May 25 - 31, 2009

Fortie Family Flyer
May 25 – 31, 2009

Very busy week, very little sleep for us all. Last Sunday, Matt Hutchings invited me to go for a bike ride on Monday morning with a group he had put together. I have been sick for a while so I have done nothing to keep myself in shape and haven’t been on my bike since last fall. I hesitated because of that but then said I would go. As I thought more about it I decided to go up late so they would all go without me. I could then go at my own pace without anyone feeling obligated to stay back with me (all a bunch of young guys from the ward). Then when they came down I could just stop where they met me and go down with them. It turns out they went clear up and around the mountain so I gave up after going further than I have ever been and went down the same way I went up. It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes with my many stops for rest to get a bit more than half way up (a climb of a little over 1000 feet (my watch tells me that) and I don’t know the distance in miles but most likely only 3) and then 10 minutes to come back down. It takes Matt 45 minutes to go all the way up (around 4 miles) and then 10 minutes to go down the other side. I am way out of shape and getting old. It was very muddy from the rain we had all weekend and even though it made it a bit harder going up, slipping on steep hills etc., it made it more fun coming down as my tires would slip right into position to avoid rocks and logs making for great adventure. I also rode to the library on Wednesday to try and get back into the biking mode (get my lungs and legs used to working and my rear end used to a bike seat) then I rode up Yellow Fork Canyon again on Saturday morning to see how far I could get. I went up the other side this time and made it further than I have ever gone on that side of the mountain but I took a wrong turn near the top so I didn’t make it all the way around. I ran into a few other bikers, hikers and people on horses along the trail and a couple of guys stopped on horses to talk to me and after I asked them a few questions about the trail they let me know I was on a very steep trail going up to the top of the mountain and told me where the right one was. I went down and got on the right trial where some of the best scenery was but I didn’t have enough time or energy to make it all the way around again. One of these days I’ll get into good enough shape that it won’t take me 3 hours to go up the canyon and around the mountain.
We had a big play practice this week. Things are shaping up for a great play. There are some great voices in this one.
Friday night we went to Chad’s birthday party. We were late because of work but when we got there we had lots of good food and games to play. The cake we very good and we had a great time. We sent them to Treasure Island with grandpa and grandma for their birthdays. It’s a play at the Hale Center Theater and it is very well done. Hope they enjoyed it.
The girls had their last practice for the Temple celebration on Thursday. They were at the conference center from 3:30 to 11:00 pm. We got tickets to go to the conference center to see them but Tami got sick so I went alone. I sat about 10 rows back from the prophet and Elder Eyring. I was on the end seat next to the center isle where some of the kids that knew me would give me high fives as they ran past. The program was excellent and it was great to be there and feel the electricity from 7,000 kids performing one group after the other for 2 hours. This will be an amazing activity they will always remember. Sunday was nap after church day for those needing to catch up from little sleep all week for all the activities, home teaching and talking with Nathan who is finally moved into his apartment. Oh, I almost forgot, he had his truck stolen this week and they found it the next night destroyed so bad they towed it away because they didn’t know if it was drivable. Nathan is going to be able to go see in on Monday. It was stolen right out of their apartment parking lot. Hope insurance will take care of it.
Well, that’s all the news for us.
Keep dancing,
Ken & clan



From Elder Fortie:

