2021- Week 29(Jul 19-Jul 25)

 Ethan went to High Adventure this week. They went to Pineview Reservoir and stayed at the vacation home of The Jones family- Their son Christian is Ethan's age. They swam, went boating, played pickleball, sat in the hot tub and went on a hike. He had a blast. This is really the only fun he has had this summer with his legs. Here is a picture of him and our neighbor Cade Poulter before they left.

We talked to Ashtyn on Monday. She is excited for Portugal. She will leave to go there on August 5th. She hates that everyone keeps asking her about it, but she is taking it all in stride. 

I found out this week that Brock's sister Malai just died from Covid in less than a week. She was 50 years old and leaves behind 12 kids. She was not vaccinated. Our numbers here are going up. 

It worries me.

I ordered two new rugs for the kitchen. They sent me the wrong one for one of them and I have been trying to get it exchanged ever since. They are the Kamran Hazel rugs from Ruggable. They are the best! You can throw them in the washer to wash and they are really good quality and hold up so well. The only downside is they are a bit on the expensive side but I expect to have them for a really 

long time.

This is the wrong rug

I finally got my new glasses. They are a little big for my face- but I like them like that.

For Pioneer Day- Ethan had a sleepover with Porter and Fischer. Then that night we made burgers and drank Brigham's Brew. On Sunday we went to visit the grave of Peter Anthon Nielsen. He is Jeff's 3rd great step grandfather. When I was looking for an ancestor this year I wanted to find one that would be close. Peter's name came up and I really didn't look too closely at his information until we got to the cemetery. When we read his life sketch we realized that we are not related to him by blood. His son, who is also named Peter- married a widow with four living children and she is Jeff's 2nd great grandmother. Peter William the son raised the children as his own. I like to hope that Peter Anthon was also accepting of these children and took on the roll of grandfather as well. Peter was from Denmark- Odense, which is the city that Paige's daughter Jillise has spent a few transfers in. Next time we will go to Lehi to see the graves of Orlando and Annie Pearson who are our actual relatives.

Peter's house in SLC

The missionaries can finally eat in our homes so we had them to dinner. They are the best. We love them so much. We hosted Elder Schoenecke from Michigan, Elder Devore from Texas and Elder Reading from Connecticut. Elder Devore loves pumpkin so I made pumpkin bars and he ate five of them ha ha. Elder Schoenecke wants to be a green beret. We had a really great discussion about the second coming and Elder Schoenecke is so passionate about it being a joy full thing to look forward to. He told us we don't have anything to fear because God is on our side. I like that a lot and it helps my fears a little ha ha. They also all gave Ethan advice to be prepared for his mission. Elder Devore said read the Book of Mormon yourself- not just with your family or in seminary but really read it and find out why you like it. Don’t just coast through it and go through the motions but really read it to know it. Elder Reading said study and read every book you can about gospel subjects and even other religions so that you can know what you are talking about and so you can answer peoples questions because you’ll know the gospel. Elder Schoenecke said know what you are signing up for to go on a mission and why you are going. It’s not something to just get through to get on with real life but it’s really important and needs to be your full focus to be an effective missionary. Of course this is me paraphrasing what they said but I was pretty impressed. Elder Devore also gave Ethan a missionary reference book that he said helped him so much when he first came out. Elder Schoenecke and I share a birthday.

Here is Ashtyn's letter for the week:

Olá!! Como vocês estão? This week has been really good! Lots of fun meetings and miracles! Let's get right into it!

•we had zone conference this week and it was amazing! It's so good to be in person and we got to eat lunch together! A lot of the conference was focused on baptism and inviting others to be baptized. The restoration is an amazing message and it needs to be shared! I also thought about the idea of when we are teaching people we aren't trying to convert them to a church, we are converting them to Jesus Christ and that is an amazing process to see.

• our friend Orion, who is on date to be baptized, dropped off the face of the planet this week until last night when he picked up our call! We were able to get his address and are going over to his house on Wednesday to talk to him more about baptism!

