March 22 - 28, 2010

Fortie Family Flyer
March 22 – 28, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,
Well, the big news this week is that we got a call from Nathan from his apartment near Fort Lewis in Washington. That’s right, last week he called us from Afghanistan and this week from Washington. He has finished up his last tour of duty and will spend his last few months in the army there. Then he and Paige will be heading for Texas (back to her house that she has been renting out while they were in Washington). Nathan will be heading to school there and the Army will be glad to pay for it because of his tremendous service. He had some rather hair raising experiences on this last trip but our prayers were answered and he was rather miraculously saved to be able to come home to see his wife and soon to be born baby. He will be able to tell us about those experiences in 25 years so remind him when you see him in 25 years that you want to hear about some of his interesting stories from Afghanistan and Iraq. Hopefully he will still remember them.
Well, the other fun news for this week is Michelle and Jennifer’s trip to Disneyland and Sea World. It was rather quiet around here with them gone the whole week. In fact I’d be willing to bet that even their teachers at school thought it was rather quiet without them. Well, we missed them but they seemed to have a lot of fun and I will let them tell you all about it once they get their school work caught up and they come back down to earth. At least they don’t have to wait 25 years before they tell about their trip (although if I don’t remind them several times to write it down they may take 25 years to do it). I think Michelle was most excited that she got a tan in March (crazy teenagers).
Actually I think Chad leads an interesting and somewhat dangerous life teaching kids in middle school. He is doing very well and has had a very positive influence on those kids’ lives. They sure love him. We haven’t heard much from Chad and Alicia this week so I will have to catch you up on their stuff next week. Well, after those announcements of people coming and going the rest of what I have to say will be pretty boring so you are certainly welcome to skip down to the end if you are pressed for time. Brian is busy doing homework but he did have time to watch a Godzilla movie the other night (more crazy stuff from our house that we maybe shouldn’t be telling people about). Tami and I have just been working so no news there.
I did get a call from the census bureau about a job as a supervisor. I can’t afford not to take it so I will see if that works out for me. It will be over the next two months and it pays fairly well. Overall I think it will be a good experience. I’m not sure how Deseret Book will deal with it but I think they can work around it, we are not that busy.
Tami and I tried to go to a dollar movie on Friday night but it was sold out so we just ate at IHOP then came home.
I have had a very bad headache all week that has been very debilitating. I’m not sure what is going on there. I almost went in to the doctor but thought I would experiment with a few things first. I fasted for a few days which seemed to help. I don’t know if it is some kind of food allergy or what. At work Saturday I started feeling some kind of bug slowly creeping up on me. You know, sore throat, runny nose, etc. as the day went on. I finally came home and took a nap then called to let people know I didn’t think I would be at church to teach my genealogy class. Instead of having someone sub for me they just decided to postpone it until next week.
Sunday Tami went to church without me and I read, did a little genealogy, watched church on KBYU and slept; all this with lots of tissues nearby. We were going to go to grandpa and grandma’s to eat but with me being sick and the girls gone it was cancelled. Finally, at 10:00 Sunday night Tami drove the car and I drove Arnold’s truck and we headed for the airport. We picked up the rather excited crowd and headed home. We then spent more than an hour hearing about all the fun stuff the girls did in California and I finally got them to go to bed at about 1:00 in the morning. There is going to be two tired girls at school on Monday.
Well, that is it from our house. So many comings and going it is hard to keep track of who is where. At least Jason stayed where he is at this week (I think). Keep your helmet on and keep your head down.
Ken and clan


