December 7, 2009

The Arrival…

I received this letter from Dallin this morning and thought I'd share. He sounds like he's doing great. The pictures were from the day he arrived in S. Africa sent from the Mission Pres. in a seperate email today.

So this past week ish we have been working with these two young men named Vuse and Moroti they have been being taught for sometime now and they were extending their property so we helped them tear down there wall and rebuild it back up it was a lot of hard work. Their mom died about 2 months ago and they are in love with the plan of salvation. there uncle in times past has told us that his faith in god has been lost. anyways as we were going and helping day in and day out there uncle was there and he told us that because we were there helping them out his faith in god had been restored because no other church has ever helped like we have. We set up an appointment to see Vuse Moroti and there uncle on saturday. when we showed up Moroti was the only one there and he is about 16 and a complete stud. we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ (faith repentance baptism, gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end) When we got to the part about baptism he stopped us and said i wanna be baptized as soon as possible because when you guys come and when i'm reading i feel overwhelming happy and when i pray for strength everything in life seems easier and like i can handle things :) so me and Elder Sederholm were in shock so we told him to aim for the 10th of january. then we told him he needs to come to church and asked him to get vuse and his uncle to come to church as well. Well yesterday was sunday and Church had started and i was a little sad that none of them showed up and then lo and behold about 10 minutes into the meeting in walk Vuse and Moroti and guess who was right behind them.... their uncle haha i was propably smiling from ear to ear i can't even explain the happiness and love you have for people as they draw closer to christ and make those steps to become better.
Then we were sitting there and Sacrament was drawing to a close and Kenneth another one of our investigators gets up and walks to the front. Me and Sederholm turned to each other and grinned. We actually found Kenneth together and at first we thought he was what we call a golden investigator. he told us in a lesson about a week ago that he didn't want to be baptized quite yet until he received an answer so we were a little discouraged but continued to work with him at the fullest. anyways he goes up to the stand and says this " Brothers and Sisters yesterday i was watching the soccer game when and Elder Craven and Elder Sederholm paid me a visit, i told them i was busy and that i couldn't have a lesson tonight but that i would see them at church tomorrow. when they left i continued watching the game and i felt really really good and happy and got excited to come to church. i took this as my answer that the Book of Mormon is True and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet." Holy cow i have never been happier in my life i cant even describe how much joy i have.
I'm serving in an Area called Kagiso, i'm not really sure how many areas are in my mission there are at least 90 areas ha ha so its pretty big. the weather here is Summer time, its way too hott but i'm coping ha ha. We walk/ride bikes everyday besides for tuesdays we get a car so that we can take members to and from appointments. i'm living in a 4 man flat and we share the car with the other 2 elders and they get the car the other 6 days cause there area is bigger but because we work harder we get more baptisms even though our area is much much smaller. the area is all black people and there pretty poor but they have an attitude like they are rich because they are so grateful for what they do have.

Aidan goes for a dip…

What a Great weekend! It started off a bit early with Payten's 6:15 am indoor soccer game. Then after taking everyone home I was off to help cook breakfast for over 200 neighbors and ward members for our annual Christmas Party. About 5 minutes after lighting our Camp Chefs it started snowing. Of course none of the local weather men had warned us of this. I believe it all ended up okay seeing as I didn't see any ambulances arrive to cart anyone off due to food poisoning.
After Aidan's pre-Baptism party... I mean Ward Christmas party we had a little bonfire thanks to Tyson chopping up Abby's old bed frame and box spring. The kids loved how big the fire got. Well, Abby definitely kept her distance.



Then, onto the main event. Aidan also got baptized on this day. It turned out to be a wonderful day. Tyson gave a great talk on Baptism to Aidan. Michael (Aidan's Dad) then had the honor of dunking Aidan. Then we got to hear a wonderful talk on the Holy Ghost by Marge Simpson er, uh, I mean Melanie. She was getting over a cold and sounded oddly like Marge. I was then privileged to preform the confirmation. We are very proud of Aidan and his choice to be Baptized.







After the Baptism we had everyone over to the house for refreshments and to give Aidan his gifts.











We then continued our new tradition with the Mikesell family. Instead of buying gifts for all the nieces and nephews for Christmas, we pick a Family from an Angel Tree and we all head to Wal-Mart together and get what they are needing and some of what they're wanting. I truly enjoy it when we do this and I think it will be invaluable to our kids in learning the true meaning of Christmas.
After our Walmart shopping spree we cut Tyson loose and the rest of us headed of to a friends house for dinner and games. It was a great day!

Aidan goes for a dip...

