2/6/17 Super Sunday

Hello Ghana,

It is a good thing your previous companions e-mail us or we may miss small parts of your mission experience.Thanks for confirming the info. Any thing else we should be asking? You have never used the code system. Should we worry? Sister Wardle is nice to post pictures on facebook. We saw a great one this week with your companion. The Woods are also nice enough to still e-mail here and there.

Porter may be contemplating a pet tarantula after getting several hobo spider bites. (the tarantula would keep away the hobos) I am wondering if it is Heavenly Father's way of answering my prayers for a cleaner room, but it hasn't seemed to help him keep his clothes off the floor. We will see how this week goes. I will have to give his future wife a disclosure agreement. 

Yesterday Porter went to a Jazz Festival in Pocatello and they sounded really good!!!  I was so impressed. ISU did a live stream, so we were able to give the link to grandma and grandpa. I think you would have loved it. Did you ever get the general conference/music SD card?

Today we went to grandma Nikki's and each person in our family made a portion of dinner and we broker our fast together.  Pace made some really yummy Swedish Meatballs and Tad some awesome apple/pear crisp. Porter was stuck with bottled beans and grape juice, so he didn't get the high praise. The little kids made delicious mashed potatoes. Paper plates!!! It made for a fun afternoon together. Any fun stories with food for you lately? 

You know we aren't very dedicated football fans, so when I saw lots of Superbowl food specials at the grocery store I thought, why not have the fun food and do a Super Sunday party?  We played games and had prizes. Dad won several twinkies  and Pace came in dead last with the consolation prize. Sadie commented that it was much better than having to watch the football game. ; ) Prophetic priority- Keep the Sabbath Day Holy

Paige Bennett returned from her mission and was at church today. She has grown a lot. It is fun to see. 

I am feeling a little exhausted after several people from the primary were called in the new R.S. and Y.W. presidencies. We have 13 callings to fill (that includes teachers, nursery, and cub scout callings). Tell me more about the growing church...I bet it will help me put my dilemma in perspective. 

The missionaries asked if we could do one of the new member discussions for Zac and Zaide here on Wednesday. HOoray, we get to be apart of missionary work!!!  It will be on the gospel of Jesus Christ from PMG. Zac and Zaide even came to church today. 

Dad spoke at the early morning side on Wed, but didn't really tell any of us beforehand. Porter said he did a really good job and said he had several people comment to him how good his dad did. A boy came up to Dad at the stake BB games and thanked him for a great talk. I could'tn tell what Pace thought of it, but he went. (Remember feeling really irritated with your mom/parents for even small things? It has been that kind of a week for Pace. He did laugh a lot today when we were playing games)

That is right.... Stake BB has started. Along with Stake volleyball for Dad. It is the last week for school skiing.  The financial class is halfway through. Tad's pigs are alive and fattening up. They are now planning for lambs. Usually the Middle School 6th grade does the Ellis Island project, but they switched it up this year and did a Mars Project. Similar lead up,different theme, fun culmination on Friday. Davis is in the middle of the 5th Harry Potter book. Expeliarmus sp? can be heard often with spells flying past my head.

Sadie received your Christmas letter this week. Nice handwriting and advice! She is actually doing great at reading her scriptures. We are challenging them in primary to make a habit of personal scripture study. She is even quick to share what she reads and her thoughts with me. 

 

Q- Tell us more about your new companion.

Who are you teaching?

Send us pictures of your apartment and the landscape.

What is primary like in your branch? 

What hymns do you sing the most?

Do you see any white people, apart from the missionaries?

What is the predominant religion in your area?

Do you have any problems sleeping on your mission?

Your previous companions are awesome. I love their 2-3 sentence e-mails.  It is more descriptive than anything I could write. "Mom I am always encouraged on a daily basis when ever I used my light that you sent me. It is always my great prayer that I becomes a light to myself the people I served and even my companion.Even this is my favorite scripture about the LIght of Christ Moroni 7:18-19. Please extend my greeting to your family." Can you guess who that is? Do you have a way you can contact native comps after your mission?

Spiritual thoughts- Christ performed the atonement based on the POTENTIAL he saw in us. He did not just see what we were or what we weren't. The farther I get in life the more need I have in the enabling power of the atonement. The gap of my sincere effort and really what is needed is a growing chasm.

