2/11/19 - Family Letter to Emma

Hi Emma ,

Guess what ... a dude in my class asked me to be his valentine!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I said Y-E-S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And he gave me a candy bar !

Nothing else is really new. But I did pass off one of my voice lesson songs!

Any way have a great week ! Were praying for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 love Fuzz

Wellhellothere Emma!

I danced with Hailey at the stake dance.

Other than that, my week been pretty boring

How are you doing?

Love Hyrum

M,

I'm glad your birthday celebration went well.  I'm also glad you have local companions that can help you navigate the different bugs, spiders and ROUSs that you come across.  We got more snow today.  We just got home from the Trek fireside and came out to a big storm.  As we were leaving I was able to clear some snow off of a few cars of sister who brought their kids but not their husbands.  It was very wet but not too cold.  I biffed it hard while trying to navigate between cars but the snow was very soft so it turned out OK.  Your Mom likes to clear our driveway and the neighbors so we have decided to get a snowblower.  We got a battery powered one for the last storm but it is not self propelled and your Mom was fighting it a bit.  We bought a gas powered self propelled but it had to be ordered. 

Hyrum was able to participate in a Court of Honor and received a massive amount of awards.  He is almost an Eagle.  He has to wait 6 months before he can fully advance.  he is starting to wonder why he needs to get the Eagle while the church is moving away from it.  He is very close to being done.  I'm sure once the weather warms up he will find an Eagle Project and finish.  He is starting to sleep better and it has been improving his mood a lot.  He says he is not getting much from the counseling.  We are trying many things to see if we can determine what will work for him.  we plan on looking at new mattresses tomorrow. 

Your mom got me a dog.  It is a beautiful bulldog.  White and light brown.  I'm still trying to settle on a name.  It is feels weird to have a dog.  I'm not used to seeing it in my peripheral vision and it startles me some.  Oh, it is a stuffed animal.  I should have started with that.  That was a little misleading.  Mom is doing her 14 days of Valentines for me.  It is awesome.  So far I have some cookies, Pringles, sweater, belt . . . and a dog.  I think she is secretly doing this to get me used to having a dog around.

The Stake put on a Valetine's day dance.  Before the dance we went to see Luke Chandler's Senior Day on the basketball team.  We watched most of the game before we left for the dance.  RHS was playing Herriman and was winning when we left but they ended up losing.  The dance was sparsely attended but we were able to dance for about an hour and had fun.  Your Mom really enjoyed it.  Between the dancing and the snow shoveling I'm sore and feeling my age. 

Last night was Sweethearts.  We fixed the Boeuf Bourguignon like we have in the past.  Hyrum has expressed some interest in cooking so we had him prepare most of it.  It turned out awesome . . . as usual.  Hyrum, Cob, Mari and Sam all helped serve.  We found out Eve's date didn't like bacon so we made fun of him most of the night. 

Love you kid.  Keep trying your best.  Don't stress.  Your effort is enough.    I could not be more proud of you than I am.

Love,

Dad

John 9:25

Sweet Emma,

I got your 'accidentally sent' email right after you sent it.  I was laughing!

Thanks for filling me in on how your mission works (access to Mission Pres, process for meds etc)  I was also wondering what your p-day looks like.  What do you usually do that day?  I didn't know that the people in Aldeia (sorry if I spelled it wrong) had maids.  Are they kind to their maids?  (I keep thinking about the movie/book "The Help")

Thanks for the ideas about how to share the gospel with people who have just moved to Utah.  I never thought of that approach before.  I will use it the next chance I get! 

We were at the Stake Center tonight for the Trek kickoff fireside.  We saw that your mission plaque was on the top row now!  We all did the happy dance! (We don't want to rush you...but it was still fun to see the progress!)

The fireside was wonderful.  Jill Bryant is going on Trek as "Patience Loader" from the Martin Handcart Company.  Dave Martin (the one who was "Mormon" at Book of Mormon Youth Conference) is going as "Levi Savage" (Willie Company, 17 Miracles).  They both spoke at the kickoff.  My youth string double trio played "Come, Come Ye Saints" and did great.  Only 2 of the youth musicians were confident performers...and the rest of them tried so hard.  Together they all did beautifully.  In fact, the youth who were not as confident in their playing abilities were the ones who brought the Spirit the strongest.  It is true that the Lord works through the humble and simple.

Dad and I also did another Ma and Pa training this week.  What a great group of people for the youth!  Dad and I taught handcart stories, storytelling techniques, and showed a slide show highlighting pictures of the places we would be visiting in Wyoming.  We were all blessed to feel the Spirit.

Yesterday was Eve's Sweetheart's dance.  Dad made his "Julia Child's Beef Burgoniougne".  It was tasty!  Hyrum was his sous-chef.  Hyrum, Jacob, Mari and Sami were the servers. Fun and exhausting times.  I was so busy with it that I didn't get many pictures.  Eve looked beautiful!

It's still snowing.  The kids are hoping for another snow day tomorrow.  I guess we'll see! 

I hope you have a wonderful week.  You are doing a wonderful job on your mission.  I love what you spoke about "going on a mission vs. serving a mission".  That principle applies to so many things in life.  "ALL IN".  Side note:  You also look so beautiful in all of your pictures. 

I love you!

💜Mom