Banner Week (10/4/11) - Pictures from ALL the boys!

From Brandon:

Dear Hamps,

The video was awesome! It was great to see Ana and Eli for a couple seconds. =)https://lds.org/youth/family-history/discover?lang=eng&cid=facebook-shared#elder-bednar-addresses-youth The talk in conference about the youth getting involved in FH work was perfect. There are so many who know how to use all the technology we have so well. Emphasizing the use of that skill for family history work is genious! There were so many great talks. I enjoyed the Prophet's talks the most i think. It was interesting to watch Priesthood in Spanish. It is a lot more difficult to understand, but I still got a lot out of it. It requires all of my capacity to understand what they are saying. I don't think i have every done anything as mentally demanding in life before as trying to understand someone else speak a different language. The more I have the Spirit, the easier it is-- the gift of the interpretation of toungues is real!

Yesterday the Internet was down in the Library so we are emailing today. We got a car last week! However, we don't know what to do with it because we have been focusing so much time in Hampton! We have only one investigator outside of Hampton. He was born in Mississippi and had a tough

upbringing in Illinois and Iowa. He says he doesn't want to get converted, but we shall see what happens when he feels the Spirit! =) He can change our lives, we just have to let Him. Prayer, scripture study, attending church, and holding FHE are the keys to having the Holy Ghost. If everyone could do this in private and as a family also, we would all be more converted to the Gospel and we would have His constant companionship in our lives. i know these things are true. I love you all!

Love,

Elder S

Photos!



On exchanges, while we were planning, a bat started flying in the apartment! We got it out with a bucket and a blanket.

The author of the music man is from Mason City, the area right next to mine. on district meeting, i saw all these marching trombone players on everything, including the water towers!

My district from last transfer

It is everywhere! me and elder a

Pictures of Elder M!

Seth's 'Honduras' picture

Thumbs up!

Birthday celebration!

Glad he spent it with the members!

From Barrett:

Holy Cow!! Not much time to talk! Spent too much time looking at pictures and trying to find people I know in that video. Holy Cow that's awesome. I don't have audio here in the post office, but it was still way cool. We have district meeting every friday at the senior couple's house, so I'm gonna ask if we can watch it. We've been focusing a lot on Family History lately (как раз), so it might be part of the training. hehe.
I pulled off 2000 more rubles this morning, don't worry, I haven't spent all of the last batch, I just wanted to be safe. We're going shopping today. Need to get a hat, thin gloves, boots, and a coat. There is a coat in the closet of our apartment that noone has claimed, so I might just use that one. We'll see.
The days are getting shorter. I came out of the metro at around 6:00pm the other day and it was starting to get dark. And when I wake up it is still dark. This is quite a contrast from the first month of my mission when I never saw the night sky. The sun went down after 10:30 and rose before 6:30.
I am in Rechnoy ward. I am so glad the map thing worked. How cool is that. Maybe next week I can tell you some other addresses you can look up to see some of the places I've been. No time this week.
Well, I love you. Tell Greg thanks for the email. Have a great week
Love elder hamp
Pictures: This week's theme - FOOD!

Lunch every day my first transfer: meat, cheese, bread, pickles, and spicy ketchup

Here is one of my favorites: shashliki. We have it a lot at dachas

Here is me eating a small whole fish. I did not go back for seconds, haha. In the background, Vlad is serving up some shashlik (this is a different day, at a different dacha from #2)

Chicken sausages, pelmeni cabbage onion soup, and we tried frying some pelmeni like potstickers. It worked out pretty well. And they have kikkoman in russia, so we had them with a little shoyu

Here is me cooking some lunch in our apartment. Our menu has expanded since my first transfer

The brownies

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving at our house is a very casual event. It is my favorite holiday. All the food, none of the stress of presents and all. A day to be grateful and to be with family. I should get the extended family together but we never seem to plan ahead to do that. Maybe next year... While the turkey is in the oven there is time to play. The boys have been shooting targets in the back. Here they are trying to shoot an aresol can and see if it would blow out the candles. The shot sent the can flying and the concussion took out the candles.

Here is Greg taking the shot with Steven looking on.

Owen, Seth, Steven and Barrett checking it out.

Here is Beans. She was very put out to be left inside while all the excitement was happening outside.

Later, Barrett learned out to play Ma Jong and is here, with Steven, setting up a game.

Greg is doing his new found favorite holiday past time....professional football. Now, he is the only sports fan in the house. Go Green Bay.

Dinner turned out great. Most here are toasting to what they are thankful for...the rest are engrossed in whatever is on the tube.

One chair short at the table; Greg's opportunity to take the couch and tv. Beans is begging.

Barrett and Beans in a turkey coma.

On Thanksgiving I think a lot about Pat. She taught me how to make the dinner; she insisted on corn to remember the Indians; the stuffing has to have the giblets.

