9/9/18 - Family Letter to Emma
hi Emma
I am running for student council !!! on Monday I am giving a speech .
how is the investigators. we love seeing your letters . we wish you the best of luck .
lot's of love
Mari
Ha-ha-ha-Hello Emma!
Thanks for the B-day video! Your companion and..........who
ever else that was, are really cool! I just won my game against
Corner Canyon (They played so dirty). I hope your having fun!
Hyrum
Sweet Emma,
I'm glad you are having a
better week. One of the Brazilian ladies, Cleonice Silva on my Facebook
said,"What a pitty my blonde little princess will work in another place
Vila Angelica already miss you kisses my beautiful I love you so much"
(At least that is what google translate said that she said.) So does
this mean you got transferred? If so, I can't wait to hear about you
new area. These Brazilians have such a cute way of speaking! They sure
love you in Brazil!
Here is the story that Grandma
Mildred shared: "When we were serving our mission at the Hill Cumorah,
Lincoln was conducting a tour one Saturday morning. The Hill was
crowded and during the tour he heard someone say something about Rex
Campbell. Rex was the first missionary we ever met. When his
tour was over [Lincoln] asked if Rex was at the hill at that time. He
was told that he was. Lincoln went in search and of him and found him.
He extended his hand to Rex and said "I am Lincoln Barlow from
Moultrie, Georgia. I don't know if you remember me or not." Rex
responded that he did indeed remember him and asked, "what are you doing
here?" Lincoln pointed to his name tag and told him we were
missionaries. He told Rex we had raised five children all active in the
church, and their children/grandchildren are active and serving
missions. Rex hugged Lincoln and wept. He said he did not have one
baptism while he served his two years as a missionary and he had always
thought his mission was a complete failure. Rex had come to the
Hill with a bus load of people. We were later told that after he left
the Hill he went to the front of the bus and related his story and how
he no longer felt like a failure."
Grandmother said, "Some are
sent to sow seed and others to water, and some to reap. Rex was sent to
sow the seeds. (The missionary who baptized them, Farrell Bell, was
sent to reap). We are so thankful for sowers and all between and
finally the reapers." All are important!
I just returned from a 3 day
"Trek" in Wyoming to attend a Trek Training. The Stake paid for our
trip/hotels. We walked the trails, pulling handcarts and were trained
on things we needed to know to be able to bring our youth to Martin's
Cove, Rock Creek, 6th Crossing etc next summer. It was an incredible
trip! There were 8 of us who went: Delle, Kathy and I, the entire
Stake Presidency, and our high councilman over YM/YW (Brent Wenerstrom)
and Eric Rossiter (Stake YM President). We all rode together and had
some amazing discussions (and a lot of funny ones too!) We all became
better friends and had some Spiritual and inspiring experiences. There
were about 210 leaders from all over the Western US who attended this
training. We met some amazing people and were able to share ideas.
One of my favorite times was
when our group went to Independence Rock to try to see some of the
pioneer names that were carved on the rock 140 years ago. It was almost
dark but up we went... it was a bit scary because we knew there were
rattlesnakes hiding in the crevices of the rocks, it was very steep, and
it was almost too dark to see. Everyone except Delle and President
O'Hara climbed up to the top. When we got to the top, we finally had
cell phone service so President Steed and President Smith (Kyle Smith's
daughter is also on a mission in Brazil) decided to catch up on their
messages. The rest of us thought we'd better climb down before it was
completely dark. Kathy and I scooted down most of the way on our
bottoms, (too afraid to stand up). When I was almost down, bats started
coming out of the rocks above us. Some of the guys thought it would be
fun to disrupt a bat's sonar so they would toss rocks into the air for
the bats to chase (thinking the rocks were giant bugs). It was funny to
see these Stake Leaders having fun like boy scouts! President Steed
and Smith eventually found their way down the rocks using their cell
phone lights.
Today I found an account of
Wilford Woodruff and his experience on Independence Rock June 21, 1847.
He and another church leader went to the top of Independence Rock and
used their Priesthood and offered a prayer..."for the blessings of God
to rest upon President Young and his brethren of the Twelve and all of
the pioneer camp and the whole camp of Israel and the House of Israel,
over our wives and children and relatives, the Mormon Battalion, all the
churches abroad, and that the Lord would hasten the time of the
fulfillment of his promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Lehi,
Nephi, Alma, and Moroni and all the sayings of the Lord concerning the
building up of Zion in the last days....and while offering up our prayer
the spirit of the Lord descended upon us and we truly felt to
rejoice..."
