Christmas Talk - Lara

Since being assigned to speak on Christmas Sunday, I’ve been contemplating the question “What does Christmas means to me?”.    This question has multiple, correct yet different answers.  Of course Christmas means family and traditions, but above everything else, it means the gift of our Savior. 

         Our family has a number of Christmas time traditions that range from fun to family to faith building, from snow shoeing on Christmas Eve, to participating in the neighborhood Sub-for-Santa, from cutting down our tree in the mountains to sending and receiving Christmas Cards.  One of our longest running traditions is the re-enactment of the Christmas Nativity, which at the conclusion we always sing the hymn Silent Night which ends with the phrase “sleep in Heavenly Peace”.  My talk today will focus on the Peace that comes through the birth of the Savior.

         Our Christmas nativity, in reality, is not very peaceful.  Ironically enough, I have to collect the Baby Jesus from our Nativity on display in the foyer and hide it before the little nieces and nephews come over because for some reason, they all want to remove the baby Jesus from the nativity and play with it.  There’s obviously something about that special, little baby that warms our spirits.

         Charlie and I just finished reading the book “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”.  This is a story about a large family of unruly, unreligious, vagabond children who make there way into the local church Nativity play.  The Herdmans are absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world.  They lie and steal and smoke cigars.  They talk dirty, hit little kids, cuss their teacher and set fire to the neighbor’s tool house.  Nobody likes them and everyone is afraid of them.  When the Herdman’s hear there are treats in church, it’s just too much to resist and they show up for a visit on the same day the Church is organizing it’s annual Christmas Nativity pageant. 

         Out of intimation and safety for their lives, none of the other children volunteer for the main parts and the Herdmans who have never heard the Christmas story before suddenly find themselves in the main rolls of Mary, Joseph, the Angel of the Lord, and the Wise men.  It takes some effort for the director of the play to teach this non-traditional family the significance of this miraculous story, but slowly the Herdmans begin to understand the importance of the little baby Jesus. 

         The only speaking part in the entire play is spoken by Gladys, the youngest and perhaps the meanest and most intimating of the children.  To make sure the shepherds understood her important message, she yells to them “Hey, Unto you a child is born!”.  The 3 wise men instead of bringing the usual fine, rare gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, bring the Child the ham from the food basket they received for charity from the church; a real sacrifice for this poor family.  Finally, something even more unexpected happens.  During the hymn “Silent Night”, Imogene who is Mary starts to cry as she cradles the baby doll Jesus in her arms. 

         The Narrator of the story says “For years, I’d thought about the wonder of Christmas, and the mystery of Jesus’ birth, and never really understood it.  But now, because of the Herdmans it didn’t seem so mysterious after all.  When Imogene had asked me what the pageant was about, I told her it was about Jesus, but that was just part of it.  It was about a new baby, and his mother and father who were in a lot of trouble – no money, no place to go, no doctor, nobody they knew.  But for Imogene, Christmas just came over her all at once, like the case of chills and fever”.

         The birth of the Savior, significant in and of itself, is often used as a springboard to discuss the Saviors mortal mission, His mighty miracles, and of course the culminating events of His Crucifixion and Resurrection.  Elder Christofferson in his article in this month’s Ensign entitle “Be at Peace” says “I think it’s appropriate this time of year to just think about that baby in the manger.  Don’t be too overwhelmed or occupied with what is to come; just think about that little baby.  Take a quiet, peaceful moment to ponder the beginning of His life”

         Take a moment and recall the last time you held a perfect, peaceful infant in your arms, try to remember how you felt.  For me it was just a few days ago.  There is something calming about looking into the face a new baby, straight from the presence of God.  It is one of the most peaceful experiences in this life.

        

         I love the older Luke II video, we watch it every Christmas Eve.  With the exception of a few phrases uttered by the Wise men as they ponder the prophesies in the scriptures, there are no words in this 5 minute video of the Saviors birth, but it does an excellent job at portraying the feelings surrounding the Saviors birth.  The final scene is in the manager where the Shepherds have gathered to worship the baby Jesus.  You know that it’s dark and cold outside, but the inside of the manager feels warm and peaceful.

         Our family has a tradition each year of camping in a different State or National park in Utah.  We’ve seen a lot of our beautiful state because of this.  The best part of the camping trip is at night when all the work is done and we get to build the campfire.  Everyone gathers around the warmth and glow of the fire, we are mesmerized by it.  It’s like a power that draws you in.  It’s hard to leave its presence and return to the dark, cold tent to go to sleep.

         I imagine this is what the manger felt like 2000 years ago as the shepherds gathered to witness the baby Jesus.  They left their fields and gathered around the peaceful glow of the Nativity and were warmed and comforted by the Saviors sweet baby spirit. 

         When the shepherds first heard from the Angel that the Lord had been born they were afraid.  But the Angel reassured them saying that he brought them good tiding of great joy, the Shepherds were told where to find the baby Jesus and then a host of angels appeared to them proclaiming “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace good will toward men”.  In this proclamation from the Angels on high we are encourage to have peace.

