Hey ya'll
Well the
library was closed on monday and we had a meeting yesterday. We had to get up
at 330 in the morning and drive to Friscoe for that meeting and it was a
spiritual experience as always. So I get a short opportunity to write you
today. Those pics are hilarious of you all. Cory's character was perfect. New
Years eve we played nerf wars all day and had a blast. It was especially great
to hear from all of you. I'm amazed at the changes that have taken place.
Talise is really growing up, but I still see her as my Little sister. I'm
amazed how time flies. Yesterday as we were driving to Friscoe I talked w/
Pres. ***, member of the mission presidency, who drove us the rest of the way
from Grand Junction. It was funny b/c everyone else fell asleep so I figured
someone needed to stay awake. He told me a lot of cool things though. He shared
a story of his father who was saving up to serve a mission. When he finally
raised enough money his family, who didn't support him in that decision, asked
if they could use the money to support the family or else they would starve.
The family was really struggling. He gladly helped his family and started
saving up again. When he raised enough money his family came to him w/ the same
problem so he of course helped his family. He finally decided to give up on
saving for a mission and do something else. Meanwhile his girlfriend, later his
wife, had been saving up since she was 14 to help her two brothers pay for
their missions. Sadly they never went and b/c she promised the Lord the money
would go to missionary work she offered the money to her future husband so he
could go on the mission. He finally got to and he was the last missionary to go
w/ neither purse nor script. When he returned he had to join ww2 and was w/ the
Navy. I forget what ship he was on but there was around 1100 crewmen he served
w/ in the Pacific against the Japanese. As they were about to be shipped out,
he and one other crew member, was called
to report to the captain. They were told that they were being transferred to
fight in Europe. He later found out this other man w/ him was mormon. It turned
out that this was part of a fulfillment of a blessing he was given previously
that said he would return safely to his family, he was married just after
returning from his mission, as long as he lived accordingly. The crew he was w/
in the pacific came back w/ less than 100 surviving the war. When he was in
Germany he had a special calling to hold a sacrament meeting wherever he could
each sunday, and he received those keys to do so during the whole war. He was a
part of some of the troops who came across one of the concentration camps
Germany had. So he had firsthand experience seeing the impoverished jewish
people. He finally got to return home to his family where he had two children
at this point. His wife said the first two years after he returned home were
the hardest b/c the man she'd married was lost. He went from the most spiritual
experience of his life on a mission and being married to having to serve in a
brutal war soon after. The drastic experiences he went through took him quite
awhile to overcome but the gospel helped him out to be the husband and father
he needed to be.
love ya!!
