May 29, 2005

Hi Jarom and Bruce,                                        May 29, 2005

Dad and Tom Harris loaded up Dad's old red truck with a stone display
that they had built and started out on a road trip to St. George,
Reno, Phoenix AZ, Colorado, etc. They made it as far as Las Vegas when
Dad's truck died. Dad put the truck into neutral when the tow truck
came to get it. Some how it slipped into gear and burned the heck out
of the transmission. So, his truck is now toast. Dad bought a 1998
white truck. Don't ask me what kind. It has an extended cab with
120,000 miles on it. He got it for $10,000. Hopefully, they can finish
the trip now. They have met with distributors who are excited about
their product. We are hoping for the best.
Taylor called Dad on his cell phone just to chat one day. He said, "Hi
Dad. What'cha doin"? Have you met any people who are members of the
church? Dad said, "Yes, probably" "Have you met any people who are not
members?" "Yes, I probably have." Taylor asked, "What did you say to
them?" Dad asked, "what do you think I should say?" Taylor said,
"repent and other stuff"
When we have scripture study in the morning the kids seem to sleep
through it all. Aubrey said that we could read the same scripture over
and over and they would never even notice. So, since Dad left last
Monday I have been reading the same 2 verses in Helaman. Helaman 3:34,
35. I love those 2 verses now. Aubrey finally noticed on Friday
because she had read the scriptures for us the day before. Now I've
still been reading them every day since and they still haven't
noticed. This does not bode well for our family!:> By the time Dad
gets back in a week or two we will see if they realize that we have
read the same 2 verses for weeks!
I went to your Dad's rebaptism on Wednesday, Bruce. It was an awesome
meeting. What really struck me the most was how wonderful Ali is! Ali
and Bruce's Dad got married in March of this year. I could tell that
Jessica and Emily and Adam and Nick all adored her. I could see it in
their faces and the way they interacted with her. Ali has a beautiful
singing voice and she sang a duet with Jessica and Emily. I think
everyone was crying. She seems to be an incredible person. I think you
will love her when you get home and meet her, Bruce. The baptism was
wonderful!
We moved Brittney and Duane to their new town home. It's a nice little
place. I think they paid around $140,000.
Church was really good today. Good talks. The choir sounded good.
I love you both. I'm so proud of you! Keep working hard!
Love, Mom

Hi Jarom,                                      May 29, 2005

I will find out from Dad about your bank account and let you know. Go
ahead and send your shoes back so that we can get them replaced for
you. I'm getting your birthday package ready to send off on Tuesday
since tomorrow is Memorial Day.
Do you print off our letters to you and yours to us? You should do
that if you can and then delete your emails. I have been printing many
of your letters. I am going to go through and print all of them. Do
you need Dad to purge your emails or can you do it? I'm really proud
of you, Jarom. The little boys pray for you every night. They ask for
a blessing that you will baptize lots of people and that you will
learn the language.
Now that we have sold the house it feels really good to be completely
out of debt. Never, ever get into debt except for a house, your
education and maybe an inexpensive car. Keep up the great missionary
work. I hope you are enjoying it!
Love, Mom

hey every one  May 30, 2005  Family Vaca

well this week the family vaca finally got married and on saturday baptized. thursday we were running around with our heads choped off trying to get them married. here in Ecuador if you want to get married you have go to a place called Registro Civil to do it, and well the one in the town im in was to busy to do it for us. so we called up about 7 or 8 other towns to see if one of the Registro Civils in one of those towns could do it. all but one said no. our last hope said yes. so we got it done.
yesterday the coolest thing happened. my comp and i were walking down the street and a car pulled over and the driver offered us a ride. so we got in. he and his wive started talking to us and basically asked us to come visit them. so i asked if we could stop by their house and share a quit message. they said yes. so we went to their house and met there 3 kids. the guy told us that they were Cathilic but that he didnt like it and that he always liked the Mormon church better. he asked if non members could go to our church meetings. we told him yes! he also told us that they are a family of 5 and that they should be happyer, and that there was something missing in their lives. so needless to say we jumped on that opportunity. we will see how things turn out with them.
we have a few other way cool families we are working with that i have high hopes for.

well i love you all

love

Elder Jarom Brand