• we had an amazing lesson this week with our friend Makalay who was referred to us from our zone leaders. We talked about Joseph Smith and his role in the restoration and asked her if she came to know of the truthfulness of these things, if she would be baptized and she said yes! 

• we met with a new friend named Katie! Sister dodge and I had a lesson with her awhile back but have had a hard time staying in contact with her, but we were able to set up a video call this week! Katie is incredible and so open to learning more! We also asked her if she came to know the truthfulness of these things if she would be baptized. She said it will probably take awhile but yes! 

• our friend Ethan is doing amazing as well! The man reads a chapter or more of the Book of Mormon everyday and he told us he can feel his faith growing! It has been so cool to see how all of the people we are teaching have been prepared for our message.

• I go to Portugal next week and am feeling all the emotions. Washington DC has become home. But I know Heavenly Father needs me in Portugal. Sister Svenson told me this quote that I feel like describes the situation perfectly: "a comfort zone is a nice place, but nothing grows there." So here's to lots of growing and learning! 

Anyway I hope everyone has an incredible week! Here's a little quote from Elder Holland  to end. He is talking about doubting our faith and beliefs:

"If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now...face your doubts master your fears."

-Sister Shaw

Pictures:

1-2. Book of Mormon I painted for a friend!

3. Pretty MD

4. Hermana Webber!

2021- Week 28(Jul 12- Jul 18)

I tried a new hairstyle at work- I bobby pinned my hair back in five sections and then braided the rest and pinned the braid on the back of my head.

I went to lunch with two of my oldest friends Krystal Martin and Jenny Christensen. I have known them since first grade. We went to the Belgian Waffle House. I use to go there all the time in high school. I love it. The atmosphere and the music are so my taste. Billy Joel's "Don't Ask Me Why" was playing while we ate. It was so good to catch up. Krystal has a missionary too that comes home later this year. We are glad to have Jenny back in Utah. She's been living in Jackson Wyoming. We all have three kids. Jenny and I have two girls and a boy and Krystal has two boys and a girl. 

Ben and Emily are in town so we did family pictures with my side. We went to Murray Park. The weather looked like it might rain and it was a bit windy but it held out and hopefully we got some good shots. We had Wendy Atkin my friend Alissa's sister do them because she is really amazing with big groups. She is going to photo shop Ashtyn in. On the way home we stopped to see Ryan's darling new house. It is so cute and I love her style- I'd call it Boho eclectic. She has the most beautiful rugs. Nic runs a recording studio out of his basement. He let us take a turn playing his drums and then he played for us. He is super talented and has toured with a few bands. I love them.

Ben was holding Bronson after the picture and I said do you want to see the way to Bronson's heart? I pulled out my phone and started playing the firetruck video he loves. Bronson said "Oh firetruck" and then started wailing like one. It was so darn cute. Then out of the blue an actual firetruck drove past and Bronson was so excited. Greg is trying to convince Ben to move to Utah. I wish he would. 

We just love having him here. 

Liz, Melinda and I got together for lunch at Melinda's house. The kids and I were messing around with the cartoon app. Don't they make the cutest cartoons?? 

Friday night we went to the Tanner's for a going away party for Mason. He is moving down to SUU in a few weeks. We made homemade pizzas and Ethan and Gunner swam. We will miss Mason. He is a great person. So fun to be with these guys.

Whitney always begs me to go on walks with her, which I love, but lately it's been 90 degrees every night and that is no fun to walk in. I relented though and we saw a beautiful sunset on the way home. It wasn't too hot and Daisy got to get out.

Me and the kids went to visit Julia on Sunday. She and I were cracking jokes the whole time and the kids just rolled their eyes at us. At one point she said "Ethan do you want to see my twins?" I said "What twins?" and she flexed her chest- to which I said "Oh heck no Ethan you don't want to see her twins" and again she said "Ethan come see my twins." I seriously thought she was being a dirty old lady but then she just held out her arm and on her arm are two matching bumps. She said "See my twins." I laughed and she said "What did you think I was going to show him??" 