What a Great weekend! It started off a bit early with Payten's 6:15 am indoor soccer game. Then after taking everyone home I was off to help cook breakfast for over 200 neighbors and ward members for our annual Christmas Party. About 5 minutes after lighting our Camp Chefs it started snowing. Of course none of the local weather men had warned us of this. I believe it all ended up okay seeing as I didn't see any ambulances arrive to cart anyone off due to food poisoning.
After Aidan's pre-Baptism party... I mean Ward Christmas party we had a little bonfire thanks to Tyson chopping up Abby's old bed frame and box spring. The kids loved how big the fire got. Well, Abby definitely kept her distance.



Then, onto the main event. Aidan also got baptized on this day. It turned out to be a wonderful day. Tyson gave a great talk on Baptism to Aidan. Michael (Aidan's Dad) then had the honor of dunking Aidan. Then we got to hear a wonderful talk on the Holy Ghost by Marge Simpson er, uh, I mean Melanie. She was getting over a cold and sounded oddly like Marge. I was then privileged to preform the confirmation. We are very proud of Aidan and his choice to be Baptized.







After the Baptism we had everyone over to the house for refreshments and to give Aidan his gifts.











We then continued our new tradition with the Mikesell family. Instead of buying gifts for all the nieces and nephews for Christmas, we pick a Family from an Angel Tree and we all head to Wal-Mart together and get what they are needing and some of what they're wanting. I truly enjoy it when we do this and I think it will be invaluable to our kids in learning the true meaning of Christmas.
After our Walmart shopping spree we cut Tyson loose and the rest of us headed of to a friends house for dinner and games. It was a great day!

October 28, 2009

It’s Official !!!

Elder Craven was set apart last night at 7 pm. It was great to be a part of. I am sooo proud of Dallin and know he will be a great missionary. He goes into the Provo MTC this morning at 11 am to prepare and await the rest of his travel documents to arrive. He will then be on his way to South Africa. We will miss you Elder but couldn't be more proud.
Remember who you are, and what you stand for!

October 16, 2009

Tick tock…

Well time is flying by and reality is setting in. Dallin will be on his mission in less than two weeks. It has been a crazy couple of weeks for Dallin and his mom getting everything in order to go. Despite their efforts it doesn't look like Dallin will report to the Johannesburg MTC as planned. His visa isn't going to make it in time so he will start off in Provo. He isn't too dissapointed as Chase, Levi and Jordan will be there and he is looking forward to seeing them again.Dallin's farewell is this Sunday, the 18th. I am looking forward to him speaking. He has always had a knack for it and does a great job. His sacrament time is at 11am at the church on 5500 south, next to freedom elem.
As of my last conversation with Dallin, he will be going to the Provo MTC on October 27th.

That is all I have for now.
Stay tuned....

October 1, 2009

Back by popular demand...

A few days ago Dallin called me to let me know he had received his mission "re"call. He will report to Johannesburg, S. Africa, Oct. 29 to the MTC there. I couldn't be more proud of Dallin for doing things the right way even though it definitely wasn't the easiest. He is going to be a great missionary!

September 23, 2009

Tyson's Homecoming



Tyson Had his first school dance date last weekend. His date was Lauren, a very cute, tall & talented volleyball/basketball player from Roy High. They looked very cute/handsome.




The kids just don't do dinner and the dance anymore. Tyson's group consisted of 7 couples. They went paint-balling early in the day and then took their dates home to get ready for the evening portion of the date where they joined up with another 8 couples totaling 30 people in their group for dinner at Ruby River and the Dance.
They all went to Roy High's football field so us parents could grab some pictures. Tyson says he had a great time and my truck returned to me without any damage. :)

Tyson's Homecoming



Tyson Had his first school dance date last weekend. His date was Lauren, a very cute, tall & talented volleyball/basketball player from Roy High. They looked very cute/handsome.




The kids just don't do dinner and the dance anymore. Tyson's group consisted of 7 couples. They went paint-balling early in the day and then took their dates home to get ready for the evening portion of the date where they joined up with another 8 couples totaling 30 people in their group for dinner at Ruby River and the Dance.
They all went to Roy High's football field so us parents could grab some pictures. Tyson says he had a great time and my truck returned to me without any damage. :)

