DENTIST JACK MOLLY NOAH
The four of us went to the dentist Tuesday morning for some work on cavities. It was hard to break the news to Molly that she wasn't going to get a $10 shopping spree even though she would not have any cavities once they were all filled. She thought she had found a loop hole I think. Lots of nitrous, laughing, talking with Dr. Morgan about the upcoming backpacking trip, tears and frustration later, we headed home. Everyone needed to get packed for backpacking. 8-1-23
BACKPACKING WITH THE YOUNG MEN
Nate has worked so hard and put SO MUCH thought into this trip. He had one more sleepless night Tuesday night after helping everyone pack their packs and be all geared up, and then they were off Wednesday morning! I was so nervous for them because of all the rain that was in the forcast, but apparently it really only rained about a day and a half. Some of the kids were REALLY wet and that is a bummer, but so fun that they were able to do the backpacking. I liked hearing all their stories and hearing about all the funny things the dads did. Makes me that much mroe grateful for the dad I picked for my kids and that he takes them to do these things and teaches them these skills. I was so proud of them for making it the entire time and that there were a lot of good things to be said about it as well. 8-2-23--8-6-23
ME AND THE GIRLS
Jack had been invited to go with the Young Men, so it was just the girls and I at home! We had a lot of fun just watching movies, playing games, going to the park and eating out occasionally. I was happy I didn't try too hard to do anything too exotic. That never really goes as planned anyway. But it was really relaxed and we enjoyed the clean house for msot of it. I was really happy with how it went. 8-2-23--8-6-23
DATE WITH KELLY
Kelly and I planned to go get our nails done! We went to the place in Farmington Station and that was a lot of fun. We laughed a lot about the ladies not speaking very good english and me having to refuse glitter. We got to talk about Devan and how things were going with him. I'm really proud of Kelly and that she is thinking things through these days. She has decided to move down to Ephraim this fall and work down there. Hopefully that ends up being a fun experience for her. After getting our nails done we went over to Aubergine's for some yummy gluten free/vegan food. I think Kelly liked it. 8-2-23
VICTOR'S MISSION CALL
I loved being there for Victor's call. I loved that he asked Brad to say the opening prayer and the big hug he gave him after he read the call. It was cute that Victor was tearing up so much as he read. We're excited for him to go to Brazil. I still can't believe he starts home MTC on Christmas Day!! 8-5-23
SUNDAY
It felt like a special Sunday this week. Charity, Kelly, Bradley and Erika all bore their testimonies. That was awesome. Then we remembered to do a craft- the painting on the frames idea I've had sitting there forever. We got to spend a lot of time with Nate because he took work off and then because he told his mom 6:00 for the setting apart, we had some time with her and Jen before going. We even had dessert which was rice krispie treats. I enjoyed the feel of the day. 8-6-23
BRAD'S SETTING APART
I had not been prepared for how cool this event would be. I loved that we got to all be there for that. It went differently than I had imagined, since we ended up going to the Stake Center, I'd pictured it being at home. But we all went and set up chairs in the RS room and listened to Pres. Larsen for a minute as he talked about some of the rules and how important this setting apart is. He then gave Brad the blessing. It was SO INCREDIBLE!! I LOVED it. It was a similar feel to his Patriarchal blessing. I loved that he was blessed with patience, the ability to learn the language quickly, the ability to see his companions gifts and strengths and use them to benefit the work. I thought it was nice that he was blessed to have ministering angels not only with him, but with us also. I loved that Pres. Larsen had everyone share their thoughts and feelings about some of the things said in his blessing afterwards as well. I only wish we'd had more time to say more which is why we did our own little add-on when we got home. I am so excited for Bradley. He is going to do so great! I can't wait to hear all of his experiences and be able to see the growth. I know he is doing the right thing and I feel peace that he will be safe and will be protected. After his setting apart, Pres. Larsen had him put his name tag on and that just felt too real. He looks so good and just glows while he's wearing it. Makes me happy for him to be able to experience this!! 8-6-23
