December 2016
Dear Family,
Just a recap for documenting purposes. Amy and her family moved to their new home,
2076 West 800 North in Clinton just before Halloween in October. In a flurry of cold weather and last minute
details their family home was finished with new grass, sprinkling system,
cement curbing and bushes. Trees would
have to wait as it was so late in the season and the local nurseries were
depleted of the best trees. Their family
and ours have been blessed beyond hope and they are settled in to be self
sufficient and serviceable to the Lord. Isaac
reports that they have 30 deacons with only 13 active. They will be busy!
Since returning from Conneticut I have had each of you on my
mind and in my heart each day. That is a
good thing. I often use your example of
moving forward as motivation to move forward with my own responsibilities. I came home more directed, more refreshed,
and more motivated to be a better person.
You could say I really got my money’s worth. I even came home more motivated to cook and
made Ruth’s soup and bread with rave reviews.
I loved seeing the Hartford Temple, visiting at Rob & Angie’s house,
hiking, shopping (love my new coat) laughing while trying to zumba together,
and taking good counsel to better myself in all my relationships. My only regret was not getting a picture of
us next to that wonderful tobacco barn with the gorgeous leaves in the
background. Thank you Ruth and Bob for
letting us come and ensuring that we were well fed and cared for.
When Jean and I arrived back at the Salt Lake airport around
8:30 p.m. I assured Jean I could give her a ride home and she didn’t need to
take a taxi (Bruce was out of town).
Jean, very humbly, waited for the airport shuttle, helped drag our luggage
onto the shuttle luggage rack and squeezed onto the crowded shuttle. The shuttle dropped us off near A29 where I
was pretty sure I had parked my car. We
walked up and down the rows of cars in opposite directions without any
luck. I was frantically holding my key
fob up and pushing the button, hoping to hear a ‘beep’. I kept thinking, “Great. This is SO typical me. Please let me find the car.” After some minutes a car pulled up alongside
me. An older gentleman rolled down his
window and asked if we needed some help.
He mentioned he had been on the shuttle with us and said when he watched
us get on he felt something special. He
didn’t use the church words “prompted” but said several times that he felt that
there was something different about us.
Well, yeah, I wanted to say….I’m dragging one of the Lord’s special
servants around this parking lot! With
some coaxing Jean convinced me to get into his small car while I left her
standing in the parking lot with all of our luggage. He drove me up and down several rows. After about 15 minutes I asked him to go back
and get Jean. It did not feel right to
leave her there!! We stuffed Jean and
our luggage into his car. He was kind,
cheerful and very thoughtful. He decided
we needed to start at the beginning of the parking lot and go methodically up
and down each row. We visited while
driving and he asked us what we ladies did.
Jean quickly piped up and told him I was a job coach…big cue that she
didn’t want me to mention her current calling but I SO wanted to tell him why
he had the promptings that he did.
With no luck locating the car, he mentioned that the back of
the long-term lot has similar numbers.
We drove to the back lot and found my car in A 39. I WAS SO GRATEFUL! I know for sure that the Lord looks out for
his servants. A thank you note was sent
a few days later. Perhaps he’ll be
watching conference some day and figure out the connection.
November ‘s next highlight was spending Thanksgiving with
some of those we love. Liz, Dave, Ruth
(& Shadow), Stacy and Rose filled our house back up with busy-ness and
fun. They offered to help so often it
was difficult to convince them to relax and enjoy their time off of studies and
out of Idaho. Jean Gardner came in next
and delighted us by staying overnight.
She brought and taught us some new games and is always fun to be
with. Thanksgiving day we added Dave,
Megumi and the kids, Andrew, Willow & Avery, Stewart, Erika, Dan and all of
Amy’s family. Everyone brought something
delicious and helped with dishes. And
just like Uncle John says we worked smoothly together like a herd of elephants
communicating through low frequency!
After a filling lunch we went to the church lot and launched paper
rocket each had made. Oooo… it was
cold. Erika, Jean, Rose, Thomas and
Isaac were our top five winners this year.
Games and pie were the crowning events.
Erika gave Stacy a stylish new haircut .
The little girls watching begged for their turn for a makeover and the
Felsted girls graciously provided them with ‘princess-cuts’ and ‘bumps’
(braids). It was truly enjoyable to have
as many as were available here in Utah. Ruth(ie) and Shadow stayed for a few extra
days before boarding a plane for the warmer weather and hearts in Georgia. Our best wishes for her success there.
Our lives are changing once again. Dan received his orders to report to
California on December 12. April and
Dan’s things will be moved this week while April stays to complete her semester
at BYU. Dan will be allowed to return on
Dec 22 and celebrate Christmas with our whole family at a neutral location in Bear
Lake. After Christmas, Dan and April
will continue their adventures in Lomloc California until June.
I think we keep having to learn that all things have a
beginning and an end. I forget to make the most of my experiences. Many times I have said to myself, “I wish I
had been more this or that and not wasted my opportunities. The fun, busy, stressful, boring, relaxing, hard
and easy times etc., come and go. It is
how we face and embrace the situations we are given that is important. As I look back at 2016, I don’t know if I am
a better person than I was at the end of 2015.
Hopefully the Lord can see some progress.
Somehow I deleted all the documents on my computer. Yeah
me!!! The apple store had no success
retrieving them. So I, for one, am happy
to, once again, put our letters on the blog.
We love you all.
Susan & Curt
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