Letters to my Children

Hello my dear! It was great to talk to you today and read your emails. I’m just amazed at all of the people you are teaching and finding, and I’m amazed at your language and teaching skills. You are giving everything to serving well, and I’m so proud of you. I love that you are having the opportunity to meet different kinds of people with diverse life experiences and beliefs. What an interesting opportunity to be invited to the Buddhist temple! And what a growing opportunity to take a leap of faith and contact people on the train. And how nerve wracking to speak in church on short notice in a second language and translate for others in difficult subjects! How funny/not funny to get locked out of your apartment and have to sleep in your clothes. How frustrating to have friends miss appointments or opportunities for true conversion.  But also how rewarding to create deep bonds and watch people’s lives change as they embrace the gospel. Ah. What a great thing this mission has been for you

Dear Michael, I enjoyed your letter this week. I'm glad you had a fun Chinese New Year party. Sounds like a great way to allow people to socialize and make friends at the church. Glad to see growth with Julia and Jenny. Hope things move along successfully with your new friends. Sounds like Isaac needs a little more time to understand how church attendance will change his worship and commitment. Keep working with him! It looks like it's cold and wet in Boston. How are your shoes holding up? Do you mostly wear your boots when you go out? Have you tried the electric hand warmer? Does it help at all? I hope you stay warm and healthy! We've had a fun, busy week.  1. The kids had Monday and Tuesday off school, so we let them have a sleepover with cousins. It was a little bit of a bummer because Tiff’s kids were sad about Grandpa Duke. And then Ryan got sick and threw up, so he had to go home. But the rest of the kids cozied up to watch movies and have popcorn. Owen stayed most of

Dear Michael, It was so good to visit with you today. You’ve got so many people you are working with! It seems that you are quite busy and engaged with people in many different stages of life. But the ward is growing and people are forming good friendships, and you are helping create a welcoming community for them. I love that people are so generous to take you out to eat, and that you are also able to spend some leisure time playing basketball. I’m sure  everyone is impressed with your skills! It’s always a bit gloomy in Utah after the holidays. Things definitely slowed down here once the kids went back to school and dad back to work. I’m trying to dig out, catch up, and get organized. Here’s what’s happening at home: 1. I’ve got sad news to share. Duke Roane (Tiffany’s dad) passed away last night. He suffered 2 strokes in the last 5 years or so, and on top of his diabetes has been in very poor health. He had a heart attack a couple of months ago and needed to have two more procedures

Michael,  I hope you are enjoying being back in Quincy and getting to know a new companion and having new friends to teach. I know you are a force for good wherever you go! Alright, here’s my Christmas roundup #2. 1. On Thursday the 29th Dad and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary. I’ve officially been married longer than I was single. Crazy! Ty took Jett and Tate skiing for the day, and Blake went skiing with Jimmy. Ty said Tate was an absolute natural and did not want to be done at the end of the day! Poor Ethan was stuck at home with nothing to do. So we took him to the movies with us to see Wakanda Forever—which of course was so good! In the evening Dad and I went to dinner at Ruth’s Chris—also very good! And then we stayed the night at the beautiful new Hyatt hotel in downtown Salt Lake. We got the corner room up on the 22nd floor which had a huge wall of windows and a view across the city. Very fun day! 2. In the morning we met my parents, Dana, and Alison & Zach at the