Last week of March 2014

Dear Samantha,

Well, as sad as I was not to be able to talk to you on Tuesday and knowing that I only missed you by about 20 minutes, I was able to carry on...barely:).  On Friday we got the picture of you and your new companion & the Mission president and his wife along with your letter (which was awesome) and a letter from the mission president (I'm pretty sure it was a generic letter with your name filled in, regardless I loved it!).  I was so excited that I called Dad and made sure he looked at it right away! It was so nice to know that you made it to the mission home safe and sound.  I keep wondering what your week since then has been like.  I think of the MTC like a bubble (nice and safe, all your time planned out...etc.) and now you are REALLY out in the field.  Is your companion from Peru?  The letter didn't give her name or where you were going in the mission (like I said pretty generic).  So I can not wait to hear all about it!  I check the weather there and it is nice and hot.  Does it cool down at all?  How are your clothes treating you?  

On Tuesday I went and got my hair cut and highlighted.  I needed a big change.  I thought it was a big change, but half the people that I talked to didn't even notice...including Grandma Garner, Aunt MaryAnn, among others.  I will take a picture and send it to you (in the morning after I fix it all up).

Tuesday evening I had bunko at our house.  I think it has been a really long time since I had bunko here.  It worked at great!  What a fun group of women!  They all noticed my hair because they don't see me all the time and so it was more of a drastic change (at least that the reasoning that Dad gave me after I told him that some people hadn't noticed and others had).

The High School put on the play Beauty and the Beast this year and we went as a family on Friday night (Amber was supposed to go, but got invited to a birthday party and decided to go to that instead.  Grandma Garner came with us in her place).  Brett C. was Gaston, Riley P. was his sidekick Lefou, Brooklyn D. was Belle, David W. was the beast, Tyler D. was Lumiere, Tori B. was Mrs. Potts, and Becca S.was the wardrobe.  They did an amazing job.  They were all well cast and wonderful!  I LOVED it!  Brought back a few memories of when you did Dolly:)

Saturday morning we went on another hike:) (got to get them in before it gets too hot).  We hiked up to the tallest point in the Superstition mountains.  It is Superstition peak 5057.  It was about 9 miles round trip and tough up and down.  It was a super cardio workout up and a super quad workout on the way down!  I am seriously so confused at why my quads continually get so sore.  I am very sore today!  OK, not as sore as after the marathon, but close.  It took about 6 1/2 hours to do this hike.  I thought that I might have a few blisters, but fortunately I didn't, just some hot spots.  My toes were a bit sore from hitting the top of my shoes on the way down.  We started earlier in the morning yesterday so we were done earlier this week and that was a good thing!  

We got back from the hike, I showered and then headed out to the Women's broadcast.  Did you get to go?  Do they show it there at all or do you get to watch it later?  What about Conference?  Lindsay was not too excited about the "opportunity" to attend another meeting.  I told her she could take a notebook to write and draw pictures in. She wrote a title on the front of it and I am going to send a picture of it so you can see it yourself.  It is hilarious!  I thought that the first song was so beautiful.  I enjoyed the talks and appreciated the words that were spoken.  After it was over they served egg shaped sugar cookies.  Everyone came to our stake center (we got there early and saved seats).  After it was over we all went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. Marianne O. and Haley joined us as well.  After that I was so tired it was all I could do was come home, change and go to bed.

This morning we got up early and drove to the stake center at the Temple for a morning-side to finish up the Groundbreaking to Dedication.  President Lesueur and his wife spoke along with Lauren K., and an Oliver kid and President Merrill.  They released the adults so that we line the way to the temple and then the youth came and walked up to the temple to get another group picture. (Were you at camp when they did something similar after the spiritual evening?  It reminded me of that).  We had a closing prayer and cinnamon rolls and headed home with a few minutes to spare before church. It was a great morning.  

