Monday, October 1, 2012

The Giant at the Top of the Beanstalk



So that quote that dad does sometimes, "It is better to look marvelous than to feel marvelous" has been playing in my head the past couple of days and don't know where it is from. Do you?

Thank you SO much for the gifts and the letters around my birthday.
This birthday has been the best one yet. I got the G tops and they are perfect. As for the bottoms, my waist is a 32 I think which I think is a size Medium. The shirts are everything I hoped and dreamed they'd be
- I can BREATHE! Thank you! I also got the pills you sent as well as prescriptions from Sheree. I'll have to send her a thank you note.
She's awesome. But I'll be needed some money on my card to pick up the drugs because I don't think I'll have enough on my mission card to last me through the month. Could you put money on that card for me?
Thank you!

I hope Eric had a good birthday! I really, really miss him. The folks we're living with have a son and his family that live across the street from us and my time spent with them is probably one of my most favorite experiences on the mission. They are all super spiritual. We live on a small farm and they are almost 100% self-sustaining. They've got a MASSIVE garden and everything they eat is homemade. Anyway their kids across the street have got six kids ages 17, 14, 12, 10, 5, and 3. I love them all but the three youngest ones really make me miss Eric and Spencer. This is a family like I've never seen before. The youngest is the most articulate, well put together, confident, self-aware 3-year old I have EVER seen.
(Sorry, the editing might get confusing but I don't want to leave in too much identifiable info about a family when I don't have their permission. -mom)
She is a RIOT. We've got S and S, who's 5, convinced that Elder O is a giant who came from the top of a beanstalk. He doesn't have a name anymore and they call him "the giant". But S and S are the best brother and sister I've ever even heard of. S is a wild child and he's ALL boy - kicking and punching and rolling in the dirt and pushing and all the while laughing his little head off - and his primary target is his little sister. I've never seen them apart and they are always wrestling each other. The cool part is S can really put up with a beating but she can dish it right back, and even though S always comes out on top, S really makes him work for it. They NEVER stop. They're extremely close. 

Last night we were at their home giving a short lesson and hanging out and S and S are playing with pillowcases. Well S climbs into a pillowcase and Elder O picks it up like a garbage bag and then says he's going to put him in dumpster. As he's making his way to the door and while we're all laughing, S come unglued and she starts to fight him and hit him and she screams, "You can't do that to my brother! He's my brother! You let him go!" and she started to cry and threatens Elder O she'll put him in the garbage if he dares to do anything to S. It was the FUNNIEST and most touching thing I had ever seen! Holy crap I had never laughed so hard in my life! Elder O let little S go and S grabbed him and hugged him and asked him if he was ok...
hahaha darn kids. I miss my boys :(

That phone call to Eric for his birthday came back and bit me though... My companion is a lot quicker than I gave him credit for and he was upset because I called you guys. I'm not mad because of that because I know I really shouldn't be calling home but still. Elder O is a really good guy and I love him but we don't always get along. I don't let it get to me though and I'll just go with it because it's not worth the fight. We still get stuff done.

That's so cool Dallin and Kadi and Eric got the go the Brigham City Temple dedication! They'll appreciate it more as they get older.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, the Boise Temple dedication is coming up and the temple open house will be from October 14 to November 10. I remember the day I got into the mission, I heard the temple was closed just one day before. They closed it to remodel and renovate it and it's FINALLY opening back up! The entire community all over the Boise Temple district is super trucking stoked too and it's been a really cool experience to see the excitement in the community. They're planning a huge cultural celebration the youth will put on right before the dedication and they've been recruiting members all over to help with the open house. They're expecting roughly 300,000 people to go through so it's gonna be big.

It's funny you mentioned genealogy in your last letter because I've been thinking a lot about it too. My patriarchal blessing tells me I've got a pantload of work to do when I get back because I've got tons of ancestors that are waiting to have their work done. That's so cool you guys got to go through and do work for folks you know! I'm glad you got to spend time with your family and all. It's interesting to see that even old fogies like Grandpa Petty - dahahahaha - are still learning and growing and progressing. Old folks I've seen tend not to do that because they're so set in their ways that they don't think there's anything else to do. I sure do like old folks who are humble!

And I want to thank you and dad for your encouragement and support recently. I'm doing good now but I got really depressed and life just sucked. I recognized the adversary giving me crap - and he did a really good job at it! - but I was still feeling really down. I gotta write dad a letter too because the letter he sent me really helped. I felt he knew exactly what I was going through and I read and reread his letter several times over. You two are my saving grace. I wish there was more I could do to tell you how grateful I am. I'm working hard and improving more and more every day. I think about you guys several, several times a day. You're both still always with me even though you're not here. Thank you. I love you and I miss you two...

sincerely,
tay

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