glory and not your own.

Inspired—Matt, you have written inspired words to me, and I know that the Holy Ghost works through you to inspire others.

Knowledgeable—You know the scriptures, and you use them to bless your life and the lives of others.  You also know many things because of the experiences you have had in your life.  You have learned from them, and this knowledge gives you wisdom.

Leader—Because of your obedience and understanding, you have been able to lead others to Christ

Meek--Matt, you realize that you don’t have all the answers which makes you teachable.  You will go far in life because of your meekness.

Noble—Matt, you are a noble priesthood holder, missionary, and son of God.

Optimistic—Matt, you keep a good and cheerful attitude which comes from faith in Jesus Christ assuring you that everything will work out.

Patient—Matt, you bear your trials with patience, knowing that others have suffered more than you for what is right

Quiet—You know how to be quiet and listen to others speak to listen for the Spirit’s voice.  Your quiet attitude makes it possible for the still, small voice to speak through you.

Reverent—You keep sacred things sacred, and your love for Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ shows in your reverent speech and attitude.

Selfless—Matt, everyday, you forget yourself and go to work serving others.

Truthful—You are honest about your mistakes and your shortcomings, and you repent of them and forge ahead.

Understanding—Matt, you have a deep understanding of the Gospel and of the things that God wants you to do.  You don’t condemn sin in others, but you try to understand others and their challenges and to inspire them to overcome them

Valiant—You are valiant in your testimony of Jesus Christ.

Wise—You don’t just “know,” you “do.”  This give you wisdom and helps you be like our Savior.

Example—You are following the Savior in being a light to the world in bringing others to Him.

Young—Matt, you are still young.  You have a lifetime ahead of you.  The things that you are doing now, in your youth, will bless you and your children throughout the years to come.

Zion—You are helping in the great work of gathering Zion, the pure in heart, to the gospel and preparing the way of the lord.

These are some of the things I love about you, but this is not why I love you.  I love you because you are my son, and you will be forever and ever.

I love you!

Love,

Mom

Feb 11--Email From Matt

Hey mom, thanks for both of your letters, they are truly inspiring. I got to read them yesterday in the bus ride back to La Cruz. I was in a meeting all yesterday, and we barely were able to squeeze in time to write... Elder Sullivan says hi. As of last week on Monday I've been in a trio with Elder Sullivan, and Elder Juarez.  Elder Juarez is from Puerto Rico.
This week has just been a blur, I'm so sorry........... there are soooooooo many things that we need to do. There are so many people that we must talk to, we have to be better than ever. I know that we can do our part with the help of the Lord.
Well, I've never really been able to write very good emails but mom, those last emails that you sent me were very important to me.  Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to write them.
well that's that. We didn't really have enough time to write.

Feb 10--Dear Elder

Hi, Matt, that was weird.  I was writing a letter to you and had gotten quite a bit written, when the email I was writing disappeared.  I have no idea where it went, and it's not in my drafts or my sent mail, so now I have to start over which really stinks.  I started by basically saying that I am happy for all of the progress that your investigators are making and I hope to hear more about them this week.

I also said thank you for your encouraging words to me and for helping me to look back at how I gained a testimony.  It is a very strengthening thing to do.  Also, I said that reading with my students does remind me of reading with you and I have sweet memories of reading "My Father's Dragon" together.  I want you to know that I have learned more patience since then, ha ha.

I think its really cool that you are studying obedience and keeping track of your obedience.  I'm looking forward to hearing more about that in your letter.  I have been studying about obedience, too, in 1 Ne. 3 and 4.  Here is a link to my study notes if you have time to and are allowed to and want to read them.

Well, today is Sunday and I went to our ward and another ward.  I also had a meeting this evening.  Still, we were able to eat a meal together as a family and to have family home evening.  Dad did family home evening, and he read an article from Brigham Young University that talked about ridding our lives of destructive behaviors and cycles.  I was very informative, I thought.  Tomorrow he and I are going to drive to get a washing machine fixed for the laundry.  It will be fun to spend a couple of hours driving there together.

A month or so ago I signed up for a few city yard sales on Facebook, and someone was selling a brand-new-never-been-used fondue pot for eight dollars.  I have no idea why I messaged them and asked them if they’d take five, because then I had to go buy it when they said “yes” which was kind of a pain.  Anyway, I thought it would be a cheap aluminum thingy, but the stand and pot were cast iron.  That was the good news.  The bad news is that I also thought it would be heated electrically, but it wasn’t.  It was heated with a little stove that requires denatured alcohol that you slip under the stand, and it heats the pot.  So I bought the alcohol, another pain, and the cheese, and found out how to make fondue without wine, and yesterday I made it.  The fondue was delicious.  The “old world” recipe enclosed with the pot was just the ticket, and using lemon instead of wine worked wonderfully.  The only thing that didn’t work wonderfully was the burner under the pot.  It never got the pot hot enough to melt the cheese all the way, and I ended up making and serving it on the stove so everyone had to crowd around it.  It was disappointing and I don’t think I’ll make it again unless I can get the pot to work.

