Letter To Lek: January in Medina

Letter to Lek:
Liesl is growing so well! It makes me super happy.  And she used to fuss a lot and cry a lot if she wasn't nursing (now that makes sense...she was starving!) and now that we are supplementing breastfeeding with a bottle, she is pretty content and does all kinds of adorable faces.  The kids had a harder time bonding with her since she was always fussing or nursing before when they wanted to hold her.  Now they are starting to warm up to her more.  Well, Piper and Maia have always tried to hold and help her even when she cried...and Tova when she was here, but the other ones are doing more and more with her.  She has the most adorable smiles. Okay, she looks like all the other adorable babies that I have had, but knowing how quickly all you turkeys grew up makes me want to cherish every smile and snuggle :D.  So she is pretty mellow and smiley now that she is on a better diet.  

The evenings are great without media. I am surprised how much that can govern me as well. I was going to pull up this email to share with Dad but it was during dinner...so I haven't shared it with him yet :D.  Good things but so many other things can sneak in too, right?  There is more reading, more sitting down together, more talking...after just two days!  It has increased the quality of our already pretty great family time.  By small and simple means are great things brought to pass, right?

I wrote the long, twisty, psychadelic colored letter a long time ago but maybe it got lost in the mail :S...you would have remembered it since it was kind of crazy. Of course, maybe it just takes some time to get there?

Re-reading through your previous email reminded me of something: I arranged for Lily to meet up with Oma and Opa at the temple while we were there for baptisms and initiatories. (Since Liesl takes a bottle now, she is easier to take care of.)  Then Oma and Opa were going to take her down to the Moores' farm later today.  When we met up at the temple, one of the first things Oma said to Lily is this: "You have one big decision to make today: KFC or Arby's?"  I immediately thought of you, lol :P.  Which one would you pick? I am guessing Arbys...seeing as I don't remember them being in Hungary, right?

Drew is in the process of taking midterms and Regence tests.  He is doing very well in school. It really is true that education is a choice and not something you can force on someone. It is amazing to see all that he has learned when he applies himself in these past couple years! He is also having fun performing in the musical, "The Addams Family."  He doesn't want to do public school again next year so I am trying to get it approved for homeschoolers to participate in extracurricular activities.  Whew. In my spare time.  

That reminds me, we had a great lesson in Seminary on the Atonement. It is amazing the inspiration that can come when you are teaching by the Spirit!  We compared exploring the depth and breadth of application of the Atonement to spelunking in a huge cave.  The unknown caverns represent areas in our lives that the Atonement can bless that we haven't discovered yet.  And how do we do that? Pray.  Pray that the Atonement can bless that part of our lives.  We looked up the BDictionary meaning of "grace" and one of them is to help us do good things that are otherwise beyond our ability to do.  Like change homeschool laws. Like go visiting teaching.  Like reach out in Christlike nurturing and love to the many people around me. And still be a wife and mother.  (And maybe the dishes might get done? And laundry?)  I truly need something more to make all these things possible!  So I have tried to pray more actively that the Atonement, that "at-one-ment" with the Savior, can be put into effect in my life to increase my ability to do good. It doesn't hurt to try, right?

Hyrum ended up going to the farm with Lily.  And they both forgot their shoes. Funny.  The Spirit told me three times to check and make sure that they had their things. Finally, I pulled ot the side and gave a very quick surface glance to what was in the truck and didn't rummage underneath, assuming the kids had replaced the boots with what they had put on top.  Nope!  Just call me Martin Harris.

Speaking of that time period, this last time we drove up to the temple, Lily had the song "I can only Imagine" playing; you know, that one where it goes:

I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk, by your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When you face is before me
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

Surrounded by You glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine when that day comes
When I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine when all I would do is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine
I can only imagine...

...and so on.

Well, I was imagining and then we drove past the Sacred Grove, where Jesus actually appeared.  Where Joseph Smith actually saw Him.  A huge wave of reverence and emotion swept over me as I considered that on that place of earth, the Savior did actually appear.  It was incredible.  Sometimes it is easy to take things for granted. I was grateful for the reminder of the sacredness of that location.

The little boys are adorable. Yesterday they were rolling around in blankets on top of each other and giggling wildly. I went to the library with Elijah, Maia and Piper (and Liesl) and they were so happy there!  Liesl got hungry so we had to go earlier than we wanted to, but it is so wonderful to see my children so happy. They are so cute. Piper is still her bubbly helpful self. I asked her if she ever just pasted on that feeling and was really hurting or struggling inside.  She thought about it and then said she hadn't felt dark inside for a long time. I was glad to check.

Hava is a little bundle of emotion still. I think she suffers from lack of self-esteem, a lack of feeling wanted and loved, poor dear.  She is so sweet and tries so hard...and I can be so hard and critical :S.  She is a darling and I had fun snuggling with her the other night.  The DeMilles recommend brainstorming a page for each of our children once a week.  For Hava, mine stayed blank and I realize now it is because this week I need to be responsive to what she wants to do.  It is easy for me to get distracted from what is most important, sigh.  Love that girl.

Papaya is super cute.  She still is a bundle of energy and loves, loves, loves her baby sister.  She changes her diaper many times a day so I will find little rolled up dirty diapers all around the house :D.  Yesterday when I had Liesl with me at the temple until 1:30 pm, I could tell that Maia's need to hold and snuggle with her was on overload.  Once she captured Liesl from Dad, I didn't see them both for a while as Maia took her upstairs...and probably changed her diaper!

Dad got a little sick this week and seems to be doing better.  We had a smashing great game of basketball on Monday and I will miss having Hyrum the ball-stealer and Lily the shooter there to play with later today.  Maybe Dad and I will just go work out. Drew wants to be a singer/dancer among his many other future professions, so I think he will work on a dance or parkour.  Right now he is bullying his way through Trig/Pre-calculus and Psychology at GCC. He did take time out to play "Power Grid" with Piper, Dad and I last night. It was amusing to watch he and Dad do the little power struggle over who was going to wash the pot so we could eat kettle corn.  Dad is a champion kettle-corn maker now and treats us to it many a night.  You will love it!!

We haven't heard back on Lily yet but Drew is definitely going to summer camp at Loll.  The fact that Lily hasn't heard is a good sign because Sara Housholder says they first tell the people who definitely aren't going to camp first as they winnow down the list.

