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Fortie Family Flyer
September 28 – October 4, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
Tut Tut, it looks like rain and snow and wind and cold. Yes, this week decided that summer was hanging around too long and winter was way past due so it skipped fall. We went from the 80’s to the 40’s and around freezing at night. Something kept nagging me to go up into the mountains to take a few pictures. I finally went so I could have some peace, and it was, as Martha Stewart would say, “a good thing”. I went up to Brighton where I found about 5 inches of snow around Silver Lake. Even though it was quite breathtaking I really didn’t get the pictures I was hoping for. Somehow the beauty escaped my camera, perhaps my promptings were just for me to get up there and enjoy the sights and sounds and smells for myself. If you’re stuck in the city with your normal, stressful grind, don’t wait for pictures from me or anyone else to relieve that stress; get up in the mountains yourself to change your well being. The beauties of God’s creation truly hold the key to changing any darkness that may hold us captive, into joy, love and light. The snow mixed with the beautiful autumn colors really played some tricks on my mind; my eyes seemed to observe everything there as if looking through the eyes of a child seeing something for the first time. Certainly those who miss such opportunities cannot possibly reach their full potential for joy, but those who stop what they are doing to enjoy small but powerful moments like these will expand their souls throughout their lives.
Well, the week was filled with work and play, as usual. Most events are not newsworthy. Editing and getting pictures of families printed up and over to them. I picked up my pictures at the Sandy Library since we had the month of September as our month to display them on the walls of the library. I had a few people tell me on facebook that they were in the Sandy library and saw them and liked them.
On Monday we went to a play Brian told us about because one of his teachers was in it. It was the last night for “Arsenic and Old Lace” in the Sugar Factory Playhouse in South Jordan. The guy who played Marcellus in the Music Man that I was in this past summer was in it. They did a great job and we laughed like crazy. Now we want to get the movie from the library to see how it compares (it has been a while since I have seen it and the kids never have). Michelle needed to go to a play for one of her classes but she couldn’t get off work at Kneaders so she couldn’t go. She will have to catch another play somewhere else.
I checked out a couple of audio books from the library to listen to on the way up the canyon. I spotted a biography of Crazy Horse that seemed to call to me so I got it. It is a very interesting book and helps me see the vast difference between the two realities or belief systems of our cultures; one becoming the conquerors and one the conquered. It is amazing how almost everything the two cultures believe in are in exact opposition to each other after centuries of separation by an ocean. I have some very interesting thoughts of the Native Americans and their future but that is for another letter. I am almost finished with the book “The Wisdom Keepers” about Native American Elders and it has some interesting stories and teachings.
The kids had no school Thursday and Friday but our activities consisted of working and watching Monk (this time it was my fault, I was at the Sandy Library picking up my pictures and saw 4 DVDs of Monk and knew how everyone liked to watch it so I brought all 4 home. Well of course everyone decided they had to watch them before the week is up and we have to take them back so they watched two and three episodes in a row trying to get them all in during their break when they didn’t have homework). Every time someone in our house does something Monk like, someone else points it out and calls them Monk. I think some of them are actually getting to be more and more like Monk as the weeks of watching the show go by; that’s not good. We even say one of his frequent lines – “Here’s the thing” in our own conversation; crazy family. Anyway, mostly it has been work; in fact Jennifer had her biggest day yet by babysitting 4 kids for 10 hours on Friday. She does a good job with those kids and they love her.
On Friday night we went to Mike and Linda’s to celebrate grandma’s birthday, eat chili that Alicia made and watch the BYU game. The food was good, the cake and ice-cream was great and the game was fun. We had a late night but most of us were able to sleep in on Saturday.
Michelle had to work Saturday morning but the rest of us watched conference, ate and did a few things around the house. We went to grandpa and grandmas for dinner and then the guys all headed down town on trax to go to the general priesthood meeting. We left late so I didn’t think we would make it into the conference center but as we arrived about 10 minutes late we were able to get in and take some of the last few seats in the top right balcony. I haven’t been up there since the last time I cleaned the Conference Center (in fact we sat is the very section Chad cleaned) and the view is amazing with all those white shirts and dark suits all focused down on a tiny person speaking from the pulpit. I sat near the front in the center for the Temple Celebration performance that Michelle and Jennifer were a part of and that was of course a great seat to see the stage, but if you want to be impressed with the Conference Center as a whole, sit in the top corner of the building. Tyler and Whitney came down for conference so Tyler and his cousin Nathan went with us (grandpa, Brian and me) to priesthood. I think they enjoyed it and we all went to grandpa and grandmas for, of course, ice-cream, lots of toppings and lots of fun.
