Week 10   March 8-14             

What we know in this church will always trump what we don’t know…..  Jeffery R. Holland

Sunday:  Thank heavens we get to pick up Mary so she can go to church. The burglar lady (Sonia) wanted a ride so the senior sisters picked her up.  She lives just a few blocks from us, but they thought it would be too much with her and Mary.  Church went well.  We did have to tell Mary to sit still in Sacrament Meeting.  She love kids and wanted to go play with them.  We told her that families like to sit together and they are trying to listen to the meeting.  She understood and did better after that.  She is still very loud in Sunday school, but she enjoys it.  She did want to go out and eat after church so we had to explain Sunday worship to her again.  We gave her some Girl Scout cookies we had and that was good enough for her.  Art wanted to eat them, but it was worth the sacrifice to make her happy.  Life is good in Seattle now because you can buy cookies in front of every store.  We came home in the evening and studied our assignment for zone training this week.  Also, our kids and grandkids face time us or call on Sunday so we wanted to be home.  Thanks to all who did and the rest should understand why they were left out of our Will.  Missionaries do love notes and letters and phone calls, no matter how old they are (the missionaries not the letters). Thanks again to all who do write. It isn’t against the rules for us to get a phone call either.

Monday…P-Day   It was such a nice day we drove to Mt. Rainier National Park with the senior sisters.  They have had a mild winter so most of the roads that would normally be closed now are all open.  We drove to the visitor center at Sunshine which is the highest point you can drive to.  The roads are narrow and winding. 

We had to cut the trip short so we could be back for F.H.E.  We had two members that needed a ride.  After the meeting we took the leftover food to the homeless camp that is close to where one of the members, Binh Nguyen, lives. It is a temporary tent city and we also took leftover food to a trailer in his trailer park where there are children and they are hungry.   It was Lara’s??th birthday so we were able to face time with Jake, Lara and Mariah.

Tuesday:  We thought the day was going to be routine, but things are always changing.  We started with zone training in the morning for three hours. It went very well.   Skyway B wanted us to teach with them in the evening so we were working out a conflict we had, when the conflict cancelled on us.  With that resolved we made new plans, and then Debra called us to say that she did need a ride after all.  We made new plans and then had Skyway B Elders call to tell us that the teaching appointment for the evening had cancelled.  There was a baby shower in the evening for one of the members that we had been working with (Joyce and Thomas Johnson) and Joyce (Sister Knowles) was doing the table decorations for it and bringing the fruit. That was one of the things we were trying to work around.

Thomas and Joyce Johnson

  With everything worked out we went to the shower and just after it started we got a call from the Mission President’s wife asking if we could run to Auburn and pick up a set of sister missionaries that had been in a wreck and they needed a ride home.  The sister driving had made a wrong turn and panicked and hit the gas instead of the brake and ran into a building.  No one was hurt but the car will be out of service for a while.  Her companion loved telling us all about what happened with the police and even a fire truck showing up. All that sister that was driving told us was that it was an old building anyway. We hope the shower went ok.  Plus we got 3 letters in the mail.  You know how much mail means to you when you get excited over a credit card application. Thank you much!!!!!!!

Wednesday:   All the zone went to Northwest Harvest, for a service project, in the morning and we sacked and boxed dried beans.  7,500 pounds of them.  We go here every other week.  Joyce needed some material to make a blanket for another baby shower and while we were getting that the Spanish Sisters called to see if we could give them a ride to pick up a car. These are the ones that wrecked their car yesterday.  A set of Elders in our zone are giving up their car so the sisters can have it.  They were not really happy about it, but they do what they are told.  We found out that before she hit the building yesterday she had already hit a step in front of their house and while backing up she had hit her companion.  She said it just wasn’t her day.^rd Nephi so we talked about the Saviors visit to America with her.  We had our meeting with the Bishop to report to him and get assignments from him.  He always has lots of candy so it is a good meeting. We are sure we will be hitting the Advil in the morning because of the service project.

  The Elders live close by this famous fish and chips place on Lake Washington (Ivers) so we went there for lunch, (around 3:00) and walked around the shore line until it started to rain. We worked on our taxes for a while then went to teach with the Elders to Sister Waters.  We go there and read the Book of Mormon with her.