A Bad Week



After month's of toiling about this decision, we came to the conclusion that it would be best is we found new homes for our boys, Barklee & Taylor. For reason's which I won't bother you with we put a couple of ads on KSL Classifieds. I was amazed by the response. It went very fast. Within 1 day of putting up the ads we had over 800 hits and dozens of messages. We sifted through the interested applicants and invited several to our home to meet the dogs and to interrogate them. :) Barklee ended up going to a cute young family from Clinton who had been wanting a Yorkie for some time but couldn't afford the upfront cost of one. Taylor ended up going to a couple from Taylorsville whose last child had just left the nest for college. The husband was very knowledgeable about Danes and had owned several of them throughout his life. When they first showed up to meet Taylor they pulled up in front of our house and Melly came to the top of our stairs looking down into our living room where I was watching the tube. She told me "they're here". Immediately following, as if he understood all that was going on, Taylor let out a moaning noise, that neither Mel nor I had ever heard before, and ran down to my Lazy-Boy and flopped his big head and jowls on my chest right below my chin. I looked at Mel saying "what the crap" half way laughing and half choking back tears as I knew I'd have to answer the door. We love our dogs. I have never developed such a bond with any other dog than I did with Taylor. Especially in only 1 1/2 years. We will miss them terribly but know that they will be well taken care of by their new families.

A Bad Week



After month's of toiling about this decision, we came to the conclusion that it would be best is we found new homes for our boys, Barklee & Taylor. For reason's which I won't bother you with we put a couple of ads on KSL Classifieds. I was amazed by the response. It went very fast. Within 1 day of putting up the ads we had over 800 hits and dozens of messages. We sifted through the interested applicants and invited several to our home to meet the dogs and to interrogate them. :) Barklee ended up going to a cute young family from Clinton who had been wanting a Yorkie for some time but couldn't afford the upfront cost of one. Taylor ended up going to a couple from Taylorsville whose last child had just left the nest for college. The husband was very knowledgeable about Danes and had owned several of them throughout his life. When they first showed up to meet Taylor they pulled up in front of our house and Melly came to the top of our stairs looking down into our living room where I was watching the tube. She told me "they're here". Immediately following, as if he understood all that was going on, Taylor let out a moaning noise, that neither Mel nor I had ever heard before, and ran down to my Lazy-Boy and flopped his big head and jowls on my chest right below my chin. I looked at Mel saying "what the crap" half way laughing and half choking back tears as I knew I'd have to answer the door. We love our dogs. I have never developed such a bond with any other dog than I did with Taylor. Especially in only 1 1/2 years. We will miss them terribly but know that they will be well taken care of by their new families.

August 3, 2009

Park City Extreme Cup

Melanie, Tyson, Payten & myself spent the weekend in Park City. The
Boys both participated in a soccer tournament up there. It was a lot
of fun, they both played very well.

Park City Extreme Cup

Melanie, Tyson, Payten & myself spent the weekend in Park City. The
Boys both participated in a soccer tournament up there. It was a lot
of fun, they both played very well.

The Alpine Slide!

We were also able to have some fun between all of the soccer. The first day we grabbed some lunch at Park City Pizza & Noodle. The owner's son seated us and proceeded to tell us that we were sitting where Rachael Ray sat while filming her show "Rachael's Vacation". Payten had Spaghetti and meatballs while the rest of us split a yummy BBQ chicken pizza. Friday we just chilled in the morning and went for a swim in the pool. After Tyson's first game we were going to hit the Alpine slide. Tyson received 5 missed phone calls from one of his buddies. He and a friend were on their way up to the outlets to do some shopping but their car broke down heading up Parley's canyon. So we dropped our plans and headed down toward SLC to see what we could do to help. When we got to them it was good to see they were alright. They were laying down across the seats listening to music, waiting for us. After looking at the car I determined it overheated as there was no sign of coolant in the reservoir. Luckily we had a cooler full of bottled water in the truck. We filled it as much as possible then I had them follow me down the canyon to a gas station in SLC. I filled the tank with the proper coolant. That seemed to do the trick. We sent them on there way and headed back to Park City, grabbing some fast food on way, trying to salvage the last three hours before Tyson's next game. We made it in time to go on the slide. Things were a bit more hectic than I'd have liked but ,hey, what ya gonna do? The ride up the mountain on the ski lift was beautiful and relaxing. Melanie and I went first so I could get down to the bottom in enough time to take some pics of the boys coming down. It was a lot of fun! Melly left me in the dust but it's hard taking pics and controlling a sled darting down the mountain. It was funny, there were dozens of gophers/ground hogs??? on all sides of the slide as we were going down, popping there heads up as you sped by. After the boys last games we left Payten to spend a night with his mom so he could see the new condo at the Canyons Resort that she'd bought into. Tyson was in a hurry to get home to enjoy the last day of Roy Days with his buddies and to see his "friend" that has been out of town for almost a month.