Must Right the Not Writing

A few years ago, one of my sons implored me to never stop blogging.  "How will we ever know when we did things?  Or remember our family stories if you don't write them down, Mom?"  His plaintive request caught me totally off-guard.  I didn't think he read the blog at all, or even really knew that I wrote.  Especially since he was in an I-don't-care-about-this-family kind of stage.  So I kept writing.  Every now and then, life gets crazy and other things are more important than writing, so I pause.  But I miss it.  It's hard to jump back in and not feel guilty that there are things that I didn't record that I wanted to - that's why the pauses last longer than I want them to.  I feel like I have to play catch-up before I can jump back into today.

In the past half year, we have gone from Mom and Dad, six kids and Opa, with two missionaries out, to both missionaries home and eleven people in this house!  At the end of the summer we had a wedding and two other boys going away to college, so we were down three.  David and Eddie were happy to move into Chris's old bedroom (it has a window!), and the twins got to move out of the room they shared with Angel.  Yes, we had eight children in three bedrooms for a while - although some of the older boys preferred to couch-surf rather than sleep downstairs.  It seems funny to say that the house is quieter and feels empty now, because there are still five kids plus two parents plus a grandparent who still eat, sleep, and hang out on the premises.

But it is a little empty.  Alec and his new bride have a cozy little apartment a few towns over, and seem to be living happily.  Do we need a bloggy name for her?  Does it need to match up with Alec's letter A, or should we begin with B since that is the next girl name in the alphabet after Angel?  Let's call her Belle, just for fun, and because it fits her.  Ben's university is in the next town over from the university Chris chose, so they are sharing an apartment and commuting.  I love to hear them tease and bicker over bedtimes and groceries, and I'm glad they have each other.  My mother-heart has grown a few sizes to include a new family member, and to love my boys as the adults they are becoming.  I pray every night that they will all find real happiness and fulfillment in their chosen areas.

David is a sophomore this year, so I have him in the nest for two more years while he grows his flight-feathers.  I'm so impressed with how he handles the challenges he faces, and how he determinedly gets back up every time.  He is learning such good things!  Eddie is in eighth grade and finding his groove in his studies and groups of friends.  He and David clash on a regular basis over the standard sibling things, but I'm glad that they like each other anyway and manage to set things straight.  If we could figure out how to simultaneously play music and have quiet; turn the lights on and have dark, we would be a thousand times more peaceful.  And rich, if we could sell that technology!

Our Angel is eight and thriving in second grade.  Her social butterflightiness (can I combine "social butterfly" and "flightiness"?) is calming down several notches, and she spends a great deal of time writing and drawing pictures, or playing school with her little brothers.  When she has been quiet for a long time, I know her imagination has been captured by a good book.  Freddie and Georgie are in the first grade.  Gone all day!  I love to hear the commotion that descends upon the house when the three of them come tramping in after school.  And then my mother-heart is happy: my children are home!

Yes, dear son, I'll keep blogging.  There are so many things for me to write about and I miss it when I don't.  We have a great family, don't you think?  If I don't jot down the things I am ever so grateful for, then I forget.

And I don't ever want to forget.

Mission Monday

I've saved Monday for missionaries for over two years now.  Here we are, at the end of these missions, and I'm not sure what to think about it.  I'll not miss staying up late on Sunday nights and writing letters to them.  But I will.  That was a constant time I could spend on loving my boys.  I look forward to a hug and getting to see a smiling face.  I am enjoying watching the constant growth toward responsible adulthood.

Here is Ben's next-to-last letter.  He has been working in the mission office for the past few weeks, helping with the administrative responsibilities of running a mission.  He has also been able to still work with some people in his area, as well as traveling to the different parts of the mission with the mission president.  He has loved it all, and I'm sure he will miss it dearly.


Wednesday was back in my area with my companions. I went with Elder Covey and we went looking for families. We found one. Then we taught our fantastic recent convert family that got baptized last week. They are doing great! They have their baptismal certificates framed in their living room and they were raving about the blessings of the Gift of the Holy Ghost. There's nothing like that.

