Nativity at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
Hope your Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy
Thanksgiving table ready to go! So excited for everyone to arrive.
My darling shelf! One of my favorite things.
I love decorating!
We didn’t have room for a “Gratitude Tree” so we just had a Gratitude branch. We wrote on each leaf something we are thankful for and hung it on the branch. It has been a wonderful reminder of all the things we are thankful for.
I am so thankful for Thanksgiving! I am grateful for so much. Heavenly Father, Jesus, family, gospel, friends, home, food, clothes, cars, indoor plumbing, cell phones, email, mail, my sweetheart, grandbaby, time to relax, all of you, etc.
Thank you Father for all blessings given.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Love, Joy
Dear family,
I am sending Sister Q. home today. 🙁 It has been a pretty hard day. I found out this morning that I am getting Sister A. for my new companion. She seems pretty cool. I only met her once before, at the Sisters conference, but she seems alright. But she won’t be coming into my area until Wednesday, so I will have to be companions with a Sister H. (an english sister serving in the Arlington Singles Ward) until then, once Sister Q. leaves today. I’m not gonna lie…I kind of want to trade her places. I miss all of you. And I am having a lot of stress. 🙁 But I will be okay.
Mommy:
1- Yes, I have been getting your letters. 🙂 They are almost the only letters I get in the week. 3- My spanish is doing good. A lot better than it was. I can get by with what I know, but I still have a lot to learn.
Monday: We had a really cool lesson with this lady M__. Her husband is a member, but he is inactive right now. We were teaching her about the Plan of Salvation, and she really liked it, and liked how we had pictures for each of the parts. She also asked us some really good questions, which means she is thinking about what we are teaching, and is getting something from it. Also, I hurt my ankle when we were playing ultimate at the church, but it is okay.
Tuesday: We helped one of the members set up her Skype account so…that means that I might be able to skype you at Chirstmas time!!! We also got to see the new baby of one of our members! He was born last week, and he has a lot of hair. He was really cute.
Wednesday: Nothing really happened.
Thursday: Yesterday, I showed the Elders in my zone a picture of my bottle cap collection. (I’m not sure if I ever told you, but I have been collecting caps for a while here on the mission) When I showed them the first time yesterday, they were like, “Oh that’s cool, I guess.” Then one of the Elders (Elder J.) asked to see the picture again at dinner today. As he was looking at it, it was like, “This picture is a lot more impressive to me today than it was yesterday.” 🙂 Apparently he started collecting caps after he saw the picture of all mine, and it was really hard for him to find them. Also, as we were getting ready to leave from dinner today, a bird flew in the member’s house! We told him we would try to get it, but he said, “No, it’s okay. It’s probably just cold.” Ha ha! It was pretty crazy.
Friday: Sister Q. had her exit interview with President, so I stayed in Arlington with Sister H. for a few hours while they had their district meeting. It was a really funny district meeting too. Their elders are pretty funny. One of them was talking about how prayer works to get our investigators to church. Then he told us a story about how he prayed with a less active member once, so that she would be able to come to church. This is what he said happened: “We prayed to help the situation, and CPS came and took away her kids. And then she started coming to church.” The point of the story is that you need to be specific in your prayers, otherwise, they will just get answered in some way that is probably not the way you wanted. Also, we got fed by our investigator, M_., that we taught on Monday. She is a manager for a restaurant called M.’s, and it was delicious. 🙂 🙂
Saturday: We had a volleyball tournament in the morning. Our bishop told us if we could get investigators to come, we could go and play, so we called a bunch of people, and they said they would come. But then they didn’t. But we were there anyway, and they needed female players, so Sister Q. and I ended up playing. And our ward won the tournament. Although, most of our members didn’t really know the rules, so they were playing a little dirty, and I didn’t really feel good about the fact that we won. I feel like the people we were playing against should have.
Sunday: Everyone was telling Sister Q. goodbye. She cried a couple times, because she is sad she is leaving. It’s bittersweet for her. She is happy to go home and see her family, but she is sad to leave all the cool people we have met.