Thursday:  Started off the day with 3.5 hours at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center in Columbia City, cleaning and painting.  This is an old church that was built in 1921 that is now used as a cultural center.  The whole zone was there and we could have used a lot more.  It is not for profit so not a lot of money to keep up the building.  We could have spent the whole day there and not finished what needs to be done, but they only had so much paint.  We did get all the cleaning done and it looked pretty nice when we left.  We heard that they are having some big event this weekend so they were happy with the results.  The senior sisters wanted to go out for lunch so we had to go, since they were giving us a ride home.  We had walked there. We had to hurry home and change and be to a 4:00 teaching appointment with the Elders with Nola Fakialoatonga.  We took the hammer and nails so we could fix the step we have been trying to get done for the past week.  Elder Palo used to build houses and he wanted to pound the nails, so we let him do it.  In the evening we went to our meeting with all the missionaries in the ward.  We didn’t have much to report since we been doing service instead of knocking on doors this week.  We thought with the time change we could get more done in our area, but we are always needed somewhere else.  Art is ok with not knocking on doors.  He says it’s too much like tracting and his has already done enough of that.  Joyce enjoys it, plus we are committed to get our area done before next transfer. Usually, the best time we catch people at home is on Saturday and Sunday and we are always busy with other activities.

Friday:  We had an interview with President and Sister Eaton in the morning.  Because of the car accident this week we had to pick up two sets of Elders and take then to their interviews, so we spent all morning at the church.  Art is such a big spender he offered to take the Elders to lunch before taking them home, so we stopped at Sam’s Club and they had hot dogs and pizza.  After lunch we walked to the Buddhist temple that we had offered to help them set up for their New Year celebration, (in April) to see if they still wanted us. A really old monk answered the door and we didn’t think he was going to let us in, but we think he didn’t understand English. Another monk came and he invited us in and we talked for a while. The monk we had talked to before (Prinze) was there, but he is going to be gone in April so he had us talk to the monk that is in charge of the temple.  Ven. Soveth Moun, (the monk in charge) doesn’t speak real good English so he was hard to understand.  President Eaton had told us to use whatever approach we could to do service, so we offered to help teach some English lessons. They have to approve us helping on their New Year with some committee they have.  When we left we thought they were cold to the idea of us helping with New Years, but Soveth came back out as we were putting on our shoes and said he would like some help in learning better English and he invited us to come back next Friday, so we were pretty excited. Maybe then we will find out about helping with their New Year celebration. We’ll be going to the library to find some how to books on English.  If anyone has any ideas, we are open to any help. The Acosta family’s grandfather died this week, so we made dinner for them.   We taught a lesson with the missionaries to Mary Ann.  When we say we taught we mean we sat there while Elder Palo taught in Tagalog.  Marie Ann is very Catholic and doesn’t want to leave it, so it started off with a little conflict, but ended well.  Elder Palo is very humble and he told her that it had taken him 9 years of investigation before he joined the church so there was no hurry for her to decide.  We think she was feeling some pressure from her family and the last set of Elders, so this helped to ease the tension.  Elder Palo is 27 years old so it took him some time to decide to serve a mission and he understands patience.  He is great to go with.  He is from the Philippines and can speak 3 different languages. 

Saturday:  There was a baby shower for a ward member, so Joyce went to it and Art stayed home and cleaned the apartment.  In the afternoon we attended a baptism in Federal way for Jerimiah Foalima.  He is the young man we met at Wal-Mart.

Jerimiah Foalima

  It was held in the Tongan Branch, along with two other young ladies that were also baptized.  He told us that 6 months ago he swore that he would never read the Book of Mormon or step foot inside an LDS church.  There was a big crowd there.  We think that all Tongans are related, because there were cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces there and if they weren’t related they were friends to someone who was related.  One of the problems of being a missionary is getting tired of wearing the same things day after day.  There is a Beehive Book close to Federal Way so we made a stop there so Joyce could get a few new clothes.  We had an appointment in the evening, but it cancelled, so we took our time getting home.  We did get a text message from Soveth asking how soon we could start to teach him better English.   Looking back we would have to say it has been an interesting couple of months.  We are enjoying it here very much.  Where else can you give a tour at an African American Museum, teach English to a Cambodian Buddhist Monk, read a chapter in the Book of Morman with a member, help a man from Ghana with a job application, teach a man from Viet Nam about the priesthood and finish the day with a lesson on the Book of Mormon taught in Tagalog and somewhere along the way take Mary out for fried chicken. 