HOME MTC HERE WE COME
First day- Brad missed half of his classes and it still felt really long and kind of boring. We were good at keeping the house quiet and peaceful though. We went and got Brad lunch from Costa while we were out to get his finger prints, but ended up not having enough time, so I just bought an ink pad and we did it ourselves. We did the finger print and sent that in for approval. 8-7-23
Day two- He had all of his classes and still survived :). We missed him! He only had a few short breaks, but we were able to squeeze in getting his signature notarized and sent in for approval and our Chilis date. He went to play pickleball that night and ended up just hanging out with Elder Hedquist and Kenzie. 8-8-23
Day three- I loved waking up to his letter with the subject "MY MOM IS THE COOLEST"! He's so good to me. I was happy my dad mustered up a little reply of encouragement to him. I'm so happy we got his email list to work out. This was his P- day! That was so perfect because we had received approval on his signature/fingerprint, so we needed to go get the apostille at the capitol building. We had plenty of time to do so and go to Chick-fil-a after :). I was SO RELEIVED to get his paperwork all finished (another fingerprint) in the envelope and off to the Peru Visa Team. We also had our Sunday School class ice cream party- brad was here for the 10 minutes at the beginning that nobody was here for and then the last ten minutes as everyone was leaving, so that was a bummer. He seems to be getting the hang of the HMTC though! 8-9-23
LETTER FROM ELDER MAYNES
Yes, yes I know this is only my third day but it is my P day so I figured I might as well make an email. But first I would like to ask that if you are going to reply make sure you click the reply to just me button, instead of the reply all. It will save everyone the trouble of having their email blown up with a ton of random emails. But I would love some emails from you guys just click reply to just me. haha
ICE CREAM PARTY WITH SUNDAY SHCOOL- GOODBYE SENIORS
I think this went really well! We had a good turn out and everyone chatted so loud that we interrupted Brad's MTC zoom companion study. I loved talking with everyone and just having that time together. Very cool kids. I'm gonna miss all the participation from those four- Molly, Rachel, Cameron and Brad. But I'm excited for them to move on and do more exciting things. 8-9-23
DATE NIGHT
We had a great day Friday, lots of running around, but also got to have our date. We went to Sushi Monster and to see Gran Turismo and had a lovely evening. I loved that my prayers were answered today and that I didn't need to bring in reinforcements. 8-11-23
DRESS SHOPPING WITH MOLLY
It was time to buy Molly's baptism dress! So exciting! She and I and Erika set off to find the perfect one. We went to the distribution center first because I had seen some there, but they only had one to choose from. Molly liked it, but felt weird just picking the first dress she tried on, so she wanted to try somewhere else too. Unfortunately, White Elegance was gone as well as Journey 5 where I'd seend some a couple years ago. There were very few options in my opinion. Probably a store in the mall, but we were not even close to the mall. So we tried Twirl! They actually had two to choose from and they were both really cute. Molly found the one she wanted and is very happy with it. I loved spending this time with her. 8-12-23
MOLLY'S BAPTISM PHOTO SHOOT
We spent some time curling Molly's hair and then sat around waiting for golden hour and then headed up to the Bountiful Temple. Erika joined us as my assistant ;). We had the perfect lighting and got some really great shots! I was really happy with how many good ones we got. There were TONS of people there that day, taking photos, even saw Dr. Morgan too, so it was tricky to get any candid ones, but we had fun and got the job done :). Time to make the announcements! 8-12-23
HOME MTC