From Elder Fortie:
Okay so this past week we got 9 people at church which was really exciting. We had a lot of our members help us out with appointments and a lot of them are getting really excited. We have this one lady that just loves what we have done for her, we have been teaching her for about two weeks and she just rants and raves about how we have changed her life and how much we have touched her heart. It's really cool. Being a missionary is just awesome! In case you were wondering. The baptism this past week was Blanca Montes, she is the daughter of one of the Elderly sisters of our ward that has been a member and for years has been praying that her daughter could join the church but the daughter worked on Sundays and could never really take the time to learn about the gospel, till one Sunday she had the day off and came to church on a fast Sunday, and her little old mother got up and in tears talked about how for years she has fasted and prayed that her daughter would come to church, and God has answered her prayers and how she knew God would provide a way for her to be baptized. The daughter in tears told her little old mother she would try to get work off. We found a member of the ward that worked for the same company, and was a supervisor, and had had to go through the same thing when they wanted her to work Sundays, but she had refused and they had let her have them off. She pulled some strings, and got work off for Blanca, and a few weeks later she was baptized. This work is the Lord’s, he moves it forward in his way, it's amazing, and I love being part of it.
Sorry to be brief again, but I have to run. I'm so glad to hear Nathan's home and safe, and that everything’s progressing well with the baby. Michelle and Jennifer, welcome back to the real world, try not to stay in Disneyland in your brain. Brian, good luck with school, and you too Chad and Alicia, seeing as Chad, you’re the one trying to control the Disneyland day dreamers such as Michelle and Jennifer. Keep on smiling!
Love, Elder Fortie

March 15 - 21, 2010

Fortie Family Flyer
March 15 - 21, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,
Thanks for stopping by to see what’s going down in our little world over the last week. Lets see… Monday through Thursday, nope, not worth taking the time to write about. You know, same old work at Deseret Book, slow and boring work, editing pictures of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and taking my scooter in to get it fixed. They first thought it would be a simple thing then they found that a few things had failed and had filled my engine with gas. They had it ready by Friday and it cost a forth the price of the scooter to get it fixed. It’s a good thing these things save me so much money on gas or I would really have a hard time with this. It will only take a few months to make up for the fixing price in the gas money saved. Tami took me to work on Saturday and someone at work took me to the scooter shop in American Fork a few miles from the store and I rode it home. I first went to the Draper Sam’s Club to print some pictures then headed home. What a thrill it is to get that thing going again after parking it in the garage for the last 3 or 4 months. It was so fun to get out on the road and feel the freedom. I was weaving back and forth on one back road in Lehi and a guy on his bike riding the other way just started laughing because I was having so much fun. Well, all that excitement came to an end when, about a mile past Sam’s Club it lost power and died. I waited a few minutes and it started up again and I was able to go 300 or 400 yards and it lost power and died again. I decided it must be the fuel filter so rather than sit between short trips I would walk it for about 100 yards, to get the exercise, then I would jump on, start it and go for 400 yards then walk it for 100 yards again, etc. I did that all the way home which took over an hour but I made it. I tried to go out and get a filter that night but Napa wasn’t open so I had to wait until Monday. Anyway, it was fun for an hour or so. Hopefully when I put the new fuel filter in it will be fine.
Well, this was the big week that we have heard about from the girls for a few months now. On Friday we took Michelle, Jennifer, and the Arnold family to the Airport for their trip to Sea World and Disneyland. The girls are going to help take care of the 4 boys and they have been soooo excited. They made it Friday night and went to Sea World on Saturday. They had dinner with the dolphins that night then on Sunday they walked along the beach, gathered seashells and went to the San Diego Temple. This next week they are supposed to do more Sea World and then Disneyland. We have talked to them a few times and they are having a blast. What a great opportunity for them.
Saturday night, after my walk/ride home, I got a call from Bishop Pullin to ask if I could take his lesson in priesthood because his back went out and he would not make it. I spent a few hours that night reading up on Adam and Eve so I could take that for him. I also had my family history lesson to get for Sunday School so I was busy. They both went okay but I sure wish I was a better teacher. I guess that is what I’m there for, practice so I can be a better teacher. After church Bro. Mueller and I went to help someone get their genealogy going and get logged onto the New Family Search site. It took a while so as soon as I got home we headed for grandpa and grandma’s for a nice dinner and a game. Since the girls weren’t with us we had a free ticket to play golf (they don’t like to play it and always complain.) We played and ate dessert and then I asked dad to see if he could find the box of stuff from grandpa and grandma Klingler’s house that might have some genealogy records, birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc. He brought 2 boxes up and they were a real treasure chest for me. The others were not so interested but I kept us there a bit late as I was going through them like I was in a candy store. I finally looked at my watch and realized that it was 10:30 and we had better go. The others were talking about the healthcare bill so I was not the only one forgetting about the time. We were all shocked to find out it passed and we were all wondering about what this was going to do to our country. Many are saying it’s just a few changes that will help people but in my mind it is one more stop (a rather large step) toward socialism and it worries me. Whether I am right or not, time will tell.
Well, that is it for our week, hope yours was a good one.
Keep riding like the wind.
Ken and clan



