02/17/07

What’s up Homes?

How’s the new area of Lincolnton? That silent L in the middle there bugs and always has whenever I’ve had to spell Lincoln. Oh well. Still digging your new compañero? That’s always good when you really like your companion. It’s too bad you were probably transferred out just before your baptism too, eh? Oh well, you earned that one. It’s always good when you can progress an investigator all the way from finding, through teaching, to baptism. So much tends to get in the way of the baptism. You really have to work to keep them strong and fight off any opposition that comes at them at that fragile stage of their progress. I like this quote that came up in my Franklin a week or two ago on my daily quotes. Maybe I’ll make this your quote of the week and get it out of the way early. It says…

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” - Goethe

How true is that when it comes to new converts right? Just as they are about to commit or shortly thereafter, they are so excited and then out of nowhere comes all this darkness right at them. That is just another testimony builder that there is an evil force in the world that tries to stop goodness. I can’t understand people who don’t believe there is a God or a Devil. It’s just so obvious. Anyway, congratulations on that baptism.

We just finished replacing the rest of our windows in the house, so now it is way more quiet in here, warm, nicer looking, etc. We are pretty happy with them. I’m just looking out my new office window here in the basement at the new neighbors moving in. Our old neighbors just moved out this morning and the new ones are moving in right now. That was a fast turn around. I understand they are members, they have a little kid or two that is about Brinlee’s age I think. They look like a nice couple. About our age. I’m not sure if I’m being set apart tomorrow or not. The EQ pres. Went out of town this weekend. So they might do it next week. I’m in no rush. I guess I don’t have to teach my lesson anyway. So I get a week off with nothing to do if that’s the case.

Has anyone been updating you on Don’s offer? I have been talking with the HR chick from the church who’s in my PHR certification course. She told me that Don is her number one choice and they really want to get him, but they can’t take it any higher than their counter offer they made to him, which is still short of what he makes in ATL and it’s more expensive to live here in SLC. So Don has some deciding to do. That would be a tough decision to make! I hope he accepts it. It would be great to have them back home in Utah. It would be super cool to say of any new temple, “yeah, my uncle designed that” and just be able to talk to him about temple design and stuff. That would be awesome. I asked Emily (that girl from the church HR) if this position was for the new downtown developments or something else. She told me it’s specifically for Temples, stake centers and ward houses. We’ll see what he decides on Monday. That’s when he said he’d let them know.

Here’s Brin…

“some toys. And some ‘nother toys. Some … byeee. Going to the store”.

Well, that was short lived. I’ll have to see if I can get her to say more next time. I don’t think she gets the concept of letters yet.