Like Adam and Eve we face decisions with little experience or understanding of the consequence. Sometimes misinformation, or ignorance leads us into a bad choice.  We have an innate desire to experience for ourselves, even if it means making a mistake. We also have a strong desire to progress, learn, fix, move, try, fail and test.  Our actions never just affect us. 

We love you. Keep doing the hard things!!!  

Mom

1/28/17 Hey from Sunny Southern Idaho

Hey there. Life has been good this week. It hasn’t dipped below -2.

Today is Porter’s birthday. He’s doing well. The big 18. Mom made a few custom t-shirts for him. One used the logo we made for his space camp last summer (below), the second says “Actually, it is Rocket Science”, and the last one says “I can explain it to you, but I can’t UNDERSTAND it for you”. Tonight, he’s at Mike Miller’s mission prep class tonight. 

This week, Porter went on a second date with a girl from Idaho Falls (not the photo below, which is just a fun dance photo). The first was a blind date Colton set up. The second was not ;) We’ll see, but he talked to me about her unsolicited… hmm. Saturday, he went with me to Stake Volleyball, which was also fun. I helped Olivia Nelson touch up a logo for her cake business last week, so she brought me a subtle on the peanut butter / heavy on the chocolate cake to say thank you. Mom confiscated it and used it for Porter’s birthday (photo below)… so I’m morose but less overweight. 

Tad is in full entrepreneurial mode. This week he found a soft serve ice cream machine on Craigslist for $25. He has visions of Sadie, Rachel and Brooklyn working for him selling ice cream this summer. He also bought 2 pigs to go with the 3 pigs Nelson's bought. They’re keeping them at the Blue House, and expect to make a killing off of them this fall. 

They almost made a killing on their way home. They were flagged down on the Menan-Lorenzo highway by someone who told them the trailer door was open. When they looked inside, 3 of the 5 pigs were missing. With a really sick feeling, they retraced their steps and found all 3 standing in a huddle by the side of the road, not too far from a corner. None of them were visibly hurt, but they also stood motionless while they were recaptured, indicating their state of shock at being dumped from a moving vehicle in the middle of winter. No pig ever just stood still while it was captured. All 5 were happy and healthy tonight when we stopped by to help feed them on the way to Grandma Nikki’s.

Speaking of which, we stopped by this evening to visit. The kids weren’t very well behaved, but she invited them back when it was sunny and warm outside so they could play. Subtext : don’t come back until summertime :) We also saw the Moose that’s been living in her yard for the last few weeks. 

This week we had a snow day due to driving wind, drifting and 4 inches of snow. It was bad south of Jefferson County, but Madison still had school. Mom and Becky took all the Nelson’s to the sand dunes to play, which turned out to be a lot of fun. Weather was bad enough to cancel school, but not bad enough to cancel the party… hmm. Parent / teacher conference was Thursday, so everybody was home on Friday too. Mom’s a little bug-eyed today after the week at home with all the kids, and the next paragraph. On Friday night, we took all the kids to the new Star Wars - Rogue One. Add it to your list. It was fun.

FYI: today they replaced our Young Women’s Presidency: Sister Franz, Sister Bennett, and Sister Dabell (new family), plus 4 others as YW advisors. They also replaced our Relief Society Presidency: Sister Lilly, Sister Gahn, and Sister Jensen. These callings gutted the Primary, which now gets to start over on finding people who are not flaky… or at least less flaky than the other possibilities.

The Idaho Falls Temple is due for rededication on June 4. My new calling will put me neck deep in the Cultural Celebration put on by all the youth in our Temple district. They’ll be performing in the Holt Arena in Pocatello on Saturday, June 3. We’ll see how it turns out. I’m also responsible for the Stake Aaronic Priesthood Campout / Service Project this May. Fun.

Mom talked to Jeff Gunderson today. Maria gets home in April… which isn’t that far off. Are you still writing Sister Gunderson? Longer or shorter letters than what you send to us? :) We did see her name and address transferred to the back of Pace’s Christmas letter when they were wet and smashed flat during the flood, so we know that she got at least one letter around Christmastime :) 

We love you. Keep up the good work, and let us know little details like “I’m a zone leader”.

Dad

1/21/17 How is the transition?

 The pictures from your camera worked great!  I like avoiding the virus infested computers. We can't wait for new pictures.