Utah trip - The Moores and Triple D Heaven

As Mike put it, they are at a crossroads...they were converging in Utah to send three kids to college in three different states. Mike was reflective, Gwen was stressed, but for me, it was just a really fun vacation with good friends with a little chance to help where I could. My plan was to help with the move in and whatever they needed, visit, and go to at least one Triple D. I am a big fan of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (aka: Triple D). I love food and I want to eat really good food always but particularly when I am traveling and have given myself permission to pig out, but am always reluctant to just try a place blindly. In comes the beauty of Triple D. Hole in the Wall dining with the accompanying price tag and the recommendation of a real food guy...what could be better? So knowing I was headed to Salt Lake City, I went on the Triple D web site and looked for the dives in the area....six total. I promised myself to go to at least one. Day One - Mary H, Barrett and I left Placerville at 2 a.m. for the drive to Utah. No good way to get there because Nevada is in the way. Gratefully Mary drove a lot and I was not beat when we got there at about 2 p.m. (time change and road work makes it look like 12 hours). We visited and waited until Jeff and Kayla arrived. Then the kids wanted to do touristy things at Temple Square so Mike and I loaded kids in two cars (required to fit everyone) then Gwen, Jeff, and Kayla met us in SL. We decided to go to the Red Iguana...I told them my plan and since it was only seven blocks away...we hoofed it over. Mike sold the group on the adventure. On the way we talked about the nice stroll April will have to school each day going past Temple Square, etc. Finally, seven Utah blocks later we arrived for a 45 minute wait....well worth it in my opinion.

I settled on a traditional chile verdi chimichanga...perfection! I don't really know how to describe it. The pork had a wonderful flavor that you could separate from the sauce that smothered it. Not too hot (which is good for me), but it had potato chunks in it that would cool it down when it got to be too much. It made it perfectly balanced. They gave plenty of guacamole and sour cream with it so I didn't have to ration. It was heaven! The menu is huge and had a Mole section. I wanted the flan for dessert but was way too full. It was good to have the walk back after the filling meal....no I left nothing on my plate.

Mike, Gwen, Jeff and Kayla waiting outside. Note: We got there just before 7 p.m. and the line was as long when we left after 8 p.m. on a Tuesday night! Killer Mexican is right :)

Day Two: The kids (Barrett, Julie, Mary and Jason) didn't see much of Temple Square Day One so they went back in the morning and spent the day at the Church History Museum and the Visitor's Center, having seen the Joseph Smith Story film at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building the night before. Meanwhile, Gwen, April, Kayla, Jeff and I went to move stuff into April's new digs and then Gwen and Jeff when to have the car serviced while we decorated. The room turned out really cute. I am glad I had the experience....moving a boy into a dorm is nothing like moving a girl in...Wow! It was fun!

Barrett is standing at a replica of the original pulpit of the Kirtland (?) Temple.

After we finished the room and Gwen and Jeff returned from dropping off the car, we met up with the kids. Here is a cool wall in the Visitors Center from the exhibit entitled "Love One Another". The kids and I toured the conference center. Huge....holds 21,000 people. I never took the full blown tour before....pretty amazing facts.
Day Three: The kids are going camping in Cotton wood Canyon. Here they are planning their departure. After food shopping and preparation, they are ready to go.

Here they are taking off to the tunes of Michael Jackson. Apparently, they had a MJ sing along all the way up the canyon. They crack me up! Before we left, Barrett told me he had hiking boots for the trip. Once we arrived in Utah he hauled these out. He had forgotten his mocassins. For those who may not know, that is what Barrett wears when he absolutely has to wear shoes. Other than that, he goes barefoot. Having forgotten the mocassins, he came out wearing these saying that these are what he meant when he said hiking boots. Yes, on purpose, Barrett brought bright blue water slippers to use as hiking boots when they went camping. Note: I bought him flip flops to wear around but after the day of touring the sites in them...and complaining all the way about how irritating they were to his toes, he gave them up and sported this attractive look.

