Email from Spencer 25 June 2012

hey ma, pa , fam
well this week has been crazy crazy crazy, sad, relieving and ive never learned more. elder ------ is now brother ------- and has returned home from his mission after hour long talks with me, presidant and his family, he still made the decision to go home , i hope he will be able to learn and grow there, i hope his parents dont allow him to get into his old routin of dependance. it was sad to see him walk away from his best chance at becoming a succesful independant and spiritual person. but it was an even stronger testimony to me of how glad i am for you mom and dad, and the way you raised me and allowed me to grow and gain a testimony of the gospel for myself , and to learn how to function on my own, and do the rights things on my own. it was also another testimony to me of how it is impossible to let pride go and to serve the lord without an understanding or a desire to understand the lords gospel. anyways he left friday and now i am out of a companion for who knows how long, maybe three more weeks, i have been traveling around with the zone leaders since then, it been fun but i miss my branch and all of my investigators, i miss being able to focus on the work, its been a while , ferrari has been my focus lately, so im excited to get a companion and start working again, the zone leaders keep joking and telling me that ill never go back and im just going to be called to be a zone leader, ya that better not happen i just want to be a missionary, i hope im never a zl , i just want to baptize the people i love and focus on them.
we also had a ga of the 70 come and tour our mission this week his name was elder walker, it was so awesome i learned so much and now im trying to get what i learned down to a focus so i can improve on two or three of the most important things i learned, if i try to accomplish more then two ore three, ill get spread to thin n i will never get any of them done, ive been focusing alot on charity and obediance lately. its crazy how much my love for obediance has grown, theres just so much saftey and peace in obediance, god hasnt set any traps on his path to eternal happiness, theres no hidden land mines to blow our life to peices if we head to the words of our profet and the words of the scriptures. this morning i memorized 2 scrpitures one ofwhich is DnC 42: 29 the other Dnc 121:45 if ye love me, you will serve me , and keep all my commandments, let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of god, and the doctrine of the preisthood shall distill upon your soul as the dews from heaven, the holy ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchangeable scepter of rightousness and truth. which without compulsorary means shall flow unto you forever and ever. i love both of these scriptures, as well this week i was studying in mosiah and fell upon my new favorite scripture, MOS 2:34 knoweth that ye are eternally indebted to your heavenly father, to RENDER to him, all that you HAVE, and ARE. this week i was reminded of the truth that by following our savior we dont have the control over our lifes that many of us prideful people including me desire, we want to set our own limits and our own terms but it just doesnt work that way, but when we give our heavenly father all that we have and are he leads and guides and directs our life, and if we love him, we will keep all his comandmants and serve him, and thats where true happiness and peace comes from, god doesnt want part of us he wants all of us, but he loves us so much he lets us choose to render to him all that we have and are, he doesnt force us to love him, but he sure does hope we will , hence the 50,000 missionaries, the modern day profets, and the scriptures, but most important his son jesus christ, his love is what binds us to god, his love is charity, charity is everything. thanks for the package g2g i love you all so much.

luv elder harris

 Sam and Bryson spent a few days at Lake Powell and had an astonishingly  SOUL RENEWING time...Sam saw 18 shooting stars in ONE night...ate steak and dutch oven ribs...got better at wake boarding...and did NOT get FRIED even though it was in the 100's!!! Played hours of SCUM, loved some new people, and just basked in the greatness of the Universe. He and Bryson are going to have such a GREAT time together as roomates at Utah State.

 Strawberry Days Rodeo this weekend...some of your possee :)

A friend posted this on face book and it reminded me of when we had our 8 puppies and KNEW it would make all of you SMILE!!!

Dad is off to Argentina and Chile for the week. Sam is going to play in the Cascade tournament tomorrow. I have clients in from Texas and that big close is happening tomorrow:) THANKS for the prayers.  Meg is just playing hard and working hard  like always....we came home to her day long pool "party" disbanding last night. We sat on the swings and talked for a long while. My heart is so overwhelmed at how beautiful and peaceful our yard is. I just keep thinking...WHO gets to create like this??  And then I near to burst and want to sing and dance and scream out---I DO!!!! I am grateful....more than grateful...there needs to be a new word to describe it. Now if I can just get that Mocking bird to relocate and leave my Robins alone Eden will be perfect bliss.