Sunday we ate and watched conference then headed to grandpa and grandmas for the last session, dinner, games and of course, ice-cream (I’m detecting a pattern here). Well, we had fun but Brian rode his scooter there on Saturday when the weather was decent, stayed Saturday night and then had to ride home in a cold rain Sunday night, not so fun. I brought some warm stuff for him and a raincoat so he was bundled up pretty well, we followed him and he seemed to do okay. He does need to get a job so he can afford to get his car fixed so it will pass inspection so he can drive this winter. The scooters have been great for the summer but I think that is coming to a close soon. I picked Michelle up from school on Wednesday on the scooter and it rained a bit on us but we were bundled up so it wasn’t too bad. A little cold on the hands with my thin summer gloves, I’ll have to get my winter gloves and coat out for the fall and early winter riding. It’s still fun, even when it’s a bit cold.
Conference was, as usual, very good and there were some powerful talks given this time. I think some crazy things are coming. The protesters were there, as usual, ranting and raving about how terrible we are. Frankly, I am grateful for their presence. I like to pause there for a few moments to feel the darkness they tend to represent and then go inside the Conference Center and feel the exact opposite feeling as I listen to the choir sing a beautiful hymn before the meeting starts. The contrast to me is a testimony in itself. No words need be said, just the opposition is amazing. I keep thinking that if any one of them could step outside his hate and anger and stand with me in both places they would have to agree that they carry with them the wrong spirit. But of course they wouldn’t be able to step outside their little world of belief any more than we can get Al-Qaeda leaders to suddenly convert to Christianity. I see these people as the modern day Pharisees, straining at gnats but swallowing camels. They remind me of the last chapter of Acts, when Paul goes to Rome and calls for the Jews there to come talk to him. They ask him about this strange sect that they have heard so many bad things about, in fact here are their words: (Acts 28:22-28.) “But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Indeed the Christians, which were a new and very strange Jewish sect, were thought of as atheists because they wouldn’t believe in the state religion (kind of like not saluting the flag today) and they were considered cannibals because it was reported that they ate flesh and drank blood in their meetings, and they had all kinds of perverse relationships with members of their congregations because they called each other brother and sister, etc. The rumors were wild and crazy, and of course none of them were true. Some government positions were given to Christians specifically because of their integrity, “in spite of their strange religion.” How many people today say the Mormons are such good people but are just deceived by some strange mind altering religion. Things never change.
I found out about a Utah photo book that is being put together, I’m sure it’s just a way to get people to buy something they put together by saying one of your pictures may be in the book, but I thought I’d put some of my pictures in anyway, just to see what happened. I had several people really like my work and many of them left comments. One guy who is a member of the Wasatch Photography Club said, “Absolutely incredible what can be done with a camera by someone who knows how to put their heart and soul into it!" In a way it was very good to read comments like that but on the other hand it is hard because I do put everything into it but can’t seem to make enough money to make it worthwhile. Artists seem to be wealthy or busted, with the majority busted (especially while they are still alive). What to do.
Well, that’s it from our house. Keep walking the path of beauty and peace.
Ken and clan
From Brian:
Dear family,
Sorry it’s been a while since I wrote. I have had school coming out my ears.
On Monday I was supposed to go to my singles ward family home evening but my family was planning on going to a play without me. So I had someone from the ward fill in for me the part of the lesson I was doing on family history.
So Dad, Mom, Chad, Alicia, Jennifer and I all went to a play my college professor was starring in. It was “arsenic and old lace” and my Government and Politics Professor played the bad guy, a homicidal maniac. The play was so funny, we all laughed pretty hard. They did a great job. My teacher looked like Boris Carlough and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to look at him the same way again.