Greetings one and all from the great place I call my mission... for the next 3 weeks... sigh...
Okay so you know how I told you all I was going to tell you this week everything that was going on last week that I hadn't quite figured out yet? Well I lied... Because I still haven't figured it all out yet... haha. So the madness news will yet wait along with my new address.
So this week I have been getting re-adgusted (is that spelled right? I'm begining to forget English... the other week I was up in front of half the mission speaking and I couldn't remember the word for misericordioso (merciful) in English, and finally had to just say it in Spanish and say who knows that word in English, a few of the Spanish Elders in the audience all chimed in with the answer, so that was my dumb moment, that and last night I had to ask my companions how to spell reception, because in Spanish it's recepcion, and I could swear it was spelled the same in English.) to being down here, I cover the area of the mission that has the mission office, the airport, and president Keller’s house, so we see a lot of him and all the coming and goings that go on around here, it's pretty crazy. Plus I am also double covering the Assistants area because they are so busy closing down the mission that they don't have time to work in their area at all. So I am running around like a duck with its tail on fire.
But a cool thing was I got to go to the wedding reception (thus why I needed to know how to spell reception) this week of the daughter of a family I used to visit last time I was down here. They are great long term members, but her new husband is a recent convert of about a year and a half that I got to work with to help prep. him for their temple wedding. So that was really cool. His parents are not members, and I helped them set up for the reception at the church and got to have a good chat with them, they are great people and perhaps with time and the example of their son and new daughter in Law they will begin to feel the power of this gospel.
This week the adults had some special meeting during church so they asked us Elders to help take care of the primary, we had a grand old time, and when we left all the primary children told us were way better then the adults. So we felt pretty cool, at least the kids like us. A lot of people were excited to see me back at church this Sunday, I haven't been in this ward since November. Especially the Bishop was glad to have me back, he is an amazing man, and he and I get along great and had a lot of laughs while getting a lot of good done, I'm excited to work with him again, he is my favorite bishop in the mission. He is pretty young, only like 30, but does an amazing job at fulfilling his responsibilities and is very involved in the mission work, yet he is a blast to be around and just a great friend.
I live in an apartment with 5 Elders, two of them are from the English program and Elder Lisonbee, is one of my best friends in the mission and he is just hilarious, he and I have a blast together! We have some of the other Elders in our apartment rolling sometimes when the two of us get going. Also I had an interview with Pres. Keller this past week and he told me my letters are his favorite to read of all the letters he gets from missionaries because everyone else just writes and says stuff about the area, which is good, and which I do, but when I write, I have a blast with it, requesting things like a new Volkswagen hippie bus with a supplied fridge of cheese cake and chocolate milk, or telling him random funny stories, drawing him fun pictures and stuff, or just being myself. I don't just list what's going on, I write with personality which no one else apparently does and he just loves it, he says I start smiling before I even start reading your letters, as soon as I see that it's from you I can't help but wonder and start laughing about what I'm going to read now. Last week I wrote him a soap opera to explain to him something that happened in the canal. All my interviews with President Keller are just a blast, everyone else says he asks them all these questions about what they are doing and stuff, with me he says "Elder Fortie are you still temple worthy?" I tell him yes and he says "good, that's all I need, cause I know the answers to the rest of the questions already, now did you ever hear the joke about the genie and the Oscar Meyer wiener?" etc. etc. I truly love that man, I cannot imagine my mission without him... it will be so sad to see him go in 3 weeks, I cannot picture a better mission president. We have the highest obedience level of all the missions around us, and it's because everyone wants to obey President Keller because everyone LOVES the man! No one has any desire to disobey. He has truly mastered Joseph Smith's teaching of "we do not govern men's lives for them, we teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves". President Keller has never had to impose all these extra rules that all the other missions have, because he teaches us what we should do, and knows we know what to do, and since we all respect him so much, we do it. It will be a sad, sad day to see him go.
Well I am about out of time, I left the new mission address home, so I'll get it to you later, sorry, but I still have the same address for now anyways. Keep a stiff upper lip, and make sure it's a stiff up, not a stiff down!Love Elder Fortie.