I am enjoying my online discussion for Mentoring in the Classics, discovering chatting on the phone with old friends as a replacement for visits, and preparing for our four upcoming book discussions: "Escape from Warsaw," "Elantris," "Wonder" (now a movie), and "The Von Trapp Family Singers."  Not everyone is doing every book discussion, but I am! One a week starting next week.  I am done with the first and will soon move on to the next :D.  I feel like the turtle when compared with the fast readers around me, but it is working for me!

Well, better run so I am going to let you go...

Love,

Anyuci

Dad's Letter to Avot and Lek from December

I think I have mentioned this before, but this blog has one main purpose: to preserve the uniqueness and memories of our family :D.  That being said, here is a randomly inserted letter from December written from Q-dawg to our missionaries.  I try to capture Q-dawg's voice as often as I can on our blog; love that man!

Buenos napot!

I just finished shoveling some snow so the seminary students wouldn't get their little feet snowy walking up to our door. It is our first snow storm of the season. It snowed a couple other times, but it didn't stick. We only have two or three inches, but it is a good start. 

You will both be so proud of me. In Medina we have a tripanionship because Elder Verdine is going home this week. Last week I went on splits with Elder Verdine. We went to Middleport to talk to an inactive member, but they weren't home so instead we tracted the street around the corner from where they live. It was windy and about 20 degrees outside. Brrr. We met someone about to leave for church service at the Mennonite church. She was very nice. We met a lady who was busy, but took a Book of Mormon. We met a lady who, in one smooth move, opened the door, turned, and closed the door while saying, "No." She was later topped by a gentlemen who opened the door then quickly closed it without even uttering a word. It was awesome! 

Elder Verdine did the first few door approaches then I took a few turns. We went back and forth for a little while. Elder Verdine teased me about being rusty and old, But, guess what- I was the only one to get us inside a house where we taught the First Vision. We got the fellow's phone number because he was just house sitting. He is actually from Medina. After a little over an hour we had finished tracting the street and it was past dark so we headed back to our place to meet up with Elder Verdine's companions. Much to the missionaries delight we had breakfast burritos for dinner. Elder Verdine asked that we have them again on Tuesday, his Last Supper with us. 

Here is an excerpt from my missionary journal. (You can skip it if it is boring to you, I am not correcting the bad grammar or typos, which would more accurately be call writos because I wasn't typing)

December 11th, 1992

Well, things are going good again. After I little disappointment period I have returned to my usual journal self. This week has been a terrible week as far as discussions are concerned. We haven't taught very many at all. It has been an enjoyable week though. 

Yesterday E. Hill came with one of the Elders about to go home. We had a csaladi est (family home evening) at the Toth's house. It was fun. Afterward E. Hill come to our house for a sleepover. He brought 5 packages for me. Yeah!! I love Elder Hill.

Tonight we had a member visit with one of the coolest families in Nyiregyhaza, the Haziek. They fed us dinner. It was interesting. Before I write what I ate let me tell about a Hungarian tradition. Every once in a while a family will run out of pig meat so they will kill another pig. They make these pig killings a big celebration. They play games with the pig first then they do things like biting of the pig's ear or something like that. Finally they take a hot, long, sharp knife and slit its throat. Ask the blood pours out it is drinking on the spot and some of it is set aside to clot. They take the clotted blood, mix it with rice and seasonings and make sausage out of it. You might ask, "What holds it together?" Well they take one of the pig's intestines, clean it out, tie off one end of it and stuff the blood and rice in. This is called blood sausage and this is what I ate at the Hazi's house. I also had a sausage similar to that but instead of blood it had liver in it. The liver one tasted okay, actually pretty good. The blood sausage didn't taste very good, but it wasn't bad either. It was very exciting eating blood stuffed pig intestines. (veres hurka) and liver stuffed pig intestines (majas hurka). I also at a fig. 

Isn't that a lovely journal entry? Last night we sang in the Stake Christmas concert where all the ward choirs perform and the congregation sings Christmas songs in between. The concert started with a spiritual message from one of the high councilman. His voice was hoarse and he made a joke about his message being the only non-musical thing we would hear all night. Boy, was he ever wrong. Our choir sounded astoundingly terrible. Poor congregation. I think I actually saw blood coming out of the ear of one of the other choir conductors. It was that bad. Oh well. We helped everyone else sound that much better. 

Thank you both for serving so faithfully. We look forward to hearing from you in a little while. 

Carry on!

Love,

Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaappppppppppppppppppppuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. 

(That is padre and apu mixed.)

"Stop, Drop and Goal": a letter to Lek.

My dear Elder,

You seem one for great subject lines...how about this one!

At first it was going to be something about "Drop" and "Goals" (since that is two of the things you talked about in your email) and then...like inspiration...with angels singing...and lights swirling all around me...it came. The subject line of awesomeness.  J/K.  I am in kind of a silly mood right now :)  (I just re-read this letter.  Remember Grammar Boot Camp and those examples about how not to write?  Well, I think I need to take the class again.  This letter is full of random thoughts interjected...at random :D.  Good luck!)

LOVE YA!

I think it is because I actually got almost 8 hours and woke up on my own.  Weird. And no one else is around.  My introvert side is having a party.  So I thought I would have you join :D!

Okay, that is just super cool how your investigator that lied up until his baptism date "happened" to confess when the member was there so the member could communicate more directly to him in Hungarian!!!! (although I believe if it was just you and your comp there, the Spirit would have made it happen; see note*)  It is doubly cool because the member could see how his presence was beneficial and instrumental in God's work so he wants to come out more!!!! You rock, Mr. Missionary :D.  Yes, very crazy week for you!   

It is a very real fear to invite people along to do things. I feel that way whenever I set up a group or go visiting teaching with new companions or have new people to visit.  I am glad that you are feelings support and love there in Pápa!  (And still feeling a twinge of jealousy about your keyboard that has the Hungarian strokes as I cut and paste "Pápa" over from your email so it has the accents :P.)  

So what does the keyboard look like?  Wait. I'll google it. (Not bad for an old lady, eh?)  Hey.  That is pretty cool.  So do you just type like "Alt" or control, push the number with the right accent...before or after?  A little jealous.  Actually just super happy that you are over there in the coolest mission in the world (sorry, Avot :D!).  J/K  I don't believe one mission is cooler than another just like I don't believe one person is.  However, I do have a soft and tender spot in my heart for those grumpy and stand-offish Hungarian people with hearts like gold inside if they ever let you in :).  You just need a bunch of cute little kids to tract with you, right?  That is what one elder said.  "If I could take Binks tracting with me, I bet we could get into every house!"

