Fortie Family Flyer
June 15 – 21, 2009
Dear Family and Fiends (just kidding I meant Friends),
Happy rainy week to you. Our rain for June is approaching 400% of what we normally get. I wonder if our house is high enough up on the hill to have lake front property if Lake Bonneville returns. Some folks in Herriman and Draper have had some heavy flooding and mud slides, we have had rain almost every day this month. Even Moroni couldn’t escape the storms. He (on the Oquirrh Mountain Temple) got hit by lightning a few days ago (while Brian was there in the parking lot helping direct traffic) and had the gold burned off his arm and part of his head. Mike said they have to replace Moroni statues on the temples now and then because they are the lightning rods and the Timpanogos Temple has had the most replaced of any temple (I think he said 6). Guess the people around there need to do the most repenting or something. Perhaps if you walk around the Oquirrh Mountain Temple this week you might find little beads of gold fallen from an angel, could be a great keepsake to show your grandkids; or sell on eBay, or what ever. Actually grandpa said there is only about 6 ounces of gold on the entire angel but at over $900.00 per ounce that’s still a lot of money. Facil and I were thinking of flying over the temple in a helicopter and trying to lasso a Moroni and take it home but then we thought that might not go over well when trying to get a temple recommend.
Anyway, Tami’s health has been good this week, just tired and needing lots of sleep. She goes into the doctor on Monday to see what is going on. Hopefully they can help her.
Not much to report for the rest of the week. Some yard work, kids helping with weeding and mowing (the rain made the weeds easier to pull and the lawn harder to mow), some house work, some play practices, some garage cleaning, some temple picture editing, some movie watching, etc. Yes we all went to see Race to Witch Mountain for a family activity. It was pretty good.
Tami had a Relief Society craft auction night on Thursday. Michelle and Jennifer went with her. You fill out a sheet that asks if you read scriptures daily, say family prayer, go to church, etc. and you get points for all the good things you do, then you use those points to buy the things that you want out of all the crafts that everyone brought. Tami gave away 5 8x10’s of my temple pictures. They seemed to go pretty well. Most were my newest shots of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple (I sent one of everything and let people pick which one they wanted). Oh, on my way home from someplace else, I saw the sun shining through some sprinklers in a farmers field. I thought they looked cool so I went home, grabbed my camera and went back to take a few shots. Can't do much with them but I like them.
On Sunday we had a nice Father’s Day dinner at grandpa and grandma’s. Tami usually fixed chicken crepes or turkey enchiladas (my favorites) and since grandpa and grandma had some turkey we decided to do the turkey enchiladas. Tami was pretty busy with work so Alicia stepped in and made four pans of enchiladas. She did a great job with Tami’s description over the phone of how to do it. Tami just made up the recipe so she had to tell Alicia from memory what to do. Everyone brought something and we had quite a feast. Curt and Mary Kay were there with Mary Kay’s mom and Facil and Susan, their friends and Craig stopped by for a few minutes. Mike and Linda and girls were there, our family, all but Nathan, Paige and Jason (of course, if not I would not be writing about it). After dinner we got to joking around and things got pretty crazy with everyone coming up with goofy stuff ‘till we could hardly breath for the laughter. It just went on and on about kidnapping Spencer and stealing Moroni statues from temples and what all until we thought there should be one of those reality shows of our family which would make us all rich ‘cause everyone would be watching it wondering how these Mormons could be so crazy without drugs or alcohol. If only people knew it can be done. To top it off we spent a few minutes calming down so we could give Susan a blessing before they left. A nice spiritual ending to a fun day. A few of us stayed late talking about world events and the last days. It was a good time.
Well, that’s it from our soggy but still intact place.
Keep treading water,
Ken and clan
From Brian:
Dear Family,
Well another week of fun filled festivities, or something.
Monday for family home evening our ward played water kick ball. They filled up little kiddy pools for bases, and a slip and slide for home with a sprinkler on it to keep it wet and a little soap.. It was really fun, and extremely wet.
On Tuesday I had a class down town at Salt Lake Community College. It was just a free class about learning and memory. I found out I am Very auditory, with visual to go along with it. I learn best when I hear someone teach me and see charts or hands on things. I get a lot more out of listening to an audio book than reading, etc. The teacher said a good study strategy for my learning type would be to record my lectures in college. So I have a little tape recorder, I think I will. I rode my scooter to trax and took trax to my class. I ran into the guy who plays in all the LDS movies, the big Polynesian guy who plays Conroy in Baptists at our BBQ. He is also that rat in the smoking commercials. Well he is the film teacher at SLCC downtown.