From Jennifer:
Greetings one and all,
This past weekend, Saturday to be specific, Michelle and I had the chance to be in a celebration for two new temples that have been built near us, but not only for that, it was also a celebration for the blessings that temples bring us, such as eternal families and being able to be in the presence of our Lord and Savior. It really was also a celebration for Him, for what He has done for us, the things that we can’t begin to imagine. Wow I’m really sorry about any spelling mistakes made here; my eyes are so blurry I can’t see the keys. Going up to the conference center you’re all pumped, going over your dance moves in your head then I got up on the stage and I looked out and saw the prophet smiling so big and looking out at US and you realize why you’re really there – why I was really there. I then remembered I was up on stage so I had to pull myself together and not start bawling up there. Then we got to the end and the temple came up and we sang I love to see the temple and I lost it. I felt like I was just going to burst from the power of the Spirit. It was the most amazing feeling in the world and I really would not trade it for anything. Especially when our prophet walked in, the room just filled with a feeling I could never begin to explain. I cried there too and at the end where he went through and shook some of the youth’s hands, yup I was bawling. It was a once in a lifetime experience that is so personal to everyone in their own way, a chance that is beyond description. In fact, at the beginning when we got there I suddenly was hit by the biggest migraine on the face of the earth, I was ready to start crying and not from the spirit this time. It hurt to take a single step, and then I realized I have to dance up on that stage and immediately I knew I couldn’t. Then my friend suggested I should pray, so I did, it helped very gradually but I still thought I couldn’t dance then it came time for us to go line up to get up on stage and just like that it was gone. So I had my own personal miracle I only wish it had lasted cause the second I got home it came back super strong. Ha ha.
Well lots of play practice and last minute assignments from school. Only four more days!!!!!!!! HOORAH! And of course my job. In fact, Saturday morning I babysat and we went to the park, I had three of the boys and we decided to play tag, well pretty soon a little boy and his sister came up to ask if they could play. We said of course, the more the merrier! So they played with us, then two more boys came to ask if they could join us and we all said sure! Next was another little girl and we had quite a few players then they all decided they wanted to play the oh so beloved game-mother goose! So we made a big circle on the grass and started playing that, we got three more players and then after about twenty minutes of that we all decided to play hide and go seek and again we got four more players. At the end we had 19 kids that had joined the boys and I, they all knew me by name and as they one by one or two by two left they asked if I would be there next week, then their mothers thanked me for keeping their children entertained. I just laughed and told them it was no problem and we all had fun. Well I need to go to bed so adieus! Church is true and the book is blue!
-Jennifer Fortie

May 18 - 24, 2009

More pictures at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kensbestpics/Family2009#

