Grand to be in Grand Rapid's

Grand Rapids has certainly been living up to it's name during the last several weeks for Elder Mabey and Elder Barney. Thomas has decribed Elder Barney as someone that knows how to work when he is suposed to and knows how to have a good time at the right times. They seem to be doing a GRAND job. Maggie Emgach was baptized Saturday, July 10th and Thomas conferred the Holy Ghost on Sunday. I his words "I haven't been that happy in a long time . . . it was sweet."

Click to enlarge

"We keep seeing miracles all the time. . . Blessings are all around me. If you don't count your blessing you wont know you have them."

Elder Mabey says Good Bye To Big Rapids

We got a letter from Thomas today that said he was being transfered to the second largest city in Michigan. He isn't sad to leave Big Rapids, but he recognizes that he learned valuable lessons in the three months he was there. He loved his last companion, Elder Hunt. They worked hard and had fun while they were doing it. Here is a quote from his letter:

It’s crazy how hard it is to get people to pick up the book and read it. That’s how Dawn was this transfer. She said that she believed in everything we were saying besides Joseph Smith, but she wouldn’t read the Book of Mormon because she knew it wasn’t true. It’s hard to tell people what they are missing out on without offending them. In the future I plan on emphasizing the question "what if it were true? How important would that be for you?" it really is a crazy story. Everything about Mormonism is nuts. I know because I have researched a bunch of other religions. That’s why it’s so important to know if it’s true so you're not just wasting your time with some bogus story. Because if Joseph Smith really saw what he said he did, then that means Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that his church is again on the earth. And all revelations given since that time are true as well- pretty intense stuff. And that being true it means that as members of the church we have a huge responsibility to spread the gospel, which literally means good news, to everyone that will listen.

Michigan Missionary

Who ever coined the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" was right. We got the first pictures from Thomas and it opened my eyes as to what really goes on in the MTC and to where he is in Michigan. For those of you who have already lived the mission experience, this will not be new, but you might enjoy the JOY on the faces.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

It's easy to see that the mission hasn't taken the fun out of Thomas. He is spreading the good news of the gospel as well.

If you want to read his letters and you haven't been getting them,

let me know and I'll add you to the list.

Adding Photos

I wanted to add photos of the knee immobilizer to my comment about it so you can see that Grandpa had it as a constant companion, except we don't have a photo of it with his PJ's. It was worn consistently for three different 6-week periods --each time he dislocated his hip-- a total of 18 weeks in 2009. I'm glad I didn't have to wear it! I thought it bad enough that I had to strap it on and take it off! Hope better days are on the way for 2010!

TRY SOMETHING NEW

After the year we've experienced at our house we are looking to have a better one in 2010. We did learn some new things, like calling ambulances and ER routines, but they kept repeating themselves so we need something else to think about.

Because we should never stop learning, I am trying out this Blog. It appears that the other people on here tried it at least once. It looks to be rather neglected so it will be a good place to practise.

I hope we have seen the last of the knee immobilizer, but need to keep it as a reminder of how thankful we are that it is no longer needed.

Memorial Day in South Jordan

On Memorial Day this year Thomas got the grand treatment.  It was an absoultely beautiful day, I had my camera and took pictures so maybe your memories can be jogged of Memorial Days of yester year.  

We started off the morning with the traditional ceremony at the South Jordan Cemetary where we ran into many extended family members and had what every kid waits for, the firing of the guns.  In case you were wondering, kids still scramble to pick up the shells.  Visiting with the Burgons and Miners was had and then we left Grandpa and Grandma to decorate the graves and we began a tour of the Mabey properties.

John reminised about the Albert and Celestine Mabey home and told Thomas where the original cabin had been.  We drove down Mabey Lane and checked in on the new development that is starting to take shape.  If you haven't seen the Hindu Temple or Annt Mame's house, I recommend that drive.  Then we finished our rounds with admiring the beautiful old farm equipment in the farm yard.  There are some dandies.  

Hope your Memorial Day was as lovely as ours was.

Endless Song

On Monday night we went to hear Marianne's choir, the University of Utah Singer's where we heard several beautiful pieces of music, but there was one in particular that was outstanding.  It was a newly commissioned piece especially for this choir.   The text was written by a former member of the choir and the music by a famous composer.  When the Singers sang the piece it was spellbinding.  If you would like to listen to it click here.  It's called Endless Song and I think they will be performing it in Eastern Europe in a few weeks on their tour as one of their contest pieces.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did  in person!