Notes from Dad -- April 27, 2014

Dear Sammy,

Hope your week has been a great one!  I enjoyed your letter from last week.  It sounded so upbeat and enthusiastic.  Glad you and H. Rios are getting along well and that she is "encouraging" you to fully participate in all aspects of the work--including the dreaded "phone calls."  That is one of the hardest parts of learning a new language, since you can't rely on any nonverbal cues (gestures, expressions, etc.) to help you understand what people are saying.  Plus, I don't know how the phone systems are in Peru, but in Eastern Europe, the phone connections themselves were pretty poor, so talking on the phone was always an adventure.  Keep working on it!

We had ward conference today, and Pres. Merrill and Pres.Christensen both asked how you were doing.  Come to think of it, a bunch of people inquired about you today.  Also, last night we had a temple session in advance of ward conference.  Tyler Willardson's parents happened to be in the session and we ended up seeing them at Kneader's afterwards, where we went for a dinner/treat. They asked how you were doing and told us a bit about Tyler's experience in Brazil.  In any event, we've had a lot of chances to talk about you this week, which I always enjoy doing!

Yesterday, Kent and I started our training to hike Mt. Whitney by taking on Flatiron.  A cold front moved in over the weekend, and the high temperatures dropped 20 degrees, from the mid-90s to the low 70s.  Still, I couldn't convince myself to throw a jacket in my backpack (after all, it's nearly May -- in Phoenix!  a jacket? really?).  Well, I regretted that decision when we got to the top of the canyon and made our way out to the edge of the Flatiron.  It was cold and WINDY!  

The cold and wind didn't bother us much on the way up, since we were somewhat protected by hiking in the canyon, and mostly because we were hot and sweaty trying to conquer the challenging elevation gain.  We made good time (1:38 from start to the tip of Flatiron) and I was impressed with Kent's stamina.  We only took a couple of brief breaks for water and some apple slices.

I wanted to do a bit more exploring in the area on top, and perhaps head up to the peak, but given the conditions and our lack of warm gear, we didn't stay up there too long.  We did go visit a new memorial that was recently put up for the 3 children and company that died in the plane crash up there on thanksgiving in 2011.  On our way down, it started to rain.  When we hit the "bowl" area, the rock was very slick and I biffed it.  Nothing hurt but my pride.  We basically slid/scooted down the rest of that area.  Kent thought the rain and wind made the adventure even more cool.  :-)

We were home by around 11:15 a.m.  I spent the rest of the day on a few projects that needed to get done:  unclog the downstairs bathroom sink; fertilize the grass in the backyard; and continue doing battle with the mesquite tree in the front.  On the last project (tree), I chopped off a couple of major branches, so now none of the tree is hanging over the driveway.  Doris came out and asked me if I'm cutting the whole thing down.  I said:  "undecided."  Mom thinks it looks good.  I think it still needs some work, but I had to wrap up for the day so we could make it to ward temple night.  Mostly, I was grateful for a cool day to work in.  I don't think I'll get another Saturday in the 70s for a long time.

Lindsay has been sick this weekend (fever, sore throat), but insisted on going to her soccer game, which she won.  Kent and I were hiking and Mom was at a conference, so Paige went with her and waved the family flag.  They won.  Lindsay spent most of Sat afternoon and evening resting.  She stayed home from church today, but seems to be feeling a bit better now.  Hopefully, that trend will continue because Mom has jury duty tomorrow and has to be in downtown Phoenix all day.  (So, she gets to carpool with me.  Yay :-).

On Friday, Mom took me on a date to go play racquetball again.  She beat me when I played left-handed and played well even when I was using my right hand.  She's definitely a competitor!  I love spending time with her.

Thursday was Paige's bday.  She didn't want to do anything elaborate, so we ordered take-out from Panda Express and had cheesecake and opened presents here at home (mostly clothes). Mom had taken her pre-bday-shopping the prior Saturday.  Grandma came over after her shift at the temple was over and ate some dinner with us.  All in all, it was a pretty laid back bday, which is pretty much Paige's style.  