Fortie Family Flyer
May 18 – 24, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,
What is going on here is anybody’s guess; it’s all a blur. I think I need to write each night because by the time the end of the week comes along my memory of what happened is gone man, its really gone; gone to the great recycle bin in the sky, only to be retrieved in the resurrection (hopefully only the good stuff).
I worked hard at printing, packaging and labeling pictures for BYU. I took them down and found that they had moved my pictures from a small end at the back of the store to a larger section on a main isle next to other pictures and artwork of better known artists. That felt good. I guess the sales have been consistent enough that they feel I am there to stay. Maybe that move and the addition of a few new temples ( San Diego and a few new shots of temples I already have in the store) will increase the sales even more.
Jennifer and I went to the music run through of The Music Man and there are some great voices there. I am still trying to memorize my lines, hope all goes well.
Michelle went into the doctor Tuesday instead of Friday and he said he didn’t think she needed surgery. He said everyone’s nose is a bit crooked and Michelle’s didn’t seem to be beyond normal. I think we were just hypersensitive because of the break. By the end of the week she had no swelling and no black and blue coloring around her eyes or nose. Looks good!
Michelle pitches for both softball teams in gym. When it is her turn to bat the coach comes in to pitch. This is a coed class but she says the boys are used to overhand from baseball and the girls can’t hit the side of a barn so she has to pitch to both teams. She hit two homeruns so her coach bought her a root beer for doing such a good job. He wants her to join the track team next year. Her schedule is a bit easier so that might work.
Jennifer has been teaching Adam to read and he is doing very well. She sure does a great job with those kids. Sister Arnold is very good to her and they are glad she is there.
Michelle and Jennifer went to a practice for the Temple Dedication Celebration on Thursday night and were gone until about 11:00 pm . They said it’s all coming together. The performance is Saturday May 30th. Michelle’s friend, Preston , is in the extreme dance group that does some pretty fancy flips and stuff. This should be fun to watch. I encourage everyone to get to your stake center this Saturday night and watch it. Who knows, out of the 20,000 kids you may get a glimpse of our girls.
On Friday Michelle and I took a ride on the scooters up into the hills behind our house. We were on a dirt road and when Michelle was almost at a stop and trying to turn she tipped over. No harm done but I’m glad it happened; teaches respect for their weight and size. Except for that the ride was fun.
On Saturday we (except Tami who had to work and doesn’t like the scooters) packed the scooters and a picnic lunch into the truck and headed to grandpa and grandma’s to go with them and Chad and Alicia to visit graves in Heber and Mountain Home. We made it to dad’s brother and grandparents in Heber then decided to eat our picnic with some milkshakes from the Dairy Keen. It started raining as we were getting our shakes so we took them across the street to a pavilion in the park and had a nice lunch. We then headed for Mountain Home for my dad’s other brother who died as a child and his other grandfather and it rained on us most of the way. At Mountain Home the light rain was on again off again at the cemetery then finally came to a temporary stop. We were going to try and ride the scooters up in the canyon where we went camping years ago but because of the rain and the fact that it was getting late we decided to just get the scooters out right outside the cemetery and ride them along the farm road up to the house that my dad’s grandparents lived in so many years ago. They eventually sold it then the next person sold it for a bull and it was moved to where it stands now. Last time we were up there we talked to the residents and were invited in for a tour and took pictures. This time we noticed that a fairly large addition has been added on to the back of the house that is twice the size of the old house; things change. Mountain Home is a pretty farming community out in the middle of nowhere. It looks particularly rustic and homey on a rainy spring day when everything is green. I often wonder about how things turn out. If my grandfather would not have been asked to sing in the Tabernacle Choir he probably would have stayed there and taught school all his life and I would have been from Mountain Home instead of Salt Lake . But then their children would not have met the spouses they did so things really would have been different. So everything works out for the best I suppose. Anyway, grandma and grandpa and Chad and Alicia went home after riding the scooters a few times then Brian rode his scooter and Michelle, with Jennifer on the back, rode our scooter all the way to Duchesne even though the rain started up again. I drove in the truck in front of them and stopped now and then to ask if they wanted to stop but they didn’t, they were having too much fun. In Duchesne we packed them up because the road got busy and fast and then we headed home. We got home late and tired but it was a fun trip.
Sunday grandpa called and invited us to their house for dinner. Alicia had cooked up a nice roast so we couldn’t turn them down. The meal was good and then we decided to get to another grave before dark so we headed to Salt Lake . We met Mike and Linda there to put flowers on the Fortie side. We then headed back for dessert and we talked and had fun until the cows came home, so since they came home we decided it was time for us to go home so we did.
Well, that’s it for this week from our house.
Keep your helmet on,
Ken and clan