Sunday was a nice day with Home MTC, felt more like a regular Sunday. Brad didn't have much class-wise. I think he enjoyed that and kept talking about how little class time he has left before leaving, which was good. Monday was a shorter day so he was able to go to Lucia and Seth's wedding and then Tuesday was a "travel day" so we got him all to ourselves. Wednesday too. So it is nice that HMTC is almost done. He is really relieved. 8-12-23
TEACHING RELIEF SOCIETY
I was asked to teach RS this week. I almost told Merrit no because it's a few days before we take Bradley, but I didn't. It ended up going pretty well. I sort of hate how I was the whole time, but whatever. The talk was "Abide in Me and I will abide in you, walk with me" something like that, from Elder Bednar. I think the talk was a blessing in my life right now. So good experience. Hopefully it wasn't too hard for everyone to be part of. 8-13-23
PERPARATION FOR LIFE
Brad texted me at choir to tell me that there were lots of parents at the Preparation for life thing so I ditched choir and met up with him and Luke at the Stake Center. This was one about missionary work, so that was cool. It was nice to feel like Brad is prepared and that Luke will be as well. 8-13-23
MTC DEVOTIONAL
I loved this! We got to see the MTC, learn some of the policies and rules, and hear more about what Brad will be doing there. It was great. It was on zoom and we couldn't get the sound on the tv, so that was a bummer, but otherwise a great thing for all of us! 8-13-23
FAMILY MEETING
This was Brad's last family meeting. He got lots of attention from everyone about his mission. We had gotten there an hour late and still had an hour left of the lesson which was kind of a bummer considering we wanted to be able to visit before having to leave at 8:30, but it was good. I loved talking with Brad on the way home. 8-13-23
KELLY MOVING HOME
Noah so generously came with me to help bring Kelly's stuff home from Logan. Nate took the seats out and we drove up there, quickly loaded up her stuff (with the help of Cam too) in less than 10 minutes and then were headed home almost instantly! Kinda crazy how fast it all went. But good. Noah and I were able to eat at Panda real quick before needing to get him home for work. 8-14-23
SCHOOL SHOPPING
We got the rest of the school shopping done!! This was a challenge, but we did it! I was so happy when Luke found the clearance shirts appealing and picked out one of every color :). Fun stuff. 8-14-23
FHE
Our FHE was kinda thrown together this week. Brad and Luke came home from Lucia and Seth's wedding in time for the treat, but we had Molly's baptism lesson where she asked us all questions and we talked about our baptisms and stuff. Kinda cool. So that was nice. Then Handels for ice cream after. There weren't any empty tables so we had to go sit on the ground outside, kinda weird and half of the kids didn't have shoes on, so that was weird, but whatever. We're getting kinda antsy for the MTC and School to start I think. 8-14-23
TUESDAY!! BRAD'S LAST FULL DAY HOME
Brad, Kelly and I all went up to the temple for an endowment session. Brad's friends Pierce, Jake, and someone else met up with us there. When we were taking a picture, there was a guy his friend had met who is going to the same mission he is, which was pretty fun and cool to hear about. We got a picture and then headed down to Mo Bettas. I was glad Brad got one more temple trip in and I'm glad he gets to go while he's in the MTC. This time is so precious, I just don't want it to end.
After the temple we came home and vegged a little with everyone. Everyone seemed really overwhelmed with life and Sadie even threw up which was a total drag. But Nate took the kids bowling as our last hurrah, too bad Sadie and I missed it. Sounded fun.
Then I took the littles to the school for Back to School night. It was nice to meet their teachers and get to know their classrooms. I think it will be a good year!
After BTS we came home and got ready for Father's Blessings. This was a fun year with Brad able to stand in with Nate. So cool! He said it was hard to stand that long :). The coolest part was having Brad give Nate and I blessings also. So cool!! It's starting to get really real here with Brad leaving! I'm not sure I will make it. After blessings, the kids all gathered on the other side of the family room from Brad and Charity played the ukulele as everyone sang "Army of Helaman" to him. Changing the word we to you! So Sweet!!! Nate and I were fighting back the tears.
