We Stop This Program with a Very Important Message....

Ster is going to have another surgery, this is for a new issue and more extensive but he should have complete recovery in a couple of months. He will be coming home tomorrow evening. Then the process begins to meet with Dr.'s here and have the surgery. He will be released as a missionary and then we will see what the Lord desires of him. So this blog will be on hold for a couple of months....

The mission office staff had some very nice comments about Elder Nisson, when we called to get some information......they said "Please get him back here because he is such a wonderful young man and his maturity really helped the elders he served with. He is known as a focused and powerful missionary. He had such a wonderful spirit about him and he has endured so well with his physical challenges." That was sure nice to hear such sweet, voluntary, comments.

Updates for August 2010

We've had emails from Ster every week but he didn't have a lot of time to write so his emails were short. Luckily, he has started writing us letters that have given us more information about what has been going on in his mission. So here are the updates since August 3rd through this week:

Letter from Aug 5th (written 8/2/2010):

So, do you guys remember that talk by President Gordon B. Hinckley “10 Things to bring home from a Mission?” Well, I was looking over the list, and pondering about some of the things I have learned. Something I am most grateful for has to do with loving people. I know I never had a real love for the people around me except for my family until I went on my mission. President Smith (former Stake President) basically told me I had a hard heart (in so many words, but that is what he meant), and he was right, my heart was like the “Grinch’s” heart. But now I find myself just caring about others and hoping for their happiness. In the Book of Mormon, Mormon (73 years old) who had been a general of the Nephite Army and fighting the Lamanites since he was 16 years, seeing war and hatred all of his life among his people still was able to write one of the most loving epistles about faith, hope, and charity. (Moroni 7) He had such a loving spirit about him and now I know why. It was because of his faith in Christ and his love of the Savior of the world. I feel so much more happiness now then I use to. I am so thankful that the Lord changed my heart. That I can see people for who they are, which is a son and daughter of our Heavenly Father and we are literally brother and sisters. I love feeling this way about the people I am teaching and all the people around me. I am not perfect in my love, but I am so much better at it and hopefully will continue to learn even more.

Email from Aug 9th:

Things are going great over here in Homestead. We should be having 2-3 baptisms on the 22nd, so that’s exciting. We had about 5 people at church yesterday so that was good to see. But the speakers were horrible, well one was. It was a testimony shaker lol, I was even asking can this church be true lol, kidding of course, but we will be talking to some of the investigators later this week to see how they liked church.

Ok, so that thing in my eye is all gone there is no mass left. I am not sure what it is called. It was caused because my eye wasn't draining properly, so my eye just basically quarantined the bad stuff and closed it all off which made the mass. (pic of his eye after surgery)

So I was praying one night and I just felt this impression that I was going to stay English for the rest of my mission. So I asked about that to Heavenly Father and I got a confirmation that most likely I will stay English, so I told president Hale in an E-mail, and he said "that sounds right, we will go English from here on out." so there you go. It is alright though. I don't feel bad about it or anything but the Lord’s will needs to be done, right?

Letter from Aug 19 (written 8/15/2010):

Everything over here is fantastic. Life is good, we are actively teaching about 8 – 10 people and we have over 20 in our teaching pool. We hope to have some baptisms in the first week or two of September. We concentrated on finding investigators during the month of August, and will focus upon teaching and baptizing during the month of September. So things are progressing here in Homestead and Florida City. The Lord is really directing our paths and is showing His mercy towards us. Also the whole mission is progressing pretty well too. Our mission goal is to have 100 baptisms for the month of October.

I love you guys and I am continually thankful to the Lord for putting me in your family. God is our Father, and Jesus is the Christ, and I know He lives. I know that this is a Church of Revelation and it is the true church of Jesus Christ.

Email from Aug 16th:

Something kind of cool happened. There was a Drug bust in Florida City, we teach a couple of people there, you would of expected the circus to be in town with how many people were there watching it was crazy, there were so many cops it was interesting.

I have seen many of the Elders change when they got called as DL and ZL and I don’t want any of that. I want to serve Heavenly Father without any of those problems. That is why I said I wanted to be just a regular missionary. Of course I will do whatever I am asked to do. I just don’t want to change and be different and act better than I am.

