A Great Reason to Nap

Beth Durfey 10/19/10 
To: L H TRAUNTVEIN

My father used to take 10/15 min. naps 2 to 3 times a day. I was worried about this and wondered if something was wrong with him so I asked my Dr. what could be making my dad so such a thing. He told me it was good for my dad and that he would probably out live us all because of this habit he had. I guess I should have asked dad instead of the Dr. but I was embarrassed to ask him. Anyway I got my answer, it was good to have these power naps. They sure did help him. He learned this at work apparently and also in NZ when he was temple Pres. and could not leave the temple as dad was the only sealer at the temple for 2 yrs. He left once and came back to find a couple  came in an were waiting for him, He never left the temple again, he was so embarrassed to have someone wait for him. He had to go to the dentist that day. Never again. How easy out temple Presidents have it in the US and maybe now days, when they make sure that there are sealers available. At least I hope they do in all these little temples around the world. Dad & Mom had a long hard 5 yrs. but one that was very close to the Lord. Then they came home and spent another 4 yrs. in the Alberta temple as Pres. & Matron. That was a good 9 yrs. in the Celestial Kingdom, is how my Mom put it. The day they were released the pain hit my Mom, she said the jolt of being in the Celestial Kingdom and then hitting the Telestial again were very hard for her. 

Talk again.



   

Greetings‏

Pitts, Alan R 10/19/10 

We enjoyed (4) count 'em four days in SLC at conference time attending 2nd session on Saturday.

Nice visit with Mother and Joan.

Returned home with Konnie having been gone for 12 weeks.

She then told her RS class that she had to pull weeds when she got home using that activity to relate to sin (weeds) and repentance (pulling weeds). She indicated that there were a lot of weeds to pull after she had been gone for (12) count'em twelve weeks.

I told her it was 25% of the year at that single time I did not include the twice before of (3) weeks each time.

HeatherJo now has (3) boys, Noah age 4, Micah age 2 and Jonah new on July 16th.
I do hope your are well and happy.

Love
Your cousin alan

Al Pitts
Manufacturing Engineering
Ph. (206) 544-3098
alan.r.pitts@boeing.com
M/S 4F-14

From Al Pitts

Al wrote: We enjoyed (4) count'em four days in SLC at conference time attending 2nd session on Saturday. Nice visit with Mother and Joan.
Returned home with Konnie having been gone for 12 weeks.
She then told her RS class that she had to pull weeds when she got home using that activity to relate to sin (weeds) and repentance (pulling weeds). She indicated that there were a lot of weeds to pull after she had been gone for (12) count'em twelve weeks.
I told her it was 25% of the year at that single time I did not include the twice before of (3) weeks each time.

HeatherJo now has (3) boys, Noah age 4, Micah age 2 and Jonah new on July 16th.
I do hope your are well and happy.
Love
Your cousin alan
 
Al Pitts
Manufacturing Engineering

Myrna wrote: Wow! That is a LONG time to be away--12 weeks--and it is a good thing that it was Konnie doing the work and not me. I usually just give my girls four weeks when they have new ones. Of course, now that I am older, I could do better. When the oldest of the children were having new babies I still had teens at home. They are almost more difficult to leave than younger kids are.

Julie is expecting in April. She has to have hers C-section. She does need more help than most but she lives in the county between Fairview and Mt. Pleasant.

We just got back from a one-week trip to Disney World as the guests of our youngest daughter, Kirsten, and her family. It was lots of fund. We left that warm weather to come back to snow. Snow is beautiful in the mountains but is not so great on a day to day basis--shoveling, clearing windshields, driving on slick roads.

Conference was wonderful! Every time someone would speak, I would think that was the best talk and then someone else would speak. 

Your Mom is a trooper!

La Vida es un Ratico

So I was thinking of what it is that I needed to write to you this week and I had a list and everything! However, I conveniently left it in the house when I left to play around for P-Day. Regardless, I want to tell you about some significant experiences that I had this week, especially this weekend.