After we got the kids off and the guys were off doing a father/son male bonding...the girls had a day plan that included my 2nd Triple D...Pat's BBQ. The original plan was to take Barrett to lunch before he went camping because he was supposed to do these with me and he had already missed the Red Iguana. I told him to eat a light breakfast but he didn't hear me and then after food shopping there was no time. However, by that time, I had already prepared myself to go and Kayla was a willing participant. April and Gwen agreed to go with us to the start of our afternoon full of stuff to do. You would never find Pat's unless you were looking. It is just off the freeway but tucked in an industrial area. Kayla, April, Gwen and me. Simple place, simple food. If you look in the back you can see their sign. It is a pig with sunglasses. The guys as Pat's were really nice, could tell right away that we were there because of Triple D because we were the only women in the place practically. A lot of guys were there for serious BBQ. The waiter was willing to take our picture. This was the only Triple D we went to that had any hint of having been on the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives show...They had pictures of them with Guy....whatever his name is and a signed poster up from the show. Braised beef - the special of the day was soooooo flavorful! Wonderfully tender and the sauce it was in was incredibly tasty and true...nothing artifically brothy about it. Mashed potatoes were from scratch and chunky which I personally prefer in mashed potatoes. Sides were an add on just to say it isn't all about the meat...but trust me, it is all about the meat. However, the potato salad that Gwen and April got looked good. Corn bread was okay and the corn was nothing special. I know I was way too into this but I was....Kayla let me take a pic of her food too. Pulled Pork sandwich. After lunch we went with Kayla while she donated her hair to Locks of Love. She didn't tell Jeff she was going to cut it that day. He knew she was talking about it but she wanted to see his surprise. She has donated before.....she has great hair and it grows fast. It was cool.

That night Mike, Gwen, April, Jeff, and Kayla drove to Provo to visit family and I stayed in town and visited family of my own. Saw Mom Dopp and Kirk and Debbie.

Day Four: I woke up early and went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in West or South Jordan. It was really nice. I didn't know how much I would need that strength until the day progressed so I was so glad I went. After that I went back to the house for a quick breakfast and met Debbie and Mom. Mom had a physical therapy appointment and Debbie had a conflict so I offered to help by taking her to the second appointment. It was a good chance to visit. By the time I got back to the house, the kids had returned from camping and, having only had lunch, but late, gave us the perfect opportunity to hit Triple D #3. I couldn't leave town with Barrett haven't missed all Triple D opportunities so I gave them the list and they settled on the Blue Plate Diner.

By the sign, you can see it was a true dive. Again no sign of Triple D having been there but lots of Best of SLC awards everywhere, I asked the waitress for the signature dishes. She said eggs benedict, corned beef hash, chile verde burrito, and the chicken fried steak.

Although the food was good, in true diner fashion, it is probably an awesome breakfast! Julie and Jason got the benedict and they did look good, I got the corned beef hash and enjoyed it - it was true cooked corned beef brisket chunked with potato fry type chunks (okay but not scratch) smothered with cheese. Mary's reuben looked like it tasted great. Barrett got all you can eat fish and was disappointed that he didn't get more before he got to full. Also, it looked okay but not great. There I think it depends on what you order. Whereas, at the Red Iguana, I think everything would be killer.

After getting lost a few times trying to get out of the Holladay area, we made it back and the kid prepared for their last night together in the form of a movie marathon.

Day Five: We got up and readied the house for departure. Then time for pictures. This was an emotional time for the Moore family, particularly Gwen saying goodbye to all three of her chicks.

Barrett with April. Funny thing here...April was complaining about taking her pictures with her messy hair so Barrett messed his up for the picture.

Here Jeff stood waiting for everyone to get set with the picture thing so he can get on the road. Once Barrett saw me with the camera he set out to mimic or is it mock Jeff?

Kayla, Jeff, Barrett, Julie, April and Mary

Jeff and Kayla left California, but Barrett, Mary, Julie and I headed to downtown Salt Lake so Barrett could buy a replica of an 1800's Book of Mormon that is set in paragraph form. Printed out of Independence, MO, the Church History Museum store was selling it. After returning the movies to the rental and getting gasoline for the car, we drove up to April's house when Mike, Gwen and April did to finish the move in. That gave Julie a little more time to help with April and be with family while we went to get the book.

We said our goodbyes and drove away when Barrett said he was hungry not three blocks away from the Red Iguana. Obsessed as I have been, I suggested take out to eat as I drove. I wasn't hungry since I actually at breakfast but I really wanted to try the flan and I was too full before, so I got it. I was not disappointed. Barrett took 20 minutes to read the menu before he decided on Tacos al Carbon...it was steak tacos. Another fantastic choice.

I have to say Red Iguana was definitely my favorite of the three Triple Ds. I would go to Pat's BBQ again. If it was for breakfast, I would try the eggs benedict at Blue Plate. Can't wait to go back to Utah and hit the Burger Bar.

It was so fun visiting with the Moores. They are such good friends. We've been mutually supportive. I so enjoyed talking to them. Gwen and I talked a lot about the kids, which we generally do. Mike and I talked about business and about the heartache of seeing one's we love making poor choices. Then a lot of time we just shared everyday stuff. I will miss them.

Dinner with Friends

It was time to get together. The choice: Jack's Urban Eats. It was a little noisy to talk once the place filled up but it was nice to be together. Women are amazing! We all rally to support each other. Generally, we are sensitve to each others' pain, sorrows, tragedies and triumphs, and do whatever to be there for each other. Often we wish we can do more than we do, but short of that, sometimes it is just enough to show up to laugh and cry (and eat) together :)