From Elder Fortie:
So everyone, I just ate this thing at Fenton’s (which if you didn't know is the ice cream parlor in the movie "up" it's located here in my zone, it's the one and only and the guy put it in the movie, because he lives here) that was some leprechaun creation thing. It was a quart of mint chocolate chip and rocky road ice cream on top of 4 brownies COVERED in hot fudge and melted marshmallows. That, after eating pupusas and shrimp and rice and beans at a taqueria. I scare myself sometimes... and it was free! We don't know who but someone paid our bill for us while we were eating. So that was cool! But I am now falling asleep as all the sugar is wearing off, so this may be short.
We had a baptism last night that went really well. But our poor ward mission leader has been really sick for like a month, so the work has been hurting because of it, he helps a ton, but we're doing our best.
I enjoyed the coded message stuff... Okay, so everyone complains about not knowing when I come home, gosh, fine, so the date for my return for now, is May 19th, yes, it appears my never ending extensions have come to an end. Our zone needs some beating before I go though, I'm planning on giving it all I've got till I'm gone. I may indeed die before I get home I'm wearing myself out so hard trying to make things improve, and there have been major improvements. The former "highs" that the former zone leaders here used to be stoked about, are not even in our range any more, they are below our drastically low lows. We have been tearing it up, but I fear we are running out of gas, I need to get some jet fuel going here to really send things off.
Sorry to be short again, I gotta run and help some members move. love you all and talk to you later.
Love Elder Fortie

March 8 - 14, 2010

Fortie Family Flyer
March 8 – 14, 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
Good Monday morning to ya’ll. So, here we are in the middle of March and time is going sooo fast that I’m thinking there must be a serious rip in the space time continuum and the solar system has had its speed through the galaxy altered thus altering time on this planet. At least that’s my best theory.
Yes, once again not a lot to talk about. I had an order from Repartee for 3 of my new pictures (I just put them on their site). One was a winter shot of the Provo temple, one of the San Diego temple in white and one of the Idaho Falls temple with the moon reflecting in the river. Things are starting to pick up with Repartee. I’m still waiting for Amalphi Arts to get things going with Deseret Book.
It is interesting how difficult it is for me to teach the High Priest lessons once a month. I have way too much time to prepare and the lessons are sooo short and simple that I do feel that I need to come up with something interesting for a bunch of guys who have been in the church most of their lives and know these basics since primary. My lesson on Sunday, after reading a few books on the topic was very choppy and lacked a point. It seemed that I just presented a bunch of interesting facts about the creation and with others comments we were all over the place. I didn’t feel like it went as well as I had hoped. Strange, I guess I just tried too hard. After the meeting several of the High Priest’s said it was good but I didn’t feel it; if I could do it over again I would do it differently.
I also taught the genealogy class during Sunday School and that is always hard to shift into genealogy mode when I have been studying about the creation for so long. Anyway, I hope people will stick with the program and get their genealogy going. I’m not sure if I know how to motivate; I am not a man of influence (wish I could learn that skill).
I talked to the director of Hello Dolly this week. I guess I’m going to go through this whole crazy summer schedule again, struggling with lots of lines to memorize and even a few songs and dances this time. You have to be crazy to go through this stuff every year. Guess that tells you something about me (as if you didn’t know already know).
We have had a bit of snow here and there over the past few days. I need to get out in it and take some pictures.
My computer isn’t working right since the crash, I might have to have it redone again. Perhaps I should put a curse on those who created the virus in the first place.
I still don’t feel like I fit in at my store. There are a few people that I enjoy working with but it’s not like my experience before at ZCMI, Cottonwood and Sugarhouse. Not sure what to do about it other than get something else going.
We did have a nice Sunday dinner at grandpa and grandma’s with Chad and Alicia and Mike and Linda. Everything was green and I mean everything – the bread, potatoes, stuffed pears, drink, chip dip, Jell-O, sauce on the chicken, etc. It tasted great though and we had fun. The cake Tami made was a rainbow cake and had a few gold (chocolate) coins on top. We had a lesson dad had from something read to them in the temple at a meeting. It was the article a doctor wrote about the medical and physical things Christ went through at His crucifixion. Can’t believe people can be so cruel to other people.
Well, I think that is about all I have to offer for this week. Oh, we did have a funny thing go down on Facebook. Nathan finally got to a place where he could get back onto Facebook so a few people where writing on his wall and Chad wrote something funny in a military code so I continued with another coded message and soon everyone joined in. Well, I’ll include it here so it won’t be lost from the vanishing Facebook wall. it’s kinda funny.