On Thursday... we (went) to go pick President Foote up from the airport, he was coming back from Fort Dauphin and Toliara. So we drove him home and talked to him while we waited in traffic. For a very long time. I love President! He's the coolest guy in the world!

Sunday we went to church. I love church. Then we taught and tracted and found a new family. J. is from Fianarantsoa and is a retired soldier, then his wife, M.L. is from Toliara. They were so inviting and brought us into their house before we could even introduce ourselves. Then they felt terrible that they didn't have any food to give us. People are so GOOD.


Yes, people are so good.  What a beautiful lesson to learn.

Read the rest of his week here.

Mission Monday

As the weather here moves into spring and warmer, it is growing cooler in Madagascar.  Ben told me that it's not as rainy as it has been.  Although it isn't as hot as it has been, it's still plenty warm!  I am glad he will be coming home to our summer instead of in the middle of winter.  I think he would freeze to death!

That's one of many things I can be thankful for.  I think I'll challenge the kids to write down as many blessings as they can think of in just a few minutes.  I think we would all be surprised at how many good things are all around us.  That's one thing Ben did in his last letter.  It's always interesting to see what other people are thankful for - and usually we are happy about things that we haven't always have.  Life lived too easily makes us complacent and we don't notice how good we have it.  I'm humbled by some of the things Ben mentions in his thankful list:

My stomach is not having problems.
I don't have a headache.
The power is going right now.
This cyber has GREAT internet.
I have clothes.
Food.
A roof that doesn't leak.
Washing machines and dryers
A stove.
My bed.
My parents were sealed in the temple and I was born in that covenant.
Rice.
I've been healthy enough to do everything I could possibly need to this week.

That last one really got me, especially since I haven't been particularly healthy recently.  But I think I've been healthy enough to do the things that are most important.  Thinking about our blessings really does make us realize just how many blessings we have.  I am for thankful when I count my blessings!

More Madagascar blessings here.

Mission Monday

Every week, I send a regular letter to my missionary sons, and one additional email with the question of the week.  This is my (sometimes vain) hope to get a better feel for customs of the country, health issues, personal questions and other things I just wanna know.  That way they don't have to answer a slew of my questions, just one a week.

This week's question was about how we learn things from difficult situation.  I asked Ben what he had learned last week.  His response was thoughtful, and has made me and Trent both examine some of our own attitudes.

What I learned this week is that you can do anything. We taught as many times this week as I did in my best week in Fort Dauphin and had a Fort Dauphinesque amount of people at church too. It just takes a good attitude and lots of work and you can do crazy things. I love it. Like it's not all about the stats, but there's this terrible mindset in my mission that the work goes way good in fort d, toliara, and mahajanga and everywhere else it's not super great, and because they have that mindset, that's what they get. But it's not true. I love that.

His letter this week was short, but enough for my mother-heart. You can read it on his blog.

Welcome Home!

He's back!  I can hardly believe it's been two years already.  I wasn't sure what to expect when we saw him, but it's been good to have him back.  He looks older, more confident and sure of himself.  It's been fun to see him smile and the dimple in his cheek.  

Some of his aunts and uncles came over the house to welcome him back.  He actually wasn't home very long before he was already off again.  This boy knows where he is going and has a plan to get there.  He had an appointment with the drivers licence division to renew his lapsed licence.  After that, he has freedom (as long as he can borrow my car!).

After he came back, he sat and told stories to his uncle and aunt, who have spent time in Africa themselves.  It was fun to hear his experiences.

I sat and watched as he visited with his brothers.  Makes my mother-heart happy to see him.  I was struck by some of his mannerisms - just like his dad!  I wasn't expecting that, and it took my breath away for a moment.

Welcome home, my first-born.  Whether you know it or not, your mama will always love you.  

It does my mama-heart good to have most of this crew back together again, even if it is for only a moment before the older ones go their own ways.

Now, on to your next adventures!

Mission Monday

I wrote two letters to my missionary boys this week - for the last time.  It's hard to believe that Alec's two years has come to an end,  but he really will be home this week.   I'm pinching myself. 

I know he won't want to stay home once he gets here - what motivated young adult would rather stay home and be bored over getting out and on with their life?   But I'll enjoy just sitting back in the corner and seeing him interact with everyone.