This week was going to be another interesting week in the life of Elder Bolton. Fighting for souls on the battlefield that is Puerto Cabezas (or Bilwi in Miskitu) and hoping that some of the recent converts in the area would come to church. My comp and I were going around teaching people this week, committing them to living the commandments of our Father in Heaven, and I had some amazing experiences. I was talking to one of my investigators and we were discussing the Sabbath Day, the Sacrament and worthiness. She then asked me if she was worthy of taking the sacrament because she hasn't been baptized and she isn't keeping all of the commandments that we are telling her that she has to keep. I explained to her why she should not be taking the sacrament when she visits the church (if you have questions about that doctrine i'll email you the scripture references). It was so wonderful because I was so wanting to be able to apply to my teaching that which we are learning in our district and zone meetings.

Another amazing experience that I had this week was on Saturday afternoon. My Branch President and I were walking around looking at the size of our area and talking about where our boundaries need to be and some of the people that we needed to go out and visit. Then he got a call from someone from the Mission Presidency and we received a little notification that instantly made me think about one of my investigators. We quickly walked over to his house to explain to him and his wife why it is that they needed to get married and baptized that evening. So I scrambled to get everything thrown together, and thanks to the help of some fellow missionaries we had an amazing last-minute wedding with a baptism on the moon-lit beach. Then they were confirmed on Sunday and thrown into the fray of our branch.

Which brings me to my third story. I was super serious like almost all sunday. My members need to go through a little bit of a refiner's fire, and hopefully I can help lead them in to that furnace! I told the priesthood holders what and how they should change so that the branch might be a successful and powerful ward someday. I was very frank and very direct with the people, but at the same time I was trying to show them the love I have for them and why I want them to be better. Then we had a ward committee meetting and we discussed the bus problem that we have in our area. That was crazy but really helped me realized how much patience that the Lord has blessed me with sometimes. I was so frustrated with how the people were reacting to what I was trying to say to them. Eventually my work will pay off here and the people will understand what it is that I am trying to teach them.

I have had some good chats with my son this week too! And I've taken some more photos with him (mom they're on the PhotoBucket). He and I are growing together so much. I love my zone right now. We are working so hard and trying to be such great missionaries and love the people so much. I just want you all to know how much I love these people here. They are unique and have such wonderful spirits about them. 

I love you all so much too! Never think that I don't love you or miss you all. We will have our glorious reunion soon enough!

Love, Elder Braden D. Bolton

Queen of the Ball.....‏

Toni Jackson 
10/13/10 
Photos

Betcha I'm the only gal you know who has been the Queen of the Bosom Ball!  Was fun, hugs!

They even gave me a pretty Tiara and a pink ribbon sash to wear. It was fun. xoxoxo me 

5K fundraiser for Teemant Family - Cancer Run‏

AnnMarie wrote:

Leo Teemant was recently diagnosed with cancer.  I have known him and his wife as neighbors and through our church callings.  Leo is in the bishopric in the PP10 Ward, and Amy Teemant, his wife, was Young Woman president for their ward.  They have three small children.  He graduated from BYU in August, but before he found employment was diagnosed with cancer within days of graduation.  It is in an advanced stage and his needs are very serious.  Friends of Amy and Leo Teemant are organizing a fundraiser and 5K run to benefit the family.  Without insurance and employment, the expenses they face are staggering.  This is a positive way the community may help them.

 

If you are not available, you may still donate to the family through the link below.

 

Here is the website link:  http://fivetofightcancer.com/

Please feel free to share this site with anyone you think would be interested.  I look forward to seeing you there.  

Thank you,

AnnMarie Howard

Carl Bloch Exhibit Goes Up

The Service

Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua

Wow, another week gone by in my mish. The weeks seem to just fly right on by me and off into the non-existent nica sunset. :( Jk. I love my time out here in Puerto! It is fantastic! This week is going to be tough though because we're going to [fly to] Managua because Elder Clarke from the Quorum of the 70 is coming and apparently he wants to ask us what is going on with the area. I'm kinda nervous because our Mission President is not happy with us...so this week is going to be very interesting (especially if he takes us all out of Puerto and does E-Changes).

Anyway, I continue working hard. Trying to learn Miskito--a little at a time but still progressing--as well as trying to be a good [trainer] and a good missionary. The Lord has blessed me with a lot of responsibility and I'm just now getting into the habit of everything, which means that a change might be coming... Although I do enjoy having the ability to be the main Elder speaking while we're teaching, etc. Sometimes it seems so stressful having to do a lot of the things by myself, regarding the language, but it's a work in progress.

