I Know Your Dad

Hello All -

We received a great phone call the other day from a guy Tal works with for his job. He recently moved to Idaho and Tal hadn't heard from him a while.

He texted Tal a picture of him with the Elders in his ward. Guess who one of his Elder's is? Tal loves that our son has run into several people who know who his dad is. (Famous in song and tale, he alleges!) He is doing well and is really happy with his new companion - a white kid from Zimbabwe with a "sic" accent.

Love -Julianne

-----Original Message-----

From: Taylor Ehlers [mailto:taylor.ehlers@myldsmail.net]

Sent: Monday, August 27, 2012 5:35 PM

Subject: I would have to say asphinctersayswhat?

Life is good! We had a baptism a couple of weeks ago. We baptized this joe by the name of XX. He's led a rough life with many ups and downs but this is a guy who's got a real testimony. He doesn't know much about the actual gospel, church history, priesthood organization, or green jello BUT he recognizes the hand of God in his life. His temporal knowledge is limited but his spiritual knowledge is super intense. One thing I love about him and his family is they keep a really clean house - no beer cans, dog leftovers, tv dinner packages, used paper plates, broken toys, or the like to be found ANYWHERE. A clean house is something I've come to appreciate after all the homes we've been in. His truck is broken but he either walks or bikes the 2 mile distance to church every sunday.

This week on Thursday we've got another baptism. Something I gotta say about baptismal candidates is they've got such an awesome spirit about them. After they know it's true, they stop questioning things. It's a lot of responsibility on our shoulders so we've careful not to feed them any "false doctrine" - like caffeine being against the word of wisdom and the Book of Mormon's authenticity was validated by Joseph Smith taking the actual gold plates to the local egyptologist to verify the ancient reformed-Egyptian characters. But there's something to be said about a totally devout coffee-worshiper who will quit on a dime because it's what she has to do to get dunked. The baptism coming up is a young single mother named XXX. She's got an 18 month old baby girl and she's ready. She's been coming to church and she's already more or less a part of the ward.

 

The members here are pretty die hard too. We have a general sense of support and everyone we ask for help is ready and willing to assist.

We cover four wards, which isn't bad but I prefer covering three. It tends to complicate things on sundays when three wards go to one building and one ward goes to another. I like being able to see everyone in one day. One to mention is dude by the name of Merrot. He told me his profession is emergency response and I told him that's what my dad does - the emergency response king for Uintah county. Then he asked me who my dad was and when I answered he said "I KNOW TAL!"

And so it was super cool to see someone who's seen my dad more recently than I have! And then he has a training this week in Salt Lake where he said he'll see dad anyway. Small world!

tay

Dipping Oreos in Nutella

Hello All -

I am including the email I sent to Taylor so you can get a picture of what he's talking about. We went through Boise on our trip and stopped at Walmart in his area. The mission president had asked that we not see him and we wanted to honor that guidance. We did stop by the mission home and drop off bags of goodies for Tay and his comp.  I sure love that boy and miss both him and Dallin.

Thank you for encouraging him and being supportive!

Love, Julianne

Subject: Re: Sometimes when you are a man ...

Yeaaah it was kinda hard to come by but go figure it might cause more problems than I'd need, and I'm referring to me being obedient and the Lord and the spies president Cannon has lurking everywhere. The package was AWESOME! Thank you so much. Elder M appreciated it a whole lot too... even though I appreciated them the most BECAUSE I've learned that the Trazadone has some seriously deterring side effects.

It'll start to kick in and do its job after about an hour BUT after about a half an hour, I get the munchies SUPER BAD. I think that's what attributed to my weight gaining. I suppose there does need to be a little give and take.

Nutella is the coolest thing since velcro shoe fasteners. Freaking balls it's amazing. I have it with my Oreos.

So the lady who called you is Sister Bahr. She's in the Ustick ward and her kid left to Reno. It was a lot of fun because she would panic and get anxious about making sure Austin had everything he needs and we got to help!