Ashtyn's letter:

Olá!! Como vocês estão? This week has been quite the whirlwind and its safe to say I've experienced almost every emotion. We've had some tough days but we've had some really good days! This week I got to go to new missionary training with Sister Svenson and our mission President talked about how when people often talk about their missions they share the highlight real. The miracles, the happy days, their funny stories, their amazing companions, etc. But you hardly ever hear about the times when no one answered the phone after calling 20 people, or you were yelled at by some guy who's door you knocked on, etc. Missions are hard and I'm not even going to sugar coat it. This has been one of the toughest things I have ever done in my life, but it has been rewarding and joyous. And all those days when no one answers the phone or you feel homesick or sad, makes the good days that much better. 

So yes there were some hard days this week but there were also some really really good days! Unfortunately this week we had to stop teaching quite a few people. Our friend Max, who I've mentioned multiple times before, dropped us. He told us the more he reads the Book of Mormon the more he feels like it's not true. He just can't get over the historical "inaccuracies" of the book and it is so hard and frustrating to see. We did leave on a good note though and I am praying that one day things will click and he will be able to experience all the blessings Heavenly Father has for him. But the day after that lesson we had a huge miracle! We had this friend named Orion who is golden but we can just never keep consistent contact with him. Well on Friday night he called us out of the blue (we hadn't heard from him for weeks) and told us that he had been praying and felt like he needed to call. We had an amazing discussion with him about his desire to enter the temple and follow God. We told him that the way he can enter the temple is through baptism and invited him right then and there to be baptized on August 14th!!! He said yes and he wants to meet with us 4 times a week😮 it was amazing to see how God placed him in our path at the exact moment he needed it and we needed it! 

We also had a really awesome lesson with a new friend, Makalay, who was referred to us from our zone leaders! She is amazing and I am so excited to see her progress as she learns more about the gospel! Also some really exciting and crazy news, I found out this week that I am going to Portugal on August 5th! I have felt every emotion since and am so excited for this new journey. Missions are amazing and hard but really really good!! 

Anyway I think that's all I just want to leave everyone with this message my friends mom sent me:

"Have you ever thought about Red Sea moments? I think of when Moses and the Israelites were fleeing their enemy and were running to the Red Sea not knowing how they were going to cross and escape. They had to really rely on their faith. They had to get their feet wet before God parted that sea for them. The level of trust they must have had. Red Sea moments- where you have to jump without knowing what’s next.        We might not think we can get through something, but we put our faith in Him because He can get us through because He can do it and He’ll take us through. 

Be realistic- expect miracles 😄❤️"

Everyone have an amazing week! The church is true!

-Sister Shaw

2021- Week 27(Jul 5- Jul 11)

 On Monday morning we got up at 4:30 AM to go down to Provo to the Balloon Fest. Ethan was less than thrilled but it was so worth it. We got there in time to see them blow up the balloons. It was incredible and so beautiful. Unfortunately the weather wasn't optimal for any of them to fly but it was really cool to walk around and see them. We went to breakfast at Chick-Fil-A afterwards.

Ethan got an infection in his jaw from his wisdom teeth. His jaw started swelling up and he was having pain so we took him back in. They had to reopen his wound and irrigate it. He has to go back to eating soft foods. He tried making macaroni and cheese but forgot to put the water in and it started burning and smoked up the kitchen. He was doing better by the end of the week.

Whitney turned 19 this week. She had to work so we didn't celebrate until she got home. Whitney is amazing. She is only 19 but has already graduated from college, opened a mutual fund, taken out her first loan from the bank and bought her first car- a lot of which she saved up for first, she works an adult job and pays for her own car insurance- still on our policy because that was cheaper. She is so responsible. We never have to worry about her. She is also so much fun to hang out with. She is beautiful inside and out and the kindest person you will ever meet. We adore her! 