Chad Fortie - Alpha Bravo...this is tango. Hopin' to work out a rendezvous in quadrant SLC and a possible escort back to the mother land. Just keep me updated...over.
March 8 at 6:50pm

Ken Fortie - Roger that. This is Delta-Alpha-Delta, we have received the coded dispatch concerning your mission to the SLC quadrant. Requesting further information regarding exact drop coordinates and possible alternate location for expected counter insurgent Foxtrot-Alpha-Mike-India-Lima-Yankee reunion in Calif. in the 7th month. We are working on synchronization of all team members. Please respond before radio blackout. Papa-Alpha-India-Golf-Echo will be given all details of said mission. Over.
March 8 at 11:47pm

Molly 'Haws' Metcalf - lol! can i be in your family!! haha
March 9 at 6:46am

Jerry B Anderson - This is Tejas-Delta-Alpha-Delta message intercepted and decoded, better bail out over Texas for new rondevu point.Over
March 9 at 1:53pm

Dustin Salerno - Copy all, operation Phat Lady about to commence, stand by to make her sing before heading to extract point Yankee-Utah-Calfo-Tejas.... Keep your head down and fingers crossed boys its almost over. Over.
March 9 at 2:12pm

Chad Fortie - I was just asking how things were going...I don't know what you people are talking about...bunch of crazies! Who talks like that:)
March 9 at 8:56pm

Michelle Fortie - Tango, there seems to be some break in communication. Above comment was not in the established zulu code... has the code been compromised and we've switched over to code Rockem' Sockem' and I've missed the memo? Or are you actually calling us crazy? (Which you have no right to do Mr. Let's-mix-the Wiz-of-Oz-and-Star-Wars.) Because that slightly... upsets me as your superior officer, and you may be put on KP duty for that. We will be forced to implement Operation Charlie-Hotel-Alpha-Delta (aka Tango) is Busted. Mike-India-Charlie over and out.
March 9 at 9:12pm

Alicia Nicole Fortie - I think everyone has had one too many sips from the crazy can!
March 10 at 7:47am

Paige Arrington Fortie - WOW!!! What family did I marry into anyway??
March 10 at 11:13am

Nate Fortie - ---..--- ..... -.-.-. ---- ... --- .---- .....--- ..- .....- ...- ...-- .....
---...---...--- . - .... --- -- .- - .- -. ----- .-. ---..- ----. -----. --.
Translation-
Hey
Fri at 2:44am

Nate Fortie - Chad you started a code talking revolution. Sorry it took me so long to reply everyone. I spent a week with our intelligence officers trying to decode your encrypted messages.
In answer to your questions, my favorite food is Bacon, Hang gliders would be fun to ride in over Utah, opera concert's are over rated Dustin, Chad it would be crazy to be taken by aliens to the mother ship and July is nice this time of year.
Good code talk, I hope we are on the same page with the decoding, these officers are the best Intel gatherers on the planet. Although I must say those were some weird questions for you guys to be asking me.