Our fancy dinner for Paige's B-day!

Grandma Garner & Paige on her birthday!

I taught FHE on Monday, based on Pres. Monson's conference talk about love/kindness.  I challenged everyone to memorize the little poem he quoted:

I have wept in the night for the shortness of sight

That to somebody's need made me blind,

But I never have yet shed a tear of regret

For being a little too kind.

Monday was also the Boston Marathon--one year after the bombing at the event in 2013.  An American, Meb Keflezghi, won the men's race--something that has not happened since 1983.  It was fun to follow his path to victory.  Meb is nearly 39 (getting pretty old in the elite racing group) and has a marathon PR that was 4 or 5 minutes slower than a number of the elite runners in the field, and the last marathon he ran, back in November, was his worst time ever.  Yet, he pulled out the victory in Boston, leaving the pack shortly after the halfway point and building a lead that none of the supposedly "better" runners could bridge to catch him at the end.  There are a lot of good gospel analogies in the victory (which was also a PR for him).

The women's race was exciting as well.  An emerging American star, Shalane Flanagan, led the women's race for nearly 18 miles before being passed up by the eventual victor and and a few other elites (Shalane ended up finishing 7th in a time that:  (a) was a personal best by more than 3 minutes; (b) was a Boston record for any American woman; and (c) would have won any of the previous 10 marathons).  Unlike the elite men (who "let Meb go" earlier in the race, confident that he would burn out and that they could catch him later), the elite women stuck with Shalane's punishing early pace, and as a result, the top three women's finishers all finished under the prior record time on the Boston course.  Again, lots of good gospel analogies here :-)

I chuckled reading your experience in being thrown into teaching Sunday School.  I was looking back at my mission journal and realizing that I gave my first sacrament meeting talk in Serbo-Croatian after being in the mission field for about two weeks.  So, I feel ya!   Sounds like you not only survived, but it turned out well.  Good for you!

I could also relate to your mention of random people on the street trying to speak English to you. On my mission, we called them "English jocks."  Sometimes they were pretty funny.  Other times it was kind of sad, because the only English words they knew were swear words :-/...

Well, we are going to head over to Grandma's for one of our regular, Sunday evening visits, so I guess I'll sign off.  

We are proud of you and pray for your success in your labors. Keep working hard!

Love,

Dad

P.S. As Mother's Day is approaching, let us know what arrangements we should make as we anticipate an opportunity to call or skype.  

Notes from Dad--April 20, 2014

Dear Sammy,

I sure love you!  Last week I grabbed a couple of photos of you from the blogs of some of your fellow missionaries and posted them on FB.  Lots of comments about how beautiful and beaming you look. I couldn't agree more.  Sure hope that you have had a great week!

We had a great Easter service at church today.  Of course, the focus was on the Atonement.  Bro. Breinholt was one of the speakers.  As part of his talk, he referenced the 2001 World Series when the Diamondbacks were facing the New York Yankees.  After the Dbacks one the first two games at home, we were feeling confident heading back to New York.  After losing a close Game 3, we went into the late innings of Games 4 and 5 with a lead.  Each time, the D-backs "closer" (a pitcher from Korea named Byung-Hyun Kim), came in to relieve the starting pitcher and "close out" the game.  In each game, however, he gave up home runs that led to Yankee victories.  Bro. Breinholt talked about how discouraged Kim must have been, not only to be "responsible" for losing a crucial championship game once, but twice in a row!  While he as criticized in the media and some fans lost faith in him, the team rallied to his corner and ultimately, the Dbacks won the series in a dramatic and final Game 7.  Like Kim, we can sometimes get discouraged in life, feeling like we can't do anything right and that we have "lost the game."  Yet, through the Atonement, we are able to pick ourselves up and try again for the victory, knowing that even when we lose faith in ourselves, the Lord continues to have faith in us.  I enjoyed the analogy and message.