That's exactly how I feel about
the gospel...I feel to REJOICE! We are so blessed to have the peace of
Christ in our lives. I'm so thankful that you are sharing that message
with the cute people of Brazil.
Have a wonderful week! BIG HUGS!
💜Mom
M,
Your Mom said someone left a
message on her Instagram post saying you have been transferred. We are
anxious to know where you have been sent and who your new comp is. We
are still trying to find a state of Sao Paulo so we can track your
progress. We can find a map of the whole country but not the area we
want to track. We will keep looking. Mom sent you the story from
Grandma Mildred. LEt me know if you need any further clarification.
We made the most of our Labor
Day weekend. With Hyrum playing football we could not go up on Friday
like we normally try to do. We stayed in the valley until after this
game and then went up later on Saturday. We have had a lot of people at
the cabin this year so it was pretty clean. Hyrum got a new airsoft
gun. It is far more powerful than what he has had in the past. I asked
him if it would hurt if I shot him from about 5 feet away. He panicked
a bit so I did what any brother would do if he had a brother and I shot
him. He screamed and rolled around a bit. Your Mom was not happy.
She would not talk to me for a while. It left a good mark along his
ribs. I offered to let him shoot me but he refused saying he didn't
want to have anyone hurt like that. We took the guns up to the cabin
but Hyrum forgot to bring extra ammo so it was basically target practice
and not the war he was hoping. Late on Sunday we had the Chandlers
join us for our combined trip for the year. We played a lot of games.
We woke up early and split some wood for the wood pile. We played deck
hockey and then Wacky Six. We cleaned up and went to Jordanelle and
rented a Kayak and played int he water. The water level was very low
and the beach was incredibly muddy. I had no desire to join in the
mudbath but the kids had fun. Hyrum covered himself in mud from head to
toe. Soon the younger Chandlers joined him. Eve won $20 bucks for
attempting to push your Mom into the murky water. I felt my back start
to stiffen and was grateful when it became time to go home. We stayed
later than we usually do and I was tired. Once I cleaned up and started
to relax I felt a pain in my right upper thigh. If you remember years
ago I had a problem with a disk in my back that brought pain that ran
down my leg. It has returned. I worked the next day on my back. I
could not sit or stand without significant pain in my leg. I read
scriptures with the family while on my back. I went to therapy the
following day and they hooked my up to some electrods and messaged my
back and then ran a healing laser over my lower back. The next morning I
felt great. I was forced to take the day off as they will not allow me
to work every day from home. Mom was getting ready to go to Wyoming
for her Trek training. I was able to help her get ready. He felt
better about leaving. The next day I worked from home again and stayed
on my back most of the day because the pain was back. I went back to
therapy and had them run the laser over me again. I can now stand and
sit without pain as long as my posture is perfect. I still feel like I
have a cramp in my right calf but I can function. I think I hurt my
back while moving logs and cutting wood at the cabin. I need to be
smarter but my health.
Hyrum was ordained a Teacher
today. He is a great kid and will do good. Grandma and Grandpa Barlow
came with Grandma Mildred. Charlene also came. Grandpa was able to
participate in the ordination. Later today we got a text from Grandma
Barlow wanting everyone to meet at their place tonight to give Dad a
blessing. He has viral pneumonia which is a concern. He also has been
spitting up blood for a few weeks which has made him anemic. He has not
had a lot of energy. He says it hurts to breathe. Mom is very
concerned. Dad is not. Please keep him in your prayers. He went in to
see if it was cancer. If you remember he was diagnosed with prostate
cancer but it was too early to treat it. They said his cancer level is
so low he would not have registered as a concern if he was not already
on list. He is getting a scope on his lungs in 3 weeks. He is not
worried but he has no energy. He looked very tired. We had all the
brothers their and Keith. Dad asked that I provide the blessing. I was
not prepared. I assumed he would ask Mark to give it. I hope it was
OK. It was short. Mark suggest Mom getting a blessing too. Mark gave a
great blessing. I normally like to prepare and pray with the blessing
in mind. He kept telling us he is not dying. He has another 8 years to
give. We left optimistic. We will keep you posted.
We are excited to hear about
your new area. Harrison Sligting had his Homecoming today and Issac
Sligting had his Farewell. Isaac is not leaving for until mid October.
They are doing their Missionary Month for two weeks this year. They
are doing a culture night and then a dinner appointment. It will be
interesting to see if it had the same effect in 2 weeks that used to
take 4 weeks.
Keep up the good work. Keep working. Have fun. Your are turning into a great missionary.
Love ya kid
Dad
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