6/24/18 - Family Letter to Emma
Sweet Emma,
Today, on Eve's social media,
you were tagged in a picture eating dinner with a cute family. You look
very happy and healthy. You were positively glowing...as beautiful as
ever! How are your mission goals? Are people progressing the way you
had hoped? Are you getting along with Sister Ribiero? I hope that you
have found a way to serve your companion every day. I have been
checking facebook for friend requests from Brazil but nothing so far. I
believe they have been able to find Eve. If you tell me who I am
suppose to find, I will try to send them a friend request.
Some news from home: Sister
Wendi Bawden passed away this week. Her cancer came back really
strong. Last Sunday they announced that she had a month to live. She
only lasted 3 days. Her funeral will be on Friday. Brother Bawden
seems to be handling it really well, their boys- not so well. I'm sure
his time to grieve will be coming. Do you remember Rylee Bowers? Last
week she had a baby boy who died in the womb because his umbilical cord
was wrapped around his neck. So sad! Emma Tolman is engaged to that
older guy (sorry I don't remember his name but I think you know him).
Abby Hollinger got her mission call to the Philippines, speaking a
language I cannot spell. Do you hear much from your friends? It's sure
fun to think of all of you, all over the world, working to build the
kingdom.
Dad has been loving watching to
World Cup. I've been watching some of it too. It is cool to think
that soccer is a sport that can be played all over the world because so
little equipment is needed to play it. What do you do for your daily
exercise? Have you tried playing soccer? What exercise does Sister
Ribiero like? (sorry if I'm spelling her name wrong) Eve is working on
putting your music on a flash drive that we can send to you (unless
there is another form you would like to receive it).
This last week was Girl's
Camp. It was a great success! Fun things the girls did: painted rocks
with happy messages on them to place all over the world (for people to
find and keep, or find and leave...spreading the love from Riverton),
humanitarian beauty bags- filled with items to help refugee women feel
beautiful (like makeup, lotion, colorful scarves etc), friendship
bracelets, team building games and great food. Shanel got a tick in her
leg. Dad had a tick on his arm as he was doing the dishes at home...he
never came up to camp but it must have come in with our stuff. He was
able to kill it before it went in him....yuck!)
A few highlights for me: R17
ward invited us Stake leaders over to do a Bob Ross painting with them.
They were so kind to us! Kamber Barkley (from R13) wrote a song for
Girl's Camp on ukulele. She taught it to the whole camp. I suggested
she submit it to the New Era. I LOVED hanging with my ladies. We had
so much fun! It was fun to have Eve up there. She did a great job as a
YCL. She was able to spend quality time with our ward as well as her
friends from the Stake. Delle put me in charge of the music. It was
fun to DJ camp! I spent about $20 on new music as requested from some
of the girls in our Stake. I put together 3 playlists (Girl's camp
upbeat, reverent, and dance party). Dance party was my favorite! I was
able to find the "Sandwich Song" from EFY, "Cupid Shuffle", "No Money",
"Run Away from Love" (another EFY), and a few others. We had at least 3
dance parties and played human Foosball in the meadow.
The most meaningful part of
camp was hearing Brother Burton and his wife, Linda K. speak. It was so
good to see him again. I haven't spoken with him since the
Celebration. Camp was the first time I got to meet his wife, Sister
Linda K. Burton (she was just released as the General Relief Society
President last year). She is a very gracious lady. We gave them a
beautiful picture of the Jordan River Temple. When she saw the
beautiful flowers in the picture, she said, "Oh how beautiful! When I
see these flowers, I will think of all the beautiful faces of your young
women!" After speaking, they joined us for dinner in the pavilion. We
are able to ask them some fun questions (like what is it like to speak
in General Conference?) She told us about how when she gets nervous,
her nose bleeds. One time, right before she was suppose to get up and
speak, her nose started bleeding....luckily, it stopped right in time
for her to get up (she was tilting her head back, trying to keep it from
dripping). Also, one time the teleprompter was not working properly.
She could only read her talk from the side teleprompters, not the front
one. She said if you watch the 2015 Conference, it looks like she's
watching a ping-pong game as she goes back an forth between the side
teleprompters. I got to talk to her about the love she felt as she
served the women of the world. I asked her if that love came instantly
or if it grew over time. She really appreciated that question. She
teared up and said that love came instantly. I KNOW (on a smaller
scale) what that love feels like. I felt that same strong love for all
17, 000 youth as I was serving in the Celebration Committee. I think
one of the greatest blessings of serving with all our heart is the Love
that Heavenly Father blesses us with for those we serve. He gives us a
portion of His love....and we feel great joy!