         My Dad’s favorite word to say when his children were fighting or agitated or upset with someone or something was “peace”.  Just the word “peace” nothing else.  Sometimes he’d even repeat the word several times in a calm tone “peace, peace, peace”.  That one word declaration was more effective that any trivial thing he could have said to calm our anger. 

         The Saviors gift to each of us this Christmas season is Peace.  He states “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”

         Even in the darkest hour and in the worst situation, peace is possible.  In an appearance with the Tabernacle Choir in 2002 Walter Conkrite shared this well known story.

"As the Christmas of 1914 drew near . . . the nations of Europe were at war.

"Between the opposing trenches was an area about the width of a soccer field aptly named No Man's Land. Littered with barbed wire and frozen corpses, it was a sobering reminder of what the future might bring. . . .

"In December the war slowed. . . . As they contemplated their desperate situation, nights grew long and hearts yearned for peace.

"Dec. 23, a group of German soldiers quietly moved to the ruins of a bombed-out monastery. There they held their Christmas service. Later on that night, a few Christmas trees began to appear along the German fortifications, their tiny candles flickering in the night.

"Across the way, British soldiers must have taken an interest in those lights as they sang together the carols of their youth. Word spread, and heads peeked cautiously over sandbags at the now thousands of Christmas Trees glowing like Christmas stars.

"Two British officers ventured over to the German line and, against orders, arranged a Christmas truce. .

"Lieutenant Sir Edward Hulse 'assaulted' the enemy with music. . . . The Germans responded with a Christmas concert of their own. It was not long before the cold air rang with everything from 'Good King Wenceslaus' to 'Auld Lang Syne.'

"For the next two days, those tidings continued to spring from the hearts of common men.

"Whatever the Spirit of Christmas had been before that hour, it was now, above all, the spirit of peace.

"As Christmas Day dawned over the muddy fields, both sides cautiously picked their way through the barbed wire and together buried their dead. . . .

"Men who had shot at each other only days before gathered in a sacred service for the fallen. Prayers were offered. . . .

"As the Christmas of 1914 drew to a close, soldiers who had sung together, played together and prayed together returned to their trenches. They must have felt reluctant to let the common ground between them become No Man's Land again. But even as the darkness fell around them, a lone baritone voice floated across the few yards of earth on which they had stood together as one.
"In the true spirit of Christmas, one voice, then another, joined in. Soon the whole world seemed to be singing, and for a brief moment, the sound of peace was a carol every soul knew by heart."

         It is possible to have the gift of peace in your Christmas this year.  Our personal lives might feel like the battlefields of WWI, and the war might pick up again after this short Christmas time respite.  Despite all this, place your trust in the Lord and let Him give you his gift of peace.  This is my prayer to you that you let your hearts and soul be warmed by his birth.  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord…and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The might God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”.  I have testimony of the Peace the Savior can give to our lives. 

Christmas Nativity

Each year we pull out the same costume and re-enact the same sacred events of the Savior's birth.  Each year it is magical and meaningful.

Charlie is not excited for the wait.  

Witness the magic

The Week in Pictures

Loved the bow-tie this morning for church

This is only about 20% of all the leaves we'll pick up

Can you spot Sydney and Charlie

On the weekends the kids like to sleep together in Sydney's bunk beds.  It's not uncommon for us to come home after date-night and find all of them together.  This night however, the stuffed animals had taken over and we could barely see the kids.

Letter to Stewart

You're going to get a longer email from me this week since I neglected to get a snail mail out.  First of all before you or I forget, I'd like to know if there are any "needs" you have for Christmas.  I'm pulling your package together as we speak so hopefully you get it before the middle of January like last year.  

I'll just work my way backwards through the calendar, we had a visiting General Authority in our Sacrament meeting this week,  Elder Durham.  He was suppose to come speak to us on Family History, but instead he talked about the church's new policy on children of same-gender marriages.  I'm not sure what you've heard in Spain, but the church updated it's handbook for Bishops and Stake presidents to clarify it's position on children in same-gender marriages and relationships.  It now closely parallels it's position on that of polygamist families.  Anyway, the press in SL got a hold of the updated information before the church could release it properly and they had a hay-day.  It was all over social media and the 10:00 news.  Most members were confused as to why we were hearing the announcement of church policy on the 10:00 news on our Facebook feeds.  The church had to do some quick PR repairs and letters of clarification.  Elder Durham's point today was that he prefers to get his direction in the church from it's leaders and not from Facebook.  It was a simple but poignant reminder of the day and age we live it and how quickly things can become skewed in the media.  A good reminder to get our information about the church for the correct sources.

Carolyn Crawford and I went out today to visit some members that showed up our YW rolls.  I felt like a missionary again as we knocked on doors over at the apartments and listened as people quickly turned off their TVs to pretend they weren't home.  At one apartment the teenage girl actually opened the door and we were having a nice conversation with her until her mother yelled from the back room "Who's that".  We said, we're from the LDS church.  She then showed up at the door in her bathrobe and told us her daughter was grounded and couldn't do anything with us.  I felt terrible for this sweet 15 year-old who seemed genuinely interested in being apart of YWs.

