21 October, 2012

   This is a week of birthdays for our family (mine, Todd's, and my sister's) and I was thinking this is the first birthday in 20 years that Calvin has not been physically with us. That's a lot of years! Then I felt old. *grin* Calvin bought me a Kindle Touch for Christmas last year (2011). Then he put it somewhere and forgot about it until after Christmas. We had been out shopping and when we got home Calvin said, "Mom, sit on the couch." So I sat. He went upstairs to his room and came back down with a plastic bag. "While we were out today I realized that I had forgotten one more present! So here's your Christmas present. I figure I'll be gone for the next two years, so this is your Christmas presents and your Birthday presents and your Mother's Day presents for the next two years." Cute kid.

   I had asked Calvin a few questions, and I got answers this week! Yay!

Momm

I know you are asking for [other relatives], I didn't think you would come visit me. I just didn't want to give you or me that temptation. Anyways, here are all the answers president gave me:  I can't answer the duty question. I know you can send a certain amount of gifts without paying duty. Your Mom could check for her on the internet.

[for limitations and rules about packages to Canada, see this page:  

http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/ce_003.htm  ]

When families have come we have allowed them an hour for a meal together. Anything more than that and homesickness can impact a missionaries focus. 

Fine with the picture of us on the internet. 

So, I hope that answered any questions.

Oh, and yes, i will be coming back right after my two years is up. I have so many people I have to see. 

Love you lots!!
Calvin

   YAY! The picture he's talking about is this one. It was taken the day Calvin arrived in Montréal at the Mission Home. At first, I was a little confused by the sign. See, Calvin's initials are CEM, his sister's initials are CMM. So my brain read it as welcoming his sister to the mission. Duh, Canada Montréal Mission has the same initials as Chantal does.

I have a policy of not posting any picture on this blog unless I have the express permission of everyone in the picture. So I was waiting for President's permission to post this photo. Calvin loves President and Sister Cannon, and they are taking very good care of him!

  I sent Calvin a response:

Yay! I will have Dad scan the picture of you and the mission president and his wife today and put it up on the blog! Woo Hoo!

About visiting: I don't want to do anything that would be distracting to you on your mission. I'm glad that you want to avoid temptation too *smile*

You are an amazing young man! I am so happy and proud to be your mom!

I'll try to look up the answer for Grandma on the internet.

Thanks for the answers! xx

Love,
MoMM

P.S. yes when you are done with your mission and you go back, Dad and I want to go with you. *smile*

Oh, you will be going with me, no doubt about that!!! It will be super fun! I actually could come back and visit every month if I wanted to! (which I think I might. I love this area)

Calvin

  The next email he answered was this one:

Dear Calvin,
  Yesterday Sophie and I went shopping for some things for missionary packages *grin* and on the way home she was playing with her window. I told her to roll it up and she did.
Then I put the window lock on:
Sophie (in an angry voice): MOM LET ME ROLL MY WINDOW DOWN!
Me: No, you need to keep it closed.
Sophie (even angrier): LET ME PUT MY WINDOW DOWN! THIS IS UNASSEPABLE! YOU ARE IN TIME OUT!!

I thought you'd enjoy a laugh. *big grin* Oh and we'll be sending the packages tomorrow. Do you need me to tell you what is in the packages so that you can make sure you got everything?

Love,
MoMM

A package! I am sooooo excited! I can't wait! Wow! Ok, I can't wait to see what's inside of it! Don't tell me. Until I tell you I got it. Anyways, I loved that Sophie story! She is getting so grown up, It's going to be so wierd, seeing her. But that's two years down the road. But I did the calculations, and I have like close to 7 months until  my 1 year mark. Wow, it went so fast. 

Love you a lot!
Calvin

  I did some calculating this morning. At the end of this month Calvin will have been on his mission for 5 months. He has 19 months + a week left. As of today, he has been on his mission for 148 days of the 730 days (2 x 365). He has 582 days left. He's right, it is going by fast! And no, I don't cross off the days and I usually don't keep track of how many days he has left either. *grin* Next message from Calvin:

So, this week, we had an amazing baptism. [A woman] was baptized, and it was super special. I hope that we can keep on seeing her and her family. Oh, I should send a picture, but I have no cord to download pictures, or ANYTHING. Grr.... This lack of postage is becoming REALLY inconvenient. SO, what else happened this week. Well, my companion is going home. It's so wierd because i feel like I should be going home as well, but not really. So it's just wierd.
So, this transfer I am getting a new companion. He is apparently a super happy guy, and everyone speaks super highly of him. So that is exciting. I'm not training, I'm so happy! That means I don't have to  be in charge just yet! HAhahah, and I know Dad is probably rolling his eyes, and saying "Yep, there's Calvin, avoiding responsability at every turn." Well, I will have a lot of responsability anyways. He won't know the area AT ALL!!! So, i will have to take control for a little while.

So, what else is new? umm.... not much. We have a LOT of knocking ahead of us. All our really well progressing investigators have been baptised, and all the rest we can't contact, so we will have to do a lot of knocking, and probably finding. But, I love knocking anyways, so this aught to be good. 