With the weather so hot the pool is always full...I LOVE to come home to kids screaming and splashing. The only time its hard is when I can't get in with them. Piper Williamson (3 almost) has finally named the girl kitty--KIBBY. She can't say kitty and it is SO adorable to hear her say it. When they come to swim she barely gets in the water...she just mothers those kittens the whole time. So now it is official...we have Herman and Kibby:)

Dad and I went to a life pondering conference yesterday called POWER OF CHOICE. I really want all of you to go. My treat. It will replace some of the FHE lessons I never gave. I am a believer. The more we can wrap ourselves around the idea that we truly create our life by our thoughts the greater the freedom and happier our hearts will be  to live our authentic selves. I am so glad I am learning this stuff and cementing it in my heart before I leave the planet. I just keep thinking how AMAZING it would have been if I had learned it in my 20's!!! Meg is scheduled for July and I hope to schedule Michael and Josh for Oct. We can never learn enough about communicating and about how to take the negatives in our lives and turn them into positives.

It has really hit me that you are GONE. I hadn't realized how much of my PASSION is YOU. I am going to work on not mourning and start planning extraordinary times together. Starting with KAUI!!! We are going to make memories children. We're going to laugh and laugh and golf and play games and swim in the ocean and snorkel and EAT and talk and just BE and laugh some more. I am going to learn to fill myself up with the new experiences you share with me and then new experiences I choose for myself.  And then there will be THANKSGIVING...and then there will be CHRISTMAS.....and that time im between lots of planning for the time we ARE together. I LOVE YOU. I'm so proud of ALL of you. Sam announces last night that its 2 months exactly till he moves out. I just wanted to burst in to tears. But quickly I remembered how ridiculously glorious it was for me to be on my own at BYU. And I am happy for ALL of you that you get to taste and breathe and contribute to the world. That you have the opportunity for ANY experience you want to have. I am excited for all the people you will love and share in their lives...and then share with me.

Remember to LOVE yourselves, enjoy the NOW, slurp the sweetness out of the bottom of every experience. And pour your love on everything.
The Momma--the one who is going to work on growing up to the next step...the one whose life IS YOUR LOVE!!!!!!
XXOOXXOOXXOXOXOXOXOOXOOXOXOXOOXOXOX

2nd repsonse to Spencer's wanting to extend :)

TO SPENCER...first response....

LET'S JUST MAKE ONE THING FOR - - - - SURE....there will be NO EXTENSIONS.
There. I feel MUCH better now.

Letter from Spencer 18 June 2012

hey fam
well this week has been a roler coaster, ups and downs and more ups and downs, basically all of our investigators have fallen off track, but we have also found new ones who seem more promising and willing to commit, my comps still doing the same, just cant and wont take his mind off what he wants, one day hell understand what the lord wants is more important, and by doing what he wants for us we show our love for him, by doing what we want we tell god that he cant have us, that we dont care what he wants, that we dont love him, something i did not understand untill my mission, what we want really doesnt matter that much, in fact it wont even make us happy, at least not for very long, then we just create another want to chase after, what never ending misery of selfishness, man i wish i could be less selfish, but anyways enough of that tangent.
yesterday one of our investigator families came to church there names are danilo and violeta, violeta is now best friends with one of our less active members named rocio, rocio and her family are probably one of my favorite members i will have to try to get some pics of them for you. anyways so 3 months ago we knocked into violeta, who is rocios neighbor and we taught her and danilo a first lesson , we then went to ask rocio if she knew her neighbor very well cuz we just taught them, she said no, we then committed her to invite them over for dinner with us the next time we came, only violeta came, but still it was awesome we ate and taught and read from the book of mormon, and the spirit was really strong, ever since then we have had dinner with them all atleast twice a month but we could never get danilo to come with us, and most of the time once a week, violeta wouldnt come to church without danilo because when she used to attend her church by her self without him he would get mad when she got home, and they would fight the rest of the , she even used scripture against us, contention is of the devil, but she really has wanted to come, she already knows its true she just does not want to do it without her husband, so saturday we went to violetas, danilo usually hides in the back but this time we went for dinner, and he couldnt run from food so i was able to talk to him, hes actually a really nice great guy, committed them to church, committed rocio to bring them and wala our church attendance increased by 25 percent, haha our branch is small, but im so excited for them , violeta loved church and danilo made friends with some of our members and there coming to our church activivty this saturday and to church again so im excited i really think they will get baptized, now the goal is to get them married, hispanics are never married!!!!!!!
my companion had a major freak out again yesterday, he said, the next time i see presidant ill saay right to him that im going to make your life ( me) and his life hard until he gets sent home , i just laughed, called up presidant and lets just say elder ------- didnt say any of those things to him, and now his fine this morning , stil no testimony or understanding, but theres not much i can do untill hes willing to listen and be humble, but i have faith that it will change , anyways gotta go, i love you guys thanks for the garments, i love love love you mom, dont forget it, but dont be suprised if i extend......... i love being a missionary

