28 December 2011

Showtime!

Aaaah, the movies!

There are many blockbuster hits that arrived in the theater Christmas weekend. Mom, dad, Nick and I went to see one! Here is the treview (it's either a trailer or preview... I'm never sure which)

The film is called We Bought a Zoo and was very good! I recommend it. (If you were looking for an in-depth review, I'm sorry to disappoint)

Wanna know something crazy? This was the first time that I had been to the movie theater since... before my mission. The last film I saw was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in July 2009. That's approximately 30 months in between trips to the movie theater. And want to know something else? I really don't like going to the movies. Here's why:
  • if you have to go pee during the movie, they don't pause it for you. 
  • sometimes there are very loud, large, white guys in front of you who like to laugh. Loudly. (this guy was pretty entertaining in and of himself! Ha.)
  • it's very expensive (I know Cedar isn't near as expensive as other places, but I'm po'.)
  • if you want popcorn and a drink, you'll have to give them some appendages (usually an arm and a leg)
  • there's no such thing as ample leg room.
  • if you take off your shoes your socks will get stuck to the floor.
  • babies. They are loud.
  • bright cell phone screens contrasting with the dark. Annoying.
  • my couch is better than those seats.
So call me a movie theater hater. I'll just keep using Netflix or Redbox or whatever and enjoy my movies at home. For a fraction of the cost. Where I don't have to wear shoes. And where I can consume lots of food and drink for free. Sort of.

Random photo from the mission!

Me and Elder Peterson behind the Capitol.
☮ ♡ ☺

27 December 2011

And now for your viewing pleasure...

Here are some pictures from the Christmas season this year. This post was supposed to be more wordy and cool, but I'm technologically challenged and can't seem to figure out what the cow I'm doing so I'm going do another post... Enjoy the pictures!
My eldest brother, Damian, papa, me at the annual Sorensen family Christmas party.
Me, Damian, papa, and Gail playing Hearts. I won.
Chocolate fountain with yummies!
 Sometimes I wear niece's hair thing. What are those things called? Clips? Sure. We'll go with that.
On the way home from SoCal on Monday with Tandy and the kids, we stopped to see the lights at the St. George Utah Temple.
The reason for the season.

Looking around at the lights.
Me and the kiddos.
Family! Grandma, dad, mom, me, and Nick Christmas morning!
This wasn't a Christmas gift but I did acquire it on Christmas day. Hooray for the accordion!

23 December 2011

I am an audio book

Move over Jim Dale! Mr. Liebhardt is taking over your job!

...Kind of. But not really. Let me explain.

On Monday, I drove to Utah from SoCal with my sister-in-law and and her three perfect children. She will probably say that they are far from perfect, but they're close enough. During the drive I read the first eight chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone aloud to the children. The 6 and 8 year-olds were really into it and remembered details so well. The 4 year old, not so much. My voice was exhausted by the time we got home.

I wonder if you can get sick from overusing your voice. The reason for wondering is: I got sick. Nasty, nasty sick. So Tuesday I combated the illness with home remedies of gargling with salt and soda water, taking zinc, and chicken noodle soup. I had to get better fast because I had a grand adventure planned.

The Grand Adventure

{This is like a post within a post}

On Tuesday morning I dragged my ailing body out of bed at a reasonable hour to start my journey to the Provo and Salt Lake areas to visit some awesome people and spread some holiday cheer. And germs.

The agenda before I left:
Mount Timpanogos temple with Nick [✔]
ice skating [✔]
President and Sister Mansell (my mission president and wife) [✔]
wedding reception of a friend in Ogden [   ]
Temple Square [   ]
Bingham's (a missionary couple I served with) [✔]
The check marks indicate things that I actually did.  

When it was time to hit up the reception and temple square, I was physically exhausted (I skated for almost 4 hours with my friends Elise and Mandie) and still sick (although I felt loads better) and I wasn't in the mood to drive in the dark. So, sorry Mr and Mrs Chugg. I suppose I'll mail you the card I have for you. As for Temple Square, I'll be back up there on the 28th for the wedding of a cousin. 