From Elder Jason Fortie:
Well one and all, greetings from the chaotic circle of life in which I dwell. I hail to you from a different land, but we shall get to that in a moment. Again I write a day late due to Memorial Day and the closure of the libraries for said holiday. But there is much to say and little time in which to say it... I'm not going to give you all the details of what happened till next week because I'm still trying to figure them out myself... but anyhow transfers were yesterday, and as suspected, after I ripped the Canal apart for 6 weeks, dishing out thousands (literally) of pass along cards, and leaving a pass along card in EVERY SINGLE APARTMENT in my area, they closed it down and pulled us out of there. Sigh, twice in a row I've had to be the one to go in to the crazy places and prep them to be shut down and find what's left worth finding before the madness takes over. Speaking of this madness, my last week in the canal I had an interesting experience, (which I will now share on the condition that mom, you don't call the mission office! They already know about what happened okay, and they are stressed enough). So I'm walking down the street on my way to an appointment and I hear a commotion down the street, I look to see 3 ladies with three kids, arguing with some guy, I paused to see what was happening, the situation got worse as the guy started chasing one of the ladies in a circle around the other 2 ladies and the three kids and the lady being chased was yelling at the other ladies call the police (in Spanish, they were all Hispanic) so one of the ladies tried to do so but the guy started to struggle with her to take her phone, then the lady he was chasing tried to help get him off that lady so she could call the police, at this point in time I was having a very difficult moment, there were a few other men around who had paused to see the situation but no one was doing anything and I was thinking "you're a missionary you probably shouldn't get involved... but I can't just let this happen..." Then he finally shoved one lady to the ground and she hit her leg on the curb cutting it open and he raised his fists as if he was about to attack her. At this moment in time, my thought process of stay out of the situation ended and I took off running at the guy yelling at him in Spanish, he heard me and took off running through the Canal. At first I slowed my pace thinking the situation was over and all would be okay, but to my great dismay the two ladies still standing took off running after the guy! They were on the phone with 911 and were trying to keep track of him to tell the police where he was! So I ran over to the lady on the ground who they had left with the three crying children and said are you okay, she told me yes but go help them! Pointing to her friends chasing the nut case. So I took off full speed in hot pursuit of them, my poor companion, still fairly green, looked like he was about as bewildered as a wildebeest with a lion on it's back, but I was not about to take the time to tell him what to do, I decided he'd figure something out on his own, whether it be to follow me or to stay with the lady and the kids. (luckily he chose to follow me and was about 100 feet or so behind me trying to keep up) So I caught up with the ladies who had rounded a corner and had stopped and were looking around, I asked if they were okay, they said yes but we need to catch him, go find him! So I took off into the Canal but with the head start he had on me while stopping to talk with them I had lost sight of him and I lost him in the Canal. So then I turned back and my companion caught up with me, and we went back to make sure they were all okay, we got back just in time to have these ladies hand me the phone and found myself talking with a 911 operator, I was a bit winded so I tried to explain what I had seen, then they got someone who spoke Spanish and I talked to her for a second then handed the phone back to the ladies. We waited a moment to make sure the guy didn't come back, and that they were going to be okay, then we decided it would be best for us to not be involved in the whole police process so we left when we could hear sirens in the back ground. So that was my fun experience chasing the drunk wife-beater through the canal haha. Yes I know, it could have possibly been dangerous, but just cause I'm a missionary doesn't mean I can just ignore such a situation. maybe I shouldn't tell you these stories till after my mission... anyhow. Fun times in the canal.
But now I am gone from the Canal, I have been sent back to the San Mateo/San Bruno area, where I spent 1 transfer, and as to all that is going on here, well that is what is still the confusing part... which I will explain next week when I understand more of what's going on. But for now, I can tell you my new companions (I'm in a threesome again) are Elder Crepo, who goes home in 4 weeks, and Elder Crosby, our Greenie! This should be an interesting transfer, there are 5 of us, (we live with 2 Elders from the English program) in one apartment, I don't have a bed, I just have a matress in the corner, my desk I made out of a little end table, a leather arm chair and a T.V stand, because they couldn't get me one with all the madness, and I still am not quite sure what my area is or what is going on. It was the most insane transfer I have ever seen! Total madness! But I have news. It has been decided, (for now at least, president may change his mind) that I will be sent to the "California, Oakland mission". Which is keeping up with my pattern of being sent to the most crazy places in the mission you can go haha! It's also very cool because brother Todd Jankowski, Daniel’s dad, also served his mission there! So I will be able to chat with him about that after the mish! I wonder if he's got any old investigators he wants me to go by haha! But I will have a new mission address, which I will get you in the next few weeks, but until June 18th you should still send any thing to the old address, we will change over to the new mission June 22nd. So that's that... I'm off to Oakland, and what ever lies in store for me there. Well my time grows short to write, but I am glad to hear Michelle's face is on the mend. I hope everything else is going well for everyone else out there. So now with Nathan home is Paige still planning on coming down Bay-side or not? Either way, keep me posted, I'll be here haha. Actually I live about 5 minutes from the San Francisco airport, so I'm pretty darn close. Oh, did grandpa ever get my birthday post card? uhm, are you still working on selling my 67 mustang? We need to get that going. And I think that should do it for the week. Care one and all, I hope you are all doing well and that you are working hard at your new callings as ward mission leaders and what not. Keep smiling! Gosh if I can do it you can! HAHA!!!Love,Elder Fortie

May 11 - 17, 2009

More cave pics at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kensbestpics/2009_05_16LehmanCaveTrip#