I also asked her what was one
of the greatest challenges of serving on the General Board. She said
that she did not like to be such a public figure. She said her family
also sacrificed a lot to allow her to serve. She was not as available
for her family as she would have liked. She is glad she can be a mom
and a grandma again. I can also relate. I appreciate the sacrifice you
and the family made as I was serving in the Celebration. When I left
for Girl's Camp, dad mentioned that it would be nice to have me
back...with no other commitments this summer. He has been such a
wonderful support!
One more thing: I substituted
as Primary pianist today. I only had one day to learn the music. I
knew most of the songs just fine, but a few I struggled with. I got
permission to play the songs I struggled with on Ukulele instead of
piano. It was fun! We also had the Lotts and the Larsens over for
dinner tonight. Dad grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. We ate on the
patio.
Did you ever get your Brazilian
ukulele? Do you need more money in your account? It's been awhile
since we added some money. Do you have enough for your needs?
Emma, I'm so proud of you! You
are doing great things. I can tell you love the people and are serving
with all your heart. What a wonderful time to be Serving the Lord! I
love you!
💜Mom
M,
I hope you are having a lot of success with your teaching pool. If not, keep at it. It will get better. It always does.
Your Mom and I talked
about your question from your last letter about your comp's mom helping
her on her mission. We concluded we don't understand all of it. The
Spirit "Prison" is located her on earth. Tiffany says she has felt some
ancestors assisting her with family history. It is reasonable to think
that her mom is helping her or comforting her while she is serving as a
missionary. I hope this helps.
Hyrum and I had a great time on
our fishing trip. Brad Fullmer took us to Strawberry lake and we
trolled for fish. Brad hooked up four fishing lines and we dragged
them behind the boat until we caught something. The weather dipped and
it was a bit cold. We all had jackets on tried to stay dry. We had
John, Keith, Cob, Matt, AJ, Hyrum and I. We fished for about 6 hours
and caught 57 fish. We kept one of them. We caught a salmon and it
died before we could get it back in the water. We took it home and let
Hyrum cook it. He had to catch and cook a fish for his merit badge. He
did a good job. It tasted good. We caught a burger at the Dairy Keen
and headed home. Once we got home we discovered that while it was a
little cold the sun still did it's job. Hyrum's nose is extremely red.
I have 2 inches on my knees that are still tender. Hyrum gave a talk
in church today and was named "Rudolph on Summer Vacation" by someone in
his Sunday School class. . He is not a fan of the name.
I have been working from home for
a few days. It has been different and the kids have needed to be
quiet. With Mom and Eve at Girls Camp I didn't want to leave them for
too long. I have a fancy phone I wear around my neck. So far, so
good. It allowed me to take Mari and Hyrum golfing at Riverbend. Hyrum
did well and Mari likes to drive the golf cart. We made sure to apply a
lot of sunscreen as Hyrum and I were still smarting from the fishing
trip. While Mom was at girls camp I gave Hyrum and Mari some jobs to
complete outside and they delivered on all of them. Mom was very
impressed. We had Fathers and Sons this past weekend. I gave Hyrum the
option to do what he wanted and he chose to go see Solo, the back story
of Han Solo. It was not a great movie but good times with Hammer. I
like our version of Fathers and Sons. Hyrum has a week long scout camp
in a few weeks. They are going backpacking for a week. I'm trying to
determine if I'm going or not. Mom is a bit concerned about me getting
physical for a week doing something I don't normally do and being out of
reach. I'm not too excited about the camp as I struggle to sleep on
the ground but I will likely go.
We are going to see Incredibles 2
on Monday with Grandma and Grandpa Barlow. If you remember we went to
see the original Incredibles with them when it came out. We are
attempting to recreate it if we can. We have a very busy week. It all
comes to a head this Saturday when we have Ryan and Melissa's Wedding,
Calli Chandler's baptism, and our annual family day at Hale Center. We
will likely not make it to Calli's baptism. Ryan's wedding comes with a
luncheon.
I will email you the letter I
promised. I will include a hard copy in the package we are putting
together. Love you kid. Keep up the good work. You are making a
difference.
Love
Olá do estado de colméia
Emma! we have all been missing you!
Nothing has really changed much, but I'm sure
the girls will tell you about girls camp.
I really am missing you, but the pictures we've been
getting have been reminding me your on the lords errand.
Love you, and Obrigado
Hyrum
HI sister
I have made a goal to complete 2 pages of my faith in God this summer
We miss you! I miss our runs to Walmart . Your the best!I miss your happy attitude.
I took a 7 day fast from my iPod, and I never felt better. I know what the prophet said is true.
I can feel the blessings from you serving a mission.
thank you
Mari
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