Highlights of the trip: 
  • the temple!!!
  • ice skating-- I learned how to go backwards! 
  • visiting with Elder Tolman-- one of my former mission companions. We still call each other Elder.
  • visiting with President and Sister Mansell-- find me nicer people and you win a prize.
  • vising with Elder and Sister Bingham-- they're still Elder and Sister because they're super awesome and serving another mission! This time they're serving at the Family History Library in Salt Lake. And we made a lot of cookies. I also stayed last night at their house. They were very accommodating.
  • having a nap on my cousin's couch-- I was sick. I was tired. I needed a nap.
  • not paying for gas-- mom and dad bought the gas for this trip as a Christmas gift!  
This adventure was done between the 21st and the 22nd of December. Today is the 23rd and I drove home early this afternoon after stopping in Salem to see Elise's house and deliver Bingham cookies (angel thumb prints and white chocolate macadamia nut). 
    Where are all the pictures? Well, I left my camera charger in Maryland almost three months ago. I still haven't got a new charger. And my camera is dead. So that's why there aren't any pictures.

    Except for....

    The random photo from my mission!
    It's Elder and Sister Bingham! This picture was taken at their apartment on March 24th, 2011 when we were allowed to watch the BYU vs. Florida Gators game. They were finishing up their mission so we presented them with this shirt, signed by all of the Elders serving in AC (Anacostia) at this time.

    ☮ ♡ ☺

    11 December 2011

    David Archuleta Concert!!

    I didn't go.

    But.

    I will tell you what I did.

    I spent the evening at Gail's house. Gail is my eldest sister. She has two kids: Caroline, and Johnathan (whose name I misspelled on the Christmas card. Drat). They are very entertaining. Especially Johnny. He's two. I wish I had a perfect brain to remember all the funny things he did while I was there. I will rack my brain and share with you the cuteness that is my nephew.

    I was making funny faces at Johnny to entertain him and then he would imitate them. One such face was sticking out my tongue, blowing up my cheeks, crossing my eyes, and pulling my ears (like a monkey?). He imitated this face by sticking out his tongue and plugging his ears.

    We also ate some ice cream (death by chocolate. Yummmm). Johnny had his in a cone. And it got everywhere! He essentially had a nice melted ice cream goatee going on. He eventually got a napkin and wiped his mouth... sort of. He would pucker his lips and only wipe off his lips so he still had the great chocolate mess on his chin. Then he got better at using the napkin and was able to wipe most of the mess off... Except for a little strip above his lip. So he had a nice chocolate Hitler-stache. I was laughing pretty darn hard. If only my phone was cool enough to hold several photos so I could have documented this joy. (I still have the Razor that I had before I went on my mission. It only holds like two pictures before it says the memory is full. Sad.)

    We played catch with different kinds of balls. Whenever I would throw him the ball, he would cringe and close his eyes so I taught him "keep your eye on the ball" and I demonstrated by opening my eyes as wide as they would go and watching the ball as I moved it around. He didn't really grasp the concept of watching the ball and keeping his eyes open when the ball comes near, but he did great at opening his eyes wide. Every time I would say "Ready?" as I would prepare to throw him the ball, he would open his eyes as wide as they would go. And as soon as the ball left my hand his eyes would shut. We'll keep working on that skill.

    I don't know why, but I was pretty tired when I was there and I laid down and said, "I'm going to take a nap." He replied "I'm going to take a nap, too!" And he flopped down right next to me and started fake snoring.

    My main reason for going there was so that Gail could wax my back. Don't judge me. It's my German/Hungarian ancestry. I'm very hairy. While Gail was waxing me, Johnny would come up behind me and stick his little hands on my love handles and watch the process. Luckily his hands were warm.

    After everything was said and done, we played a rousing game of Disney Scene-it which Gail won because of a stupid tie breaker (whoever has the longest hair wins). I like that game. But I also like winning.