Wednesday I called around to pharmacies some more, trying to find a job as a pharmacy tech. They train you on the job and I already have a basic background of terminology and working with some chemicals. Then our singles ward played ultimate Frisbee until it began to rain, then I left. They are crazy; I can’t stand the rain anymore.
Thursday I read a lot. I am reading the book “restoring the ancient church” about the apostasy and also a series of ensign articles from the mid 1980’s on how the Bible came to be. It is fascinating. That is one of my favorite subjects of study. I would love to minor in Theology if I could.
Friday we did a bunch of weeding outside. The garden has been taken over so we took it back. It was a massacre. We sustained some casualties on our side too; I got small red rashes on my arm from the June grass. We did some cleaning inside, then at night I went with some friends to a party outside at someone’s house. We had hot dogs and pop, and some played rock band. I just watched and openly mocked the various wardrobes of the virtual characters. Like an anorexic captain Hook, a guy that looks like a cross between a pug and the Hulk and a girl with lime green socks. I don’t like that game; it’s boring to me.
Saturday is a special day; it’s the day we got ready for Fathers day. More weeding in the morning, because they just won’t die. Mom rented a movie called the golden compass, which was pretty good. The movie was interesting and different but we liked it. Our Cat Einstein got a library receipt (the ones they tape to the object you check out with your name on it for holding) stuck to his tail, and was walking around waving it around, completely oblivious. He is such a dork, we feel bad for him. He is sort of naive and socially inept. So it was hilarious, like someone had stuck a “kick me” sign on his rear. We got it on video.
On Sunday in the morning breakfast was made and the girls gave dad this plack that said, “We already found our prince charming, his name is Daddy.” I had meetings at noon with the bishopric. The Bishop said in PEC, “We have cookies to hand out to the brethren after sacrament meeting, to celebrate manhood day. Since none of them are Fathers it is manhood day.” We all laughed. The speakers talked on Joseph F. Smith, Hyrum’s son. I didn’t know he was the first prophet to be born and raised in the church and also the last to personally know the prophet Joseph. In Sunday school I said the opening prayer. As I was expressing thanks for our fathers, I then paused and it just kind of came out, I said “and Heavenly Father, happy Fathers day from all of us.” I didn’t expect to say that but I did. Some people in back sort of snickered. But I figure, if anyone deserves to be told happy Fathers day, He does.
We went to Grandpa and grandmas afterwards for dinner. It was so much fun. That is one of those dinners that will be remembered for a long time. Facil tried to tell me to create a diversion so he could sneak downstairs and kidnap the baby (He loves Spencer to death and thinks he’s the cutest baby ever, so he always jokes about stealing him.) They said “we better not send Brian, he will say ‘ooh look over here at me, I’m a diversion! No- one pay attention to the baby being carried out, I mean, there’s no baby. Stay calm.” Then Mom came over and Fassil said “oh no, now we’re attracting all these unsavory people to the conversation.” And everybody just started playing off everyone else, talking about having never paid dowry’s on their spouses to grandpa, and how they are still saving up cows in their backyards. Fassil tried to sneak out the back sliding door, not knowing there was a screen, and said, “Oh you have a mosquito net!” Chad said, “it’s a Fassil net. Worked like a charm.” It was a riot! We all couldn’t breathe for about a half hour. Then Facil’s wife, Susan, needed a blessing, so dad anointed and Curt gave it. The spirit was really strong. I swear, they need to make a reality TV show of our family. Only at the Fortie household could a gathering be more chaotic than a drunken bar fight, without any alcohol, but still end with a priesthood blessing. We talked about the last days, and the church and how it will be the only organized body, the light of strength that people will come to for safety. It was late by the time we finally headed home.
Well love ya all. Jason I hope you are well, and ready to move soon. Do some good. God be with you.
Brian Fortie
From Elder Fortie:
Well one and all, today marks the beginning of my adventures in a new mission. I've been assigned to stay behind and hold down the fort for now in what was formerly the San Francisco mission, still the district leader over the most ridiculously enormous district ever! It's quite time consuming running around between so many different wards and appeasing so many different missionaries and their needs. But I make do. One of my 2 companions went home this morning to Canada, that's the third time I've been a missionaries last companion, it's a strange feeling. He goes home to Canada today, spends tomorrow with his family, and Wednesday he will be at BYU for school... I could not do that one, off a mission and a day later shipped off to school. I think that might kill me. But none the less, we do what we can.