My primary lesson this morning was on Issac and Rebecca and we made a paper circle out of a 5 X 10 paper (the instructions were on it).  We talked about celestial marriage and I gave them some of the pictures of the Gilbert temple (I glued them onto hard paper so that they were stronger) that Sister D. gave us.  I had a couple of kids that didn't take pictures, which is okay.  I try not to push them and I would rather keep it than find it on the floor in the hall later.  I brought them dum dum succors today and they still are struggling with the concept of being thankful.  They just kept asking for more and I said, "It is hard for me to bring treats when you just keep wanting more and you didn't even thank me for the first one,"  Of course they all chimed in saying "Thank you" at that point.  Maybe my only contribution this year will be to help them show a little gratitude:).  Keeps me on my toes though!

We have Psych Night on Wednesday and I think that is the biggest thing on my schedule for this week.  Other than conference this weekend, of course.  Well, I love you tons and can hardly wait to hear how your week is going.

Hope your coming week is wonderful and full of good things!

Love,

Mom

Pictures from our hike to Peak 5057

Kent, Amber & Dave at the parking lot getting ready to head up.  Peak is in the background.

Kent, Amber and Kristine

Kent & Amber on the trail!

We called this the "Mushroom Rock"
Kent & Dave

Kent with some of the many HooDoo's along the trail.

Dave with Kent in the background.  We had to scurry up lots of rocks
 (looking for cairons to make sure we stayed on the trail!)

Amber and Kent at the top of the "false saddle"
getting a quick snack and enjoying the shade for a minute!

Dave always has to show off in precarious positions and scare me (Kristine) to near death.
You can see a bit of Weaver's Needle above his shoulder in the background.

Kristine with Weaver's Needle in the background.
Last Saddle before reaching the peak!

Kent, Amber and Kristine in their VICTORY poses!
Top of  Peak 5057!

Kent, Dave and Amber at the top of the Peak.

Dave took off his socks and shoes and we all followed suit!
It sure felt nice to free our feet for a bit before heading back down.

Notes from Dad -- March 30, 2014

Dear Sammy,

I sure love you!  Mom and I were bummed that we missed an opportunity to hear your voice (and pepper you with questions :-) in your call from the airport.  Oh well, life goes on, right?

We were very happy to receive your short note from the mission home, as well a letter and photo from Pres. and Sis. Rowe, following your arrival in Piura.  You  look great!  (No surprise there :-).  We were a bit surprised that the letter didn't mention the name of your companion or any information about where you had been assigned to serve, etc.  So, we are anxiously awaiting your next letter to get a few more details ...  (It always seems like whenever we get a letter, we are always left wanting more info. Kind of insatiable in that regard.  Oh well ... Learning to be patient and grateful for the news we do get ...)

The letter mentioned your companion is a native. Where is she from?  How long has she been out?  Hopefully, she doesn't know much English, or if she does, you still speak in all Spanish, as that's the best way to improve your language skills!

How do you get around?  walk? taxi? rides from members?  

How big is your area? Where are you living?  What's your apt. like?  Do you have a pensionista? How's the food so far? Eaten anything "interesting"?  Any interesting cultural stuff you have observed so far (i.e., everyone greeting with hugs and kisses on the cheeks, etc.)?

Do you have anyone in your teaching pool?  Have you had an opportunity to teach some lessons?  I encourage you to jump in and contribute/take on as much responsibility in teaching/setting up appointments, etc. as possible.  Even though you might be tempted to hold back and lean on your senior comp, the sooner you jump in with both feet, the sooner your comfort level will increase.  I found on my mission that effective communication had a lot more to do with a missionary's love for people an desire to convey the message than it had to do with the missionary's knowledge of grammar, tenses, and vocabulary (though those things are important as well).  In fact, one of the senior couples I worked with in Bulgaria barely knew a lick of Bulgarian but were instrumental in teaching/baptizing/fellowshipping one of their neighbors, who didn't speak a lick of English!

How was your first Sunday in your new ward/branch?  How are the ward members?  Where do you meet?  I found a link on lds.org or somewhere that plots out all of the stakes and districts in the Piura mission, along with the locations of all of the ward/branch buildings.  It says there are 6 stakes and 1 district in the mission.  

Ok, enough with the questions, right?  I'm sure I have a ton more, but I guess I'll devote at least some of my letter to what's been going on around here this week.