Dad: Hey, how are you doing? I hope things are great with you. Ha ha. Wow, that was a crazy story about Emily and her friend. Ha ha. I can’t believe it has already snowed there in Utah. Well, actually I can, because it is Utah, but it is still pretty okay here. Today it is a little colder, but we still haven’t had any snow. This whole week it was like in the 70s or 80s, which is basically perfect. But that is really all. I hope your week is great. Bye. 🙂
Riley: Hey dude! How’s life? I hope things are good. That’s cool you are starting to build another car. Whatever happened to you other car though? I’m glad you are staying busy though. Hey, did you ever find out what is going on in the singles ward? How many people are still single? Ha ha. Not that I’m thinking about that or anything. 😉 Ha ha. But that’s basically all. Tell Janet I say hi back, and that I will try to write her a letter at some point. 🙂 Bye.
Emmy: Ha ha, um…I think you already used that note to self. Ha ha ha! You’re hilarious though! I keep telling Sister Q. about how we used to be talking and you would say, “Okay, you’re right, you’re right” just so I would stop trying to convince you that I was right. Ha ha ha. That was pretty funny. Anyway, write me a letter soon. Love ya. Bye.
“So long farewell, aufweidersen au due. Au due au due to you and you and you.” (I don’t think that is how it is spelled, but oh well)
I love you all!
Love, Kelsey XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Mama,
this week has been a hard week elder r. got sick and had to stay in for one and a half days. it was bad i’m not good with sitting very much anymore. anyway we were supposed to have a baptism but he bunked it. but it will be soon. i hope all works out with the dog.
1-By the way, have you both been getting my letters? 1. yep all of them.
2-Alex, we mailed your Christmas package on November 1st. Let us know when it comes, please. 2. i have it thanks.
love, Elder Flexy
From Brett: The weeks just fly. I had to teach about the millennium from gospel principles, and I was concerned that I couldn’t use up all the time. But it worked out that I finished just as the second bell rang. It was just right. In other news Your sister went up to Logan to do baptisms for the dead with her friend Lexie and it snowed a foot while they were there. So Em called me and I took your mom and the truck to Logan. We were supposed to meet them at the McDonald’s but when we got there they were nowhere to be found. Your Ma called Em and she had missed the turnoff to Ogden so she ended up in Hyrum at that McDonald’s. I hate to think how far she would have gone if there wasn’t one in Hyrum. I drove Emily’s car and the girls went with Joy in my truck and we all lived happily ever after. I hope all is well I have to go Love you both, love Dad.
Baba,
I’m glad your still teaching often it helps you keep your knowledge of the doctrine. wow thats a good story at least she didnt slide in the snow or anything but thats good. well all is well here and we lived happily ever after.
Love Elder Flexy
From Riley: ok so i don’t know where to start…… so i came across a sweet old car that i am going to start building…… it is a 1973 vw fastback. its kinda crazy and kinda ghetto. BUT! i have faith that i might be able to bring it back to its former glory some how! nonetheless i owe kelsey a letter in the next few days and alex you are in large amounts of trouble as you have not written me a letter! brooo dogg you are slacking ! well life is great. janet says hi! (she is my girlfriend and is awesome) so yeah she will be around when you both come home so you can meet her! she is the bomb.com! well love you both! bee good! love rdogizzle!
Riley
well my brother how many letters or emails have you written sense i left!….. my point exactly! but i’ll write soon i’m just too busy and tired to write. Love you man
Love Elder Flexy
From Emily: Dear my cute broth and sist! …..Note to self: Don’t shorten the words brother and sister! Anyway how are you guys doing?? I’m doing alright. Just plugging along but yeah life is still crazy busy! Today at church was so amazing and yeah well sorry I gotta run off to bed cause I’m pooped! But I love you guys! And I’ll write you letters! 🙂 I love you peace and blessings! Be good and stay strong. Love, Em
M
good to know your all right, i am too. love you.
