Old photos and itchy elbows

Oh hi Benjamin!

Sure been thinking of you a lot lately. Today for example I was attending a Zoom meeting for mission correlation. Brother Carver, our ward mission leader asked what kind of service you do in your mission, it occurred to me that I hadn’t asked you that. I, somewhat smugly, replied that you’ve been doing mostly teaching. I know that’s what we ask you about, but I’m not sure how true that is. I also thought of you during that meeting because a certain one of your more “righteous” peers was in attendance as a young ward missionary. When asked what kind of service the ward could provide a member family, he suggested that a certain musically inclined family who lives outside of the ward boundaries was in special need of attention because they were so, you know, special. 

I’ll bet now I’ve gone and made you homesick.

Things are getting pretty busy at work. I’m managing although I did have the urge to fire two of my staff this week. I do have projects going on using Chris Bigelow and Doug Dearden though, so it’s not all bad. My boss seems to have confidence in me, and to like me.

I had an opportunity to do some service this week. Our next door neighbor, Rodney Dye is doing some remodeling in his house and he asked me to cut some plywood for a big closet cabinet he’s building. We cut a lot of plywood on Wednesday night. I get great enjoyment from using my tools, and he’s an easy guy to talk to, so it was a nice evening all around. 

Friday grandma bought a little bookshelf so we went over so I could assemble it. It’s not really ultraistic service tough, since she always feeds us. That night it was a bucket of kfc. Super yum.

Grandma had found several packets of photos from our wedding. Old film snapshots taken on cheap cameras and processed at the drugstore don’t make for high fidelity Images, but boy are the memories bright. I spend most of the day scanning them with my phone and processing them. I have sure enjoyed it. Two things really struck me through that whole process. Seeing the photos of my mom, dad, and several family members that have passed on and reliving those experiences made me think how grateful I was for the atonement and how much I, almost shockingly, believe in it. I seriously can’t wait to be at another reception some day where I get to see all of them again. The second thing that struck me was just how stunningly gorgeous your mother is. Holy smokes is all I can say Ben.

Yesterday I just took a chore day since I hate going anywhere on a holiday. I took those gross old blue water barrels, that old blue couch that Jordan broke that one time, and a bunch of other junk to the dump. I actually had to go twice because the first time I found out that you had to cut the tops off of those barrels or else they explode when the big excavators roll over them. I actually would have loved to have seen that. Afterwards I changed the oil and filters on mom’s car. It was a little trickier than on the other cars, but worth the effort.

I had a dream about you last night. I dreamt that you had returned home and one of your comps was hanging out with you. You were both still in your white shirts and name tags. I was about to bug you about getting your drivers license when you asked me to take you to the bountiful sky park airport so you could start earning your pilots license. I wasn’t sure if you really wanted to be a pilot or if you just wanted me off your back. In all reality, Jacob wants to take his driving test this week. He’s doing pretty well behind the wheel. He’s excited to drive on his own and I’m...not. Let’s just say that once he has his license, my weekly fasts will most likely return. Joey been driving a lot too, I’m just glad for that year respite before he’s 16.

Well, that’s about it from me Benjamin. You’re cousin Annie comes home this week.

Sure love you kid,

Pops.

P.s. super itchy elbows