That night Brad and I finished packing his stuff, I was able to show him the cool way to pack. Hopefully we has everything he needs!! 8-15-23
TAKING BRAD TO THE MTC
This was huge. Hard. Special. and really hard!! We left at 10:00, ran to the bank to get Brad a new debit card. Then off to Provo. When we got up there, Brad chose Chick-fil-a for lunch. We ate. It was pretty quiet. The younger kids were all experiencing a lot of nausea either from the stress of taking Brad, starting school, or simply just car sick, who knows. But that was kind of an annoying little extra. We went over to the Provo temple to hang out on the temple grounds a little. There were tons of families there. We took pictures, sat and talked, cried! It was interesting. Then we walked over to the car, and drove the few feet over to the MTC, followed all the people directing traffic, got a sticky note on our car, and then stopped, parked, got his suitcases out, hugged him and cried, and then said goodbye and drove off!! It was then that we realized we'd failed to put luggage tags on his suitcases- oops! But he walked off and we could see him as we drove away. SO SAD!!! This was really hard. Then I made the mistake of reading the letter he wrote me (he wrote us all letters- it was so cute!)- and bawled some more. Such a tough time!! But we're going to be okay. We are happy he's doing the right thing and we wouldn't want him anywhere else. Just super hard still!!! We got this and so does he!! I was happy he messaged me a few times throughout the rest of the day, letting me know that the guys in his room are awesome and "athletic" and I think that was a huge relief. He was happy he found his class safely :). And since then he's requested snacks, random snacks and a mini fridge, he couldn't find his laundry bag, so that was suspenseful until I got word from him that he'd found it. Fun stuff. I think he's getting settled in. I hope. As we drove away I was praying to Heavenly Father to please protect him and help him to make himself at home and take care of my little boy and Heavenly Father quickly reesponded with, "He's my son too. I will take good care of him." That was awesome. And a huge relief. We will get through this!! I hope :). We had a few people bring chocolate, ice cream, tissues, hugs, love, so cool to show that kind of support!! Cathie Nybo, Merrit Jacox, Kenzie and her mom. Lots of texts from friends as well. 8-16-23
KILLING TIME
President Larsen told us to do something after the MTC, not to just drive home crying and sniffling, but and we decided to just go to the new Red Balloon toy store! Not in Provo, but same idea. The kids loved it! Then we grabbed Fiiz on our way home. There was kind of a funk in the house. Nobody was really motivated to do much. We watched a movie and then the big kids left for Youth Activities. I was able to get a lot of laundry done and cleaned up the entire kitchen!!! Go me. 8-16-23
Home MTC is OVER. I am very excited to finally make it to the provo MTC today which will be eventful for sure but I am more excited that I can stop doing home MTC because it was a STRUGGLE for me. I loved the spirit and feeling and learning associated with it BUT not the 10+ hours of staring at a screen and trying to have a real discussion over a zoom call. But other than that it was great. I am pretty sure 90% of my diet was garbage and I gained like 10 pounds but we can just call this the bulk before I get to peru and lose it all. I already forgot most of the week because it was basically the movie groundhog day but heres how my week went
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
This day came so fast. It was a little less organized than I would have liked, but we made it work! I was grateful for reminders to take pictures and how to do my routine... crazy that we're back to school again. But it was a good morning. Luke and Noah are both in the high school this year- they rode together. I was happy they have each other. Erika is at the Junior high alone this year. She is going to be okay with that though :). She wanted her hair curled and we made it look so pretty! She was really excited for school. Jack has Mrs. Beuhner and Mrs. Halm in a split week schedule and Molly has Mrs. Lindsey! We were going to ride bikes to the elementary school, but the bike trailer was completely filled with muddy water so that was out. So Jack and Molly rode their bikes and I drove and met up with them there. Kind of weird. But it was also weird that they didn't do the big gathering in the back thing this year. Kind of a bummer. So we just took Molly to her class and hugged them both goodbye!! Back to school! Here we go!! Everyone seemed to enjoy their day. Molly came home with a cookie with a fly on it. Jack was happy and said he ate his lunch so that was great :). The older kids seemed exhausted. Erika was glad she knew the other person in office assistant. I think we might survive this year! 8-17-23
FRIDAY NIGHT
Everyone was everywhere tonight. Molly had her back to dance night where we scrambled to find her some shoes and stuff. Luke and Noah had their lifetime photo shoot which apparently went well. Charity was gone, Kelly was gone. Erika went to Cherry Hill night. It was packed!! But we managed to squeeze in our date thankfully!! We went to Slapfish and then to see Meg 2. I liked the movie, but the first like half hour was REALLY slow!! I'm not even sure what was happening cuz I kept falling asleep- probably the carbs I ate. But it was fun. Good times!! The kids all pulled through with the babysitting! 8-18-23
