Nov. 11, 2015
Dear Sister Kristina,
Ok, I officially don’t like not getting a letter from you on Monday. This seemed like forever to wait. I hope you had a wonderful week and a half, a great trip to the temple, etc. etc. Dad got a thank you from Camilo for his pin. Keep us posted on how he’s doing in the ward, what calling he gets, etc. I couldn’t believe how different he looked when he cut his beard and hair. That was amazing and it just showed his commitment to the decision he made. He looked so much younger too! haha
Dad and I are getting ready for our big trip to Chicago tomorrow. Sean wrote us tonight and said they are having a huge thunderstorm, which I usually love, but then he said the tornado sirens are on. That, I don’t love. I told him to make sure the storm is over by tomorrow night when we get there. haha Both he and Blair have lots of fun things planned for us so I’m excited to get there and go on little adventures with them. Kris Grigg’s daughter Mariah will be staying here at the house with the girls and the dogs. I hope it doesn’t get too crazy for her, especially with our crazy dogs. haha
I had my big annual stake training meeting last week and dad made tri-tip steak in our Traeger grill and an au jus that was sooo good, Susan Lamb made these scrumptious roasted potatoes, Diane Bryson made a lettuce free salad that was so tasty, Kris Grigg made a pull apart pumpkin carmel bread dessert. Nikki, Leah and Allison Bryson served. They had a lot of fun and did a good job.
During dessert I spoke to all of them, then we broke into our smaller groups. I absolutely loved meeting with all the ward presidents. They are such amazing women and they do so much for all their sisters. They have their own families to care for too, but I know for a fact that they are strengthened by the Lord and given extra strength and endurance and abilities to accomplish the work they’ve been called to do. I felt that same thing when I was called to be a ward president. I remember right before I was called I had been feeling a little low on energy and when I got called I thought, how will I be able to do all of this. But it was a beautiful miracle that I was able to feel such energy and spiritual strength even though we were in the middle of building a home and in the middle of putting in our paper work for adopting the girls. The Lord definitely qualifies those whom He calls.
Leah’s 16th birthday was on Monday. It’s so hard to believe she’s 16 now. Tonight she got a text asking her to attend a YCL meeting for camp next year. She’s very excited. She got her phone upgraded to an iphone 5s, so now she and Nikki have the same type phone, thank goodness, because that was certainly a source of contention when Nikki got Sean’s old phone. Today they didn’t have school for Veteran’s Day so Leah and I went and got manicures. Leah got the coolest gel polish. It changes color in different temperatures and the color change is very dramatic and looks so cool. She was very happy with it, plus we got half off since it was her birthday!! Last night, since it wasn’t a school night, Leah had a bunch of friends over to watch Lion King and play games. I heard her laughing the whole time and that made me so happy. She said she had a great time and it was a different bunch of kids than she normally hangs out with…Maddie Tanner came, Brooklyn Bingham, Fisher Erickson and some others you may not know.
I met with Pres. Stafford last night for my monthly meeting. He had just been at a training meeting with the area authority for 6 hours, so he was excited to share a lot of the things he learned and heard there. I love that he wants me to know all these things and I actually love learning about how the church works at that level. He also told me that Pres. Monson is now in a wheelchair because of his diabetes complications. That makes me sad, but I could see that coming after his talk this last conference. He said that sometimes he doesn’t use it, but for the most part, he does. Pres. Stafford also told me that they will be putting Angel Moroni on our new temple very soon, but that they will probably just put it up and not tell anybody because there’s no place to park around there to see it, but they’re concerned because they know how fast social media gets the word out. I will just have to drive by every day now cuz I want to see it happen!
Well, I better get back to packing. My next letter I write you will be from Chicago!!! Dad and I are staying in a nice hotel in downtown Chicago and we’re taking the subway everywhere and walking. I’m looking forward to that, except for the bad weather part. So if you want anything from Chicago, let me know. :)
I hope you are doing well. Kirk got the flu last week, then the next day poor little Addie got it and she was throwing up in her crib. Then today Sarah got it and had to miss another day of work. She’s afraid she’s not going to be able to keep her job there for long because she’s missed so much and now her dad is having a serious operation on his brain to place an implant that will slow down his Parkinson’s, but the brain surgery is kind of scary and Sarah’s mom has asked the kids to be there with her. He’s having it the Monday after Thanksgiving, so Sarah and Nicole and Addie will go up to Canada the week of Thanksgiving to be with her and that means she will be missing even more work. And we are so sad that Addie won’t even be there for Thanksgiving. Kirk said that he’d still be there, but sorry Kirk, you’re not quite as cute as little Addie. haha But I know Sarah needs to be with her mom during that time. I’ll keep you posted about that.
Have a wonderful week. Continue to work hard, persevere and wait upon the Lord and ask members to go with you often. I love hearing about the joy you’re feeling doing the work of the Lord. There’s nothing better…well, it’s right up there with getting married and having a baby. :) Lots more joy to look forward to in life.
Love you like crazy!!!
Mom xxoo
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