So next week on Monday I will get this ridiculous cast off, it is more exciting than hitting my year mark out here in the mission lol.

Email from Aug 24th (week of transfers):

So here is the update on my arm.... it’s still not healed lol, but the doctor said that there is some healing. There is also some deformity of my bone for one reason or another. So they put me in a cast again for 3 weeks instead of 6 weeks. So that isn't too bad I guess, but this cast isn't waterproof so that's a little lame. The doctor said he had high hopes though that it would heal. He also said that there is a chance that it won’t heal for a long time or during the next few years, it will just slowly fill in, so who knows. This whole bone thing is getting rather bothersome. Ya, I will still be using the bone stimulator for the next couple of weeks. Ugh.

So I'm staying in Homestead, basically the whole Zone is staying the same. We won't have any baptisms until September; we should have around 6 to 8 baptisms next month, if all goes well. Mission wide is doing ok, we have been struggling a little bit over the last couple of months but we are hoping for a dynamic increase in the coming months.

Well, that's about it. Love you guys!

Email Update 07.26.10 & 08.03.10

I am teaching mostly Haitians and African Americans with a few Hispanics who speak more English than Spanish. We have only seen about 30 white people around here, and they were all in our ward.lol

The storm that was supposed to drop in never really did, we got some rain but nothing too much. And we got 72 hour kits as well as a Hurricane emergency kit, in case of an actual hurricane.

Ok, on to the spiritual side of things:

(Clears throat here)

Well once again I came upon the whole trust aspect of the Lord. I have told you and written in my journal numerous times that I need to trust in the lord. But what and undertaking to really learn to trust the Lord, right? How do we trust in the lord? Well, usually by exercising faith which is done through our actions and experimenting upon the Lords words and following His commandments He has set forth, which, when done our soul will gradually grow into something more. But I don’t think that is all. We have been having many discussions about knowledge in trainings and talks by General Authorities.

Now it can’t be just on knowledge but spiritual knowledge, something that the Holy Ghost has confirmed to you, or led you in your search, it has to be something spirit to spirit. Sometimes there is anger in the home or with companions. Or possibly there is just something wrong. Could it be because we don't study the scriptures? It is said if you want to talk to the Lord then pray, if you want to hear from the lord then read your scriptures. So true, with added knowledge we then get on another plane of thought and faith. How can we experiment on the lords words if we don't truly understand them (I'm not talking about fully understanding the lords words lol because I don't know if that is possible) but gaining more knowledge. Which will expand our faith, which will allow us to grow, and then trusting in the Lord becomes a lot easier. I think there is a reason that the lord asked all of us to study the scriptures diligently. So in conclusion we need more knowledge, but not just any knowledge but pure knowledge led by the Holy Ghost, i.e., spiritual knowledge.

And that is the spiritual thought of the month lol.

So I am doing great, I feel good, I have no idea if this arm will ever heal, and I want to rip this cast off every day. Florida just isn't the place to have a cast.

I'm not sure why I am driving; I just do it because the paper they give us said I have to lol. I think Elder Zubia would rather drive also :)

The companionship is good and Elder Zubia is a great missionary. I like serving with him, I am learning a lot from him, he is quite the student of the scriptures.

1 Year!

On July 22, 2010 Sterling hit the one year mark!

Update Since the End of June

This is a picture of Sterling after he and his companions got finished painting a man's house pink.

Here is an update and some pictures since the last post:

Sterling had wrist surgery again on July 2nd because his wrist just wasn't healing. In his email he stated:

I am in a lot of pain. In the first procedure, I didn't feel any pain afterwards, but right now I'm even on oxycodone and it still hurts. The doctor changed the procedure at the last minute, he told me that they were going to take some bone from my forearm, and put it into the cavity that the screw made in my wrist. Basically he said that they did a bone graft. Also, the doctors sponsors are going to donate a bone stimulator to me so that is pretty cool. I should be getting it in soon.*

*This is a real blessing to the family. The bone stimulator will help him out a lot but the insurance wouldn't cover it and it is very expensive.

