Thanksgiving week has already been pretty good so far!

Morning!

Thanksgiving week has already been pretty good so far! On Saturday our ward held a pre-thanksgiving potluck and food drive. We had a really good turn out and there were quite a few non-members there as well. It felt really good to be with everyone and it was just a successful event. The food was actually really good. One person smoked a turkey and it ended up being super moist and flavorful (that's when you know you lucked out on turkey...when it is not dry.) and then we had most or not one of all kinds of novembery foods. But sadly we didn't have any cement potatoes. Maybe those students liked them so much that they didn't have time to say anything haha. Then for Thanksgiving the Hansens invited all the missionaries to come over if they wanted to or didn't have a family to eat with. So that should be a lot of fun! You are right though, the work might be a little tricky, but I think the zone has a couple service projects lined up and so hopefully we can be or at least feel productive. 

With Elder Bracken at the football game a few weeks ago

Elder Smiley and I at the lake

Mom, I think you have turned into a a true gospel teacher. Not only in Sunday school, but just all the time. You are so concerned about the students in your class and the people around you that you that your motivation is purely for them to grow and progress. That is very humble and it shows because you live what you teach. One time in the MTC I was talking about how I am nervous to talk to people and to teach others. And our Branch President said, "Elder, it is good to be nervous sometimes, it means that you care about it." Not saying that if you aren't nervous that you don't care, that is definitely not true, but when you do get nervous  that is probably a good indication that  you are thoughtful about the situation and the people involved. 

Hey I was thinking too when I was reading these letters just how awesome of parents your are. You guys talk a ton about us and the things that are going on in our lives. (Meaning your children) It shows that we are a part of your life, that you are so invested in our well being and what we love to do that our life is part of yours. We are a family and everything that we do, we are all part of it. I think that is awesome and it makes me really happy. You guys are really the best parents and the best of siblings (To Haley, Taylor, Emma and Jordan.)

Well I wanted to share one cool experience that happened this week. We had a lot, but this one stuck out to me. So on thursday things were a little slow, two of our appointments fell through and so we had a couple free hours. We were able to fill our time in, but it was still a little slow. We were walking to the bus stop and for some reason I just felt that we needed to talk to somebody, we just didn't know who it was yet. So I told that to Elder Smiley and we started to keep are eyes peeled...just a little more. We got on the bus and we were sitting next to a cute Asian family, so we started a conversation but started and ended with small talk. As we were sitting there B. got on the bus. We have seen B. around quite a bit and we have become friends. We started to talk to him on the bus and then he got off with us because he lives in the same complex as us. We ended up talking with him for about an hour about life and plans. We invited him to the potluck too and he came! It is cool to see friendships like that grow and he added me on Facebook as well so we can stay in contact. Pretty cool I think.

I love you guys so much and I hope that you have an awesome week!