So, couple things that you might like to hear about.  Poor Binks got his first series of immunizations :(.  Super sad.  We also found out their levels of lead in their blood (Spooner's and Binks') are elevated.  It may be the water we are drinking.  Kind of scary.  You can't really get rid of it unless you do intense treatment.  The only thing we can do to try and help is over-load them with Iron and Calcium which will compete with Lead for the same site in your body.  There are some possible behavioral indicators associated with high lead levels that we can see in Spooner--whose is the highest by far of the two--but we are hopeful.  Fortunately, they are not in the extremely dangerous level, but it will be important to keep it monitored to make sure it is not going up.  Do you know what that means?  Intravenous blood tests.  Yep.  Suckin' the blood out of their poor little veins.  Little Binks has a huge bruise from yesterday.  Super sad.  I feel peaceful that we will know the way to help.  We all must experience trials for many reasons.  This one is totally do-able. We will pray and hope and do our part.  Maybe I will have Daddy give them a blessing.  

Maybe it is time to move to the farm.

So, the house is feeling super homey. I wish you could have experienced it before you left.  It feels like somewhere you want to sit and laugh and read and play and sing and love.  True, we are not finished, but there is something that happened.  Maybe it was me accepting the timeline of our lives and being content in God's will and my capacity.  Maybe it was me accepting the leadership of Dad and following his timeline.  Maybe it was putting up the bookshelves and no longer having any boxes we were living out of :D.  Maybe it was me finally going up into the attic.  Did you know that until about November of last year I had never been up in the attic?  Crazy, eh?   Then we had to put presents up there so I had to make sure that there was room :).  Hmmm...maybe I went up before then, but I know it couldn't have been much before it. Silly me :).

The Goob is benching his own weight now.  He is pretty stoked about that.  Chugger-dude is actually getting up every morning and running!  He used to just walk slowly.  I remember how I tortured you (and particularly Avot) with always pointing out how you could do this or that to help you speed up or make yourselves faster.  The Spirit has shown me that that is not the way :D. (Sorry, my beloved guinea pig.)  I find that if I just walk beside and do what I feel I need to do for myself, support and love the other...the Spirit and their natural desire to improve does more than I can ever do.

Actually, that lesson has been more deeply applied to me in many ways beyond exercising: missionary work, fellowshipping, visiting teaching, parenting.  I have not deeply believed in an individual's ability to be moved by the Spirit and by an individuals drive towards godhood. I believe we all sense the spark of potential within us...we just don't know how to act on it.

And having someone push or direct forcefully just gets in the way of their listening within.

Super funny about your companion's goal!  I like him.  It sounds like the two of you are the breath of fresh air that Pápa needs!  (And Heavenly Father apparently knows what you two need as all your "hot girls" are actually...well, as you said, scary.)  That reminds me of something an elder said last night.  He said, "People here in western New York seem to really get into routines and we are here to shake things up!"  Our missionaries really are. Our missionaries are super cool.  And I think Hungary is very similar to western New York. We talked a bit with the missionaries about how when things are hard or seem out of our control, we can take great comfort in routines.  It can be hard to get out of them.  But you missionaries are truly a breath of fresh air!

Speaking of missionaries, yesterday we had dinner with the missionaries scheduled and then last minute we found out about the baptism of a gentleman who has three adorable kids. (Super cool!)  Anyway, I asked the missionaries (and the recent convert, Daniel Zimmerman, who was coming to eat also) if we could move dinner earlier and then head to the baptism, all in our big white van.  I really feel the Lord gave us the van to do his work and fill it in bringing people to Christ...and it is working!  They all agreed (Daniel is super low-key and rolls with anything...and eats anything...sweet guy).  So we had an amazing dinner (see next note**), I grabbed the melt-y brownies (same recipe with white chocolate chips and butter for part of the oil...amazing) and then we were off!  In our big white van, driving to support our most recent brother!

The font wasn't full enough, so they had to baptize him three time to get it right but it was so cool!  You could feel the confirmation that the third time was right.  During the baptism talks, I was able to help take care of Dante's kids (isn't that the coolest name ever??) so he could listen and they were super sweet.  He has a cool experience with gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon (see other note***) and the baptism felt so joyous. We have another one tomorrow for twin kids that recently moved into our ward. Their family has two sets of twins!!  We have had two families move into our ward in the last month, good strong families with abiding testimonies of the Gospel. One even moved here "because they felt prompted to." Isn't that super cool?  I mean, who does that :D?  It was a great evening.

I fell asleep last night putting the monster...oops! I mean Binks.... to sleep the only way that doesn't take hours: in bed snuggling with me.  Super spoiled cute little fat guy.  He is getting bigger but that doesn't keep him from taking advantage of us with all his cuteness in being the youngest :).

Sorry this is super long.  I guess you will read it if  you have time or as much as you need as led by the Spirit. It was nice to feel like you were on the other side of the screen, me imagining you hunching over and reading, smiling and maybe laughing a little :).  Love you, son.  Thanks for your example and enduring faith in continuing on when you don't see measurable progress in those around you.  You are truly a hunter as Jeremiah saw, finding those amidst the rocks and the hills. And sometimes they need to be found more than once to finally recognize what it is they are looking for.  Sometimes you are the fifth or the first to extend that invitation...and they need twenty invites!  Keep laughing...especially when you see those eyelashes.  

That reminds me of the Elder who came over when I had hair in the food and then I licked someone else's spoon and completely grossed him out.  Maybe that lady was just having a bad day and happen to use the wrong dish for that left-over.  I think that is crazy that your comp ate it, though!!  Well, Joey Shetka licked the grocery store floors as a toddler and is the healthiest of Heidi's children.  Maybe there is something to it :S?  I am not going to count on it, however  :).

LOVE YOU!  Have a wonderful week.  Let us know if there is anything I can write, do or send to make your life any more awesome than it already is.  Maybe a music cd of mission approved music?

:) Anyuci

p.s. (before all the end notes)  I almost walked away from learning Hungarian the other day. I was crying, I was so frustrated, trying to understand word order and emphasis. So hard! It gave me great sympathy and admiration for your determination to learn it well.  And I kept trying.  I guess it will just take me, well, forever, but I am already recognizing many words more readily, can hear the accents better, and am having a few correct word orders come more naturally. Slowly but steadily, right?  When I go visit, I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to be able to communicate more with those dear, dear people in that land of Hungary.  God bless you, son, for consecrating your time and energy and love to serve them.  They don't realize how lucky they are to have you.