Here is a picture of Ster after his surgery and then him in his cast with the stimulator port on his wrist. He attached a device to that port and the ultrasound makes blood flow in the area which will help with his healing.

Update from July 10th:

Well, hello there family. This is your son Elder Nisson reporting in from South Florida. An update on my arm It is still swollen, but that's to be expected. The pain is pretty much gone. I only took 3 Oxycodone the whole time because I would get the worst migraines I have ever had in my life. In fact, I have never had a migraine so they were the worst I have ever had in my life. Elder Alger dropped his pencil on the floor when I was having one and the noise almost made me double over. So I just dealt with the pain in my wrist and took some Tylenol. That took care of the migraines, the sick stomach and my arm doesn't hurt that much so I'm good.

We have found 6 new investigators this week so that is great news. We didn't do anything on the 4th but do missionary stuff. There was some TV show like CSI Miami or something filming a block away from our house but we didn't get to go see. Kind of cool I guess. Transfers are coming up next week. I have a feeling I will be transferred but that probably means I'm staying. lol.

A picture of Ster and his two companions Elder Alger and Elder Parry

Update from July 13th:

Well, I'm being transferred tomorrow. I don't know where I'm going or who my companion will be. It is always nerve racking wondering what's going to happen. Am I going back to Spanish? (Hope not). Am I going to get a good comp? (Hope so) What's my area going to be like? (Who knows) You know those kinds of things. But, you just have to remember to trust in the Lord and pray for strength in whatever trials come and remember His mercy and His desire to only do that which is best for all his children. :)

I heard from my Mission President and he indicated that he expects that from now on transfers will last from six months to a year. So it looks like I might be where ever I'm going for a while.

Update from July 19th:

My new companion is Elder Zubia, who is an assigned English speaking missionary. He is also the District Leader of our area. We are as far south as you can go, except for the Elders who are in the Keys. We are in the Homestead area and it is certainly different than any where I have been before. It is kind of set apart from the rest of south Florida and it is a very easy going place and people are friendly. Elder Zubia has about 6 more months left on his mission. I had to give a little schpeel about who I am and my conversion story on Sunday. No problem there I guess. I still get very nervous when I have to give a talk but when I get up there my heart rate goes down and my legs stop shaking. LOL So once again the tender mercies of the Lord getting me through another talk.

The ward is pretty good. Elders Quorum is like ours in West Jordan. There is no interaction and we will have long periods of silence. So one of us missionaries has to speak up. So Sunday was a good experience.

Now to my arm, well it is sad to say but I lost the battle, they have to amputate my arm. Kidding of course, but I did lose a battle. I begged the doctor not to put me in a hard cast for 5 weeks in this horrible Florida weather but he insisted that my arm be in a hard cast so it can't move around. It was a sad day. It was a 3 hour trip just to get to West Palm Beach and I'm the driver now, so we got lost a couple of times (figures). But we made it. I will have to go back in 5 weeks and get the cast off. Oh funny thing, my hand from the scar to my first two knuckles might be numb for the rest of my life. Isn't that awesome? Something about moving some nerves during the surgery and I may or may not recover feeling in that spot. All I really heard was that I won't feel pain, so cool.

An update on my eye. Still having issues. I'm going to a doctor appointment in Ft Lauderdale today where they will chop into my eye again.*

* We heard from the church's office and his surgery went well. Here is a picture of his eye.

HOPEFULLY, this will be the last of all medical issues w/ Ster while on his mission.

Email from 06.21.10

We heard from Sterling today since he wasn't available on Saturday due to the Mission conference.

How are you all doing this wonderful Monday? Oh wait, first let me say HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! I know it isn’t for a couple of days but I won’t be on here in a couple of days. Love you dad.

I did get to reconnect with some old comps, and good friends here in the mission at the conference, that was pretty fun. Talking with Elder Jarvie is always fun. The activities were good and very in depth, so that was cool. I felt like my head would explode with all the riddles and clues and the running around that we did. As you know, I’m not as young as these other missionaries out here, lol, my knees and hip started to hurt, that was embarrassing ha ha.... the Christ mosaic was amazing and the whole activity was from 8 am to 8 pm. I was exhausted by the end of it. But it was all very nice and I learned a lot.