CHARITY MOVING DAY
Didn't quite go as planned and we didn't end up leaving until about 6:00, but she and I met up at her apartment and unloaded her car into her little room while her roommate played video games :). Her roommate is deaf and later that evening when I texted her she said that her sign language is actually a lot better than she thought and she had had some fun conversations with her roommate already. That was a huge relief. I think she might like it there. I hope she makes herself at home and has a nice time getting to know some new people and making new friends. I'm going to miss having her here and seeing her everyday, but I am proud of her and excited for her new adventures. 8-19-23
KELLY- FIT CHECK SALE
Kelly has acquired an abundance of clothing for her thrift store already and in an effort to alleviate some of it before moving, she decided to have a little sidewalk sale. She set it up so cute and had some awesome racks from the Lasts and everything looked great but then I guess she got rained out and had only had about 4 customers. Kind of a bummer. I felt bad for her. She of course had a very positive attitude and is looking forward to other ways of selling things, possibilities like a storage container... I'm really proud of her for chasing her dream. I see her having a lot of success. 8-19-23
ENOCH'S FAREWELL
We got to go to the Taylor's ward Sunday for Enoch's farewell. He did a great job on his talk, I loved hearing his testimony and his excitement to serve the Lord. It was fun to recognize John Posey in the congregation after his wife "Sis. Posey" sat down from the organ. Kinda funny. We went to the Taylor's house afterwards for some delicious food, singing happy birthday to Meg, and then rushed off to get Nate to work (late). It was a nice time. 9-20-23
ROOM SWAP
Monday was room swap day. I had some major plans in my head for getting all the furniture moved around in the most efficient way. I knew I needed help for this project, but there wasn't anyone around for the first little while. I am still a little shocked that I was able to move Brad and Jack's bunk beds myself. Taking them apart anyway- kind of a miracle if we compare to how hard it was for Kelly and I put them back together. I moved their bunk bed and mattresses out into the hallway by my room, left then took the other beds apart and moved them into their old room, then moved the bunk beds into Jack's new room. It was nuts. Kelly helped with the hard parts- we about died putting the top bunk on and even pinned my wrist in between the two for too long. Took about two weeks for my arm to stop hurting. Then we moved the clothes in the closets and the shelf stuff. It was a pretty big project that I didn't finish in one day. The kids totally had to help at the end as well. I wanted their stuff to be where they wanted it. I was really happy with how Jack and Sadie's room turned out- looks great! Luke and Noah need to finish putting some things away, but their beds fit so much better in that room. It was a relief for me because I was getting so tired of the way Luke and Noah's room looked. Erika and Molly will need to move some things around too, but overall- this was a success. I think it will serve its purpose for the next year. Then we will see what happens next. I'm leaning towards putting Jack in with Noah and moving the toys up to Sadie's room. Maybe with a loft bed or something. I'm not sure. 9-21-23
ERIKA'S WARTS
Well, this week, they did the thing that they told me they don't ever do. I had joked that Erika was ready to have them just cut the things off a few weeks ago and they shot that down like I was some kind of barbarian, and then this week decided to slice them off. It was pretty painful looking although Erika said it didn't hurt at all with the numbing. They literally sliced them off with a razor blade and then cauterized it as they cut. Only on one of her hands, one spot for now, but they are going to do the rest at another visit. Kinda crazy. We'll see how it goes. It didn't stop bleeding for a day or so which was concerning, but now it's just black. 9-22-23
TALKING TO ELDER MAYNES
Nate had to come home right after working the mid so he could be in on Brad's early morning call. He called at 8:00 which worked out pretty well for all of us, minus the littles leaving for school in the middle of it. But we had so much fun talking to him. He was being really funny the whole call. Very distracted. He didn't want to answer any questions about his roommate and was pretty funny about the food and needing more to eat. Funny kid. We loved talking with him though- felt so good to know a little more about what he's doing and being able to see him was great. 9-23-23
I can't figure out how to make a new email on this brick phone I have for the MTC so I am just going to reply and hopefully it isn't that difficult for you guys to read or get this because I am too tired to actually try and figure it out. Anyways this week has been SOOO HYPE! I have decided that MTC is built for me. Home MTC has 3 purposes; To make you enjoy the actual MTC MUCH more, to help you become accustomed to it, and for you to spend that last week with your family before you leave. That is my personal opinion and IS NOT factual but basically is. ALSO this whole week is a blur and I forgot all the interesting things I wanted to include in this email email I apologize if this puts u to sleep.