Love Elder Flexy
“Let us not treat lightly the great things we have received from the hand of the Lord! His word is one of the most valuable gifts He has given us. I urge you to recommit yourselves to a study of the scriptures. Immerse yourselves in them daily so you will have the power of the Spirit to attend you in your callings. Read them in your families and teach your children to love and treasure them.” -Ezra Taft Benson
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“The Holy Bible is a miracle! It is a miracle that the Bible’s 4,000 years of sacred and secular history were recorded and preserved by the prophets, apostles, and inspired churchmen.
It is a miracle that we have the Bible’s powerful doctrine, principles, poetry, and stories. But most of all, it is a wonderful miracle that we have the account of the life, ministry, and words of Jesus, which was protected through the Dark Ages and through the conflicts of countless generations so that we may have it today.
It is a miracle that the Bible literally contains within its pages the converting, healing Spirit of Christ, which has turned men’s hearts for centuries, leading them to pray, to choose right paths, and to search to find their Savior.
The Holy Bible is well named. It is holy because it teaches truth, holy because it warms us with its spirit, holy because it teaches us to know God and understand His dealings with men, and holy because it testifies throughout its pages of the Lord Jesus Christ.” -M Russell Ballard
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What a blessing to have the scriptures in our lives. So many have sacrificed so that we can have the Bible. To see an excellent documentary about the coming forth of the King James- Bible, go here!
Hope your Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy
My Grandpa is the second from the right. Very handsome!
Family stories always contribute to how we feel about those we love, it gives us a sense of appreciation and love for what they went through in their life and how our life seems better for it. My dad, thank goodness, has always been a storyteller. He has not only told the stories, but he has written them down. Here are a couple of stories my dad wrote about his dad, my grandpa. I never knew him. He died when I was just five years old, he lived far away, so I never had the opportunity to get to meet him. I feel like I know him though, because of my dad. Here are a few of my dad’s stories:
“I had some good memories of Dad and of some of the sacrifices he made for his family. I can remember as a little boy in the late 1930s the effects of the depression were still very much apparent. They were hard times and Dad just made enough money each day to take care of the expenses of the day. There was never any extra and so each night after work Dad brought home the groceries that Mom made supper with. In the wintertime it was especially hard. Dad would have to walk home from work at the cleaning and tailor shop where he worked and stop on the way to get a few groceries. We lived about a mile west of town along highway 10. I remember as a child along with some of my brothers and sisters scratching the ice off the inside of the window so we could see out and then pressing our noses against the window to see if we could see Dad coming down the highway. Minnesota winters were very cold and when Dad walked in the door he was quite a sight. The cold wind would cause his eyes to water, but because he had groceries in his hands he couldn’t wipe the tears from his eyes and so they would form icicles on his eyelashes. His nose too would run and icicles would also hang from his nose. Mom would have her wood stove all fired up to cook one of her wonderful suppers out of the simplest fair. They were difficult times but I have a lot of fond memories from them.
Dad had given me a little hatchet so I could chop wood for the wood burning stoves while he used his big axe. One day my hatchet came up missing. A few weeks later I was at my friends home (Jimmy Hanks) playing, and I saw my hatchet. I picked it up and was going to take it home and we scuffled over it so I pushed him down and headed for home. He was crying and yelled after me saying “I stoled if from you and you can’t steal it back.” I can remember that as if it were yesterday. We were only about four to five years old at the time. I have often wondered what ever became of him.
I can also remember when a big rooster wandering around the yard decided that I must have been a threat to him and came after me and knocked me down and was on top of me ready to peck my eyes out. Just before he could, Dad came to my rescue and grabbed that big old rooster and threw him straight up into the air. As a little boy I remember laying on the ground crying and scared one minute and the next minute seeing that big old rooster flying through the air. Dad saved me.”
Thank you, Daddy, for recording stories for us to enjoy!
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy
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