Yep my third surgery in my life.... wait a minute how many surgeries did I have when I wasn’t on my mission? Yea that’s right, 0, now how many will I have most likely, 4, because they have to do something with my eye again lol, I’m falling apart out here, and it's kind of funny but just mostly embarrassing. I feel like an old man going to doctor visits constantly, no offense dad, you know I love you. Sister Welch is so Amazing, probably one of the coolest senior missionaries out here, she is really funny. Oh yea I will be having surgery again on the 2nd of July!!

We will be having a baptism on Tues, her name is Sister Netti Baker she is 63. And if you remember Olgin, he will also be baptized on your birthday, so the 23rd is going to be a busy day.

Something funny, a couple of days ago me and Elder Alger had one of the worst mission days ever, lol, it was so funny, we were buffed at appointments and it was so humid, people were being....let’s say less than hospitable, and I then found out I had to get surgery again, and my right hip and knee were killing me. It was so funny, well it was funny afterwards, then to top it all off, some woman who knew about Mormons was riding behind us while we were walking and said "Hey Mormon Boys" we looked back and this woman flashes us. I can tell you that hell opened up and decided to mess with us. Then we were on exchanges, walking down the road and that same woman was coming our way, and we looked at our exchange, a brand new member of like 2 months, and kind of yelled quietly and said “Harry close your eyes.” He wasn’t very happy, but did it, then me and Elder Alger closed ours and as we did we could see that woman going for her shirt again. It was so funny because Harry thought it was some kind of trust exercise, and it was, so he had no idea what was really going on, because we didn’t tell him, you know you don’t tell people you are having a hell of a day right? Anyways, when that day ended all we wanted to do was go to bed lol. But now I can laugh at that day because so many things went wrong lol. Anyways, funny story, and Elder Parry who is in cool air conditioned office till about 5 pm comes out and says it can’t be that bad, I wanted to slap him silly for a little bit. ahh good times.

I'm glad you are enjoying the book (Sterling gave Dad “The Continuous Atonement” for a father’s day gift). I loved it just because it seemed like it was almost talking directly to me. It just made the relationship between us and the Savior so much more personal. I don’t know how to really explain it other than I just received a huge amount of love and appreciation for the Atonement and the Savior. It was amazing for me, and I hope you like it also.

Well I love you guys and have to get off. I will talk to you all later, hopefully I will be able to send a letter today. I think the world of you guys, and pray for you all every night.

Again, happy birthday dad, you are amazing.

Conference Images from 06.19.2010

On the Florida Ft. Lauderdale Mission site they posted some images from the mission conference that they had this weekend. The following images are the ones that had Ster in them. Here is the first picture from the conference. Can you find him? I have to say I'm pretty impressed with his arms. He looks great! :)




The second one is a mosaic image of Christ where they used pictures of missionaries from their area. The theme of the Mission Conference was: Can They See You In Him. Can you find Sterling? I'll give you a hint, the image is his main missionary image and he's in the shoulder area.

On the mission blog they had this caption under this picture: We are the Face of the Savior in South Florida. They had this picture behind some curtains, and I am sure it was breath taking, as they opened the curtains & revealed this picture of the Savior, done with Missionary pictures and pictures of their mission experiences. This collage had to be at least 10 feet tall.

Update

There was a missionary conference today and since this was Ster's P-Day we didn't hear from him. We're not sure if we will hear from him in the beginning of the week or not until next Saturday.

We did get a call from the mission office though saying that the doctor wants to take out the pin in his wrist since it isn't healing. So on to surgery #3! We just think this is hilarious. OK, maybe only I (Pam) do. He is 24 and has never had any surgeries. He goes on his mission and in less than a year will have 3. :)

Email from 06.12.10

Guess what I did yesterday? I mowed the lawn, that's right I did it. For some apparent reason I thought I wouldn’t have to do that for another year and a month, but this Veteran, who has emphysema, and who we are teaching, needed some help. I'm thinking what in the world, do all veterans get the good life just because they get shot down 12 times or shot 3 times or get put behind enemy lines???... ya You Veterans do deserve the help.