Preaching for the week:  “ Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness.“  Joseph Smith

        We hope you all have a great week and ask Heavenly Father to bless and keep you safe.

                                                                          LOVE ELDER AND SISTER KNOWLES

Mount Rainier

Zone Training

                   Week 9   March 1—7

            I didn’t say all the things I said

Sunday:  It started off with a cancelled appointment in the morning.  Our keyboard did arrive yesterday and we were able to pick it up this morning. Mary went to church with us so you can imagine how our day went. It was also Fast Sunday so we told her on the way to church what would happen.  Of course she wanted to bear her testimony. She got a little inpatient because people took so much time and were getting to go ahead of her.  Finally, Joyce took her up to the front and the Bishop got her a mic.  It went pretty well for the most part.  We told her she could only take 2 min. so it was short. R.S. didn’t go as well.  There are a lot of less active members, new converts and a few investigators there that don’t know her so we get a few question about her, but for the most part everyone is nice to her.  That’s why she likes to come to church. There are a lot of virtues we will learn working with her like charity, patience, brotherly kindness, diligence, obedience, tolerance, (did we mention patience) and love, plus a few more.

Monday: We spent most of the morning sitting in a waiting room after we took Nola Fakialoatonga (we hope that’s how to spell her last name) to the dentist.  She takes some kind of medication and could barely walk when we picked her up, but by the time we took her home she was much better.  Art has to carry her wheelchair up and down her steps and load and unload it into the pick-up.  He does this while Joyce helps her up and down the steps.  We found a few more broken steps that we need to fix. It’s just one of the jobs of the member support missionaries.  At 5 P.M., we fed the Elders.  We had five of them and they can put the food away.  Elder Maxwell went home today so they had an odd #. 

We had to hurry because we had F.H.E. at 6:30 and we needed to pick up Debra Driggs and Art had to teach the lesson.  Sister Driggs lives around the corner from us and she has no car, so she has been riding the bus.  It will be much easier for her if we pick her up.  Another job for member support missionaries.  The lesson went well and Art is glad to have it over with.  The lady in charge doesn’t like him, he thinks.

  We found out that our ward used to be an International Ward with Sunday school classes in different languages for different nationalities and when it was changed to a Seattle ward 5 years ago they stopped doing the different classes. That is when most of the different nationalities stopped coming to church.   We are trying to find them and invite them back to church. Another job for the member support missionaries.  We love it.  No day is the same and we are getting to know some really nice people.

Tuesday P-Day:  Because of transfers, today is P-day, (play day as Joyce calls it) instead of Monday.  We had the apartment mostly cleaned yesterday and our shopping done, because of feeding the Elders.  It was such a nice day we decided to drive closer to Mt. Rainier.  The Park is mostly closed until spring. On the way, we stopped at the super mall in Auburn and Joyce had her ears pierced. 

We found that the closer you get to Mount Rainier, the less you can see because of all the trees and the other mountains around it.  Guess we will see it better when it opens. This time of year you have to have chains or they won’t let you in and most of the roads are closed anyway. It was nice to see some farms and open space after all the time we have spent in Seattle.  We did find a small state park (Flaming Geyser) that has some nice hiking trails that we will come back and try on the next sunny p-day we have.  In the evening we had an appointment to visit a family so we walked to their house and left them some cookies.  Art was betting they wouldn’t be home, but they were.  Our simplified hymn books arrived so practice time now.

Wednesday:  Started off our day with district meeting for 1.5 hrs.  More role playing, but we got to be the investigators since we are the odd couple.  We spent a lot of time discussing ways to use the Book of Mormon in our teaching.  Joyce also got to play the piano for our meeting.  We drove the senior sisters, from our ward, to Kent for a meeting with Pres. McKinney 1^st Councilor in the mission presidency. We have this meeting the first Wednesday of the month with all the senior missionaries.  He is over all the senior missionaries. 