Yesterday, Mom, Amber, Kent, and I went on another hike (I know, 3 weeks in a row--I'm in heaven!).  This time we took on a challenging one:  Superstition Peak 5057.  It is the peak on the opposite (i.e., east) end of the Superstitions from Flatiron.  As you know from personal experience, Flatiron is known as one of, if not the most, challenging hike in the area.  Well, others think 5057 is tougher.  It's definitely longer (9 miles, instead of 5), and climbs more elevation (3500 ft, instead of 2900).  That said, I personally still think Flatiron is more "intense" and unrelenting.  In any event, peak 5057 is definitely a challenge.  But a fun one.  And, everyone did great!  It took us about 3 hours and 20 minutes to make our way to the top of the peak, and another 3 to get back down.  So, it was a solid day's work. 

As you might expect, the views from the peak were amazing.  It was a bit hazy, so I can only imagine how cool it would look on a clear day.  It was fun to look across the range at Flatiron and Peak 5024, some 5 miles or so away.  With the zoom on the camera, I could see hikers milling around on the Flatiron.  

It was a great accomplishment to make it to the top.  At the end, it took a little rock scrambling on the "hoodoos" (rock formations) to finally get to the actual high point.  Apparently, the bugs are fond of being on top of the peak as well, as there were a ton of flies, gnats, and some strange bee-like bugs flying around.  So, we didn't stay too long on top after taking some victory photos and signing the summit register (contained in an old ammo can).  Instead, we climbed down from the peak a bit to a nice, shady spot among the hoodoos, and took a lunch break, and enjoyed the view.  We all pulled off our shoes and socks and just hung out for a bit.

Our descent was again filled with beautiful vistas, but otherwise generally uneventful (except that Amber took a spill and earned a nice bruise on her bum ...).  Surprisingly, despite our 6+ hours on the trail, over 9 miles, we only came across one other hiker!  So, essentially, we had the trail to ourselves, which was kind of fun!

We came home and treated ourselves to concrete mixers and french fries at Culver's.  Lindsay had her first soccer practice of the new season, so couldn't make it on the hike, and Paige had other plans.

We got home about 3:30 and the girls all got ready for the General  Women's meeting.  Lindsay wasn't exactly honored to be a part of history in being invited for the first time to go to the meeting.  I'm not sure her idea of a good time is getting dressed up and spending another couple of hours at church on at Saturday :-)   When she asked me if she "had to" go, I said, "No, You get to go!"  Apparently, it wasn't as bad as she anticipated (Reagan being there, and Sweet Tomatoes afterwards, helped soften the blow), but she took with here a notebook, on which she had labeled:  "For Long Boring Meeting and other events only," with the "boring" underlined three times.  Yep, that's our budding spiritual giant!!  Ha ha!

This morning, there was a stake youth morningside at the temple, to "bookend" the morningside that took place in the alfalfa field prior to the groundbreaking at the temple.  Mom and I went and drove our girls and the Echols boys.  We first met in the next-door chapel for a few messages from youth, Pres. Merrill, and Pres/Sis. Lesueur.  Pres. L spoke on "endowments" and compared the temple endowments to the monetary "endowments" that people give to universities to fund various programs, and buildings, etc.  He emphasized that just as the funds associated with monetary endowments must be used for the purposes for which they are given, or else they will be lost/revoked, so our temple endowment can be lost or rendered ineffective if we do not continue to live worthy of it by abiding the covenants associated with the receipt of that gift. 

After the talks, all the adult leaders were excused and formed a two-line pathway to the temple grounds, through which all the youth silently walked for another temple picture.  It was kind of cool to watch.  After the photos, we returned to the chapel parking lot for cinnamon rolls and milk.  

In other news of the week, we went to the high school musical on Friday night:  Beauty and Beast.  Amber couldn't come because she had a conflict with a b-day party, so we gave her ticket to Grandma G.  We enjoyed the show, which was well cast.  Brett C. played the roll of Gaston and did a great job.  David W. was the "Beast," and as you probably know, as a beautiful voice.  Tori B. was Mrs. Potts and did a great job as well.  A fun evening.