What a quick change for you. How is the transition going? Any idea how Tamale is doing without you? Was your companion left in a threesome? What is the jungle like? Any new bugs, lions or rhinoceri? Who is your companion? What is your new apartment like (pictures)? What are you learning personally at this time in your mission? How is the food different? Lowdown on your new area? What are your neighbors like? Is it a more populated area? Can you write your next letter in an African accent?

Our week

Sports Fun- 

Tad went skiing with the school, 5 inches of new snow with more coming today. So much for global warming. 

Tad and Pace both came home so happy from the Klondike Derby. Dad took Drew and Davis up for just a few hours to help the Stake on Sat. 

Drew and I watched birds with Grandma Nikki and Kerry. We saw over 10 kinds of birds and a moose in the few hours before school. 

Sadie and I went skiing at Deer Parks and saw over 2,500 swans as they flew and honked around us.  

Stake Volleyball and BB are starting which most of us are looking forward to. 

News from Friends-

Austin's Mom (also at the Chinese Celebration) said that he and Jordan are companions and Jared just got put in their Zone. The mission president didn't know they were from the same town and said, "They are all good Idaho boys!!!" I think you are in the closest area to them.....unless the mission boundaries change. 

Shelby's farewell is next Sunday...the same day as Porter's birthday.

It was Keith and Beverly Johnson's last Sunday in our ward, and he was released from the bishopric. They are moving to Labelle while they build a house near Rigby. Lloyd Becker was sustained in his place. 

Dad spoke as our high councilman with Chris Campbell. They both did awesome and talked on the first of the 5 Prophetic Priorities. 

Porter went to the Midnight Masquerade with Mya Weber. Fun night with a group of friends. She is a lot like Natalie Johnson. 

Member Missionary Work-

Zaide and Zac were baptized yesterday and were confirmed in Sacrament Meeting!!!  Hooray!!! It did not go without some background rollercoasters. We arrived at the Stake Center to find a funeral going on. I didn't feel good about getting into the primary closet behind the casket while the viewing was going on, so I had to make do with some things. Then as I was playing the piano (nervously), Nikki Lewis shared her shock as she saw that she was the baptism talk and we had both prepare talks on the Holy Ghost. I adjusted and gave a short talk on baptism. All the important stuff happened. 

We had an awesome Primary Popcorn Party on Monday complete with dodgeball to celebrate our scripture reading goal. We even had two families of kids come that don't come to church.  

Life in America-

Life has moved on uneventfully with the inauguration of Trump. Another peaceful transfer of power. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed in between the vice president and president's oath. Porter informed me that there are a lot of  marches of women protesting Trump. 

We celebrated the Chinese New Year at Drew and Davis' school with an assembly by all the classes(in Chinese) in the morning and carnival in the afternoon. Davis' class was by far the best!!!  The did a chant with animals and actions.....so cool. 

I bought postage stamps highlighting the year of the Rooster....Chinese New Year... in America???

Porter, and Pace are taking the Dave Ramsey Financial Class from Grant and Kris Taylor in preparation for their contribution to the American economy. 

Humor- 

People are getting Becky, Stephanie and I mixed up on a daily basis. This week someone thought I was married to Greg. Another person introduced themself to me as a former resident of Menan who lived down the street from us. I asked her name and she said, "I am also Becky" with a face like, you should know me. Quinton's Grandma came into the primary today and told me that she just realized that Stephanie and I were not the same person with two husbands. I have always wanted to be cloned to get more done... and I have finally found out how to do it. Facebook tagged Tia with my name (face recognition software). 

Thoughts and Scriptures of the Week-

"Tell me & I forget. Teach me & I remember. Involve me & I learn.....(extension from Sadie and I) Let me learn theory+principle+doctrine+law of the gospel+ history behind it and I will understand. Let me struggle, fail, pray, succeed, compare it to the scriptures & teachings of prophets & I will gain wisdom." Prov. 1:5, 4:7, 2 Nephi 28:30, D&C 88:78-80

"I work as hard as I can & do everything within my power and I try and keep the commandments, then I let the Lord make up the difference"- Pres. Benson

1 Nephi 19:7, 9 ....set them at naught and hearkened not to the voice of His council......and He suffered it, because of His loving kindness and His longsuffering toward the children of men.  (Let us be like him in difficult situations)

We love you and pray for you several times a day. Work hard and we will pray for the enabling power of God to help you. 

Love, Mom

PS. Dad here. Tonight we watched a couple of videos from your amnesia visit to the hospital. It was fun to see you answer all the same questions one more time :) Work hard. Be happy. 