I've missed his self-assured confidence,  his loving tenderness with our small fry,  and his mischievous dimple.  He reminds me so much of his cheerfully brilliant dad.  I've been blessed to be surrounded by such amazing men.

The blogs:  Madagascar and South Africa.

Mission Monday

Change is in the air.

The flowers are coming up, the snow is melting, we are putting another bed in Chris's room, and Alec wrote a longer letter this week than the normally-longer-winded Ben.  Always something new!

Ben told me a funny story about a drunk guy they encountered who kept telling them that he loved them.   "The one thing that makes me have a good day no matter what is finding something to laugh about. There's lots of good things out there and when I am good at laughing, I'm way happier. Isn't that great?"

Alec has no car, I think for the first time on him mission.  That may have something to do with his recent birthday and the expiration of his driver's license.  So he's riding a bike, and I hope he really enjoys it!  He loved biking before his mission, but I'm sure riding for transportation is much different than racing them.

Jump over to Alec's South Africa blog or Ben's Madagascar blog.

Mission Monday

I know Alec's blog hasn't been updated for a while.  Sorry you don't get to hear some of the adventures he has been up to!  It stopped at week 86, so I haven't thought for a while about what number he might be at now.  I think it is actually about 100, and that is just crazy.  How in the world can time go so quickly?  He'll be home soon, and I'm doing a lot of reflecting.  I've missed him.  I've missed his strength and his perseverance, his tenderness with his littlest siblings, and that dimple when he gets mischievous.  It goes against common sense, but in spite of all the distance and everything, I love that boy more than ever,  It will be nice to have him back home.

Now I need to go figure out where he is going to sleep!

You can catch up on the Madagascar blog too, which is already at 86 weeks.  How??

Mission Monday

Not long now until Alec comes home!  That seems really wild to me. Has it really been two years?  And at the same time, hasn't it been nearly forever since I last saw him? There are a dozen emotions running in and over this mother heart of mine, but mostly love. 

I love this boy and am so grateful for the chance I've had to be his mother and to learn the lessons the Lord had for me through him. I'm definitely a better person because this boy, my strong-willed firstborn, has been part of my life. I'm looking forward to getting to know him as an adult.

And while I'm thinking about boys coming home, I got the official on Ben's plans. He had been thinking about extending his mission and staying for the summer. It's been a tough decision to make, with lots of pros and cons. This boy has always had a hard time making choices. He was the one who would cry at the toy store because he knew that choosing the toy he really wanted meant he had to not choose all the other toys. But he made the decision - he's coming home on time, at the beginning of the summer.  Now I have to figure out where these two boys will be sleeping!

See what they are up to lately on the South Africa Mission blog,  and the Madagascar Mission blog.

Mission Monday

We've had some bad weather lately.  It's been murky and foggy and the air has been bad.  I'd rather not have to chew my air before I breathe it, thanks.  After about a week of this, it snowed lightly for a day, and then the sun came out!  We hadn't had sunshine for a while, so the sunshine felt so good!  Sometimes we have feel our way around in the dark before we appreciate the light again.

Ben wrote this week about how we can shine in the dark and be an example for each other.  It's a good lesson, and a good reminder.

Catch up on our missionary rambles from Madagascar and South Africa!

Mission Monday

I love January.  After the hustle of the holidays, I'm ready to spend a month snowed in with a cup of warm ginger tea by the fireplace.  Or cinnamon tea - I'm not picky.  I could just sit and watch the storms blow in, comfortable as long as there is food in the pantry and I have a warm blanket around my shoulders.  At least, that's how I spent this January, and it was nice.  But now it's February and there is still snow.  It is still cold outside and I have to go out in it.  It's still winter, but I'm done.

My boys, however, are enjoying summertime.  Alec is sitting in sunshine and 83 degrees, while Ben is sweating it out in 94 degrees.  I could do without their humidity (70% and 63%, respectively), and I do have plenty of sunshine here, but it's not the warm kind of sun.  I'm ready for warm.