After the meeting we all went out to lunch/dinner and over to the apartment of the other senior sisters (Sister Henderson and Sister Peterson).  They are going home in 6 weeks and if they don’t find two more to replace them, they will close their apartment. White wash the area as the Elders say.  President McKinney has been calling Salt Lake for replacements, but nothing yet.  They wanted us to come and see if we wanted any of their furnishings so the mission won’t have to store it if they close the apartment.  Joyce did take all of their Christmas decorations, much to Elder Knowles chagrin…  The Skyway A Elders called to see if we could help teach at 5 so we hurried home and met them at the Acosta’s and taught Joshua’s two younger sisters, Rudy and Ruth.   They have been coming to church since Joshua was baptized.  We got home and settled in for the night when the Skyway B Elders called to see where we were.  We had a 7 o’clock appointment to teach a member with them that we forgot about.  We hurried there to find that the member was having a party because she also had forgotten.  Oh well, that’s missionary life. 

Thursday: Went to W.W. first thing in the morning and then met the senior sisters (Sister Chamberlain and Sister Harrison) at the museum and gave them a tour so we could practice.  The first Thursday of each month is free admission. 

 After our tour, we worked in one of the areas close to the museum.  We found one not interested and one wrong address and the rest weren’t at home. We had a little time left so we worked the area by the lake only to find all the addresses were wrong.  We even ended up out of the mission boundary and into Seattle, but we found a cool trail that goes along I-90 that we are going to check out on a p-day.  We will be able to walk across Lake Washington on I-90 to Mercer Island or at least as far as the mission boundary goes. I-90 is the top of our mission so we will be legal.

Bellvue across Lake Washington

In the evening we had our meeting with all the Elders and Sisters and the Ward Mission Leader.  If you have a hard time keeping all the sisters straight don’t worry, we do too.

Friday:  Another busy day.  We started with the Institute Class then had to run to the mall so we could return a pair of shoes that didn’t fit.  We went from the mall to the museum where we had our final training as docents.  We are now official and already have a tour lined up.  We met the Skyway B Elders at 6 o’clock and helped teach a lesson.  We brought a DVD player that we couldn’t get to work on their TV, so we watched it on the little screen.

I-90

Didn’t matter much to us since we played it in Tagalog.  Most of the lesson was taught in Tagalog by the Filipino Elder (Elder Paulo) serving in our ward, so the rest of us just sat there.  It was pretty cool because we could still feel the spirt even though we didn’t understand what was said.  We would read in English (Joyce, Art and Elder Lopalinin) and Elder Palo, Pedro and Fely would read in Tagalog.  We also were asked to bear our testimonies, (in English) so it was a special night.

Saturday:  The Renton Stake had a Women’s Conference from 9:30 until 1:00 and Joyce attended it.  We invited several to go but no luck.  One lady that said she would go cancelled on Friday night.  After the Conference we hurried to a meeting on Family History at the museum.  It was packed and we were able to meet the President of the Black Genealogy Research Group.  He wants a list of all the sites in the area that we have F.H. centers and to be informed of any workshops that we might have.  After the meeting we tried to find a couple of addresses but no luck there.  Here is our preaching for the week, President Eaton sends out a letter before each Zone Conference and we liked this quote from President Eyring:   “My experience has taught me this about how people and organizations improve: the best place to look is for small changes we could make in things we do often. There is power in steadiness and repetition. And if we can be led by inspiration to choose the right small things to change, consistent obedience will bring great improvement.”  Thanks for all the notes and letters that you send.  We love hearing from you.  We are doing great here.   Read the Book of Mormon every day!!!!!

  Love Elder and Sister Knowles

Week 8

                             Week 8 Feb. 22-28

            You can observe a lot by watching

Sunday: We stopped by to pick up Mary for church, but she didn’t feel well so she stayed home.  I know we shouldn’t feel this way but it is a relief sometimes when she doesn’t come.  She is so time consuming that we can’t work with any of the other ward members.  We did meet a convert that has a lot of questions that wants us to come over and talk to him about.  He asked a couple of questions in Gospel Principle class, but all the comments just confused him more.  He also wants help filling out some job applications on line.  He drives a truck and wants a job in town because they are about to have their first baby.  We hope we can help him out.  We also found out that the burglar lady has had bugs in her house and the bishop said if we go and visit not to sit on the furniture.  This would have been nice to know a few weeks ago since we have been over there a few times and sat and visited with her.  Now we know where the bites have come from. (J.K.) In the evening we had the elders and seniors sisters over for banana splits because Elder Tan got his visa and is leaving for Taiwan on Monday, and Elder Maxwell goes home next week.  The Schwieders will love Elder Tan in Taiwan!  Joyce got to play the piano in Relief Society because there was no one else.  The first song was awful, but the second was better…Needless to say, we ordered a keyboard and a simplified hymn book on Monday so she can practiceJ 