*************************

*About the Spirit making communication happen, remember that phone call that Dad had with that lady when we were in Hungary?  How he was trying so hard to listen to her and she was speaking slowly, quickly and non-distinctly?  She was sharing all these problems in her life, very personal questions and issues about God and her life and Dad was praying like crazy to be able to both understand and be able to communicate with her.  When she finally paused after a long, long time of her talking, waiting for Dad to say something, with the Spirit in his heart (and a lot of insecurities about his ability to both understand her Hungarian and communicate back to her in Hungarian)  he began to speak.  After he finished, there was  a pause on the other end. "Oh no!" Dad thought, "I have blown it now."  Her soft reply came: "You have seen into my heart."  Super cool.  The Spirit totally helps transcend barriers.

**********************

**okay, imagine this: first you cut up yams/sweet potatoes into little squares along with chicken...wait.  Here is the recipe:

Chicken and Veggie Quinoa Bowl   400 degrees

For the bowl:

1/2 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 head broccoli, cut into florets (or one bag of frozen broccoli)

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided (any oil will do and we added a little butter for part of the oil measurement)

Salt and pepper

2 ounces precooked grilled chicken breast, sliced thin (we actually just cut raw chicken in cubes, and cooked it at the same time as the sweet potatoes below)

1/4 cup quinoa, cooked (this is actually SUPER healthy for you and with all the textures in this recipe, you don't notice it.

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon tahini

1/2 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more for garnish)

(I didn't actually have tahini, so I just added onions, garlic and crushed red pepper--you could use spicy paprika--when I added the quinoa and broccoli)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Place your cubed sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, and toss with 1/2

tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil plus salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes.

2. After 20 minutes, add your broccoli florets to the same baking sheet, and toss them in the additional 1/2

tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.  Season again with salt and pepper and roast for an additional 20 minutes.

^^3. While your vegetables are cooking, whisk together all your dressing ingredients. Set aside.

4. In a serving bowl, add the precooked quinoa and roasted vegetables, then top with your precooked chicken.

 Drizzle with your tangy tahini dressing, sprinkle the extra red pepper flakes (if you wish) and enjoy!!!

^^I just put everything else in here, seasonings and all, and didn't serve it up separate.  Much easier.

So this recipe would be SUPER yummy and healthy for you.  You could make a big batch on p-day and eat it for a few days later that week heated up or even cold. I would recommend 6 times it:

Shopping list:

3 sweet potatoes

3 breast chicken (if you can afford it, less is fine)

1 bag frozen broccoli

onions and garlic if you don't have them)

1 cup quinoa (dried measurement. You will need to cook it. You can make more and freeze it in smaller baggies to use later. I just put on enough that you could see it, but it wasn't the dominant ingredient.)

Oil and seasonings if you don't have them.

I 12 times-ed it and have plenty of leftovers after feeding five adults and then all the kids, to give you an idea.

 Did I say it was yummy??  I added soy sauce, but you could add Worcestershire sauce or anything yummy to the chicken and sweet potatoes. I think you have all the ingredients. although quinoa might be hard to get. You could add a small pasta. It only took 40 minutes start to finish in the cooking time and about 10 minutes of prep (for serving 14 people). And you would have nutritious yummy meals for one week, if you made enough.  Your companions would love you :D. I served it with some Hungarian-ish type bread from Aldi's, which complemented it perfectly.  

I am going to try and be better at sending you recipes, my son!  This one really wasn't too hard and the 40 minutes of cooking didn't require me to be there while it was cooking or prepping.  

************************

***Dante's cool experience with reading the Book of Mormon. One of the hardest things, the missionaries say, is to get people to read the Book of Mormon.  Dante wouldn't, but then one day picked it up and his answer from it was to not go to Texas (as he planned) and not join the Baptist church there (again, as he had planned) but to stay here with his kids.  He showed the missionaries the verse and it didn't make sense to them why that verse told him that but it was evident that God was talking to him through the scriptures as we know is true: we ask our questions through prayer and God answers us through the scriptures, right? (among other things, but moving on...) 

One day his power and heat was turned off.  He turned to the Book of Mormon and read in it.  10 minutes later he received a call telling him that someone had paid his bills until the end of the month!  Crazy answer, eh?  He was baptized and I know he felt the light and warmth that came with it.  Super cool.

Football Update: Letter to Lek

Football was way fun this week. (Sorry, I have to tell you about it a little...be happy for me, right :D?)  It was just a good game: 4 missionaries, Dwyers, newly-baptized young man named Scott, Paces and us.  We played for almost 2 hours, with the climax and abrupt end coming when Elder Shaw (low built very physically fit young man from Alaska) was going to get the ball when Patrick comes streaking across in front of him, only to slam into Dad who was on defense. I was directly behind it and got to not only hear the impact, but see Patrick's body rebound off of Dad's.  It was pretty epic...and sad.  Dad ended up with a bruise, a bite and blood on his head. (I am sure he will send a pic...wait.  Here is one just in case:)

What happened to Patrick, you may ask?  A picture is worth a thousand words:

And here was Patrick's update for us:

"Yes I was able to eat some turkey"

Ouch.

I got a good sized bruise on my arm from Patrick's elbow when I was playing the line. (Which I did for the majority of the game.) It was sweet.  Whenever I wanted to get off the line, I would grab someone to take my place, slide off to the side, and most of the time the Elders wouldn't notice I was there. (They were the safeties.)  A couple of times, Levi picked me up and one time I was slammed to the side. (So cool.  Rattled my brain a little.)  But, I think it was three times I made a touch down or a great catch!  It was very fun.  Maybe it was more. I think I only missed one that was actually passed to me. 

Dad was amazing as always.  He had cleats and one play, he was quarterback and zigzagged through a field full of opponents for an almost touch-down. (The Goob tagged him at the end.)  Zy turned to me after Dad had done that and said, "you know, it is nice that he lets the rest of us play and doesn't do that every time."  Too true. :)  He only did that a couple times and had some great interceptions. (You know Dad :D.)  Good man.  Good ball player.  All around awesome.

Liliputian didn't get many passes but did well.  Chugger-dude was the amazing blitz rusher and probably got the most sacks of the game,  on Levi (and some others).  The Goob and Lincoln pretty much shut each other down so they didn't see much action, poor chaps, but they had fun.

