“Oregon tanked it”

 Oh hi my fine young elder,

How the crap are you? As always, I’ve been thinking of you a lot. As always, you are missed, especially at the game. As always, I worry that I send you too much football stuff. But the reality is, there’s nobody in the world that that I would rather share it with than you. I’m just going to say, that was the most epic game I have ever been to. To me, if second only to the Alabama game. We just finished watching it again on tv, my gosh. It was funny, when we went for burgers before the game Artie and Spencer kept saying how nervous they were. I told them bluntly that not only was Utah going to win, but that they were going to dominate. My prediction from last week stands, and was validated by that article from the oregoneon that I sent you, osu will beat Oregon next week, and we will avenge our loss to them in the championship game.

We were planning on taking a trip to the championship game in Vegas on the third. To the point that I had tickets in the shopping cart. But Ben has a big lab that day, and I really didn’t want to go without him and your mom. Plus, Las Vegas is a horrible place and I didn’t want to stay over. So we’ve decided to just have a big part at our house and hope we have a Rose Bowl to go to. Even mom’s onboard with that. 

Friday the Utes play Colorado, NO TRAP GAME! It will be a fun game.

This weekend got pretty busy. Saturday morning aunt patti asked me to take her to park city because she had bought a desk of KSL. Your mom came with us for the ride. Aunt patti was in the happiest mood that I’ve seen her in in years. On the drive up, she was telling us how much she loves your letters, and how much compassion you show in them. She said that she loves sharing this time of our family lives with us. She misses the time her kids were on missions. She’s so grateful for the incredible changes they went through. And told us how difficult their missions were. 

When we got there, the people were moving out of the house. Uncle Patrick demanded a bunch of furniture and stuff from the settlement, mostly to be an ass and to spite aunt patti. She felt bad that she had to give this stuff to him. One of the things was an end table. Not a big deal but it was something she had for years. So because they were moving, those people had some really nice end tables and this really cool ottoman. The gave those things to aunt patti for free. As I was loading the stuff in my little trailer it came to me that Heavenly Father really does notice even our smallest losses, and he does restore them. I thought of all you have sacrificed for your mission Jacob, all you are missing. I know that you will be strengthened, you will be given so much, and you will be restored. 

On the way home, aunt patti was so happy, so excited, so optimistic. Honestly Jacob, I can’t remember the last time I had seen her that way. Even before the really hard times with uncle Patrick started, she was always a little guarded. I think he always treated her in a way that made her doubt herself, made her feel less. She’s been restored Jacob, and it makes me so happy. It strengthens my understanding of God’s love for us, his attention to us, and his willingness to strengthen us. Artie has gone through a similar transformation. He’s so good, working so hard to be faithful. He takes such good care of his mom. We’re getting close again, it’s so great, it makes me happy.

We got home and I changed. Mom went shopping with grandma and I went back to bountiful with your brothers to pick everyone up. I was a bit put out because I had to bring Spencer and max and his cousin, which was dumb because it made it all that much more fun. We did our classic crown burger stop, then headed up to the classic parking spot in the old neighborhood as Artie and I call it. We got there in plenty of time and, as they say, the rest is history. When we got home mom was waiting for us and we excitedly told her all about it. She had had a get together with her friends and had a bunch of goodies waiting for. I had been preparing my lesson all week, but I had to put it in its final form. I decided to get up early and do it. But all night I dreamt that I was getting up to do it so it made for a restless night.

Church went well, mom gave a talk in the ninth ward but I didn’t go as I had to give my lesson. We were back in the chapel for the lesson so I didn’t have my crutch of my slides to hide behind. I wasn’t sure how the lesson was going to go as it was one of those that has the class read fifty verses. But our ward is amazing and came through with really good responses. And I was super glad that I didn’t have to give the part about our role in government, time ran out. Brother Miller, the Sunday school president, dropped off a very kind note thanking me for being a great teacher. I’m very proud and grateful for that.

For dinner tonight Ben made a practice smoked turkey, it was perfect. We had grandma and grandpa over and it was fun. Grandpa had this weird theory that Oregon tanked the game on purpose because they were already in a playoff game…uhhmmm…okay. It almost sounded like something mark would have said as BYU was barely beating a 3 and 7 Georgia southern middle school team. But I digress.

This will be a short but busy week, it’s my favorite week of the year. I’m unclear if there will be a turkey bowl this year as Ben is in charge. And it’s difficult to get the word out on something when you refuse to direct even the smallest bit of attention your way. Ahhh Ben.

I love you kid. Have a great day tomorrow. We look forward to your letter. Understand that we are anxious to hear about your doings, but don’t feel compelled to go longer than you feel like. We love you my boy, we are always thinking of you, missing you, and praying for you.

Pops