love elder harris

Hello Lovies!!!! Sure missed you all today. THANK YOU for sending such sweet love notes to your Dad. We made him his favorite dinner and are still working on getting him some family pics framed that he wants for his office.
It's officially HOT. So hot that I couldn't stand to read on my lounge yesterday afternoon...had to come in to the air conditioning. Makes me sad for the kittens with all their fur.
This week is Strawberry Days and we'll be thinking of you at the Rodeo. Sam will be in Lake Powell all week with the Nickles. Still never been...but hope to change that THIS summer sometime. Sam worked the High School Baseball camp with Coach Nelson last week and them Umped all day Saturday...so even though he hasn't found a steady job, he's doing well at making money. Heaven knows he'll want it this fall.
Megan's work trip to Chicago was glorious and she posted pics on her facebook page. She REALLY hopes that they keep sending her. Dad was in Guatemala and Honduras this last week. Since this is the height of real estate time I too have been super busy. I did take Wednesday afternoon off for a MERMAID party with some of my friends by the pool. It was so RELAXING to just hand out together and do NOTHING but talk and eat and talk and eat some more. We ended with the last showing of Snow White and the Huntsman. I must be getting old. I could barely sit through the AVENGER's and I was thinking I was going to go crazy sitting in that one! The Queen was amazing, her costuming incredible...but the Snow White was ridiculously horrible. I kept thinking               "now why would they have left THAT scene in?"
Yesterday was a man's heaven for sports...and perfectly so for Father's Day. I know YOU didn't get to see any Spencer, and figured Michael and Josh missed both the US OPEN and the Basketball game 2 of the final series because you were on the road? Of course I want the HEAT...I am TIRED of people hating on Lebron. That man can play ball. Sam is still recovering with Tiger's poor show at the Open...he is such a die hard fan for that man. I am so glad he had the other 2 victories this season.
I got called to teach in Primary. I was subbing yesterday so I haven't started my real class yet. Quincy is an adopted  4year old black girl with enough personality to fill the entire planet....and quite the imagination. She insists on sitting on my lap (you KNOW I don't mind)!! She plays with my hair and locket and finger nails and stuff in my "bag", you get the picture. She faces me and hoding my face in her hands says "Oh, you're a Grandmom!!" I laughed and said "No, but I WANT to be!"
 Her eyes get big and she says "YES YOU ARE! My mom says you can't lie in church!!!"  I laughed, and feeling quite OLD said "Quincy, I DON'T have any grandkids so I am NOT a GrandMom...do you think I look old?" She sits back, then puts her hands over the sides of my face and said...."you have that white stuff in your hair on the edges. You're going to be a Grandmom soon. But I'm GLAD you're not a grandmom, cuz then your gonna die in a couple of days or a year or something." Oh the Quincy stories I could tell!! I am sad I won't be her teacher. She so has the I've got to go to the bathroom figured out for when the lesson is dragging for her. I taught them last week too so I came with a BIGGER bag of tricks and treats this week.  So children...the GOOD NEWS is I am going to be a GRANDMOM soon :) Quincy said.
Spencer, Dad picked up your garments and I have them all ready to go in the box and they will be sent this morning. I had the missionary mom lunch last week and all the boys are doing good...not alot of detail. Stephen just got transfered. Jeffers is a District Leader. Wade opened a new area in Montana. Sefa's mom missed. Marie Cardon just loving on Terrance's letters.
I LOVE YOU BOYS!!!!! You KNOW I MISS YOU!!! I'm so proud of all of you. I love that in spite of parenting difficulties  :) you are such amazing, GOOD, happy , independent, healthy, successful men out there putting more love into the world. Hurry home boys. Hurry home. 43 weeks Spencer.
LOVE YOU BIG!!!!!
Mom
xxooxxooxxooxx