    The moral of this story is: My nephew is the cutest two year old alive.
    -------------------------------------------
    In other news, I played racquetball for three days in a row! I am so sore. I tweaked my ankle a bit and ran into a wall which jacked up my wrist. But it's so fun.

    I'm playing violin in Cedar City's 71st annual performance of Handel's Messiah. It is free and performances are Sunday and Monday (11 & 12 December) at 19:30 at the Heritage Center Theater in Cedar City, UT. Be there or... don't be. But you should be.

    And now, the random photo from my mission brought to you today by the letter blue.
    That's me. Looking shnazzy. In an alley. On Capitol Hill.

    ☮ ♡ ☺

    04 December 2011

    ♪ Christmas Music ♫

    One of my favorite things about Christmastime (which is one word, by the way. I found that out when I was writing letters from Santa to elementary school students for English class in high school. I will never forget that I spelled "Christmastime" incorrectly) is the wonderful music that accompanies this magical time of the year. It seems like the music warms the heart and soul. And there needs to be lots of warming here in Southern Utah. It's snowing yet again.

    My past two Christmases were spent away from home because I was serving a two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Washington, DC metro area. While on my mission I acquired some great Christmas music, most of which was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Which I love. They are soooo good. Seriously. Check them out. 

    Anywho, music of the Christmas season is meant to help us reflect on things such as winter fun, family, our Saviour and His love for us. They can be secular or religious, fast or slow, complicated or simple. I love them all. Well, most of them. I won't tell you which ones I don't like so that those songs aren't ruined for you.

    My favorite Christmas season song is The Christmas Song (aptly named, no?). It has such wonderful chords and the words whisk me away back to my childhood. There are lots of artists who perform this song. I can't tell you whose rendition is my favorite, but I really just like piano and voice, not too jazzed up. Simple.

    So now I have a question for y'all:

    What is your favorite Christmas song? Why?
    Also, include which artist did your favorite rendition.

    I hope that you will be able to feel the wonderful Spirit of Christmas this season. Good uplifting music is one way to bring that special Spirit into your life.

    Random picture from the mission: Me and Elder Hutchison in front of the 
    Washington DC Temple Visitors' Center during the Festival of Lights.

    ☮ ♡ ☺

    02 December 2011

    Merry Christmas Season!

    Good ol' Cedar City has some great Christmas traditions like the Storybook Cavalcade Parade (which I'm going to be in tomorrow), Santa's Holiday Celebration, The Creche Festival, Handel's Messiah, and even fireworks!

    One thing I really don't get are the lights that adorn the two downtown blocks.

    I get the snowflakes. But bananas? We don't even live in a climate
    that can grow bananas yet we string them downtown.

    This is the old Post Office turned City offices. It has Santa and his sleigh
    on the top of the facade. Makes more sense than bananas.

    I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas season and that your hearts will be filled with the light of Christ.

    PS I know that those "bananas" aren't bananas. They're swags, or even festoons. But don't they look like bananas?

    ☮ ♡ ☺

    29 November 2011

    Prosocial Differences in Gender

    Things that have happened:

    Thanksgiving in Reno at Katie's! She is my sister.

    Who: Katie, Casey, and their two boys Hayden and Corbin, mom, dad, grandma, Aunt Gayela, Nick and his lady-friend, K-Leigh.
    What: Thanksgiving fun.
    When: Wednesday to Sunday last week.
    Where: Reno, Nevada. At Katie's. Didn't I already say that?
    Why: Because I hadn't met Corbin because he was born while I was in DC. And we love spending time with family!

    Now I will post pictures and let you enjoy because a picture is worth a thousand words. So now this entry may be compared to a very wordy.... word fest. My brain isn't functioning very well right now. Sorry.

    One of the highlights of the trip was snuggling with eight-month-old Corbin. He is one the happiest, friendliest, well-behaved babies I know. And he really will just snuggle with you.
    He's a cutie!