We had a nice date night with Cinda and Doug this weekend.  Saw the new James Bond movie (exactly what you'd expect) and caught up with each other.  They've had a bad month - Doug's brother died of a genetic disease that he's suffered with for years.  It was really sad to watch Doug and his family go through this trial.  They were able to call Jake and talk to him about his uncle dying and Cinda said, although very sad - has been a strengthening experience.  Jake is busy working away as the office secretary and learning an entire new set of skills - paper work in spanish in a 3rd world country.  He sounds really good - his letters come through on Saturdays now.  Cinda has also been released as the RS president and she's been replaced by CeliAnne Coates.

Also this weekend there was a terrorist attack on Paris, killing over 120 people.  It's scary to hear stories like this!  I immediately wanted to know how Jamison was doing.  Jamison's area now includes part of downtown paris, including the Eiffel tower (separate email).  Gratefully all the missionaries were home and no where near these attacks (soccer stadium, bar, concert hall).  But, it sounds like Jamison will be confined to his apartment for a few days.  For a while France closed it's boarders.  The EU is still trying to hunt down some of the people involved in the attack.  Just a nice lesson on being obedient.  I have a huge testimony of obedience - not only does it keep us safe, it has spiritual implications as well - as we show our Heavenly Father we are willing to do his will.  Anyway....just your Mom on her soap box.

We hired Blake to come over and put up our Christmas lights this weekend.  Dad says he's done climbing up scary ladders.  Blake did a great job and his girlfriend came over as well - Morgan (not to be confused with the girl Morgan he brought to Zions).  He's dating a new morgan that finished her mission the same time Blake did - they both reported to the High Council together.

Finally - tonight we had a great dinner at David and CAtherine's home.  David has completely remolded their kitchen and it looks fabulous.  Catherine will be having her baby in the next month and they all seems to be doing great!  They are good parents, grounded in the gospel.  All your family loves and misses you (cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma, grandpa, and especially your siblings and parents).  We pray for you daily and know you are receiving blessings from the collective power of those prayers.  Can't believe we get to talk in another month!!! Crazy!

Love you!

Mom

Letter to Stewart

Dear Stewart;
The week got away from me, now it’s Friday night and everyone is gone – Dad is out of town, Maren is with friends, Charlie and Sydney are at a birthday party, Emma is babysitting, so it’s just me –writing a letter to you. I hope it’s a good day for you. I think of you coming home to your apartment for media-­‐dia and enjoying a surprise letter while you make a Spanish tortilla. It sounds like you’re becoming quite the cook; a good self-­‐reliant skill that your roommates and future wife will enjoy. Hopefully, there are other good skills and habits you’re adding to your skill set of a more eternal nature. We miss you and love you and pray for you in every prayer, morning, meals, night, travel, personal and companionship prayer
We had a good week – Fall has finally hit and today we actually had a sprinkling of snow. It didn’t stick in the valley – but the ski resorts got a couple of inches. I spent Thursday morning at Grandma and Grandpa Frazier’s home helping plan their 50th wedding anniversary for Fall 2016. They want to take all their posterity to Disneyland for a long weekend. Put it on our calendar  I also was given word that I’ll be released from my YW’s calling in a couple of weeks when we finish our last program for the year. It’s a bitter, sweet feeling. I feel like I’ve given it my all the last 3 years, but it’s time for some fresh, new ideas and probably a time for me to be challenged in another way. We’ll see...Church callings are a funny thing, you always feel completed inadequate, then you are blessed, and just when you feel you’ve got it figured out you’re released and given a new challenge. (The mission can be a bit like that too).
The big news of the week is that the Brunken’s sold their home and they’re moving near the UofU. It’s super sad to see them leave. They seem excited about the new adventure, new house, new neighborhood, etc, etc. It’s all happened really fast. Even though their home has been on the market for a long time, when they got their offer, the new owners wanted to move in within a month. The new owner is Kevin Watt’s son – Darren Watt’s brother – that’s Doug’s Taylor’s sister’s brother-­‐in-­‐ law. (got it) They have 2 kids, one in H.S. one in Jr. High.
This past week was end of quarter, Monster Mash, Halloween. I think I told you Maren went stag and said it was the best dance she ever been to. Halloween was fun too – Eric and Suzanne took all the cousins and a couple of friends around trick-­‐or-­‐treating. As always they had a good time and came home and played the New York Stock Exchange with their candy. Emma definitely scored the most candy. And like good kids, they put the good chocolate in the freezer for skiing. I like that tradition, it helps them (and me) not eat too much.
As for end of quarter – I am a proud mama, 4.0s all around. Not sure how I got such good students for children – honestly I was a bit worried about Charlie, but maybe he’s got it in him too.
We had a great testimony meeting last week. Two testimonies inparticular stuck out – one came from Mitt Romney the other from a new guy, Matt McConkie (a

grandson of Bruce R.). But, despite their status, education, family fame, they both just shared the simplicity and truthfulness of the gospel basics – the Divine Mission of the Savior, The prophetic mission of the Joseph Smith, the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. It was great! We have a rock solid ward! I hope that these young wards in Europe will some day see members of the 4th and 5th generations testifying of the gospel. The ability to stay grounded in the gospel is only going to get harder as the final days progress toward the 2nd coming. It is the constant prayer I have for my children.
Love you tons! Have a happy day! Go out and work hard, testify, love, serve..... Until next week –
Mom 