May I say it amazes me just how this world is. People in this world just don't understand how subtle and sneaky Satan is. It starts out with a frappachino from Star Bucks that "isn't really that bad, it's not a big deal" then with a green tea drink here or there, then maybe a rated R movie or two, that "Isn't really worse then what I see and hear every day" then our music that "oh I don't really pay attention to the words, I just like the beat" and thus we slowly let Satan lie to us, and we lie to ourselves that those little things we are doing really aren't anything and that they don't effect us and that "I'm okay, I can do those things and still be fine". But my goodness that's when Satan has us, that's when he knows he can lie to you and you will believe him, and if you believed him once, you will believe him again and again and again. Until that little frappachino has turned into just a little taste of a beer at a party that we shouldn't really be at but were not quite sure how but somehow we ended up there despite the hesitation we felt because of the voice of the Spirit. And now that voice of the Spirit leaves you, because it knows you aren't going to listen to it, and then you are alone... and making the right choices, that you are already not really making, gets harder and harder, and you make them less and less. Till finally you realize you are in trouble, but by then you don't know how to get out, and you start to try and cover it up, and doing so drags you deeper into your own mistakes, and you detach yourself from those that can help you for fear of them finding out, and thus you become even more alone. I see it time and time again in a mission and I am truly deeply sorrowed for those who allow themselves to say "it's not a big deal" or "it doesn't effect me". I pity these people, and it brings me nearly to tears to see someone so deceived that they are the only one who does not see how much those little things that "aren't effecting them" really are effecting them. I have to waste so much of my time as a missionary helping these people who already know the truth rather then those who are searching for it. Satan is the ultimate deceiver, and we must treat him like a plague, that we stay AS FAR FROM AS POSSIBLE, not get as close to as we can while trying not to get infected. Sorry for my spill, but hey I'm a missionary, that's what I do.
My time is up, I must go, hopefully you get a package from me today, take care all, Dad and grandpa and Chad and all you other dads, happy Fathers day! Love Elder Fortie
From Michelle:
Heido ho!
I’ve got a LOT to write about, so I’ve really gotta catch up here! Be patient as I stumble through this as quickly as a possibly can!
School is out for the summer! The last week of school was a blast as usual! We had a big BBQ out at the seminary building, and that is where half of the school was hanging out all day Monday! We played games, ate food, and just said goodbye! I can’t believe that the year is already over. Things flew by so quickly. Tuesday we all went to school and hung out and had fun yet again, not much different from the day before! Preston, Garrett, and I got in a water fight and then our friend Stephen came out of nowhere with a super-soaker and totally dominated the whole thing! But it was a lot of fun! Then Tuesday night, we had the yearbook stomp where everyone gets their yearbooks and starts signing away! Our yearbooks look really cool this year and I was excited to finally get it so that we could all relive the school year! It was also really hard to have senior friends sign though, because it really hit you then that you wouldn’t really be seeing them anymore. I started crying at one point, because some of my best friends this year have been seniors. All in all it was a really fun night and a good final farewell to some friends. Wednesday was an optional day at school. You didn’t really have to come, but some of us did just to make sure we got the signatures of people we had missed the night before at the stomp! I also was supposed to do an hour of attendance school because of days that I missed. Luckily, I have friends in high places! My friend Rob Murray is an SBO and talked the office ladies into letting me escape 50 minutes of my hour long penalty! He and I went into where he and the rest of the seniors were doing graduation practice, and just sat and ate egg rolls until he headed out to go practice with them! Then I went and found my group of friends that I had come with and we all headed back to Courtney’s house to watch movies, play games, and go to the park! We got rained on, but it was a blast!
I have this new found obsession… I don’t even know why! I had a friend teach me how to make these really cute bracelets out of embroidery thread, and it’s kind of addicting! I can’t even remember how many I’ve made! They are really pretty though, and I think I’m getting buff fingers just from making them!
About a week ago, I was up at my best friend Ashley’s house with a group of friends and we were all playing night games! It was Ash, Taylar Shay, Taylor Wayne, his friend Jason, Courtney, and I… and we had A BLAST!!!! Jason is one of the funniest kids I’ve ever met, and paired with Taylor Wayne, the two of them had us laughing so hard, I swear we all got six packs from laughing so hard! I love my group of friends and love how crazy we can all be together, and none of us really care!
The next night I was up at Ash’s house again, and Ash, Tay, and I invited over Jordan Jack and Riley to come watch a movie and play games! We played Apples to Apples while eating ice cream and I can’t count the number of times all of us almost choked on our ice cream because we started laughing so hard! They are both crazy guys and so much fun to be around!