She had little questions about backpacks and luggage and food and the MTC and clean underwear and the like. It's been really interesting getting to know mom's who have had kids go on missions, have kids on a mission, and have kids getting ready and leaving on a mission. I think of you a lot when that happens. But on second thought I think about you all the time anyway.

If I could, I would change the scripture on my missionary plaque to Alma 56:47-48.

It's funny you mention me touching the lives of families in Idaho. It was in this area that I finally began to see the reason why I was specifically sent here. I think I got on this soap box a little while ago but it was in this area that I sincerely feel like I'm actually doing some good. There are so many families in these wards that I've really grown to love and I feel their love for me. These people particularly are the ones I'll make a special effort to keep in touch with.

So what's going on with Dallin?  I pray for him every day. A couple of weeks ago I sent him a package with the military editions of the standard works and gospel principles. I'm sure he got it but I hope he uses it.

It finally dawned on me the other day thinking about you having your oldest boys out on their own. You've got one kid on a mission and another kid in the army... Time really does fly. And now my mission is almost over - meaning I've got 11 months instead of 23. And when I think about it, it'll probably be a while before the whole famn damily is back together again.

When I get home Dallin will be gone and by the time he gets back I'll probably be at school or at work or in a Mexican drug cartel. It really upset me when I first got to thinking about it and I really do miss it, even though it was chaos at times, being at home with the whole family. But as I thought more about it, I think it'll be ok. nothing bad is happening, it's just another chapter... and it may not be much longer that you'll have another daughter, too... a super hot sexy amazing daughter.

I miss you, mom. I love you so much and I think about you a lot. Every day I see more and more of how you've impacted my life and I have everything to owe to you and dad. I am growing and learning and becoming the man you want me to be. I am doing things that I know would make you proud. I love you, mom. Thank you.

love,

tay

On Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 10:37 PM, Julianne Ehlers <loa337@hotmail.com>

wrote:

> Elder Tay -

Let me first say that I am impressed you did not give in to Kadi's pleas to meet us at the Walmart. We would have loved to have seen you but it was important to follow the guidelines set by your president. I'm glad you got our package and that you both enjoyed it! I know you had said before that Martinez was on a diet so I hope I wasn't undermining his efforts by supplying some much needed Oreos!

And ...... what do you think of Nutella? You can just eat it with a spoon but it's really good on pretzels, bread, tortillas, fruit, dirt - you get the idea. It's our new favorite and Kadi's obsession! We may have to do a Nutella intervention with her soon.

I was so thrilled to get the phone call from the sweet lady in one of your wards. I didn't ask her name again so I don't remember. But she' the one with the son who went to Reno. We had a lovely conversation and she was so complimentary to you. You have been such a blessing in their lives and she truly appreciates you. I thanked her about a hundred times for calling and making me feel so good but if you would just thank her again that would be great. It seems that you have worked your way into the hearts of many Idaho families!

I'm very proud of your ability to make a real connection with people. You have such a gift for that. There are many people who can't relate with others in any way but it seems like you do it effortlessly. What a talent!

I can't tell you how much I have missed you since Dallin has gone. I mean I missed you before but his leaving magnified your absence, too. I'm missing my boys and realizing what every mom goes through as they watch their kids go out on their own. I know you had already done that in Cedar but I got to talk to you all the time and see you to make sure you were OK. Now I get to trust in the Lord, in you and in your mission president and families that you are in good hands. And I do believe you are and I wouldn't have it any other way. You are where you're supposed to be doing what you need to be doing. I'm thankful for that and I'm thankful that you are my son.

I love you and pray for you. You are very dear to me.

 Mom

big 'ol thank you

Before anything else, I gotta send out a great big ol' THANK YOU to
everyone who reads this. Fist and foremost, there's my family. Mom and
Dad, you twos are responsible for anything virtuous, lovely, or of
good report I've ever had in my life. You taught me everything I know
and set the bedrock foundation for the rest of my life. Dallin, I love
you and respect you and I'm extremely grateful for your willingness
and determination to serve my country. Kadi, I'm grateful for the
laughs and the packages and the "Once you go gay, that's where you
stay. Stay straight!" postcard. Eric and Spencer, I think about you
guys every day and I miss you and as soon as I get back, we're going
out for drinks. 