On Tuesday even though it was my first day of school it was my last as well for the week. We had fall break so I only had classes one day. In my Speech class we finished listening to peoples speeches. Then I tried to finish my homework at home, but dad was gone so I could not print my editorial for English. I e-mailed it to myself in haste and then dashed off for class. I had to stop by the pharmacy on my way to pick up my pills, which made me even more late. I got there and tried to print off my paper from my e-mail to take up to class. First, the computer took forever only to find out it was attached to the color printer that cost way more. So after moving computers it wouldn’t print. I found it was out of paper. They said they were sending someone down to fill it. After waiting a few agonizing minutes I ran up to my class about 10 minutes late. I explained and she said to participate in what was going on now and go down to print it in a while. Later I went back down and they brought a computer guy back who informed me that it wouldn’t print because I had no computer student card. So I went over to the desk, had my picture taken and it took the printer like 5 minutes to warm up and then slowly print my card. I finally was able to turn in the stupid editorial after 20 minutes of hassle.
On Wednesday Chad came over and looked at my car for a while that wouldn’t start. We tried jumping it because it was dead, but after 10 or 15 minutes of jumping it still wouldn’t start. We gave up when it got dark and wet and went to Chad’s house. I missed my institute class that I love, cause we never got it going. We made chili cheese dogs and watched, on a whim, “The Great Mouse Detective” which is an old Disney movie neither of us has seen in over a decade.
On Thursday Chad came over again to my house to try to look at the car. But I had a way bad migraine and we ended up reading some of my stories and then looking at pictures of me as a kid.
On Friday we all went over to Mounteers for a party. It was grandma’s 75th birthday. We had chili, hot dogs and snacks. Also the BYU game was on and we watched that over there. It was a cool game to see, against Utah State. We all got home way late and tired.
On Saturday I woke up early, packed up some stuff and headed for grandpa and grandmas. We all had different schedules and were going out at different times. Rauckhorsts were coming down for conference (The older kids were) and we waited for them. Spencer was a total goof ball. He was running around and making noises and causing minor mayhem. He learned to do this noise where he sucks in air to sound surprised, when I did it. He copied it pretty quick. He also likes making a monkey face and saying “oooohh!” as he points to things that interest him. I was supposed to go to the college at 12:30 to tutor a girl in anatomy; she’s in my class and struggling. But she got bit by something and had to go to the doctor so I got off the hook and got to stay there. Conference was amazing! That first session on Saturday there were some very specific things I realized I needed to do in my life, to become better and more close to the Savior. There were some good specific promptings that I made sure to write down, or we forget.
Tyler, Whitney and Nathan showed up shortly after the first session. We all spent the whole time playing with Spencer and watching him. Nathan and Whitney were building towers out of blocks and Spencer thinks he is Godzilla in Tokyo when he sees block buildings. He runs over and knocks it over, making sure there are not even 2 blocks on top of each other. “Smash! Man Things! Arrgghhh Argh!” He is a total boy. I even had a Godzilla sound effect on my phone and played it right when he went on his rampage so it fit perfectly. We showed him pictures of trucks and he says “Mvmmmmmm!” and makes the noise, or a tiger he says “arrgggg” and the funniest one he learned on Saturday and does it like crazy now is a piggy. He scrunches up his face and puts his hand by his mouth and snorts in and out several times getting louder and louder. We could not stop laughing it was so funny.
He stole my cell phone, and tried to talk on it and push buttons, and did the same with Whitney’s phone. He hides behind a chair to do stuff he knows he shouldn’t, it is so funny. He is a cutie and a riot.
Then we all watched the second session of conference. It was very powerful and I loved the spirit that was like fire in my bones, to the “consuming of my flesh.” I strengthened my testimony of many things. The boys had to change quickly after because we were going to go downtown for Priesthood at the Conference Center. We ate a quick dinner and drove to Trax. I followed the car on my scooter. I scooted.
We got to Trax and bought tickets quickly. We joked about a special Conference Trax train, which, like the Polar Express, would fly up into the air at extremely high speed and then come zooming down at the doors of the Conference Center. So we would not be late; the short cut.
Priesthood was great and so cool to see all those brethren. To think that there are near 6 million all watching it around the world is amazing! As we left there were some crazy protestors outside. One guy was yelling at the top of his lungs something about keeping or not keeping commandments. He reminded me of a Shakespeare monologue or the guy on the Ramiumptum. I felt sorry for the guy, he totally missed the boat, but he’s just getting paid to do that so he doesn’t care. They are getting way desperate. Notice we are never outside their facilities yelling and waving giant signs whose rhetoric seems to be designed by small children. It is because they are not a threat to us. But we sure seem to be a great threat to them. Thanks for proving our point guys, keep it up.
