An Email From Rebekah :)

Hey family!

How is everyone doing? Hopefully super great!

Things are going well here. My companion is learning how to teach from the heart, and it's such a fun transition to watch. I'm glad we're companions. She's doing really well and I'm sure we'll be friends our whole lives.

There is so much need here in my area. The members need support, there are tons of less actives, and we are in need of baptisms too. We are working hard. It keeps me dependent on the Spirit and I ask all the time if we are doing what we are supposed to, because there is so much to do. We have a new Ward Mission Leader and together with the Zone Leaders (who also work in our area) we have some plans to really energize this ward. There is also so much financial need. It's so hard to see people literally starving, shoeless, and tired. I love these people here. They have lifestyles completely different from ours. They suffer their whole lives through. I am trying my best to get everyone we talk with to smile, a happy smile. They all need so much more joy. It's a different feeling to know that we are making such a difference, but in such a different way.

We are going to start having weekly activities in different areas of the ward. One week we will go to one neighborhood and have an activity in a member's home, the next week in another area. The idea is to hold in an a less active's home. Ask another less active family to share the message and another to provide the game. I think it's going to work really well. I am excited to let you know how it works. We are also going to organize volleyball every other week. Volleyball is relatively unexsistent here, and I am really excited to get it going. The ward mission leader said he is going to tell people there will be expert teachers to train them. :) That's me and the other zone leader. Funny, huh? But here, we are expert. It's going to be fun to transition for the expert volleyball teachers to their teachers in following Christ.

I love the mission so much. The other day in companion study I was going to share a scripture with my companion. To start, I said, "I love the mission." And then I just started to cry. I was filled with an overwhelming love for this work, more strong then I've ever felt before. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has invited me to be here. That I am a missionary and in this mission. I love the mission so much. I told my companion I always knew I would like the mission and that I would probably enjoy it quite a bit, but I never expected to love it so much. I didn't know it was possible.

We have many investigators, but none that are progressing a ton. We find new investigators every day, but drop just as many every day. We do have one, that I imagine will get baptized. Her name is Suli. She already has been to church three time with her sister who is visiting from Utah. She has been traveling all over Guatemala with here sister and so we haven't been able to teach her. But she is reading the Book of Mormon and loved conference. I hope so much that she gets baptized.

Thank you mom for sharing that you have seen blessings for my mission. I think that is the first time I've heard that and it was really nice to hear. Sometimes I pray that my family will be able to see only the blessings of our missionary service, and that maybe they can mention it to us. Thank you.

My companion is learning English and it is so fun to teach it a little. I wish she could come visit us sometime in the States, but Nicaragua is a very poor country and that would be relatively impossible.

I love you all very much! Thank you for everything! I got a very cute card from Michelle this week and I was so happy to get it. You are so talented Shelly!

Best of luck with everything!

Love,
Rebekah

Soup, Salad, Bread Sticks and Chocolate: What a Guy!

Today Branden took me to Olive Garden for the first time. We both orderd the Soup, Salad and Breadstick deal. It was super delisous and if filled me up really fast. After that we went to Sees Chocolate where he baught a half pound of chocolate for my mom. Earlier today she was explaining to us that she was stressed and chocolate was the only thing that would make her happy. He suprised me by asking for a half pound assorted box.
We ate a few on the way home and gave the rest to my mom who was very excited for her gift. See how sweet my man is? :) I am lucky... and so is my family.

"Ugh you ungly bug get out of my garden!"

Gardening never works out the way I plan. Usually I am sitting in a math class staring out the window at the green grass and the shining sun, wishing i was outside working with nature. I picture myself going out with a cute pair of gloves and a smile on my face. I quickly weed or turn the soil of my designated area (if you have seen my yard you know very well that this cannot be done quickly). Then I grab some seeds and plant them in a perfect arrangement. I step back to look at my work and, Ta Da! I see an amazingly perfect piece of heaven that I created. I walk off into the sunset and all is well leaving something that looks a little like this

Yesterday was a wonderfully beautiful day, which inspired me to garden just as a I described above. I got home as quickly as I could and with the first moment of free time I started to execute my plan. I was able to find a cute pair of gloves, I was smiling, and the sun was mostly shining. All was going according to plan, so far. I looked at what was once a well cared for vegetable garden and sighed. I started my little garden last year after having a similar day dream in math class as described above. It looked really good at first, but as soon as summer semester started -- well my gardening days ended. So now I sat grimacing at the severely neglected weed patch trying to find signs of life. Nevertheless, I had a job to do and I WAS going to do it. I stuck my hand on a clump of weeds, closed my eyes and just pulled. They came out nicely. I went on in this manner for about 10 minutes, it was all going well: I was not dirty or sweaty and there were even some birds chirping in the back ground. I noticed a bunch of small rocks in my garden. I leaned in to take a closer look-- they were not rocks. About 100 dead rolli pollies laid in the back of part of my garden. "eh!" I exclaimed, "This is now the rolli polli grave yard" I said. I had no respect for their dead so I wisked them all away. I then preceded in my weeding but was distracted again by a large greed thing that fell out of a plant I had just pulled out. Oh I thought, that green stick has a bunch of little knobs at the bottom. They were not knobs. It was a nice thought though. my green stick was actually a large dead Caterpillar. For some reason this really disgusted me. I could not help but exclaim, "UHG you ugly bug, GET OUT of My GARDEN!". It did not move. I had to touch it; I thought I was going to die. I quickly picked it up and threw at my neighbors yard. I continued weeding and discovering dead things. I was almost at the end of the garden when something with more legs then I wanted to count crawled out of the dirt onto the bricks that acted as the walls of my garden. Naturally, I screamed. That was a freaky bug and I did not like it. Avoiding the tiny monster like the plague, I finished weeding and steeped back to admire my work. It was... kind of sad looking, but it was an improvement. I decided to smile and try to be proud. It did not workout exactly how I planed but it was still-- a good effort. Man i hate bugs. But I love to garden.