A few days later, Courtney and I got together and walked to Kneaders to hang out and have something to eat! They have delicious food there, and since Courtney works there, we get a great discount! On our way there, we just laughed and took numerous strolls down memory lane! We got to talking about old friends that have since moved, and our favorite memories with those people! After eating our delicious food, we began our walk home, still chatting about old time. We were so distracted that we didn’t notice the looming clouds that began to settle in the sky above us. Suddenly, a down pour hit us like a semi with winds that seemed like they could send us flying! We began running for cover, but we were laughing so hard that it was almost impossible! We finally made it back to her house and took a million pictures and tried to get ourselves dried off! Then we went with our friend Ashley and my brother Brian and his friend Chad to a candle-light vigil for a teacher at Riverton High School (my school) who just died of breast cancer. We were in such happy moods, that it was hard to take in the solemn spirit that was there, but we did our best to pay our respects to her, and headed out after Brian had said a few words, seeing as a stalker-ish type kid of mine was there.
Sunday, I went to a farewell for a friend of mine, Marie Buhler. I’ve been friends with her family for a while now, so my friend Preston and I stayed at their house for quite a while just eating, singing, and playing games with their family! Their family is a lot like ours, so I love being over there and just feeling right at home!
This past week I don’t remember much of… I didn’t write it down… oops! I went in and got my physical so that I can go on trek, and the only thing holding me back a little bit is my knee (go figure). But I can still go, I just have to take it easy!
For Young Women’s on Tuesday, we went downtown and had one of the elders from the quorum of the seventy give us a tour of some of the church buildings! We got to sit in the only room where the entire quorum of the seventy, all the twelve apostles, and the presidency have all been together in twenty years. He said that even at conference, all the twelve aren’t together just for safety precautions!
Other than that, I’ve been redesigning my room! So I’ve been painting, scraping paint, and shopping for everything necessary! I want to be an interior designer when I grow up, so this is all a lot of fun for me!
Saturday, I went to Lagoon with one of my best friends, Ashley! It was raining, but in all honesty, I think that was half the fun! She and I went last year as well, so we are making it tradition! I love the rides, and make her go on all of them no matter what, which is part of the reason I am her favorite person to go with! She is afraid of heights, so she is terrified before, but during and after the ride, she loves that I made her go! We had the time of our lives, and were drenched by the end of the night, but I think we had permanent smiles plastered upon our faces!
Sunday we went out to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a father’s day dinner and games! The food was delicious and as always, their house was packed with a handful of friends and family! It was so much fun, and us kids had a blast playing games in the backyard! I can’t tell you how much I love family gatherings!
Well, there is my novel. Sorry it took so long! I love you all and hope things are well with you! :] Good luck in all your endeavors! And remember, if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything!
~Michelle Fortie
From Jennifer:
Hello there everyone!
Play practice is getting crazy! Summer is here! Life is nuts! Yup, sounds about right! J Well two weeks ago I had the AMAZING experience to go to Oakcrest, L.D.S. girls camp. It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life and for sure the most spiritual week in my life! I learned so much out there and my testimony grew so much stronger. From the zip line to the mud slide it was SO much fun! But Utah has been forgetting it’s a dessert and we have been more like Washington the past two weeks, pouring rain! Especially up in the mountains at camp! With outdoor activities everyone was worried we would have to stay inside all week! But there is the amazing miracle of power of prayer! Every time we needed to do something outside we knelt down and prayed and immediately the rain would stop, there isn’t one thing we missed! Coincidence? I think not! J! Nevertheless it was amazing! But one time we were in a pavilion, talking about modesty and lightning STRUCK! The thunder then followed immediately, so loud it shattered a window - it was so cool! But we all had to go back into our cabins. But it was awesome! I can’t wait to go again next year!
On Monday we went as a family to see Race To Witch Mountain. It was a good show! We all had a great time! Then of course play practice and the much loved job I have throughout the week and Fathers Day! We went over to Grandma and Grandpas to eat Delicious food and have MANY laughs! We had Mounteers, Uncle Curt and Mary Kay, Chad and Alicia and the cutest Nephew on Earth baby Spencer! And Facil and his wife Susan. They aren’t actually blood related but they sure feel like family! I would be honored to have them with us, although it feels like they are! J! Well Michelle needs the computer so I should head out! Love you all! Nathan and Paige we would love to come to visit! Good luck Missionaries! So long everyone!