Monday P-Day:  We spent most of the day cleaning, shopping and doing laundry, like most missionaries do.  It was such a nice day that we did take a few hours and walked around Seward Park.   It sticks out into Lake Washington and has a nice path around the park along the shore line.  On the one side you get a great view of Mount Rainier, and on the other side is a great view of the Seattle skyline.

Mt Rainier way in the back on left

  We attended F.H.E at the church in the evening.  We are becoming the ward taxi service.  The mission office told us we would be doing a lot of driving members around.  We hope this means they feel comfortable with us and will let us help them.  There are a lot of older members in the ward and many with disabilities and very few that have cars in the area we live in.  Many ride the bus, but the bus stop is still a long ways from the church and many can’t even make it to a bus stop.

Lake Washington

Seattle

Tuesday:  We had District meeting in the morning.  We discussed study habits and teaching.  Joyce practiced the piano for Sunday.  When our keyboard comes, she can practice at home…We are sure the neighbors will love it, but it won’t be as bad as a barking dog at 6:00 in the morningJ  We made a couple of visits after and found both at home.  One was in a nursing home so we were sure she would be there if we had the right room #, which we didn’t, but we did find her.  Our next stop was to a less active wife with an active husband.  She has lots of health problems so we only talked to him and the kids, but he did tell us when to come back and visit with her.   In the evening we got brave and walked to our next appointment after dark.  We met the Elders at the Acosta family and helped teach a lesson on baptism. J

  They had boiled duck eggs with a 16 day old duck fetus inside (Balug).  We didn’t eat one, but the Elders did.  One of them had eaten one before, but the other hadn’t.  It was pretty entertaining to watch him.ourmissionadventure@blogspot.com  Elder and Sister Knowles may have to be searched for.

Michele, Richele, Sunshine, Mary Ann and Sister Knowles

 The four girls are: Mary Ann, Michelle, Rachel, and Sunshine.   All have been recently baptized, except the oldest sister, Mary Ann.  She is still reading in the Book of Mormon, so maybe in March she’ll be baptized. Only one speaks good English, so she would translate what we said then translate back to us what her sisters said.  After a while we figured out that they understand more English than they let on, but this is the way the Elders taught them so we keep doing it that way.

Rachel Acosta

Elder Olsen

Balug

 Joyce made birthday cake because of their birthdays in February, but it wasn’t the hit that Balug was.

Wednesday:  We stared the day with a service project at Northwest Harvest.  Our crew packed 5,750 lbs. of rolled oats. We met some very nice people.  Everyone wants to know about missionaries, but not the church.  After that we met with Joyce and Thomas Johnson for a lesson. This is the man we met on Sunday.  They are both from Ghana.  We discussed the Godhead and the Plan of Salvation and answered a few questions they had.  Joyce Johnson is due on the 23^rd of March so Joyce is trying to set up a baby shower for her.  Thomas loved the chocolate cookies, and they both loved Phyllis’ hot pads, of course. J  

 Next, we went to the N.A.A.M. and worked in the family history lab and got some information from them so we can see about getting a few more computers.  Katie, (the girl training us) gave us a couple of dates to shadow some tours and told us that she is going to start using us for tours if we are willing.  She said she would finish training some time later.  I guess we will give it a shot.  The Elders wanted us to help teach in the evening, so we did.  We went and read the Book of Mormon with a less active member.  We walked in the dark this time too, but it is not too far from our apartment.  We are getting to be quite brave