09-22 | PER-ARE
2005 N 900 East, Unit #138
Provo UT 84602
United States
JACK'S FAMILY PARTY
Jack decided to have his party up in the canyon! We wanted to be close so that we didn't spend so much time driving, so we chose Mueller Park. It was a lot of fun. I made him a kit kat cake and we met up with Steve, Grandpa Hatch and Jo, Grandma Hatch and Simon, and Heidi and her kids. Nate grilled up the hamburgers and hot dogs. We had a little fire for roasting marshmallows and it seemed like everyone had a great time! Jack loved once he changed his attitude about not having Charity, Kelly or Brad there. 9-24-23
JACK'S 11th BIRTHDAY AND FRIEND PARTY
Jack woke up to his amazing sign!! This was a really good one- Kelly, Erika and I made it. It was really cool. His reaction to his sign was priceless and made the hours of work we put into it worth it! He got to have crepes for breakfast, his favorite, and then took off for school! He was so understanding about his teacher not remembering his birthday and having all the usual stuff ready to go for him. He's so patient. He passed out Rice Krispie Treats at school. He had to hurry home to get ready for his party! We were taking him and his five friends up to Pineview for some paddleboarding! This actually ended up being really fun. Nate, Sadie and I sat and ate snacks under the canopy while they played in the water for the first hour and then in the sand for the second. They didn't eat or drink a lot, but I was so happy we had gone overboard and had it to offer. We could have stayed for another hour, I'm still kicking myself for not making it a longer party. We got home for some pizza, present opening, cake and ice cream and then running around the house like chickens with their heads cut off. Ammon and Kayson went home, but Will, Liam and Ross all stayed to play for quite a while. I think Jack had fun. He seemed happy and tired afterwards. We gave him his presents from us once everyone left. So fun. 9-25-23
SOCCER GAMES
Our first games of the season were good ones! Everyone won! Molly had three goals, Erika had three and Noah had two! Lots of FIIZ when we were done. We also all had sunburns when we were done. That's what happens when you purposely sit in the sun to save the shade for people who need it more than you :). HA! I was shocked at how burnt my forehead was! We are looking forward to a fun soccer season. 9-26-23
JACK'S JURASSIC PARK CONCERT WITH GRANDPA HATCH
Grandpa gave Jack a really cool gift- tickets to this big show of Jurassic Park at the Delta Center. They went together. Jack said it was a lot of fun, so many dinosaurs. He got a cool cup and some popcorn there. I was happy he had some time with Grandpa, just the two of them to hang out. Sounded pretty cool! 9-26-23
CROSS COUNTRY RACE- NOAH
Noah had his first race of the season. I didn't get to go, Nate did. Sounded like Noah did great despite having not really been running a ton the last month and really not worrying about it since it was going to be his base time. But I am really proud of him!! He did great! 9-26-23
WARD WALKABOUT
We had the ward walkabout this week. Pretty fun. I really enjoyed visiting with so many neighbors. 9-27-23
KELLY'S MOVE TO EPHRAIM
We loaded up Kelly's stuff into the van- her car was full of clothes- and we (Sadie and I in the van, Kelly in her car) drove down to Ephraim. We had to make a few stops because I drank way too much water trying to stay awake. But we made pretty good time and then unloaded it all in record time, even onto the third floor! Devan was a big help of course. It was fun to see her apartment and have a picture in my mind of where she lives. But it was a really quick little visit, we turned around and headed back home right away. On the way home we drove the other way, through Spanish Fork canyon instead of past Payson. It's a little bit longer but it's the route I'm more familiar with. I can see the spot where we saw the crashed plane. I can see the freeway exit that still always reminds me of my road trip with my mom down to Manti to do baptisms for my Laurel Project. But we got to Orem and met up with Charity for some Chick-fil-a in her work parking lot. It was really fun to have that time with her and visit for a minute. Sadie had fun playing "What it is what it is" on repeat for the rest of the drive home. Fun stuff. I can't believe my older three kids are all gone again. This is a hard thing for me and a really hard reality with life. I feel like it's such a bummer that this is what we are working towards. We're just raising them so that they can eventually leave. And while I love that my kids are all able and willing to move on with adult life and doing the things they are doing, it's still SO HARD to say goodbye and know that they will not be slipping in the door in the middle of the night to tell me they are safe and had a fun night. I miss them so much!! 9-28-23
