Hey mom! Thanks so much for all your prayers and everything.
But hey, I'm going to try to go on with what I was going to say, but it's going
to be hard with the event that occurred on Friday. [I had to tell Joseph that his
friend’s mother took her life on Friday.] I literally can't say anything. She
was such a good friend to ME and I'm feeling super weird right now. I did write
dad before I read your letter, so I'd ask you to use excerpts from that as
well.
Wow. I really can't believe that. What do I write Tyson? I'd like to write Tom. Do I write Kirstie? Do I just send everyone a letter but her? Oh my gosh, that' so terrible, I can hardly stand it. It’s gonna take me a while to get back on my feet. Gosh. Why, you wonder. I really am speechless; no room for words.
Well, I hope YOU are OK! I know that you knew her well too. I just remember talking to her all those times, trying to schedule a Cutco appointment with her in the evenings because she worked in the afternoons. I often would ask about her family including Tyson's work and Kirstie's Alta experience. But I'm glad that Anna can see the importance of loving your family. [After Anna heard the news about my friend’s death, she came up to me before she went to bed and gave me a big hug and said, “Children don’t tell their parents they love them enough."] The greatest missionary work you can do, takes place within the walls of our homes. I really hope we're having Family Home Evening at home - that makes or breaks the difference between someone becoming inactive here in Thailand. Having Family Home Evening is one of the things we actually look at in the "Commitments" column on investigator's teaching records. In fact, I have been thing a lot about families and how important they are for our progression in the eternities. I still have a lot to learn why they are so important, but we are all brothers and sisters of our Father in Heaven. I've learned that in order to learn to love, we need to experience certain things in our families. Families are more than just a group of people - this group of people help form each others personalities and shape each others lives. I realize that we need each other to function and grow. I feel like I should apologize for my lack of understanding concerning this principle, as I have been a less-than-stellar example of love toward family. I have been way more preoccupied on friends, experiences, music, girls, and other worldly things. I'd like to ask you to please pray for me to just "get it" as to why the family is so important exactly. I feel a great desire to know, but perhaps I'm afraid of something, I don't know. I love you and everyone in our family, maybe that's enough? Maybe another good thing is to pray for me to not think way too hard about everything - which is a disease that I do have faith in could be gone if I plead for the Lord's help. Well, I've got to go, but I know that you love me and thank you for everything. I am getting the packages, and I got to play [his viola] in Sacrament meeting yesterday (President Senior just happened to be there too!) Thanks for everything. Love you forever :)
Wow. I really can't believe that. What do I write Tyson? I'd like to write Tom. Do I write Kirstie? Do I just send everyone a letter but her? Oh my gosh, that' so terrible, I can hardly stand it. It’s gonna take me a while to get back on my feet. Gosh. Why, you wonder. I really am speechless; no room for words.
Well, I hope YOU are OK! I know that you knew her well too. I just remember talking to her all those times, trying to schedule a Cutco appointment with her in the evenings because she worked in the afternoons. I often would ask about her family including Tyson's work and Kirstie's Alta experience. But I'm glad that Anna can see the importance of loving your family. [After Anna heard the news about my friend’s death, she came up to me before she went to bed and gave me a big hug and said, “Children don’t tell their parents they love them enough."] The greatest missionary work you can do, takes place within the walls of our homes. I really hope we're having Family Home Evening at home - that makes or breaks the difference between someone becoming inactive here in Thailand. Having Family Home Evening is one of the things we actually look at in the "Commitments" column on investigator's teaching records. In fact, I have been thing a lot about families and how important they are for our progression in the eternities. I still have a lot to learn why they are so important, but we are all brothers and sisters of our Father in Heaven. I've learned that in order to learn to love, we need to experience certain things in our families. Families are more than just a group of people - this group of people help form each others personalities and shape each others lives. I realize that we need each other to function and grow. I feel like I should apologize for my lack of understanding concerning this principle, as I have been a less-than-stellar example of love toward family. I have been way more preoccupied on friends, experiences, music, girls, and other worldly things. I'd like to ask you to please pray for me to just "get it" as to why the family is so important exactly. I feel a great desire to know, but perhaps I'm afraid of something, I don't know. I love you and everyone in our family, maybe that's enough? Maybe another good thing is to pray for me to not think way too hard about everything - which is a disease that I do have faith in could be gone if I plead for the Lord's help. Well, I've got to go, but I know that you love me and thank you for everything. I am getting the packages, and I got to play [his viola] in Sacrament meeting yesterday (President Senior just happened to be there too!) Thanks for everything. Love you forever :)
[Joseph’s letter to Mike…]
Haha! Thanks for the special consideration on our beautiful nation's 236th
birthday. Sister Roper, our branch president and I sang our national anthem and
we all ate pizza at his house to celebrate – he even bought a little flag which
made me think of you and miss you a bit more than usual. Oh how I do miss all
of you and especially your stupid little puns that only we find funny and make
Megan embarrassed! Anyway, there's this guy here that kinda reminds me of you,
haha... He's this little Thai man who I think fixes cars, has an iPad with a pink
case, is chill and always in a good mood. Like there was this one time time
that I heard there was this one sister who came to church. "Oh shoot, I
don't know her," to which Bro. ยุทธ
(Yoot - means battle) responded: "Oh shoot, I forgot to look at her!"
Well, that might not be funny, but it was way funny in the Thai context. So,
that means I'm getting a little more comfortable, I guess. For instance, Elder Osborne
was sick and I had to translate for Elder Tabor (the new senior couple in our
branch) during priesthood. Not that cool, but I was able to do it through the
power of God. I'm convinced it's his power because the next day, Elder Osborne
was better, and I went back to not understanding anything. That was a few weeks
ago and know I can translate roughly for anyone (it's not the $5 job, but it
serves its purpose. I'm almost done with 1st Nephi, and I can understand the
gist of most verses. So yeah it's getting better and better after freakin begging
on my knees multiple times a day. So it's going well And yes, we do sleep with
a mattress on the ground, but Elder Oakeson sleeps on a few pads which are
quite nice, he says. Thanks for the stories, the news, the love. Know that you're being loved out here too. Love, Joj