Letter from Spencer

hey fam how goes it?

this week was really good work wise things still about the same with my companion only slight improvement, so please keep praying for us, and yes mom i do need something, garments!!! i already asked for them but i think you have forgot, which is ok mom dont worry, but i am needing them now when i only wanted them before my garments bottoms are falling apart and the dri lux doesnt hold up well in the humidity so if you could get me 6 poly cotton bottoms, 34, and 6 mesh tops that would be the bomb, luv you.

so this week we taught like 25 lessons and i had alot of fun, our investigators are progressing but still we did not have a great result when church roled around, i guess its just carma for all the times i skipped out even though i knew what was right and best, but its ok i will just have to talk to them all this week and help them understand the importance church attendance has to our salvation, and day to day happiness.

we had an awesome lesson with a less active and his non member friend last night that lives with him, he has been taught a thousand times but he was finaly able to understand the connection between the power to act in the name of christ, joseph smith and the book of mormon, and tells us that he should have the book finished within the end of the month, hopefully he can stay true to that rightous desire.

we got a new missionary in our apartment, " the six pack" the same apartment elder cardon stayed in when he was born in the mission, his names is elder zach lee, turns out i worked with him at fox hollow when i was 16, which is pretty cool, hes on fire and loving life. which i love but it makes my companion  even more insecure. i think he will be sent home after this transfer, whether he wants to or not, hopefully something big can happen, but by looking at his desires and knowing that he has to do his part in order for the lord to do the rest, it doesnt look very likely.

dad you should read and search a talk called the fourth missionary, i have been studying it for about a month off and on whenever things get tough with my companion, i think you would like it alot, its something you could share with all the youth preparing to serve missions, please also share it with my friends and tell them its from me, to austin walker, mike and scott cooper ( he could really us it), and michael king.

its really helped me.

ill send yall some pics this week, sorry i have been slacking, dad where you going in honduras, half of my branch is from there , including my branch mission leader.

love you guys, i love and miss you mom, my back needs a scratch, it is o so deprived.

thanks for all that you do

love,

elder harris

Letter to Spencer

Sorry...the craziness of the last 2 weeks  was enough and the only pic I got was of my last time having Activity Days here. Now they have called me to be a teacher in Primary. I will team teach with Allison Davis so it will be only every other week. Yesterday I substituted for the 4 year olds...6 little girls. ALL ADORABLE and all so chatty. The lesson was on being a PEACE MAKER...I thought it was going to be way over their heads, but surprisingly they were "all in" and comitted to doing their part by the time the lesson was over. I would LOVE to hear what they had to day at dinner about what the lesson was on.

Sam went camping with all the last year graduated girlies and some of the other guys...16 in all, up American Fotk Canyon and had a blast. We went to watch him ump a game Saturday and he WIND was so horrible we had to sit in the car. They were 9 year olds. Great to watch them dancing in the dug out and just generally in their own little world and not "into" the game.

The Alaska brothers are well and so is Megan. No big news. Just settling into summer. I am working TONS and that makes me happy. Allergies have come like a vengence for me, hopefully the Zyrtec will kick in soon. The kittens came to be permanent residents last night, the Peterson girlies finally and hestitantly parting with them..