Two missionary moms rejoicing in their reuniting at Winco. 

Porter went with Mia Weber to the Moonlight Masquerade last night. 

 Zaide and Zac Marsden's baptism on Saturday.

Sadie and I went cross country skiing to Deer Park Saturday with Amy, Becky, and Rachel. There were 

over 2,500 swans nesting there.

Davis did an awesome job at the Chinese Celebration at his school on Friday

Drew and I went to watch birds with Grandma Nikki and Uncle Kerry on Thursday.

Attac

1/15/17 Not Africa Hot Here

Happy mid-January.

We had such bitter cold here, and then it warmed up to almost 40° for a day or two and melted a bunch before dropping back to -11° on Saturday morning. I went for a walk and discovered that not shaving for a few days creates velcro for your stocking cap if you pull it down over your cheeks. Very warm. File that away for a future day when it’s colder than 98° outside. I was trying to loosen up my back, which is out again. This time, I just went to bed and woke up with a messed up back. Sigh. Like the thorn in Paul’s flesh.

While I was convalescing on the couch Saturday morning, Mom got up and went to the temple. Actually, she was the fortuitous victim of a chain of events, which turned out to be a good opportunity. The Nelson’s got a couple of Jazz Game court-side tickets. They decided to get a few more tickets and take the whole family, so naturally invited Tad to go with them on Friday night (more below). He forgot to turn off his alarm, which went off Saturday morning. Mom could hear an alarm, and got up to shut her’s off. When she got back in bed, it was still going off. She thought maybe Heavenly Father was giving her a sign, so she got up and went to the temple. 

Mom also ran into Shelby Ames at Broulim’s a few days ago. She’s leaving on February 5th to serve a mission in South Korea. Her farewell is on Porter’s Birthday.

This week, Porter received a Presidential Scholarship to Boise State! Yahoo! Now he can afford college :) He’s been working after school at Shelfology, and they just asked him to manage the shop after hours as they introduce an evening shift, which is pretty cool because everybody else they employ is either full-time or a college student. He’s a pretty responsible guy. Grandma Johnson gave him her old iPhone for Christmas, and he just got a data plan this week all on his own.

Last week, I ordained Pace a Priest, and Porter got to stand in. Immediately after the ordination, they went to do Sacrament to the shut-ins, so he got some practice right away. Today, Pace blessed the bread, and Porter blessed the water, which was pretty neat. Pace also wants you to know that he bought 6 ultimate frisbee discs with his Christmas gift card, so reserve a day or two when you get home for a few games.

So more about Tad’s Jazz Game. Nelsons bought more cheap seat tickets for the rest of the family, so most of them ended up sitting on the very last row of the arena, nearly touching the ceiling. When the got near the top, Stratton turned around and got scared that he was going to fall from so high up. There was an 8 foot mini-blimp flying around the arena dropping subway cards. Tad was a little bummed that they didn’t get even a chance at one, because they were sitting higher than the blimp. As a consolation prize, he got all you can eat at JB’s for breakfast the next morning. 

Attached is a low-res, "just before bedtime" family picture. You’ll notice Dad’s warm and fuzzy bathrobe from Christmas. It’s been nice during the cold days to put it on in the evenings, but it’s also been a magnet for Sadie. She likes to use it simultaneously as a pillow and pet cat. I’ve let her wear it a couple of times, but the sleeves hang down to her ankles. 

Davis wants to request a little, wooden good luck charm from Africa when you come home. File that one away. We also got Christmas letters for Davis and Tad this week. Thanks for sending those. Everybody loves reading them. 

Drew and Mom finished reading Trumpet of the Swans this week. On Friday, they cross country skied at Deer Parks to see the swans (picture below). They saw a bunch of geese out in the field and skied over to get a closer look. It turned out they were decoy’s spread around a couple of hunters in white ground blinds. They continued skiing around the perimeter and pretty much scared off all the wildlife for about a mile. Not making hunter friends. 

I was just called as Stake YM President. Interesting. I’m happy for the new assignment. Next week I give my final High Council talk in Menan 1st about the first of the 5 Prophetic Priorities : Strengthening our faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and His Atonement. This Prophetic Priority seems to have been largely based on a talk given by Elder Bednar in General Conference a few years ago. It highlights 3 principles taken from Joseph Smith’s Lectures on Faith, and an additional insight which you might find interesting to ponder:

Three fundamentals are necessary in order for any rational and intelligent being to exercise faith in the Father and the Son unto life and salvation: 

(1) the idea that They actually exist, 

(2) a correct idea of Their character, perfections, and attributes, and 

(3) an actual knowledge that the course of life that a person is pursuing is according to God’s will.