    Another great thing we did was play games! We played Settlers of Catan (pictured above),
    Apples to Apples, and Quiddler (at which I dominated).

    We also watched a lot of movies. A lot. I watched 6 movies.
    Seems to be the thing to do whenever we go visit Katie and Casey.



    Another entertaining thing was just playing with the kids. Hayden loves Thomas trains. Above is Nick playing Thomas with Hayden. It was also really entertaining to just watch Hayden play by himself. He has quite the active imagination. And he's really good at building things- train tracks, Legos, whatevs.


    Another wonderful thing about this holiday: spending the day in pajamas. Although, I'm pretty sure I was the only one that didn't put on normal clothes. Who cares? Flannel is really soft and comfortable.
    Me and dad both like plaid (above).
    Hmm, when you look at the preceding sentence, it shouldn't rhyme. But it does. Go English!


    In the past, many children have been entertained by pulling out the Tupperware from the cupboard and spilling it all over the floor. See the image below.
    Starting from top left going clockwise: Nick September 1986, Hayden November 2008, Jonathan in undated photo, me April 1991. 
    But guess what? Mom does it, too!


    I guess she decided to organize Katie's Tupperware cupboard. How nice of her.


    And of course we can't forget the feast of Thanks! We got all your classic trimmings: green salad (there was also fruit salad [with the pomegranate on the side] , but I didn't have room on my plate the first go-around.), turkey, cranberry sauce (the good, homemade kind provided by aunt Gayela. MMmmm), sweet potatoes with just butter (they're already sweet, people! You don't have to load them down with marshmallows and brown sugar! They are my number 2 favorite.) green bean casserole (my number 1 favorite). There was also stuffing, banana cream pie, pumpkin pie, and I'm sure some other stuff but I just can't remember.

    On Friday, I went to Lake Tahoe with Nick and K-Leigh. I bet you're thinking, "What an annoying little brother! Disturbing his brother and his lady friend!" But everyone else was going to Virginia City, an old, historic mining town that I had visited before. Twice. So we spent an exorbitant amount of money to go to High Camp at Squaw Valley and ice skate. The ice was thin and breaking due to the warm weather (or I was really fat from the feast the day before) and so we left after not too long. There was a little Asian girl who was skating and she was so good. The future Kristi Yamaguchi right there. (Kristi Yamaguchi? She's that really good ice skater, right?). We ate at a reasonably priced restaurant called Rosie's Cafe. I had a Baja Cheese Steak sandwich that left my hands smelling like cheese steak for the rest of the day. It was really yummy.

    That evening mom, dad, grandma, Katie, Gayela, and I went to the Reno Nevada Temple. It is the first small temple that I had gone to. It was a wonderful session and there were two individuals receiving their endowment. Yay!

    On Sunday after a 9 am sacrament meeting we started our long trek home. To help us stay entertained, we listen to audio books (formerly known as books-on-tape). On the way up, we listened to Carry on, Jeeves: A Wooster and Jeeves Comedy by P.G. Wodehouse narrated by Jonathan Cecil. It was very funny. On the way home we listened to Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. When we got home, we still had two discs left so we listened to it in the kitchen. I realized that I own this book (an autographed copy, no less) and went to my room to finish it up (one reads much faster than listening to a narrator). By the time I finished, they still had one disc left.

    One major landmark that we drive by on highway 50 is the shoe tree. Apparently some punk chopped it down.

    The chopped down Shoe Tree.


    Another tree that has been designated Shoe Tree.


    A memorial post. Many words were written on it.
    My favorite: Shoe Tree lives on in our soles.



    Mourning Shoe Tree.

    Sooooo that's what's up. To read another view of the holiday, see Momma Linda's blog.

    Random fact: I have now been to 8 dedicated temples! I hope that list will continue to grow.

    Random question: Have you ever made a mix tape?

    Random photo from my mission:
    Weekly planning in Gaithersburg area. It's around Christmastime and I'm gorging on sweets from the ward.