Today is Missionary Mom lunch...so I will get the scoop and everyone and get you updated.

I can only imagine how HOT and HUMID it is there now. I also watch the weather for there. I am SO GLAD YOU HAVE A CAR!!! I'm sorry for the saddness of your companion. I am so glad that YOU are his companion as he sorts through this. And glad that YOU realize how tough it is to make the sacrifice he is trying to make. LOVE ON sweet boy. LOVE ON. 

IS there anything you need? want? I would love some pictures if you could download some? Haven't had any for a long while...not since you have been in Augusta? A Momma NEED S to SEE her boy!

I love you so much. Finally I can count!!! 11 Fast Sundays :) Love that companions! I /WE are all here LOVING YOU!!!!
Mom
XXOOXX

Sam's Graduation 29 May 2012

 He's going to marry this one...or so SHE SAYS:) And I LOVE it that she says it!!!!!!

                                                               Shaylee---she graduated last year and they still hang out :)

                                                     The PROUD parentals

                                                                           Madeline...

 KINSANITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At end...just my favorite baseball player ever!!!
After Sam of course....well,,,,and then there's all the others...guess I love em' all equal!

 Skylar...what a woman! Lost her mom last year and she is still the one to comfort everyone else!

 SO MANY WOMEN.......

 Did I already say SO MANY WOMEN????????

 Halford!!!!! Lunch bunch man with amazing mom :)

 LONDON......besties till he "married" Paloma last summer :) Still besties just not so often.

 GOLF team! Johnny P is now up to 6,5" and it's hard for him to keep adjusting to his swing!

 The TWINS....the coaches daughters...always a FAVORITE!!!

 Ty pitched for the team and rocked our world MANY a night on the mound!

 These boys be "roomies" in the fall at Utah State....THAT is gonna make some girls HAPPY!!!!

 Coach and his boys!!!

 Marsh....this boy belongs to ME!!!

 Ok...ALL THESE BOYS BELONG TO ME!!! Just LOOK at Perk's smile! First on left!

 Prom Date.....still just as cute in the all green gown!

 Joel Gassman.....such a STAND UP kid!!! LOVE IT when he is around.

 Da SISTA

The boy and his COACH :)  :)   :)   :)   :)

Spencer's email 4 June 2012

hey fam

this week has been ok, not anything exciting or new, my companion is still struggling really bad, the doctors diagnosed him with seperation anxiety, and lets just say im not suprised, hes lived with his mom and never been away from her for longer then three days , and hes 22 so hes never been independeant before and is now lost when shes not here to tell him what to do, but hes improving ever since hes been talking to his counselor, presidants not sure that he will be aloud to stay even if he changed his mind and wanted to stay, so please pray for him, we got a new branch mission leader today and im excited he used to be the branch presidant and hes a boss, he is way focused and excited about missionary work, we had a member out with us every night this week it was awesome, we have alot of families were teaching too that we are doing family home evenings with joined with families from the branch, and its been helping alot, please pray for us, hopefully some baptisms will help my trainee want to stay, my trainer and my other favorite companion go home on thursday so please look them up and say high, one is brent carter from seattle and the other is jared radmal from st george, im sorry but i really dont know what else to write you, oh , well we woke up at 5 this morning so we would have enough time to play settlers before we emailed, it was way fun, popcorn, dew, and settlers, at 5 a.m. haha so fun, i love my district, please pray for flor, carla , rudy, miranda , alex, wilmer , maria, christian,danielo, violeta and rolando, there all on track to be baptized! thanks to the help of the branch, anyways, i love you mom, hope your doing ok doing all of your lasts with sam , dont worry gkids will come soon enough, just not from me haha

Us talking to Spencer via Skype on Mother's Day :) xxooxx

Crazy BUSY Life!!!

 Spencie...this is US sitting in front of the TV SKYPING with YOU on Mother's Day!!!

 Dad and the Redmond's found this baby fawn in our back yard JUST before we were heading out to Sam's Graduation...we think the Momma must have jumped the fence on the Allphin's side and then had her in our yard because you know how tight I have the fences to keep THEM OUT. And yes, even me, the not so much a LOVER of those LARGE RODENTS, thought this was pretty cute. Dad unlocked the back gate where 3 doe where waiting and they took it back. Thank Heavens!

 The spots are adorable huh? The Redmon kids are heading to Cascade to live with Randy and Cheryl for the summer so they can 4-H and just be back in good ole Cascade:)They aren't loving Grand Junction so much. Except for Aiden who already has a girlfriend.

 Jeremy came with the kiddies last weekend and he has become quite the chef!!! I am still laughing! He bought a PICTURE cookbook and lets the kids pick what they want and then they make it:) That is an egg casserole with corn and green chiles above...I thought it was DELICIOUS!! And this yummy concoction below is chocolate chip cookie dough cooked, then when you bring it out of the oven you smother it with nuts, mini marshmellows and store bought icing. TOTAL YUM!!

 Took the kids to visit my kitties...the Peterson's brought them over tonight even...but I don't get them till NEXT Sunday:) So dang cute. Not sure HOW I am going to stay away from them. Jeremy brought their new dog"MISHKA" who is some kind of a Terrior...and  now Sam has decided after it barked so much all night that he really can pass on that responcibility. I'm not going to be the one to tell him that not all dogs bark like that...and mostly I think she was shook because she is normally an inside dog and I just could't do that, so she was outside and alone.

There are going to be ALOT of graduation pics...so I decided to download the week and then do a graduation blurb that is long in case you want to skip it. The Graduation itself was long, but the highlite for me was this music video "dub" thing they did with every Senior throughout the whole High School...we'll show all of you when you get home. No more High School Graduations for this Momma...until grandbabies!!!! Poor Sam...who knows when he'll get his celebratory DINNER OUT...things have been so crazy...and now we are waiting for Megan to get back home. He's decided on TEPANYAKI.

Only talked to Michael and Josh once this week. Both are happy. And DILIGENT. I can not say enough how grateful I am for how AMAZING all of you are. REALLY. THANK YOU ....it makes ME look like this OFF THE CHARTS MOM!!!! And you KNOW I LOVE that!!! Josh said Alaska is one of the MOST beautiful places he's seen. He totally has the luch of the Irish and they put him on Hiway after only ONE week of city! So he is thrilled! (the tips are much bigger and the scenery much more diverse)  Megan has been in Washington, DC with work, and then stayed until late tomorrow night to play with some of her friends who live there now. Of COURSE she is having a blast! Uncle Kelly and soon to be Aunt Julia took her to a National's game today. She's pretty much done ALOT of the touristy stuff so you know she is loving it. She LOVES that her work is starting to let her travel. Check her out on Facebook and her blog to see more pics.  The baseball banquet was Wednesday AFTER graduation and I really liked that...it helped me with my waterworks at the actual graduation, knowing it wasn't the LAST thing.  I FINALLY got my big deal negotiated and now I just have to cross my fingers eyes and toes until close.  Utah county has officially become a SELLER's market in the last 4 weeks for properties under $350k. Hard for some of my clients to get it after being in this ecomony for so long. Multiple offers on ALL of the properties in that range.
Talked to Olive today and she sends her love to you all.

 Brandon's farewell today...SO GOOD TO SEE ALL THE BRETHREN!!! They are all coming tomorrow night for dinner, swim and poker:) Spencie...we WILL be thinking of you!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!! AND MISS YOU!!! Hey Spencer...11 more Fast Sunday's for this Momma!!
I will do more on graduation later.  MISS ME!!! The chickies are in the coop...we have about 30 snakes in the yard...the hot tub is HOT...tomorrow I am planting pumpkins...and the pool is sad without you all. BUT HOME IS STILL HERE...just close your eyes and you'll be with me...I'm cooking your favorites and reading by the pool:) See each of you in my dreams at the condo in Kaui!!
XXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOOXXX
Your Momma