The sequence of events in the Restoration teaches vital lessons about strengthening faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

I’d like to get to the point that I’m really feeling #3, and the last idea makes me want to see what lessons I can learn in the sequence of the restoration.

We love you. Work hard. Take the right kinds of risks. Enjoy people. 

love Dad

1/8/17 Snow days/ Cold days

Dear Africa, 

It is cold here!!!  -26 and real feel -42, earlier in the week on Dad's phone. NO school due to the New Year on Monday. School was cancelled on Thursday and Friday. It is snowing again today. It is supposed to rain tomorrow with flood warnings?!? 

The sad news is that we haven't seen Hobbes since about Monday. We fear he is in the Haight's barn a little bit colder than is healthy. 

Pace turned the big 16 on Monday. We had a ice cream sandwich tower with lots of flames on top. The question of the day- Do you have ice cream in Ghana? He was ordained a priest today with Porter standing in the circle. I realized this week that it is another milestone year, you will turn 20, Porter 18, Pace 16, Tad will become a Teacher, and Sadie will turn a big 12!!! 

On Friday Porter and Pace helped me build 4 shoe shelves for the mudroom and coat room. Happy Mom! Grandpa gave me a bunch of woodworking equipment and, for a steal of a deal, I traded the computer recycler for a couple of pallets of old shelving to repurpose. I'll send you a picture after I sand and paint them.

Grandma Nikki got the results of her biopsy back and as posted on facebook....

Want to hear some more great news? Got the pathology report back from my thyroid operation. The part they took out is benign!!!! No cancer!!!! How about that for a miracle? If there is no cancer in that side of the thyroid, the other side must be okay too. So half a thyroid will probably last me for the rest of my life. Tender mercies continue. Love you all. Thanks for the prayers and the priesthood blessings and the promptings from the spirit.

Saturday was the best Nelson Volleyball Party yet. We were in charge of coordinating the food which entailed 6' Subway sandwiches and an amazing ice cream bar. I even made a relish tray that resembled an owl. We had some awesome volleyball games especially because Pace and Tad are SO tall. They are fun to play with. All the Thompson boys and a Weekes relative were there which made it extra, extra fun. Nichole was there from NY and she had some fun stories. Her and Brian won a you-tube contest. They made a video for it that was super hilarious. It was to get a grant for fertility help. We took the ping-pong table to the party and instead of taking it back downstairs, it has a temporary spot in the dining room. Pace won the tournament tonight. Porter stayed home sick....which is just our luck that we have been healthy all 3 weeks of break and now we are trying to go back to school.

We heard from a facebook post via his mom about Elder Peterson getting sick this week.

Please keep Elder Kevin Peterson in your prayers today and if you are fasting, please fast for him. We just got a phone call from his mission president, President Cosgrave. Kevin woke up fine this morning and by 10:00 a.m. he and his companion were out working. By noon he was home in bed with stomach pain, at 3:00 it was bad enough that he went to the mission home, President Cosgrave is a physician (tender mercy) and by 5:00 Kevin was in the hospital with an iv for fluids and antibiotics and was on morphine. He has a low grade fever, slightly elevated white blood cell count, a possible kidney infection and a very large gall stone. Depending on how he responds to treatment and further test results, he will either have emergency surgery in Kumasi at a very large teaching hospital or if they can stabilize him, control his pain, etc... they will send him home for surgery. I am praying he is able to come back to the States to have surgery here. He would be here for roughly a three week recovery time and then hopefully would be allowed to return to complete his mission in Ghana. We were able to speak with him briefly and he was in good spirits although still in some pain. President Cosgrave will call us again tomorrow to let us know what will happen.

Wow, what a change so quick. How are the missionaries in your apartment feeling? How is your companion doing? I hope better. Your pictures look great so I haven't worried about you. Nice haircut!!

I love the picture of you with the group of people and the dusty sky in the background. Who are they?

No major inspirational stories, just plugging along day by day, just being "sensible parents." 