We drove back with Uncle Mike. It took a bit longer, I think, to get out of the parking lot than it did to drive back to the Train on 7200 South. That’s to be expected I guess with 22,000 people getting out on one block.
At home the girls were watching Charlie but all left towards the end, not wanting to see her die. I thought that sort of strange but whatever. We were looking at pictures on grandpa’s computer of all the family. It was cool to see how people look growing up, how we all have changed, and what we did back then. Tyler and Nate and I were talking about the titles of my stories and when I told Tyler the title of one he lost it. “Blanche awakens ‘THE’” Nate and I were wondering what in the world was so funny, then we began wondering when he was going to run out of oxygen. Then we started laughing because he was, and none of us could stop. It was way late, so I just slept out in the front room on a mattress to stay the night.
On Sunday the wind started blowing really bad at about 4 in the morning, and I thought “oh no, Rauckhorsts have to go home in this.” I could hear stuff, big stuff, getting blown around and rain. I woke up at about 6:40 and tried to help those three get ready to go. Tyler, Whitney and Nathan all had tickets to the Sunday Morning session of Conference so they had to leave. And they were going to drive home from there and not come back. So they were scrambling to get ready. Grandpa got up and finished helping me make breakfast. Then we got their stuff in the car and they left kind of sudden like. I wished then that I had had more time to talk and share experiences with, but oh well.
I loved the sessions of Sunday, although for some reason I had a hard time focusing on the morning session, my mind kept drifting to something else, not sure why. I usually am good at focusing on those things. I absolutely loved when Elder Holland added his Apostolic witness, to men and angels to be recorded alongside the Prophet Joseph, and the three Witnesses. That was powerful, that was so “The Bull Dog.”
As usual it was all over way too soon.
We ate dinner all together. Alicia made this really good soup, and we had rolls. Then we all drove home. Dad brought me some water gear to drive home in the rain on my scooter. Well I hope all is ok.
So Jason, what is all this talk of extending, talking about it like 9 months ahead of time? Anyway hope you are well, and your investigators saw Conference. Hope you get this. Love you all so much.
Love
Brian
From Elder Fortie:
And here comes Elder Holland, out of the batting cages and BOOOOMMMM!!!! Knocks it out of the stadium!!! Holy cow how about his talk!!! Ah!!! He is my favorite speaker and Sunday he once again proved why he is my favorite. Good heavens that man speaks with power and authority and he isn't afraid to throw down! Man how we could use him out here in the mission felid! My other two favorite speakers, President Monson and President Uchtdorf also gave wonderful talks! I LOVE conference, it is so exciting! We got 5 people to come to conference, but man it is not the same in Spanish... the translation is very correct, but it is dry, emotionless and monotone. It's hard because you want these people you are teaching to catch the fire that I get when I hear them speak, but they have to hear it through a man that could put a pit bull guard dog to sleep... But it was exciting none the less. I watched it up at the Oakland temple which is like 5 minutes from my apartment, which was cool. One of the talks given was really similar to a talk I had given like 3 days ago in zone leader council! That was kinda cool too, I was like hey! That's what I said! The spirit really must have been trying to drill some thing into my head on that one to make me speak on it and then listen to it right after.Other wise things are going fine. I still miss the West side of the bay, but such is the life of a missionary. Congratulations to Nathan and Paige! When do they find out if it is a boy or a girl? Let me know when it's due! I might just barely be home in time for the baby blessing, we shall see. Well things are going well. Elder Hinckley, (yes the son of the former prophet) who is a 70, was supposed to come out here to our mission this past week to do a visit here, and all us zone leaders were supposed to have a PPI with him, (I was excited!) but he had to cancel on us at the last second, so that was disappointing. Also I forgot to mention every week I have a meeting with just me my companion and brother Packer, the nephew of Elder Packer of the quorum of the 12, he is over missionary work out here and I meet with him once a week. There's all kinds of apostle family like people out here! The other month I ran into Elder Neil A. Anderson of the 12's son who lives here, and Quinton L. Cook used to be the stake Pres. of the stake I used to serve in, so his family has ties there, I think Elder Eyring as well lived out here. It's cool to see all these connections. This place is crazy but it puts out some good leaders, I guess it's a bit of a refiners fire here. Well I gots to get going, hope all is going well on the home front and all the other fronts out there! Keep up a smile!Love, Elder Fortie
September 28 – October 4, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
Tut Tut, it looks like rain and snow and wind and cold. Yes, this week decided that summer was hanging around too long and winter was way past due so it skipped fall. We went from the 80’s to the 40’s and around freezing at night. Something kept nagging me to go up into the mountains to take a few pictures. I finally went so I could have some peace, and it was, as Martha Stewart would say, “a good thing”. I went up to Brighton where I found about 5 inches of snow around Silver Lake. Even though it was quite breathtaking I really didn’t get the pictures I was hoping for. Somehow the beauty escaped my camera, perhaps my promptings were just for me to get up there and enjoy the sights and sounds and smells for myself. If you’re stuck in the city with your normal, stressful grind, don’t wait for pictures from me or anyone else to relieve that stress; get up in the mountains yourself to change your well being. The beauties of God’s creation truly hold the key to changing any darkness that may hold us captive, into joy, love and light. The snow mixed with the beautiful autumn colors really played some tricks on my mind; my eyes seemed to observe everything there as if looking through the eyes of a child seeing something for the first time. Certainly those who miss such opportunities cannot possibly reach their full potential for joy, but those who stop what they are doing to enjoy small but powerful moments like these will expand their souls throughout their lives.