    ☮ ♡ ☺


    20 November 2011

    Unexpectedisms

    Unexpected anger: Turning on the TV to watch pretty much the only show that you watch only to find out that the American Music Awards are on instead. Grrr.

    Unexpected boredom: Has church always been three hours? I'm pretty sure that I got all meetinged-out on my mission. I miss the wonderful lessons presented by Brother Dr. Harrison in my family ward. Must endure!

    Unexpected gratitude: For mom. She made and amazing dinner today for us all (and she makes dinner often) and then she cleaned it all up. And she finally finished up all the apple business (dehydrated, apple sauce, apple jelly). She is just amazing.

    Unexpected nap attacks: I had one at 7:30pm today. So I had me a nap. Now I hope that I'll be able to fall asleep tonight (the time is currently... Oh, man! Is it really that late already?! It's about 15 to 11.).

    Unexpected lateness: It's 10:45.

    Unexpected laughter: Yesterday Caroline was over and I showed her and mom the apple breaking trick. Mom asked where I learned it and I said "On my mission." Caroline overheard and responded with the statement: "Oh. Sam (her uncle) only learned Portuguese on his mission." At this point, mother and myself commenced in hearty laughter because, let's be honest: breaking apples in half with your bare hands is waaay better than learning Portuguese.

    Unexpected frustration: Portuguese: it's a really hard word for me to spell. Had to look it up.

    Unexpected blessings: Going to the temple with mom and grandma on Wednesday to commemorate 63 years of marriage between grandma and grandpa.

    Unexpected joy: sitting around the dinner table and being absolutely, inexplicably happy. Why? Because I'm surrounded by the ones that I love most: family.

    Unexpected weather: It's raining right now.

    Unexpected comfort: Making your bed in the morning is worth the investment of time. It's so much nicer to snuggle in between tight, smooth sheets as opposed to wrapping up in a mess of blankets and sheets. Try it. You'll like it.

    Unexpected blankness: I don't know what else to say.


    Oh look! Yet another random photo from my mission!
    This is at a birthday party of a young man in the Gaithersburg I ward March 2010. We're playing spoons. Sister Patterson did a great job catching the thrill of the game on film.
    ☮ ♡ ☺

    13 November 2011

    Witty Title

    I've been trying to be a diligent blogger. Unfortunately, sometimes I'm really boring and I don't have much to blog about. But mom has a wonderful blog entry about the weekend.

    Before the weekend came, I went to the St. George Utah Temple with my good buddy Michael. His YSA (Young Single Adult) stake* was going and I thought that it was also my stake so I tagged along. Turns out that it's not my stake. Whoops. Regardless, I had a marvelous time. Plus, the stake presidency brought doughnuts and hot cocoa! Burned my tongue on the hot cocoa.

    Anywho, today was pretty legit as far as Sundays go. I was really excited to finally attend my YSA ward, but that was not the case. We had stake conference**! This stake conference was a wee bit different. Usually we gather together in our stake center and listen to our local stake leaders, but today we had a regional broadcast from church headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT. There were 80 stakes listening to the broadcast in the Utah South and Utah East regions. We heard from
    Brother David M. McConkie, First Counselor, General Sunday School Presidency who spoke about the power in priesthood quorums,
    Sister Jean A. Stevens, First Counselor, General Primary Presidency spoke about listening to the counsel of prophets and then acting on that counsel,
    Elder Tad R. Callister, Presidency of the Seventy spoke about establishing eternal marriages (or we could say relationships instead of marriages because the principles are the same), and
    Elder Russell M. Nelson, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke about the blessing it is to have a physical body and how much Satan wants us to deface and defile our bodies because he wants us to be miserable. Elder Nelson talked about a bunch of other things, too, but that was the thing that stands out most in my mind. Why do I tell you this? To prove to you that I do pay attention in meetings. And to let you know that Stake Conference is awesome. Some have the notion that Stake Conference means that they can stay home and relax. But it doesn't mean that at all! Stake Conference is a marvelous opportunity to learn principles of everlasting happiness and to receive personal, customized revelation for you from our loving Heavenly Father.