But seriously Chad I will let you know about the move plans as soon as we figure them out ourselves. I heard you have a high school reunion around the 24th so we'll see if we can work our schedule to fit getting you down there for that.
Dad when is the reunion in July? I don't know if July is going to work, there's a lot going on in that month especially with a new born.
Molly you can be in our family, we'll get the paper work started today....
Jerry, some how some way we're bailing out to Texas in July sometime.
Dustin Fingers are crossed and the phat lady is tuning her voice right now.
And everyone always tells me to keep my head down, if I did that as much as you guys tell me to I would never see anything. How about I keep the bad guy's head's down instead.
Michelle I have no idea what you meant by Wiz of oz and star wars, we couldn't break that code.
Alicia, pass the crazy can my way. I could use a few sips myself.
Paige my dear it’s too late to back out now, ha ha ha together fooooorrrreeeeeevvvvver. Sorry babe your stuck with me for a little bit.
I hope everyone is doing well, code talk to you later.
__---..--(Nathan)
Fri at 3:02am




Well, crazy family indeed but then it breaks up the monotony. Have a great St. Patrick’s Day and keep your head down.
Copy that,
Delta-Alpha-Delta (aka DAD, or Ken for non children) and clan



Elder Fortie:
So, another drop in the bucket, and another week has passed. But the drop in the bucket was earlier in the week, it rained before but now it is just GLORIOUS!!! We're coming into the time of year where the weather here is just paradisiacal. (I'm amazed I remembered how to say that big of a word in English. That was English right?)
Good heavens though, things are about as rough as sardines in a blender, I've just been bending over backwards and twisting heads trying to get missionaries to understand their purpose and to not waste the precious time they have. Some of them are great, and get it right from their first transfer and just go. Others, it sadly takes them 2/3 of their mission to figure out who they are and why they are here, and by the time they figure it out they are so set in their habits, that for them to change is like reversing the process of sardines in a blender... But most are doing well, though things just aren't running as smoothly as they were a few months ago. I need a secretary to keep up with all the things I am doing. I'm running so many different things and President keeps giving me more things that he wants me to do, I just don't have time to keep track of everything, this week he had me speak in a regional youth conference for a large part of California on preparing for a mission. It was a lot of fun and I saw people I baptized there that are no longer in our mission, so that was a great experience. Then President had me do an experiment, I went to the flea market and set up a table in the middle of it and started preaching the gospel! It was a lot of fun, and I gave out about 700 pass along cards and 100 pamphlets and taught all sorts of people, it was a blast.
Sorry I have to run, the assistants just called and need my help, love you all bye!
Love Elder Fortie

March 1 - 7, 2010

More pictures at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kensbestpics/FamilyMarch2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCLD___jX-8WyXw#