Look at that sunshine.  You don't know whether it is warm, and the drifting clouds provide a bit of a respite from the heat, or if the blue sky is reflecting on the icy ground below.  For the comfort of my internal thermometer, I'll choose the former.  And that's what we do.  We get to choose how we react to the circumstances we find ourselves in.  Hopefully, we'll learn to have a good attitude about things, like what I found in Ben's letter this week.

I don't feel like God expects us to be super pumped about hard things, I don't think God was disappointed with his two prophets for being a little bit bummed about being imprisoned and starved and about to be killed. But He helped them. And He always helps us if we're willing to let him do that. I love that. I know he loves us and He's always got our backs.

Read the rest of what he said here, and keep up with Alec here.

Happy Monday!

Mission Monday

Today I am grateful for people who do things they don't have to so that other people will be happy.  Ben's mission president's wife routinely takes pictures of the missionaries she sees and posts them on social media.  I don't follow her, but some of the other moms of missionaries let me know when she sends out pictures of our boys. Here's one of a soccer match the missionaries got together and played on their weekly preparation day.

She also took a few short videos of the game and more pictures of the group's activities for the day, including a clip of Ben and the others singing.  Ben remarked that they had to drive an hour out of the city to play on an actual turf field - I guess they usually play in the dirt.

It makes me happy to see random pictures of my boy, especially when I know she doesn't have to take pictures like that.  She just does it.  And I'm grateful for people like her.

Read more about the soccer game here, and keep up on Alec here.

Mission Monday

Oh, how I love hearing from these boys!

They email on Mondays, but due to the time difference between here and halfway across the world, I get emails late Sunday night. If they ate getting to the Internet cafe (or cyber, as they call it in Madagascar), I'll start getting emails as early as 11 pm Sunday night. Sometimes I'm still writing to then at that hour, if our Sabbath had been more busy than normal, or if I've just been slow in getting to writing.

More commonly,  I'm already in bed when I hear my phone make its happy little "you have mail" sound. Then I have a decision to make. Do I smile and close my eyes and have happy dreams about my boys, saving the letters to read until the morning?  Or do I go ahead and indulge, reading by dim smartphone light, knowing that now it will take me forever to get back to sleep?  I've done it both ways.  Honestly, there isn't a better way to start a Monday morning and a new week than by reading letters from my boys.

From South Africa:
Well, this week has been a baptism by fire for me here in Hermanus. It has been jumping into the deep end headfirst. But at the same time it has been fun and exciting. The area here is doing good and they are doing well. The branch is primed for missionary work and things are starting to move. We have a baptism that is planned for the 24th, and the guy who is going to get baptized is a stud. We have also found a few families that are wanting to hear the gospel, and several of them we found through the members here. I love it and it really is amazing. 

From Madagascar:We were going up this path and a bunch of punks were walking down towards us and yelling at us. They got in there way and seemed like they wanted to start a fight. So we just walked through. One of them jumped right in front of me and made me stop. He took a nice big breath from his cigarette and tried to blow it in my face. Jokes on him, I'm 6'6" and he's probably like 5'4"--Elder Glazier made him look tiny--so he ended up blowing smoke on my tie knot. We just walked away and didn't do anything but part of me really wanted throw him down with his little buddies. So that brings us to our Malagasy Morsel for the day: faharetana. It means enduring, but it also means patience. I kind of like how that works: enduring to the end becomes being patient to the end.

Mission Monday

I wonder how much the holidays sets the missionaries back by switching their concentration from what they are doing back to what we are doing at home.  I remember Ben said it was a bit hard and homesick last year for a day or two.  Good thing they bounce back!

Ben had a neat experience recently:

Just a real quick story for this week about S. and O. We found them my first couple of days here when we were waiting at a time and this guy next door heckled us a little and was very surprised when we responded to him in Malagasy. So then he talked to us a little bit, found out why we were wearing white shirts and ties and wondering around his neightborhood and he wanted us to come visit him. So we go to his house and teach him. His wife had just left him with his kid, he had a drinking problem and was out of money and had no job. Turns out his wife's parents had her and wouldn't let her go back until he had 40,000 ariary, about 13 dollars to his name so they knew that he could take care of her. So we kept coming, then they got together, they're reading the scriptures, they are way happy all of the time, and we went to pick them up and take them to church yesterday (they hadn't been yet) and we show up and he's dressed up like a blackjack dealer in Vegas, got a black shiny button up shirt, looking so good! Then we walk back to his house, his wife's all ready, and nailed next to the front door is the Family: A Proclamation to the World that we gave to him. They loved church, made some great friends, it was fantastic!