After church, we dyed some Easter eggs.  Mom bought a dye set that had colored cups to match each of of the dyes.  The problem was that the color of the dye "pills" were a bit ambiguous.  We made our best guess as to which color went into which cup, but when we poured in the vinegar, we found out that we had put the yellow in the orange cup, the orange in the green cup, and the green in the orange cup.  We did good with the blue and pink, though!  Everyone got a chuckle out of the mix-up. So, now Lindsay, Amber and I have another dozen hard-boiled eggs to eat, since no one else around here likes them :-)

Dave explaining why the colors are not in the right cups.

We invited Grandma to join us for Easter dinner.  (We invited Julie, too, but she was in San Diego for the weekend).  Mom cooked turkey, homemade rolls, and mashed potatoes and gravy.  We had strawberry shortcake for dessert.  It was yummy!  We debated about what you were having for Easter dinner, and assumed it probably involved chicken and rice :-).

Easter Dinner 2014

After dinner, we played some Liverpool Rummy.  For a change, I won!  Doesn't happen too often.  Kent also wanted us to play Pictionary, which we did.  We modified the game a bit.  It was Grandma, Lindsay, and I against Mom and Kent (with Amber chiming in on their side occasionally).  Our team pulled out to a big lead early on, but Mom and Kent kept gaining ground, but never could take the lead, until their very last turn of the game, which gave them the victory.  

Yesterday, I got up early and drove up to Las Sendas to do a 12 mile run.  I ran up to the top of the community, where there is a trailhead that leads up to the top of the mountain behind the community with the microwave towers on it.  The trail was a brutal climb, gaining about 800 feet in about 1.2 miles, but the views were great.  It was cloudy with some rain falling from the clouds in the distance (though I think most of it evaporated before it hit the ground).  I snapped a couple of photos with my iphone.  Once at the top, I descended down the opposite side of the mountain on a service road the lead to Usery Pass road (Ellsworth), which I then ran down to McDowell and back to Las Sendas to complete the loop.  It was a challenging but fun run.
 

Top of Usery Mountain on Dave's Run

What do you guys do in Sullana for exercise?  

I hustled home after my run for a quick shower and then headed over with the family to the Ward Easter Egg Hunt at the Smith's house.  The egg hunting went well and was well-organized for the various age groups.  Amber and Paige went over early to hide eggs, and Amber volunteered at the face painting station.  All in all it was a good time, though I forgot to wear a hat or sunscreen, so I got a bit sunburned. Grrr.

Amber painting Dave's hand (he didn't want his face painted)

Mom and Paige at the Ward Easter Party 2014

 

We left from the party and headed over to Lindsay's soccer game.  Her team is the Smurfs.  They faced some tough competition and were down 3-0 at half time.  They picked it up in the second half, scoring twice, and gaining momentum.  But, they ran out of time and ended up with a close loss.  Lindsay had some good defensive "clears" and enjoyed the game. We were glad for the cloud cover, which made the whole day a rather pleasant one.

In the afternoon, I took Kent shopping for some hiking shoes.  We went to REI and Sportsman's Warehouse, but couldn't find anything he liked. But I got a new pair of hiking/trail running shoes :-)  We start our Mt. Whitney training next weekend, with a hike up Flatiron!

After shopping, I decided to tackle trimming the mesquite tree in the front.  You know how the branches that hang over the driveway are bird magnets and result in a bird-poop-covered car :-/.  So, I decided to give the tree a serious haircut, chopping off most of the branches over the driveway.  I'm not quite done yet, and the tree looks like a bit of a mess, but I took us till about 9 pm just to clean up the mess we had already made.  So, I'll need to tackle it again soon.  In the meantime, it might qualify for the neighborhood blight award ... Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of the mesquite tree, as the chants of "chop it down" are getting louder from Mom, Paige, and the rest of the kids.  We'll see.

Mom and I capped off the evening with a Netflix viewing of Thor.  I give it an "okay."  Not bad, but one viewing was enough.  Paige also got asked to "Spring Formal" (aka Mormon Prom) by McKay M.  She was excited.

Friday, the kids were out of school for Good Friday, but I went into work.  In the evening, we went out to dinner at Culver's and then Mom, Amber, and I watched "Catching Fire."

