From Dad 1/20/2008
Hi everyone,
We hope all of you have had a good week. Everyday we become a little more excited thinking what it will be like when Kathy meets all 31 of you who she has yet to see and greet. It will truly be a great home coming.
Mom and I are discovering we can still all or most all of the things we have always done. The difference is in the recovery time afterward! We are glad none of you have experienced such changes yet, or have you?
Being a family is the greatest blessing we know. We are so glad none have given up on another. There will be so many fun stories to hear and share. It will be the greatest! We are sure there will be a few games played along the way. We hope there will be fun activities for the teenagers, budding teenagers, and one day hope to be teenagers, as well as the young ones. Whether they are Nate activities or otherwise we know they will be fun. We can all squeeze into Russ and Camille’s lower level or the front room/dining room at our place if no other location is available. Mom is a home body and doesn’t mind where we are as long as everyone can be there and participate with whatever is going on. We will have four days together and any or all of the four days you can be with us will be awesome!
One of our friends from England, David Tindell, has little opportunity to be exposed to the Spirit except through visits in his home. We are thankful he is open to visits. We hope one day his wife will feel in her heart how our Father in Heaven has a personal interest in her and that it will be worth her time to become acquainted with Him. So often people are quick to assure us they have a religion and it is usually the case they have little activity with their own church.
Sabine Reynolds who is just 24 today and has one son, Tyrees, knows the feeling she has felt about the Church is true. She told us Wednesday when she first heard about Joseph Smith it seemed so unreal. The more she heard about it the more she has come to feel it is true and it has influenced her life and how she treats her husband and other members of her family. She is very nice. As is true about all of us she has a lot to learn. She accepts this and is happy to be making the effort.
Tim Palmer, our other friend from England who has made Germany his residence for the past 20 years, has a hard time accepting or acknowledging anything worthwhile about himself. We talked for a long time this week until he could name one good quality that was such a firm part of who he is he knows it will be the same tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that, and so on indefinitely. We encouraged him to recognize this as a foundation and to find other traits he may be close to putting into practice and would recognize as something he was to do something about today. He has a good sense of humor and that usually gets us on the right track again and away from putting himself down. He reaches into his bag of goodies or want to be me traits and thinks about what he can add. We hope each week he will relive the determination we felt from him at one point in November when he was ready to stand fast with the Lord and deal with all other issues of his life and make new commitments to reflect this determination. He’s facing being alone if Ursula continues to request his leaving the home so a new friend can come. Having three sons to leave behind is what tears him up. We seek daily and weekly to assist any way we can to help him see the blessings of forgiveness and that without it he is the one being punished, not Ursula. Having agency and accountability for our choices is sometimes very nice to exercise. Other times we balk and just want to be alone and suffer. His sense of humor keeps us going and hopefully soon him as well. We really like Tim and know these decisions are not easily made nor are the consequences however he decides easy either.
The four elders have something fun planned after our district meeting tomorrow so it will be a fun day. Mom really likes elder Zern (a great sports fan). He is also pretty level headed and has a strong testimony of the restoration and his responsibilities to keep the commandments. Tomorrow are the phone calls for notice of transfer for the elders. Mom hopes it won’t affect elder Zern. We have had some fun and many good missionaries since we have been here. There is not one we have not liked. Even the ones who are sometimes challenging have found their way into our hearts.
Have a good week. We love you all and are thankful for your letters.
Love always,
Dad and Grandpa
We hope all of you have had a good week. Everyday we become a little more excited thinking what it will be like when Kathy meets all 31 of you who she has yet to see and greet. It will truly be a great home coming.
Mom and I are discovering we can still all or most all of the things we have always done. The difference is in the recovery time afterward! We are glad none of you have experienced such changes yet, or have you?
Being a family is the greatest blessing we know. We are so glad none have given up on another. There will be so many fun stories to hear and share. It will be the greatest! We are sure there will be a few games played along the way. We hope there will be fun activities for the teenagers, budding teenagers, and one day hope to be teenagers, as well as the young ones. Whether they are Nate activities or otherwise we know they will be fun. We can all squeeze into Russ and Camille’s lower level or the front room/dining room at our place if no other location is available. Mom is a home body and doesn’t mind where we are as long as everyone can be there and participate with whatever is going on. We will have four days together and any or all of the four days you can be with us will be awesome!
One of our friends from England, David Tindell, has little opportunity to be exposed to the Spirit except through visits in his home. We are thankful he is open to visits. We hope one day his wife will feel in her heart how our Father in Heaven has a personal interest in her and that it will be worth her time to become acquainted with Him. So often people are quick to assure us they have a religion and it is usually the case they have little activity with their own church.
Sabine Reynolds who is just 24 today and has one son, Tyrees, knows the feeling she has felt about the Church is true. She told us Wednesday when she first heard about Joseph Smith it seemed so unreal. The more she heard about it the more she has come to feel it is true and it has influenced her life and how she treats her husband and other members of her family. She is very nice. As is true about all of us she has a lot to learn. She accepts this and is happy to be making the effort.
Tim Palmer, our other friend from England who has made Germany his residence for the past 20 years, has a hard time accepting or acknowledging anything worthwhile about himself. We talked for a long time this week until he could name one good quality that was such a firm part of who he is he knows it will be the same tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that, and so on indefinitely. We encouraged him to recognize this as a foundation and to find other traits he may be close to putting into practice and would recognize as something he was to do something about today. He has a good sense of humor and that usually gets us on the right track again and away from putting himself down. He reaches into his bag of goodies or want to be me traits and thinks about what he can add. We hope each week he will relive the determination we felt from him at one point in November when he was ready to stand fast with the Lord and deal with all other issues of his life and make new commitments to reflect this determination. He’s facing being alone if Ursula continues to request his leaving the home so a new friend can come. Having three sons to leave behind is what tears him up. We seek daily and weekly to assist any way we can to help him see the blessings of forgiveness and that without it he is the one being punished, not Ursula. Having agency and accountability for our choices is sometimes very nice to exercise. Other times we balk and just want to be alone and suffer. His sense of humor keeps us going and hopefully soon him as well. We really like Tim and know these decisions are not easily made nor are the consequences however he decides easy either.
The four elders have something fun planned after our district meeting tomorrow so it will be a fun day. Mom really likes elder Zern (a great sports fan). He is also pretty level headed and has a strong testimony of the restoration and his responsibilities to keep the commandments. Tomorrow are the phone calls for notice of transfer for the elders. Mom hopes it won’t affect elder Zern. We have had some fun and many good missionaries since we have been here. There is not one we have not liked. Even the ones who are sometimes challenging have found their way into our hearts.
Have a good week. We love you all and are thankful for your letters.
Love always,
Dad and Grandpa
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