5 months to go... but who's counting

January 3, 2016

2016 is here!  So our transfer day was on december 30th, a day before new years.  I thought that it would kinda stink to be transferred right before new years, but so far it has been good.  My new area is Paddad in alicia zone.  I have heard good things about this area to so I was glad that it is my new area.  There are now 4 missionaries in my apartment.  Since last February it has just been me and my companion and that can get super boring.  In my last area I probably had 6 or 7 dinner appointments in 6 months.  I have only been here like 5 days and I have already had more than that.  The missionaries get fed a lot here.  They said they have a dinner appointment everyday either lunch or dinner and sometimes they have both.  I was really excited about that but I hope that I don't get fat in this area!  This is probably my favorite thing about my area though.  We have an a/c box in our room!!  It is so awesome.  I knew this apartment had one so when I found out I was going here I was so excited.  I am following up again.  So my companion just finished his training.  His name is Elder Sorronda.  He is from down by medinao.  It is the bottom island of the philippines.  I am not sure exactly where he is from though.  He is my 7th filipino comapanion and my 11th overall including the mtc!  So actually one of my house mates is one of my old companions, elder rotamula.  I followed him up in tuao.  So new years was pretty cool.  It would have been better if we can use fireworks.  One of the councilors in the mission presidency is in our ward boundaries so we went to his house for a little bit on new years eve.  We ate there and they actually had some turkey!  It was so good, since it has been like 2 and a half years since I had any.  I really savored that moment haha.  He had some pretty cool fireworks, but we were only able to stay there until 10:30 so we ended up at our apartment for the new years.  My ward here is pretty big.  We actually have benches in the chapel.  So this is my first area with benches.  The members here have been really nice.  We have had the elders quorum president work with us a couple times already, and he can talk.  He gets so off topic.  Like what he is saying is true, but it is off topic.  So far I am really enjoying this area.  I just hope I don't get fat here.  Happy new year!!  I love you guys.  Have a great week

Love Elder Lott

January 10, 2016

So this week something happened that I will never forget.  I will get to that in a little bit.  So far though this area has been so cool.   The members are so cool here.  Me and my companion have a lot of investigators that are progressing.  We have like 5 or 6 that could be baptized in the next month, but we just need to finish teaching with them and they need to continue to come to church.  We taught one of them yesterday after church about the plan of salvation.  He is such a good investigator.  He read the pamphlet so when we would ask him if he had a question about anything he said no but he would add on to what we taught.  He is so cool.  So this past week 3 of the 4 of us pitched into buying some ground beef and some ingredients to make burgers at the apartment.  They ended up being really good and it made me think I can't wait to get some good stuff like that in a couple months. Also a lady in our ward has an oven so she cooks baked food and stuff like cookies and brownies.  They are really good, but they have nothing on the brownies and cookies back home haha.  Okay so you guys all know that I am a picky eater.  Well this week I did some that will redeem myself, and that I will never do again haha.  Anyways all 4 of us had a lunch appointment at one of our investigators.  A little bit before we started her husband asked us if we wanted some dog.  We said that we were full.  So we start teaching and about 20-30 minutes later he comes back with a bowl full of dog!  It did not look appetizing at all.  first off it was mostly bone and there was still a lot of hair left on it.  There wasn't a whole lot of meat, but I manned up and tried some dog ughh.  It tastes as good as you would think, gross!!  The dogs here are just scavengers pretty much.  they go around and eat garbage and stuff.  So I guess I ate some pampers or something.  Now I can say that I have had dog and I won't be trying it again.  Yesterday we sang with the ym and yw in the ward.  It felt really weird standing up there at the front with them.  I would have just stayed in my seat but my companion was the one playing the piano and then the other 2 elders decided to go up with them.  We also went to the philippines area broadcast last night.  I am really enjoying my new area so far and the time is just going by so fast.  I love you guys and have a great week!

Love Elder Lott

Aso (dog) 

(This was my response to Alex eating dog.)

Come on Alex,  you will try dog but you won't try cheese!!!!
And Doritos.   They are delicious.   I'm going to hold you down and make you eat a bag of Doritos when you get home  Jk    Love u.   We r sooo proud of u.  And you are brave.  I don't know if I would try dog.

Love
Mom

(Alex's response)

Well, I have already had cheese before...Haha ok good luck with that mom haha.  Ya it wasn't good haha.  I am glad you replied. it was funny to see your response!:)  Love you to mom have a great week!