It was also Cheri's birthday the same day. This may be her very last birthday. Her family brought her to the baseball field and had a little open house for her. It was her wish to see the outside again. She seemed pretty overwhelmed but oh so happy. I love her so much. 

Jeff, Whitney and I went hiking again on Saturday. We went back to Ferguson Canyon so we could make it all the way to the overlook this time. It gets really steep the second half of the hike and we were huffing and puffing by the time we got to the switch back part. It was 1.9 miles to the overlook and took us 78 minutes to get there. Coming back down was pretty hard and we had to go slow so we didn't slip and slide. We need to get Whitney actual hiking shoes and that would have helped. It was an amazing view at the top. This is a great hike because it is shaded most of the way so we stayed nice and cool. I am loving these Saturday mornings!

Saturday night I went to visit Julia and play games. She is so funny. She was pretending the little stuffed dog I got her was a real dog. She was petting it and talking to it and kissing it. I also made her into a cartoon. I showed her my new glasses and she said they were ugly- HA HA. The ones I showed her are just the frames in purple and I agree they are ugly. The ones I am getting will be a different color. I love her honesty. We have the best time together. 

We played Yahtzee and she is a whiz bang at math. She beat me.  

Kristy invited us to dinner on Sunday. Miles had been smoking a brisket for two days. It was delicious. I made chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches for dessert. I tried a new recipe and it made the perfect cookie to use for this. 

The blooms on my hibiscus plant are blooming. It is so stunning! They don't last long in this heat but they are gorgeous. I love this plant.

I have been going to my mom's to help her with her incision from her recent pre-cancerous skin surgery on her back.

I'm starting to sit alone at church because Jeff rarely gets to come to our ward with his calling, Ethan is usually helping with the sacrament and Whitney goes to the singles ward. This week I asked another lone sister if I could sit with her so I didn't take up a whole bench. I think I will do that from now on.

Ashtyn's letter for the week:

Olá todo mundo! I hope everyone has had an amazing week! I didn't get out email out last week so I'm going to combine some things in this one! 

-First off we had transfers this week! I sent my fourth companion, sister Parsons, home and got a trainee! Her name is Sister Svenson and I love her! Being a trainer is so fun but pretty dang stressful at times. I forgot how much you really don't know when you first come out on a mission! But she is amazing and is picking up on things so well! 

-Our teaching pool has slowed down a bit and we are having a hard time finding new people, since my other companion became a social media specialist and has lots of meetings! But the people that we are teaching are doing well! Alan is still the sweetest and loves learning and coming to church. We actually were able to get in contact with his brother Mike who is YSA and they are coming to an activity on Wednesday! Max is also doing well but still is focusing on the lots of little "inaccuracies" in the Book Of Mormon. This week he was concerned that the Book Of Mormon talks about elephants since historically speaking elephants wouldn't have been in the Americas till much later. I love what our member present, David, said about this: "The Book Of Mormon is not a testimony of elephants. It is a testimony of Jesus Christ." I loved that! Sometimes we get so caught up in the little things and we lose sight of what the Book Of Mormon is here to do, testify of Christ! 

Our friend Ethan is doing good as well! We taught him about the Plan Of Salvation and at the end I felt so strongly that we should put him on date for baptism. After we invited him and waited in silence for what felt like an eternity, he said he feels like he doesn't know enough to be baptized. We told him that we understand and that he doesn't need to have a perfect knowledge to be baptized. We invited him to pray about it and he said he will, so keep him in your prayers!

-I also found out some exciting news this week! One of the travel agents from Salt Lake sent me an email saying that they received my Visa and I just need to wait for travel plans! I could leave to Portugal very soon with is terrifying and exciting at the same time! 

Anyway I think that's all for this week! Always remember who loves you!

Tchau tchau

-Sister shaw 

Pictures

1. Alan at church!

2. Pretty Maryland

3. Comps!

4. District activity

5. New comp!

6-8. Love these sisters!

9. Sister parsons drew me a comic strip for language study