On Thursday, I went home teaching.  My first visit was to the S.s.  Sis. S. was not home, so it was just me and Marty (my companion, Chase Echols ended being stuck taking care of his great grandmother).  Marty had gotten a call from Bro. Q., an older gentleman who lives in the care center at the end of our street, indicating that Bro. Q. was sick and needed a blessing. So, we walked over and gave him one.  It was nice to be of service.

After the S., I recruited Mom to be my companion in visiting Macki B. and the D..   We had a good talk (she is wanting to get into running, so as you know, Mom and I had lots to say about that!).  

At work, I put on a "CLE" (continuing legal education) seminary at the firm on pre-litigation strategies and administrative proceedings.  I presented with two other partners, one from our Colorado Springs office, and another from here in Phoenix.  I think it went okay.  Part of my presentation was about drafting/sending and responding to pre-lawsuit demand letters.  For fun, I put up a slide entitled "The Ultimate Demand Letter," and pasted in a copy of the Declaration of Independence, preceded by a salutation: "Dear King George III ..."  Everyone got a chuckle out of that, so I guess it wasn't completely boring.

On Tuesday night, we had a open house/reception at our new offices in the evening.  Clients and prospective clients were invited.  I had a few clients come, which was nice.  Richard (my brother) also came, as his company has been a client of the firm over the years.  We had hors d'oevres and toured folks around the office space.  Mom hosted bunko at our home that night, so I guess it worked out well that I was out of her hair :-)

Speaking of hair, Mom got her hair cut and highlighted.  It's hard to improve on beautiful, but I like the new do, and I think she does as well.  She has found it funny to she which of her friend and family members notice (or at least mention) the change.  Regardless, she looks good!

On Wednesday, for combined mutual, the YM/YW leaders put together a DVD highlighting all of the youth events from 2013 through the Cultural Celebration.  We ate popcorn and other treats and had shaved ice from Bro. Crotts at the end. The DVD included a number of pictures with you in them.  It made me miss you, and also seemed like some of the events were ages ago, given everything that's happened since you graduated--college and mission!

Well, this is getting a little long, so I'll sign off for the week.  Know that we pray for you multiple times a day, and think of you more often than that.  I am proud of all you are doing and continue to be honored to be your father.

Keep working hard and having fun!

Love you,

Dad

Just another regular week at the Garner home!

This is my letter to Samantha this week.  No time to go in and just make it a blog entry:).

Dear Samantha,

So I wrote most of this letter yesterday, but didn't send it yet.  I was so sad (I can't even tell you how sad) I was that I missed your phone call.  I just had no idea when you would be leaving or I probably would have sat by the phone all day.  I am glad that you got to talk to the kids though.  So how many of you flew to Piura?  How was your flight?  One blog I found of an elder in Piura said that they were having a very bad drought there, you will have to fill us in on the details.  

I wrote this question yesterday, but am still wondering:  Some of the moms that have missionaries at the Peru MTC were saying that their (all of them were elders) were leaving today (monday) to go to the mission field.  Do you leave from the MTC in shifts?  Just wondering. Can't wait to hear from you when you get Pirua and figure out where your first assignment is etc!

I know that we talked (but I can't remember) about whether or not you want me to forward letters onto you from Connor, Ryan, David and Kaleb.  What about: Hayden, Tyler, Grant (think those are the only ones I get).  I know your time is so limited, but let me know what you think.

My cycle class has become pretty popular:).  I have had a full class each time for the last few weeks.  I am not really sure what makes the difference, but I am not complaining!  Today (Monday) I had 2 people that couldn't come to my class because there were no bikes left. CRAZY!

Amber had her play last week.  We went on Wednesday night.  Grandma and Doris came with us.  Amber did a great job as usual.  I will send a few pictures:). (Actually dad sent pictures and a better description:)).

On Saturday morning I was in charge of the orienteering course for girls camp for the 3rd years certification.  It went pretty well.  I thought that I knew what I was doing and didn't go check out the course the day before.  I should have, but oh well!  You learn something everyday!