Dear Family and Friends,
Well, how the heck are ya? (That’s Utahan for… well, never mind what that’s Utahan for). They say no news is good news and this week is certainly one of those good news weeks. No earthquakes here in Utah so far this week (knock on wood) but there has been anywhere from one to four 6.0 magnitude quakes somewhere in the world every day this week but Saturday; interesting times indeed. Yellowstone has been on my mind a great deal lately. If that cone (which has been on the rise lately) were to blow we would have to get out of Dodge and fast. We would probably have some warning which would mean we could pack up a few things and become a body of Saints on a mass migration to Nauvoo. You might want to think about getting a hotel reservation before the big rush. Perhaps a contractor in Illinois aught to build a bunch of condos or cabins along the river near Nauvoo and sell timeshare slots to Utahans; just in case.
Well by golly, I can’t remember much of anything over the last week – that’s really sad. We bought a desk and computer from dad and mom’s next door neighbor, the Gartmanns. She was starting to forget things so they put her in a home that can take care of her then he was just too old to be alone so he is moving in with her and selling the house. They were selling things in the house and we got the computer and desk, Steve and Evelyn got the washer and dryer, I don’t remember much else. I had to rearrange our family room to get the desk in and that took much of the week (an hour here and an hour there). Now I have to work on getting the basement and garage organized.
I am also finding and installing programs onto my recently fixed computer. It is hard to have Microsoft Word not know my personal spelling words (like Fortie) and the internet not knowing my favorite sites, etc. I have to start completely over again. They never did get the Ghost image back on and my computer is acting a little strange (it won’t play dvd’s, and won’t automatically start the installation process when I put a cd in, etc.). I hope I don’t have to do the Ghost image and start over AGAIN.
Friday night Tami and I went to a BYU sponsored fireside for our Stake. It is going for like 24 weeks and they are more than halfway through but we enjoyed going. I think one of these days I would like to teach some classes like that. After the class we went and got us something to eat.
Well, Sunday was the big day for an otherwise lackluster week. Church was normal. I taught the first of seven lessons in the genealogy class and we had several new people come in so that was good. Several weeks ago I had the impression that we should have Keith and Ricki come over to tell us about their mission to South Africa. We tried a few times but had to postpone for one thing or another and we finally decided to have it at Curt’s house (they have a big open area including the kitchen, dining room and family room) and have as many as could come be a part of dinner, birthday cake for Mary Kay (it was her birthday Sunday), David Mounteer (who is still on his mission), and Facil who has a birthday in a few days. After the wild eating frenzy we settled down and watched a slideshow and presentation by Keith and Ricki. They did a great job and we enjoyed learning about South Africa and the Saints and missionary work down there. We brought Marie Tolley so we took her back to her place in Provo and then headed home for a late bedtime but it was a great day.
I’m still waiting for word about Deseret Book and the new buyer and what (if any) pictures they will buy. I don’t know this new buyer so I’m not sure what he will do.
Well, that’s it from our house. Hope your week was a bigger blast than mine was. Keep your computer oiled and tuned up,
Ken and clan



Nathan and Paige:
Family~

On Mon I had my 28 week appointment for baby. All is well, so they say! I had to do the glucose testing for sugar, which was incredibly gross. Imagine drinking the orange drink from McDonalds, except take away the carbonation. Yeah I know! Nathan said it sounded great and he wishes he could have it! WEIRDO! All came back normal. Babies heartbeat is about 150 beats/minute and coming in at about 2 1/2 lbs. I can't believe how much bigger it's gonna get...I'm running out of room! I've had quite a bit of pain in my ribs, mostly the right side. After pushing all over, the doc told me that the baby has positioned itself right in between my ribs. She cupped her hand right under my sternum and said, "that's the butt, which is why you are hurting." The little stinker! I'm thinking of spanking it so it will move, but I doubt that will do any good! :) She said since I have a small frame the next few months might hurt a bit...fantastic!! Next appointment is scheduled for April 5th so more to come...

Nathan is doing well. I think we are at the trunky stage!! hehehe I have to admit, I am too. Avery and I have talks every night before bed about daddy coming home soon. She doesn't quite understand. She hears daddy and home and rushes to the door to greet him, then looks at me like, "why did you tell me he was home?" So she's pretty excited as well! This deployment has lasted F-O-R-E-V-E-R!! Nothing else there to report, or that I can report. Sorry!

Baby is still scheduled for May 29th, but of course the odds of that happening are like slim to none. However, we are still looking to do the baby blessing on July 4th. We don't have a lot of space here, but anyone is welcome to stay here and sleep on floors, couches, chairs, you name it! :) Sorry we don't have a bigger house that everyone can fit in! We'll get there!

As for the move to College Station, well nothing is set in stone just yet. Army will tell us when he is really done and then we can start to schedule around that. Nathan has accrued enough vacation time that I think he might be able to get out a month early. So that will really help out...if the Army let's it. They always seem to throw a monkey wrench into things. I will keep you posted on when and how we are getting there once we know. The baby could also throw some things out of whack, but hopefully all will go well and we won't have to worry about that.

That's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the Spring weather!