    Hope you enjoyed my thoughts for the evening!

    In other news, there is a girl.
    Yes.
    A girl.
    Who works at Panda Express. And I'm going to ask her out. I'll let you know how it goes because I know how interested you are in my so-called love life. Ha.

    And I have employment!
    Well, temporary employment, but employment nonetheless and it pays well. I'm going to be doing secretarial work at a local investment firm for a week while the investor is out of town. Yay! Stuff to do!



    Oh look! Another random picture from my mission!
    This is on a P-day at the National Mall! My best friend, Isie, wanted a picture of me kissing the Washington Monument. So I humored her.

    ☮ ♡ ☺


    *A stake is an ecclesiastical and administrative unit of the Church, almost always covering a geographic area, composed of several wards and/or sometimes branches (congregations; wards are larger than branches). Administered by a stake president.

    **Stake conference is a semi-annual meeting of the members of a stake in which both general and local church leaders are sustained and leaders give stake members counsel and instruction.

    03 November 2011

    November News

    Perhaps I should start out with "October Olds" as I haven't posted for a minute.

    Halloween was spent in Temecula with Damian and his family. It was fun. I have no pictures because I didn't take my camera, but I'm sure Tandy will get them on her blog before too long. I ate lots of food. Mainly candy. Their kids are super cute.

    Good times.

    Anywho, this weekend was spent up in Grand Ol' Vernal, Utah for Teagan's (my cousin's daughter) wedding. Mom, dad, Grandma L, and me loaded up the bed of the truck with Dutch ovens (dad was doing the food for the reception: Dutch oven cobbler. Yum!), luggage, and boxes of Christmas gifts (it almost resembled Santa's sleigh), and drove the 7 hours to Vernal. Too long.

    Many of Grandma's posterity lives in Vernal and she decided that she needed to take up a bunch of gifts. She amazes me, that woman. She gets all her posterity a gift for Christmas and has all their birthdays and names memorized. You may think that that's no big deal. But it is. It's a huge deal. Grandma has 8 children, 34 grandchildren (of which I am the youngest), 77 great grandchildren, and 44 great-great grandchildren. And add in their spouses, too. That's a lot of people.

    We were joined by Nick, his lady friend K-Leigh (not actual spelling), and aunt Gayela. They helped with the preparation and serving of the Dutch oven goodness. Mom, dad, Nick, K-Liegh, and I slept in a 5th Wheel-toy hauler of cousin Scott's nicknamed The Ramada Inn. That thing is huge! Its ceilings are taller than the ones in my house! I wish I had a photo to post. But I don't.

    On Saturday morning before the wedding, Mom, dad, and I went to a session at the Vernal Utah Temple. The temple was the Vernal Tabernacle and was converted into a temple in the mid-90's. It is a smaller temple, but the session we were in was packed because there was a couple being sealed for eternity. Yay!

    Me at the Vernal Temple.

    Back to the wedding details: Teagan is very country (I think everyone in Vernal is...) and so was the decor. Living in Southern Utah, I have been to my fair share of country themed wedding receptions and have been appalled by the amount of hay bales. But Teagan did a very good job with color scheme and decor.


    The eating area.


    The cake.


    The servers LtoR: Dad, Me, K-Leigh, Nick. Sorry it's a bit blurry.


    The happy couple during the ceremony!
    We sat on the front row and had a nice view of Trevor's back.


    The "shoes" Teagan wore to her wedding. You go, cowgirl!

