April 15, 2019
Hi Jon -
I hope your week went well and that your investigators came to church yesterday! We're praying that all of your investigators progress well. I can give you some updates about what's going on at home.
Chance went on a date Saturday night with some girl - I can't remember her name just now - and they did Bob Ross paintings or something like that. Apparently it went well enough that Chance is going to ask her to Junior Prom today. Chance blessed the sacrament yesterday which was really cool.
Javier is Javier. He wanted to show us (Maddy, Heber, and me) all of your coolest worlds in Minecraft yesterday so even though it's not really our thing we went downstairs and Javi said that you had actually built most of them. They were very elaborate and seemed like a huge waste of time. Just kidding! They were very cool and we all thought of you.
This is the last week of class for Maddy and Heber and then finals week starts. They are thinking of driving to California for 5 days after finals end and I might go with them if I have nothing more important going on in Utah. At least that would give me a chance to see my Dad and Lynne for a few days which I don't get to do often enough.
Mom teaches seminary almost every day. The hardest part for me is that when she comes home from teaching she'll go into the den and close the door and stay in there for 6 hours preparing for the next day's class. It really does take a toll because even on Sunday afternoons we do family activities but she isn't always involved with us. It's what she loves though and I'm trying to support her.
I had 3 job interviews last week and spent 2 days in IAB board meetings for BYU's College of Engineering. Or should I say bored meetings? hahaha One of the companies I interviewed with has been stringing me along but it's more clear than ever they don't need me. The second company is very interested but has been moving very slowly because they don't want to fill the position until June. I get the feeling they are trying to interview as many people as possible so they are taking their time nice and slow. The last company is very interested as well and is moving more quickly but they are located in Park City so it's a 1 hour commute for me each way which sucks. Part of me wants to work there because I'm bored at home and part of me thinks it's a stupid idea because I'll be working 10 hour days + a 2 hour commute every day = a really bad lifestyle. Time will tell if any of these options work out or if I should just keep looking.
On Sunday we finally split into 2 Elders quorums in our ward and had our first meetings as new, smaller quorums. 2 new counselors were set apart for me and we had a combined presidency meeting. I'm excited about the changes and hope they will be good for everyone involved.
I've been super-preoccupied this past week designing a RV van conversion for our Honda Odyssey. Mom doesn't like to sleep in tents because of 1) noise, 2) cold temperature, 3) wind. Sleeping inside the van solves all three of those issues so I'm trying to install a queen size bed in the van. It will be up on a platform so we can store things underneath the bed and I'm planning some overhead storage as well. I'm looking into having an electric refrigerator/cooler in the van with a big power bank that gets recharged via solar panels. I want a window fan that we can turn on if it gets hot at night. Anyway, designing cabinetry and furniture isn't something that comes easily to me so I have spent a lot of time drawing things on paper and then throwing it away and starting over. This week I should get started actually cutting wood so we'll see how that goes.
Aimar flew to San Francisco on Friday to rendezvous with his parents and sister who flew in from Spain. They toured the city and then went to Yosemite yesterday and hiked to the Emerald Pool. They should arrive in Provo Tuesday night and we'll do activities with them Wed-Sat this week before they leave Sunday morning.
I want you to remember to have fun. Remember this: if it isn’t fun, you will feel like you were out longer than two years. Have fun, lots of fun. I mean have a ball. I loved making jokes on the elders. I loved playing games with all the guys. I flattened tires on the Elders’ car, cooked bad food on purpose, and did a few other really funny things. I think that my favorite was to ask for more food at a house where the food was really, really horrible and say that my companion was shy and afraid to ask for more food.
I remember making bets all the time with other elders who would live with us that whoever could get the most first discussions in a day would cook for the others on P-day or whatever. Even with your companion, you can make bets like “I bet you can’t get in that door and get a first discussion with that guy over there”.
One of the funniest games we used to play was this. We would have 3 “Go get‘ems” per day. It meant that whenever you want, on whomever you want, you get three times per day where you can say to your comp, “Go gettem!” I remember that would wait until I saw the meanest people in the world, or what looked like the snobbiest woman on the planet and say “Go gettem buddy!” But remember that he will be getting you back later! We would die laughing when we did this and it made the day go by with just a little more fun.
When you are happy, you have the spirit. Just don’t get carried away and don’t let all those elders who are looking for water to walk on get you down. They are the ones writing to the president every week about trials of their faith and you are writing about baptisms. HAVE LOTS OF FUN. One of the fruits of the spirit is joy. To me, that means fun. When you are having fun, others will want to be around you. Families that you are teaching will want to have you around more. That’s what we are really looking for. When you have the spirit, everyone knows it. I always told myself that if there was a way to make someone laugh when you are asking to teach the first discussion, you would always get the appointment. Have fun and not only will you be happy, your time will pass by that much faster. Now GO GETTEM!