So, onwards to answering the rest of your email!

Dear Calvin,
  Hmmm. Where to start? I guess I'll just start at last Monday. It was so exciting to get your emails! I LOVE Mondays because I look forward to your emails. *big smile*
I forgot what we did Monday, except that Chantal's team won their game, and they're eligible for sectionals.

AWESOME!!!!! I hope you guys go far this year!!

Miranda was pretty bummed that they lost their JV game. She was very quiet - but then she's usually quiet on the ride home from practices and games because Chantal talks non-stop.

Miranda, I wish I could be there to see you. Go put on one of my old sweaters, and give yourself a BIG hug, and know that that was from me, and that I love you, and that it will all be OK. I love you lots, and I wish I could be there to talk to you for a few hours. I love you!

Chantal says
that for the season, she had 93 shots on goal, 71 were saves, and 22 were goals. Not bad for her first year as a Varsity goalie!! We're still waiting for Miranda's stats.

Wohoo!!!!! Good job Chantal!!!! That's pretty awesome! I hope you keep that going, and become the best goalie that Harpursville has ever seen, and then Miranda will keep the tradition alive! 

I can't wait to see Miranda's stats! IS this going to work like report cards in school? "My stats GPA is better than yours!!" "Only by one one thousandth of a point!!" lol, that would be funny. 

  Tuesday I called the temple about the youth temple trip this Saturday. Dad forgot what time we were scheduled. Grandma and Grandpa are going to go with us so that we have some extra room to
take kids, and I thought it would be nice for them to spend some time in the temple with their granddaughters. Oh! They posted some pictures on facebook of the new art glass windows in the Boise
Temple (remember it's been renovated for the last however many months? They're having open houses now (I think). So the pictures they posted of the glass in the temple are just stunning! There's one particular glass door that just takes my breath away. I think that was the day I made granola and my 10 grain rolls.

I cannot wait to go back to the temple. I am converted to going to the temple. The temple is such a special place, and you get so much spiritual strength from going. It's unlike anything else. I am so excited that you are going! I have been praying that our family members will go to that open house, and feel something there. It will be a really cool expirience, for sure. 

  Wednesday Sophie and I went shopping for things for your package and [another missionary's] package, and then in YW Chantal, Miranda, [and two other girls] got stuff together for your package while I was
cleaning the building. Speaking of your package: I hope it gets to you. [a friend] added something (I have no idea what it was, but it's in an envelope which I didn't open) and I'm not entirely sure I filled out paperwork correctly. So I hope the package gets to you okay. Please let me know if there was a problem. I mailed it Friday.

AWESOME!!! In this weeks' KALDT, there is a note about packages.

One of the missionaries left a pair of pants at the building for me to fix. He was bitten by a dog and the dog ripped his pants (I don't know if the dog's teeth made it into his leg or not), plus the seat of
his pants was ripping out a little, and the hem of his pants was coming out. I told him that I could try to fix the rip, and I discovered the other stuff when I was looking over the rest of his pants. He has
another pair that he's stapled the hems up. I hope you know how to fix your pants and things. I think we taught you how to do that, but I can't remember.

Wow, a DOG bit him?! That is so classic missionary life! So funny! and yes, you sort of taught me how to hem pants. I have Ghetto sewn some of my clothes back together again, so I do know how to sew, just not fancily. 

Oh, we had to take the van to YW on Wednesday because [we had two extra girls who] wanted to come, and there wouldn't be room enough in the Hyundai for all of us. [Their mom] showed up at church about 15 minutes before we were done, so the girls and I decided (on the way to the gas station, because the van's gas light went on) that since we could now all fit into the Hyundai, we would be funny and switch cars with Dad. So after we got a few gallons of gas, we drove to the Raymond parking lot and switched cars. The girls thought it was hilarious. Dad said that he knew when he came out of work he would find the van in the parking lot. Sheesh! Leave it to the Holy Ghost to ruin the surprise!

Oh, and then on the way home we saw some strange lights in the sky. The girls said it reminded them of Northern Lights but there were two pillars of light (very faint) in the sky. Not long or large pillars, and very faint, but still when I saw them they were definitely two pillars. I thought it was a reflection of light off the clouds (which it may well have been) because there were a few more lights like it once we got out of the car at home. It was very interesting to see though.

Cool! The clouds up here are spectacular! I suppose they are the same at home, but here I just notice them more! It's cool to see how clouds interact with light, and form shadows, and stuff like that.

  Thursday Miranda, Sophie and I drove to the [our friends' house] between the time Miranda got out of school and when we had to pick up Chantal. We stopped at the missionaries' apartment to drop off the pants but the missionaries weren't home and I couldn't find anywhere to leave the pants, so I still have them! AGH! I have visions of this poor missionary walking around without pants because I have them.
  Friday we mailed your package (and [the other missionary's] package), and it took an hour in the post office because the lady was so busy. Then I cut out Dad's birthday present and did some paperwork filing too. [Your aunt] called while I was filing the paperwork. She wanted to know if we'd be available to visit with her on Saturday. She was on her way up here to attend her friend's wedding. We didn't get to Stake Conference on Saturday because Dad had to work and then we were waiting for [your aunt] to call [so we could visit with her at Grandma and Grandpa's house].

Aww! I missed a visit from [her]!!!! Grrrrr! oh, well i will have plenty of time later to see all my family members.

Momm, I want to tell you how much i love you, and how much I miss you guys. thank you for all your support. I feel that love of the Lord, and the love of everyone every day. 

I love you all!!!!
Calvin

Next email:

The package is from us and the young women, we did it for an activity last Wednesday.
Don't you burn a tie or something when you've been out for 6 months? It's pretty close!!!
Then I think you burn a shirt at a year.
And a suit at 18 months?
But don't take my word for it *grin*
I was doing the calculations too, and you're at pretty close to 5 months. *big smile* You're right, it doesn't seem like that long and it's going by fast.

Momm, you are right, it is going fast, but at the same time it is going SOOOO SLOW!!!! It's just wierd. AWWWW!!!! Sophie is so cute! I hope she continues to be so awesome! Tell Dad I'm sorry I couldn't write him more, even though I said I would, we have no time! Love Calvin **  A word about burning clothing. It is traditional for missionaries in a lot of places to mark the time they have been on their missions. When Todd was on his mission, they burned a tie at 6 months, a white shirt at a year, pants at 18 months, and some guys would burn a suit at the end of their mission. I have noticed that missionary clothing wears out at about those times. It might seem a waste to burn a suit, but you have to realize that they've worn that suit pretty much every day for 2 years, so it might be worn out by that time. Todd didn't burn his suit when he came home. He wore it for the next 16 or so years (though just on Sundays for those years so it lasted a lot longer!) and then he gave it to Calvin to wear.

October 15th

Any time Sophie does something cute, or I think of something I need to ask Calvin, or we have a fun family thing, I write an email to Calvin. So he ends up with about 5 emails to read on P-Day just from me. Todd's memory is better than mine (or maybe he's just more conservative with his letter writing) so he usually sends only one email. So I will put the 6 emails I got today (in answer to my 6 emails) in some semblance of order. *grin*

Momm,

I am so glad that you got that email [the picture from his mission president's wife]! [She] is such an amazing woman! She does so much for us. She has this miracle hotline, so we call her every time we have a miracle, actually we call her every once in a while, and share with her all the miracles that have already happened all at once. So, [she] is super awesome, and so is President. He is a very wise man, who..... well, they are both just so awesome I am at a loss for words. Yeah, so I should really just tell you how awesome they are. So lets start at the mission home. It is so warm, and cozy, and it feels like Christmas every time you walk in. They have pictures on the walls in the basement showing all these missionaries' pictures of cool places, or funny things that happened, stuff like that. They also have lots of matresses in the basement, for when the new missionaries come in. So then, all around the mission home there are little jars or cups or plates with all sorts of chocolates and treats in them all over the house. It's almost like a treasure hunt. So, when they visit us, [she] always brings granola bars, or stuff like that, and this last time they visited, they each had an interview with each missionary. So, President asked us how we are doing, and how the area is going, and if there is anything wrong, stuff like that. Then he asked me to share with him something I learned form the scriptures. So, that was my interview with him. So then I talked to [her]. She called it "Chat time". She asks how we are doing in relation to health, and this time she had us write  down two things we like about our companion. Oh, and she takes great care of us. I told her I didn't really have much of an opportunity to buy winter clothes, so she called the assistants, who were at the mission home, right away, and told them to look in the mission "Free Store" (a room full of all sorts of missionary winter clothes, that missionaries don't need anymore) and told them to look for some stuff right then because they are coming out here really soon. She also exchanged some of my American money for some Canadian money. So she goes out of her way to make sure we are doing well, so don't worry about me.

I am having a lot of fun out here, and am glad to hear all is going well with you!

LOVE
Calvin

[next email]

I haven't bought postage stamps yet, but I will try. Sort of. I don't know where the post office is. But i will try. 

I love you! 

Calvin

[next email]

Wow, it sounds like you have been seeing a lot of miracles lately! I am so happy to hear that everyone is doing so well! I hope Miranda and Chantal do well on their game!  I wish them luck! 

Actually [a sister in his ward] reminds me of [a sister in our branch, but not me!]. It's funny how I find all these people that remind me of people I know already. 

Love you!

Calvin

[Okay, this next one needs both my email and his reply]

Hey!
  Dad got the mail today and there was a notice from the health insurance company addressed to Sophie. Dad usually lets Sophie open the junk mail. So Sophie read her name on the mail and opened it
and she took it into Dad's office. Dad came into the living room and said, "You have to see this. Sophie opened the letter and said 'It's from Calvin! He knows me! He loves me! It's from Calvin!'" So I went
in and asked her who the letter was from, "Calvin." I asked her "what did Calvin say?" "He says he loves you." I repeated, "You mean he loves Sophie?" "No, he loves you."
  So Dad says please tell Calvin and your mom and my mom to send mail to Sophie because she LOVES to get letters!
  Maybe you can write a special email just to her? Really simple and short. It doesn't have to be anything long. Just "Dear Sophie I miss you and I love you" sort of thing. I'll print it out and give it to her.

Love you!
MoMM

That is so precious. I have been writing letters to Sophie on my mission, usually for later when she is older and it might mean more for her,but I think I will start sending stuff to her now. I do love her, and I want her to know that, so It  would be awesome if you could print off emails I send to her. I think I will send her ones now. 

Love you

Calvin

[The next email we got was this one]

To Sophie, 1805 Ny rte.7 harpursville 13787 [@] *stamp*

Dear Sophie,       I miss you so much! I saw you in the picture dad sent me, and I thought "Gosh! Sophie is growing up sooooo fast!!" I hope you know that I love you. I love you soooo much, you have no Idea. I cannot wait to see you again, so we can play together as much as we can! I hope you know that I am your big brother, and I am always there for you, to help you out no matter what. I love you so much, and think of you often!!!! Love Your big brother Calvin [next email] Dear momm,  This week has been so amazing, I feel like Nephi saying I will make an abridgement of my journal record to send to you, because there is to much. Oh, By the way, [a sister's] name has a space in it I think. [next email] AUUGH! Sorry, I pressed send too soon, sorry. So, this week, I went on an awesome split with another Elder, and it went super well, and showed me how fun a mission can be. Then we had an amazing time at the Chapel Hill Show Tunes, which turned out to be a super awesome missionary opportunity. So, then we had [a] baptism. That was sooooo special. When I baptised [the husband] ( I messed up 3 times) I was thinking about how Jeffery R. Holland was saying " I want you... to remember the times you stood in the waters of baptism with your hand raised to the square, and said "having been commissioned of Jesus Christ..."" The fact that I was helping this man make that commitment to Christ hit me at that point. It was really special. The whole baptism was special. So, there is my short blurb about this week, so now I will answer the rest of your message.  Yeah, so I wrote President about [some questions I had], so I will tell you his responses to your questions. Also, (I haven't wanted to tell you this) But I have heard that President does let you visit family. Really only for only like one lunch appointment. However, I would NOT recommend it. It takes missionaries a long time to get refocused on the mission, and I just got to the point where I thought I was pretty focused, so I don't want to mess that up. Also it is super unfair to the other Elders, and could cause some problems with them focusing. So, I would love to see my family, but I would advise against it, but  it is your  choice. However, if I run away from you at full speed, it's just a natural consequence. (No, I would not..... Well, I don't know, I might just be that heartless. I actually think I would. Just like you wouldn't let me out of the car if I visited home. [I told him if he showed up here, since he's only 5 hours away, I'd give him a jar to pee in and make him turn around and go straight back to Canada! And I probably wouldn't give him anything to eat either!]) I just don't want to go through the hard time of refocusing on my mission. But, President, if the rumors are true, doesn't care just so long as it doesn't interfere with my missionary work.    I'm glad to hear Chantal had a great time! [in Kirtland, Ohio, visiting LDS church sites]   The girls and I put up chairs before the meetings today, and we had just one young man today, and no one reminded the young men (or the older men for that matter) to take the chairs down in the back half of the chapel, so I took them down and hurt my back. UGH!!! Don't you miss putting up chairs and taking them down? Not really, but I would love to be there to make life a little easier for you.      It's our turn to clean the building this week. I don't know how much we'll be doing, but it really sucks without Dad. Sorry, I'm not in a happy mood today. I put up chairs and took them down - read that in an "I pick things up and put them down" voice - and I didn't even get to sit through Sacrament Meeting because Sophie was being disruptive. Then I spent second hour in Nursery. And third hour was Young Women's. I'd really like some "adult time" at church!! Yeah, I just want to be a normal person in church, rather than having to constantly worry about investigators, and if they are getting fellowshipped, and stuff like that. But, I  can look forward to that in 2 years.      Did I tell you that Dad and I saw a license plate from Maine, one from Vermont, and one from Quebec on Friday? *sigh* Oh and then [one of our friends] was visiting today and he says, "Yah, there's a brother in our ward who goes to Ottawa all the time to visit his family," (maybe his Mom?) so I got all excited thinking that maybe we could get stamps to you that way and the man is a snowbird, so he's gone South for the next 4 months and you'll probably not be in Ottawa by the time he gets back. Phooey!! AWW! Darn! You could mail some Canadien stamps to me, but I might have a chance to get out there and buy some.      So. Do you know how to get your money exchanged? When I went to Europe, there were banks near the bus stations and the train stations that would exchange money. They had signs on the doors with their rates, and you found the bank with the best exchange rate (and least amount of fees!). Can you find time to exchange your money? Can you find time to get stamps? Or do I need to have [your Aunt and Uncle] go over the border, buy stamps, and send them to you? Maybe I can get one of my facebook friends who lives up in Malone to get stamps or something. But I'm trying to figure out how you don't have time to get stamps WHEN YOU HAVE SOMEONE WHO DOES YOUR LAUNDRY FOR YOU?!! Did I read that right in your last letter or the one before, that you have someone who does your laundry for you!!? Must be nice. Yes we do, the lady does it so we can talk to her husband who is not a member, and this was the only way we could get into their busy schedule. Otherwise, I think we would be doing our laundry ourselves.      Anyway, I have to get going. I want to let Dad sleep in tomorrow morning, but if my back still hurts I probably won't be able to. *frowny face*   Oh, what's the best way for you to get a package? Do we have to send it to the mission office? We've been telling everyone to send your mail there because we don't have your street address to send mail to. The letter from the mission said something about if you weren't home when your package arrived at your street address they wouldn't deliver it, it would go to the post office for 8 days and then come back to whomever sends it, so we should send you stuff at the mission office. Just wondering so I can tell Grandma Hargrave where to send the sweaters. I figure if she marks the sweaters "gift" and "used" you shouldn't have to pay any taxes or duty on them. For me to get a package the best way is to send it to the mission office. Just send it there and I will get it! Oh, tell both grandmothers thanks for the letters! They make my millenium whenever I get them! I think I actually get the most mail out of all the missionaries in my zone, but maybe a few sisters have me beat there. So, thanks for all the support from everyone, it helps me out more than you all could know! So, I love you all sooooooooo much!!!!!!!!  Calvin

9 October - more surprises!

Calvin had written last week that he would be at Zone Conference, so he wouldn't be able to write to us on his regular Monday. However, when Todd got home from work last night, he checked his email and there was a message from Calvin! So Miranda (who was up VERY late) and I checked my email and there were messages! YAY! Again, most of his emails are answers to things I have written to him, so I'll include what I wrote.

Dear Calvin,

Sophie is sitting on the arm of the couch, right next to your self-portrait. She says, "I love you Calvin," then gives the portrait a big kiss, and continues to have a conversation with it, filling in both sides of
the conversation. "And your eyes are so pretty, and your nose is so cute, and you're so handsome! We love you Calvin," she says as she tries to figure out how to wrap her little arms around the canvas.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm glad to know that she at least can say she loves me. I miss her a lot, and cannot wait to get back there to see her!!!!! I hope she doesn't think I'm the painting, or alll the pictures you get from here. I'll start to look like someone you all made up. 

So cute!!!!!!
Calvin

Sorry,
  I hit something funny and it sent the email without me saying:

Hope you have a great time at conference this weekend, and that you pay attention. If I had been more on the ball I would have sent you some conference bingo boards and some candy and stuff. I'm a
horrible mom. Oh well. Maybe in April I'll be better.

LOVE,
MoMM!!!

Momm, 

I got so much out of conference, I didn't want it to stop. I cannot wait to get the conference issues in the mail, and start studying them in more detail. The spirit of conference helped me out a lot! 

I hope you got lots out of it, but then I realise how dumb that just sounded because you probably sent me an email with all your thoughts on conference, so never mind, I'll just read your email! 

Anyways, I love you lots, and hope that emails can convey the love I have for all of you!

Calvin

Momm, 

Firstly, I'm writing on Monday because of a whole bunch of factors resulting in the fact that I get to write you today, regardless of what I may have said earlier. Now that the phrasing I used has completely befuddled both you and I, let's just forget the whole thing, and talk about conference. ( wow, that was wierd)

Anyways, That HUGE announcement is going to change a lot about missionary work. I'm sure there are going to be TONS of growth in missionary numbers, especially in sister missionaries. I expect we will see a flood of sister missionaries. This will change a lot of dynamics in missionary work, for instance, I could be training someone who is 18 years old. Wow. Anyways, another thing I was thinking of was in the press conference after that announcement, Jeffery R Holland said, "The Lord is hastening His work" What does that mean? Hmmmmmmmmmm........ It also struck me how many young men I may know who might be coming out sooner that before. But then I thought all my friends are probably already coming out, and are past that age, but many of them could come out on my mission a lot sooner that I thought. And, it scares me to death that Chantal may be leaving before I get back! But I really don't care that much about it. What she and the Lord wants, and I think it would be funny if she got called to the same mission as me!

Yeah, and President Nelson's talk was SPECTACULAR! It's one of the reasons I want the conference issue of the ensign to study in more detail. (It drives my companion crazy when I call it the ensin, like ensin crusher,) I got a lot out of conference. 

I was also ouched [now here I'm not sure if he means he was "touched" or "ouched" as in "this is something I sorely needed to be reminded of" but I'm pretty sure he meant to type "touched"] by one part of conference when they were telling us to show our love more for those we care about. I hope you guys all know how much you mean to me. I miss you, and cannot wait to get back to spend  time with you all! Emails are terrible ways to tell someone that I love them, but it's all I got right now! I hope that doesn't bother you, and if it does, please tell me, so I can send you a letter, or something nice. [hmmmm, I wonder if I told him emails weren't enough and I wanted the "something nice" instead, what would he send me? Hahahahaha! No, emails are just fine!]

I love you, and hope you are doing well!
Calvin

Dear Calvin,
So I forgot to tell you that Friday night Dad was changing Sophie's diaper (she wasn't asleep by the time he got home after work) before he put her in bed (she heard him come in the door and ran out
"Daddy! Daddy!")
Sophie: We go to the field hockey game tomorrow?
Dad: No, there isn't a field hockey game tomorrow, we're going to watch the Prophet.
Sophie: We're going to watch the Prophet play field hockey?
  Dad and I laughed and laughed - and Heavenly Father was laughing too when I started to pray. Sometimes I think he gets a real kick out of the things little kids say.

Momm, 

Don't stop sending me funny things Sophie does, I LOVE hearing about them. It's almost like I'm there. 

So then, you saw the Avengers! How did you like it? That movie is pretty much what I want to do when I get older. I actually might want to go more into the animation part of it, but I would love to make a movie like that. 

yeah, the apostles were VERY strait forward, it was like we beleive this and this, and we DO NOT beleive this. It was great for them to come out and say that. I love both those talks. The family seems to be a huge theme in this conference. 

AWW! I'm leaving, hopefully I will be able to send you more later today!

Love, Calvin

Hi again!

I am now at the house of a family [who] live on a farm, and raise horses. So tell Miranda I spent the last hour or two petting horses. I have pictures as well. [He just had to put that in because he KNOWS how much his sister LOVES horses!]

I’m glad to hear how attached Sophie is becoming to her sisters. I hope they continue to get close to each other. 

So, this week, what happened? Well, I took the lead one day, because it was Senior day. Which means I got to be senior companion for the day, and I did ok. Not super well. I didn’t know how to get to our investigators’ houses very well, and my companion acted like he was a greenie, to simulate what it will be like to train a greenie. So the morning went ok, until I started driving. I ended up almost getting into an accident, and didn’t know where I was going. [ACK!] So then we got to our first lesson of the day, which is with a Hatian woman, who doesn’t speak english very well, and her primary language is  french. So, I found out how much I have to improve on my french, which is a LOT. So after that, we went and had a great lesson with [another family]. That went great, and I got to use  my drawing foor good, because I drew the plan of salvation out on paper for her. So that made things a lot easier for the lesson. We reviewed the first half of the plan, then talked about the spirit world, judgement , and the three degrees of glory. We asked her what she thought of the plan, she said it gave her a lot of hope, that before when they talked about what happened after death, it was really foggy and grey, but now she has a lot of hope. That affirmed to me how the gospel gives people hope. It was awesome, because in the MTC I saw how much hope can be brought from this Gospel, and I wanted to give that to someone. Basically, giving others hope became part of my purpose for coming out on a mission. So after that, we went out to eat, and went to [the] practice for the upcoming Chapel Hill Showtunes, at the church. So, that was a lot of fun. All in all, not a bad day, but really stressful. I need to take Brother Uchtdorf’s analogy of the bike ride to heart. 

So, my week was really good, I hope you all are doing well. 

I cannot wait to see you again, but I will work my hardest to serve the Lord until I come back. 

I love you all!

Calvin

8 October - SURPRISE!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
According to Calvin's email last week, we won't get an email today because it's Zone Conference. For those of you who are not familiar with missionary life (like ME), let me explain a few things.
A Companionship is 2 missionaries.
A District is 3 or 4 Companionships (6-8 missionaries).
A Zone is 4 or 5 Districts of missionaries (24-40 missionaries).

Zone Conference is a meeting that usually lasts most of the day. The entire zone of missionaries travels to one of the church buildings in the area. They spend the day receiving religious instruction and inspiration, training how to be better missionaries, training how to teach better, and anything else the Mission President feels inspired to talk about. The Mission President also uses this time to interview the missionaries, to talk with them personally about how they're doing and to assess any needs they have. The day might proceed like this:
An opening group meeting with the entire zone
Several breakout sessions and personal interviews with the Mission President
Lunch
More breakout sessions and interviews
Return to the entire group for a closing meeting

That's what Calvin's doing today. Imagine my surprise when I got an email titled: "Your wonderful son! We love him and he is doing so well" from the mission president's wife! *big smile* One line: "He is so obedient and hard working!" AND A PICTURE!!! Woo Hoo! But the big question is: what in the world does Calvin have in his hand?

1 October, 2012

MoMM, 

I am so happy to hear that things are going great at home. this week was full of miracles. So, I am going to start at the beginning of the week. So, monday we played Settlers of Zarahemla, and I won by default ( I had the most points at the table when everyone left) Then we do our normal monday routine, have a Dinner appointment, maybe see some other people, and then go to [a family's] house to pick up our laundry, and teach [the father]. [Wait, he doesn't have to do his laundry? Someone else does it?!] Then Tuesday rolls around. I cannot remember Tuesday, but I think I went on a split with the Elders in Fallowfield, with another Elder who was in the MTC with me. That was fun for me, and everything went well that day. We even found a new investigator! I'll have to ask Fallowfield about that new investigator.... Then, the next day, I went on another split with the Zone leaders. This split was planned, so I went into Champlain, which is basically the other half of Gloucester, and all of Ottowa. So we went there, and had a great day, stopped by some people, knocked a few doors, and then went to go on splits with the priests' quorum for a few hours. So I went on a split inside a split. They sent me and the priest off to knock this one appartment building. We only knocked 2 floors in one and a half hours, but we had so many miracles there. We taught 3 lessons at peoples' doors, and found one new investigator. The next day we had district study, which was great. It was also another Elders' birthday that week, so we bought him a cake before hand, and even put happy Bday on it in green icing. Green icing on this chocolate cake that has chocolate shavings allover it and cherries, so it looked ridiculous. So that was fun. I cant remember what happened Thursday or Friday, but Saturday was amazing. We had a BAPTISM!!!!!!!  Then, that evening, we went to a dinner appointment with [a family]. [He] is this big, friendly Canadien who is the friendliest guy in the world, and was a missionary who served in the Phillippines. His wife is this super nice Filipino lady who is a great cook. We have tons of great food at their house, like the first time we went there we had steak which had been marinated in some sort of BBQ sauce that had 7up in it, and some awesome South Korean noodles that they learned to cook in South Korea, because they lived there for a little while. This time we had this Phillippino dish that was basically beef soup poured over rice, and was really good! Oh, they also have a little 4 year old girl who is really cute. She draws a lot. [Sounds like Calvin at that age!]

So this week has been great. I have seen that the Lord has His hand in our lives every day.

Now, I will respond to your letter,

Dear Calvin,
  Sophie is getting to be quite the handful!

that's my sister!

 

  So Friday:
Sophie, in her room: Mom!
Me, on the couch, reading: What?
Sophie: Mom! Come here I need hewp.
Me: What?
Sophie: Mom! Come here I need hewp.
Me coming to "hewp": What?
Sophie, holding something she's taken off the wall: Hewp me put dis back.
Me, taking it away and putting in on Chantal's bed: I'm too short to put it back.
Sophie, taking ANOTHER thing off the wall: Hewp me put dis back?
Me, taking IT from her and putting it on Chantal's bed: Get OFF the bed and come OUT of your ROOM!
Sophie, getting off the bed, walking through the kitchen to the living room, turning around to look at me with her fingers pushing her mouth into a smile: Be happy Mommy! Be happy!

AWWWWWWW!!! I keep wondering what she is going to be like when I get back. I actually had a dream about her. Basically what happened was she got up in the middle of the night, opened left her bedroom, waved at me, and walked off. Weird. I miss Sophie a lot. A lot! I cannot wait to give her a BIG hug, and tell her I love her. Anyways, onwards!

THIS KID!!! How am I supposed to stay frustrated with her when she's so darn cute? Actually, it's kind of easy to get frustrated with her.

I would never get frustrated with her! (Yes that was a lie, but that's how I feel right now) 

Love you!
Study your scriptures and Preach My Gospel!
Pray fervently (for the speakers in Conference this coming weekend!)
Love your companion!
Don't forget your towel. Don't panic. Forty-two!

I need a book with that on the cover! In Big Friendly letters!  [I love it when Calvin remembers stuff from books we've read!]

Love,
MoMM

Ok, so next P-day, I won't be able to email on monday due to Zone conference, but I will be able to mail on Tuesday. So don't freak out that you didn't get your weekly email. It is coming. [He KNOWS his mother doesn't he?!] umm oh yeah, do you guys think you can send me some music? like classical, or church music? I would really appreciate it, because my companion has all the music, and it would stink to not have any. 

Thank you for everything, especially the letters every week! That means you, my wonderful grandmothers!!!! I LOVE all your letters! 

Oh, what is grandma Esther's email? 

I love you all soooooooooo much! I love hearing from you, and I thank you for all the support you give me! I cannot wait to see you again, but until then,  I will serve the Lord with all I have! 

I love you all!!!

Calvin

24 September, 2012

[Calvin replied to my email this week. His email wouldn't make too much sense if I didn't include at least some of my email, so I'll leave parts of it in.]

So, this has been a great week. We have a baptism coming up on the 29th of september!!!!!!!! So, this is an exciting week for us. 

Oh, I wanted to tell you all that the feeding the missionaries every chance you could, well it worked. I have been well fed here. Chapel Hill is known Zone wide for being one of the best for feeding missionaries. Literally, every week we have 4-5 dinner appointments, and all the food is SPECTACULAR! And we get dessert every night, so my stomach is bulging out worse than ever, so it worked, I'm being fed well, don't worry. I havent stepped on the scale in awhile, that's how scared I am that I have gained weight. 

Oh! and Hatian food is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! just saying. 

So, on to responding to your email!

Dear Calvin,
  I am home from church today. I had another one of those episodes where I was thinking gibberish (although I think when I had the first one before you left on your mission I was hearing
gibberish) this morning. [My mind was putting words together like "squirrel history books."] It was kind of freaky.

Kind of like Quebecquoi? Lol, the people of Quebec are infamous for their breaking ALL the rules of French

Bay lolo, J'ai un flat tire, et un crack dans mon windshield. Yes. But I haven't run into any REAL Quebecquoi, Just Haitian French, which is really nice. Hatian people are the BEST. Anyways, tangent moment. 