The Week in Pictures - Halloween Edition

Maren and her friends decided to go "stag" to the school Monster Mash dance.  Good thing as I don't know what the boys could have dressed up as to go with these creepy dolls.

Alyssa and Maren

Charlie (Storm Trooper) Sydney (Gone with the Wind girl)

 With Star Wars 7 coming out in December it was only obvious that Charlie would be a character from Star Wars.  As for Sydney - she's never seen Gone With the Wind (neither have I), but the dress sure was cute.

Emma and Kendra Bryson

Emma and several of her Junior High friends were matching "Waldos" and VERY easy to spot as they sprinted around the neighborhood.

Letter to Stewart

How’s it going?  I’m really impressed with all the cooking you’re doing as a missionary.  I didn’t realize I had taught you so well – or maybe it was the foods classes you took in JrH and HS.  Too bad your companion doesn’t appreciate a good home-cooked meal.  You’ll be the best roommate at college; while others are gaining wait and spending money on eating out, you’ll avoid both of those negatives by cooking.  I really enjoyed cooking in Italy and I love how Mediterranean Europe .  It has such a strong food culture.  That’s something missing in America.

            Last Sunday we had Emily’s homecoming.  She did such a good job.  She stood up and said “I loved my mission”, and then she started to cry.  She talked about her best companion – the Holy Ghost and then told a bunch of stories on what the Holy Ghost did to guide, direct, and comfort her while being a missionary.  Her last area was a Spanish speaking branch in Tokyo.  Isn’t that funny and she taught a girl from Argentina.  Boy, those Latinos find the gospel all over the world!  I guess you’ll have to see how much Spanish she actually learned in her last area.  Last weekend Blake lined her up with one of his buddies and they did a double date.  Emily said it was really awkward.  Then Blake brought a girl to Emily’s homecoming – someone who just finisher her mission to Guatemala and reported to the High Council on the same day Blake did.  They looked like they were enjoying each other company. 

            In other, less spiritual news, OHS beat Skyline in OT by 3 points.  It was a very exciting game, or so I hear since I wasn’t there.  Dad and I saw a good over the weekend – The Martian with Matt Damon (He still looks like my brother Jason).  You can put that on the good movie list.  Dad took the Scouts camping up to the Coates property in Heber.  They bought a huge piece of land and are going to build a cabin up there that is totally off the grid so they can live up there when the apocalypse comes.  Dad continues to work on the side yard.  It’s looking really nice!  It’ll be fun to plant a garden in the grow boxes.  I took the kids to see OHS’ production of Mary Poppins.  As usual, they did a really good job!  Maren is going to Monster Mash tomorrow night, stag.  Her girl friends decided they didn’t want to get dates, but wanted to go anyway.  I think they’re missing out.  This year Charlie will be s clone trooper (big surprise), Sydney will be a Southern bell, and Emma is dressed like Where’s Waldo with all her friends.  Maren and her friends are dressing like zombie dolls for the dance.

            OK – This is an example of getting side-tracked and getting back to your letter 2 days later; sorry.  I’m printing and sending as tomorrow is Saturday AND Halloween and I’m certain to get nothing done.

Love you,

MOM

The week in pictures

Fall is my favorite time of year in my yard.  The weeds have finally stopped growing, the colors are intense, and my lawn looks beautiful.  I mowed it this week, so I was particularly proud of how it looked.

Posing for Family Pictures at Market Street (missing Stewart)

While I was busy mowing the lawn, Eric continues to build the garden boxes that will decorate our side yard.  Hopefully there will be an actually garden in them some day.

Just after this pictures was taken, Emma pulled out all the Zinnias and planted pansies.  I was sad to see these beautiful flowers leave our yard - but fall is here.

So glad these kids still enjoy doing this!