    On Sunday morning we decided that we would go to sacrament meeting with someone whose ward meets at 9am (we have enough family in Vernal, there's bound to be someone assigned that time) and the winner was Monica! So we went to church with her. And there was no heat in the building. I was cold. I am usually cold (just shake my hand and you will see what I mean) but I was shivering. I was in my coat (the mustard yellow corduroy one. yeah.) and I had a scarf. And I wore a hat. I wasn't going to wear the hat, but I was shivering so bad that mom put it on my head. I pointed out to mom while I was sitting there shivering that we drove by three chapels to get to Monica's chapel and I bet that all of them had working heat.

    It was a good weekend.
    I love weddings. I love weddings more when I don't have to serve food or bus tables.
    I love seeing family. I don't love driving 7 hours in a truck with very hard seats.

    I just realized: last weekend I also spent 14 hours in a car going to/from SoCal. Gross.

    ☮ ♡ ☺

    23 October 2011

    What to blog about...

    I'm trying to be a diligent blogger. So sometimes my entries might be fluffy and not interesting/entertaining.

    So today I spoke in sacrament meeting. It was a good talk, if I do say so myself. And I do. Some great, magnificent, good-looking friends and family came to listen. That was nice of them. It's always good to look up and see familiar faces (might I add faces that aren't trying to make you laugh.... Damian). The topic I was assigned to talk about was tithing. But let's be honest, who drives 4 hours and wants to hear about tithing? So I talked about my mission.

    After the block of meetings, we went to my house and ate food. Lots and lots of food. I love food. We had meatballs, and little sandwiches, and a veggie platter (lots from the garden!), and strawberry jell-o salad (the most divine food ever), and apples and caramel dip (apples from our tree), and pumpkin chocolate cookies (pumpkin from our garden), and apple crisp (also made with apples from our tree).

    It was a great weekend. I feel bad for mom. She always stresses out about these things. Now she has a cold. No bueno.

    Thanks for reading!


    Oh look! Another random picture from my mission!
    L to R: Sushma R., Me, Rajesh R. They are Nepalese refugees. Great people.

    17 October 2011

    Home again, home again, jiggidy jog.

    Greetings to the person (people?!) who read(s) my blog!

    Guess what?

    I have successfully completed my two years of service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I served in the Washington DC North mission which covers DC and surrounding Maryland. And now I'm back in good ol' Southern Utah.

    My greatest desire is to post the thousands of photos I took on my mission, but I won't.
    However, you can expect some photos from my mission in future posts. The photos might be relevant. Or they might not. We'll see how it goes.

    I'm excited for the adventures that lie ahead as I continue to power through LIFE. One bowl at a time.



    Oh look! A random picture from the mission! Dinner at Elder & Sister Sowby's. L to R: Elder and Sister Sowby (in mirror), Sister Lewis, Elder Krugman, me, and Sister Otieno. August 2011

    23 August 2011

    Reporting

    Just in case anyone is wondering, it will be a little while before Eric will be able to report "officially" in our ward Sacrament Meeting. He returns on September 28th, the following Sunday is General Conference, so no local meetings that day. The second Sunday in October is our ward's Fast and Testimony meeting, so no speakers that day. The NEXT Sunday is the third Sunday and it is the ward Primary Children's Sacrament Meeting Program. So he's going to be scheduled for the FOURTH SUNDAY in October, which is the 23rd. The Seventeenth Ward meets at 1:00 pm for Sacrament meeting and is located at 256 South 900 West in Cedar City.

    Please, do come. And feel free to stop in anytime once he's home...but that's a ways off yet. I'm getting ahead of myself. (And maybe just a tad excited?)

    submitted by: The Momma

    He's Okay

    Dear Missionary Families,

    In light of the 5.9 earthquake which occurred this afternoon in the Washington DC area, but nearer Richmond, Virginia, we wish to let each of you know that all missionaries have been accounted for and there has been no injuries, no property damage or anything of any concern to the missionaries or the mission field. Thank you for your concern. All are doing well and can faithfully continue in the work of the Lord in the Washington DC North Mission.

    Washington DC North Mission Office

    02 August 2011

    Homecoming

    Eric is scheduled to return on September 28, 2011. That's all I know at this point. He'll fly into St. George.