Read more on Ben's blog here, and you can keep up on Alec here.

Mission Monday

No letters today!   Wow that's unusual to not hear from either of our missionaries.   And it's transfer day today, too.  I wonder if either of them will be transferred to a new area.  Alec will be, I'm sure, as the area he had been working in has been closed.  I'm curious as to where he might be going now, and if he will finish out his mission there.  Only three months until he comes home!

But no matter about the lack of letters. I'm still happy from being able to Skype with my boys on Christmas.  The brothers all had a good time visiting, too.

Chris visiting with Alec on Christmas morning

David and Eddie, with Georgie reading his book between them, chatting with Ben on Christmas night

Love them all!

Mission Monday

So this week I get to see my missionary boys!  No, this Mama is not excited at all.  And that's a lie.

One will be skyping  Christmas morning, and the other on Christmas night.  Somehow I'm thinking Christmas will be a longer day than usual, but I'll take it!  I love that on the very day we celebrate Christ's birth, we can visit with two missionaries who are devoting their lives right now to serving Christ in the best ways they know.

I like how Ben put it in his letter today:

But now we'll just go to Malagasy Morsel time. It's Jesoa Kristy. Guess what that means. It means Jesus Christ. I'm sure that was a hard one. And that's what Christmas is all about. I love it.But I just kind of had a cool story from yesterday that I wanted to share with y'all. We got home from church and were watching Mormon Messages on Elder Snell's USB while we were making our delicious spaghetti. And there was this one video that had a little clip of Jesus walking with his disciples and I just thought to myself, "What I would give to get to walk with Him and learn from Him every day." And as soon as I thought that, the next thought came into my head, "That's exactly what you're doing right now." I get to do his work and I get to learn from Him from the scriptures every day and we all get to do that! I love it so much! That just made my day.

So I'd like to wish you all a fantastic Christmas and don't forget to do some things that our Savior would have you do to let you come unto Him while you're all celebrating Christmas.

And as always, you can see the South African blog here and the Madagascar blog here.

Mission Monday

We got our Christmas packages off a few weeks ago.  I'm afraid they aren't as interesting as they could have been.  I'm not a very good package-maker.  I can think of lots of fun things to put in a package AFTER I've sent it, but before...?  I draw a blank.  Besides, we don't have long until these boys come home, and I don't want to take up their luggage space with useless trinkets.

Not long until they come home?  Yes, it is true.  Only three months for the one, and six months for the other.  The one who comes home sooner, I think might like to come home even sooner.  Having a cute girl waiting anxiously for your return will do that to a guy.  Ironically enough, the missionary who comes home later is wanting to extend his mission and come home even later.  Why couldn't we have reversed these two, and the sooner would come home later and the later would come home sooner - and they would come home in the middle, at the same time!  Then I would jump on a plane and fly to Africa and pick them both up and have a lovely little vacation and time with my boys.

...dreaming...  but not reality.

Here's the real scoop on Madagascar.  And South Africa.  I'm just glad they are happy and doing well.  May the Lord continue to bless them and keep them safe!

Mission Monday

I'm having some stretchings as a mother.  As my children grow and learn, they naturally grow farther from me.  Baby birds leave the nest.  There isn't enough room in one den for lots of adult lions.  Kids grow up and become their own people, and need their own space.  I hear other mothers pine for their gone children, but I really don't.  I love them to pieces, but I'm so happy for the adventures and growth they are having!  I feel like my heart just grew enough to keep them in it and engulf all the distance between us as well.  It's a weird but not disconcerting feeling.  I love watching them grow - even from a distance.