-Jennifer F.
June 15 – 21, 2009
Dear Family and Fiends (just kidding I meant Friends),
Happy rainy week to you. Our rain for June is approaching 400% of what we normally get. I wonder if our house is high enough up on the hill to have lake front property if Lake Bonneville returns. Some folks in Herriman and Draper have had some heavy flooding and mud slides, we have had rain almost every day this month. Even Moroni couldn’t escape the storms. He (on the Oquirrh Mountain Temple) got hit by lightning a few days ago (while Brian was there in the parking lot helping direct traffic) and had the gold burned off his arm and part of his head. Mike said they have to replace Moroni statues on the temples now and then because they are the lightning rods and the Timpanogos Temple has had the most replaced of any temple (I think he said 6). Guess the people around there need to do the most repenting or something. Perhaps if you walk around the Oquirrh Mountain Temple this week you might find little beads of gold fallen from an angel, could be a great keepsake to show your grandkids; or sell on eBay, or what ever. Actually grandpa said there is only about 6 ounces of gold on the entire angel but at over $900.00 per ounce that’s still a lot of money. Facil and I were thinking of flying over the temple in a helicopter and trying to lasso a Moroni and take it home but then we thought that might not go over well when trying to get a temple recommend.
Anyway, Tami’s health has been good this week, just tired and needing lots of sleep. She goes into the doctor on Monday to see what is going on. Hopefully they can help her.
Not much to report for the rest of the week. Some yard work, kids helping with weeding and mowing (the rain made the weeds easier to pull and the lawn harder to mow), some house work, some play practices, some garage cleaning, some temple picture editing, some movie watching, etc. Yes we all went to see Race to Witch Mountain for a family activity. It was pretty good.
Tami had a Relief Society craft auction night on Thursday. Michelle and Jennifer went with her. You fill out a sheet that asks if you read scriptures daily, say family prayer, go to church, etc. and you get points for all the good things you do, then you use those points to buy the things that you want out of all the crafts that everyone brought. Tami gave away 5 8x10’s of my temple pictures. They seemed to go pretty well. Most were my newest shots of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple (I sent one of everything and let people pick which one they wanted). Oh, on my way home from someplace else, I saw the sun shining through some sprinklers in a farmers field. I thought they looked cool so I went home, grabbed my camera and went back to take a few shots. Can't do much with them but I like them.
On Sunday we had a nice Father’s Day dinner at grandpa and grandma’s. Tami usually fixed chicken crepes or turkey enchiladas (my favorites) and since grandpa and grandma had some turkey we decided to do the turkey enchiladas. Tami was pretty busy with work so Alicia stepped in and made four pans of enchiladas. She did a great job with Tami’s description over the phone of how to do it. Tami just made up the recipe so she had to tell Alicia from memory what to do. Everyone brought something and we had quite a feast. Curt and Mary Kay were there with Mary Kay’s mom and Facil and Susan, their friends and Craig stopped by for a few minutes. Mike and Linda and girls were there, our family, all but Nathan, Paige and Jason (of course, if not I would not be writing about it). After dinner we got to joking around and things got pretty crazy with everyone coming up with goofy stuff ‘till we could hardly breath for the laughter. It just went on and on about kidnapping Spencer and stealing Moroni statues from temples and what all until we thought there should be one of those reality shows of our family which would make us all rich ‘cause everyone would be watching it wondering how these Mormons could be so crazy without drugs or alcohol. If only people knew it can be done. To top it off we spent a few minutes calming down so we could give Susan a blessing before they left. A nice spiritual ending to a fun day. A few of us stayed late talking about world events and the last days. It was a good time.
Well, that’s it from our soggy but still intact place.
Keep treading water,
Ken and clan
From Brian:
Dear Family,
Well another week of fun filled festivities, or something.
Monday for family home evening our ward played water kick ball. They filled up little kiddy pools for bases, and a slip and slide for home with a sprinkler on it to keep it wet and a little soap.. It was really fun, and extremely wet.
On Tuesday I had a class down town at Salt Lake Community College. It was just a free class about learning and memory. I found out I am Very auditory, with visual to go along with it. I learn best when I hear someone teach me and see charts or hands on things. I get a lot more out of listening to an audio book than reading, etc. The teacher said a good study strategy for my learning type would be to record my lectures in college. So I have a little tape recorder, I think I will. I rode my scooter to trax and took trax to my class. I ran into the guy who plays in all the LDS movies, the big Polynesian guy who plays Conroy in Baptists at our BBQ. He is also that rat in the smoking commercials. Well he is the film teacher at SLCC downtown.