Well, the week was filled with work and play, as usual. Most events are not newsworthy. Editing and getting pictures of families printed up and over to them. I picked up my pictures at the Sandy Library since we had the month of September as our month to display them on the walls of the library. I had a few people tell me on facebook that they were in the Sandy library and saw them and liked them.
On Monday we went to a play Brian told us about because one of his teachers was in it. It was the last night for “Arsenic and Old Lace” in the Sugar Factory Playhouse in South Jordan. The guy who played Marcellus in the Music Man that I was in this past summer was in it. They did a great job and we laughed like crazy. Now we want to get the movie from the library to see how it compares (it has been a while since I have seen it and the kids never have). Michelle needed to go to a play for one of her classes but she couldn’t get off work at Kneaders so she couldn’t go. She will have to catch another play somewhere else.
I checked out a couple of audio books from the library to listen to on the way up the canyon. I spotted a biography of Crazy Horse that seemed to call to me so I got it. It is a very interesting book and helps me see the vast difference between the two realities or belief systems of our cultures; one becoming the conquerors and one the conquered. It is amazing how almost everything the two cultures believe in are in exact opposition to each other after centuries of separation by an ocean. I have some very interesting thoughts of the Native Americans and their future but that is for another letter. I am almost finished with the book “The Wisdom Keepers” about Native American Elders and it has some interesting stories and teachings.
The kids had no school Thursday and Friday but our activities consisted of working and watching Monk (this time it was my fault, I was at the Sandy Library picking up my pictures and saw 4 DVDs of Monk and knew how everyone liked to watch it so I brought all 4 home. Well of course everyone decided they had to watch them before the week is up and we have to take them back so they watched two and three episodes in a row trying to get them all in during their break when they didn’t have homework). Every time someone in our house does something Monk like, someone else points it out and calls them Monk. I think some of them are actually getting to be more and more like Monk as the weeks of watching the show go by; that’s not good. We even say one of his frequent lines – “Here’s the thing” in our own conversation; crazy family. Anyway, mostly it has been work; in fact Jennifer had her biggest day yet by babysitting 4 kids for 10 hours on Friday. She does a good job with those kids and they love her.
On Friday night we went to Mike and Linda’s to celebrate grandma’s birthday, eat chili that Alicia made and watch the BYU game. The food was good, the cake and ice-cream was great and the game was fun. We had a late night but most of us were able to sleep in on Saturday.
Michelle had to work Saturday morning but the rest of us watched conference, ate and did a few things around the house. We went to grandpa and grandmas for dinner and then the guys all headed down town on trax to go to the general priesthood meeting. We left late so I didn’t think we would make it into the conference center but as we arrived about 10 minutes late we were able to get in and take some of the last few seats in the top right balcony. I haven’t been up there since the last time I cleaned the Conference Center (in fact we sat is the very section Chad cleaned) and the view is amazing with all those white shirts and dark suits all focused down on a tiny person speaking from the pulpit. I sat near the front in the center for the Temple Celebration performance that Michelle and Jennifer were a part of and that was of course a great seat to see the stage, but if you want to be impressed with the Conference Center as a whole, sit in the top corner of the building. Tyler and Whitney came down for conference so Tyler and his cousin Nathan went with us (grandpa, Brian and me) to priesthood. I think they enjoyed it and we all went to grandpa and grandmas for, of course, ice-cream, lots of toppings and lots of fun.
