3/31/19 - Family Letter to Emma

Hi Emma !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 I BEAT RUSSIANS IN B-BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My birthday went  SUPER WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got a Super cute bag , super cute dresses ,and a llama kit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 I really like b- ball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 miss and love

Mari

Wassa!

We had some Russians over for dinner,

and we played some basket ball. They were quite good!

I also will be starting another play soon. it's not a musical,

but it's an awkward spinoff of Romeo and Juliette.

I'll also be doing weights more, so if you come back to a surprisingly

muscular me, don't be.........surprised.

Love you!

Hyrum

Sweet Emma,

As the kids said, we had some Russians over for dinner.  All afternoon, they yelled, "the Russians are coming, the Russians are coming!"  You are probably wondering why we hosted Russians for dinner....  We invited Carrie and her family for some of Dad's smoked meat and Ethan brought some of his friends from his mission.  They were great!  They were 2 brothers, about 30ish.  They showed us pictures of their kids/families.  One of them teaches early morning seminary in Vladivastok.  It was so fun to hear about the church in Russia.  They are her in Salt Lake for General Conference.  They seemed to love our family, dad's cooking, and playing basketball with the kids.  They were also surprised at Mari's piano playing.  I love having people over for dinner!  It's so much fun learning about others. 

I have loved hearing about all the new people you are meeting in Brazil.  I also love all the stories/experiences you share.  I was laughing at the thought of you running around with a baptism cake and a ukulele!  Also, the guy rapping about the Sister Missionaries on the bus!  You are collecting experiences to last a lifetime!

This week has been good but Dad and I have been sick.  We had a different version of the same sickness.  This has been a bad season for illness.  We are doing much better now.  Poor Eliza is sick now.  She has Influenza and Pneumonia.  She is in good spirits but we are praying for her and that the Nate and the kids won't get sick. 

Today our family church we talked about when Christ asked his disciples "Whom say ye that I am?"  We asked everyone to think about how they would respond if the Savior asked them that question.  We listened to Elder Bednar's talk about becoming converted.  I will send you the link to the talk. We discussed the purpose of General Conference was to hear the Savior's words to us through his Prophets. The reason we need to know God's words for us is so that we can come to know the Savior, and thus learn to be like Him, so we can one day return to our Heavenly Father.

We don't have any crazy plans for Conference, just the usual (and AWESOME) way we do Conference.  We are so excited for Conference. 

Things are fun and busy for Trek.  Dad and I are doing more training this week.  We are adding the Big Brothers/Sisters to the Ma's and Pa's. Eve gets to be a big Sister in one of the families.  The Big Bros/Sis get to work with the Ma's and Pa's ahead of time to work out games etc.  The only "yikes" think about Trek is that the Food Committee is struggling....long story.  I'm sure it will all work out perfectly in the end.  We just got the Stake Youth Service Project approved/announced.  We will be dividing the youth between the Jordan River and Oquirrh Mountain temples to help the grounds crew with planting, weeding etc.  We will be having a devotional and breakfast at the Stake Center before the service project.  Gonna be fun!  Dad and Mari are going to come too!

We pick Eve up tonight (probably after midnight) from tour.  Their bus was delayed...something about a body in a bag on the highway....yikes!  Other than that, I think she had a nice Orchestra Tour.

News from Mindi Meadows:  Katie Wenerstrom and Presidency were released from Primary Presidency.  The new Primary Presidency is:  Jill Maples- President,   Eileen Matthews- 1st Counselor,    Vanessa Burton- 2nd Counselor,    Brenda Memmott- Secretary.  I'm so excited for them!

Also, Bishop Chandler challenged the Ward to see if we could live on our "Emergency Supply" for 72 hours (until mid Wednesday) to see if we can...and where our weaknesses are.  I think we will be fine.

Anyway,  I love you so much!

💜Mom

M,

We are up waiting for Eve to get back from tour.  After Mari's birthday table we went to see Eve off for tour.  There were many parents there to chaperone.  Eve was glad we were not going.  I was glad we were not going.  Riverton took First Place in the Festival.  She seemed to have fun but is very tired and struggling to keep her filter in place.  She sent us home a few jokes.  What do you do when your see a Space man?  You park your car, man.  Why do ducks have feathers?  To cover their butt quacks.   Needless to say they are operating on little sleep.  She is expected to be home between midnight and 1:00.  Tomorrow will be an interesting day.

Mari seemed to have a good birthday.  I was working from home so I could go to birthday table with her.  She asked for Subway.  We showed up on time and it went well.  We went to Costa Vida for dinner.  Do you get anything close to burritos and tacos in Brazil?  We came home and had a large Costco chocolate cake.  It is hard for me to accept that she will be in YW next year.  Audrey Moncur gave a talk at church today and Mari got excited about having a turn soon. 

We had the Orsmby's over for smoked meats.  We have not had them over yet.  We smoked some ribs and some pulled pork.  Ethan brought some of his Russian friends with him.  All day we were yelling "The Russians are coming!!!"  It went well.  He brought two guys his age.  One spoke English the other did not.  The one who did not speak English kept asking if the ribs were hot.  He had a bad experience in Las Vegas with hot ribs.  I have always felt that Carrie feels like she does not fit in our large family.  That some have not expressed enough love to help her feel included.  I feel a desire to make sure we are among those who she knows loves her.  We will likely be doing it again.

We are getting excited for Conference.  I will be happy to let all the rumors end and get back to normal.  With all the changes happening in past Conferences there is a lot of speculation on what changes are coming.  I think people forget the greatest change that will come in Conference is not a change in policy but a change in their hearts.  Many are seeking for ways that the church will conform to them and justify their disobedience.  Possibly justify feeling they have.  We have seen many who are making plans around changes they think are coming.  It has me concerned but nevertheless we are very excited for Conference.  Our Russian friends think they will announce where in Russia the temple will be built that was announced six months ago.

Good luck kid.  We are excited to hear about your successes and struggles.  Keep doing you and good things will happen.

Love

Dad

1 Nephi 17:45