I thought you all might be interested in reading this letter. It was written by Cel and was addressed to mom. Happy reading.
Hi Mom, thank you for your emails. It was really good to hear from you :-) . You certainly do a lot of serving in the temple. I should be going at least once a week, but Mike and I do well to make it once a month. We need to work on that and on doing family history work for my side of the family.
Christopher sounds adorable. It will be wonderful to see him and all of Julie's children, as well as Tyler and Heather's boys in the near future!
The young women's organization was completely dissolved Sunday and a new presidency called. I was put in as 1st counselor over the Miamaids. I was perfectly content being a primary teacher! Mike and I are pretty much in the same boat. We'll be busier than ever with our new callings. Mike's been feeling stressed out since he became the young men's president, especially because of all the activities that were already planned for October. He just needs a little time to adjust to his new responsibilities and to feel comfortable in this role.
Tomorrow is Sam's Eagle Court of Honor as well as a combined ym/yw activity. Mike has worked really hard on the presentation and program. Jared and Jenny and I will all be there to support him and Sam. I also want my mom and sister to come. I'll be providing most of the refreshments for tomorrow evening, but I've also asked the rest of the young women's presidency to bring something.
We're still having friends over about once a week and it has been fun and sometimes tiring. Mike and I have noticed that we have less energy as we get older! We had one of the less active families in the ward over last night that Mike home teaches. The husband is not a member, and he is half Japanese and half Hispanic. Mike asked him if he would like to start hearing the missionary lessons, and he committed to having the lessons in our home once a week beginning next month. That will be an awesome experience for all of us!
Tonight we're having the woman who helped design our kitchen over for dinner. Her name is Susan Johnson and she is single and doesn't eat beef or pork. I like her personality and her sense of humor. I don't think she knows we're Mormons, but we'll have a fun time together eating and playing games :-) .
Jessica was here for just a couple days this past weekend. It was so good to see her! She and a group of other BYU students came down for the Balloon Fiesta and the big UNM/BYU football game. Can you believe BYU WON 27-24? It was pretty exciting!
I don't think Jessica will end up serving a mission any time soon. She's dating a guy from Texas named Tyler, and she's more interested in school and the social scene than leaving for a mission. She's running out of money and has no prospects for a job next summer. But, we've told her that we'd pay for her mission if she decides to go. I think what Jessica really wants is to fall in love, get married, and start a family of her own. Many of her friends and roomates have already gotten married or are engaged, plus she feels like she's older than most of the girls at BYU. I'd like to see her finish school first, if possible.
When Jessica is home, I am reminded how much she likes to shop and spend. We had fun together, but she wiped me out of my money and my sleep! Mike and I are still trying to catch up on our zzz's. She also spent more time with friends than she did with the family, but that's the life of a college student, right? We did get to celebrate Jenny's 21st birthday with Jared (and with Jessica's best friend Andrea, a non-member) at Chilli's Restaurant Friday night. We had a good time together eating and talking.
That night, Andrea slept over at our house. She and Jess played a card game with Mike and Sam and had hot chocolate. Afterwards, the girls and I watched "Beaches" in my bedroom. The next morning, Jess invited another 4 friends (3 of her roomates and a guy friend from BYU) over for breakfast and asked me to do the cooking. They were a fun bunch :-) .
Sam is doing great in school. He got all A's and an A+ this semester. Of course, he doesn't have much of a social life since he's in school all day from 6am to 6pm. On the weekends he always has a lot of homework and church. We drag him out of his room occasionally to watch a movie or play games with us. And he attends Mutual each week as well as the stake dances.
I talked to Jacob Sunday night, and he sounds like he's doing great too. He told me that Sam was his "Hero" and that he admires his self-motivation and hard work. Jacob has a girl "friend" whom he is taking to Homecoming at BYU. Her name is Heather and she's from Massachussetts. They both like Math and writing poetry--so cute :-) .
You have to hear this story: The house directly across the street from us was vacant for about 6 months while the owners were taking their time fixing it up to put on the market. When the house was finally put on the market, it sold in 1-2 days, but the buyers fell through. The house sold again in 1-2 days the second time it was put on the market, and the new owners just moved in on Sunday night. Mike and Sam helped them get their beds unloaded, and on Monday morning a group of guys from our ward were over there unloading the rest of their U-Haul. Turns out they are a Mormon family from California! They have children close to the ages of our children, and the youngest is a 16 year old son like our Sam. What were the odds of a Mormon couple moving on our street with a son our age?!
I sure hope that you stay happy and healthy. I think of Dad often and still feel the shock and sadness of his absence. I can't imagine how difficult these past years have been for you without him. I admire your courage and your strengths. Stay strong and faithful. I love you Mom. Celestine
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