Paige



Elder Fortie:
Hello everyone!
Well the weather here is a little up and down as well, one day it's just splendid and gorgeous, like 68 degrees and sunny, (which with the humidity is more like 74 degrees) then the next, it's still nice and sunny, but we keep getting these cold winds that come in dropping us down to like 52, it's lame. But oh well, give it a month and it will be just like paradise. So my companion is still adjusting to our area at night time haha, he about jumped into the trunk last night seeing as it was the closest safe place he deemed available as he saw a rather large rough looking guy briskly walking at him, I was laughing so hard I could hardly breathe. He'll get used to it.
So this week while I was tracting with Elvis and my companion (Elvis is a recent convert that loves missionary work) suddenly during a nice sunny day, it started raining, completely random, and never happens here! We were totally unprepared for rain seeing as it was a beautiful day and usually here you can see a storm coming a day off, and we thought dang we better get out of the rain, but we had only 4 houses left to finish the street and as we turned to leave I said, "oh four more houses, lets finish it! So we booked it to the last few doors. We had had not a single interested person after knocking all day, but as we knocked on the second to last door, a Spanish lady opened and just said, please come in. We came in sat down and she just started crying! She went on about how she had got in a car accident, almost died, couldn't work, was about to lose her house, thinks God hates her, and she was thinking about committing suicide. We talked with her for a few minutes, then I felt we should sing to her "Abide with me" (in Spanish of course) so we did, then we sang her "I need thee every hour". She was in total tears and we told her she needed to come to church and prepare to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized so she could receive all the blessings God has in store for her, and that it was no coincidence that we had shown up at her door just now, and it was no mistake that all these bad things had happened to her recently to prepare her to humble her for our coming. Elvis also did a great job with her, he was exactly who we needed to have there with us. If we had decided to bag those last 4 doors cause of the rain, imagine what we would have lost. Just one of many little miracles we see every day here, it's truly amazing, this is the Lords work.
I took a part of our zone on a hike in the mountains last P-day, and I think it was really good for them, I got a chance to walk with some of them and cheer them up and energize and encourage them to rededicate themselves to the work, and it paid off, this past week we broke several records once again, and are leading the mission, next week I'm going to have them all get together in a park for a picnic and some kick ball, and while they are playing I will wander around and have some chats with people about their areas and what they can do better. Also this week I pulled the 6 district leaders of our zone in for a meeting and gave them first off a bit of a "what have you been doing?" then after, a "okay, lets fix some things, no more of this, trust me on this, and now, let's do this" haha, and they seemed to take it well, and things are picking up again, so we are excited and I'm going to work them till they die (missionary slang for "go home") (since I never will hehe!). Oh by the way, the reason I didn't write on Monday is because I changed our p-day to Tuesday for the week so our missionaries could go to the temple for a session, another thing I had hoped would give them a recharge, so we will see if that helped. Well I have to get going, I love you all, and I'm sorry, but it's a lie, I'm never coming home. Actually this week the mission office called me and asked about all my flight details, and if I was flying home or if my family was going to come get me etc. and I was like HEY I'm not ready for this kind of conversation! Sigh...
Love,
Elder Fortie

Good Old Days

The Good Old Days - pics from 1970







Most of the Olsen Family
Rick, Kristi, Robby, and Sister Olsen.
Just after church outside the school where we had church in the cafeteria.








Steve Johnson, Carl Blades and Rick Olsen out in front of the school after church. We (the teens) used to drive the Blades VW Bug around the parking lot while our dads were in meetings after church.

Kristy Olsen (my kinda girlfriend at the time), Patty (don't remember her last name - Steve Johnson's girl friend) and Karla Stoddard (I rode with her to seminary every morning).

This is at a branch picnic at a park.

Our branch got to come to Salt Lake to sing in a youth celebration. Here we are outside church headquarters waiting to go in and meet the Prophet in his office. Curt is in front, then Linda, me and David Gibson are behind him. I can see Sister Blades behind me and Cheryl Johnson way behind me. My mom is on the right side between two girls that I barely remember but don't know their names. Bro. Fraze (sp) is behind Linda (the Blades youngest boy is right behind her). I think that looks like Sister Stodard over on the left side 3/4 the way up the picture in the light blue dress.