Stake Conference

Hola, my son, how was your week?  We have been praying all week that Jensi and Marisol went through with their baptism on Saturday, we are anxious to hear if that actually happened.  Other than that, we hope it was a good, productive week for you with lots of blessings. 

Today was Stake Conference, it is always good to hear from Presidents Wilcox, Bailey and Carlton. We also heard from the Mt. Timpanogos temple president and his wife, and our area authority, Elder Chidester. Great meeting today, as well as the adult session last night. My favorite quote came from a recently returned sister missionary, her mission president had said, "Obedience brings blessings, but EXACT obedience brings miracles!"  A good reminder to strive to live the gospel with exactness.

Yesterday Dad took Stefanie and a couple of her friends to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. I have been doing some family history work and had a stack of names for them to do.  It really is fun and rewarding to do temple work for our own ancestors! Makes temple work that much more meaningful! Some more news about Stefanie, she is doing great in Seminary. Every night at 9:00 the alarm on her phone goes off to remind her to read her scriptures. No matter what we are doing at the time she jumps up and runs to her room to get her scripture reading done for the day.  Awesome!

Well, now that the basketball season has come to an end It is nice to have Dad around the house a little more. Still no word on the Lehi job, Dad thinks he will get an interview this week. We are crossing fingers for him!  And now all the spring sports are beginning to get underway. I saw online that LHS soccer tryouts are happening this week, the first practice will be on Friday. We will definitely go to a few games this season for old times sake! 

I think that is all our news for the week, we sure love you and hope you are well. We love reading your letters each week, we are so proud of the work you are doing.  Always remember how much we love and support you. You are always in our thoughts and prayers!  Love, Mom

p.s. What would you think about a visit to the Sacred Grove? We are making plans for a family vacation this summer!

President's Day

Hola, my son.  Happy President's Day! Another day off from school, we are all so glad to get a break.  We will spend most of the day cleaning out the two upstairs bedrooms, painting the walls and tearing out the old carpet. New carpet will be installed next week. Those bedrooms will look nice when we are done!  

Last week was Valentine's Day, Dad and I celebrated by going out to dinner, then to a BYU basketball game. It was a fun day in my first grade class, the kids had fun passing out candy and cards to all their classmates, then we had a party by all the room moms. Super cute! 

Speaking of basketball, changes at LHS are coming soon! Tuesday is the last game of the season--and Coach Barnes has made the decision to step down as head coach.  Dad wants the job! He thinks he has a good chance of getting it.  Coach Rowe is now the Athletic Director, hopefully he will put in a good word about Dad! Dad thinks it will happen quickly, probably by the end of March. He is ready for a change from Copper Hills and would love to coach and teach in our hometown. Keep him in your prayers!

I have been reading a little more about my ancestors, thought you would enjoy learning about your great-great-great-great grandfather, George Zimmerman:

"George Zimmerman was born in Germany in 1781.  He spoke German, English and French so perfectly that he could pass as a native in all three.  During the Napoleonic wars he was drafted into the services, and was soon taken prisoner to Paris. Here he was treated so kindly that he resolved not to re-enter the army against the French. When the two countries exchanged prisoners, instead of returning home he managed to escape on a vessel bound for America. Having no money to pay his passage, he was sold as an indentured servant for one year to a tanner in Philadelphia. After serving his time he remained several years with this tanner and then drifted into a little Dutch settlement in Pennsylvania. While there he met Juliana Hoke. George and Juliana married on April 4, 1816. They became the parents of 12 children, and raised seven of them to maturity. The family joined the church when persecution was running high. Juliana was baptized first in 1843.  George, who was a Lutheran, was baptized two years later.  The next year they went to Illinois.  They then gathered with the Mormon fugitives in Iowa in 1846. They remained there a few years in order to prepare to come to Utah.  In 1851 they left with the saints to cross the plains to Utah. They arrived in Salt Lake City four months later with all their earthly belongings in one wagon. After staying in Salt Lake City a short time they then went on to Lehi. Lehi had been settled about a year before and contained about 15 families in the town at that time. In the spring George obtained a lot and built a log house.  George and Juliana went through the Endowment House in 1852.  He and his family lived in Lehi many years. He died in 1866 at the age of eighty five and was buried in the Lehi cemetery near his wife who had preceded him to the other side two years earlier."