Letter to Stewart

Dear Elder Stew:
It seems I have all these great things to tell you during the week, and then when I sit down to write a letter, I’ve forgotten them all. Thank heavens for my desk calendar to remind me what I’ve done  It sounds like you’ve had some challenges as a new Zone Leader and with a new companion – nothing you can’t overcome – just things to help you dig deep and grow. Dad tells me you’ve been seeking his advice – he’s got great advice to give, I appreciate the way he looks at problems and looks for peaceful solutions. That’s bit ironic coming from a “litigator”. Grandma Maxfield also tells me you’ve enlisted her to be a pen pal to one of the Elders from Peru that needs some love and support. She’s so happy you’ve asked her to help, I’m sure it’s nice when you’re in your 80s to be asked to do things. Also, she has a talent for sharing her talents with others. Of course, everyone likes to feel needed and that their talents matter to others. I think that’s a wonderful aspect of service in the gospel, you enlist the people around you to work together to solve problems. In the process you help everyone involved from those who are being served to those that are serving.
Last night the YW watched a “Face2Face” webinar the church did for the Youth with the Piano Guys as their guests. This is the group of LDS musicians that takes their piano to places like the Great Wall of China, or the cliffs in southern Utah, and then films a YouTube video. They are a YouTube video sensation. Last night they had their grand piano on top of the conference center with a small, selective group of youth, along with 2 youth moderators that fielded questions. The questions came live via twitter and facebook, they were also pre-­‐submitted on the lds.org website and the audience even contributed a few. We had all the YW over here for dinner and then sat down to watch the live “fireside”. It was spectcular to think of kids all over the country and world participating. The views were amazing – they managed to get some sunset shots over the great Salt Lake as well as some shots with the temple in the background. The music they play is inspiring – last night they did a mash-­‐up of I Need Thee Every Hour and Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (our families favorite song since Maren sang it at Charlie’s baptism and Robby’s farewell and ROCKED it).
Well – the biggest news of the week was our trip to Snow Canyon and Irene announcing her pregnancy disguised in a scary campfire story. She’s due in May. That makes 3 babies this coming year. Catherine (boy), due end of December, Michelle (?) due April (I think) and Irene. Yeah!!! Love all these cute kids we have in our family. As for Snow Canyon – it was awesome, as usual. I don’t know if you remember much from that trip – the canyon is really small so it’s easy to get around and all the hikes are kid friendly, short and sweet. We first did a slot canyon just outside of St. George – it wasn’t a real slot canyon, more of a crack in a rock. It was so small that Dad’s belly didn’t fit and he had to turn around. At one point I couldn’t even turn my head from side to side. It was very short, thank heavens, because it gave me a bit of anxiety – Charlie did it like 4 times. Our campground was perfect! Away from all the other campers with a place for the kids to explore that led up a

secluded canyon. We even had a covered pavilion with lights and electricity which was helpful when it rained Sunday morning as we were trying to pack up and leave. We took some great hikes – do you remember the lava caves? We did all 3 of them this time (last time we only did 1). It was a bit scary a few times as we passed young children down deep holes and over deep crevasses. It’s an excellent exercise in team building and trust. At the very end of the tunnel it opened up into a cave and we all turned off our flashlights and marveled in the COMPLETE darkness – freaky. It was so dark, that we all noticed a faint glow off in the corner and realized in was an abandoned, very old glow stick, but it still gave off enough light to penetrate the darkness. I’m sure there’s a good FHE lesson for that  The kids rock scrambled until their heart’s content. We climbed petrified sand dunes, rock canyon, rock overlooks. We played in two different sand dune areas – one with red sand, the other with white. The white sand was particularly fine; imagine the sand in an hourglass. We all took off our shoes and ran around and rolled down the hill. At one exciting point the children (while playing around the campground) found a TARANTULLA. All the adults heard was screaming girls, we thought someone was mortally injured. When Jared went running to investigate – the girls were running back to campground almost hyperventilating and the boys were pocking the poor spider with a stick. It was the biggest spider I’ve every seen outside of the zoo.
It was such good family time! Everyone was there except Blake (he just got a new job at Zion’s bank and couldn’t leave, Kelsey and her family, Brett and Brandon. Of course the cooking was amazing too. We had dutch oven enchiladas and BBQ chicken. We also did a beef brisket on the coals. Dad, Will, David, Jared, and Dave H. whipped up awesome pancake breakfasts every morning and Sydney only ate 8 pancakes because Brett wasn’t around for her to have an eating contest.
We love you and miss you. We include you in our prayers EVERY time we pray. We pray for your companion, your investigators, that you’ll be safe and listen to the Holy Ghost, and even that you’ll have fun! Have a GREAT week.
Love, Mom 

Letter to Stewart

Ciao Elder Maxfield;

            We love the Duo Lingo app here – All of us, (except Maren and Dad), including me, use it to learn and practice Spanish.  How did the Mangos cut and taste?  There’s nothing better than a ripe, in season mango.  It’s tomato season here – so when we are lucky enough to score some fresh tomatoes (& corn on the cob), we have BLT’s, corn on the cob – and them sometimes I make me a peach cobbler.  The ultimate fall meal for me.

            We are now in the heat of the school year routine.  Mid-terms have come and gone.  Parent Teacher conferences.  Test. ACT test is in a couple of weeks for Maren.  Do you miss it at all?  I still do sometimes.  Everyone is doing great in school – I’m a lucky Mama for that reason alone.