The only other highlight of the week was that Kent's artwork from school was selected to be on display at Norwood Furniture in downtown Gilbert.  They held a reception for the artists during the week, so we went down and checked it out on Tuesday.  Kent's piece was a colored-pencil landscape of an African savanna.  He did a great job and it was nice that he was recognized.

Kent with his picture.

Lindsay taught our FHE last week on the symbols of Easter.  She had prepared the FHE in activity days, which consisted of placing the symbols (e.g., a nail to represent the crucifixion) in numbered, plastic Easter eggs and then pulling them out and discussing them one-by-one.  She did a good job. 

Well, that's the scoop from me for the week.  I'm sure I've forgotten something, but hopefully Mom can clean up what I missed (or mis-remembered) :-). 

Hope you are doing great.  We pray for your health, safety, and success daily, as well as for your ability to continue progressing with the language.   Keep working hard!

Love you,

Dad

Notes from Dad -- April 13, 2014

Dear Sammy,

Another week has gone by!  Today was fast Sunday.  I got up early for bishopric meeting and then had to miss sacrament meeting because I needed to go to the airport to pick up Mom, who was flying back from attending Kyle's wedding in Houston.  It was a whirlwind 48-hour trip for her, but she had a fun time and was able to reconnect with K'Lynne and the Wagners, as well as spend some time Gpa and Gma Hugh.  She'll fill you in on the details.

I got back in time for 1/2 of Sunday school and the rest of the third hour.  We reorganized the beehive and laurel class presidencies.  Paige was called as the secretary for the laurels.  I was able to set her apart.  She is such a neat gal. I am so grateful for the blessing of having such wonderful children.  We had our fast Sunday PPI's with each one, and mom & I enjoyed spending a little "2-on-1" time.

This evening we went over to Bishop Kingsford for the traditional bishopric break-the-fast dinner.  Amber made brownies for dessert and did a great job.  Over the past couple of weeks, she has made banana bread multiple times (whenever our bananas go bad before we can eat them :-).  She also made pancakes the other morning. She is becoming quite the chef!

We got home around 7 and spent a while out on the back patio enjoying the pleasant evening.  I even got on the trampoline to "jump a bus" with Kent and Lindsay for a bit.  The tramp works muscles a bit differently than my running, so it didn't take too long for me to call it good on jumping for the evening.  Ha ha.  We also planned out/calendared a number of hikes over the next few months to help Kent and me prepare for our Mt. Whitney trip.  Should be fun!

Other news of the weekend:  I got up early on Friday to get mom to the airport by 5:30 and then headed into work.  I arrived at the office by 6 am and had a couple of hours with no interruptions to focus on a few things at work, which was good.

Friday night, Kent and Lindsay and I went on a bike ride over to Grandma Garners.  When we arrived, her garage door was open, so we walked in and called her name.  No one answered and when we stepped into the kitchen, we saw a man and a woman standing over by her front door, working on the door handle.  That took me a bit by surprise.  I realized that they were the painters (Gma had her house painted last week).  I asked where Gma was and they said she had gone to a ward party.  I took them at their word, and the kids and I mounted up for a return trip home.  Before we left, I sent Gma a text to tell her we had stopped by.  When I got home, Gma had not replied and I became a bit worried about her. So, I called her cell and got v/m, which made me a little more nervous.  I had just about decided to get in the car and drive over there, when I called her home phone and finally got ahold of her.  She had indeed been at a ward party and had left her cell phone at home.  So, it was all on the up and up with the painters, but it gave me a bit of scare for a while there.  

That evening, the kids and I watched Tin Tin (I had not seen it before).  I enjoyed it!

On Saturday, I got up early to get in a 10 mi. run before I had to attend a BSA training.  It was a nice morning for a run, and I spent a mile or so of it, criss-crossing thorugh/around the Riparian. While running along the west side of the preserve, I looked across one of the marshes, with the Superstitions framed on the opposite side, and the sun just rising above the ridgeline.  It was a beautiful view, and I wish I had had a camera to capture the moment.  As it was, I tried to savor the image, while still maintaining an 8 min/mi. pace :-).  The Riparian is really a neat little gem to have so close by...