Wednesday I called around to pharmacies some more, trying to find a job as a pharmacy tech. They train you on the job and I already have a basic background of terminology and working with some chemicals. Then our singles ward played ultimate Frisbee until it began to rain, then I left. They are crazy; I can’t stand the rain anymore.
Thursday I read a lot. I am reading the book “restoring the ancient church” about the apostasy and also a series of ensign articles from the mid 1980’s on how the Bible came to be. It is fascinating. That is one of my favorite subjects of study. I would love to minor in Theology if I could.
Friday we did a bunch of weeding outside. The garden has been taken over so we took it back. It was a massacre. We sustained some casualties on our side too; I got small red rashes on my arm from the June grass. We did some cleaning inside, then at night I went with some friends to a party outside at someone’s house. We had hot dogs and pop, and some played rock band. I just watched and openly mocked the various wardrobes of the virtual characters. Like an anorexic captain Hook, a guy that looks like a cross between a pug and the Hulk and a girl with lime green socks. I don’t like that game; it’s boring to me.
Saturday is a special day; it’s the day we got ready for Fathers day. More weeding in the morning, because they just won’t die. Mom rented a movie called the golden compass, which was pretty good. The movie was interesting and different but we liked it. Our Cat Einstein got a library receipt (the ones they tape to the object you check out with your name on it for holding) stuck to his tail, and was walking around waving it around, completely oblivious. He is such a dork, we feel bad for him. He is sort of naive and socially inept. So it was hilarious, like someone had stuck a “kick me” sign on his rear. We got it on video.
On Sunday in the morning breakfast was made and the girls gave dad this plack that said, “We already found our prince charming, his name is Daddy.” I had meetings at noon with the bishopric. The Bishop said in PEC, “We have cookies to hand out to the brethren after sacrament meeting, to celebrate manhood day. Since none of them are Fathers it is manhood day.” We all laughed. The speakers talked on Joseph F. Smith, Hyrum’s son. I didn’t know he was the first prophet to be born and raised in the church and also the last to personally know the prophet Joseph. In Sunday school I said the opening prayer. As I was expressing thanks for our fathers, I then paused and it just kind of came out, I said “and Heavenly Father, happy Fathers day from all of us.” I didn’t expect to say that but I did. Some people in back sort of snickered. But I figure, if anyone deserves to be told happy Fathers day, He does.
We went to Grandpa and grandmas afterwards for dinner. It was so much fun. That is one of those dinners that will be remembered for a long time. Facil tried to tell me to create a diversion so he could sneak downstairs and kidnap the baby (He loves Spencer to death and thinks he’s the cutest baby ever, so he always jokes about stealing him.) They said “we better not send Brian, he will say ‘ooh look over here at me, I’m a diversion! No- one pay attention to the baby being carried out, I mean, there’s no baby. Stay calm.” Then Mom came over and Fassil said “oh no, now we’re attracting all these unsavory people to the conversation.” And everybody just started playing off everyone else, talking about having never paid dowry’s on their spouses to grandpa, and how they are still saving up cows in their backyards. Fassil tried to sneak out the back sliding door, not knowing there was a screen, and said, “Oh you have a mosquito net!” Chad said, “it’s a Fassil net. Worked like a charm.” It was a riot! We all couldn’t breathe for about a half hour. Then Facil’s wife, Susan, needed a blessing, so dad anointed and Curt gave it. The spirit was really strong. I swear, they need to make a reality TV show of our family. Only at the Fortie household could a gathering be more chaotic than a drunken bar fight, without any alcohol, but still end with a priesthood blessing. We talked about the last days, and the church and how it will be the only organized body, the light of strength that people will come to for safety. It was late by the time we finally headed home.
Well love ya all. Jason I hope you are well, and ready to move soon. Do some good. God be with you.
Brian Fortie
From Elder Fortie:
Well one and all, today marks the beginning of my adventures in a new mission. I've been assigned to stay behind and hold down the fort for now in what was formerly the San Francisco mission, still the district leader over the most ridiculously enormous district ever! It's quite time consuming running around between so many different wards and appeasing so many different missionaries and their needs. But I make do. One of my 2 companions went home this morning to Canada, that's the third time I've been a missionaries last companion, it's a strange feeling. He goes home to Canada today, spends tomorrow with his family, and Wednesday he will be at BYU for school... I could not do that one, off a mission and a day later shipped off to school. I think that might kill me. But none the less, we do what we can.
