March 31, 2002 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KATIE TODAY!!! I hope you have had a WONDERFUL 14th birthday. I know you are very happy that you made cheerleader for your school again this next year - CONGRATULATIONS!!! When I think of Katie I think of her surrounded by a million friends in her home having LOTS of fun and I think that's just GREAT!!!

Laura - thank you SO much for coming over last night for a good visit. Laura doesn't come home very often from Utah State so I haven't seen her for a long time and we had a good time catching up with things. She just loves Logan and Utah State like I did so she is going to stay there for the Summer and take classes towards her degree. I believe Michael will be there at the same time. Laura gets prettier every time I see her and she has a nice friend boy. She told me last night that he served his mission in Taiwan and speaks Chinese but can't find anyone around who speaks it also so he worries that he may forget it. Bob came with her and it is always good to have him come.

Patrice - WHAT A TREAT TO FIND YOUR PICTURES ON THE INTERNET TONIGHT!!! Thank you SO much for "knowing how" to take pictures and send them like that. The Roy Mellors have been in Alabama vacationing on the beach and the pictures are just WONDERFUL - the children and Roy and Patrice look SO happy and relaxed. I LOVED the picture of Wayne too - he is getting older just like I am - since you didn't have a picture of Chris I'm wondering if she is recuperating from knee surgery or something. I had a letter from them not too long ago telling me that Wayne's mother had passed away and she didn't say anything so maybe I'm wrong. Wayne just absolutely loves having you take your children so he can fish with them and I hope the weather was good and that you caught some fish - he tells me that Roy reminds him of Lynn. They are GREAT people and they tell me they will come see me sometime this Summer. The Alabama beach looks just beautiful!!! I'll share the pictures with the rest of the family when they come for conference next Sunday. I'm looking forward to my visit with you.

John - Thank you for your darling Easter card on the internet too. Thank you too for your messages during the week. I can't help but worry about the terrible tragedies I hear about on television that are happening in Israel - I know you must be close to many fellow workers who are involved personally in the suicide bombings that are going on there and that has to be hard. Where is all this going to lead to???? I received a wedding announcement from your neighbor Jenna Theobald yesterday - I will be in Little Rock for her reception so I will miss it but I'm happy for her. Her fiancé's last name is Fenn. They are having the open house in Paul and Dorothys' home.

Weinerts - Thank you for a DELICIOUS EASTER DINNER today. I went to their home for dinner and it was so nice to visit with Ricky and Mary Ann who have been home this weekend for their Spring Break - they are going back to Logan tonight but plan to come back next weekend for our annual conference get-together. Mary Ann had been on a fun date last night and it was good to have her tell us all about it. Jeannie is going to have surgery tomorrow on her "bunions" - she has needed that surgery for a long time and I'm SO glad she is going to have it done. She has to be right down for three days with her feet elevated and then she will wear those therapeutic boots for awhile. Barji will be home on Wednesday for about a week and it will be SO good to see her - she has an appointment with her doctor and hopes to find out the sex of their VERY ACTIVE little baby - Ha!!!

My friend Anne Smith from Orem came for lunch on Tuesday and it was SO good to see her again and visit. She was one of my counselors in the Relief Society for over four years so we spent a lot of time together but I haven't seen her for a few years. She isn't in very good health and could hardly climb my stairs - she says her knees are just bone on bone. She has jogged for as long as I have known her and it has been hard on her knees.

I had a dinner party for Dick and Ann Cobb on Wednesday night and that was fun. I invited other friends who had a special tie to Arkansas - my visiting teacher is on the Relief Society General Board and visited Little Rock on church business and Dick was their host - then my visiting teaching companion and her husband just returned from serving a mission in Arkansas so they came. Linda Smithers also came and Ellen Mae & Mel and Margaret. We had such a good time talking about "old times" and Dick and Ann are just the same. My dinner was TERRIBLE but the company was WONDERFUL. I always like to try new recipes so I decided to make a lobster casserole and I worked all morning getting the meat from the shells and cut my hands all over but it ended up tasting just like bread dough. The Cobbs are going to move to Utah after their mission at the Family History Library in Salt Lake and they're looking for a home in Davis County. We talked about the Beyers and it made me homesick for them so I called them the next day and I was SHOCKED!!! Charles told me he had just brought Cissy home from the hospital - she is on dialysis three times a week for three or four hours a day and I feel SO sad!!! They have a genetic kidney problem in their family and their daughter Shauna had a kidney transplant a few years ago. Charles didn't think that would be a possibility for Cissy.

My friend Ellen Mae fell on the cement in front of their home and REALLY banged up her face. She went to Bob to have him help her and he took 22 stitches in a cut just below her eye and her face is all black and blue. She wanted to make rolls for my party but I didn't know about her accident or I would never have let her do it.

Michael - there have surely been a lot of warnings about traveling to Italy during the Easter weekend. I hope you haven't had to stay right inside your apartment. They interviewed a young man who served his mission in Italy but has since returned home and he told about the many times the missionaries were confined to their apartments because of civil unrest. Are you far from Rome? I LOVE the information from your letters that your Mom passes on and I'm proud of you for helping your companion. I remember that in Montana Lynn was SO happy to have Elders who could look for the good in their companions and "calm the troubled waters" - Ha!!! I hope you find Allessandro and will be able to teach him again.

Russell - I have been reading Elder Groberg's book "The Other Side of Heaven" and it reminds me of what I think you are going through. I am at the first part of his book where he describes building their home with a thatched roof. That has been made into a movie and I hope it will be available in Madagascar. I'm looking forward to your folks receiving more letters from you. I know you are doing good and have many responsibilities.