We did have two primary baptisms on Saturday. One of which was of a girl, Markessa Gasser, of a part active family. We have a baptism date set for the Marsden boys, Zac and Zaide on Jan 21st. They have been meeting with the missionaries. Zaide was one of my cub scouts last year. When I prayed for mission opportunities about 2 years ago I was put into cub scouts where half of the 12 boys were non members or inactive. At that time 5 out of the 6 ladies I visit taught or visit taught with were non-members or inactive. That was an answer to a prayer in an unexpected way.

Normally I would be really excited, but I have tried to get these families to church, but with no real success at all, so I have kind of privately discouraged the baptisms. I am not really confident that either Markessa or Zac or Zaide's baptisms will increase their attendance on Sunday, which is pretty spotty right now. Not sure what to do....try our hardest...... leave it up to the bishop and missionaries....leave it up to the Lord. I know I can't see the whole picture....feeling the weight of being Primary President. Any advice?

We called some new primary teachers and there were a couple of divine matches we realized after the fact. We have two boys with autism that can be challenging. They are twins. I felt drawn to have a new young couple in our ward fill the spot and they are great. The husband said he grew up with a guy with autism that had the same kind of things going on. They love the calling, they have the energy and have none of the baggage of knowing the history. Another situation was Sister Burgie who was in nursery, but has had three major joint replacements in the last 3 months. She needed something a little less physically demanding so we moved her up into senior primary. She was Dad's art teacher. And without realizing it we put her with another graphic designer who works out of her home. They do great together. 

There are constant problems to solve in this calling. It is just a revolving door. I dream of being oblivious. It is such a peaceful life. An article's first paragraph in the Dec Ensign caught my attention, "A mission is Preparation for the Rest of Your Life" . 

On your mission you learned to plan while adapting to change. You learned to talk to strangers, teach gospel lessons, bounce back from rejection, and build positive relationships. You learned to set goals, exercise discipline, be accountable, and start again after setbacks, You learned to get along with different people -- companions, members and investigators. You learned to study and pray consistently and rely on the Lord, During periods when you were uncomfortable in your role, you learned one of the greatest skills of adulthood: to be more comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Pres. Uchdorf's message this month was another golden one.

Recently, I watched a group of people practicing the art of archery. Just by watching, it became clear to me that if you really want to master the bow and arrow, it takes time and practice.

I don’t think you can develop a reputation for being an accomplished archer by shooting at an empty wall and then drawing targets around the arrows. You have to learn the art of finding the target and hitting the bull’s-eye.

Painting Targets

Shooting first and drawing the target afterward may seem a little absurd, but sometimes we ourselves mirror that very behavior in other circumstances of life.

As Church members, we sometimes have a tendency to attach ourselves to gospel programs, issues, and even doctrines that seem interesting, important, or enjoyable to us. We are tempted to draw targets around them, making us believe we are aiming at the center of the gospel.

This is easy to do.

Throughout the ages we have received excellent counsel and inspiration from prophets of God. We also receive direction and clarification from various publications, handbooks, and manuals of the Church. How easy it would be to select our favorite gospel topic, draw a bull’s-eye around it, and then make a case that we have identified the center of the gospel.

The Savior Clarifies

This is not a problem unique to our day. Anciently, religious leaders spent a great deal of time cataloging, ranking, and debating which of the hundreds of commandments was the most important.

One day a group of religious scholars attempted to draw the Savior into the controversy. They asked Him to weigh in on an issue upon which few could agree.

“Master,” they asked Him, “which is the great commandment in the law?”

We all know how Jesus answered: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

“This is the first and great commandment.

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”1

Please note the last sentence: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

The Savior not only showed us the target, but He also identified the bull’s-eye.Hitting the Target

As members of the Church, we covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. Implicit in that covenant is the understanding that we will strive to learn about God, love Him, increase our faith in Him, honor Him, walk in His way, and stand steadfastly as witnesses of Him.

The more we learn about God and feel His love for us, the more we realize that the infinite sacrifice of Jesus Christ is a divine gift of God. And God’s love inspires us to use the path of true repentance, which will lead to the miracle of forgiveness. This process enables us to have greater love and compassion for those around us. We will learn to see beyond labels. We will resist the temptation to accuse or judge others by their sins, shortcomings, flaws, political leanings, religious convictions, nationalities, or skin color.

We will see every one we meet as a child of our Heavenly Father—our brother or our sister.