Good game.  In two years it will be your turn and you will be all the more awesome for your sacrifice...just look at Dad :).  

There is some kind of animal I keep hearing in the mudroom but can't seem to catch a glimpse of. I am up early, trying to capitalize on the last day of making a calendar for the grandparents for Christmas, wanted to write you for a little while doing so, and so it is super early and a little creepy.  Oh well.  The door is closed.  I am sure Dad will take care of it.  (It is good to have a man around.  Be that man for your wife someday, as I am sure you will be :D.)

Your package is on the way as of last Wednesday.  We had a lot of fun with it.  Not sure how "lighthearted and funny" it is...well, parts are definitely goofy, so hopefully it makes it to you and hopefully it is fun :D!

"Gyakran egy ferfi vagyok" was just a really weird phrase that Dad and I chuckled over.  What context would that be in? Or should we even ask??

How are you doing with everything?  Companion, schedule, etc.  You seem happy. (Although feel free to take more pictures of yourself to show me how happy you are :).  Blame it on your mom when it looks like you are being vain.)  Life is super good here. I need to stop doing so many projects and enjoy the people around me more.  I am doing better with the little ones.  It occurred to me that I have some friends right here in the house that I don't even talk to very much unless we have something planned out or are doing a class.  Too bad!  I hope to spend the holidays remedying that.  

Other holiday plans?  Xai is going to start being potty-trained on his birthday!!  Happy birthday to no one, right? We are getting him a big wooden train track and a set of 12 engines.  He gets one on his birthday and one more every time he goes poop in the potty.  Should be interesting!  Hope it works.  With his soft heart and particular personality, Dad and I are gearing up to show no reaction but encouragement even if he has an accident.  My attempts with doing it the "old way" (oh no!  you are wet!) has just created a paranoia of potty-training in that little guy, so we are trying this way.  We'll see.  Can't be worse than other experiences, as far as I can see.  (Famous last words, right?)  Wish me luck!

As far as me, I am doing well emotionally. It is interesting to be happy with yourself and step back and start seeing your life a little more clearly and gently.  I have a good life.  Good kids, good husband, good friends, good family.  Blessings.  I am getting better and better with accepting that life is a test, and test equals experiences that test you.  Go figure.  I guess I always felt like a failure if things went "wrong" and would fight to remedy it.  But the phrase, "That is my widow's mite" has come to mean a lot.  That and my talk about the "one good thing" Christ tells Martha has made me look at things a little differently.

What would you say that "one good thing" is?  Dad said "Come to Christ for sustenance: spiritual, emotional and physical."  I liked that one.  What do you say?

Better go finish that calendar so I can enjoy the kids today!

Love you!

:) Anyuci

Letter to Avot: companions, computers and MORE Hava stitches

My darling Avot,

Your good experience with Hma Walters makes me so grateful that she was your first companion...what a blessing!

I was just thinking about how lonely it might be, not really being able to make much of a friendship with anyone but your companion...and what if you didn't get along? It sounds like you are taking the higher road in being proactive to make it a good experience.  Don't be too lonely.   The Lord is mindful of you and He put you with your companions for a reason.  You have so much love and patience to offer, my sweet daughter. 

I love looking up at my wall of pictures over the computer and feel the support and love and experience of all our ancestors looking down on me.  There is so much power in our wall. I am glad I finally followed the inspiration to do it after four years.

I have no idea about formatting your card :(.  I will ask Dad when he gets back from his outdoor adventure with Liliputian and Pipalicious. They are going to the Adirondacks with some of the Zyborgs.  Fun, eh?

Hava just got more stitches this morning.  She and Papaya were playing outside and Papaya was carrying an old garbage bag she had found.  When Papaya raced past Hava, some glass in the bag opened up a nice little six-stitches worth gash on her leg.  Lucky little girl :).  She was almost in a panic when she realized she would have to get more stitches.  This time was MUCH better than the last one, poor dear.  She now has one on each leg.

"Maybe I will get to have one on each arm and then think of all the stories I will be able to tell my kids!!"  I am so glad the Goob and Daddy were able to help her see things that way :).  

Well it is after midnight and I am sick and tired :).  Binks finally went to sleep the second time...both times after prolonged screaming that ended with drugging (pain-killer and numbing agent on the gums) so hopefully he will not just wake up again in 3 1/2 hours when it wears off. I cancelled seminary tomorrow because I just cannot seem to get better after two weeks of sickness :P.  I know it will pass but I really don't want to get anyone else sick. 

I should get some sleep but it is too fun to think about communicating with you.  Can't wait for those deep philosophical discussions over cooking, walking, or eating chocolate!  Until then, may you find the angelic in your companion...we all have it, right :)?

Super hugs!

:) Mommy

"It Happens!!"

This phrase is our new mantra.  And the nose tweaking and ear twitching?  So much fun.

Letter from Daaaaaaaaaaad to Avot:

Your story of the man hitting the lady with his car reminds my of something that happened this week. My Uncle Al passed away last week and his children wrote an obituary. In the obituary they listed the siblings of Uncle Al, but somehow missed listing Uncle Phil (who passed away about five years ago). The obituary was posted on Facebook and someone pointed out that Uncle Phil was missing. One of Uncle Al's sons apologized and commented on how much they and Uncle Al loved Uncle Phil and they don't know how they could have made that error in the obituary. My Aunt Hazel (Uncle Phil's widow) said, "It happens!!! Yes I do know how you and your Dad loved Phil. And I hope you know how deeply I love you both. You have always been there for me. So please it happens!! Look at it this way when they read it, it will give them another thing to heckle and fight about." I thought it was an awesome example of love and understanding. In this world where so many people are offended by the littlest things it is nice to have an example of someone who doesn't get offended. 

You can thank H. Medrano for the fine example of family love through nose tweaking. We are trying to make it more of our daily routine. We should have it down pretty well by the time you get home. 

Can't wait to hear about the beds out the window.

Love,

Daaaaaaaaaaad

Swimming and Letters

Another fun letter. I had to label it with "language" because, well, you'll see...

Biesinger Elder,

I was reading through my original email to  see what your questions were regarding and I noticed the phrase, "they damn the creek and you can swim in a man-made swimming hole". It must be like swimming in the lake of fire and brimstone, swimming in a damned creek. Either that I or meant "they dam the creek". Who knows?

Lots of people at church ask about how you and Tova are doing, but I can't remember who they all are. Brothers Macomb, Dwyer, D'alba, Clark, Rylander, Georgia, Showalter come to mind but I am sure there are many more.