For all the extended family - Petty's, Nunn's, Ehlers'
- for cheering me on and always being there with cards on holidays and
birthdays and new recipes and camping trips and movie nights and
motorcycles and late nights and working at a hospital and love and
cash and memories and scrapbooks and shooting and concerts and Papa
John's even when I'm outa money and road trips and blablablabla. For
all the friends and their families along the way, thanks for taking me
in like one of your own. For the crew at Cafe Diablo, thanks for
breaking me and building me and teaching me all about friendship and
work ethic and the goodness in the world. For every person I ever knew
all throughout Arizona and Utah, thanks for caring and worrying and
putting up with me and working me for the past 20 years. For all
ya'lls I'm dealing with in Idaho, thanks for learnin' me how to be a
real man - beater of the bad guys and defender of the faith. Buena
vida, baby.
 
In recent news, by the end of this month, 29 elders will be going
home. That's roughly 15% of the whole mission. Holy balls. Things are
gonna CHANGE around here. PCan's gonna do some shufflin and chances
are stakes that have 2 sets of mercenaries will only have one now. For
example, my stake, Meridian East, will have 2 elders covering 7 wards
instead of 2 elders covering 4 and 2 elders covering 3. There will be
PANTLOADS of work going undone because supply will be less than
demand. Quality will decrease because quantity will decrease. Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the
land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing
the ELDERS 'cause there be NO MO'!
 

Hump Day

Taylor hit his one year mark on the 22nd! I can't believe it's been that long but at the same time it feels like he's been gone forever! Here is a sweet email I received from a mom in one of his wards. They sure take good care of him and it helps this momma to know he's being loved.


Sis Ehlers and Sis Martinez,

We had your missionary sons over for dinner 2 times last week. They are great Elders. They are such a pleasure to have in our home. Both of them have great personalities and make dinner together a fun time. (No awkward silences with them!) They always leave a great message and pray with power. 

I did take a picture, but have had camera issues. I will try to send that on to you soon. 

You can be proud of your sons! Here in the Meridian East Stake we love our missionaries! Thanks for sending out your sons! 

Elder Ehlers hits his Hump Day soon! Yeah!

Fondly,

Julie
Boise, Idaho

Scrumdumpetyumptious

Holy crap it's been a while...

I am currently serving in the Meridian East stake. My comp, for a second transfer, is Elder Antonio Martinez - a white-washed mexican and a stud muffin. By the end of this transfer, I will have been in this area for three transfers - something I've yet to do on the mish - totaling fourannahalf months. Since I've been in this area we've had two baptisms - Josh O and Trevor L. I've lived in two different places since I've been in this area - the first in an apartment 2 miles out of my area, the second with the Christensen's a quarter mile out of our area. I cover three wards - Frontier, Ustick, and Cloverdale. Frontier has the best membership, Ustick has the most work, and Cloverdale has got the most cute girls. All our wards are very supportive and there are excellent members everywhere as well. We are fed every night by a different family and our wards take turns each week. I've put on 5 pounds since I've been here, making a total 25 pound gain since I've been out. It's funny because my clothes are starting to shrink... It's kinda aggravating but I make do. I have discovered I love yogurt and ranch dressing - even though I prefer "undressing"... yes. I like my salads naked.

This past Thursday was kinda lame. Three people we're had indirect connections to have died within the past week. The first, a close friend of one of our favorite families had a brother die. The second, a kid we know, whose best friend's mom is an eternal investigator of ours, had his dad die. And finally, one of our less-active members had a foster brother who died.... Makes me grateful for the Plan of Salvation!

Fathers' Day was pretty rad. In all three sacrament meetings, because we're over 18, we were given Daddies' Day goodies with all the dads in the congregation. I had twice the goodies because Elder Martinez is on a diet. Scrumdumpetyumptious indeed. 