We will reach out to others in understanding and love—even those who may not be particularly easy to love. We will mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort.2

And we will realize that there is no need for us to agonize about the correct gospel target.

The two great commandments are the target. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.3 As we accept this, all other good things will fall into place.

If our primary focus, thoughts, and efforts are centered on increasing our love for Almighty God and extending our hearts to others, we can know that we have found the right target and are aiming at the bull’s-eye—becoming true disciples of Jesus Christ.

I better get to bed. It is late and it might be another snow day tomorrow. I have to be on my game. ; )

We love you!!! Need anything?

Love Mom 


***It is 6:30am,  37 degrees and Hobbes is back!

Pace's tower ice cream sandwich birthday cake

Pace's look alike

Sadie in the clarinet hot spot

Middle School Band concert

1/1/17 Happy New Year

Elder Nelson,

It was so good to speak with you on Christmas. It was too short (especially for your mom), but we’re excited for what you’re doing and couldn’t be happier about where you are and what you are doing. We’ve had an eventful few weeks surrounding Christmas. I’ll be glad to get back to work so I can recover from our vacation. They are forecasting super cold days in the minus 20° range, so we might see a few cold days piled on top of the Christmas Vacation (every child’s dream come true, but Mom may still have a day or two before she gets a break from vacation :).

No pressure, but you spoke in Sacrament meeting today. The bishop asked all the parents of missionaries to give a quick report on how each is doing, and I decided what people really wanted to hear was directly from you, and not my interpretation. I pulled parts of your December letters, and included part of Porter’s letter. Don’t worry, you did a great job.

It was fun to hear about everyone else. Noah Franz is teaching a football jock who had put them off until after the season ended. They really connected, and he was baptized just recently, then received the priesthood. It sounds like he’s a really good missionary. Sister Bennett left her wallet on the top of the car when she transferred on the interstate to a new area. A homeless man found her wallet (which had been destroyed) and spent his time tracking down all the belongings which had been spread out over a large section of highway. He gave it to a trucker who contacted the mission office and met the missionaries at the parking lot of a Winn-Dixie. She got everything, including the few dollar bills she had. It was her Christmas miracle.

Jacob Campbell came home last week, then reported to High Council this morning. He is so much more self-assured than when he left, if not a bit more rumpled than before :) He served in Northern Florida and Southern Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. He loved it.

On December 23rd, we helped a family move out of the ward in emergency circumstances. A single mother with 2 kids (one of which was in Mom’s scout group) was evicted, so we had to help them get out. They’re living a hard life with a lot of bad decisions piled on top of each other. It’s the kind of circumstance you wish you could fix, but the number of changes they need to make are overwhelming. Mom bought groceries yesterday, and helped the mom unpack in her new apartment. We pray for the kids, who are so respectful and good, but surrounded by chaos.

Speaking of kids and chaos, did you get the Gunderson family Christmas letter about Daisy? It was awesome and very relatable. If you didn’t, let me know and we’ll send it.

We went to Fullmer’s New Year’s Eve party last night. It’s always fun, but ratcheted down a notch without Dave Newmyer. We got to bed about 12:30, then I had High Council at 7 this morning, read your "letter" in sacrament meeting, Mom oversaw the Primary first-of-the-year transition, I substitute taught Davis’ class on the first vision with Steve Jackson, and Mom did two sharing times. Tired.

I took a little time off this Christmas break to work with Mom on her quilt patterns, which is proving to be fun and good for our marriage. We also went on a date helping at the Food Pantry in Rigby. They help a lot of people in all sorts of unfortunate circumstances. At the Christmas party, we won the Amy Gahn night of foreign cooking, and she delivered on it last Wednesday. She and Mom worked together from one in the afternoon until she left at about 7:30 pm. Mom was on cloud nine.

Porter would like to announce his 33 on the ACT. He is a little bummed because he wanted to beat you in the worst way, and almost did… except he scored a 29 on the math portion, which drug down his overall average. He’s kicking himself because his previous math score was significantly higher… but he’s willing to settle at even with you :) Chris Eckman was back in town for the holiday, and continues to be a ‘godfather’ to porter (if we were italian and catholic). He’s been good to and for Porter.

Pace’s 16th Birthday is this week (observed is still July 3rd). He spent all day Saturday babysitting for Sonja Schaat’s grandkids, then went to a New Year’s Eve party with about 20 kids, then the multi-stake dance.