            Conference, as usual, was great.  It’s like Zone Conference for the members of the church.  A good boost to keep us moving in the right direction for the next 6 months.  I was super worried about President Monson though, he looked fragile and tired.  We asked all the kids what were there favorite talks.  Maren like President Nelsen’s talk on the strength of women in the church.  Charlie liked the talk from the Sister who couldn’t get her grandchild to stay in her car seat.  Emma liked the talk about the kids who got so dirty their grandma wouldn’t let them back in the house (she and Charlie like the stories with a moral).  I liked President Uchtdorf’s talk on keeping things simple.  I also like Elder Bednar’s tribute to all the leaders of the church who have died while he’s been an Apostle.  My favorite, new apostle talk, was from Elder Rendlund (?).  I’m going to have to practice up on the names of the apostles now that the familiar ones have passed away.  What was your favorite talk?

            We enjoyed our traditional walk between conference and ran into Mitt Romney and his wife – it was the longest conversation I’ve ever had with them.  We discussed her new book she’s promoting and how to open all the gates in the neighborhood so we could enjoy our walks.  It’s still weird seeing a celebrity like that in the neighborhood.  Sunday night we had our Maxfield Fall family birthday parties.  Grandma Maxfield gave everyone gifts, as usual, even if it wasn’t your birthday.

            How did your first Zone Conference go?  I’ll bet you’re a great leader.  I’m sure the newness of it all is very stressful – but that’s a good time to dig deep and seek help from the Holy Ghost.  It’s how the Atonement can make up where your abilities stop.  (I’ve had many church callings like that).

            I sent you the pictures of Emily coming home from her mission.  It was such a tender sight.  Caitlin was crying before we could even see her – and then when we saw here all the Bryson girls screamed and cried simultaneously.  Then they broke through the barrier at the airport and rushed to her.  I wonder what all the other passengers thought (and the SL airport employees – they’re probably use to it now).  Her sisters couldn’t stop hugging her.  I don’t remember my siblings missing me that much when I came home.  I’m excited to hear all about her mission when she reports at the end of the month.

            

Letter to Stewart

Dear Elder Stew;

            How ya’ doing?  From your letters it feels/seems that you are doing good.  I hope so – by now you’ve settle into Spanish Missionary life and probably can’t think of any other way of living.  That’s great.  Regular people life just keeps moving along.  Emily gets home Saturday night from her mission.  I just can’t believe it.  Brett and Suzanne are in Japan right now picking her up and having a great time seeing the country and visiting the people she served with.  I’m excited to see her Saturday night J 

            This past 2 weeks has been full of babysitting other people’s kids for me.  First it was Irene’s kids while she and Dave were in Mexico.  Then Bonnie’s Max while Bonnie went to NYC with Brandon.  Then I had Suzanne’s kids for the weekend while they are in Japan.  And this weekend I have 2 of Andrea’s kids while she goes to Chicago.  I guess this makes up for all the people who watched my kids while Dad and I went to Italy last fall.  Good thing all the kids were really good!  Even the baby Henry (He’s about 18 months now).

            Last night the YM/YW had a combined fireside with the Holladay South Stake by Brad Wilcox (He’s a religion professor at BYU, amongst other things).  In fact, he said he gave a fireside at the Madrid MTC this past year – and what was interesting is that he went through all the 12 tribes of Israel and had them raise their hands – every tribe was represented by the missionaries.  When he did that in SLC – he only got Ephraim and Manasseh.   He gave a great talk on our responsibility as “Youth of the noble Birthright” and what that means for us and our membership in the church.  It was a great fireside and a good reminder of the responsibility we have as member – where much is given, much is expected.  He also said something interesting about the  responsibilities of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh that I didn’t know.  He said the tribe of Ephraim is responsible for the physical growth of the church (keep paying your tithing!)  and the tribe of Manasseh is responsible for the spiritual growth of the church.  I love getting new insight into doctrine.

            I’m super excited for Conference – of course, Conference will have happened by the time you get this – but I’d love your feedback.  Favorite talk?  Personal Insights?  New Apostles.  In the paper today (Ya, it’s SLC), they had paragraphs from each of the current apostles describing how it was when they were called.  Most of them didn’t get called until the day BEFORE conference.  Wow!!! Can you believe that.  What stress that would be – how humbling.  Anyway, I’m excited to her all the news.  We have 2 soccer games on Saturday so we’ll be listing in the car a bit – thank heavens for the internet.

            There’s really nothing new of note – Jimmie is getting married  - he’s the boy Cynthia and Gary have been raising.  He’s marring a nice LDS girl in the temple, which is so exciting for Cynthia and Gary since they never new which direction his life might take.  This is a step in the right direction.  We continue to move along on the side yard – very slowly!  Dad is getting ready to build the pergola and garden boxes.  I think Saturday we’ll just go out and pull all the weeds and then cover the area with weed fabric for a while since we won’t be planting any time soon J  Love you tons!  Sorry my snail mail letters and getting fewer and further apart.  Let me know if you need me to send you anything.