The scout training lasted most of the morning and I missed Lindsay's soccer game.  Paige took the ACT, and Amber went babysitting for the Sawyers.  Poor Kent was the only one with no firm agenda for the day.  

In the afternoon, I went to a baptism for Madison (did you know her)?  She is a YW who has wanted to join the church for a long time, but her parents would not let her.  She turned 18 on Friday and scheduled her baptism for the very next day.  She is friends with Brianna T., and number of the other youth in our ward (Riley H., Chase E., Brooke A., etc. were all there).  Bro. Wilkinson was also at the baptism (he is a counselor in the Gilbert Mission presidency).  His hair was just beginning to grow back from his chemo treatment.  I went up and shook his hand, and, pointing to my own head, told him that he didn't really need to get cancer in order to have a cool haircut like mine!  He laughed ....  He actually looked quite good, which is encouraging. 

The baptism was very nice and I looked at it through somewhat of a different lens, in light of your service.  I watched the sister missionaries there, who were pretty much beaming throughout.  I shook their hands afterwards and told them that I was sure they would be writing a neat letter home to their families this pday!

After getting home from the baptism, I took Kent shopping for some new tennis shoes as well as to look for some hiking shoes for him, as we prepare for our summer trip to Mt. Whitney.  We didn't find any hiking shoes, but did find some tennis shoes. Mom had taken him shopping to Sports Authority the week before and they had found a pair that he liked as far as comfort but didn't want because of the color (florescent yellow).  Well, I took him to JCPenney's and he found a pair that he really liked, so we bought them.  Then we went back to Sports Authority to look at hiking shoes.  I had him show me the yellow shoes he had tried on the week before, and it turns out that they were the exact kind we bought at JCP, just a more "acceptable" color.  And we got them for $8 cheaper!  I guess he was destined to get these shoes!

We didn't find any good hiking shoes for Kent--not much of a selection.  I think we will need to try REI.  Anyway, on the way home, we dropped by Home Depot and I bought an ax and hatchet with $ I still had from Gma from last Father's Day.  Then we stopped by Fry's for some brownies and stuff we would need for Sunday dinner.  After a final stop at Little Cesar's for pizza, we stumbled back home.  Two and a half hours of shopping was a lot more shopping that Kent or I are used to :-).

I dropped off the pizza and then headed over to Gma's, where all of the Garner family adults were gathering to celebrate Gma and Gpa's 51st wedding anniversary.  We had a platter of mini-chimis from Nando's and everybody brought some side dishes to share.  It was a nice dinner.  Gma told us about her wedding and "honeymoon."  They were originally planning to marry in the Salt Lake Temple, but it was being renovated and ended up not opening in time, so that's why they ended up getting married at the Logan temple instead.  Gma was in school at the University of Utah (where she had transferred from Utah State to finish up here degree), and Gpa was teaching seminary at Granite high school, so they didn't end up having much of a honeymoon to kick off their marriage.  (Sounds about like your mom's and my honeymoon ;-).  Gma also told us that before they were married, Gpa paid for the last semester of mom's tuition at UofU.  I guess that's one way to make sure she was committed to him. Haha.

Gma also told us that their first day home after the wedding, she took Gpa's brand new car (a Volkswagen) and dropped Gpa off at Granite HS, and then headed over to her classes at the university.  But, she forgot to turn off the lights and the battery was dead when she went to go home.  Some guys talked her into rolling the car down the hill and starting it by popping the clutch.  Gma was pretty nervous that she had messed up his new car and might screw it up further (or crash it, with the rolling start), but it ended up working (she got it started) and was able to make it home. :-)  Whew!  Crisis averted!

