Inspirational Thought
11 years ago
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Dad's epistle
I thought dad said he was going to be sending out a letter of some sort to everyone. Where is it?
Interesting video about freemasons
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/page/News?&news_page=&news_id=77081
I found this video fascinating. It's called "A rite of passage".
I found this video fascinating. It's called "A rite of passage".
Thursday, May 7, 2009
I am going to Kill Marci!!
OOhh this is the last straw. Marci gave my beloved Bowser away yesterday and now I am sad. He was a great companion and was always happy to give me kisses. Now that is all ruined since Bowser is with another family now. I think fondly about all the memories Bowser and I share and now I am not sure if Marci is going to get a mothers day present. perhaps Bowser and I will meet again someday but for now the pain is too great to bear. I might have to double my medication now.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
the lastest on Dad
Right now we don't know any more about his heart. He goes tomorrow to the Mt. Pleasant hospital for a stress test. On Monday we go to Orem for his appointment with the cardiologist. Then maybe we will know more. He has been doing pretty good. Some times he has bad days and good days. He has been pretty stable the last week. Hopefully they won't find anything too wrong. He says he doesn't want a pacemaker but It doesn't sound like it would be that bad to me.
lastest picture from Hyun,
We got a recent letter from Hyun. He says that he is still teaching English and doing great. He is enjoying the spring weather. I thought you might enjoy seeing his picture. He looks a little older to me.
Monday, May 4, 2009
update from Swine Flu haven
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Dear Friends and Family,
Another week has flown by in our lives and we are writing to let you know that all is well with us here in Mexico City. You may have read of the concern there is regarding the flu and it has in some ways crippled the movement of people in many parts of the country. For example, here in Mexico City the Mayor has taken actions beyond that of the Federal Government and has required that all restaurants, churches, meetings of large numbers of people, movie theaters, sports events, etc., be canceled until next Wednesday. In order to comply with this action, there have been no church services this week or last week and we have been asked to not extend ourselves too far beyond home, eat good nutritious food, drink lots of water, get lots for rest and not to venture too far from home. This has provided us extra study time and allows us to make a great number of phone calls to our co-workers in the youth leadership program from all parts of the country. All of this regulatory action within the limits of the Federal District has noticeably shown a decrease in traffic and the number of people we see out and about. We are able to take some good walks each day as well. We anticipate by Wednesday things will be back to normal.
One of the comical things about the closure of all of the business activity in the Federal District is the stark contrast to what is happening just across the boundary between D.F. (Districto Federal) and the State of Mexico. We live about two blocks inside the Federal District and we notice as we walk out of the District everything is business as usual with just fewer people out and about. Stores are open, businesses are working and all the eateries are open for business. It would be similar we suppose to having everything in Washington, D.C. shut down, but over the bridge into Virginia or Maryland business as usual.
We were disappointed this last week to have our meeting with Elder Walter Gonzalez canceled because of the flu situation. We were really looking forward to meeting with him and hearing his message to us. Perhaps there will be another time in the future we will have this opportunity.
Next Saturday (May 9) we have been asked to participate in the Area Coordinating Council meeting to give a report on the Excellence in Leadership program to those attending. This meeting will include all of the area authorities and other invited guests. Preparing remarks on our program and also reviewing with these leaders the things we have been assigned to do with young single adults has been a challenge. In that regard we are so very grateful for Sister Daisy Bratcher the Secretary to the Area Presidency. Daisy is so fluent in both languages that it is a real treat to be around her and to enjoy her goodness. We asked her if she would translate the remarks we had prepared and she was most happy to do so. We told her she had done such a great job we would sound just like Mexicans rather than “gringos” next Saturday. The big task will be making certain we pronounce all of the words correctly.
We have been able to contact nearly all of the couples we will be working with throughout the country. They have been working with their committees to put together exciting “Excellence in Leadership” conventions for young people in each of the respective twenty one missions in Mexico. We have read some plans and find them very exciting. They are catching the spirit of these conferences or conventions as they call them by involving everyone in the six workshop themes we have asked them to prepare. The themes of the workshops are: Leadership, Spiritual, Cultural, Sports, Service and Social. We pulled our hair out with one plan that was written out on 19 pages of detail. The schedule was what really caused us to chuckle. They have the kids arriving from all over the mission (which in some cases will be an all night bus ride) to begin the activities at 7:00 AM and finishing up that evening at 11:45 PM. The following day the activities begin at 5:30 AM and finish up as late as 1:00 AM for those participating in the dance activity. We suspect by the middle of day two there may be a point where they will need a time out for some rest. The schedule for the third day calls for an activity in the morning and a testimony meeting in the afternoon. That may have to be rescheduled as nap time.