May I say it amazes me just how this world is. People in this world just don't understand how subtle and sneaky Satan is. It starts out with a frappachino from Star Bucks that "isn't really that bad, it's not a big deal" then with a green tea drink here or there, then maybe a rated R movie or two, that "Isn't really worse then what I see and hear every day" then our music that "oh I don't really pay attention to the words, I just like the beat" and thus we slowly let Satan lie to us, and we lie to ourselves that those little things we are doing really aren't anything and that they don't effect us and that "I'm okay, I can do those things and still be fine". But my goodness that's when Satan has us, that's when he knows he can lie to you and you will believe him, and if you believed him once, you will believe him again and again and again. Until that little frappachino has turned into just a little taste of a beer at a party that we shouldn't really be at but were not quite sure how but somehow we ended up there despite the hesitation we felt because of the voice of the Spirit. And now that voice of the Spirit leaves you, because it knows you aren't going to listen to it, and then you are alone... and making the right choices, that you are already not really making, gets harder and harder, and you make them less and less. Till finally you realize you are in trouble, but by then you don't know how to get out, and you start to try and cover it up, and doing so drags you deeper into your own mistakes, and you detach yourself from those that can help you for fear of them finding out, and thus you become even more alone. I see it time and time again in a mission and I am truly deeply sorrowed for those who allow themselves to say "it's not a big deal" or "it doesn't effect me". I pity these people, and it brings me nearly to tears to see someone so deceived that they are the only one who does not see how much those little things that "aren't effecting them" really are effecting them. I have to waste so much of my time as a missionary helping these people who already know the truth rather then those who are searching for it. Satan is the ultimate deceiver, and we must treat him like a plague, that we stay AS FAR FROM AS POSSIBLE, not get as close to as we can while trying not to get infected. Sorry for my spill, but hey I'm a missionary, that's what I do.
My time is up, I must go, hopefully you get a package from me today, take care all, Dad and grandpa and Chad and all you other dads, happy Fathers day! Love Elder Fortie
From Michelle:
Heido ho!
I’ve got a LOT to write about, so I’ve really gotta catch up here! Be patient as I stumble through this as quickly as a possibly can!
School is out for the summer! The last week of school was a blast as usual! We had a big BBQ out at the seminary building, and that is where half of the school was hanging out all day Monday! We played games, ate food, and just said goodbye! I can’t believe that the year is already over. Things flew by so quickly. Tuesday we all went to school and hung out and had fun yet again, not much different from the day before! Preston, Garrett, and I got in a water fight and then our friend Stephen came out of nowhere with a super-soaker and totally dominated the whole thing! But it was a lot of fun! Then Tuesday night, we had the yearbook stomp where everyone gets their yearbooks and starts signing away! Our yearbooks look really cool this year and I was excited to finally get it so that we could all relive the school year! It was also really hard to have senior friends sign though, because it really hit you then that you wouldn’t really be seeing them anymore. I started crying at one point, because some of my best friends this year have been seniors. All in all it was a really fun night and a good final farewell to some friends. Wednesday was an optional day at school. You didn’t really have to come, but some of us did just to make sure we got the signatures of people we had missed the night before at the stomp! I also was supposed to do an hour of attendance school because of days that I missed. Luckily, I have friends in high places! My friend Rob Murray is an SBO and talked the office ladies into letting me escape 50 minutes of my hour long penalty! He and I went into where he and the rest of the seniors were doing graduation practice, and just sat and ate egg rolls until he headed out to go practice with them! Then I went and found my group of friends that I had come with and we all headed back to Courtney’s house to watch movies, play games, and go to the park! We got rained on, but it was a blast!
I have this new found obsession… I don’t even know why! I had a friend teach me how to make these really cute bracelets out of embroidery thread, and it’s kind of addicting! I can’t even remember how many I’ve made! They are really pretty though, and I think I’m getting buff fingers just from making them!
About a week ago, I was up at my best friend Ashley’s house with a group of friends and we were all playing night games! It was Ash, Taylar Shay, Taylor Wayne, his friend Jason, Courtney, and I… and we had A BLAST!!!! Jason is one of the funniest kids I’ve ever met, and paired with Taylor Wayne, the two of them had us laughing so hard, I swear we all got six packs from laughing so hard! I love my group of friends and love how crazy we can all be together, and none of us really care!
The next night I was up at Ash’s house again, and Ash, Tay, and I invited over Jordan Jack and Riley to come watch a movie and play games! We played Apples to Apples while eating ice cream and I can’t count the number of times all of us almost choked on our ice cream because we started laughing so hard! They are both crazy guys and so much fun to be around!