After dinner and stories, we played "Actionary" with the Pictionary cards.  It was hilarious, as you can imagine.  Diane was the pro!  One of the words she had was "gangplank."  She got us to guess "plank" fairly easily, but was having trouble with the "gang" part, so she started jumping around, throwing some "gang signs," which ultimately allowed us to guess the word, but mostly just made us laugh.  Good times.  Also, Richard got a bit frustrated with his team (not really, but mostly in a joking way) when they could not guess his impression of "polar bear."  The closest they got was the "Abominable Snowman."  Richard was pretty animated and thought his impression was rather obvious, so we had a fun time kidding him about it.  Thankfully, he has pretty thick skin.

Gma was a good sport and played along as well, even though she had been "traumatized" by this game when we played it years ago.  She had been given the word "tidal wave" and all we could guess was "beached whale"!  She hasn't ever quite been able to live that one down.  But again, she's always been a good sport (and actually did a great job)!

The Garner Crew at Grandma Garner's

Like the aging folks we are, everyone was tired and ready to go home by about 9:30, so we wrapped up for the night.

Saturday night was also prom.  Paige invited a few other friends over who did not have dates to the dance for a girls hang-out.  Rachel ended up coming and they ate some pizza and watched movies.  Paige was cool with skipping prom and, in her usual laid-back style, just took it in stride. I love that about her personality.    

In other news:  On Tuesday night, Lindsay and I went to Barnes & Noble so I could pick up a book on Yosemite and start reading up on it for my trip this summer with Kent.  I've had a good time reading about the hikes and the area in general.  There's no way we'll be able to enjoy it all during our short visit, but I'll consider our visit this July as a "scouting trip" for a future visit as a family some time.

Sis. Wrigley was released today as the Stake YW president ... after six years!  That's quite a tenure for such a calling.  Sis. C. Speth was called as the new YW president.

All in all, life is good.  We look forward with anticipation for your emails and hang on every word (I usually end up reading your email 3 or 4 times at various points over the week).  Looking forward to seeing a few pictures.  We are very proud of you!  We pray for your health, safety, and success daily.  Hope your Spanish is coming along and that you and Sis. Rios are building up a good teaching pool in your new area.  Keep a good attitude even in your trials/challenges.  You'll find that the more challenging the trial, generally the fonder the memories when you look back on it later in life.  There is not much worth having in life that does not require hard work and perseverance.  

Te amo!  Have a great week!

Love,

Dad

Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma Garner's

Enjoying the yummy BBQ!

Cousins!

Family!

Let the HUNT begin!

Some are a little more tentative than others:)!

Lindsay

Kent

Aunt Julie & Grandma

The final search is on.

Kent looking on as Mom captures some video.

Amber

Amber

Paige

Paige

Paige and Mom

Almost finished

Cousins!!

Grandma (center) surrounded by those grandchildren that are home.

Grandma Garner

Mom, Lindsay and Dillon

 

The big girls open their eggs!

Notes from Dad April 7, 2014

Dear Sammy,

I hope you had a great first full week in the mission field in Sullana, and capped it off with a great experience, watching General Conference!  Hopefully, you don’t do your emailing till  later this afternoon, since I did not get my weekly email typed up on Sunday and am scrambling to put a note together this morning from work J.

I had a good time last week doing some “research” on Sullana, a summary of which I sent along to you earlier.  Which ward(s) are you working in?  I assume you watched conference at the stake center …

Kind of fun to meet Hermana R. and that the two of you will share the same trainer.  How are things going with Sis. R.?  Do you guys speak Spanish 100% of the time?  (Does she even speak any English?).  Opening a new area can be a challenge but I like your “hablar con todos” attitude!  I am confident you will be a great blessing to the people in the area you serve, and in turn, that your life will be blessed by the people with whom you come in contact as well.

We are immensely curious to get a sense of the “mundane” routine of daily life in your area:  where are you living? what does your apartment look like?  What food are you eating?  Do you have a pensionista?  Do you have dinner appointments?  How are the members? Have you had some funny experiences with the language?  Where do you go to access the internet/send emails?  Our appetite for such details is pretty much insatiable, but whatever you can share, we look forward to.  Of course, photos are worth a thousand words, so if you can send a few along with your email, that would be great.  Also, I had another thought that might save you some time at the computer screen.  As you have always been a fantastic journal writer, I assume you have been recording your experiences daily.  If appropriate, feel free to take a picture of your journal entry, describing an experience or two and just sent them along as pictures, so you don’t have to spend the time typing them out.  Just a thought …

Anyway, our week here has been a good one.