News from Madagascar:

The best story is all about R. We just had two times bail on us and we came out of the yard of the second house and paused in the path to decide where to go, and a guy came up to the fence and asked where we went to church at. We told him the name of our church and sidled up next to him. Then he asked what time church is at, we told him, and he said, "Oh nice. I'm looking for a new church." So then we took this as an answer to our prayer and taught him. He has a way cool story, he was charged with like treason during the coup back a few years ago, and was supposed to be executed, but some internation group stepped in and saved him, it might have been the UN. So then in gratitude he named his next child Barack Obama, he said, "if it would have been a girl, I would have named her Hillary Clinton." So  yes, I taught Barack Obama about the Restoration, but then he snuck out and went and played in the yard. Then R. was picking up way fast on prophets and all of that and looked at the pamphlet and saw the Book of Mormon and asked how he could get one.

He came to church. It was so cool.

Barack didn't come. Not cool Barack.


And news from South Africa:

Well, this week has been a blast! We have had some challenges, but we overcame them. One of the biggest things that was a challenge was that we only had two cars in our district when we are supposed to have four. So that meant that my companion and I had to pay taxi service for the two Elders in Sada which is about four hours out of our proselyting day to get them there and back. I'm tired as soon as we start leaving to go there. I just wish that they get their car back soon.

Mission Monday

This is what was in my email first thing this morning: 

Ben always thought it would be cool to have a baptism in the ocean, but they usually have fonts in their church buildings.  In his current area, they use a portable font that they unpack and fill up when they have a baptism.  But this week, the lock on the closet where they keep the font was broken and they couldn't get in.  Too bad!

To me, there are three wonderful things about this picture.  One, just look at that view!  I can't get over how gorgeous our world is - I keep turning around and seeing something even more amazing.  My heart is filled with awe and gratitude that the Lord would make something like this... for me.  Two, this is something Ben wanted to do and didn't think he could.  I'm just so happy for him.  And three, I'm glad that he could share something I hold so precious with these three people who have grown to love the Gospel, too.  I wish them every happiness and joy as they embark on this new journey.

Here is Ben's account of the baptism.  I love how things can be awesome and full of strong feelings and hilarious at the same time.  Aren't our hearts amazing that we can feel different things simultaneously?


From Madagascar:
My companion may have had to rebaptize someone 3 times because he kept mistiming the waves and going down at a low point... It was so funny! We were way out there because the beach is shallow and it was just me and the other witness from the branch and we were like "HURRY!!!" and he was rushing the prayer and then we'd get slammed by a couple big waves and the baptizee was thinking she was going to die and then he got hit by a big wave and dropped her in and then as he was pulling her out he got hit by another wave and got knocked over. So he took a little dip. And lost his badge... That's what you get for swimming Elder!!! I was dying laughing!

(And then) Elder Price and I are trying to pull Lala out of the water. He was halfway through his prayer and a wave hit so she thought it was time to go under. We were like NOOOO NOT YET!!! And trying to save her.  

Then I did it once and was done... Haha it was one of the funnest but most spiritual things I've done on my mission.


And here is the South Africa blog, too.  Love these boys, and I'm glad they get to make these kinds of memories.

Mission Monday

I had a nice, hot shower yesterday morning.  So did my husband and my big boys.  The little boys and the girl had a bubble bath Saturday night.  And this morning, I am counting that hot water as one more of the blessings I usually don't even realize.  I'm glad I have hot water and I can take a hot shower.  We have so much!

From Madagascar:
First I want to talk about showers. Showers are way important here. Because it's so humid and it's starting to get pretty warm in the day, if you don't wash off all of the grime you can get pretty nasty pretty quick. They're especially nice right before bed, so then you're nice and cool when you go to sleep. However... there's been a little bit of a problem with our hot water recently, and when I say a problem, I mean there is none...

I just want to go on record and say that I do not like hot showers. There's not much refreshing about being covered in hot water when you are covered with hot sweat all day. It's like the same. I really like cool showers, like slightly lower than room temperature kind of a deal. But the glacial water imported from the icy peaks of Russia that comes spraying out of the showerhead isn't quite what I have in mind when I say "cool."

News from South Africa is that his blog is now updated so you can see that he's been transferred to Queenstown (north of Port Alfred)!  Glad he's doing well.