Did you know?

This is a section where I want to post interesting tidbits as I learn them.

John D Rockefeller was the first American billionaire.  If his total earnings were adjusted for inflation, he would be the richest person in American history.   Rockefeller always paid tithing on his income, he was a stout Baptist.  He was the father of modern day philanthropy giving hundreds of millions away for medical research, education, and science.  His business practices were often seen as cutthroat.  Rockefeller once controlled the Consolidation Coal Company (later named CONSOL Energy) where I work today.

Christmas Traditions

Tia wrote about some of the Christmas traditions that they do so I wanted to write a couple that we do.

This year, being the first away from home, we are going to Red Lobster for our Christmas Eve dinner.  Typically, we would have gone over to Randy and Diana's house for a candle lit crab leg dinner or as I like to call it, crabs in the dark. (due to the candle light not being bright enough to actually see anyone else)  One funny story to come out of this tradition was once Bracken's wife tasted paint thinner in her crab.  As a result, 15 lbs of crab of Alaskan King crab was thrown out ($$$).  Glad that wasn't my bill to cover.  So we will carry on the tradition minus the dishes and cleaning and smell in the house.

Another Christmas tradition is to write a letter to others in the family and hang it on the tree.  On Christmas day we each read our personal letters which give us warm fuzzies to know how much we are appreciated and loved by that person.  It is nice and easy for a person like me to type my feelings up instead of having to express them out loud.

Anyway, hope you all have a great Christmas!!  Love you guys!!!

 

Birthday Girl

We celebrated Keeks birthday on Sunday.  She turned 2 years old today.  It is hard to imagine how fast these girls are growing.  It seems like yesterday that we brought both of them home from the hospital.  Now they just want to do everything themselves without our help.  Erin and I look forward to the times when the girls want to cuddle…unfortunately those times only happen when they are sick or so early in the morning that they are still half asleep.

Kena is so cute; she can instantly bring a smile to our faces with her moody facial expressions.  We love you bubs! Here are some pictures of Keeks.

The story behind Dink C (Part 3 – the end)

Initially, every p-day, all three Elders would razz Lane while in the grocery store about him purchasing Dink and not shelling out a dime for something better.  But even our constant badgering wouldn’t sway his decision to make the switch.  One week Lane ran out of his packets before p-day and since we didn’t typically go to the grocery store any other day of the week, I gladly gave him one of my packets to drink.  He was amazed by the taste.  He could not believe that the water and granules had actually mixed together.  I guess he thought that Dink was just one of the cultural differences he would have to live with for two years.  That was all it took, finally Lane had crossed over.

Time went by and soon I was transferred down South on an 8hr plane ride to Tierra del Fuego.  I would spend the next 7 months on the island.  At about the 5^th month in, my companion and I had completely knocked each door in our area.  It was extremely difficult to get excited about re-knocking doors where you knew the people who would answer and what you would hear. (“Didn’t I tell you to never come back here again?”)  It was a daily struggle to find people to teach and we had to resort to creative methods to do so.  About this same time of discouragement and constant struggle, Lane was called as one of the 4 Assistants to the President and I received a no return address, unmarked letter in the pouch that had an empty Dink C packet in it with a smiley face on the inside of the letter.  This little letter and the Dink C did wonders to brighten my spirits.  It helped me to continue on in the area and to still find success for another two months.  The packet of Dink got passed back and forth for the rest of my mission.  The funny thing was it always seemed to come back to me at a time when I needed a pick-me-up. 

The final month or so of my mission was the most difficult time I had to date in my life.  My health was declining; I was losing weight, was in constant pain, and had basically stopped eating to quell the pain.  As a result of the culmination of all of these things, I wound up in a hospital.  (My path to the hospital is is a miracle story of its own, for another time.)  This time in my mission was very defeating to me, I even started questioning what little faith I had after reading that Brigham Young was able to rise from his death bed to serve a mission.  When the final decision came to send me home, I was a mess.  As I packed my things, I found in my journal the packet a Dink.  Lane had somehow placed it in there before I had left.  It once again picked up my spirits and continues to do so every time I think about our history with Dink.  

The story behind Dink C (Part 2)

Months passed and there really wasn’t a way to keep in contact with each other.  Sending letters through the pouch was not allowed and the distance between us made it so we never saw each other at conferences.

After several months I was moved to Plaza Huincul, another ten hours on the bus.  Plaza Huincul is the city where Lane and I were reunited.  He received his transfer to our zone and lived in a nearby city.  It was great to catch up on the adventures and experiences we had up to this point of our missions.  (It was also nice to be able to speak to each other in Spanish and not English)  After a few weeks, and due to the a large group of missionaries going home, my companion and I were forced to close down our apartment in Plaza Huincul and move into Lane’s apartment in order to work two both areas and save on costs I suspect.  This is where Dink C comes into the picture.

Because of the funky tasting water, most missionaries would buy flavor packets, like crystal light, in order to mask the taste.   Just like in the US, consumers had the choice of different brands at the store.  Dink C was always the cheapest and only a nickel per packet if I remember correctly.  The next closest drink mix in price was about $.15 cents.  So like all poor missionaries did, I started out buying Dink C early in my mission but soon realized after taking the first swig that the granules of Dink did not dissolve in the water.  It was horrible.  First, you got the nasty tasting water in your mouth and then the flavored sand would slide down slowly till it hit your taste buds.  Was it really worth saving a dime is what I had to ask myself.  It was a no brainer for me; I switched and paid a dime more. Every missionary realized that mistake and switched...well, everyone but Lane.

The story behind Dink C (Part 1)

Lane Cutler and I were companions in the MTC.  We became instant friends from the first time we met.  Our first meeting came right after saying goodbye to our families.  I went straight to my room and chose a bunk and as I was walking out, I ran into Elder Cutler.  We both felt instantly that we were just resuming a friendship that started before this life.

Lane is from Highland, UT and went to Lehi High School.  He has been in the Army now for at least ten years flying helicopters.  Lane was enrolled at Army University and studying when he received his mission call.  I remember being amazed at the sacrifice that he and another Elder in our group made by having to withdraw from the Army and Navy in order to serve their mission.  Withdrawing from school is almost disgraceful because of the long and complicated process it is to get in.  Last I had heard Lane was in Hawaii after spending several years flying Apache’s in Afghanistan. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our time together in the MTC.  The night before we left for Argentina, we stayed up the whole night and talked.  The next morning we were the last to board the plane because of all the people who came to say goodbye to Lane.  Three plane changes later we touched down in Neuquén, Argentina and were picked up by the AP’s and taken to a home with a ton of bunk beds before meeting the Mission President.  The next morning, we all stood in a circle as one of the AP’s read out loud where each of us were going and how long of a bus or plane ride it would take to get there.  When it was announced that Lane would go to Choele Choel and he would be on the bus for another 4 hours we all laughed.  When it was said I was heading to Esquel and I would be on the bus close to 12 hours everyone laughed...I felt sick!