Dementor, Dementor

Hello Family!

First off, I sent you some pictures from the zoo last week. It was AWESOME. The ghost of the bayou was pretty lame though... it looked like it was fake or dead just sitting in the water. But still, it was a life long dream fulfilled. We had a ton of fun. I found some more Kencraft Candy Sticks. That's always great!

Oh my gosh, General Conference was AMAZING!!!! I loved it! I watched the Saturday sessions at members homes and one of them was a Recent Convert, and when Pres. Monson got up and just started laughing and making jokes he was like, "that is not what I expected at all!" I loved it. Then on Sunday morning I was in the Trail Center so I could only watch it when I wasn't on tour. Then I watched the afternoon one at a members home and then later that night we came back and watched the morning one in the TC. I wish the whole world could have heard Tad R. Callisters talk about the Book of Mormon. It was SO good. I loved it. Mom, I am so proud of you for deleting Angry Birds. I felt a little bit guilty when he said that :) ALSO, I can't believe that the Tabernacle is going to be a new temple! That made me SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited! I loved that Tabernacle. So many good experiences there with Stake Conference and Choir Concerts. And now there will be many more made with it being a temple. That makes me so happy. Maybe I'll get married in it. IF I get married. Hahaha joke.

So, everyday one set of the sisters serving in the trail center go to the Catholic convent down the road to do service. Apparently, they were a HUGE help in us getting the Winter Quarters temple, so we go and help them out. So we went yesterday and we walked their dog "Gidget." It's pretty fun. Then we went and helped this nun get stuff out of her closet. She was really nice. She showed us a picture of her family. Her Parents, her bros and sisters and her nieces and nephews. It is so sad that they don't have a family of their own. There is no way in HECK I would be a missionary like this my whole life. I am glad that our church understands the importance of having your own families. It's sad that they don't get that experience. Also, I never thought in my life that I would be asked "Are you guys like nuns!?" so many times in my life. Gotta love it.

Oh my gosh. I got the package today!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Especially for the GPS!!!!!!! Holy cripes! I am so happy that we won't get lost all the time now! You are the best! Well, you were even without the package, but now I'm just real excited. I can't believe Dad was willing to give up Princess Pei Pei. I hope he named his iPhone that. Also, I hear that he is having eye pains and headaches from the iPhone. hahah. Just get an iPad and all will be good :)

On Sunday, this lady came in with her two kids and they were dressed in church clothes. She said they had tried to go to church but that it was closed (because of General Conference). So she took her kids to walk around the temple and then they found this place. She apparently was raised LDS, decided to be an atheist, went to Afghanistan and decided not to be an atheist, and has been going to a non-denominational church for like 6 months. However, the 11 year old boy was told that his Dad was not going to Heaven and so they didn't like that church. So, she remembered what she had learned growing up LDS and tried telling her kids, but she was just confusing them, so she decided she needed to bring in the missionaries. She was so excited that we had a tour and so I took them on the tour. When we got to the memorial room I told them about the Plan of Salvation. The little boy had so many questions, but he was understanding everything perfectly. He told me that he had learned more in 20 minutes at the Trail Center than the 6 months he had spent at the other church. It was awesome. At the end, they agreed to having the missionaries come and teach them in their home. The mom started to tear up and said that she has been needing to feel peace in her life, and that she felt it here, and that she needed to get back on track and having the missionaries over if she wanted to continue to have that peace. It was so awesome. I love serving in the Trail Center. This is such a special place. I feel so spoiled for getting called here.  I love the pioneers. I will go on a trek every year!!! Ok, that might be pushing it... hahah

I am so glad to hear that Jared is doing well. Tell him that ALL missions are hard, not just foreign ones please :) hahaha. I totally knew he'd be District Leader. When he says to dear elder him everyday, he's not kidding. Those things are the best things EVER.  I am excited to listen to his farewell!

I want to see pictures of the playhouse! That is so fun! It's crazy that things are changing at home with everyone moving out. Just lock Laura in her room so she doesn't get married and everything will be fine. I am excited to find out what Laralee is having!!! I hope it's a boy too :) Mom, I'm glad that you are thinking about making me a quilt :) I like the idea of having everyone sign a triangle, but I think I might get stressed out having to deal with it. I don't know. Maybe it could work.

I loved getting Sarah's weekly email! Please keep those coming my way. They really boost me every time I read them. She is such a great missionary. Also, Laura, will you tell Elder Epstein to forward me his weekly emails? It was good to hear from him.

Do you remember when Jared spelled "I am Lord Voldemort" with my hair in the shower. I do. I was laughing about that pretty hard the other night. He's a funny kid.

Well, things are wonderful here. The leaves are changing and falling quickly. It's so beautiful. I really love the missionaries here. It is so nice becuase every saturday morning we have a training and we get to all be together with all the sister missionaries, as well as the seniors and the Mission President and Mom. It's so wonderful.

Today starts the mormon.org media campaign in Omaha! I am so excited. There are going to be billboards along the freeway and commercials running on the major TV stations. I am excited to see the growth that comes because of it. We are revamping our whole call center because there is going to be added growth. This is actually happening in  9 other major cities, all of which could call in to our call center. I love being able to work in the call center. We are also going to start doing chat, which will be so fun.

Happy Birthday Brian on Saturday!!! (If saturday is the 8th, I'm not exactly sure....)

So what did Jared do for his last few days at home?

Being a missionary is really great. I have realized that there is no way I could have gotten married without serving a mission. My husband would have gone crazy. haha. I have already learned so much that will make me a better wife and mother. Elder Watson, our director here, talks a lot about how our missions aren't just to make us better people or to make other people better people, but ultimately for us being a better wife and a better mother. It's so cool that the Lord uses everything He can to prepare you to be the person that He needs you to be. I love Heavenly Fathers plan for me. I have fought it long and hard, and I'm sure that in the future I will also fight it, but He knows me perfectly and He knows what will be best for ME. I am so grateful to have a Father in Heaven who wants nothing but my everlasting happiness.

So, our Ward Mission Leader called us this morning to congratulate Sister Myers and I on having the most member involvement with investigators in our Stake. Apparently the Bishop called him, and the Stake President called him, and the Mission President called him. I was surprised, because I thought we haven't been doing that much, but it's nice to know that we are doing our best and that the Lord is making up the rest!

Well, I love you all very much and I am so grateful every single day for our family. You all make me so happy and I love you so much. Have a wonderful week and I look forward to hearing from you soon!!! I love you!!

Lots of Love,

Marf

P.S. Mom, I have your quilt and a CD of all the pictures of the quilt show. I will hopefully send that off next week...