Viszontirasra.

Apuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuú

On Mon, Sep 12, 2016 at 9:31 AM, Kel Ezekiel Biesinger <kel.biesinger@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Thank you so much for the updates and fun stories! They help so much through the week!! I am truly blessed to have an amazing dad like you who has helped me learn so many principles that will help me through my life!

So BYU's team is looking pretty good this year? That is sad that they lost again... Maybe next year!

Sok szeretettel!!

Biesinger Elder

And yes! Pápa is beautiful and we should come visit when you come at the end of my mission if it works out!

On Mon, Sep 12, 2016 at 2:54 PM, Quinn Biesinger <qjbiesinger@gmail.com> wrote:

Good morning pal. Actually for you I guess it's good evening. Or good afternoon rather. I'm using voice-to-text technology. I'm driving on my way to an appointment in Warsaw. I always have the intention of writing you on Sunday but after getting up at 6 o'clock in the morning and not getting home till about 8 o'clock at night and then having to put the family to bed and talk to Mommy I didn't seem to find time to write. One of these days I'll get it figured out.
You missed an exciting BYU Utah game. I actually missed most of it too because I was working on an appraisal. I followed it online. It came down to the last play like it does many times. BYU came back and scored a touchdown in the last seconds, they were down by one Point and they went for a 2-point conversion and Utah stopped them so BYU lost again. Now we have to wait another year to see if they can do it.
Our flag football team won again but I wasn't there. I was in Andover with the fam. Hyrum and Drew and I went on a hike. We hiked about 6 miles. We found a cool Trail in Stony Brook State Park. In the summertime they damn the creek and you can swim in a man-made swimming hole but it was wasn't open when we were there. While we were hiking a man asked me what do you call cheese you have stolen? Nacho cheese. Hahaha.
I led the discussion at Bishop's youth discussion last night. I talked about agency and accountability. I told my story when I was in an aquarium with a shark. All the kids loved it.
A lot of people ask me about how you're doing. I tell them you're doing great. Also tell them that you ran into a car and rolled onto its Hood. They loved it.
Keep up the good work. We love hearing from you. I see that I just received an email from you. I'm going to read it. These are very short sentences. After each sentence I have to say period. Love, Apuci

Letters from the Fam to Lek

You may notice many similarities between this and Avot's letter. I am in too much of a hurry to edit it but love the different flavor :).

It is Sunday morning, and we are all sitting around the table getting ready for cereal.

I am going to type for everyone:

Papaya: I am six.  I miss you.  You are my best brother.  Please pass the milk.  No mom!  That wasn't on the list!  Please pass the milk wasn't on the list!!!  Mommy, don't spell that, please.

  

Hava:  Guess what, Lek?  I split my leg and I got stitches.  Now Dad calls me "Stitches" a lot.  And guess what?  (Liliputian: "You're it.") I got 11 stitches!  And there are 11 kids in our family.  Love you, big brother!

Pipalicious: How is it up there?  We had this fun little lost travel to the temple from the Moores.  We ended up being 20 minutes late. Luckily we got there, yay!  We actually got to go in the black tube again. Do you know about the black tube?  It's pretty big. You could crawl inside it and we would roll it up the hill, go in it, and let it roll down. Ahhhhh! (Mom: Even the missionaries have gotten inside and rolled down, it is that big. It is very long, too and crazy fun!  Not that I would know :).)

I love you so much! XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Chugger-dude: (same as Avot's...thank goodness for "copy" and "paste"!)

Spooner: "Dead mummy, dead mummy, achoo! Three four five, come alive!!"

Liliputian: Binks and I went on a gator ride and then it started downpouring really hard and we were really far away from the house, so we were really soaked when we got back.

The Goob slaughtered us in Monopoly.  I kept landing on Park Place and it had four houses on it. (The Goob: In the end, everything I owned had a hotel. It was a happy game.)  Mom won "Cash Flow" being a mechanic.  I won and I was a nurse.  (Mom: The Goob never got out of the rat race because he was a lawyer and had lots of expenses.) And two children. And he spoils his children.

I got stuck in a car and it had garbage in it and it stunk really really bad and it was five hours until where we were going to and so we had the windows down.  But we got rid of it really soon.  We listened to oldies music all the way down to the temple. Miss you!

Love you!  Bye :).

The Goob: Hi Lek!  I have Imperial Assault. It cost about $80 but it was well worth it.  Ummm, last night was when we first started campaign mode on it.  And Mommy was the Empire. It was really fun even though it was 10 something when we started, but it was really exciting.

Let's see, ummm.  How is your mission?  Is it exciting?  Have you run into any pedestrians yet? How is your health?  Chugger-dude and I have this new evening ritual where we first do pull-ups as many as we can do (I can do 12).  And then we read our scriptures, say our prayers and write in our journals. And then after all that, we do nose-to-ground push-ups and we do them without stopping, without any breaks in between and the last time I did it I barely got 35 and then I just couldn't lift any more.  It was really tough but it is fun.

How is your companion?  What is he like?

Sincerely, your non-narcissist brother: The Goob

Binks: scream, whine, pause, lift leg, whine again. (Translation: I want to nurse.)  Silence. (Translation: I have a big green slug crawling out of my nose and a poopy diaper, but I am sitting on Mommy's lap watching her type to you so I don't care.) Sniff. Sneeze. Cough.  Gross.  Mommy is going to stop typing and sanitize.)

Letters from the kids to Avot

To Avot:
It is Sunday morning, and we are all sitting around the table getting ready for cereal.

I am going to type for everyone:

Papaya:  I miss you. And I want to tell you that I am six.  I got $20 from Oma and Opa.  I am going to spend it on 3 "Big Eyes" (stuffed animals at Rosenkrantz) on Sunday. I got a elephant from a store when it wasn't Sunday.  I had $10 and I bought a cute elephant.  Her name was "Peaches."

Hava: Dear Avot, Every night, well, some nights, I love it when you tell us scripture stories.  And guess what?  I split my leg!  I split my leg and I got stitches.  Now Dad calls me "Stitches" a lot.  And guess what?  (Lily: "You're it.") I got 11 stitches!  And there are 11 kids in our family.

We went to the Moores' house. We went on travels and Mom let us get some food in our pack-packs.  It was fun!  We got rained on a lot. (Mom: the rain was crazy heavy, too!  They were soaked several times and would run in the house and get a shower when it was all done.  Lots of laundry, but lots of fun!!!)