Fortie Family Flyer
May 11 – 17, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,
Well, weeks come and weeks go and this is one of them. The scooters continue to be fun to ride. To get it up on the kickstand (two prongs that lift half the scooter off the ground) you have to push down on the kickstand and lift up on the back of the scooter while pulling backwards on the handlebars. It’s a bit tricky and in order to ride the scooters beyond just around the neighborhood to friends houses Michelle has to be able to park it (by herself, no friends helping). She couldn’t quite get it until a boy at her school offered to help. Well, you know Michelle, she can’t appear weak in front of a boy so she said she could do it herself and pulled with all her might and finally got it up. What a competitive little thing. At school the coach wouldn’t let her play games during gym because of her broken nose and she wanted to play so he said he would let her if she would wear a football helmet or a hockey mask. She chose the hockey mask so she could play softball. She pitches for her team so they needed her. I would like to have had my camera there to get a shot of her out there pitching softball with a hockey mask on; crazy kid. She seems to be one of the coach’s favorites and gets away with pretty much anything she wants. She can play most of the sports and keeps things fun so the coach likes her.
After our visit last week to the insta-care we decided her nose was looking a little crooked and we should make an appointment with a specialist. In talking to some of them they said that insta-care doctor shouldn’t have said we should wait but that we should have brought her in right away. Unfortunately none of them could get her in within two weeks of the break which seemed to be important to do before it set up wrong and the surgery would be harder requiring a three day stay in the hospital. They told us to just go into the emergency room where they would have specialists on duty who could perform surgery right then. Wow, this is crazy stuff. We told my dad about it and as he was talking to Linda who works at a doctors office they found a specialist who also does plastic surgery who said he could see her next Friday and even though that was a day past the two weeks he said it would be ok. So the saga continues. We’ll let you know next week how that goes. The crazy thing is (if this isn’t all crazy enough) she is in one of the specialty dances for the temple dedication program and out of the 20,000 kids performing she and her partner will be right in the front and in the middle about 3 feet from where the Prophet will be sitting. This is being broadcast to all the Stake Centers around the United States and Canada and all the cameras will be focused on her as they do some rather difficult moves which include her partner running up behind her and putting his hands on her shoulders and jumping over her head. All this is one week after her surgery. A few days ago she wore some Groucho Marx glasses with a big nose that she jokingly told her friends was her real nose now. Maybe she will have to wear that during the performance to protect her nose (j/k). We are going to talk to the doctor about it because she has been training for some time for this and it would be difficult to get someone at this point to take her place. Well, we will keep you informed.
Jennifer’s back was on again off again this week but seems to finally be better. My cough is still hanging around but I am able to do most everything I want. So, for the most part, we are improving.
Nathan called out of the blue this week and said he was home safe and sound. I was thinking he had a few more weeks of depopulating Alkhida system Lords, so that was a welcome relief. He said all went well but things are a bit boring there compared to Iraq; not as much action. He also said the media is really causing a problem by believing reports from Alkhida about all the women and children the US soldiers are killing. He says the stories just aren’t true and the media broadcasting their stories is just causing a lot of hate for Americans that shouldn’t be. I have heard reports on NPR that the Alkhida leaders are killing them and acting like it was the Americans (must be true). People need to be careful about what they believe from TV; they are just after ratings. Anyway, Paige drove up to Washington this past week and got an apartment so they could start somewhat of a normal life together finally. They are still waiting for the moving van to bring all their stuff so they are sleeping on the floor for a few nights (Nathan has a bed in the house he was living in before they were married they are going to go get). Paige’s house in Texas hasn’t sold yet so they are thinking of just renting it out until they can get back there to live in it when Nathan gets out next year. So anyway, welcome back Nathan.