Sunday we ate and watched conference then headed to grandpa and grandmas for the last session, dinner, games and of course, ice-cream (I’m detecting a pattern here). Well, we had fun but Brian rode his scooter there on Saturday when the weather was decent, stayed Saturday night and then had to ride home in a cold rain Sunday night, not so fun. I brought some warm stuff for him and a raincoat so he was bundled up pretty well, we followed him and he seemed to do okay. He does need to get a job so he can afford to get his car fixed so it will pass inspection so he can drive this winter. The scooters have been great for the summer but I think that is coming to a close soon. I picked Michelle up from school on Wednesday on the scooter and it rained a bit on us but we were bundled up so it wasn’t too bad. A little cold on the hands with my thin summer gloves, I’ll have to get my winter gloves and coat out for the fall and early winter riding. It’s still fun, even when it’s a bit cold.
Conference was, as usual, very good and there were some powerful talks given this time. I think some crazy things are coming. The protesters were there, as usual, ranting and raving about how terrible we are. Frankly, I am grateful for their presence. I like to pause there for a few moments to feel the darkness they tend to represent and then go inside the Conference Center and feel the exact opposite feeling as I listen to the choir sing a beautiful hymn before the meeting starts. The contrast to me is a testimony in itself. No words need be said, just the opposition is amazing. I keep thinking that if any one of them could step outside his hate and anger and stand with me in both places they would have to agree that they carry with them the wrong spirit. But of course they wouldn’t be able to step outside their little world of belief any more than we can get Al-Qaeda leaders to suddenly convert to Christianity. I see these people as the modern day Pharisees, straining at gnats but swallowing camels. They remind me of the last chapter of Acts, when Paul goes to Rome and calls for the Jews there to come talk to him. They ask him about this strange sect that they have heard so many bad things about, in fact here are their words: (Acts 28:22-28.) “But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Indeed the Christians, which were a new and very strange Jewish sect, were thought of as atheists because they wouldn’t believe in the state religion (kind of like not saluting the flag today) and they were considered cannibals because it was reported that they ate flesh and drank blood in their meetings, and they had all kinds of perverse relationships with members of their congregations because they called each other brother and sister, etc. The rumors were wild and crazy, and of course none of them were true. Some government positions were given to Christians specifically because of their integrity, “in spite of their strange religion.” How many people today say the Mormons are such good people but are just deceived by some strange mind altering religion. Things never change.
I found out about a Utah photo book that is being put together, I’m sure it’s just a way to get people to buy something they put together by saying one of your pictures may be in the book, but I thought I’d put some of my pictures in anyway, just to see what happened. I had several people really like my work and many of them left comments. One guy who is a member of the Wasatch Photography Club said, “Absolutely incredible what can be done with a camera by someone who knows how to put their heart and soul into it!" In a way it was very good to read comments like that but on the other hand it is hard because I do put everything into it but can’t seem to make enough money to make it worthwhile. Artists seem to be wealthy or busted, with the majority busted (especially while they are still alive). What to do.
Well, that’s it from our house. Keep walking the path of beauty and peace.
Ken and clan
From Brian:
Dear family,
Sorry it’s been a while since I wrote. I have had school coming out my ears.
On Monday I was supposed to go to my singles ward family home evening but my family was planning on going to a play without me. So I had someone from the ward fill in for me the part of the lesson I was doing on family history.
So Dad, Mom, Chad, Alicia, Jennifer and I all went to a play my college professor was starring in. It was “arsenic and old lace” and my Government and Politics Professor played the bad guy, a homicidal maniac. The play was so funny, we all laughed pretty hard. They did a great job. My teacher looked like Boris Carlough and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to look at him the same way again.