I picked up a new pair of Oakleys last night after work. I had a $75 gift card to sunglass hut. So on my way there, this Israeli woman stopped me at one of those kiosks. At first I couldn’t understand what she was saying to me because she had a strong accent, but I could understand the international language of cleavage since hers was out there. She knew how to sell to guys, that’s for sure. She took my hand and started buffing my thumb nail with some weird buffer pad. I began to understand some of the words she was saying but she was talking so fast. She kept touching my arm and smiling, which I have read is the ultimate strategy in sales, if you are attractive, and you gently touch the arm of the customer and smile at them flirtatiously, you will make a lot more sales. She was working all the strategies. After she was done with my thumb, it was very impressive what it looked like. I mean, even today, it’s crazy how good it looks. I’m actually kind of sold on this product even though I didn’t buy it. She wanted $50 bucks a box of this stuff that makes your nails look brand new. It’s like a home manicure kit. I was like NO WAY. I told her I came to spend all of my money on sunglasses and I was out of there. She dropped her price to 2 boxes for $50. Ahhhh, the old China Town technique. I’m well versed in this form of bartering and negotiating. Well, I thought, I’ll see how low I can get her then. After all was said and done, and 3 prices after the 2 for $50 deal, I had her down to $20 bucks for the box. I was tempted but said, I’ll see how much money I have left after I spend it on these sunglasses. She said if you walk away now, I can’t give you this price when you come back. I said, sure you will. Otherwise you would have never made that offer to begin with. I’ll see you in 10 minutes. I never intended to see her again in 10 minutes. I just meant to insult her form of bargaining. However, I did tell her that I was impressed with my nail, her product and her masterful selling technique. I went in the store and had the dude in the store check out my thumbnail. He was as impressed as I was. I told her where I just got it done and he said that lady is a good salesman. Apparently he fell prey to her feminine wiles already. Ha ha. So I got a new pair of Oakley Canteens. They are sweet. They are a new line that have only been out maybe a month or two. $100 bills though. Crazy how much those are. Sunglass hut is too expensive as it is. In fact, get this. I couldn’t quite choke down the price, so I told him I was going to think it over. Just as some chicks were walking in the store. I ended up walking out. I left the mall, got out in the parking lot, the setting sun over the mountains hit me right in the eyes and was extremely harsh. I decided to go back in and get them. So I walked back in the mall, passed those chicks again as they were walking down the mall corridor, and walked back in the store. The dude was on the phone and he got off as I came in. He told me those girls that came in just as I left just stole a pair of $280 dollar Prada shades. I was like WHAT?? Did you call the cops? He said no, there’s nothing I can do. I said what do you mean? Did you try to stop them? He said, no, we can’t do anything. The company told us if we do anything like touch a customer trying to stop them and they get slightly hurt or anything, they can sue us and the company made us sign a thing that if they get sued, it will come on us and the company is not liable for any law suits. So he is afraid to do anything. So he just asked the girl if she was going to pay for those and she ignored him and walked out. I said why didn’t you call mall security and he told me that they won’t do anything either. They told him once before when he called for that, that they were there for people’s safety and not for shoplifters. I was like that’s BS dude. I gotta pay twice as much for my pair of shades in this over priced store because people can just walk out if they want with any pair they want. He said pretty much. I asked him if he knew how much SGH was paying for this little piece of real estate in the mall. He said no but I bet it’s a lot. I told him it’s about twice as much as he can imagine. And for that price, the mall OWES you some immediate response time on shoplifters, otherwise, why pay all that money for this little space. I was way bugged. I was going to go stop those Bitties myself. They can TRY to sue me if they want. What are they going to sue me for? Yeah, this guy stopped us from getting away with our $280 dollar glasses, so we want punitive damages, monetary damages, and of course, psychological damages in the amount of 2.5 million dollars. Please! I was ready to go pull a Larry Tate on their action and give them a full line-backer take down. That bugs bad! That guy in the store was so casual about it too. He told me if I wanted to walk out with these Oakleys right now, there was nothing he could do about it. He almost said it like an invitation. Well, anyway, my glasses are sweet.

K, let’s get to your companion’s interview for the Blog. You will have to have his family go to it to check it out and watch for his big debut on the best missionary site on the world wide web. Seriously, I have checked out ALL of the other weak attempts out there, and no one, nothing, no where comes close to the quality, cool features, funny stuff, and good content that you have on yours. I feel pretty good about being the so called Blog-Master of the best missionary site in the world. Past or present. So have him write home to his family to check it out. http://elderalexander.blogspot.com

Elder Van Leeuwen:

First name:

Where he’s lived:

How would he describe himself:

Interests/Hobbies:

How long he’s been out:

What he likes most about his mission:

What he likes least about his mission:

Favorite subject in school:

Girlfriend?:

Favorite music:

Where he worked back home:

What he plans to do when he returns home:

Future career goals:

Favorite TV shows:

If he were stranded on a desert island, what one thing would he want with him?:

Favorite Fast food joint/Restaurant:

I think that will do for now. So get me full details after you have had a chance to interview him. Did he know Riley Hein there at B-right-on? Did he ever call his school B-Right-On? Did he ever ski/ride Brighton? Did he like his hunter orange graduation gown at the E-Center? I’ll want the answers to these questions too by next letter.