Here is a picture of me mowing the lawn. :)

We should be having a baptism on the 23rd and possibly one on the 11th of July. Nothing really amazing to report. Physically I think I'm doing well, mentally I'm Super tired. Spiritually I'm doing well.

Thank you so much, you guys are truly amazing, I really have grown a deep appreciation for everything you guys do for this family.

Pat Wa is a funny language it is English just shorten everything and it is pat WA. Like "what’s going on" is "wa gwan man" you always have to say man after it lol. I can’t speak Creole, or really understand it but because the Haitian people live close to the the Dominican Republic they speak Spanish sometimes. It is definitely a new experience.

Humidity is killing me, go outside and SWEAT, just tons and tons of SWEAT, it is horrible sometimes lol, man I don’t remember OK being like this, it is so bad, kind of funny though. It is worse cuz we bike every day. We have very few miles we can use in the car.

My eye is fine the results came back negative, so that good but I still have a weird lump in my eye, but I think it is going away.

Well I love you guys, the gospel is true and you are so amazing, and I am so blessed to have parents and family like you.

Email from 06.05.10

Here is a picture of Junior, myself and the girl that we just baptized, Adelphe Jousil.

Well my reign as senior comp has ended. LOL. Elder Alger is now the District Leader so he needs to be the SC.

The reasons for the transfers are because some new missionaries were coming in mid-transfer so people were switched around a lot. I don’t know why I had to go, and I definitely have no idea why I am in this area. I have prayed and fasted about it, and what I do know, is that this is where the Lord wants me at this time. We had to get a new place because there wasn’t enough room for all the elders in Fort Lauderdale so they had to find a place for us to live.

I feel fantastic; my wrist only hurts if something pulls back on my thumb. I had surgery on my eye, in fact the doctors were surprised at what they saw, and there was a poor little intern with the eye doctor who got a little scared when he looked at my eye, lol, so funny. They thought it was just a bacteria build up, but when they cut into it they weren’t real sure because it was different than what they were expecting. So they took a couple of sample pieces to the lab. I haven’t heard back yet and I go in for a checkup in 5 days I think. By the way, what’s with all the surgeries? I go 23 years without one then all of the sudden I get 2 in the same year, pretty crazy.

The teaching pool is great, we found 5 kids ranging from 11-17 and they are very interested, so we will see what happens with them. We also have a woman named Netti Baker who will be baptized on the 23rd, and a guy named Ronni who is 17 and he has a date to be baptized on the 3rd of July. I am learning a little Jamaican Creole and Haitian Patwa languages. It is kind of fun . We are still studying in Spanish each day, but in this area, I doubt we will use it much.

Here is a picture of George Halas, Bro Halas’ son, and me. He was in my last area

Email from 05.29.10

It has been getting really hot and humid lately and we are on bikes a lot, because we have very limited miles we can use for the car. Elder Alger and I got drenched a couple of days ago, it was hilarious because we were going to visit a contact but we had no idea if she was even home. So we said a prayer and ran for it and we were wet from head to foot, dripping everywhere, when we got to our contact Deborah’s house, her brother came to the door, and let us in, the mom called us crazy for being out in that weather, but she gave us towels to dry off. We were able to have a very spiritual message with Deborah and she said she would pray and ask if the things that we taught were true. So I guess sacrifice brings blessing huh, who knew?

That is so cool that it snowed over there, I kind of miss it a little bit, I really miss the mountains though. Something cool though, I think we live by one of the only true hills in Florida and we ride up and down it almost every day...fun stuff.

So I might have to get something cut out of my eye, apparently my sty that I thought I had wasn't one at all. They think one of my pores is clogged and they might need to cut it out. Yaaa, that it so exciting I haven't even been out a year and I will have 2 surgeries here in Florida, so funny. I finally got sister Welch to look at it, and when she did she said "O my that isn't good at all"

New Update...

We just got a letter in the mail from the Mission Preside that Ster was made Senior Companion in this new area. Can't wait to hear all his new experiences.

