February 1, 2021

Joseph Ross I’ve been praying so much about you. I love you so much and I want to help and support you in anyway I can. I have been mindful and wondering if family history work could energize your missionary work these last five months of your mission. I wonder if in the same way you have offered your physical help you could offer your mental and spiritual help to help people with their family history. There are so many simple wonderful ways to begin. If you just help them identify and record there for generations or five generations and then try to get stories and information about each of those people that is such a great way to start. I wonder if you put on Facebook marketplace or Las Vegas classifieds or whatever that you would be glad to offer a free online appointment to help introduce people to a host of Free family history resources. I’ve just been thinking about that and I think that would be incredibly awesome because it would lead to easing into a conversation about proxy work for the dead and sealing families and what the gospel has to offer regarding eternal families. Here’s a list of blessings of family history work Increased understanding of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice; Increased influence of the Holy Ghost to feel strength and direction for our own lives; Increased faith, so that conversion to the Savior becomes deep and abiding; Increased ability and motivation to learn and repent because of an understanding of who we are, where we come from, and a clearer vision of where we are going; Increased refining, sanctifying, and moderating influences in our hearts; Increased joy through an increased ability to feel the love of the Lord; Increased family blessings, no matter our current, past, or future family situation or how imperfect our family tree may be; Increased love and appreciation for ancestors and living relatives, so we no longer feel alone; Increased power to discern that which needs healing and thus, with the Lord’s help, serve others; Increased protection from temptations and the intensifying influence of the adversary; and Increased assistance to mend troubled, broken, or anxious hearts and make the wounded whole. Those blessings come from Elder Dale G Redland. It might be awesome to share these blessings with your zone and have them also consider offering help with family history. Maybe you’re already doing that but that was just a thought I had in your behalf this week. Update on the fam: I wish I could say no car accident this week but I can’t. Sweet Lizzy went to get rollers to paint Sethie‘s room and got rear ended by an 80-year-old man who got out and said sorry hon and gave her his phone number. What is it with us and cars? Seth had one of the greatest weekends of his life. Trevor and Ryan came up from California and stayed with Angie and they invited south down the entire weekend. He had a friend party with boys and girls with Derek‘s friends, he went snowboarding, got to play games and make music and have fun the whole weekend he just got home this morning. Those crazy kids got up at 3 AM to go play basketball because they just weren’t done being together so he’s taking a nap and checking into school. He added ballroom and the Charlie Brown play and joined scouts all in the last two weeks. I don’t know why I feel so much happier when my kids are super busy. I get really stressed out when they’re laying on the couch watching TV. I’m not sure that that is always the right response on my part. Spenny is really going through it trying to figure out his next steps with Lizzie with school with majors with life with everything. He’s so sweet and I’m so prayerful and mindful about him. Big decisions. We had some super cute girls live with us this week from BYU they were fleeing Covid. They had roommates that were diagnosed with positive results and needed to get away so it was really really fun they’re awesome. We had a sweet time with Grandma Raspberry last night talking about revelation and she told us the sweetest sweetest story. She said when grandpa Raspberry left on his mission she came up with his parents and also her mom I think or maybe his grandma or some thing to bring him to his mission in Salt Lake, and then they dropped her off at her apartment because she was going to Stevens Henegar‘s secretary school in downtown Salt Lake. She said it was so hard for her when he left because they were so close and she came home and was alone and she said a prayer and she said I don’t think I’ve ever prayed like that in my entire life but I just prayed that if it was the right thing thatEverything would work out. She said the spirit absolutely flooded her head to toe and it wasn’t necessarily an answer that she would be with Grandpa but she knew that God was there and that he would help the right thing to happen she said I don’t think I’ve ever prayed a prayer like that and got an answer like that and then she was so exhausted after that experience she slept for hours in the middle of the day. And then she slept all the way back homeTomorrow night in the car as well. That was really fun to hear and she never shared that with me before. So a decision has been made to not hold track. The kids found out about it yesterday and there were two kids that were so upset they started crying and left the zoom with the bishop. All the kids were so profoundly disappointed. This is hard. Of course we’re going to try to do some awesome activity we’ve got to think of something really wonderful and epic that will accomplish similar goals and give them lots of time together. We’re going to have to gather in small group so we’re thinking about doing age groups so that they still get to mingle with somebody in the stake instead of just their ward. Annie had such a super fun time they had a quadruple date with Annie Sam Spenny Lizzy Rissa a Brigham Ryan so I guess it was five couples and then other fun cute kids and they did improv games and had a cooking contest . it was just awesome it was at Angie and Evan‘s house and they were gone from like two o’clock to nine o’clock . it was such a fun day for them . Laura has Covid grandma is quarantining because she got around Laura, they’re trying to put sheathing on the sides Of Jeni and Smitty’s house. The weather has been warm which is kind of creepy. I made a promise to have any father yesterday that I would read the book of Mormon for a half hour every day. I’ve been reading but not that much and it’s one of my consecrations to get through this 18 credits semester. I also think I’m going to do $50 a fast offering extra each month. I really need his help so very very much. I have been so mindful of you and all the other missionaries this week. I sent an email to the stake presidency wondering if we could have the youth in our stake submit questions anonymously, and the missionaries from our stake serving all over the world could answer those questions through small teaching videos and we could fill our Bluffdale Battallion Instagram with missionaries that they know testifying of the truth regarding questions they have. I think that would be so awesome. What do you think about that? It seems like missionaries are really trying to find something positive to do. For example, cody Cowleybmade a birthday video for Spencer. I was able to testify of the saviors infinite pure and perfect love yesterday with a couple of young women presidency‘s from words in our stake. It is so delicious and so beautiful if we can focus on his unqualified unconditional and unfailing love there’s so much joy in this beautiful gospel. And there is so much help and there’s so much patience and there’s so much mercy and there’s so much grace and I just love it. I love the scripture from Isaiah that says before you call I answer he’s preparing an answer to our prayers before we even under them. Nothing could be more beautiful than the truth. I love you Joseph Ross we really really really miss you I hope you know that. We are counting down the minutes until we can hold you in my arms again. We’re so proud of you as you valiantly knock out this last five months and leave everything on the table. Let me close with this little story that I just love there was a man who was converted and he had been through several sets of missionaries and when he got up to speak his baptism he said do you know who my converting missionary was? He said it’s the first missionary I came in contact with. He knocked on my door and I slammed the door in his face. But then he said, “I never forgot his smile “. You have a gorgeous smile that speaks volumes of the joy of the Savior‘a Redemptive love and Heavenly father’s plan to wrap us in his arms and bring us home. Use that smile tell your little Barbie muscle smiles hurt :-). You never know. Your smile melts my heart and I love you. Love momzies