And that's all for today!  I love you!

Pipalicious: We had this fun little lost travel to the temple from the Moores.  We ended up being 20 minutes late. Luckily we got there, yay!  We actually got to go in the black tube again. Do you know about the black tube?  It's pretty big. You could crawl inside it and we would roll it up the hill, go in it, and let it roll down. Ahhhhh! (Mom: Even the missionaries have gotten inside and rolled down, it is that big. It is very long, too and crazy fun!  Not that I would know :).)  I love your stories!  They're so cool. Is it kind of scary just with no relatives?  Your room is awesome.  There is no more mattress on Hava's and my bed.  I love you SOOOOOO much!

Chugger-dude:  A few days ago, Dad, the Goob and me went on a hike and the first hike was fun.  It was sort of tiring.  Dad was tired that I was getting tired so fast.  And then we went on three other hikes.  We went up "George" hike (Mom: Gorge, but the Goob made it funny by calling it "George") which had lots and lots and lots of stairs going up.  It had a bunch. But then when we went down west rim trail, it had lots more stairs then George.

Then we went up east trim trail, which had lot more stairs again!  And then we went down George trail. On the first hike, we found a salamander and a bunch of toads and frogs.  We also went through this tunnel that went under a freeway and it was very long.  And fun.

Have a fun time!  Don't die :)!

Spooner: "Dead mummy, dead mummy, achoo! Three four five, come alive!!"

Liliputian: I just asked Mom if I could send some chocolate to where you are at.  She said no, but that I could put some money in your account.  I am going to put some money in your account so you can buy some chocolate for yourself.  Send me a picture of your chocolate, please!

What is your new companion like?

Drew slaughtered us in Monopoly.  I kept landing on Park Place and it had four houses on it. (Drew: In the end, everything I owned had a hotel. It was a happy game.)  Mom won "Cash Flow" being a mechanic.  I won and I was a nurse.  (Mom: Drew never got out of the rat race because he was a lawyer and had lots of expenses.) And two children. And he spoils his children.

I miss you! Mwa! (Air kiss :))

And don't worry. I didn't cut my hair at all yet.

The Goob knows the truth and that you like me more. (The Goob: Whatever!  I'm her favorite brother!) And you will probably guess what the lie is.

The Goob:  Dear Avot, I am still your best friend at home!  Lily just told me that she was your best friend and not me, but don't worry, I know the difference between a truth and a lie..sometimes :). Umm.  (clear throat) (Nasty sound in throat) "What!"

I was stuck in a car for five hours yesterday and it was the worstest experience I've ever haded!  Love my grammar? I have it for you, because I'm homeschooled: "h-o-m-e-s-k-u-l-e-d."

Binks: scream, whine, pause, lift leg, whine again. (Translation: I want to nurse.)  Silence. (Translation: I have a big green slug crawling out of my nose and a poopy diaper, but I am sitting on Mommy's lap watching her type to you so I don't care.) Sniff. Sneeze. Cough.  Gross.  Mommy is going to stop typing and sanitize.)

Isaa-boo:  Don't forget me, Mom!  Avot, I am with you, watching over you. I am so proud of my big sister!  I can't wait to meet you in heaven again. Know that I love you!

Glimpse through a Letter

Ever read those books written through a series of letters?  Well, in the interest of time, here is a glimpse at our weekend through the eyes of my email home to my dear abandoned husband :).

 

Dear Q-dawg,

 

You are brilliant. (You probably already knew that.)  I now have my phone plugged it and the prospect of being away from you got a lot better since I can call you.  Thanks for checking on the sharing time.  They missionaries will be great.  Will you make sure they get the "card" supplies?

I am sorry to hear about the delay with moving Sister Michelle.  I am glad that you had a couple of tostadas for dinner with the Zyborgs, though.  I was tempted to actually ask them to watch out for you but was pretty sure you could take care of food yourself.  Sounds like you did!

We have had a good day.  We got a bunch of amazing deals at Walmart (yes, "good deals"="money"...but I am sure you will be happy to know that none of it was wasted :)....).  The kids divided and conquered with me and the trip was amazingly awesome.  Even the fiasco at the check-out wasn't too bad.  The people working with me (including the man behind me in line) were all pretty amazing; well, all except the woman whom I asked to borrow her phone.  She glared and said, no!  Oh well. I guess I can't expect everyone to be cheerful.

Aldis was an amazing trip.  I asked the kids to each select 3-4 meals they wanted to cook and clean-up while they are here.  It worked out so we have the right amount of meals, without too many of one particular meal.  That wasn't too different.  But then I told them to write down their meals and make a shopping list of the ingredients they would need...and then they were going to shop for them!   Woohoo!  Best shopping trip ever.  They divided up and conquered and voila!  30 minutes later and four shopping carts parked in the check-out line and we were done.  So cool, eh?

We had some foam weapon battles after lunch and quiet time, a delicious dinner of chicken alfredo on french bread, clean up and craziness before cookies and scriptures, and then the kids went to read to the littles while Chugger-dude and I went out to clean up the dead chicken :(. 

Now we are watching "The Jack Robinson Story" (not the action-adventure the Goob was hoping for, but they seem to be enjoying it.  It is pretty powerful although does have language. 

Phone is charging.  We miss you too!  The kids have commented on that several times today.

Love ya!

:) me

Hava's Letter to Lek

Dear Lek,

I miss you so much.  You're my favorite big brother.  I hope you are well on your mission. We're doing great at the Moores house.  Yesterday was Papaya's birthday and it was also a special Sunday!  Yesterday we went sword fighting.  It was Mom, me, Papaya, Chugger-dude, Liliputian, the Goob and Binks. We did a shooting ring and I got to be outside of the ring shooting arrows at the people in the middle while they fought with swords.  It was really fun!

Oh!  On our way home from church, when we got to our house, Pipalicious, Papaya, me and Liliputian stopped cause Pipalicious saw something in the big tractor.  We went out to see what it was and we found out that Pipalicious had just saw a lots of frogs.  And we loved catching frogs!  And Liliputian caught five in her hand at a time!  Ummm...and that is the end for today, class!  Heeheeheehee...

Love,

Hava

Letter: Q-dawg to Avot

(The email was titled: "Que pasa?")

Hermana Biesinger,

That means, "What's happenin'?" Do you have a new companion? What is her name (assuming that it is a sister and not an elder :O) Where is she from? Does she speak espanol? 