Love

Alex

January 17, 2016

The weeks are just flying by.  I am really enjoying my new area.  Me and my companion are teaching a lot of investigators.  We have a couple that are progressing really well.  We will actually have a baptism on january 30th.  That depends if she comes to church.  Her name is renalyn and she is like 11 or 12.  She is a little slow, but her parents are active so we asked our mission president what we should do and he said that it would be fine if she could get baptized.  We have a lot of baptismal dates in february, so it is going to be an  exciting month.  So my companion plays the piano and ever couple days he has lessons with members or investigators or whoever wants to do it.  So I have been playing out of that simplified hymns book.  I know you would be proud mom haha.  I actually can play them pretty good so I am pretty happy since I haven't played for like 4 years or something.  This area is just great.  The members are awesome and we have like lunch and dinner like everyday!  Since I have been here I have gained 5 pounds so every once in awhile I go jogging with my companion.  We went a couple of days ago and we ran down this road for 15 minutes to a sign then we turned around and walked for a couple minutes then jogged the rest of the way to the apartment.  I would always ask my companion how he was doing and he would say good.  Then I was talking to him at the apartment and he said that he was like pretty tired at the halfway point, but then he kept up pretty good with me on the way back home.  He is still pretty sore today though haha.  I am just working on getting down my area and stuff and getting to know the members.  I am not sure if my companion with be transferred this next transfer, which happens to be my birthday!  I am really enjoying it in my area and the time is going by so fast.  Before I know it, it will be time to go home!  Well I love you guys.  Have a great week!

Love Elder Lott

Dear Mom,

  It sure looks like you guys are having fun.  I guess you guys just waited for me to leave so you could go to a lot of rodeos and go skiing a lot haha.  That burger that dad is eating looks so good.  I bet it was pretty expensive though since it was at a ski lodge, but it still looks good.   Well I can't wait to go skiing this next season.  Wow everyone is looking so grown up and stuff.  Jaime looks like a different person. it is crazy.  She is super lucky that she got her braces super young and now they are off.  I have to admit she does look pretty.  So that car that jaime is standing in front of...that is the car that you guys are going to get me when I get home right haha.  Okay you had to remind me about britney haha.  I was out 5 months before her and she still goes home before me.  This past cycle the sisters that I came with went home.  So I was pretty trunky cause if I was a sister missionary I would already be home!!  Well I am super excited about those Lagoon season passes and stuff.  I am so glad that everyone is okay.  Dad told me that it happened by trappers loop and I know that road is really steep so I am glad that everyone is okay.  Well I love you mom and have a great week.  Enjoy cali!

Love

Elder Lott

(This is a sight I thought I would never see.  I guess two years of lessons did pay off after all.  I am soo proud of him and hope he will keep it up when he gets home.)

January 24, 2016

This week is going to pay off for all of the teaching me and my companion have done this past couple weeks.  Our district leader is going to interview our investigator tomorrow for baptism.  It is going to be really cool to have a baptism.  The last baptism that I had as a companionship was march 7th last year.  So it is going to be an exciting week.  Then we actually have another investigator whose baptismal date is on Feb. 6th.  So we will have a baptism two weeks in a row.  We taught him yesterday and he is such a good investigator.  He just knows that it is something he needs to do.  We had 4 investigators attend church yesterday which is really good.  We also have 9 progressing investigators which means that they are keeping the commitments that we give to them.  So we have a pretty big pool of investigators to teach.  We were teaching 1 lesson this week and during the lesson it started raining a little, it wasn't hard enough that we went inside though.  So we taught a lesson in the rain.  Also we were giving a blessing to one of our investigators and a chicken came in the house and then the kids were scaring it so the chicken was flying all over the room while we were giving a priesthood blessing haha.  I guess I have just gotten used to chickens in some houses and stuff but where else would that happen to you.   We had a service project this week.  I think on friday, but we were moving some rocks for a lady.  Then we had lunch and played a little catch before we went home.  And now I am literately a redneck haha!!  I love my apartment and the a/c it is just awesome!  But we are having some problems.  My companion has started snoring, like every night and every once in a while another elder talks in his sleep!  So for sure when we are shopping later today I am going to look for some ear plugs so I can get a good night sleep haha.  I am still really enjoying my area and the time is going by so fast.  It seems like transfer just happened but transfer week is only in 2 weeks!  Before I know it, it will be my last cycle.  Sometimes I get talking about what I plan to do when I get home and then one of the elders says shhhhhh cause he still has 20 months haha.  Well I love you guys have a great week

Love 

Elder Lott

That is the girl that is getting baptized this Saturday

An inspirational Story

                        A Summer With Great-Aunt Rose

My thoughts turned to what the Savior taught.  He was able to teach the most sublime truths using simple stories.  His parables invited His disciples to embrace truths not just with their minds but also with their hearts.  I invite you to listen with the Spirit.  The Holy Ghost will help you to find the message for you in this parable.
 
This story is about a girl named Eva.  She was 11 years old.  She did not want to go visit her Great-Aunt Rose while her mother was recovering from a lengthy surgery.  She didn’t want to leave her family and friends and she didn’t even know Great-Aunt Rose.
 