Fathers' Day this year was a little different for me... I couldn't shake the feeling that someday I'll be the dude with the wrinkled faded tie whose kids scribbled all over it as a Fathers' Day gift from years before. Someday I'll be the guy taking a screaming baby from sacrament meeting. Someday I'll tag team with an extremely attractive woman, namely the future Mrs. Ehlers, at 2:00 in the morning over kids who've had nightmares or puking their guts out or a baby that won't sleep. Someday I'll be the dude in the middle of the road teaching his kid how to ride a bike. Someday that extremely attractive Mrs. Ehlers, after a hard day's work of taking kids to the library, the dentist, the doctor's office, Chucky Cheese, the park, baseball practice, or whatever will come home and will have convinced herself that her kids are not hers by saying, "Do you have any idea what YOUR son did today?!" I'll be the guy who takes an extra job that starts at 2:00 in the morning to help support my family, and the same guy who comes home before his family wakes up with donuts and chocolate milk for the kids and a Diet Coke with a little bit of ice for that extremely attractive and lovable and awesome future Mrs. Ehlers. I'll be the guy who teaches his boys how to treat a woman right by the way I treat their mother. I'll be that guy who has to get an unbelievably good attorney to keep his sorry butt outa jail because he blew the head offa some stupid kid who was trying to date his daughter before she was 24.... Yeah. I got to thinking a lot about being a dad, a father, a husband someday and I'm kinda nervous. I'm super fetching stoked but still a little scared... It'll be good though.

Yesterday we got a new alligator by the name of Noah. He's 11 years old and smarter than a high school senior. His mom is an inactive member - also a humorless ice maiden in desperate need of a good something - and after seeing all his buddies be getting baptized he said he wants to also. We got to the part of the lesson where we talk about the Book of Mormon and he started in by saying, "Yeah the Book of Mormon. I don't get why so many people are so opposed to it. It's not gonna replace the bible or anything because it supports it. The Book of Mormon is just there to help people better get to know who Jesus and God is and help them better understand." Duuuuuude....suffer the little chillins to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. I quote Rocky Balboa's trainer, the first one, the Jewish guy, "He's an ANIMAL!"

Speaking of Rocky, there's this quote my comp carries with him everywhere and reads every morning:

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!"

Yesterday in church I heard one of the best talks I've ever heard. I don't think you'll agree because you weren't there and I don't think I'll be able to convey the awesome by the way I explain things. This guy gets up there to speak after his wife and he's from Russia (everybody's Russian!) and he gets to talking about his conversion story. He grew up when Russia was still the Soviet Union and so he's had to deal with communism. He said - and this is IN sacrament meeting - when he was taking the missionary discussions he noted that the gospel was kinda like communism! The difference is in communism if you don't obey you get shot but in the gospel if you don't obey the commandments then God is sad but he still loves you and he won't strike you down or burn you or destroy you or anything like that. He also got talking about the time before he was a member when he'd go out and have fun with his friends, and having fun in Russia means getting drunk. He remembered he'd hang out with his friends after he was a member and obeyed the word wisdom and see how silly his friends would act when they were drunk, and he used to be the same way... The KICK I get outta this is there's a guy up at the podium saying "Yeah I used to do stupid things and drink and get drunk BUT I found the gospel and it saved me. There's hope for you if you're struggling too." I appreciate and respect that guy and I'm sure there was at least one other person in the congregation who needed to hear what he had to say.

I would also like to note that had it not been for the priesthood, exactly 8 years ago I'd have begun my duty as a daisy-pusher from 6 feet under. Thank God for the priesthood, modern medical science, committed emergency responders and nurses and doctors, my loving family and friends near and far, and the gospel.

Mom - voting season is approaching and I want to know if I need an absentee ballot. Also, could you send me that brownies-from-scratch recipe we used a lot? Sullivan has a new 9X11 pan she'd like to use and I told her I have a sick brownie recipe.

Also a couple of Sundays ago there was an older woman who approached me and said she had worked for the church for some 30 years in Salt Lake City and she used to know a fella by the name of Jack Ehlers.

Men Working

Elders Ehlers and Martinez

Woof Woof

We are loving having your son in our Ward. He is awesome! :) Thought you would get a kick out of this. Enjoy!