Hey dad! It will be amazing to come back home and see the changes in the ward and the neighborhood. Brother Gibby is such an awesome guy! I think I might have already said this, but I really love hearing about your experiences as a bishop and in work (since it's completely church oriented), because I get to hear more stories of how inspired you are! If (I won't, but if) I were to ever doubt the power of revelation from god, I just have to look at you in your callings and see how God works through His servants. You are an amazing bishop and father! I look up to you so much and think about how you would do things if you were in my shoes, and it helps me make good decisions because I know that you would make them too. You're awesome dad! I love you so much! Stop crying! Because I already am!
*tear wipe* anyway, yes, year mark is coming up, and tomorrow is the year mark to go home! Happy or sad - well, it's definitely both, some times more for one side or the other! I am really excited about this year because it's a chance for me to put myself to work even more than I did this year - I feel like I have a good amount of mission experience, and I speak the language well, and I am gaining more faith as I see people take big steps in their lives to follow Christ. So for these reasons I am really excited for the next year! For the happy side, I see and hear things that I will have fun doing or watching when I get home, and I am excited to see all of the changes back home, and to drink real milk! On the sad side, I know how special this time is serving the Lord and how much we are blessed for it, and not that I will lose those blessings after, but I won't get to experience the same types of feelings that I had teaching and baptizing! So, that's about how I feel about that. :)
That Cruise! I didn't realize that it was exactly a year ago! I remember it so well that it could have been like two weeks ago! Haha remember when we get mad at each other playing rook or whatever it was.... Funny moment! Free food for days! Hundreds of ice cream cones! Fried alligator and chilled strawberry soup! Risque (riskay? Risckay? what?) indian magicians! I loved that cruise.
The package was soooo good! I loved everything in it so much! I haven't read everything that was written but I did flip through the birthday pictures - that was so fun to do! Flashbacks to little kid life! Haha you said you didn't recognize any of my friends when I was little. Hayden Maxfield, Taylor Park, TJ Hammond, Elsie Colman (a girl I liked in elementary school) Cameron something who I don't even remember how I met, Bronson Cooper, etc. We were all so little! And the recipes! So good! I am way impressed that the recipe book had portuguese on it. So good! And the ties! Haha holy moly so good! The white one and the way colorful one are super funky, and I am going to enjoy wearing them. :) And the other two are SO nice. The orangish one is just sweet and the blue one is super classy looking. I am way excited! And the balloons made me laugh, and the little cakes are fun - i'll sing happy birthday to myself tonight with them! I loved everything that was in that package! I already said a couple of things to mom so you can ask her if you want to hear more.
Mom is getting a surgery???????? What? When? Why? I had no idea! Could you tell me in the next 45 minutes? I'll pray lots for her too!
Thanks so much for telling me about Ethan! He really is growing up - I think sometimes I thought about him too much from a sort of "my older age" standpoint, without realizing that I was a dork when I was little, but that as I grew up I changed like how ethan is doing right now. It makes me so happy to hear the awesome things that ethan is doing! He is growing up to be seriously amazing. I'm proud of him too!
Haha have fun catching nothing today! Happy fourth of July you bums! I am SO JEALOUS and sad that I get back 1 day AFTER because I LOVE fourth of July food and activites SO much.
Happy almost kind of HUMP DAY! I love you so much dad!
Love, Elder Valentine!
Spencer,
Today I had a significant change in my bishopric. I think I told you that Brother Crockett and his family are moving to Washington DC for a year. Because of that I had to reorganize my bishopric. So today it happened: Brother Gibby is now my 2nd counselor, with Blake Burton my Executive Secretary and Ryan Van Brocklin the ward clerk. This was sustained in sacrament meeting and they were set apart during Sunday school. I am so excited to serve with these good brethren! Of course I will miss Bro Crockett, but I know this change is right. Having Brother Gibby as my 2nd counselor makes for a pretty small change over all, since he was already doing so much for me.
So when you read this you will be on the eve of your 1 year mark until you come home. Isn’t that crazy? Yes, I know that officially it is July 22nd that is your one year OUT point, but since your release is already set for July 5, 2017, that means that on Tuesday you will have a year until you come home. Does that make you happy or sad? Maybe a bit of both? I’m sure you are loving your mission and don’t want to think about coming home, but you also love your life back here and your family, and there’s nothing wrong with that either! Of course we love that you’re out serving the Lord…but we also miss you and will be happy when you return! So it’s all good!
Tuesday is also one year since we went on our cruise! That was so much fun. I can’t believe it’s already been a year. How time flies! I’ll never forget you and Anna singing Karoake or you dancing up on the top deck and all the girls watching you, or the great food we ate, or riding those bikes around Catalina, or going to the San Diego temple with you, and on and on. It was a wonderful trip!
Did you get your package? I sure hope so!
The big event of this week is Mom’s surgery. I focused my fasting today on the surgery and her recovery. She is a bit nervous about it, which is totally normal. Please include her in you prayers. We will be going in on Wednesday morning, so keep that in mind Wednesday evening, so you are thinking about her and praying for her. Kevin and I will give her a blessing on Tuesday night. I know that your righteous, faithful, and loving prayers will make a big difference.
I need to say a bit more about Ethan. Scout camp was Monday to Saturday. I went up Monday through Wednesday. I am so glad that I went. The best part was being able to watch Ethan in action. He is the Sr Patrol Leader, so he was really in charge with the boys. He was so dependable the entire time. He had the boys whipped into shape! They got the highest score in the whole camp on the inspections, all because of Ethan. The won the top troop award for the week! Each boy got six merit badges, which is amazing. Also, there was a new kid in the ward that came, and he told me afterward how grateful he was to Ethan for making him feel welcome. Ethan was awesome! Your brother is really growing up. Not only is he fun and funny to be around, he is become more responsible and a good leader. He also has a powerful testimony. He bore it in church today and did a great job. He sure loves you and looks up to you. The highest compliment I can pay him is to say: “you are just like Spencer” when you do that…Ethan just beams with happiness when I compare him to you. I’m proud of your little brother!
Well, it’s getting late here, so I guess I’ll go. Ethan and I have to set up flags early in the morning. We’ll probably go to breakfast, then I think I’ll tke Ethan and Anna fishing. In other words, we’ll sit there and eat snacks and talk while our line sits out in the water with fishes swimming all around our hooks and bait…the fish will laugh our ineptitude as fishermen while seven year old girls catch loads of fish just down the shore from us. I will eat too much junk, we’ll laugh at dumb jokes, sing some dumb songs, put our pulls away, throw away our bait, not catch a single fish, and have a great time. That’s the plan!!
Have a great week, Spence! Here’s for counting DOWN now toward your return instead of counting UP to how long you have been out!! But don’t wish it away too quick. I love having you out there. I love talking about my missionary son and using you in lessons with the Priests. The Church is true, the Book of Mormon is true, Jesus Christ atoned for our sins…it is ALL true!! Your Mom and Dad love this Gospel and love that YOU love this Gospel, so of course you are doing exactly the right thing right now in your life. We couldn’t be more proud of you or more happy for you!
Happy American 4th of July!
Love,
Dad
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