When I got home Dad wanted to go on a hike.  No one else wanted to go so we made it a date.  We got started pretty late.  We made sandwiches and ate at the trail head. We went to South Mountain and hiked the Guadalupe Ridge line trail.  It said that it was only about a 3 on a scale of 5.  It was up one peak and down the other side and up the next peak.  It was warm and the sun was out.  It was however, beautiful and you could see so much of the valley...all directions.  We took the National trail back and went through Hidden Valley (fat man's pass) and then back to where we had parked (dad will have to fill you in on where the parking lot is, it is not one that we have gone to before).  I have to tell you that even though the hike was 8 miles (same distance we hiked last week), I was much more wiped out!  By about 7 pm I was falling asleep.  Dad was awesome and went and did some last minute grocery shopping for our Sunday dinner (just spaghetti).

My primary class is still pretty rambunctious!  They still crack me up.  I have lowered my expectation on what I can teach each week and try to enjoy the moments when they are actually listening!  

Which reminds me of something that I was going to talk to you about as you head into the "real" mission field.  I know that when I was in the MTC it was like living in a bubble.  We talked a lot about missionary work, and role played a ton, but living in the field is a bit different! You have had a taste of that with your Saturday outings (which is awesome), but I want to share one of the lessons that I learned.  My second companion was a convert to the church and was just a little older (not much) and had a lot of life experience.  One of the things that she taught me (she had a really hard time waking up in the morning and I refused to be her mother and wake her up)  was that when she worked, she worked hard, but at the same time she knew how to enjoy life and get the most out of life all the time.  She would always tell me, "I work hard and I play hard."   P-days were always fun and a time that we could let down (within reason) and enjoy.  They were super busy, and we were always respectful of our callings as missionaries, but we tried to experience what our area had to offer as well.  Also when we worked she made the work as fun as possible.  We constantly sang hymns.  She is the one that taught me that relaxing did not mean slacking.  Remember to enjoy your mission and each experience and know that the Lord will make up the difference!  I know you have a good balance in your life, especially when you focus on the positive!

I guess what I am saying is don't let being "strictly obedient" get in the way of enjoying the experiences that you will have.  Laugh and love and live and trust that the Lord will help you to find the people that need your message!  Focus on the things that are going right and the good things that you are doing each day and let the other stuff go so that it doesn't stop you from being the best you can be.

I love you!  Hopefully you will get a minute today to read your email and respond to ours!  If you get a chance to call me from the mission home, call my cell phone:)!  

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with you!! 

Love,

Mom

Date Hike to South Mountain-Guadalupe Ridge-line

Kristine by "Guadalupe Rock"

Selfie of Kristine & Dave 

One view of Dave (most points on the ridge-line we could see in several directions)

The sun was HOT!

Lots of rocks to climb through and over,
sometimes making the trail a little challenging to follow!

There were several peaks, this is the last one.
We could see in all directions.  Dave enjoying the vista.

Kristine squeezing through "Fat Man's Pass"

Dave posing in front of the tunnel coming out of "Happy Valley"

Amber's Play..."Robin Hood"

Amber shines as Casper!

Amber as Casper in Robin Hood

General Scene:)

Two of Amber's biggest fans!  Grandma Garner & our favorite neighbor, Doris!

Rachel and Sister Beecroft also came to support Amber!

Notes from Dad--March 24, 2014

Here is Dave's letter to Samantha:

Dear Sammy,

Exciting times!  Can't wait to hear about your trip to Piura and your first "real" area assignment/companion, etc.  Actually, I guess we have no choice but to wait :-)  And even though you may not get a chance to read this email tomorrow, I'll drop you a note just in case ...

At work, I'm still enjoying the "high" of being victorious in my special education hearing.  I went out to lunch with the associate who helped with the trial (and then left the firm to go clerk for a judge before the briefing was due).  She was excited to learn about the favorable result, and the client is very pleased.  

One of my partners sent an email to everyone in the firm about the successful ruling, and I received a lot of congratulatory emails, etc.  It's been fun.

Also, Grandma wanted to take your Mom and me out to a celebratory dinner, so we went to the Outback Steakhouse on Friday.  We had a nice dinner and enjoyed some good conversation.