On Tuesday even though it was my first day of school it was my last as well for the week. We had fall break so I only had classes one day. In my Speech class we finished listening to peoples speeches. Then I tried to finish my homework at home, but dad was gone so I could not print my editorial for English. I e-mailed it to myself in haste and then dashed off for class. I had to stop by the pharmacy on my way to pick up my pills, which made me even more late. I got there and tried to print off my paper from my e-mail to take up to class. First, the computer took forever only to find out it was attached to the color printer that cost way more. So after moving computers it wouldn’t print. I found it was out of paper. They said they were sending someone down to fill it. After waiting a few agonizing minutes I ran up to my class about 10 minutes late. I explained and she said to participate in what was going on now and go down to print it in a while. Later I went back down and they brought a computer guy back who informed me that it wouldn’t print because I had no computer student card. So I went over to the desk, had my picture taken and it took the printer like 5 minutes to warm up and then slowly print my card. I finally was able to turn in the stupid editorial after 20 minutes of hassle.
On Wednesday Chad came over and looked at my car for a while that wouldn’t start. We tried jumping it because it was dead, but after 10 or 15 minutes of jumping it still wouldn’t start. We gave up when it got dark and wet and went to Chad’s house. I missed my institute class that I love, cause we never got it going. We made chili cheese dogs and watched, on a whim, “The Great Mouse Detective” which is an old Disney movie neither of us has seen in over a decade.
On Thursday Chad came over again to my house to try to look at the car. But I had a way bad migraine and we ended up reading some of my stories and then looking at pictures of me as a kid.
On Friday we all went over to Mounteers for a party. It was grandma’s 75th birthday. We had chili, hot dogs and snacks. Also the BYU game was on and we watched that over there. It was a cool game to see, against Utah State. We all got home way late and tired.
On Saturday I woke up early, packed up some stuff and headed for grandpa and grandmas. We all had different schedules and were going out at different times. Rauckhorsts were coming down for conference (The older kids were) and we waited for them. Spencer was a total goof ball. He was running around and making noises and causing minor mayhem. He learned to do this noise where he sucks in air to sound surprised, when I did it. He copied it pretty quick. He also likes making a monkey face and saying “oooohh!” as he points to things that interest him. I was supposed to go to the college at 12:30 to tutor a girl in anatomy; she’s in my class and struggling. But she got bit by something and had to go to the doctor so I got off the hook and got to stay there. Conference was amazing! That first session on Saturday there were some very specific things I realized I needed to do in my life, to become better and more close to the Savior. There were some good specific promptings that I made sure to write down, or we forget.
Tyler, Whitney and Nathan showed up shortly after the first session. We all spent the whole time playing with Spencer and watching him. Nathan and Whitney were building towers out of blocks and Spencer thinks he is Godzilla in Tokyo when he sees block buildings. He runs over and knocks it over, making sure there are not even 2 blocks on top of each other. “Smash! Man Things! Arrgghhh Argh!” He is a total boy. I even had a Godzilla sound effect on my phone and played it right when he went on his rampage so it fit perfectly. We showed him pictures of trucks and he says “Mvmmmmmm!” and makes the noise, or a tiger he says “arrgggg” and the funniest one he learned on Saturday and does it like crazy now is a piggy. He scrunches up his face and puts his hand by his mouth and snorts in and out several times getting louder and louder. We could not stop laughing it was so funny.
He stole my cell phone, and tried to talk on it and push buttons, and did the same with Whitney’s phone. He hides behind a chair to do stuff he knows he shouldn’t, it is so funny. He is a cutie and a riot.
Then we all watched the second session of conference. It was very powerful and I loved the spirit that was like fire in my bones, to the “consuming of my flesh.” I strengthened my testimony of many things. The boys had to change quickly after because we were going to go downtown for Priesthood at the Conference Center. We ate a quick dinner and drove to Trax. I followed the car on my scooter. I scooted.
We got to Trax and bought tickets quickly. We joked about a special Conference Trax train, which, like the Polar Express, would fly up into the air at extremely high speed and then come zooming down at the doors of the Conference Center. So we would not be late; the short cut.
Priesthood was great and so cool to see all those brethren. To think that there are near 6 million all watching it around the world is amazing! As we left there were some crazy protestors outside. One guy was yelling at the top of his lungs something about keeping or not keeping commandments. He reminded me of a Shakespeare monologue or the guy on the Ramiumptum. I felt sorry for the guy, he totally missed the boat, but he’s just getting paid to do that so he doesn’t care. They are getting way desperate. Notice we are never outside their facilities yelling and waving giant signs whose rhetoric seems to be designed by small children. It is because they are not a threat to us. But we sure seem to be a great threat to them. Thanks for proving our point guys, keep it up.