Curt took a group from his base on one of their weekend trips to the Lehman Caves just over the Nevada line. He had room for a few more so he invited us to go along. Brian, Michelle and I went along (Tami worked and Jennifer had a friends birthday party to go to) along with Mary Kay’s nephew and his wife. Mark (one of the employees who went on the Logan trip to the Yurt) and his wife went along as well. We went Friday afternoon, stopped in Delta Utah for dinner then continued to the campground near the cave. It took longer than we thought so we arrived after dark, set up camp quickly and headed for bed. We had planned some Dutch oven peach cobbler and s-mores cooked over a fire for the evening but it was just too late so we had to save those for another trip. Curt brought one of those tent trailers that folds out into a nice roomy place. It was very comfortable; wouldn’t mind having one of those. In the morning we fixed a nice breakfast then headed for the cave. We thought we were still in the Utah time zone but when we arrived at the cave we were an hour early. It turned out fine as we used the time to walk a nature trail up above the cave. It was a nice time and we got a few pictures of lizards, wild flowers, etc. We went on the 90 minute tour of the cave at 9:00 a.m. and it was great. Lots of beautiful formations; a good time was had by all. I wasn’t sure if I should take my tripod or not and now I wish I had, the pictures turned out best if I could set my camera up on a wall or something to use the lights in the cave rather than a flash. When you use a flash it really flattens things out and washes out the beautiful colors in the formations; maybe next time. After the cave we went on a drive up the mountain then went back for lunch and headed home. I got a few pictures but would like to have stopped in Delta for some fun shots of that farm country at sunset. It was very rustic and pretty country. Eureka was also an interesting town that would have been fun to wander through getting some fun pictures of some of the old mining town buildings that are barely standing. Well, we enjoyed the trip and I would like to plan another trip with just photographers to go through the cave to see who could get the most creative picture. Maybe have a contest or something; I’ll bring my tripod for that one.
On Sunday we crashed grandpa and grandma’s house for dinner so we could see Spencer crawl. He is doing great and is still happy as can be in spite of his surgery to get some of his plumbing fixed. It’s going to take him awhile to get back to normal but he’s a trooper. We played golf (the card game), had brownies and ice-cream and made up scripts for a play using Star Wars characters in a spoof on the Wizard of Oz. We had some good laughs with that and decided we should have our own reality show with our family. Some of the crazy stuff we come up with is better than most of what we see on TV and we always end the day with a scripture and prayer so people could get a little spiritual stuff as well. In fact we realized that our scripture time is when some of the craziest stuff comes out. We’ll have to think about that.
Well, it’s late and I must get to bed. Take care and keep spelunking.
Ken and clan



From Elder Fortie:
Well, I'm not dead yet, I can still stand without a walker, and there's still a smile stuck on my face. There sound good? Sometimes I think people would be happier if my e-mails were thus, but alas, they are not. They are more like as follows... Dear people...
Well another week in the canal and things are heating up, it hit 101 degrees yesterday, which when you walk around all day in a black suit with a 20 pound back pack on your back and you live 500 yards from the ocean so the humidity level is pretty high that is a rather less then comfortable situation. My white shirts are no longer white, no matter how many times I wash them they now are a permanent Ivory/grey color... and the collars are just straight up black and brown on the inside. Yes I'm sure you all wanted to hear that, sorry, that's my life so that's what I've got to say.
We've still been hitting the streets hard trying to find anyone worth finding before they ship us out of here, it should be less then a week before I have an idea of which mission I will be sent to, but with me president may decide to make me wait to know for sure until 2 days before our mission ends in the end of June, so we shall have to see... But for now the work still rolls forth. I knock about 200 doors a day here, and of the thousands of those, I think we have about 15 that have told us to come back... so not the greatest success, but success none the less! To all of you out there, let me tell you how much more effective MEMBER missionary work is! If YOU as a member get your friends or neighbors of family members to listen to the missionaries THAT is where the missionaries are effective. It is common belief that tracting is just what missionaries do, it's bunk! It's what we have to do because we don't have anything else to do because members don't do their jobs! SO get out there! Find a body, and make them an appointment with YOU AND the missionaries. That's all I have to say about that. Thank you.
Otherwise things have been going alright here, we seem to be quite the attraction for the drunks around here, all the time they will pull over in their cars as we are driving by and just say stuff like "hey, if you drink a beer with us we will talk about Jesus!" Ever so tempting... but no thanks, but we can still talk about Jesus if you want. Interesting people... Alcohol... it's one of the most evil and ridiculous things on this earth, I say we go back to the days of prohibition, I do believe our crime rates would drastically drop and there would not be nearly so many nuts to drive me up the wall here. My companion had a bit of a breakdown this week, he's from Pepperwood, which is a very rich private area in Utah, and I don't think he's had to make to many decisions for himself nor take to much responsibility on his shoulders before. He is none the less a good hard worker and a decent missionary, but when the work wasn't going the way he wanted it to, and suddenly for possibly the first time in his life everyone around him was not treating him nice and taking care of him, he seemed to have a bit of a melt down. But I had a long chat with him and he seems to be doing better. Hopefully he will hold out this week till transfers, I don't know if he is cut out for work in an area as rough as this place. He lets stuff get to him too easily, you need a pretty thick skin to stay smiling in a place like this.
Well I think I am about out of time, and besides most of what I have to say mostly consists of the strange things people do when they answer their doors while I'm tracting which probably does not interest most of you, so I shall make an end. Thank you for all your support, I hope all is well with all of you, take care, drop me a line some time, or cookies, you can drop me those too if you're in the neighborhood, there is never enough of those (though I do always keep some on hand hehe). Congratulations to the fam on all your callings as ward missionaries, get in there, do me proud, remember, your calling is truly the life blood of what makes us full time missionaries effective, your efforts make our valuable time used more efficiently. Michelle, I have been praying for the quick and surgery-less recovery of your little nose-ito (in Spanish if you want to say something is small you add ito to the end haha). And Jennifer I hope your nose stops picking up strange smells in gym... that is a little awkward... Chad and Alicia I'm glad to hear little Spencer is on the mend and that he is still smiling, you must load him up on lots of sugar to get such a happy face all the time! Nathan and Paige, welcome back Nathan! I wasn't expecting you to be home for another month or so and was about to write you a letter over there, so it's a good thing I knew you got home or that would have been a vain pursuit. I hope you two can get settled in and that all goes well for you! Take care all and keep on smiling, life could be worse (I promise I see it all day every day haha).Love Elder Fortie.
P.S try not to kill yourselves on the scooters.