Love,
Dad
I hope your week went well and that your investigators came to church yesterday! We're praying that all of your investigators progress well. I can give you some updates about what's going on at home.
Chance went on a date Saturday night with some girl - I can't remember her name just now - and they did Bob Ross paintings or something like that. Apparently it went well enough that Chance is going to ask her to Junior Prom today. Chance blessed the sacrament yesterday which was really cool.
Javier is Javier. He wanted to show us (Maddy, Heber, and me) all of your coolest worlds in Minecraft yesterday so even though it's not really our thing we went downstairs and Javi said that you had actually built most of them. They were very elaborate and seemed like a huge waste of time. Just kidding! They were very cool and we all thought of you.
This is the last week of class for Maddy and Heber and then finals week starts. They are thinking of driving to California for 5 days after finals end and I might go with them if I have nothing more important going on in Utah. At least that would give me a chance to see my Dad and Lynne for a few days which I don't get to do often enough.
Mom teaches seminary almost every day. The hardest part for me is that when she comes home from teaching she'll go into the den and close the door and stay in there for 6 hours preparing for the next day's class. It really does take a toll because even on Sunday afternoons we do family activities but she isn't always involved with us. It's what she loves though and I'm trying to support her.
I had 3 job interviews last week and spent 2 days in IAB board meetings for BYU's College of Engineering. Or should I say bored meetings? hahaha One of the companies I interviewed with has been stringing me along but it's more clear than ever they don't need me. The second company is very interested but has been moving very slowly because they don't want to fill the position until June. I get the feeling they are trying to interview as many people as possible so they are taking their time nice and slow. The last company is very interested as well and is moving more quickly but they are located in Park City so it's a 1 hour commute for me each way which sucks. Part of me wants to work there because I'm bored at home and part of me thinks it's a stupid idea because I'll be working 10 hour days + a 2 hour commute every day = a really bad lifestyle. Time will tell if any of these options work out or if I should just keep looking.
On Sunday we finally split into 2 Elders quorums in our ward and had our first meetings as new, smaller quorums. 2 new counselors were set apart for me and we had a combined presidency meeting. I'm excited about the changes and hope they will be good for everyone involved.
I've been super-preoccupied this past week designing a RV van conversion for our Honda Odyssey. Mom doesn't like to sleep in tents because of 1) noise, 2) cold temperature, 3) wind. Sleeping inside the van solves all three of those issues so I'm trying to install a queen size bed in the van. It will be up on a platform so we can store things underneath the bed and I'm planning some overhead storage as well. I'm looking into having an electric refrigerator/cooler in the van with a big power bank that gets recharged via solar panels. I want a window fan that we can turn on if it gets hot at night. Anyway, designing cabinetry and furniture isn't something that comes easily to me so I have spent a lot of time drawing things on paper and then throwing it away and starting over. This week I should get started actually cutting wood so we'll see how that goes.
Aimar flew to San Francisco on Friday to rendezvous with his parents and sister who flew in from Spain. They toured the city and then went to Yosemite yesterday and hiked to the Emerald Pool. They should arrive in Provo Tuesday night and we'll do activities with them Wed-Sat this week before they leave Sunday morning.
I want you to remember to have fun. Remember this: if it isn’t fun, you will feel like you were out longer than two years. Have fun, lots of fun. I mean have a ball. I loved making jokes on the elders. I loved playing games with all the guys. I flattened tires on the Elders’ car, cooked bad food on purpose, and did a few other really funny things. I think that my favorite was to ask for more food at a house where the food was really, really horrible and say that my companion was shy and afraid to ask for more food.
I remember making bets all the time with other elders who would live with us that whoever could get the most first discussions in a day would cook for the others on P-day or whatever. Even with your companion, you can make bets like “I bet you can’t get in that door and get a first discussion with that guy over there”.
One of the funniest games we used to play was this. We would have 3 “Go get‘ems” per day. It meant that whenever you want, on whomever you want, you get three times per day where you can say to your comp, “Go gettem!” I remember that would wait until I saw the meanest people in the world, or what looked like the snobbiest woman on the planet and say “Go gettem buddy!” But remember that he will be getting you back later! We would die laughing when we did this and it made the day go by with just a little more fun.
When you are happy, you have the spirit. Just don’t get carried away and don’t let all those elders who are looking for water to walk on get you down. They are the ones writing to the president every week about trials of their faith and you are writing about baptisms. HAVE LOTS OF FUN. One of the fruits of the spirit is joy. To me, that means fun. When you are having fun, others will want to be around you. Families that you are teaching will want to have you around more. That’s what we are really looking for. When you have the spirit, everyone knows it. I always told myself that if there was a way to make someone laugh when you are asking to teach the first discussion, you would always get the appointment. Have fun and not only will you be happy, your time will pass by that much faster. Now GO GETTEM!
Love,
Dad
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