Wow, how about that??  He was one of the first settlers of Lehi! Makes me feel proud! I think he would be pleased to know he has ancestors who live in his hometown! When it warms up Stefanie and I are going to wander through the Lehi cemetery and find George and Juliana's headstones! Haha!

Well, I love you and hope you have a great week. Love, Mom

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Hola, my son! How are you today? How was your week?  Can't wait to hear about it! 

This has been a super busy week for me!  I had parent/teacher conference on Wednesday and Thursday, two very long days. 

So some missionary news from our ward…guess who has returned with honor…Alonso Lopez!!  I talked to his parents today at church, he flies in tomorrow (Monday) at 1:00 p.m.  By the time you read this he will be home!  Super excited to see him and hear his mission report next Sunday.

Today was Daniel Madsen's farewell, he will leave this week for Baltimore, Maryland.  He will be great! And last week his little brother Jacob got his call! He announced it in such a funny way!  Bishop called him up to the stand to share his news in Sacrament Meeting...

Jacob: Brothers and Sisters, Alooooooha!!  

Congregation:  Alooooha!! 

Jacob: "Just kidding, I'm going to Iowa."  hahahahahaha.  Funny boy.  He leaves in June. 

Yesterday I got to attend the baptisms of three beautiful girls…the Mecham triplets!  They looked so cute in their matching white dresses. Love them.  

Here is a message from Stefanie:  "My seminary teacher this semester is Brother Gentile, he said to tell you hello!  He loves soccer, he goes outside to play every day at lunch!  I told him that you are my brother and he said he loved having you in his class when you were a senior."

From Dad:  "Three basketball games left this season, we will have to win all three to make it to the state playoffs.  That will be a tough order for us, but we will do our best.  We've been a lot better this year, just not good enough to win close games. Hope you are having a good week."

Well, that is all our news for today!  We have been praying for your three ladies all week, Kati, Regina and Merella.  Hope they have made some progress this week and will choose to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We love you!  

Love, Mom 

Super Bowl Sunday

Hola my son!  Happy Super Bowl Sunday!  Although I'm sure you have much more important things to think about!  We went over to Rachel's house again this year, she invited us, her in-laws, and Tami and Brady and family.  She throws a great Super Bowl party! And in case you hadn't heard…the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks.  It was a great game, exciting and undecided until the very end.  And, just for our entertainment, the two teams even provided us with a nice big brawl, hahaha!   But mostly I just watched the commercials and the awesome half time performance by Katy Perry.

I had a good week, I sure love teaching 1st Grade!!  Friday we celebrated 100 Day!  Do you remember 100 Day in elementary school? It was an all-day celebration, we did projects all day long…strung 100 fruit loops to make necklaces, worked on 100-piece puzzles, wrote 100 words, read 100 pages, stacked 100 blocks, watched 101 Dalmations, etc... super fun!  Stefanie showed up for the last hour or so, my kids love her! Can't believe I have been a 1st grade teacher for 100 days! :) 

Dad's week wasn't quite as good, his basketball team is falling apart. Major drama going on with big egos from players and parents. And it likely won't get better this week, he has Lone Peak and Pleasant Grove coming up this week, Lehi is not favored to win either of them. Ugh.  What started out as a great season in the preseason deteriorated as soon as we started region play.  But, as always, Dad is optimistic and resilient.  He has an awesome ability to bounce back. A good quality for a coach! 

I will end with a spiritual thought…I have been reading "Jesus the Christ".  My goal was to finish by the end of the school year…but it is taking longer than I thought.  It is not something you can rush through! Have you read it?  I just finished chapter 10, about the temptations of Jesus after he had fasted for 40 days in the wilderness.  Satan tempted him to use his divine power to provide food for himself. But Jesus knew that his power had not been given to him for his own personal gratification, but for service to others.  It says, "It was a necessary result of our Lord's dual nature, comprising the attributes of both God and man, that He should endure and suffer as a mortal while possessing AT ALL TIMES the ability to invoke the power of His own Godhood by which all bodily needs could be supplied or overcome." Wow, that is incredible self control! I hadn't ever thought about it like that. Makes me want to try harder to overcome my weaknesses. 

Well, that is all for this week!  How I love you!  How I pray for you! Hope you've had a good week, can't wait to read your letter.  

Love, Mom