Another convention, which will be held in Merida, Yucatan, will last a full week. However, it will be held in a new convention facility and the kids will have activities centered around one of the workshops each day. It looks like a very well planned event.
Brother and Sister Hart from Rexburg have a few more weeks in the area than we do. They are the couple that live and work in the West Mexico City Mission home and office. Brother Hart is a former accounting teacher at BYU Idaho. We appreciate their friendship along with the Olson’s who are back in the states this week for their son’s wedding. We are hopeful they will be able to get back into Mexico without much hassle with the flu issue. We hear so much rumor about this matter and must depend on bulletins we receive from the Area Presidency and the US Embassy to get accurate news. It is interesting that reporting on the matter over the internet has dwindled to almost nothing. We suspect things will settle back to normal later this week.
We thank those of you who have dropped us a note now and then regarding your lives and happenings. They are fun to read and even though we are but a few weeks away from home, it is always good to hear from home and friends.
Tonight we were invited to a couple’s home for homemade ice cream and cookies. They were delicious. The couple’s name is Reed and they live here. He works for a company that builds and sells large scale telephone switching equipment and manage telephone systems for large companies here in Mexico. He is the only American person to work in the company here. Sister Reed is a Pediatrician and works on a voluntary basis at a clinic hospital. They are very nice people and we enjoyed our time there along with the Harts. There are a lot of people from the states that work down here and it has been fun to meet them and to see the many different jobs that are here to employ them.
Well, we are getting closer to the time when we will start our travels. We are anxious to get started knowing that we will have a better understanding of the problems that the couples might be having and the ways that we might be able to help them to be more successful.
We are so grateful for this opportunity. We love our Heavenly Father and our Savior. We know that without the atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we would have no chance for the joy that we look forward to in the eternities. Our days have been fairly quiet and it gives us a chance to study and read and to learn more of the language. The Lord helps us in our efforts and we know that in each of your lives, you are blessed just as we are in your efforts to serve and to help in building the Lord’s kingdom here on earth.
We missed little Olivia on her birthday. We hope she hears us singing Happy Birthday to her. She is four years old and getting to be such a big girl. Have a wonderful year Olivia and Hayden, too. Hayden is seven years old and is excited that in just one more year he can be baptized.
Well, this is the letter until next Sunday. By that time we hope the flu bug has settled down and that we are back to normal with meetings, etc.
May the Lord bless all our family, good friends and neighbors.
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Dave and Elaine
Elder and Sister Smith
Dear Friends and Family,
Another week has flown by in our lives and we are writing to let you know that all is well with us here in Mexico City. You may have read of the concern there is regarding the flu and it has in some ways crippled the movement of people in many parts of the country. For example, here in Mexico City the Mayor has taken actions beyond that of the Federal Government and has required that all restaurants, churches, meetings of large numbers of people, movie theaters, sports events, etc., be canceled until next Wednesday. In order to comply with this action, there have been no church services this week or last week and we have been asked to not extend ourselves too far beyond home, eat good nutritious food, drink lots of water, get lots for rest and not to venture too far from home. This has provided us extra study time and allows us to make a great number of phone calls to our co-workers in the youth leadership program from all parts of the country. All of this regulatory action within the limits of the Federal District has noticeably shown a decrease in traffic and the number of people we see out and about. We are able to take some good walks each day as well. We anticipate by Wednesday things will be back to normal.
One of the comical things about the closure of all of the business activity in the Federal District is the stark contrast to what is happening just across the boundary between D.F. (Districto Federal) and the State of Mexico. We live about two blocks inside the Federal District and we notice as we walk out of the District everything is business as usual with just fewer people out and about. Stores are open, businesses are working and all the eateries are open for business. It would be similar we suppose to having everything in Washington, D.C. shut down, but over the bridge into Virginia or Maryland business as usual.
We were disappointed this last week to have our meeting with Elder Walter Gonzalez canceled because of the flu situation. We were really looking forward to meeting with him and hearing his message to us. Perhaps there will be another time in the future we will have this opportunity.
Next Saturday (May 9) we have been asked to participate in the Area Coordinating Council meeting to give a report on the Excellence in Leadership program to those attending. This meeting will include all of the area authorities and other invited guests. Preparing remarks on our program and also reviewing with these leaders the things we have been assigned to do with young single adults has been a challenge. In that regard we are so very grateful for Sister Daisy Bratcher the Secretary to the Area Presidency. Daisy is so fluent in both languages that it is a real treat to be around her and to enjoy her goodness. We asked her if she would translate the remarks we had prepared and she was most happy to do so. We told her she had done such a great job we would sound just like Mexicans rather than “gringos” next Saturday. The big task will be making certain we pronounce all of the words correctly.
