Back on the Road

July 31, 2016

Dear sister Kristina,

Well, here we are again back in Utah. I'm not complaining about it though because we get to see Addie and Haylee more and Haylee keeps changing so much. Even Addie is changing a lot because she is talking more and more and says such cute things.

We left early this morning and picked up dad from mountain home, then we stopped at Kirk and Sarah's and picked up Nikki. Then we took off fairly quickly and went to the Samoan branch. Once again it was just an amazing meeting. The spirit is so strong there and we always feel so welcome. Today was a missionary farewell for the granddaughter of the branch president. She's going to Canada. The talks from everyone were wonderful. They spoke of choices in life and I was really hoping Leah was listening. We stayed all three hours and the girls went to their own Sunday school class and young woman's. Dad and I totally enjoyed our Sunday school class and our combined meeting.

In Sunday school we were studying alma 30 which is the story of korihor, the anti Christ. He spent his time trying to convince many of the non existence of God. Many believed his words which happens all around us in the world today. But I loved where the people of Ammon didn't fall for him at all and just immediately took him and bound him up. They probably didn't fall for the deception because they had lived that life before they were converted and immediately recognized the life they wanted to leave behind, in fact they had covenanted to leave it behind. Their covenants meant a lot to them.

So then our teacher who is half Caucasian and half Samoan told us of her nephew on the Caucasian side. He grew up with strong lds parents and family. She said when he was 16 he decided he didn't want to be part of the church or the family and he just left. They didn't see him again until he was 21 when he returned with a fiancee. The aunts the a bridal shower for her and at the shower they found out that she was an exotic dancer. That didn't go over well with some of the aunts, but the wedding went on as planned. Six months later, the wife who worked at night dancing was home during the day when sister missionaries knocked in her door. The sisters said they were very thirsty (it was super hot) and they also wanted to share a message with her, so she let them in, listened and agreed to come to their church on Sunday. She went to church and was baptized the next Saturday. When her husband heard what she was doing, he couldn't believe it, but did not stop her. 

Six months later, he started coming to church with her every Sunday. Six months after that they went to the temple and six months after that he was called into the elders quorum presidency and she was called to be young woman's president. When the young woman complain to get that they don't want to keep all the rules of the church, she shares with them that she has lived both ways and how much better her life is now living within all the guidelines of the gospel.She is like the people of Ammon who learned through rough experiences that the way of the Lord is the way of peace and blessings. The aunts now all absolutely love this woman who came into their nephew's life. :)

I will recount this story sometime with Leah. She has such a hard time with the church and wants her "freedom". She just can't understand how the guidelines and commandments actually give us much more freedom in life. They give us a path to follow instead of wandering through the chaos of life.

I also loved hearing that these sister missionaries were led to her and despite her being an exotic dancer (which was the reason she was actually home during the day, ha ha) that didn't phase the missionaries. They bore witness and let the spirit do his job.

After our meetings, the girls were both very happy and loved being there. We went to grandma and grandpa's for a Costa vida dinner.

Leah and Nikki are going to the Samoan dance class this Wed and Thurs where the RS president teaches. They're nervous about it, but I'm excited for them.

Leah came home from the hospital last Monday and has been much better this week, not perfect, but much better. She has so much more energy. She hasn't slept once during the day which is totally different for her. She has been fairly pleasant, talks with us and others, likes being with us while we run errands, and seems happier. She's scared of feeling the old way and I can understand that, but so far so good. She even came to me and said she's like to go out for the rugby team at school so she's been exercising every single night, walking and running on the treadmill. You have to believe me when I tell you how different that is from her behavior these past four months. I'm proud of her.

Nikki had the greatest time with her aunts these past couple of weeks. Jan said she was so helpful with everything around the house, loved doing everything and loved telling stories. Jan wants her to come back next summer again. Nikki made jewelry for all of us and Leah had actually bought a necklace for Nikki. Before the hospital, Leah was actually hating Nikki, (her words) which made me do sad, so I was so happy when she said she wanted to buy something for her.

Tomorrow we're babysitting Addie and Haylee while Sarah goes to a doctor's appt. Kirk is going to Denver for a couple days for training with his work, so we'll be helping Sarah with things.

We had a fun RS meeting last week where we had a speed dating type thing to get to know other sisters in the ward. It was a lot of fun. I spent a lot of time getting to know a new sister in our ward. They moved here from thousand oaks California.We're having a lot of move ins. And now the 9th ward is officially out of our stake. Very strange still. The guymans have moved out of our ward. Things just keep changing. I'm trying to keep up with everything.

I'm excited to hear about Nathan's baptism. How did he feel? We're there a lot of members?

I'm happy having dad here with me for this little vacation this time, and having Nikki back with us and having Leah feeling much better. My life feels like a roller coaster sometimes, but you know me, I may scream a lot on the roller coaster, but I always have a good time! :)

Hope you have a beautiful week and be sure to notice all the evidence of God's existence. It's everywhere you look just like Alma testified.

Love you very much,

Mom xoxo

The girls room newly painted

Dad and Leah enjoying a dinner of crabs

Haylee with a combover...We like her hair better when it's sticking up. haha

Addie at a little class given at a local park

here's a couple pics. We took Addie for the day and this pic is in the container store at the mall. It's a little desk with paper on top, so she loved coloring: