September - Sorry!

I could have sworn that I posted at least ONE of his letters from September, but looking at this the last post was from August? Can't be! Um, we are adjusting to a few new schedules around here. Todd has a second job working 2nd shift at Raymond Corporation in Greene - which he started the last week in August. Chantal and Miranda are now back in school, and very active with their field hockey schedule, so things here in Harpursville are very busy. Still, that's no excuse for not keeping up with Calvin's mission blog! ACK! I promise I will be better. I promise!

I was counting on the calendar today and realized that Calvin has almost finished 16 weeks of his mission, and will have finished 4 months at the end of September! Time is flying by! Just for fun I google mapped where he was and figured he's less than 5 hours away. Both Todd and my driver's licenses are up for renewal this year. Perhaps we'll spend the extra money, bring in the extra identification, brave the lines at the DMV and get the enhanced licenses and ID cards so that when Calvin finishes his mission we can go back to Canada with him and visit the people and places he is writing about.

Now, on to Calvin's letters! This week's letter was more of an answer to the one I sent to him, so I will leave my letter to him in and his responses.

Monday 3 September, 2012

 I keep on my toes, trying to adjust and get better. 

Yesterday Dad and I went up to take pictures at some campgrounds. It was nice to spend the day with Dad but he wore me out!!!
  Chantal and Miranda go back to school this week. I'm going to miss them! I really hate it when my children go back to school. And this is going to be Chantal's last year of high school. I don't
know how I feel about this "my children are growing up" thing. I didn't like it that you left high school and graduated and it's not any easier that Chantal is in her last year of high school either! I
don't like it! I just don't like it! (("No no no no no no no no" *she says as she grabs the key and holds on tight and closes her eyes as the other mice try to grab the key from her and tell her to let
go, that the big black cat Lucifer is gone now, and it's safe to let go* "No! My little girl cannot grow up and go away to college next year, she just can't."))

Dont worry we will come see you again and again after we've gone. Don't worry. Oh, by the way, Speaking of I That, oh great creative writer mother of mine, I liked your blog post you sent me. It sounds like your book is doing well, if a website did a reading of it. How is your book doing? Are you writing another one? I hope all goes well with that. 

  Sophie did okay last week with Dad going to work. Though it was a little tough on Monday morning when she woke up to take the girls to practice and we got back and she asked where Dad
was and I said "Daddy's at work" and she went and looked in the office and then came back and looked at me and said "No, Daddy's not at work, where's Daddy?" as if to say "what are you,
high? I looked 'at work' in the office and Daddy is most certainly NOT 'at work' in the office, WHAT did you do with him? produce him now!" So she cried for about 15 minutes and I turned on a
tv show and she got involved in that and everything was okay. Then she fell asleep in the afternoon and woke up after Dad got home from work and it was time for dinner. Tuesday it went a
little better and Wednesday Dad started working second shift so she saw him leave for work and it was okay

Sophie is so funny! I hope you guys get to see dad often, I hope it's not too hard on the girls. 

.
  It's not too bad having Dad working second shift, except Wednesday night when I forgot that Dad wasn't there with keys to close the building, and the other people who had keys to close the building left, so one of the young women who drives had to drive over and get the keys from one of the people who had already left. Oh well, all part of the adjustments!

Oh, adjustments. Adjustments suck on missions. I will have plenty of opportunities to get better at that. 

 

  It's odd not to have [a young woman who left for college] in Young Women's. OH! So today our lesson was on evaluating media, and making good media choices. I have a book that I like to
read by my favorite author, but I won't let the girls read because it's, well, it's got parts in it that I don't want them reading. So I did an object lesson. There was a quote in the beginning of the lesson about how the
skull and crossbones is a universal sign of danger. There was also a quote about how just because an author has one good book doesn't mean all their books are good or worthy of reading. So I
found a skull and crossbones in free clipart. I brought in all my books by that author and I put the skull and crossbones on the book by that author that I wouldn't let the girls read. I talked about how this author is my favorite author,
and I asked what they saw about the books. Of course they pointed out the skull and crossbones. So I pulled that book out of the lineup and I said, "I really like this book. But I won't let my girls
read it because, well, I'm embarrassed to say that there are parts of this book that are not good to read," and I started to rip the book up (Miranda's jaw dropped to the FLOOR and she started to
cry, ((LOL))!!!!!!! Chantal's jaw dropped, [another young woman] looked like she was about to cry, [another young woman] wasn't sure what was going on, ((HAH)) and Sophie looked at me like "Mom, why are you ripping the book?"), then I
continued, "So, if this book isn't good for my daughters to read, why am I reading it? Why should I have a different standard than I have for my daughters, right?" and I put the book in a plastic
garbage bag and tied it up. I think it was a pretty good object lesson, especially since Chantal and Miranda know that I really liked that book and they saw me reading it last week.

HAH! sounds just like the cake one! I love object lessons! Where is [the young woman at college]?  

  Okay so I'll close this letter. The dead whatever smell in Dad's office is starting to seep through the closed, sliding glass door and it smells really bad. I think I could smell it from outside too.
Dad's office is filled with flies. UGH! YUK!!! He's going to have to clean whatever is dead in there tomorrow. Ick.
  Sophie and [a child in nursery class] made some things for their "brothers on missions" today in nursery. I'll have to mail them out on Tuesday.  [That reminds me, I still haven't mailed Sophie's to Calvin! AGH!]

I love you!
Pray fervently!
Study your scriptures and Preach My Gospel!
Love your companion! Tell him we say hi.

He says hi back

 

Study the language!
Watch out for blood-sucking, vile, west-nile-virus-carrying mosquitos!
Love,
MoMM

Momm, I'm glad you are doing well! I hope all goes well for all of you guys! Not much new news from us out here in the field. The work presses forwards. Oh, and do you think you guys could send me some pictures of my artwork? 

I love you guys, I think about you often, and if I am making you all proud!

Watch out for TIE fighters!
Love you lots!
Calvin