Thursday:  Today is our W.W. day.  We went there then had to hurry up to the N.A.A.M. for a tour.  It was a group of 2^nd graders.  We went on the tour and when they went to do a craft, we practiced giving a tour with each other.  We also got some more information about the computers they need.  We forwarded that onto the Stake President.  He will be the one to get the computers if he can make it happen. He is doing all he can to make it a nice genealogy center.  We also have a few more people working on getting some, so we hope it will work out.  At 3:00 we met the Elders to teach Mary Hardy.  She still will not commit to go to church.  She has a new excuse every week why she didn’t do any of the things that will help her progress.  They are thinking about dropping her since she doesn’t seem to show any real progress or effort. The Senior Sisters will probably start working with her and let the Elders move on.    On the way home we stopped and picked up some chicken for Mary Hurley, but we couldn’t get to her house because of all the police cars in the way.  We think there was a car accident on the street.   In the evening we met with all the missionaries and the ward mission leader. 

Friday:  We had rain all day, or Seattle spit as they call it here.  In the morning we drove to Auburn to the institute class with the Bensens and then out to lunch with them.  They don’t get much contact with other missionaries so it is nice to visit with them.  We are also learning some great study skills in class.  We are so glad that they invited us to attend with them.  We needed to stop on the way home and pick-up a few things and then we went to the N.A.A.M. for a tour and more work on getting the genealogy lab more computers.  We had an appointment in the evening so we had to cut the tour short and drive to the far end of our ward in the going home traffic.  That makes the trip double the time.  Our lesson went well with the Elders, but when we finished we couldn’t get a return appointment.  She was a really nice lady and will let us visit, but not teach her.  Her son was recently baptized so we will give her some time and just visit for a while.  After talking to the Elders, we got some good ideas for our lesson that we have to teach at F.H.E. so we are working on that. 

Saturday Triple Advil Day:  It was a beautiful day today with not a cloud in the sky. Maybe a little wind and cold but not too bad.   We rode the train to the far end of our area in the north and spent most of the day knocking on doors.  It is the new part of the ward, so no one knows these people.   We even had one door slammed in our face, but we met mostly nice people. They love the cookies and hot pads. Joyce gives cookies, a pass along card with our name/number on it, and a hot pot pad to anyone who opens the door and is nice.  Because of the door slamming, we decided we needed a treat, so we stopped at Borrichinni’s and had lunch and a few samples of the pastries.  Art had to buy one.   In the afternoon we had a tour to attend at the museum then we were back on the streets.  It took us forever to find one apartment complex, only to find we couldn’t get in.  We had to make contact through an intercom.  Like most places, no one answered, but we did find out that two families had moved.  We have 40 quadrants that we are working through in our ward, and usually when we go out, we can only get through one in a day.  Today we were able to get two quadrants done, so, we’re glad about that.  We checked on about 16 names and addresses. Some were single and some were families.  One lady, Kirsten, wants the Elders to teach her 9 year old son and she wants us to send the Cub Scout leader, as well.  There is a nice farmers market not too far from where we catch the train so we stopped there on the way home.  It is very Asian.

  Here is our preaching for the week or Art’s we should say:  I am usually a little more guarded in expressing my feelings, but I feel like this (charity and a few more things) is a big improvement I need to make.   I have always wondered why, of all the scriptures in the Book of Mormon, Hyrum Smith chose Ether 12:36-38 to read before they went to Carthage.  After Saturdays experience with the man slamming the door in our face I think I can understand a little better.  As we were walking from his house the feeling I had could best be described by words that I learned on the farm working on the baler and with cattle.  That evening I was reading in Corinthians chapter 12 where Paul talks about charity.  I realized that he didn’t have charity and neither did I.  Now I can see the importance of the atonement or grace in our lives to overcome our weaknesses.  I think Hyrum was concerned about those they were about to face and wanted them to have the ability to overcome their weaknesses and he knew that he had done his best to help them and he wanted Joseph to know that he supported him 100%.  That is our purpose as missionaries, to help others come unto Christ, and in the process we may get a few doors slammed in our face.  So, this week and however long it takes, I will be working on developing charity.  Let me add also that I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that we have a prophet on the earth today.  I am so thankful for both of them.     

 P.S. for our grandkids: keep playing the piano, you will be thankful that you did.   