Speaking of doing lots of driving, yesterday we went to a family history expo.  Miriam and Katrina went with us, but Thomas didn’t because he didn’t want to miss his last basketball game of the season.  We got to hear Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speak as well as others.  It was a wonderful event and I’m really glad we went.  Now if we could just DO family history!  It is less of a mystery to me now, happily.  Did you know that the Church has struck a deal with ancestry.com and other genealogy websites, and within a year, those websites will be free to use along with familysearch.org which is already free, of course.  The lds family day at the expo was also free.  (Blog Note:  We got tote bags and backpacks and lanyards.  The church had given each participant all that free of charge.  After the conference, I couldn't throw it all away.  I'm hoping it will somehow come in handy for our family reunion this summer.)  The church is so awesome!

Well, last week was a very busy week, Matt.  Dad was sick, for one thing.  I also had meetings Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights.  Then, because it was the beginning of the month, I also did my monthly inventory and shopping trips to keep the house stocked with three month’s supply of food and non-food items.  Besides all that, Thomas and I figured out what eagle scout project he wanted to do, filled out the proposal, and got him before the board Thursday night to present it.  They loved the idea, so he is now ready to start the project.  It all made for a very busy week, though I did bow out of the Thursday meeting because of Dad being sick and Thomas presenting his project.  

For his eagle project, Thomas plans to help out the elementary school's P.E. department by making bean bags, repairing the parachute, and cleaning equipment.  His friend Hayden’s mom is the P.E. teacher, so he worked it all out with her.  He wants to make the bean bags out of old donated jeans and donated beans and other grains.  He wants to get young men, young women, and moms together in the church with sewing machines and have the moms teach the kids to sew the bags, and the kids to cut out the bags, sew, and clean the equipment.  He wants to sew the parachute himself.  Anyway, that’s the plan.

Well, besides going out with Dad on Friday, there’s not much else to say about the week.  I look forward to this week.  Tonight we are going to the school play because Katrina helped with some of the scenery and also sewed cravats for the men’s costumes.  Also, she has to be an usher tonight, so we are all going in order to be with her on family home evening night and to see the play.

I really hope that this week we can do some family history work although I still wish I had more of a handle on it so that I could help the kids when they get stuck so that they won’t get discouraged.  I also need to pray about where to start.  It really is a daunting task, to me, Matt, even with all the training we got on Saturday.  I just need to do it!

Also this week, we all look forward to Friday, Valentines Day.  After school, we are going to see “Les Miserables” performed at a community theater.  In preparation for the event, I have not listened to any music from the play so that, first, I could get the memory of the movie out of my head, and, second, I can appreciate the beautiful music even more, having not heard it for awhile.  Dad and I saw the Broadway play five or so years ago, and we are very excited to take the kids.

Well, Matt, I love you!  Thanks for taking the time to write us.  Don’t worry if you cant write much, we understand.  I am so glad that you are so happy doing the Lord’s work, and that you are working with so many wonderful people.  Tell Elder Sullivan “Hi” for us, and your investigators, too, if you want.  You are in our thoughts and prayers.  Have a wonderful week!


Love,
Mom

Feb 8--Dear Elder: My Testimony

Dear Elder,

 I loved your last letter!  In it you asked me two questions that I want to answer, and then I will answer the rest of your letter tomorrow.

The questions were, "How did you gain your testimony of the gospel?" and "How has it grown to what it is today?"  It is very important to me that you know some of the many experiences I have had that give me the firm assurance that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and that President Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today.

First, Matt, I have always had a deep desire to do what is right.  I never doubted that Heavenly Father and Jesus live and that I wanted to please them.  My parents and siblings, especially my big brother, were good examples to me of choosing the right, and I wanted to be like them. I found very quickly that I wasn't very good at choosing the right, but I cheerfully forged ahead, being naughty at times, but trying for the most part to be good.

 When I was a very little girl, I sat in Primary and sang songs that filled me with the Holy Ghost and firmly cemented the desire to do what is right deep into my heart.  Two of the songs we sang were particularly moving to me. One was "Dare to do Right," and the Other was "Stand for the Right."

Dare to do Right

Dare to do right.

Dare to be true.

You have a work that no other can do!

Do it so bravely, so kindly, so well,

Angels will hasten the story to tell."

I didn’t know much about the Holy Ghost, but the music and words stirred my heart.  It’s hard to explain, but they filled me with longing and I knew that the words of the song were true.  I knew when I sang it that I did have a work that no other could do, and that I must always dare to be true to what is right, kindly, bravely, no matter what.  The beautiful music and words of "Stand for the Right" had a similar effect on me and filled me with the determination to follow God’s prophet and stand for the right.

Stand for the Right

Our prophet has some words for you,

And these are the words: Be true, be true!