Yesterday, after conference, we did the traditional family dinner at Grandmas – burgers/hot dogs and all the trimmings.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful!  We decided to combine the GC dinner with the annual Easter Egg hunt, even though Easter is still a couple of weeks away.  So, everybody got their bucket full of eggs/candy, as well as cash/change in the amount of $6-8 dollars.  After all of the egg hunting, etc., Mom and I sat out on the porch with the rest of the adults and just enjoyed the beautiful evening and conversation.  It was a very enjoyable evening. 

Amber, Kent, and Lindsay have AIMS testing this week.  Lindsay, bless her heart, always gets so stressed about AIMS (she seems to live in mortal, albeit irrational, fear of “failing” AIMS and being held back).  Of course, she will do fine.  But, she asked me to give her a blessing, which I was more than happy to do (and pleased that she would think to recruit the priesthood to help her with this challenge).  I ended up giving blessings to Amber and Kent as well.  They all headed off to bed for a good night’s sleep, and Mom cooked them a breakfast of eggs and sausage this morning to get the testing week off on the right foot.

Ok, back to conference.  In a historic development, I didn’t fall asleep in any of the sessions!  Yay me! 

Lindsay had her first soccer game on Saturday morning, so Mom and she missed the first session, but we enjoyed the rest of the sessions together.  Prior to the sessions, Mom and I went out for a run.  We ran the first two miles together over to the canal by the Riparian.  Then I headed south while Mom ran around the Riparian.  I ended up putting in 12 miles, which was the most I’ve done since the marathon.  Mom put in 8.   The Mayor was having a 2 mile run/race event there along the canal by the Riparian and Paige and Haley Overson were volunteering.  I caught a little bit of the race, which started just as I was passing the canal on my way back home from my run.  The weather in the morning was just beautiful, though I think it’s supposed to start hitting the 90’s this week.  Speaking of heat, sounds like you are right at home there in Sullana, though I’m sure it seems hotter, as I assume there’s not much in the way of air conditioning …

During Saturday sessions, Paige and Haley O. were in the loft working on their Rube Goldberg project.  Of course, that brought back memories of your project, and I went back and “re-lived” the candle-extinguishing triumph.  Paige’s task was to turn on music.  They did a great job, and borrowed a couple of elements from your project.  They managed to get it to work on the 9^th try.  However, there is a requirement that the task take at least 10 seconds; theirs took only 8, so they may need to “beef it up” and retry.  They are going to talk to their Physics teacher about it.

A couple of highlights from my conference experience:

·        Loved a couple of shout-outs for the Gilbert Temple Cultural Celebration!!

·        Thought a lot about you while listening to Elder Holland’s talk about having the courage to stand up and defend your faith, as he shared the experience of the sister missionaries were spit on with food, etc.  Hope that doesn’t happen to you, but I know whatever challenges you face, you will face them well and with the courage Elder Holland spoke of.

·        Holland:  “Defend your beliefs with courtesy and compassion, but defend them!”

·        Neil L. Andersen:  Trees that grow in the wind grow physically stronger than those that do not have to deal with such challenges.  “Don’t let the whirlwinds drag you down.”  [Think Helaman 5:12—our trek scripture!]

·        Pres. Eyring:  “When you choose to keep a covenant, you choose to leave an inheritance of faith for those who follow you.”

·        Russell M. Nelson:  “Religion” literally means “to tie back to God”;  Too many people look to their bank account as the only indicator of their faith; Truth is truth, whether it comes from the laboratory or from the pulpit.

·        Dallin H. Oaks: When a YW is set apart as a full time missionary, she is given priesthood authority to act in the duties assigned to her.

·        Donald L. Hallstrom:  The purpose of the gospel is only fulfilled if we are willing to “change.”  Who we are is not who we can become.  The  Atonement gives everyone the ability to change.  When we accept that we can change, we give the Spirit full access to our heart.