We drove back with Uncle Mike. It took a bit longer, I think, to get out of the parking lot than it did to drive back to the Train on 7200 South. That’s to be expected I guess with 22,000 people getting out on one block.
At home the girls were watching Charlie but all left towards the end, not wanting to see her die. I thought that sort of strange but whatever. We were looking at pictures on grandpa’s computer of all the family. It was cool to see how people look growing up, how we all have changed, and what we did back then. Tyler and Nate and I were talking about the titles of my stories and when I told Tyler the title of one he lost it. “Blanche awakens ‘THE’” Nate and I were wondering what in the world was so funny, then we began wondering when he was going to run out of oxygen. Then we started laughing because he was, and none of us could stop. It was way late, so I just slept out in the front room on a mattress to stay the night.
On Sunday the wind started blowing really bad at about 4 in the morning, and I thought “oh no, Rauckhorsts have to go home in this.” I could hear stuff, big stuff, getting blown around and rain. I woke up at about 6:40 and tried to help those three get ready to go. Tyler, Whitney and Nathan all had tickets to the Sunday Morning session of Conference so they had to leave. And they were going to drive home from there and not come back. So they were scrambling to get ready. Grandpa got up and finished helping me make breakfast. Then we got their stuff in the car and they left kind of sudden like. I wished then that I had had more time to talk and share experiences with, but oh well.
I loved the sessions of Sunday, although for some reason I had a hard time focusing on the morning session, my mind kept drifting to something else, not sure why. I usually am good at focusing on those things. I absolutely loved when Elder Holland added his Apostolic witness, to men and angels to be recorded alongside the Prophet Joseph, and the three Witnesses. That was powerful, that was so “The Bull Dog.”
As usual it was all over way too soon.
We ate dinner all together. Alicia made this really good soup, and we had rolls. Then we all drove home. Dad brought me some water gear to drive home in the rain on my scooter. Well I hope all is ok.
So Jason, what is all this talk of extending, talking about it like 9 months ahead of time? Anyway hope you are well, and your investigators saw Conference. Hope you get this. Love you all so much.
Love
Brian
From Elder Fortie:
And here comes Elder Holland, out of the batting cages and BOOOOMMMM!!!! Knocks it out of the stadium!!! Holy cow how about his talk!!! Ah!!! He is my favorite speaker and Sunday he once again proved why he is my favorite. Good heavens that man speaks with power and authority and he isn't afraid to throw down! Man how we could use him out here in the mission felid! My other two favorite speakers, President Monson and President Uchtdorf also gave wonderful talks! I LOVE conference, it is so exciting! We got 5 people to come to conference, but man it is not the same in Spanish... the translation is very correct, but it is dry, emotionless and monotone. It's hard because you want these people you are teaching to catch the fire that I get when I hear them speak, but they have to hear it through a man that could put a pit bull guard dog to sleep... But it was exciting none the less. I watched it up at the Oakland temple which is like 5 minutes from my apartment, which was cool. One of the talks given was really similar to a talk I had given like 3 days ago in zone leader council! That was kinda cool too, I was like hey! That's what I said! The spirit really must have been trying to drill some thing into my head on that one to make me speak on it and then listen to it right after.Other wise things are going fine. I still miss the West side of the bay, but such is the life of a missionary. Congratulations to Nathan and Paige! When do they find out if it is a boy or a girl? Let me know when it's due! I might just barely be home in time for the baby blessing, we shall see. Well things are going well. Elder Hinckley, (yes the son of the former prophet) who is a 70, was supposed to come out here to our mission this past week to do a visit here, and all us zone leaders were supposed to have a PPI with him, (I was excited!) but he had to cancel on us at the last second, so that was disappointing. Also I forgot to mention every week I have a meeting with just me my companion and brother Packer, the nephew of Elder Packer of the quorum of the 12, he is over missionary work out here and I meet with him once a week. There's all kinds of apostle family like people out here! The other month I ran into Elder Neil A. Anderson of the 12's son who lives here, and Quinton L. Cook used to be the stake Pres. of the stake I used to serve in, so his family has ties there, I think Elder Eyring as well lived out here. It's cool to see all these connections. This place is crazy but it puts out some good leaders, I guess it's a bit of a refiners fire here. Well I gots to get going, hope all is going well on the home front and all the other fronts out there! Keep up a smile!Love, Elder Fortie
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