At work or at play, in darkness or light,

Be true, be true,

And stand for the right.

As I type the words to these songs here, I imagine them with the music, and my mind goes back to those days and I can still feel that longing, a longing to be with God, and a determination to always be true to Him.

When I was fourteen, I began taking seminary, of course.  That first year, we studied the Book of Mormon.  I will never forget the feeling I had as we studied Lehi's vision of the tree of life, Matt.  I felt very strongly the desire to reach that tree and partake of it's fruit. I knew that if I held fast to the iron rod which represented the word of God, I would be able to stay true, gain eternal life, and have a fullness of joy.  I reasoned that reading the scriptures daily was a very small and simple commandment and that even I could do that.  I determined then to study the scriptures daily, especially the Book of Mormon.  That determination has made all the difference in my life.

I read the Book of Mormon faithfully after that, and although I can't say I never missed a day, I hardly ever did.  Since then I estimate that I have read the Book of Mormon more than 30 times, at least once a year since the age of fourteen.

As you know, Matt, at the end of the Book of Mormon, In Moroni chapter 10, verses 4 and 5, Moroni makes a promise to whoever reads the Book of Mormon.

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."--Moroni 10:4-5

I didn't have much understanding or experience with the Holy Ghost, or so I thought.  I wish I could go back in time and remind my younger self of the experiences I have related to you so far, Matt, and say to the younger me, "That was the Holy Ghost!  You have felt the Spirit of the Lord!" 

Because of my supposed inexperience with the Holy Ghost, Moroni's promise caused me a bit of consternation, and I would almost dread arriving at the end of the Book of Mormon, knowing I would need to obey Moroni’s exhortation to ask of God.  Still, I trusted in the Lord's promises, and always got on my knees to pray for a special witness when I got to that point.  I remember crying at times when that witness didn't come, I also remember at other times assuring the Lord in prayer that I would wait upon Him and His timing.  I must have read the Book of Mormon at least 5 times without receiving the witness I sought. This didn't stop me from reading, Matt, because, even at that time, I believed and was sure that the Book of Mormon contained the words of Christ, the Son of the Living God, and I felt the truthfulness of its words every time I read.  Still, I hoped that some day I would receive further witness that it was true.

When I was about 21 years old, One-year-old Cassandra and I were living at Grandpa and Grandma's house because Dad was in basic training for the US Army.  One day, I finished reading the Book of Mormon again.  It was a fast Sunday, Matt, and after church, while I was still fasting, and had been for nearly 24 hours, I left Cassandra with her aunts and uncles and went in to my room alone to finish the book and to pray.  As I knelt in prayer and fervently asked my Heavenly Father the question, "Is the Book of Mormon true?" I was overcome with the Holy Ghost.  It flooded me with an overwhelming feeling of joy that lifted me.  That's the best way I can describe it, Matt, I was lifted with joy, and my heart sang with the words, "Yes, It is true!"  I have felt joy since, but never like that, and I knew what it was to taste of the fruit that is sweet above all that is sweet and pure above all that is pure, and I knew that the Book of Mormon is true.  Heavenly Father took a long time to answer my prayers, but He sent me a witness when I needed it most—when I was only just embarking on my life’s mission which is to be a mother in Zion and raise an eternal family.

Matt, after I received a sure witness, and even before that, the Book of Mormon strengthened my testimony of Jesus Christ, and I know without a doubt that it is a testament of Him.  As you may know, over half of its verses speak directly of Christ, and it contains the fullness of His gospel.  It stands with The Holy Bible as an undeniable witness to me that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  I know He lives!  I rely daily on His Grace and His atoning sacrifice.  It gives me comfort in my weaknesses and it assures me that if we stay faithful, we will one day see His face, hear His voice, and live with Him forever.

Matt, because I know these things, and because of further witness from the Holy Ghost from time to time, I also know that we are children of God, that He answers our prayers, and that He has a work for us to do.  I know that Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and restored to him the gospel of Jesus Christ from ancient times.  I know that we have a prophet and apostles with us on the earth to day who speak for God.  I know God's promises are true, His commandments are just, and that if we stay faithful, you, your siblings, your Dad and I can be together forever "to go no more out, but to dwell with God eternally in the heavens."

Matt, I am very sorry for your sake, and for your siblings' sake, that knowing all these truths hasn't made me perfect.  I shutter to think where my mistakes and sins would have taken us if not for the power of repentance through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and His power to heal, to save, and to redeem.  I know that staying faithful to Jesus Christ and His holy word has made all the difference in our family.

 "Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man [or family] of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked" --Helaman 3:29

I hope that somewhat answers your question, Matt.  As to how my testimony has grown into what it is today, I refer you to Alma 32, which likens the word of God to a seed that, if it is planted by faith and nourished by patience and diligence, springs up into a tree of everlasting life.  Now I need to remain faithful, diligent, and patient till the end of my days.

"And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." --2 Ne. 31:19-20.