We have been able to contact nearly all of the couples we will be working with throughout the country. They have been working with their committees to put together exciting “Excellence in Leadership” conventions for young people in each of the respective twenty one missions in Mexico. We have read some plans and find them very exciting. They are catching the spirit of these conferences or conventions as they call them by involving everyone in the six workshop themes we have asked them to prepare. The themes of the workshops are: Leadership, Spiritual, Cultural, Sports, Service and Social. We pulled our hair out with one plan that was written out on 19 pages of detail. The schedule was what really caused us to chuckle. They have the kids arriving from all over the mission (which in some cases will be an all night bus ride) to begin the activities at 7:00 AM and finishing up that evening at 11:45 PM. The following day the activities begin at 5:30 AM and finish up as late as 1:00 AM for those participating in the dance activity. We suspect by the middle of day two there may be a point where they will need a time out for some rest. The schedule for the third day calls for an activity in the morning and a testimony meeting in the afternoon. That may have to be rescheduled as nap time.
Another convention, which will be held in Merida, Yucatan, will last a full week. However, it will be held in a new convention facility and the kids will have activities centered around one of the workshops each day. It looks like a very well planned event.
Brother and Sister Hart from Rexburg have a few more weeks in the area than we do. They are the couple that live and work in the West Mexico City Mission home and office. Brother Hart is a former accounting teacher at BYU Idaho. We appreciate their friendship along with the Olson’s who are back in the states this week for their son’s wedding. We are hopeful they will be able to get back into Mexico without much hassle with the flu issue. We hear so much rumor about this matter and must depend on bulletins we receive from the Area Presidency and the US Embassy to get accurate news. It is interesting that reporting on the matter over the internet has dwindled to almost nothing. We suspect things will settle back to normal later this week.
We thank those of you who have dropped us a note now and then regarding your lives and happenings. They are fun to read and even though we are but a few weeks away from home, it is always good to hear from home and friends.
Tonight we were invited to a couple’s home for homemade ice cream and cookies. They were delicious. The couple’s name is Reed and they live here. He works for a company that builds and sells large scale telephone switching equipment and manage telephone systems for large companies here in Mexico. He is the only American person to work in the company here. Sister Reed is a Pediatrician and works on a voluntary basis at a clinic hospital. They are very nice people and we enjoyed our time there along with the Harts. There are a lot of people from the states that work down here and it has been fun to meet them and to see the many different jobs that are here to employ them.
Well, we are getting closer to the time when we will start our travels. We are anxious to get started knowing that we will have a better understanding of the problems that the couples might be having and the ways that we might be able to help them to be more successful.
We are so grateful for this opportunity. We love our Heavenly Father and our Savior. We know that without the atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we would have no chance for the joy that we look forward to in the eternities. Our days have been fairly quiet and it gives us a chance to study and read and to learn more of the language. The Lord helps us in our efforts and we know that in each of your lives, you are blessed just as we are in your efforts to serve and to help in building the Lord’s kingdom here on earth.
We missed little Olivia on her birthday. We hope she hears us singing Happy Birthday to her. She is four years old and getting to be such a big girl. Have a wonderful year Olivia and Hayden, too. Hayden is seven years old and is excited that in just one more year he can be baptized.
Well, this is the letter until next Sunday. By that time we hope the flu bug has settled down and that we are back to normal with meetings, etc.
May the Lord bless all our family, good friends and neighbors.
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Dave and Elaine
Elder and Sister Smith
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Risers update
MAY 3, 2009
DEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS,
THIS HAS BEEN QUITE A WEEK AND A HALF. NOT FOR US AS MUCH AS THE WHOLE FAMILY. A GRANDSON (BRONSON SCOTT ROSS-6 LBS. 4 OZ. AND A MONTH EARLY) ON THE 23RD AND A GRANDDAUGHTER (EMILY NEILSON-9 LBS. 2 OZ.) ON THE 28TH. PRETTY EXCITING NEWS FOR GRANDPARENTS HALF WAY AROUND THE WORLD. NOT AN EASY TIME FOR A GRANDMOTHER SO FAR AWAY.