Tad has probably clocked more hours working for Greg Nelson with Brigham this year than you did before you left. They helped the same lady move, shoveled snow by hand from the footings of 6 Rock Creek apartments, then helped Greg repair the air brakes on a trailer this week. That doesn’t include the recreation time spent dragging sleds behind the snowmobile or sledding at Ucon. We owe Greg and Becky child support.

Sadie has her second band concert on January 4. She’s been playing your clarinet, and is doing great. Davis went sledding with Nelson’s this week, and he and Sadie are back in the same bedroom. It’s good, because the Tad/Davis or Drew/Davis combination was bordering on nuclear melt-down. The Sadie/Davis combination brings a better attitude, but also more decibels.

Drew has really started to bond with Pace, which is good and bad. Pace is good with kids, but on occasion has a tough time foreseeing consequences. He ripped a pair of underwear today giving a wedgy, and we’ve had to comfort numerous minor injuries when he gets too rough. It’s a good thing he doesn’t have any weapons… oh wait.

We love you . I wish we were more uplifting and supportive, but this is what you’ve got for the week.

Love Dad.

12/25/16 Christmas Night

Dear Ghana,

Was the picture from last week with the Christmas watermelon and nativity your craftiness? If you have a chance, could you send us a picture of where you live and the 4 missionaries together? 

You sounded so good!! We are so happy to hear joy in your voice. We are so happy for you and miss you more today. 

The highlights of the week were:

 ...Talking to you.  40 minutes was not enough. We were just barely hearing your African accent when you talked to Drew.

We loved your letters to Drew, Porter and Pace. They were priceless. We can't wait until the other letters finish swimming across.The boys wore their pins to church.

Drew made service coupons for each person and eagerly did them today. 

Having Grandma Nikki make it through her surgery with flying colors. We took her turkey noodle soup.

Porter gave Dad 6 Patrick McManus books and we spent the day laughing. 

Playing new games with the whole family. (Cat Stax, Wikipedia The Game, 5 Crowns, Slamwich)

Christmas on Sunday, the sacrament, and new white shirts at the sacrament table. Porter was tempted to continue growing a beard this week but shaved. 

Grandma's gratitude challenge in the journals.

Several feet of fluffy white snow and no where to be.

Designing, sanding and putting together Grandpa's present.

Hearing Drew loud and clear in the Primary's music number in Sacrament Meeting.

Having the time to help a family in the ward move at the last minute. It was a bit like packing the Who's presents, tree, and roast beast. Not the easiest. Helping at the food bank earlier in the month.

Going on a date with Dad to Mountain River Ranch- the Delorum company party.

Cross country skiing.

Tomorrow we are hoping to make it to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's. And hope to see Tia, Yuki, Chris, Naoko and Adriel before they leave. 

I listened to this lesson from Howard W. Hunter that stuck with me. 

We should make room for Christ.On that night in Bethlehem there was no room for him in the inn, and this was not the only time during the thirty-three years of his sojourn in mortality that there was no room for him. Herod sent soldiers to Bethlehem to slay the children. There was no room for Jesus in the domain of Herod, so his parents took him to Egypt. During his ministry, there were many who made no room for his teachings—no room for the gospel he taught. There was no room for his miracles, for his blessings, no room for the divine truths he spoke, no room for his love or faith. He said to them, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).
Even in our day, although two thousand years have passed, there are many who say the same thing that was said on that night in Bethlehem. “There is no room, no room” (see Luke 2:7). We make room for the gifts, but sometimes no room is made for the giver. We have room for the commercialism of Christmas and even pleasure-seeking on the Sabbath day, but there are times when there is not room for worship. Our thoughts are filled with other things—there is no room.¹⁵While it will be a beautiful sight to see the lights of Christmas … , it is more important to have human lives illuminated by an acceptance of him who is the light of the world [see Alma 38:9; D&C 10:70]. Truly we should hold him up as our guide and exemplar.
On the eve of his birth, angels sang, “And on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). If men would follow his example, it would be a world of peace and love toward all men.¹⁶What is our responsibility today as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? It is to see that our individual lives reflect in word and deed the gospel as taught by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All that we do and say should be patterned after the example of the one sinless person to walk the earth, even the Lord Jesus Christ.¹⁷

Most of all I am grateful for the gift of repentance, forgiveness, mercy and progression. 

We love you!  Merry Christmas. 

Mom