A visitor for Elder Whitaker

My father called me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that

he would be going on a business trip to Alabama

right in the area where Jacob is serving his mission.

He had a question as to whether or not he would be able to visit him.

"Sure!" I told him just as long as he made sure it

was okay with the mission president.  Generally, they discourage visits from

family on a regular basis because it can distract the missionary from their work and 

possibly make them homesick.  That's why we don't talk with him on the phone except for twice a year (Mother's Day & Christmas).  But we do email him weekly.

President Hanks response to Dad's email was a resounding yes!  

He just needed to coordinate it with Jacob's schedule then he gave him his phone number.....

a number I now have because I was copied in.

When I saw it, I got all excited.

It felt weird yet comforting at the same time.

It was like those numbers represented him.  I could easily call him!

But I won't.

The following are some pictures of Jacob (Elder Whitaker) with Grandpa

and at a Mission Leaders Training (he's a Zone leader right now).

Jacob his companion and the missionaries that share an apartment with him.

Dad took them out to a restaurant for a well deserved steak dinner.  I guess they don't get many meals from their ward so they were really appreciative of the meal.  Dad said there wasn't anything left on their plates when they were done.

Desert too!

Can you find Elder Whitaker?  These missionaries are the ones in charge of leading the other missionaries in the mission.
You can't get a sense of it from the picture, but a huge number of them are sister missionaries.
Jacob says they are awesome at the work.

There's that beautiful smile!!

On a less exciting note, I'm still on the couch (3 ½ wks now) but have 

been told I can do more.  So I've driven the car to drop Esther off at the barn, made a couple of my meals, picked up around the house a little (some things I just couldn't bear looking at anymore from the couch), and was able to get my foot wet (briefly).

I was a little nauseous at the beginning of the week when I did these things

but I think it was just because I haven't really exerted myself at all for 3 wks.

It's getting better though.

I still have to stay off my feet for 2 more weeks (6 total) but the good (?) news is 

that I start physical therapy next week to prepare for walking.

No pain, no gain, right?

Woohoo!?

Jacob sent us some pictures!

Jacob seems to be doing great on his mission.

He gets more positive with each letter we get, which is every week.

He's been faithful in writing, albeit with no so many words.

He's never been one to use too many.

In his last letter, he said that they are slowly building a list of people to teach.

Thankfully, I've bugged him enough about pictures, that he is finally sending us more.

If you'll notice in the pictures below, they even had a baptism.

Lest you think that they are all work and not play, the picture just below is on an activity day where all the missionaries in their area get together to do some fun things.

His group tried to spell Bessemer (the area in Alabama they are in).

I think they ran out of people and the second "E" got distracted.

Jacob is the bottom of the last "E".  He's laying out on the grass.
And if you look closely, the "M" is just girls (sister missionaries).

A wedding and a mission call

We are so excited for two of our nephews!!

Adam, Julie's (sister) son is getting married in June to a wonderful girl, Jess.

Remember when we thought he was lost?  Well, that triggered a realization

from Jess (she was just a friend at that time), that her worry was more than just a friendly

concern.  Their relationship quickly took off from there.  They will be sealed as a family in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, South Jordan, Utah (Salt Lake Valley).

We are so happy that Adam's night in the canyon had more than one happy ending!

Justin, Tammy's (sister-in-law) son, just opened his missionary call this evening.  

Tammy's house was so full of people there to support him that they had to take it outside

 to the backyard.  We were all thrilled to here that he would be called to the

New Zealand, Hamilton, english speaking mission and will be going straight there on August 1.

How exciting!

We love it when there's good news all around!!

Jacob's doing great!

Jacob was enjoying some pizza at the Bessemer Stake Young Men's conference.

The missionaries (Jacob included) got to take the young men with them

to do missionary work.  We haven't heard from him yet about how that went.

They just had transfers, but Jacob is staying put and keeping his companion.

He says the teaching is sparse but there are some who are interested in the lessons.

He looks good, doesn't he?!

kid happenings

Lots has been going on with the kids lately.

We are very fortunate to have really good schools for our kids.

Recently, the elementary school the girls attend, was able to communicate with the astronauts on the space shuttle.  Very few schools were chosen and ours was the only one in LA.  Pretty cool!

Then the 5th graders had a special social studies project concerning the birth of our nation.

The kids were put into teams, given parts to memorize, and game rules.

Me and other parents watched as they acted out their parts and cheered for their team as they answered questions.  The kids had a great time.

There were extra points for dressing colonial.

 Me, Rachel and Bekah had New Beginnings for the Young Women's organization at church.

 Jacob had his first baptism on his mission.

I'm still waiting for a picture, so this will have to do.

You have to look really close because you can barely see Jacob in the back.

This picture was taken on the missionaries "preparation" day.

Basically it's a day to do everyday things like laundry and ultimate frisbee.

Looks like their laundry is done!

Joseph's acapella   group is getting more requests to perform.

Don't they look sharp?

And just tonight, Rachel had her opening night for her last high school musical called "Curtains".

Although I think they should have rated the play PG-13, it

was performed well and Rachel was fabulous!

  She was also supported by her friends from church.

Rachel's "mini-mission"

So this last weekend we experienced something new here in CA, Youth Mini-Missions.