WELL, FOR US IT HAS BEEN A GOOD WEEK. ABOUT THE SAME AS A REGULAR WEEK EXCEPT THAT ON TUESDAY WE STARTED A SPECIAL CLASS FOR THE SCHOOL TEACHERS THAT ARE TAKING OUR DIC ENGLISH CLASS. WE MEET FROM 10:00 TO 12:00 NOON. WE WILL DO THIS THE NEXT FIVE WEEKS. THE PURPOSE IS TO HELP THEM IN THEIR CLASSROOMS AND HOPEFULLY SET AN EXAMPLE TO THE OTHER TEACHERS IN THEIR SCHOOLS. WE FIRST EXPLAINED THE TOTAL PROJECT AND THEN WE CUT APART 2 OUT OF 5 BOOKS AND TAPED ONE BOOK TOGETHER. 4 PAGES ABCROSS ON BOTH SIDES – 170 PAGES. THEN I WILL TAKE THEM AND LAMINATE THEM. WE WILL DO ONE BOOK FOR EACH CLASSROOM IN THE SCHOOL. NEXT WE SHOWED THEM HOME-MADE POSTERS OR CHARTS. GAVE THEM LAST YEAR’S CALENDARS SO THEY CAN WORK ON THE BACK AND HAVE THEM READY FOR THIS WEEK’S LAMINATING SESSION. WE ALSO EXPLAINED MAKING PRACTICE BOARDS AND ANSWER CARDS. WE WILL DO THOSE TWO THINGS NEXT WEEK. ALL IN ALL IT WAS A GREAT TWO HOURS.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON WE WENT OVER TO THE CHURCH AND GOT READY FOR A YOUTH ACTIVITY STARTING ABOUT 5:00 PM
WE HAD 30 PRACTICE BOARDS TO CHALK AND 20 SCHOOL KITS TO PUT TOGETHER. 3 YOUNG WOMEN AND 5 YOUNG MEN CAME. WE GOT EVERYTHING DONE AND HAD “OFF THE TREE” MANGOS AND JACK FRUIT FOR A TREAT. A GREAT ACTIVITY.
THURSDAY WE WENT TO ANOTHER SCHOOL - PHONE MUANG. I MADE A MISTAKE BY TAKING 10 PRACTICE BOARDS INSTEAD OF 12 (THERE WERE 6 CLASSROOMS, NOT THE USUAL 5) ANYWAY WE PASSED OUT THE SCHOOL KITS TO 162 STUDENTS AND 6 TEACHERS. WE WILL GET THE OTHER 2 PRACTICE BOARDS TO THEM THIS WEEK. THE SCHOOL WE DO THIS WEEK IS ONLY 1 KM AWAY.
FRIDAY WAS MAY 1ST –LABOR DAY IN LAO PDR, SO NO SCHOOL. WE FILLED OUR DAY WITH PROJECTS. ONE WAS PAINTING MORE BOARDS.
SATURDAY SISTER RISER NEEDED SOME DENTAL WORK DONE IN UDON THANI, THAILAND. WE LEFT AT 8:30 AM AND GOT HOME AROUND 3:30 PM THEN WE WORKED ON LAMINATING THE ARTICLES OF FAITH AND SOME MORE MASTERY SCRIPTURES FOR SEMINARY, AND SOME OTHER ODDS AND ENDS. THE IN OTHER WORDS PROJECT IS BEING WORKED ON. THANKS FOR GETTING THE BOOK HERE, MARI AND TEIMA.
TODAY WAS A GREAT DAY ALSO. WE PUT UP THE “PURPOSES OF THE AARONIC PRIESTHOOD” CHART. THE ELDERS REPORTED ON APRIL’S HOME TEACHING AND GOT THE NEW LIAHONAS TO PASS OUT FOR MAY. SISTER RISER BURNED SOME GENERAL CONFERENCE DVD’S SO THE MEMBERS CAN WATCH THEM AT HOME. EACH LIAHONA HAS A STICKY LABEL FOR EACH MEMBER GETTING THE LIAHONA – A GREAT TIME SAVER AND A GOOD WAY TO GET THEM INTO EACH HOME.
IN CLOSING, WE ARE RE-READING THE BOOK OF MORMOM. SOME TIME THIS WEEK WOULD YOU PLEASE READ 2ND NEPHI 2:1-30.
I, LIKE LEHI “HAVE NONE OTHER OBJECT SAVE IT BE THE EVERLASTING WELFARE OF YOUR SOULS--BOTH, YOU AS FAMILY, YOU AS FRIENDS, AND ALL OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, LIVING AND DEAD.
LOVE,
DAD AND MOM
GRANDPA AND GRANDMA
ELDER AND SISTER RISER
Guess What Is Different In These Two Photos...
No! it's not the hair (OK yea the hair is different... but it's not that). No! its not the clothes (OK, OK yea the clothes are different... but it's not that). No! No! its not that in one photo Katrina is 15 and in the the other she is now sweet 16 (OK, OK, OK yea she is 15 in the first photo and is now sweet 16 in the other... BUT it' NOT THAT). CONGRATULATIONS KATRINA ON GETTING YOUR BRACES OFF! (and yea turning sweet 16 too -smile!-) We love you Katrina!
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