LUNCH WITH STEVE
Sadie and I got to take Steve to Carls Jr (yep he actually rode in my car) for some lunch! This was such a nice time. I loved spending time with him and being able to talk a little. With interruptions from Sadie every few minutes to see what she was doing on the playground, but she was mostly self entertained. I miss hanging out with Steve and this outing had total Nana vibes since we were at CJ's. We need to go out more often. 9-29-23
TALKING TO BRAD
Brad called twice this week. Once with just Nate and I and Kelly and Charity and then again when the littles were home from school. It was really good to be able to talk with him. We were able to talk more because he didn't have his comp with him. I think things are a little rough for them, not having much in common. It was so good to see his face and hear about his week. I am loving his emails every week, he's so funny and so fun to talk to. Kelly says she's going to keep track of how many times he says volleyball next time we talk. He sure has loved playing volleyball. I'm so glad he has that! Basketball is a little too risky I guess- hurts his ankles every time. So thankfully he at least has volleyball. 9-29-23
NO SUBJECT
First I would like to apologize that this email is LONGGG. So if you don't want to read it all, skip to the last paragraph and read that if it's the only thing you read in this email. This week FLEW by holy. These days are starting to all merge and I never know what day it actually is. The spirit you feel at the MTC is amazing and there isn't anything like it. The days are all basically the same though. Surprisingly, I am always the first person to wake up out of my room. During home MTC I slept in like every day and was always so tired but I made a goal not to take any naps during the MTC and so far I am going STRONG. I have been able to sleep sooo good at night and it has really helped me fall asleep because I am not even considering the option of sleeping during the day. It reminds me of the scripture Ether 12:27 where God will make our weaknesses our strengths as long as we come unto Christ and show him our weaknesses and be humble, Christ will make our weaknesses our strengths. I have experienced this immensely over the course of the past couple weeks. I'm really loving my district except my district leaders are the BIGGEST hypocrites. Like don't get me started. They'll be so strict and make all these rules such as we can only go to lunch at our assigned time even though it's PACKED at that time, and then they go do laundry not on our laundry day and have people sneak food over the fence to them. Like BRUH. So we definitely called them out but that did nothing other than make them mad at us for some reason. BUT other than that... My district is great! We have some sleepers though and that includes my companion. I started a tally on how many times he falls asleep OUTSIDE of when we're in bed supposed to be asleep and one of the days he got to 9. I am a little worried because that doesn't sound very healthy but usually he only gets around 6. We have played SOOO much volleyball this week. I actually am getting sorta insane at it and we always play with these Polyneseans and they're INSANE. I've gotten very good and end up blocking them a lot of the time along with being able to set quite fantastic I'd say. I even hit the 10 foot line on a lot of my kills which felt pretty good. My district is probably the most athletic district here at the MTC. Something I love about my comp though is he is an AMAZING artist. HE draws a lot of trees and I find it really cool becuase theyre so intricate. He also has very wise input in our discussions which I love
Lisa came over and had her little visit with Molly to talk about her baptism and give her a picture of Jesus and her cute white towel. Molly was beyond shy the entire time, but was very attentive to Lisa's story about her own baptism and getting dunked a couple times before finally having the older missionary slip and fall on her and push her completely under. Kind of funny. Not how Lisa wanted it, but it was cool to hear her testimony about that. We're getting so excited for Molly's baptism!! 8-30-23
We had our first playgroup in a very long time today. It was fun. I think I'm still left wanting when I go to these things, but it was still fun. Some ladies are a lot. I think I enjoy them in small doses. I wish I could visit with some of them more than I get to. We were at Gailey park this week. My choice. Sadie had fun playing with everyone but eventually caved and needed to go on the swings. She did pretty good. 8-31-23