 Tuesday the girls didn't have

practice, which was nice. So we stopped on the way home and let Toby out and made sure he was snug before we came home and waited out the storm. [We had a severe thunderstorm warning and were under a tornado watch] Miranda was freaking out, watching
out all the windows, but it was just fine.

We had a crazy weather day up here a while back, there were wall clouds, which were amazing! I got pictures. which I can't send because I have no time to buy Canadian stamps. Sorry. 

  Friday was the 75th Anniversary of the day "The Hobbit" was published so someone posted on facebook that it was "Second Breakfast at 11am." Miranda took an apple to school so that at
11am (or close to that time) she could walk by Chantal's study hall and throw the apple in the doorway and yell "second breakfast" kind of like in "The Fellowship of the Ring" when Strider
throws the apples at Pip and Merry? Chantal forgot the $3 she was supposed to give to someone for the tie dye shirts for Powder Puff Football for Homecoming, so I had to take it in to her. I
brought along some m&ms for [one of the women at school] (like I always do) and an apple, just in case Miranda had forgotten. After I gave [her] the candy (she laughed) I explained about the
money and I asked if I could take it to Chantal and I explained about the second breakfast apple. She thought that was really funny "Oh I have to see this! Let me go with you!" Of course
Chantal wasn't in her study hall, she had gotten a pass to go somewhere ELSE! So we had to track her down! And Miranda had remembered the apple, and the teacher's door was closed when
we got there, so I couldn't throw the apple at her, so all the dramatic fun was sucked out of it *sigh* oh well *frowny face*

No second breakfast?!?!?!?!? Well, that reminds me of the time me and my companion helped [a man] move in. I don't know how we got there conversationally, but all the sudden we are quoting Smeagol in the Smeagol voice, and making up this crazy story about how they downloaded the ring onto the internet, and Smeagol is trying to get it back, and my companion is looking at us like " oh my gosh, they have LOST IT!!!!" Lots of fun, and [the man] is awesome, he was the ward mission leader in his last ward, so he knows the ZL's because they are in his ward, anyways, so he loves missionaries, and he is this German guy, who speaks Mandarin and served his mission in England and is married to a South Korean woman who doesn't speak Mandarin, and they both met in Bejing? or Hong Kong? anyways, they are awesome. [He] has the BEST accent in the world. It is this beautiful German accent, and he is a big Sci-fi buff. He is pretty awesome! anyways, after an even bigger tangent moment....

  So that brings us to today and I'm home with this freaky migraine. It's almost 12:30 and I should get lunch started. I thought I'd make Lentil Shepherd's Pie

Yuck

 

- since you're the only one who
really doesn't like it and you're not here so we can eat it Yay!

  Anyway, lots of love and hugs. I'll try to get this package to you this week - this package I've been trying to mail to you for the past 3 weeks. It's not much really, just some little things
Sophie made for you in nursery.

I Cannot wait!!!!!! 

It's been getting cold here, and I thought about your winter things like your coat that was on the list of things that you needed. It must be getting cold up
there at night. Do we need to send you the money for your down coat and boots and gloves and stuff? Let us know okay?

I'll probably go shopping soon, but IDK. 

The mission home has a missionary free store, so I may get lots of things that way, no idea, I'll have to see.  

Love you!
Study your scriptures and Preach My Gospel!
Pray fervently!
Watch out for squirrel history books *giggle*
Love and hugs,
MoMM 

P.S.  When we were in town on Thursday we got gas at the station by BCC. Sophie said, "We have to go to school to get Calvin! We have to go to the beewding to get Calvin!" I asked her
"Where is Calvin?" She replied "Calvin is there [pointing to the mechanical building, or perhaps the library] in that beewding! We have to go get him." The I said, "No, you know where Calvin
is, where is he?" "Calvin is in Ottawa working on a paper." "No, Sophie, what is Calvin doing in Ottawa?" She said "Calvin is in Ottawa telling people about Heavenly Father."
  When we got to the game on Friday, Sophie had fallen asleep in the car on the way down. She saw the football players on the field inside the track and she exclaimed "Calvin! Hi Calvin!
Calvin, we see you play football!" I figured that she had just woken up, so she must be a little confused so I said, "Sophie, Calvin's not playing football," and I asked her "Where is Calvin?" She
replied, "Calvin is in Canada working on a paper." I said, "No, you know what Calvin is doing in Canada, what's he doing?" She replied "Calvin is in Ottawa teaching people about Jesus." Then
she was waving at the football players and cupping her mouth and yelling "Hi football players! Calvin is in Ottawa! Hi football players! Calvin is in Canada! We go watch the game! Calvin is in
Ottawa!" So even though she wasn't very old when you played football, she STILL remembers that you played!! And every time we go by BCC she says "We have to go get Calvin at school."

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE Sophie! That is so funny!!! I can't wait to see her again!!!!! 

Anyways, I LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!
sorry this letter was a bit crazier, or less grammerically correct than others, but I was going for speed. 

Love you!!!!
Calvin