·        Randall L. Ridd:  Owning a smart phone does not make you smart! (technology is made available to advance the Lord’s purposes, but we must use it wisely).

·        Pres. Uchtdorf (priesthood):  Are you sleeping through the restoration? (Rip Van Winkle analogy). 

·        Pres. Monson (priesthood):  If you ever find yourself where you shouldn’t ought to be:  Get out!  Be the same person in the dark as you are in the light; Courage is not just about dying manfully, but about living decently.  It’s hart o stand upright when one plants his roots in the soil of popular opinion.

·        Pres. Uchtdorf:  Be grateful “in” your circumstances;  don’t wait to be thankful for the rain until after the rainbow appears.

·        M. Russell Ballard:  Great missionary talk about the importance of “follow up” and persistence.  “No matter how good your message is, you may not have the chance to deliver it without consistent, persistent follow up.”  Extending an invitation without following up is like buying a ticket but not using it.

·        David A. Bednar:  Analogy with the truck stuck in the snow, which was only able to get “unstuck” after filling the bed with a heavy load of wood:  “Is the load I am carrying producing the necessary spiritual traction?”  Throughout this talk, I was thinking of your reference to Alma 7:11-13.  The atonement can help us with our load. 

·        Pres.  Monson:  Love is the very essence of the gospel.  Kindness, patience, selflessness, forgiveness, etc. are all expressions of love.  Each person has the ability to increase the sum total of happiness on the earth through expressions of love. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you speak today, but the recipient may remember and cherish them forever.

·        William R. Walker:  The more connected we feel to our righteous forefathers, the more likely we are to make wise and righteous choices.

·        L. Tom Perry:  Obedience is a choice between our own limited knowledge and power, and Gods’ unlimited wisdom and omnipotence.

·        Michael John U. Teh:  Calamity and tragedy have a way of refocusing us on what is most important.

All in all, it was a great conference with lots of messages, reminding me that I have room for improvement.  My first general conference on my mission was when I was in the MTC.  I remember being so much more focused on the messages at that time that I ever had been previously. It was a great experience. I hope you were able to understand the messages in Spanish and enjoy the experience.

Before conference on Sunday morning, Mom, Kent, and I took Rex on a walk through the horse properties to the south.  Did I mention that the weather has been beautiful!

On Saturday night, after the priesthood session, I went out to our traditional post-session dinner at Village Inn with Richard and Dan and their two sons (Jacob and Kevin).  We missed the rest of our crew.  Next conference, Kent will be coming with us!  Exciting.

Speaking of Kent’s 12^th bday, I am finally getting around to pinning down a few details for his 12 bday trip.  The plan is to drive to LA and go to Universal Studios, then head up to Yosemite Natl park, where we will camp for one night, then stay in the Yosemite Lodge campground (e.g., fancy tent camping); then we will head down to a hotel in Lone Pine, CA, near Mt. Whitney for our planned ascent to the highest point in the continental U.S.  Should be fun trip…

On Friday, Mom and I got up early and did a session at the temple.  It was great.  Seeing the rising sun shine through the stained-glass windows in the Celestial Room is always quite an experience.  We put your name on the temple roll, as we both felt impressed that you could use the support of the collective prayers of the temple patrons during this week of whirlwind change.  Hope it helped.

That night, Mom and I went on a date to play racquetball at the Gilbert Rec Center and then went for a walk in the Riparian. 

At work, we finally got a ruling on a big motion that we filed 6 months ago in my case in Atlanta.  The judge ruled in our client’s favor, so it was more cause for celebration here at work. It’s always nice to get a good result for the client!

Well, I better get this sent off, so I can get back to work and make sure this gets to you before you log on to your email. 

We continue to pray for you constantly, particularly at this time of transition to the mission field, where everything is “new” and no doubt, a bit overwhelming.  I have complete faith that you will be able to handle any obstacle thrown in your path, and that you will be able to see the positive (and perhaps humor), even in the challenging experiences you face.  Just remember:  You are awesome! 

With much love,

Dad