We sure love you! Hope you have had a wonderful week. Around here, it's been the typical, crazy week-before-school-gets-out event .
On Monday, Kent had his "World's Fair," where he presented his research and report on Peru. In his typical, detailed fashion, he did a great job in collecting, organizing and presenting the information. Mom went to the actual report, so she may have more details. One of the things he included on his board was a pie chart of the religions in Peru. As you know, the vast majority (over 80%) are Catholic, followed by 12% Evangelicals, 2.9% "None," and 3.3%--including LDS-- in the "Other" category. So ...., it looks like you've got plenty of work to do. Haha!
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| Kent and his country report! |
Lindsay also had her Whitehouse Tea Party, where she displayed her research on Robert E. Lee. I guess she did not end up having to do a class presentation, but just answered questions for people as they toured the various displays. I was helping her with her written essay this week and one of the details she included was that people would take strand of hair from the tail of Robert E. Lee's horse, Traveler, as a memento, as Lee traveled from place to place. Not sure Traveler was too keen about that practice ....
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| Lindsay dressed as Robert E. Lee (spitting image if you ask me:))! |
Most of the events this week surrounded your amazing sister, Amber. First, at the final choir concert of the year on Tuesday, she was honored with a choral leadership award and was presented with a trophy. She also received a certificate for perfect attendance and one for being in the choir for two years. We were proud of her. She works hard and always brings a positive attitude and energy to her choir class.
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| Amber with her choir awards |
Then, on Thursday, Amber was again honored at the Hurricane Awards ceremony, where her Math teacher selected her as Superior Scholar. Beforehand, we kind of speculated that it would be something for Drama, so it was somewhat of a surprise--and certainly a pleasant one. We spoke with her teacher briefly afterward, who had nothing but praise for Amber, both as an excellent math student, but also as a cheerful, bubbly example in her first-hour class. Again, another proud parent moment.
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| Amber and Ms. Ortega (her math teacher) |
Amber will be honored this week as a Golden Scholar (as were Kent and Paige). Sharp gal, that sister of yours! She has also developed quite a regimen for running and working out. For the past month or so, she has pretty consistently been putting in 3 miles two or three times a week, while doing some strength training as well. I taught her a few exercises she can do with the dumbbells, etc. She asked me how she would know if she's working out hard enough. I told her that if she was sore the next day, she's probably doing it right. Haha!
Mom came down to visit me at my new office on Thursday. The firm is changing insurance carriers at the beginning of June, and she came down to listen to the presentation on all of the insurance options, etc. Afterwards, I gave her a quick tour of the office, and then we were able to carpool home together.
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| Dave in his new office. |
Saturday, Kent and I got up at 4:30 a.m. to head out on a training hike for Mt. Whitney. We wanted to get some higher mileage in, along with some decent elevation gain, but wanted to stay close by. That meant we needed to be prepared for heat, as the forecast was for 103 degrees. So, we headed out early to the Eastern Superstitions to do a 13 mile loop around Weaver's Needle from the Peralta Trailhead. We were on the trail by 6 a.m. The first half of the hike was actually quite pleasant, as we enjoyed a lot of shade, hiking through various canyons and drainages. There was a little bushwhacking involved, as some of the trails we were on are not traveled as often. Other than having to plow through some scratchy bushes here and there and picking up a few minor cuts/scratches, it was no big deal. More annoying than the bushwhacking was the constant companionship of flies and gnats. I kind of felt like that character "Pigpen" on Charlie Brown, who is constantly surrounded by a cloud of dust--except that we were surrounded by flies and gnats, all of whom were happy to have a convenient source of water and salt (i.e., sweat) out in the middle of the desert! Actually, they weren't as bad as I make it sound, but as Kent put it, he would occasionally have to go into "windshield wiper" mode with his arms to keep them at bay. One even decided to commit suicide by flying into Kent's eye (I was able to fish the dead guy out with my handkerchief).
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| Dave on the trail. |
Beyond the bugs, at about the halfway point of the hike, shade became harder to come by, and the temps were rising. Luckily, the scenery was beautiful, and it was kind of cool to see Weaver's Needle from every different angle.
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| Kent taking advantage of the shade! |
Given the weather, I guess it was not too surprising that, up until the final 2 miles of our hike, we only came across one other person! This was Kent's longest hike to date, and he was a trooper, though we were both a bit pooped by the end (and I had run out of water with about 1.5 mi. to go). We returned to the trailhead at 1pm and headed to Dairy Queen for a well-deserved Midnight Truffle Blizzard.
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| On the way back. |
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| Trailhead. |
Before heading home, we took the Suburban and ran it through the carwash, vacuumed it out, and filled it with gas. Today (Sunday), as we were driving over to visit Grandma, we were talking about the car wash, and I mentioned that I paid $5 for the car wash and said it was well worth it! Lindsay asked what it normally costs to wash the Suburban, to which I responded: about and hour and half of hard work and a bad back! Haha!
After getting back from the hike and cleaning up, Mom Kent and I headed over to REI to look at backpacks for our upcoming Havasupai trip, and generally for Kent's scouting years. They were having an anniversary sale so we could get 20% off on one item. We ended up getting an adult backpack, as well as one that fits Kent now, with a little room to grow. By the time we were done shopping it was almost 7 pm, and Kent told us: "I need to get something to eat." He wasn't kidding! After a 13 mile hike in the heat, (which he followed by going over to Jared Iverson's to play for a couple of hours), I'm sure his little 95 lb. body was in desperate need for some refueling. I felt bad for not having thought of that before.