Update from the Mission Field

So a little and a lot have been going on with Sterling. The last two weeks there wasn't a lot of information in his emails. Mom did get a wonderful letter where he bore his testimony for her for Mother's Day. It was a wonderful letter. Things have been going well with Elder Jarvie and him. They had another baptism, her name is Adelphe Jousil. They had Junior (his pic is in the post below) baptize her and one of the Elders confirmed her.

Here is a pic of Ster and a man in his ward. He is a health enthusiast, if you can't tell. :) He was giving information in regards to supplements when Ster wasn't feeling well.

Then there was an upheaval this last week. Both Elder Jarvie & Ster had a PPI w/ the Mission President this week. Then the Mission Pres told them that they are wanting to make some changes in another area and told them that they are being split up and that Ster is going to be transferred the next day. So Ster packed up and is now in the Ft. Lauderdale South mission. He is with 2 other Elders, Parry & Alger. Both are Spanish speaking missionaries but they are in an English speaking area. Elder Alger is Sterlings companion. Elder Parry works in the office during the day. After he finishes in the office he will then join up with Ster and his comp to finish out the day. Transfers weren't for another 3 weeks so this was a shock for everyone.

We know that there is a reason for this transfer and why Sterling was transferred. Can't wait to see why. Keep your prayers coming for him!

Email from 04.26.10

After transfers Ster and Elder Jarvie are still together in the same area for another 6 weeks. They both seem happy about it.


This is Fania, she's 18, on her baptism day. Aaron, 20, is baptizing her. He goes out on exchanges with them. According to Ster he really likes hanging out with the missionaries and is a pretty funny guy. Ster and his comp are trying to get the ward more involved so they are having them do the baptisms and the missionaries confirm. He had to baptize Fania a few times because of a few issues but it all turned out alright in the end.


This is Junior, who is the only member of his family. He is preparing to go out on a mission himself. He goes on splits w/ Ster and Elder Jarvie as well. Don't they all look scary and threatening? ;)

Email from 04.20.10

Today is transfer day and Ster is staying in the same place. We are really happy about this and so is he! Here is his email. I'm not lying, I laughed hard on this one:

Well hey guys it’s your son Elder Nisson.

So Elder Jarvie and I are going round three baby woot woot, so we are going to try to get all our progressing investigators baptized. Well that has always been the plan but you know, stuff happens.

So I just want to say that I didn't like slam any of you when I was giving that talk about the family I was just using you guys as examples of the perfect parents, so just wanted you to know that nothing I said was in any way bashing on you guys ok. Oh yea, I also told them about how no one in the family was allowed to ever say “NO” to mom, lol, yea, our family is so awesome. Because you know I love you all and I look back now and just think of how much love you two show for all of us. I really hope that someday I can be as good a parent as you two are. Writing that talk was kind of a humbling experience for me and how I kind of underappreciated you both and the family in general. Seeing all these other families that we teach sure makes me realize how blessed we are, as your children I mean, to have parents that really care and love their children.

I am doing fine. P-days are pretty boring we shop we clean we write letters, sometimes we do other things like sports but not often, that’s about it. Then at 6 we start teaching again. I still haven't driven. lol. You have to sign a paper and I haven't got around to it. Plus you know how much I don't like driving so I may never get around to it... hehehe.

Teaching pool is slowly dwindling away lol. But we do have 4 dates. Maddie and Shelly Manasse, and Maggie Casmir, and possibly JB Manasse. We have others but they are not progressing very fast.

Spiritual stuff is going good I am still reading the Miracle of Forgiveness and I'm not sure if I'm going to make it lol... ugg depressing, any ways. Also, I'm still marking my book of Mormon whenever it mentions Jesus and all his other names, and whenever Jesus is speaking, either himself or through his prophets. And I’m concentrating on Isaiah, if I can figure out that guy then I can unlock the mysteries of the Universe whahahahahaha. Yea its fun stuff.