Amber's play (Robin Hood) was this week, and we went on Thursday.  Doris came with us, and Grandma came as well.  Amber played the role of Kasper (one of the Prince's guard, who has the arrow shooting contest with Robin Hood).  As usual, Amber did a fantastic job.  She is very animated and expressive on stage.  Sis. Beecroft came as well and brought Rachel Kingsford along. Afterwards, Grandma treated us to DQ, where we saw Maddie Brown (again :-).

On Saturday, I got up early and took a 31 mi. bike ride up through Las Sendas and some surrounding areas.  The route was a familiar one, generally, but I explored a couple of new areas on my way home to make things a bit more interesting.  The morning weather was beautiful.  The only downside was that Mom was not able to go with me, as she was over at the Riparian, leading the YW in the orienteering course as part of Girls Camp certification.

We made up for the time apart by going on what ended up being a "date hike" on South Mountain (we invited the kids to go, but they weren't interested).  It was probably a good thing they didn't all come, as the hike turned out to be a bit more strenuous than I had anticipated.  It was a new trail for me, called the Guadalupe Ridge.  It starts at the eastern end of South Mountain and follows the ridgeline for four miles until it finally dead-ends into the National Trail (which extends the full length of the mountain range).  The ridge was neat because from that vantage point, you could see all of the surrounding areas both to the north (i.e., downtown Phx, Camelback, Piestewa Peak) as well as to the South (Ahwatukee, etc.) and everything out east (Supersitions, etc.).  So, the views were great, though it was a bit hazy.  

The ridge is not an official trail, and there were quite a few spots where we had to guess/explore and scramble up/down rocks to figure out where to go next.  That, along with the warm temps and exposed nature of hiking along a ridge, made it more tiresome than we had planned.  We did, however, find a cool rock formation with a sheltered, cave-like area that was kind of fun to explore and take rest in the shade.   

Just before we reached the junction with the National Trail, we climbed to the high point in the hike and enjoyed essentially a 360 degree view, which was very cool.  

Instead of returning on the ridgeline, we took the National Trail back, including a shortcut through Hidden Valley.  We went through Fatman's Pass and the rock tunnel on the other end.  By the time we were done, we had hiked nearly 9 miles and were pretty pooped, but in a good, satisfying way :-)

It was dinner time by the time we got home, so we stopped by Little Caesars and got pizza for dinner.  I  did a little shopping that night for some essentials and picked up some mint chocolate chip ice cream and swiss rolls for a treat.  I figured we earned it!

In other news, Amber spoke in church about the family.  It is my month to arrange for speakers for sacrament meeting, and I had had trouble finding a willing YW, so Amber, bless her heart, stepped up to the plate and filled in the gap at the last minute.  She talked about the Proclamation on the Family, FTSOY, quoted 1 Ne. 1:1, and shared about how some of our crazy family traditions help bond us together ("sure do love ya .... big hugs" after prayers, and our scripture alarm clock).  I was grateful for her willingness to step up and help me in a pinch.  I guess that's one of the consequences of being a child of a bishopric member ...

Richard also went hiking on Saturday, taking Amy and her friend up Flatiron.  They came across a huge rattlesnake, which he sent me a picture of.  Pretty crazy.  I still have yet to come across a snake while on a hike ..., which is okay by Mom :-)

Kathy and Julie are planning a trip to Southeast Asia this summer, including a few days in Singapore with John and his family.   So fun.  Also, Kathy's roommate is getting married, so she is now looking again for a new living situation.

The weather continues to be unseasonably warm around here, but unseasonably cold throughout the rest of the country.  Kind of weird.  The mornings and evenings right now are fabulous, though it won't be long before the real heat wave begins.

Your missionary plaque came in.  It looks great (how could it not, right?)!

I'm probably forgetting to tell you about some events of the week, but hopefully Mom will fill in the gaps and straighten out any errors ;-).

I need to sign off so I can take Amber over to the Y for a quick evening workout.  

We are excited to hear from you, as always.  We love you and pray for you multiple times a day.  Proud of all that you are doing.  Keep working hard, and good luck as you enter the "real" mission field!  You'll do great!!!

Love you,

Dad