Love,

MOM

Letter to Stewart

Dear Stewart -            

            How’s it going?  I love your great attitude, despite the challenges I’m sure you are having.  That’s the best recipe to successfully making it through this mortal existence.   I love the simple scripture that Man’s purpose is to have joy, despite hardship, trials, adversity, etc.  A good attitude is the best medicine – keep it up J

            I’m trying to get this letter out before I run Emma to dance – Mom the taxi driver.  The passat is still being repaired, so I’m shuttling Maren around as well.  I’ll be glad when she gets the car back so she can take herself to early morning seminary.  I admire all those teenagers around the world who don’t have the option of taking seminary in the middle of the day and MUST take early morning seminary.  I think in many areas it can start as early as 5:30 a.m.   The seminary program has been revamped to make it more of a preparatory class for life, missions, gospel living, etc.  The kids have to actually read the entire book of scripture that’s being studied (or at least some of it if it’s the OT) and they must pass a test each semester.  I suppose that’s a good thing with the world becoming increasing difficult to navigate and so many kids wanting to get into BYU J where religion actually goes on your transcript.  (Cassidy P. says her BofM class is hard – but she likes it).  I can see that some kids (& parents)  might not like this because they might be discouraged and not attend seminary – but I think it’s OK to expect more of people; they usually rise to the occasion.

            We have Irene’s Luke and Henry while they are in Mexico this weekend – I’ve forgotten what it’s like have an 18month old around (yes, he’s that old now J).  He’s a really good baby and very pleasant, just busy and requires constant supervision.  Luke is good too – but a little fire”y” – it’s the red hair, that hasn’t changed much.  Last night I left Sydney in charge of the baby and Charlie in charge of Luke while I went to YW and Dad when to Scouts.  Everything went great until Luke had a tantrum because his block tower was accidentally knocked over.  Charlie called me crying because he didn’t know how to handle the situation.  It was funny.

            I wish I had monumental news to reports or deep insights to share – but we are just doing the day to day living.  I did start my Institute class up again, and I’m grateful for that 90 minutes of gospel thinking in the middle of the week. It’s nice to reflect and ponder and be grateful on a Monday J  This week I was reflective of the magnitude of the calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  Although I have a testimony of his divine mission and calling as the prophet of the restoration sometime I fail to realize the supreme significance of his foreordination and importance in “The Plan” for us here in this mortal existence. 

            OK – I’ve been working on this letter for 3 days (not that you’d be able to tell) – and I keep getting interrupted.  So, as incomplete as it is – I’m still sending it.

Love you,

MOM

Letter to Stewart

Happy Sabbath – right now your Grandma and Grandpa Frazier are only a few hours from you in Paris, France. They have spent the past week cruising along the Rhine River and now they will be enjoying Paris this week. Grandma was super worried that if we tried to call her it would only be because something bad had happen. I tried to explain that the world has shrunk and communication is so easy, that just because her phone rings, she shouldn’t panic. She even went to the effort of getting an international data plan for the time she was gone. She’s also getting very proficient with instagram and is posting multiple pictures daily which has been really nice for all of us to keep up on what she’s doing.
The rest of us here in the USA are enjoying a nice Labor Day weekend with various yard projects and of course on Monday, we’ll do our family hike – however, this year it will need to be shorter than usual, since Dad and I plan to take a long bike ride that morning (only 2 weeks left to the big race – hallelujah). I’m not sure if Dad told you our Saturday yard projects, but they (it) was intense, some background information is required.
We inherited a large piece of Granite that was cut from the Temple Quarry when the SL temple was being built. It was abandoned in Holladay in what became Grandpa Walker’s yard. Grandma Frazier used it as a table for tea parties when she was growing up. When Grandpa Walker built his home on Cottonwood Lane in the 1970’s he incorporated it into the steps that led to his back yard. When his house was torn down, the stone was discovered and given back to the family. Dad and I thought it would be a fun center piece in our “grove” by the hammock and drinking fountain.
About 4 months ago Dad and I rented a small backhoe to move the earth around on our side yard and while we had the machine we moved the stone down to our yard (that’s another story completely – it took us 1 hour to drive the machine to Grandma Walker’s home, get the stone, and bring it back). Yesterday, we attempted to move the stone about 5 feet into a better, more desirable position. Remember the flagstone we moved together? This thing weighs 10 times as much as the flagstone, it’s about 2’x2.5’x4’ and dense granite. So, in order to move this, we put on our Physics brains and used levers with appropriately sized fulcrum points. It took us over 90 minutes to move this thing 5 feet. We tried rolling it on logs (too heavy – it just crushed the wood) – we couldn’t figure out where to hang any pulleys or we would have tried that. It took all (literally) of Maren’s and Dad’s weight to lever the rock up a few inches then I would slide rocks underneath until enough was off the ground that we could slide or roll the stone by twisting the lever along it’s fulcrom. We filmed the entire thing so Maren could get extra credit in Mr. Summerhay’s if she needs it (which currently she doesn’t since she has 110%). We then marveled at all the big stones that were moved without the help of modern cranes – the least of which is the SL Temple (i.e. Stone Henge, The Pyramids, Machu Picchu – they didn’t even have the wheel in the ancient Americas – right?). We finished off our night with dinner at the Pi Pizzeria (hey – it was a math day, so it only made sense).
The big news at church is that we’ve switched our sacrament meeting to the first hour of the block. We had a hard time figuring out if people were out of town