We had another flag football game yesterday. I'm not sure what the final score was but we were at least 65 and they didn't score at all. We are the only undefeated team. We have played all the teams except one. They forfeited because the mother/aunt of some of their players died the night before our game. :( They were also undefeated until that loss. We play everyone twice so hopefully they will field a team next time. 

A miracle happened this past week. I received the New York title to the Prius. Now I just have to fill out the registration forms and pay a fee at the DMV and I will finally be legal. I won't have to sneak around Medina anymore, making evasive maneuvers to avoid oncoming police.

Thank you for telling all about your investigators and members. In priesthood today I was going to share your story about the boy that didn't want to be in the school picture with the bad word in the banner. Unfortunately we didn't have a nursery leader and we had two priesthood leaders so I went to nursery and played with the snotty nosed little monsters, one of which was our own little zsaman. Cute little monsters.

Have a super P-Day. See some sights. Eat some good food. Write a nice long email with all your new experiences. 

Hasta la vista,

Paaaaaaddddrrrrreeeee

Letter: Q-dawg to Lek

Kelder,

I am so excited for you! I have never been to Papa. I was tutoring the Petersons, a senior couple in Kaposvar, last Friday. They wanted me to speak to them in Hungarian so I asked if they had met my son yet. They asked where you were and I told them that I didn't know because I hadn't received any info other than that he had arrived safely. They looked it up and told me you are in Papa and that your companion, Elder Young, is a great missionary. I also saw a photo from Bauer Istvan (the tall guy from Erd whose marriage to Eva we attended) with you and your tars. Pisti also revealed the fact that you are indeed in Papa. I saw in the photo that you have a bag. Where did you get it? Is it a leather bag? In the photo you are wearing a tie I used to wear. When I was over half way through my mission the first missionaries were sent to Papa to open it. Too bad you missed the Budapest Szent Istvan Napja celebration. What did they do in Papa? Did you eat any interesting or scrumptious food yet? What is the kozlekedes like in Papa? Busz, villamos, bicigli? We can't wait to hear all about it. Your "grandmother" in Szeged was disappointed that you didn't end up there.

When I was serving in Szeged, for service we would visit a home for disabled youth and play games with them. There was one boy who was probably about ten years old who almost always had his hand in his pants. When we arrived he would get excited and shuffle towards us with lip-handed arms extended saying, "Papa, papa." I always remember that when someone talks about the city you are serving in. :)

We had another flag football game yesterday. I'm not sure what the final score was but we where at least 65 and they didn't score at all. We are the only undefeated team. We have played all the teams except one. They forfeited because the mother/aunt of some of their players died the night before our game. :( They were also undefeated until that loss. We play everyone twice so hopefully they will field a team next time. 

A miracle happened this past week. I received the New York title to the Prius. Now I just have to fill out the forms and pay a fee at the DMV and I will finally be legal. I won't have to sneak around Medina anymore, making evasive maneuvers to avoid oncoming police. Did I ever tell you about the time I was pulled over in Hungary? Actually I was pulled over three times, but only twice while I was driving. I was also questioned twice when I wasn't in a car. And that was all before I was a scary bald guy. Don't have any run-ins with the rendorseg. 

Have a super P-day! See some sights. Eat some good food. And write a nice long email about your trip and your first few days. 

Szeretettel,

Apuuuuuu

Letter to Lek #2

To my dear Kelder,

Hello again!  This is the second letter I sent today, so read it after you have read the first :).

Alright...the quote from Pres. Hinckley.  It is speaking to an audience of young single adults, but the wisdom is applicable to you and to me, I believe:

"You are a child of God, His crowning creation. After He had formed the earth, separated the darkness from the light, divided the waters, created the plant and animal kingdoms—after all this He created man and then woman. I repeat, I hope you will never demean or belittle yourselves. Some of you may think you are not attractive, that you have no talents. Stop wandering around in the wasteland of self-pity. The greatest missionary the world has known, the Apostle Paul, is said to have been short, have a large Roman nose, rounded shoulders, and a whining voice, all of which may not sound too attractive to some persons. Abraham Lincoln, America’s greatest hero, was tragically homely. But from his great heart and mind came words such as few other men have spoken.

I hope you will not indulge in put-downs, in pessimism, in self-recrimination. Never make fun at the expense of another. Look for virtue in the lives of all with whom you associate.

When I was much younger there was a popular song which said, “Accentuate the positive.” Attitude has more to do with personality, with attractiveness, with getting along with others than does any other attribute. The scripture states that “as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7)...

I repeat some words from the newspaper column “Dear Abby”:

“The key to being popular with both sexes is: Be kind. Be honest. Be tactful. If you can’t be beautiful (or handsome), be well-groomed, tastefully attired, conscious of your posture, and keep a smile on your face.

“Be clean in body and mind. If you’re not a ‘brain,’ try harder. If you’re not a great athlete, be a good sport. Try to be a standout in something. If you can’t dance or sing, learn to play an instrument.

“Think for yourself, but respect the rules. Be generous with kind words and affectionate gestures, but save the heavy artillery. … You’ll be glad you did” (reprinted in Chicago Tribune, 17 March 1991, 6)...

Marriage (and a companionship!!) requires a high degree of tolerance, and some of us need to cultivate that attribute. I have enjoyed these words of Jenkins Lloyd Jones, which I clipped from the newspaper some years ago. Said he:

“There seems to be a superstition among many thousands of our young [men and women] who hold hands and smooch in the drive-ins that marriage (or a mission) is a cottage surrounded by perpetual hollyhocks to which a perpetually young and handsome husband comes home to a perpetually young and [beautiful] wife (or just "perfection," right?). When the hollyhocks wither and boredom and bills appear the divorce courts are jammed. …

“Anyone who imagines that bliss [in marriage or on a mission] is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed.

“[The fact is] most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages (and missions) require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. …

“Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.

“The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride” (“Big Rock Candy Mountains,” Deseret News, 12 June 1973, A4).

I LOVE YOU!!!!

Did you get your package????

Isn't it AMAZING?! I thought it was pretty brilliant myself.

If you haven't received it yet, I hope this whets your appetite :). It was scheduled to arrive yesterday, so SOON! If not already :).

Love ya!  Smile.  Take a deep breath.  Unwind those tight brain muscles and laugh.  Hank Smith said that a child laughs 300 times a day and adults only 15.  Let's defy the odds :).

With all my love!
:) Anyuci