         

 Elder and Sister Knowles

Dear Caden, Macey, Tyson, Maddox, Elayna, Haley, Braeden, Alexxis, Mariah, Jace, and Jaxon,

We are so thankful for each one of you and for letters and notes to us for Valentine’s Day.  Thanks, too, for your sweet parents for calling, writing, doing packages, and keeping in touch.  

Grandchildren Memories:  Thank you, each one of you, for the nice things you do and say for us while we are away from you on our mission.  We miss you so much, but you and your parents are so good to keep us informed about all you are doing! 

THANK YOU for your kindness!

Caden:  for your letter and letting us know how you hurt your knee; and how you’re doing and feelingJ, and for saying, “He is kind and funny, and likes to joke around.  & She is energetic and likes to do stuff.”  That meant so much to us!  You are the finest young man, Caden, and we are so proud of you and the great person that you are becoming.  You take your trials with dignity, and even have fun along the way.  What a great example you are to us!  We love you so very much!

Macey: for your letter and letting us know how you did in the competition and that you won and got straight AsJ  Thanks for saying: “He is funny and teases me in funny ways. & She is always kind and loving.”  That was nice of you and meant so much to us.  You are truly, such a sweet heart, always so kind to everyone that you are around and associate with.  You are truly as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside!  We love you so very much!

Tyson:  for your letter of love and drawing of all of usJ  We loved the stick figures of you and us!  Thanks for saying: “He tells jokes, & She rides the RZR with me, and I like her hair!”  That meant so much to us!  Oh, Tyson, you are so cute!  We can just here you saying that each morning in St. George when I got up and had my crazy hair!!!  You are so funny.  We love you so very much!

Maddox:  for your letter and wonderful picture of the tree with birds, hearts, and other animals on it!  Thanks, too, for talking to us and playing the piano for us on Face TimeJ  and for saying, “He can build things and also has a fun sense of humor. & She always has a smile, she is optimistic and kind to others.”  That meant so much to us.  You are so fun to be around because of your great sense of humor and for all the fun knowledge that you share with us!  You are a talented young man, with potential oozing!  (Is that a good adjective?)  We are so lucky to be your grandparents and to have you in our family.  Congratulations on receiving the Aaronic Priesthood.  We know you will honor it and live a Christ centered life.  We love you so very much!

Elayna:  for talking to us and playing the piano for us on Face Time, and for the valentine and heart letter that we could “fill in the “sticker” with love!  Thanks for saying these kind words for us:  “He wrestles and tells jokes. & She plays games with me and gives me hugs.” That meant so much to us!  We still adore your poem that you wrote:  “To Grandma and Grandpa”: 

There is a difference in this world, and that’s because of me.

I’ve thrown my arms around your neck and I make you as happy as can be.

You have made me happy,

By smiling a big wide grin,

So, all of this is true,

And, together, we can win!  By ElaynaJ

Thank you for being so sweet to us and sharing your love with us always!  You are so fun to be around, because you are always so happy and vibrant.  You are talented, bright, smart, and beautiful, on the inside as well as the outside!  How blessed we are to have you as a granddaughter and in our family!  We love you so very much!

Haley: for the letter with stickers – Grandma was the ladybug and Grandpa was the monkeyJ  We loved your letter, and for saying:  “He buys me ice cream. & She takes me on bike rides and walks.”  We can’t wait to get to do those things again when we get home!  Thanks for playing and reading with us when we visit.  You are so sweet and nice to each of us and we love it when you dance and play the piano for us.  We love you so very much! 

Braeden:  for phone calls to tell us how you’re doingJ and for saying, “He always plays with us and lets us ride the RZR…” and for saying, “I love it how she says, “Thank you, GrandmaJ” That meant so much to us, and we could almost hear your voice, saying those words!  You are the best young man around!  We are so proud of you, for all you do in school, for the way you honor your Priesthood, for the leader and helper you are in your family, for your wonderful creativity imagination, and for your positive attitude.  We are so thankful for how you stand up for who you are.  We are truly blesses to have you in our family and to have you for a grandson!   We love you so very much!

Alexxis:  phone calls to tell us how you are doingJ  Keep phoning us because we love talking to you and seeing you.  We are so thankful to have you in our family, for your great sense of humor. The fact is, that you stand up for who you are, yet are always full of fun.  Thank you for saying, “He plays with us.  He is funny and tries to throw us downstairs. & Whenever we want to do something, she finds a way for us to do it.”  Those kind words meant so much to us!  We love you so very much!