hmmm

This is what we sent to Daniel and Rebekah about an hour after he proposed so I am slightly giggly. I could not stop laughing. I was not going to post this but I was threatened. So, this is me posting an embarrassing video.
...Sorry if it does not work...

Inspirational Story

About The Love Of My Life

Branden in one word: indescribable. Branden is like a firework; he can turn the darkest nights into a colorful dream come true. He knows exactly what to say when I am down and is always carful to make me feel important. Just thinking about him makes me warm and I have to smile. He is someone that I can really talk to. I never have to doubt that he cares and is listening to my endless speeches. In the fall we would sit for hours under the stars on my front porch and just talk. He would laugh at my silly stories and grow concerned when I expressed my fears. He would give his opinion to my crazy ideas. Together we shared our hopes and dreams, our heartbreak’s and letdowns. When it got cold outside our long talks continued and still do. When I am going through a hard time he listens as if the world depends on it, then pauses and gives sincere advice. He pampers me when I am not well and encourages me to do my best. He has a unique and exciting personality. He is willing to work for his dreams, and is not afraid to dream big. Branden is not okay with just going through the motions. He uses he creativity to add variety and excitement to everyday life. For our first date he owed me dinner but knew that I did not like to eat in front of people. So he took me to the one place where, “you order a lot of food and never eat it.” He kept it a surprise and that’s exactly what I felt when we pulled into Chuck E Cheese that night. Branden really is the sunshine in my day. He never lets me forget how much he loves me. I can count on him to dry my tears and hug me when I feel like the world is at its end. He is patient when I am all but agreeable and tries to understand my different way of looking at the world. I am excited to start my new life with him; I know that we can be Amazing together. As long as we both continue to do our best we will be capable of wonderful things. The best part about Branden is that he is determined to always love me, even when I go crazy, and I know he will and I will always love him.
Is He not the Cutest? :)

A Perfect Moment: The Proposal

Branden and I only started talking seriously about getting married the week before he proposed. It was kind of sudden to us both but we ended up both praying about marriage and to my amazement felt like being together forever was what we were supposed to do.
Sunday came and that afternoon Branden came over to start planning things (temple and date). We were sitting at the kitchen table when out of nowhere he stood up and declared that the room was hot and he wanted to go somewhere. He asked my mom if we could take the car and before I knew it we were driving in the rain up the canyon. He was acting as if he did not know where we were going. We turned into Nunn’s park. Rain still poured as we told each other stories and talked. For a moment we sat in silence, it felt so nice to be with him. The silence was broken when he told me that he had a story for me, but he did not want to tell me in the van because it was stuffy. I was sure he just wanted an excuse to kiss in the rain. When I got out of the van he took my hand and we started to walk and he started a story.
Okay, I know I am blind and should have gotten the hint here but we talked about these things a lot, so I was completely oblivious. We started up the trail to Bridal Vail Falls. The rain was still coming down and the cold began to turn my nose red. He continued his story. By the end of his story my heart was liquid. I looked to the left and saw the first falls. As I starred at the falls Branden touched my shoulder and I turned to him and smiled. He looked me in the eyes and to my complete surprise and utter joy knelt to one knee as he reached into his pocket and said, “Amber, will you marry me?” I was happier than I had ever been before. I knew it was coming but I was still so excited that I felt like I was bursting at the seams. I put my hands up to my mouth and said “yes”….Many times; It was the only thing I could say. The rain still poured, the sky was grey, and I was starving, but it was somehow bliss. He put a beautiful ring on my finger and we walked back to the car. I probably said some silly things that I don’t remember. All I remember is how perfect it all felt.

I could not stop smiling the entire way home and for the rest of the night. When we pulled into my drive way we saw a head quickly disappear – they all knew, and were waiting for us” When we walked in the door every one (but Daniel and Rebekah of course) were right there waiting with huge quirky smiles. We stood there in a slightly awkward moment, when finally mom yelled, “CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!” which was the cue for everyone to pull out bags of confetti. Within seconds colorful paper was everywhere. We talked for a while and then sat at the table for dinner. Fried Chicken, potatoes, and corn filled our stomachs as we enjoyed each other’s company. Everything seemed so perfect, and for that moment it really was.