Sun, Sand, & Bikes

Hey there—

I went out of town for the weekend and got home too late to write to you on Sunday, so my letter is a bit late. It was great to talk to you on Monday and to read your letter. It sounds like you are doing really well. I'm so proud of you and the hard work you are doing. I’m so happy that you seem to be thriving and making a difference in other people’s lives.  I love looking through your pictures and seeing the different areas of the city and people you interact with. I hope everything goes well with the people you are teaching this week.

What’s happening around here?

1. Parent/Teacher conferences for the little kids. Jett was the first in his class to pass off multiplication tables. He is so far advanced that his scores are nearly off the chart that they track scores on. He’s got some work to do in reading, but he reads whatever he can get his hands on, so I’m not too worried about it. Ethan got straight 3s on his report card, so they are both doing really well.

2. Ethan, Jett, and Tate all got their own library cards this week—mostly so that I can reserve extra audiobooks on the library system!

3. Ethan is now old enough to go to mutual, and he is SO excited about it. Last night they played board games and basketball, so pretty much it was a perfect night for him.

4. I went to book club for the first time in a long time. We had invited a local author to come speak to us, and it was a lot of fun. I had a really good time. Maybe it would be a good idea for me to start socializing again?! Bookclub was supposed to be at Melissa Parr’s house. But she got Covid, and even though she was past her quarantine, all of her kids were sick. So Summer Barret volunteered to host. Luckily the author had requested everyone wear masks. That made me a lot more comfortable going. And it was a good thing, because now Summer Barrett has Covid too.

5. I’ve been trying to do some things to relax and lower my stress level. One of the things I’ve been doing is a word puzzle online called Wordle. It’s kinda fun because everyone works on the same word every day, but everyone keeps the secret to not spoil it for others. I’m enjoying it. But the NYTimes just bought it up, so maybe soon it will no longer be free and available to everyone to play. We shall see.

6. On Thursday I went out to California with my college roommates. It was really a nice getaway, and I got to spend some time siting on the beach in the sand. The sun is life-giving in so many ways. The winter inversion in Utah is so hard to survive!

7. Oh! Haha. I should tell you that on my flight to California I was seated right in the middle of the San Diego State basketball team. I wonder if you would have recognized any of them?

8. On Saturday we rented beach cruisers and biked a 12 mile loop around the bay. It was really fun, and I was saddle sore the next day.

9. We tried to order pizza for dinner, but the app said they were not currently contracted with the pizza place for delivery. So we delivered from another place.  Next thing we know, both places delivered and we had pizza coming out our ears!

10. I came home Sunday to about 300 new emails in my inbox, so I guess back to reality—ready or not!

This week the Salt Lake Tribune ran a story about my Twitter friend Kris. I don’t really have friends in real life in the LGBTQ community. Kris was very open about their personal life and trials they were facing, and I felt like they expanded my empathy for people like them. The article talked about how there aren’t many people in the church who are transgender and remain active. Understandable, I think. The article talked about how Kris was determined to stay in the church because they had faith in the gospel. But also to create space for people like them—because the gospel is for everyone.  Kris wanted people to know that there was a place for them at church, and there is a place for YOU too—no matter who you are. Kris was an advocate, and I doubt they realized the impact they had on their community. It was really amazing to see how many people were mourning the loss this week. 

Kris’ advocacy reminded me of a story that aunt Krysta shared from her mission. She said one day they were knocking doors in an apartment complex. At one apartment a housekeeper answered the door. Krysta asked if the apartment owners were home, and the lady said no. Krysta then turned to go. But the housekeeper was upset.  She was offended that Krysta had a message to share with the apartment owner, but not the housekeeper. Maybe she felt that Krysta thought a housekeeper wasn’t important enough to share the gospel with? It taught Krysta a lesson about being ready to share the gospel with everyone—regardless of station or status. I hope we recognize that church is a place where imperfect people gather to worship. We all have our flaws, trials, sins. But there is a place for everyone, and we need to make room for those who do not feel welcome or accepted.