We just finished organizing all of the important auxiliaries in the branch this week, as well as counted the real CIMI (recent convert list) and divided it from some of the other units. We've also planned some great activities for the branch over the rest of the month. We should be seeing a lot success in regards to our church membership this month.

I still cannot get over how many lessons the Lord is teaching me day by day, week by week here in the mish. I honestly wonder how many I will remember and how many I'll forget; if I should [write] them in a book or just hope not to forget them, I know not what I need to do.

Well, I love you all and hope that all is well wherever this email finds you. Stay in touch with the Lord and with me and we'll all see each other sooner than we can imagine!

Love,
-Elder Braden D. Bolton

Hugs, Toni, About Family on Facebook

Hi Myrna,
    How are you?  I'm about the same.... had a CT scan last week & basically nothing has changed, which is a good thing.
    I just wanted to tell you that I am struggling with the decision on whether or not to add some of your relatives to my facebook page as 'friends'.  Not because I don't feel friendly towards any of them, but since we are not Mormons, or religious at all...  I guess I just think maybe some of my stuff, or my friends stuff, or my kids & step-kids stuff, may be embarrassing either to them or to me.  Sometimes one of us may use what you would consider to be foul language... (I'm sorry, but the
F-word is one of our favorites & we use it frequently when speaking... not so much in writing, but you never know when it may be just the right word for the situation!)
    Anyway, that's why I have not responded to the friend requests..... your thoughts?
Gotta run, need to do some outdoor chores while it's not raining or too cold.  Hope all is well with you & yours.
Hugs, Toni

Letter from Gramps to Braden

Dear Elder Bolton:

Do not flip out when you receive a letter from me. It might be unusual, but, here it goes.

It may go something like this: “One bright day in the middle of the night two dead soldiers stood up to fight, they drew their swords and shot each other. A deaf policeman heard the noise and shot again the twice dead boys.” What does that have to do with my letter? It got your attention, right?

Well here it goes. It does not seem like you have been in the mission field for this amount of time. One more month and the first four months are gone. I would assume by now you have adjusted to the climate, food and culture--especially to the food. Food wise, which ones are the best liked and which ones are the  least liked?

When I went to Denmark, eating buttermilk soup or col sko (a buttermilk drink) raw fish and etc. were not my favorite things to eat. However, by the time I was just a few months into my mission I could sit down and eat or drink them all, and enjoy them.

People-wise how is it going? Do you do a lot of tracking or do you get a lot of referrals? Ben was telling us that you had three baptisms already. That is great!

Is it one family or a combination? What doctrines caught their eyes? What income level are the people in the area you are in? Are they rich or poor or is it a combination?

While I was in Denmark, we averaged about 130 missionaries. We averaged about 90 baptisms a year. Some missionaries would baptize a family, so when you calculate the figures there were a lot of missionaries who, after two and one half years, went home with out any baptisms. My first companion was one of them. We worked hard for six months. I believe we were one of the top tracking companionships for the number of hours spent tracking. 

I was by chance in the mission office, which was in the south end of the church building, and as I walked past the chapel door I could see a missionary in the back of the chapel with his head bowed down. I recognized his hair. When I got to him, I could see that he was crying. I sat down and asked him what was the matter. He said he was on his way home and, after two and and a half years, he had not even baptized “one snot nosed kid.” He was referring back to a story told by a general authority who happened to be the kid that a missionary had spoken of by stating that “all I did was baptize one snot nosed kid.” Today they only have sixty missionaries in all of Denmark. As far as baptisms are concerned, their average is about the same.

I noticed in your letter that you stated how the Lord puts us in various positions and we then receive challenges through that particular calling. Wait until you come home and, down the road a bit, you are called to be a bishop. Now days the stake presidency trains new bishops. Back when I was called to be a bishop they handed me the bishop’s hand book and I had to learn what was in it. There was a lot of fasting and praying on my part. The Lord blessed me in many ways. Some day I hope to share some of them with you.

Every thing here is going as usual. After next week, we will be out of the grandchild sitting, except for emergencies. Rachel will be going to kindergarten. We were up to her fifth birthday party and the going away party for Ben. However, two Sundays ago we had all the Utah familes at our home for a  combination “see you later” party for the Ohio Trauntveins and for Ben. 

Enough for now. If If I tell you everything now I won’t have any more to tell you later on. Know that we love you and admire what you are doing. 

Love grandpa T.