today or just very late. Sacrament meeting was very sparse when we started at exactly 9:00 a.m. There were a few very nice things about this though – it was VERY reverent at the begging of our meeting and we started Young Women’s on-­‐time, and with 100% attendance (at least with those that were at church that day). The weird thing was that after I left Young Womens and managed to walk down towards the RS room – EVERYONE had already left the building and there was no-­‐one to sit and chit-­‐chat with. I guess everyone was starving and just wanted to get home.
Hope you’re doing great – I’m so happy that you get to meet such wonderful people all trying to be there very best on the other side of the world. That’s one of things I like the most about the gospel; good people trying to be better every day. Have a great day!
Love you, Mom 

Letter to Stewart

Well - still no printer, but at least the desk top is back and working and ALL the pictures were on the back-up.

All the kids started school on Wednesday. 

Sydney is a big 6th grader at Cottonwood Elementary; this will be my last year at that school.  She has Mrs. Wagstaff - so now, along with Mrs. Jordan, Mrs. Wagstaff has taught all 4 of my kids that went to Cottonwood.  Sydney got a call from the GT office 2 days before school saying that a spot opened up at the GT Magnet program if she wanted it - she didn't, which I completely understand.  it's her last year at Elementary and she doesn't want to start something new.  That's something she'll have to do next year anyway when she starts 7th grade.  I told Sydney that I'd give her $20 if she learned how to solve the Rubik's cube without following the directions.  She is so determined.  She wrote down all the algorithms and memorized them over the last 3-4 weeks and now she can solve the cube w/out help. She's amazing. 

Emma's 8th grade year will be great.  She has a bunch of new teachers that I'm not familiar with - but she's in the GT classes which at least guarantees good kids around her.  Yesterday she was telling me she was concerned about her math class; she said it was too crowded and not a good learning environment.  Today she met with her counselor and switched it for another period - same teacher; just a better group of kids.  I'm always so happy to see my kids fix their own problems.  It's a life long skill that can't necessarily be taught in a class room.

Charlie had a bit of drama on the first day of classes.  He picked out a pencil box with a lock on it.  I told him he had to leave the key at home and keep the pencil box unlocked at school.  I must have told him that a dozen times - even the morning of the first day of school.  Well....as you might predict he accidentally locked his pencil box and when we got to school he couldn't find the key.  He cried in the car for 5 minutes begging that I take him home to get the extra key.  I told him "no" - tough lesson for an 8 year old to have.  He found Max B. and borrowed a pencil and made it through the day.  His spanish comprehension is pretty good - he just needs to practice speaking.  That's where you can help him :)

Maren only has 3 AP class this year (instead of 4) - she changed her AP American to the standard American History class and I'll think that'll be a better fit for her.  She'll have AP Calc, Physics and Art History which will keep her plenty busy.  She's going to have a fun Junior year.  She gets to go to St. George with the Tennis team next week and then in the Spring she gets to go to SF with the AP Art History Class and Disneyland with the Choir.  If the Debate team plans a tournament out of town - she'll get to do that too :)  They have a new debate coach though this year, so we'll see.  I guess you had an adventurous Jr. Year too because you lived in D.C. 

I'm so excited to start digging myself out of all the things that didn't get done over the summer.  I'm also going to get our 72 hour kits up to date!  However, in the next 4 weeks I've got to finish getting ready for a 100 mile ride that Dad and I are doing up in Coalville.  It's taking a lot of time as I need to bike for 6 + hours a week.  Today I road up to Snowbird - it was a killer!  (entry Level I). Suzanne came with me - it's fun to have a sister that will do things like that.

I promised I'd let you know how Blake's homecoming was.  It was great!  He was really honest about where his life was before he left on his mission - and in between when he came home.  He really had to reach deep to discover his testimony and put all his faith in the Atonement.  I think because of those two things he was a very compassionate and powerful missionary.  He's working really hard to keep the spirit with him every day - which can be hard in the monotony of every day living. This Sunday we'll go to Mason Graham's homecoming - wow!  Didn't he just leave.  And, I also noticed that Tanner VanLeeuwan has completed his mission.

I'm excited to hear about your new area, companion and district.  Change is always a good thing to keep us motivated and charged!  That's why I like the 4 seasons - each has something to offer and give reason to set new goals and find new projects.

Costco Run at the Beach

Newport Temple

Too many feet in this car

Lara - selfie

Frazier Fun Friday - Battle Creek Falls - Charlie