From Jennifer:

Hello one and all!
Some crazy stuff has been happening around here! Michelle has officially broken her nose and will be going into surgery soon! I had a lovely back injury that had me down and doing nothing for a couple days, then it healed and I managed to hurt it again by thinking it was fine to do gym! But at least it didn’t hurt until AFTER gym (during math, yah my plan worked perfect!) (Just kidding…Maybe) so I still got to do gym! Dad has been quit sick and has been chillen at home for the past couple weeks and much to our surprise mom was the healthy one! But that could not last forever of course so she got a nice big migraine Sunday and she could not make it to church. HaHa. Yup pretty crazy, but that’s our family so what can I say! Well the other week we went to the… are you ready for this? Be prepared for some shock and extreme jealousy! CHINESE BUFFET! YUM! It was heaven! My stomach was having a party! So yummy so yummy! It was for grandpa’s birthday and was great fun! And we got to hang out with the family! It was just amazing!
Mother’s day was super fun to! We headed over to grandma and grandpas for dinner, which was super good, and we got to see the cutest kid on earth, Spencer! And then we were scheduled for dessert at uncle Curt’s but Jason called and all us blabber mouths set off and by the time we hung up dessert was over. But we got to talk to Jas oops I mean Elder Fortie!
The other day at school we were in gym and yes I really was healed that time! But we were jogging and then there was the weirdest smell! I decided to ignore it and keep jogging but a couple minutes after that I started getting a headache! I looked around and realized from everyone’s facial expression they were to so I spoke up and asked if any one smelled that and they all said yah. So we called our coach over and she could smell it to. So pretty soon the janitor was in there and before we know it we were getting told to go in the locker rooms because it smelt like a propane leak. We were hoping school might get canceled but nope we had to stay! Never did figure out what it was but it was kind of cool!
Well Baby sitting is great, I’m trying to teach Sammy how to read! Its really fun! But hard at the same time because he has a super short attention span! But oh well! It’s a virtue, right? Everyone is heading out (to grandpa and grandma’s again for dinner) so I got to disappear! I love you all and remember a forced smile is ALWAYS better then a natural frown! Okay hear we go! POOF!
- Jennifer Fortie