All the youth 16-21 were given the chance to live with missionaries for the weekend and to live their life.  Jacob and Rachel were both going until Jacob got sick, so only Rachel was able to go.

She is pictured above (4th from the left) with 5 sister missionaries and other girls from our church.

Each of them were paired up with Sisters if they were a girl and Elders if they were boys.  Part of the time Rachel got to serve in the visitors center that is right behind the LA Temple.  She is now super excited to show us everything she learned the next time we go.  Then she and her "companions" went tracting (knocking door to door) in Marina Del Rey.

There was a testimony meeting Sunday night that me, Joseph, Jacob and Bekah attended.  We wanted to hear of all the wonderful experiences.  Some experiences were funny like the one a young man told of when they tracted in Beverly Hills.  They came across two men on the street ( I think they were homeless) who quickly got in a yelling arguement about who Jesus was.  Another young woman told about how when her companion was inspired  to go outside towards the dumpster, they found a man in the area that they started to talk to.  It turns out that he is the next door neighbor of her grandma!  No joke!  Rachel told about how she and her companions were knocking on a door when one of them said something funny and they all started to laugh so hard, they hoped no one would come to the door cause they couldn't speak.

The missionaries were great and gave them opportunities to teach and do door approaches.  The kids had a great time while their eyes were opened a little to what it's all about.  The bottom line is that missionaries are there to share a happy joyful message of the gospel.  They eagerly give up a portion of their everyday life to help others find happiness.  It's a work of love that our youth got to participate in it.  

Rachel was hesitant to go, but I'm thankful that she did it anyway.  She came out smiling, as I knew she would.  I know the Lord will bless her for her commitment to serve.

Jacob's been called on a mission to . . .

After  almost 19 years of learning, planning, and anticipating

Jacob has been called to serve the Lord

in the Birmingham Alabama Mission for 24 months.

He enters the MTC on October 31 (definitely a treat).

We are so proud of him for being willing to give up a part of his life for this service.

The experiences will be invaluable as he moves forward in his life.

We know that he will learn a lot, do a great job, and the people will love him.

It's also so cool that he gets to go back to the South.

He can say "ya'll" again!

********************

Love you Jacob!!

Maybe today?! and blog update

Alright, so now maybe I'm finished designing my blog (at least for a while).

I've finally updated "Fridge Wisdom" (after weeks and weeks) and will try and change it at least weekly (just to add to all those great quotes you get on Facebook, right?)

I've rearranged my column, pages and links and have updated my profile to better summarize my mission with this blog.

I've also added the option to follow me through Google.

I had it a long time ago, but it didn't work right.  I guess they've worked out all the bugs.

At the moment, 11 friends and family are formally following me but I know there are many more that drop in now and then and others following on Blog Frog.  That's okay, I'm not doing this for money, 

Although the internet doesn't allow for great conversations, I do enjoy it when you interact with me about my posts.

I so wish that I had been quick enough to focus this shot!

Sunday, our Stake President told us that Jacob had been assigned, which means his mission call is in the mail.  It's been "in the future" for so long that when I heard that it suddenly became real and now.

I instantly got choked up.

I'm so proud of him and his willingness to serve the Lord.

Maybe today!

Where do you think he will go?

The doctors' appointments are done and the papers are in.

We are now just waiting for a special letter to come telling us where Jacob 

will serve the Lord for 2 years.  

Where do you think he will go?

Mary's Called to Serve

Remember this cutie?

  I've been meaning to tell everyone that I was wrong.  She is not going on her mission here in the states but has been called to the Argentina Mendoza Mission and will report to the Missionary Training Center on October 19 (one day after my birthday)!

She is going to be a fabulous missionary!  She's outgoing, bubbly, organized, hard working, smart, talented, and has a tremendous testimony (the most important thing). 

I know that her family (especially Mom) will miss having her around but the blessings will be well worth it.  Congratulations again Mary on your call to serve.  We are all so excited for you!

Missionary to be

More family news but this time from my other sister's (Julie) family.  Her daughter, Mary, has decided to go a mission for the Church.  How cool! She'll be following in the footsteps of her father (Brad), brother (Adam) and older sister (LynDee).  We are waiting on pins and needles to find out where she is going.  That information should come in a letter in a week or so.  My guess is that she'll be going somewhere here in the states, possibly Ohio, or Washington State. We'll see!

YW handouts, manual 3-Missionary Responsibilities, Sharing the Gospel

When I started serving in the Young Women's program at church, I noticed the teacher (who is a photographer) giving the girls a quote printed like a picture.  I became very interested in it because I had just recently started digital scrapping, which came from my interest in blogging.  I had wanted to change the images on my blog and voila.  I had no idea there were so many people doing this on the internet. 

So I decided to continue her tradition.  I was going to do it just for my Beehive class, but we decided to make enough for the other two classes as well.  I've been collecting free images and buying a few here and there.  It's given me another creative outlet. 

Now I've decided to share the ones I've made with you.  They are formatted for 4x6 cards.  I have them printed at Wal-mart or Costco just like I would family pictures.  You can right click on the images and save them to the computer.  You just can't sell them (or the scrapping women will come and get me).



lesson 20 Understanding Missionary Responsibilities
(helping the girls be supportive of the boys going on missions)




lesson 21 Learning to Share the Gospel