A few days later, Courtney and I got together and walked to Kneaders to hang out and have something to eat! They have delicious food there, and since Courtney works there, we get a great discount! On our way there, we just laughed and took numerous strolls down memory lane! We got to talking about old friends that have since moved, and our favorite memories with those people! After eating our delicious food, we began our walk home, still chatting about old time. We were so distracted that we didn’t notice the looming clouds that began to settle in the sky above us. Suddenly, a down pour hit us like a semi with winds that seemed like they could send us flying! We began running for cover, but we were laughing so hard that it was almost impossible! We finally made it back to her house and took a million pictures and tried to get ourselves dried off! Then we went with our friend Ashley and my brother Brian and his friend Chad to a candle-light vigil for a teacher at Riverton High School (my school) who just died of breast cancer. We were in such happy moods, that it was hard to take in the solemn spirit that was there, but we did our best to pay our respects to her, and headed out after Brian had said a few words, seeing as a stalker-ish type kid of mine was there.
Sunday, I went to a farewell for a friend of mine, Marie Buhler. I’ve been friends with her family for a while now, so my friend Preston and I stayed at their house for quite a while just eating, singing, and playing games with their family! Their family is a lot like ours, so I love being over there and just feeling right at home!
This past week I don’t remember much of… I didn’t write it down… oops! I went in and got my physical so that I can go on trek, and the only thing holding me back a little bit is my knee (go figure). But I can still go, I just have to take it easy!
For Young Women’s on Tuesday, we went downtown and had one of the elders from the quorum of the seventy give us a tour of some of the church buildings! We got to sit in the only room where the entire quorum of the seventy, all the twelve apostles, and the presidency have all been together in twenty years. He said that even at conference, all the twelve aren’t together just for safety precautions!
Other than that, I’ve been redesigning my room! So I’ve been painting, scraping paint, and shopping for everything necessary! I want to be an interior designer when I grow up, so this is all a lot of fun for me!
Saturday, I went to Lagoon with one of my best friends, Ashley! It was raining, but in all honesty, I think that was half the fun! She and I went last year as well, so we are making it tradition! I love the rides, and make her go on all of them no matter what, which is part of the reason I am her favorite person to go with! She is afraid of heights, so she is terrified before, but during and after the ride, she loves that I made her go! We had the time of our lives, and were drenched by the end of the night, but I think we had permanent smiles plastered upon our faces!
Sunday we went out to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a father’s day dinner and games! The food was delicious and as always, their house was packed with a handful of friends and family! It was so much fun, and us kids had a blast playing games in the backyard! I can’t tell you how much I love family gatherings!
Well, there is my novel. Sorry it took so long! I love you all and hope things are well with you! :] Good luck in all your endeavors! And remember, if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything!
~Michelle Fortie
From Jennifer:
Hello there everyone!
Play practice is getting crazy! Summer is here! Life is nuts! Yup, sounds about right! J Well two weeks ago I had the AMAZING experience to go to Oakcrest, L.D.S. girls camp. It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life and for sure the most spiritual week in my life! I learned so much out there and my testimony grew so much stronger. From the zip line to the mud slide it was SO much fun! But Utah has been forgetting it’s a dessert and we have been more like Washington the past two weeks, pouring rain! Especially up in the mountains at camp! With outdoor activities everyone was worried we would have to stay inside all week! But there is the amazing miracle of power of prayer! Every time we needed to do something outside we knelt down and prayed and immediately the rain would stop, there isn’t one thing we missed! Coincidence? I think not! J! Nevertheless it was amazing! But one time we were in a pavilion, talking about modesty and lightning STRUCK! The thunder then followed immediately, so loud it shattered a window - it was so cool! But we all had to go back into our cabins. But it was awesome! I can’t wait to go again next year!
On Monday we went as a family to see Race To Witch Mountain. It was a good show! We all had a great time! Then of course play practice and the much loved job I have throughout the week and Fathers Day! We went over to Grandma and Grandpas to eat Delicious food and have MANY laughs! We had Mounteers, Uncle Curt and Mary Kay, Chad and Alicia and the cutest Nephew on Earth baby Spencer! And Facil and his wife Susan. They aren’t actually blood related but they sure feel like family! I would be honored to have them with us, although it feels like they are! J! Well Michelle needs the computer so I should head out! Love you all! Nathan and Paige we would love to come to visit! Good luck Missionaries! So long everyone!
-Jennifer F.
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