Speaking of your letters, I’ll respond to your last one now…

So your card is full now? Have you sent it out yet? Send it to me so I can get it done quick, make Mom and Dad their CD copy and send it back to you. John is doing well. Still working more than ever, still dating LM with no real progress yet. But he still seems really happy having a girlfriend. I think we might try to go Ice Fishing on Monday since we all have the day off for Presidents Day. Remember last year? That was fun. It was Uber-Cold! That’s part of what makes it so fun though. Just playing freeze out.

So you get your pics I sent out of the girls? Brin is growing up fast and Aynslee is cute as a button. I got her to smile and laugh for the first time this morning. She has been laughing quite a bit since I finally figured out her funny button that I can push.

How’s the journal writing going? If you report back that it’s not going well, it takes to long for my rebuke and re-issue of challenge. So just to be proactive and save time, get on that boy! Bust out the Parker® crack open the journal and write down what’s happening lately. It’s barely OK to not write home as much as demand states, but to neglect your journal will be one of your biggest regrets. How’s the room in your journal? How’s the ink levels in your Parker® refills? Let me know if you get low on either one. I’m sure you have heard about Shelli’s wreck by now too, right? She got T-boned by a Mexi that was high on something and un-insured. So that is going to be a huge mess. Good thing she’s OK. I’d hate to revert to our previously discussed scenario if something happened to her. He’s spending some quality time in the jail thinking about what he’s done, so that’s good enough for now, until he gets his butt sued off by Shelli and her insurance company lawyers. Dude is in for a world of hurt. Shelli’s car is gone though, so now she can use her insurance moneys to get that sweet Trans-Am she’s had her eyes on for so long.

I wonder what Pres. Hobbs is talking about when he said he’s going to set you up? He has said some interesting comments in the past, eh? Well, I need to get to studying. I may hold off on sending this letter till tomorrow in case something comes up on Sunday. So I’ll just save now and close out. Get back to you tomorrow.

K, it’s Sunday night at 8:40 PM right now. I’m about to get on and do my module two test on my CD thing right now for class. So I’ll wrap this up and send it off. I just finalized all the plans for tomorrow’s ice fishing trip. I’m way excited. I have all my gear out and ready to go. I’m probably more excited about wearing all of my gear than I am about actually fishing. It's all about strutting the sweet top of the line gear for me more than it even is fishing. I'm like the celebrities that go to Sundance just to show off the latest line of winter wear, more than coming for the films. I’ll get the quality photo ops of course and send you some pics. Hopefully we slay some fish this time instead of the two I caught last year. That was a slow fishing day. John is taking up his new Canon HD Video recorder that’s super small. It records in HD and is way high quality. I am looking forward to checking that action out. I also just registered to take my PHR certification exam in May. Guess how much that set me back? $300 bills. I’m not even kidding. I just dropped 300 bucks to take a 4 hour test where I’ll suffer for all 4 hours and probably not even pass. Only 64% pass this test who take it. I’m dying lately to stay up to speed too and with all the distractions of super busy work life, even busier family life, I can’t stay on top of school life. I’m feeling completely overwhelmed. So I’ll let you know when I get closer to the test time. I’m going to need some serious prayers from family and especially a stalwart missionary who has the Lord’s ear right now to give some extra blessings. Seriously, I really don’t think I can pass it right now and I’m only getting in deeper lately. If I don’t pass it, I can’t take it again for another 6 months and it just gets harder to pass then because I’ve been out of school for 7 months by then and the info is not fresh on my mind anymore. If I don’t pass it then, it’s all over. Oh, and I have to pay the 300 bucks to retake it again too. I can’t afford that, so it’s a do or die scenario for me. I have to pass this first time or that’s it. Failure is not an option for me. K, that’s about it for me. I’ll let you get back to bidniss. Enjoy getting to know your new area and meeting new people to teach. I’ll look forward to hearing back with all the details and getting that interview back for the Blog.

I’m continually so proud of you and what you are doing. Keep up all the great work!

Love you,

Trav