Here is a story I would like to tell that actually happened last night. We went to see a member to talk to him and the TV was on, and all the sudden naked women appeared on the TV. Elder Jarvie and I just stared at each other and hurried and turned the television off. Lol Then we decided that what we were going to teach changed, we now turned our attention to the law of chastity lol. So we started to talk to him about it and we came to find that he was really struggling with a few things pertaining to chastity, and we talked to him and told him we need to get all the bad things out of your house so they don't tempt you anymore. He wasn't too happy about that but with some gentle persuasion and the spirit he said ok. So after about 20 min Elder Jarvie and I have two bags in our hands that are just filled with pornography. So here are 2 missionaries with a large amount of dirty movies in our hands lol and we then say a prayer lol. Elder Jarvie said " Elder Nisson I think I can safely say this is the first time I have ever prayed for a man in his home holding pornography" lol so funny, that whole thing was just hilarious and sad at the same time, no joke. Then, while we were driving home we had to call the sisters in the ward where this guy goes to church and I had to tell them what happened. Needless to say I would rather look for and throw away pornography and then help this man with other problems than ever have to tell sister missionaries about this stuff on the phone, oh my goodness, so freaking embarrassing. I’m pretty sure I was very red. So any way, there is a funny and sad story for you.

Email from 04.12.10

Hey guys how’s life been in Arizona where the cacti run rampant and the red rock are everywhere? (mom and dad were visiting Cyn & Deb in AZ this past weekend)

Yea that place is ridiculous, who decided to colonize over there. You know I think there was a quote from J. Golden Kimball when a man who was a bishop in Arizona when it was just barely lifting off said. "Don’t worry Kimball with some water and some more good people this place will be alright. Elder Kimball responded " Well I’m sure some water and a few good people would make hell a pretty nice place also." that’s good stuff.

Well, how did Ryan’s Baptism go? Did he like it? I’m excited to hear that the kids are doing great in Arizona.

So that is what’s been happening lately, fun stuff huh..........man I’m tired. I’m so tired I have two sty’s in my eyes, one for each side lol, this is getting way too stressful.

And it looks like one of our investigators is going to do some jail time and then a probation period of 2 years so he won’t be getting baptized any time soon, also some investigators saw this PBS special about Mormons, and polygamy and Joseph Smith running for president and all this other stuff, which is sometimes hard to explain.

Also we have Fania, who should be baptized this Sunday hopefully, and then her sibling in the weeks to come, once again hopefully if the Lord wills it anyways. Fania is about 18 years old

Mission is going good. Oh yeah I never told you guys that Elder Jarvie and I had to give talks yesterday in Sacrament meeting, about the family unit. I prepared so much stuff but when I got up there I didn’t use anything and I just told about some examples from our family and how awesome we are. I even got to tell some stories about how me and dad went to the car dealer ship and laid down the price, then, he forgot to ask mom lol such a funny story. Everyone really laughed at that. Also mom I used your 3 things to solve everything, prayer, fasting and sleep. They laughed at that too. I also told about how much you both showed so much love for all of us. I also talked about dad and how he is the greatest hero to me and how I thought he could do anything in the world, and has probably done everything. I also talked about mom and her continual revelation for everyone, and her complete selflessness. Yea, I just talked about you guys, I love you guys so much you both have given me so many stories to tell to people especially our investigators, I'm always telling stories about you two to them, I’m sure Elder Jarvie is getting tired of them but I think they are awesome. You two are AWESOME, love you two so much. I even tell stories about my siblings just so many stories to tell that fit into so many situations lol. ahh good stuff.

Well, after reading the book that dad gave me on Blessings and the talk from Elder Oaks, I have been trying to bless people left and right, and two people we blessed got better by the next day, they both said it was amazing, and we tried to tell them it was the spirit and this is part of what makes our church true. That was some cool spiritual experiences.

I love you guys so much you both are such an amazing example of how a family should be, and I never realized it until I gave this talk. But you two truly knew what you were doing. I feel so blessed now that I know that, I know it is kind of like duhh, But for some reason it just hit me now, and that I need to be like you two. Well I Love you guys so much, thank you for always being that perfect example for me and the family I am truly grateful to the lord for opening my eyes to how awesome you both are. I hope you both are feeling good.

I love you both so much, take care.