Anyway, we quickly finished our business and headed over to Chick-fil-A for some dinner for the three of us. That is one of his favorite places to eat, so that seemed to "revive" him! He earned it!
After getting home from REI, Mom and I headed over to the Ayers for Savannah's wedding reception. She looked beautiful and happy. We had a fun time chatting with the Ayers, the Smiths, Cavanees, and others. The Whitesides (including Kayla) were also there and we spent a fair amount of time catching up with them. The fact that they have "left" the Church was kind of the 1200 lb. elephant in the room, but wasn't a topic of conversation and we enjoyed talking about triathlons, running, hiking, and various other stuff.
Today, Paige gave a talk in sacrament meeting, on personal revelation. She did a great job. It was a very "mature" talk, with scriptural references, personal stories, an organized framework and well delivered. I was impressed and edified by it. As it turned out, President Merrill attended our sacrament meeting today. Both he and a number of others commented on how much they enjoyed her talk. She talked about how personal revelation requires more than simply asking for answers to prayers; it requires work. She shared an analogy about her preparation for hiking the Grand Canyon and decided that it probably wasn't such a good idea to rely on just a 2 mile hike to the Wind Caves as her preparation :-/. She encouraged us to focus on three key elements of preparation for personal revelation: continual prayer, scripture study, and repentance. It was well done!
In High Priest group, I gave the lesson, which was on searching for truth. We discussed the importance of education generally, both secular and spiritual learning. I organized the lesson around four components of searching for truth: (1) our "eyes" [studying/feasting on the scriptures; (2) our "ears" [paying attention to and learning from the words of living prophets]; (3) our "hearts" (using our faith itself as a took for accessing spiritual knowledge); and (4) our "hands" [using our actions to "experiment on the word" and learn truth by applying the doctrines in our everyday interactions]. It went well, though of course, it's pretty easy to teach the high priest group--not exactly a tough crowd!
After church, Bro. Crotts was feeling sick, so I counted tithing, did a bunch of temple recommend interviews, and issued a bunch of callings and releases. As a result, I missed scout committee meeting and choir practice, but oh well. I can only do too much! When I finally got home, I changed and crashed for a nap before dinner. Mom made grilled cheese sandwiches and soup--a good easy favorite. :-)
In response to your letter last week:
--A bummer about being ditched on appointments by your investigators. But, it happens. Sounds like you were able to keep your spirits up anyway. Hang in there.
--Mom signed us up to feed the sister missionaries in our ward this week, so we'll be thinking of you and your encouragement for us to help out where we can, as we have them over.
--Great job on your impromptu skit for La Dia de La Madre celebration. Sounds like it turned out to be a great event. Sounds like "Mormon Standard Time" takes on a whole new meaning in Peru. Haha!
--Glad you and H. Rios have decided to do some exploring on your Pdays. I wish I had done a bit more of that on the mission. I think it's not only fun, but important to get to know the area you live in, and you can use that experience to further the work.
Your Mother and I are so proud of you! Your dedication and devotion to the Lord's work is an inspiration. We think the world of you and pray for your success and safety daily. Keep up the good work!
Love you,
Dad
Dear Samantha,
I like how dad always starts out his letter by his expressing his love for you! I want you to know that I love you too! I think and pray for you everyday. I have to say that I am so thankful that you now have a camera that works and that you are able to send a few pictures! I love seeing a little bit of where you are at and what you are doing!
Dad summed up our week really well, as per the usual!
The only things that I can really add are about my cycling class and my primary class:)! I taught off the bike this week to allow my calf muscle to heal. I got a nice bruise from tearing it pretty well. I am starting to feel very normal now and I am so glad! I taught my class this morning and everything was great (except when I stood up on the bike, I guess that works my calf more than I knew and so I avoided that!) It is nice to feel like I am on the mend!! Getting hurt kind of stinks (but I am glad that I don't have a race that I am training for or anything!).
My primary class went well this week. They actually are learning to listen and participate and not get quite so crazy:). Still loving it!
Kent did a great job on his country report. I did have to tell him (before he went to school he practiced it with me) to say why he chose Peru and who was there. I also prompted him to share of couple of the experiences that you have shared with us, like the crazy drivers not obeying the lines or the stop signs and honking all the time:). I think it makes it a little more interesting if you include some personal details! He remembered to add those in at the report at school and did fine explaining all the information that he had learned!
Amber got to perform with 3 other drama 2 students in the talent show. They had put together a lip sync (last class project) to the muses singing "Hercules". It was awesome! They even got together and made costumes. I didn't get a picture, but I recorded it. They had some great choreography and the crowd loved them!! They weren't judged as part of the competition because Drama 2 was in charge of the whole talent show and so they were a "relief number"!
Lindsay was great as Robert E. Lee. It was nice for me because we still had the costume from when Kent was him last year. I didn't spend a lot of time at the school that day, but it was fun and she knew what she was talking about:).
Dad mentioned that Paige spoke on Sunday. She really did do a fantastic job. She was a little bit nervous before church, so I asked her if she wanted me to read her talk and see what I thought. She agreed. I told her it was great, she just needed to add something personal to it to make it hers. We talked about some options and she figured out what she wanted to add. She didn't seem nervous at all when she spoke and she made good eye contact. Her talk was very cohesive and made a lot of sense. She had turned Dad down a couple of weeks ago and so he told her she owed him:). She told me she hates speaking (most of us do). So with all that, I couldn't have been prouder of her!
It is crazy to think that Paige will be a senior this year! Time is just marching on!
Well, Dad told you the rest, so I'm going to sign out now. I love you more than I can express and you are always in my thoughts and prayers. Keep up your great attitude and continue to exercise your faith.
Love you!!
~Mom
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