Mariah:  hand prints on our wall that you and your mom made for usJ  We loved it how you sent them to us, and the licorice and rain slickers to give away!  Tell your mom and dad how much we like hearing from them and how glad we are to have them try to move into our house!  Also, tell them to be careful with you, precious cargo…you know!   Thanks for sending us hugs and kisses.  That meant so much to us. We love you so very much!

Jace:  talks and reads to us on the phoneJ Thanks for saying, “Because he tries to eat my toes.  That’s funny.”  & for saying, “She let’s me play the Wii without doing my chores.  She is super nice to me.”  We can just hear your cute voice saying those words, and miss you.  Tell your mom and dad how much we like to talk to them and that we hope they are doing well in school, and getting ready to move.  I bet you have had fun in Wyoming!  We love you so very much!

Jaxon:  for learning how to walk and then we got to watch you walk from your dad to your momJ    Thanks for sending love and smiles.  We love you so very much!

Deuteronomy 5:7-21 The Ten Commandments:

1.        Thou shalt have no other gods before me…

2.       Thou shalt not make thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:  Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them:  for I the Lord they God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

3.       Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain:  for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

4.       Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.  Six days thou shalt labor, and do all thy work:  But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God:  in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, or thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy man servant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.  And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by stretched out arm:  therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.

5.       Honor thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

6.       Thou shalt not kill.

7.       Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

8.       Neither shalt thou steal.

9.       Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10.   Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or ay thing that is thy neighbor’s.

Here are the hand signs that go with each one so you can help your parents learn the 10 Commandments during a Family Home EveningJ

1.       1 finger - Thou shalt have no other gods before me.   Lift up your pointer finger and look towards heaven.

2.       2 fingers - Thou shalt not make thee any graven.  Put second and fifth fingers up (for ears) and touch thumb, middle finger, and ring finger down together.

3.       3 fingers - Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.  Take pointer finger, middle finger and fourth finger together (with thumb holding down your pinkie finger,) and slide pointer, middle and ring fingers over your mouth.

4.       4 fingers - Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it… the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.   Make two church steeples using pointer fingers together of the right and left hands, and pinkie fingers together of the right and left hands and tuck the rest of the fingers in (like the finger play – Here is the church and here is the steeple, open the doors, and see all the people, close the doors and hear them pray, open the doors and they all go away…

5.       5 fingers - Honor thy father and thy mother. Using the right hand do the sign language for father and mother, using all five fingers separated.  For father, (touch head with thumb) and for mother, (touch chin with thumb.)

6.       6 fingers - Thou shalt not kill.  Get your pretend guns out of your “pockets” using your thumb, pointer and middle fingers to make the guns on each hand, then put your “guns” back in your pretend pockets…

7.       7 fingers - Neither shalt thou commit adultery.  Put up all five fingers on right hand, and the ring finger and pinkie finger on the left hand.  (Use the thumb on the left hand to hold down the second and middle finger.)  Count the fingers on the right hand first, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, then count pinkie on the left as 6 and the ring finger on the left as 7 – signifying the ring finger as marriage and to not commit adultery.

8.       8 fingers - Neither shalt thou steal. During the Law of Moses, if someone would steal, they would get their thumbs cut off – so hold out both hands and tuck under your thumbs, showing only 8 fingers

9.       9 fingers - Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.  Put up five fingers on your left hand and turn your hand sideways like wall – Tuck in your thumb on your right hand and turn it sideways and put it behind your right hand (towards your body.)  With your thumb still hidden on your right hand, bring it in and out like someone is “gossiping behind someone’s back.” 

10.   10 fingers - Neither shalt thou covet. Make both hands shaped outward and bent a little, and pretend to grab everything that comes in sight.

You can make this lesson into a spiritual activity, as well as having some fun with the signs.  For example, when the Elders were in our home teaching this to a less active sister, they concentrated on #4 –Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy and committed her to try to quit working on Sunday so she could attend church more frequently.  You can take turns teaching the signs and then decide which commandment you want to work on to make it the focus of your Family Home Evening or Lesson.