From the moment Eva stepped inside the house, she hated it.  Everything was old.  Great-Aunt Rose lived alone.  She had never married.  She had a gray crazy cat.  The house itself seemed lonely.  No one lived close by. 
 
At first she didn’t pay attention to Great- Aunt Rose.  She mostly spent her time thinking about her mom and praying she would get better soon.  Over time Eva felt God was watching over her.   Eva got word her mom would be ok.  Now all she had to do was endure till the end of summer. 
 
With her mind now at ease, Eva began to notice Great-Aunt Rose a little more.  She was a large woman.  Everything about her was large: her voice, her smile, her personality.  She had a hard time getting around but she always sang and laughed while she worked.  Every night Aunt Rose would pull out the scriptures and read out loud.  And every night they would kneel by Eva’s bed and Aunt Rose would offer the most beautiful prayers.  She would thank her Heavenly Father for the blue jays and the spruce trees, for the sunsets and the stars and the wonders of being alive.  It sounded to Eva as though Rose knew God as a friend.
 
Over time Eva discovered that Great-Aunt Rose was quite possibly the happiest person she had ever known!  But how could that be?  What did she have to be happy about?  She had never married.  She had no children and only that creepy cat to keep her company.  She wore embarrassing hats when they went to town.  But people didn’t laugh at her.  Instead they wanted to talk to her.  Rose had been a schoolteacher.  Past students would thank her for the good influence she had been on their lives.  They often laughed and cried together.
 
As summer progressed Eva and Aunt Rose spent more time together.  They went on long walks.  She learned so much about nature from Aunt Rose.  She learned about her ancestors.  She learned that not only was Great-Aunt Rose one of the happiest people she knew, most of all she learned that she was happier when she was around Great- Aunt Rose.
 
Summer was coming to an end and now Eva wasn’t looking forward to going home as she once was.  The day before she was to go home she asked, “Aunt Rose, why are you so happy?   Aunt Rose looked at her and then took her to a painting that hung in the front room of a girl in a pioneer dress skipping along a bright blue path.  The grass and trees were vibrant green.    “What do you see there?” she asked.  “It’s a painting of a girl who looks like she’s skipping,” replied Eva.  “Yes, it is a pioneer girl skipping along happily,” said Aunt Rose.  “I imagine there were many dark and dreary days for the pioneers.  Their lives were so hard- we can’t even imagine.  But in this painting, everything is bright and hopeful.  The girl has a spring in her step, and she is moving forward and upward.”  
 
Eva sat in silence thinking and Aunt Rose continued, “There is enough that doesn’t go right in life so anyone can work themselves into a puddle of pessimism and a mess of melancholy.  But I know people who, even when things don’t work out, focus on the wonders and miracles of life.  These folks are the happiest people I know.”
 
“But,” Eva said, “You can’t just flip a switch and go from sad to happy.”  “No, perhaps not, but God didn’t design us to be sad.  He created us to have joy.  So if we trust him, He will help us to notice the good, bright, hopeful things of life.  And sure enough, the world will become brighter.  No, it doesn’t happen instantly, but honestly, how many good things do?  Seems to me that the best things, like homemade bread take patience and work,“said Aunt Rose.
 
Eva thought about it for a moment and said, “Maybe it’s not so simple for people who don’t have everything perfect in their lives.”  “Dear Eva, do you really think that my life is perfect? “ replied Aunt Rose.  “There was a time when I was so discouraged I didn’t want to go on.”  
 
“You?” Eva asked.  Aunt Rose nodded.  “There were so many things I wished for in my life.  As she spoke a sadness entered her voice that Eva had never heard before.  “Most of them never happened.  It was one heartbreak after another.  One day I realized that it would never be the way I had hoped for.  That was a depressing day.  I was ready to give up and be miserable.”
 
“So what did you do?” asked Eva.  “Nothing for a time.  I was just angry.  It’s not fair was the song I sang over and over in my head.  But eventually I discovered something that turned my whole life around, “replied Aunt Rose.
 
“What was it?” asked Eva.  “Faith,” Aunt Rose smiled.  “I discovered faith.  And faith led to hope.  And faith and hope gave me confidence that one day everything would make sense, that because of the Savior, all the wrongs would be made right.  After that, I saw that the path before me wasn’t as dreary and dusty as I had thought.  I began to notice the bright blues, the fiery reds, and I decided I had a choice- I could hang my head and drag my feet on the dusty road of self-pity, or I could have a little faith, put on a bright dress, slip on my dancing shoes, and skip down the path of life, singing as I went.  I had talked myself into being miserable!  Yes, I had some dark days, but all my brooding and worrying wasn’t going to change that- it was only making things worse.  Faith in the Savior taught me that no matter what happened in the past, my story could have a happy ending.”
 
“How do you know that,” asked Eva.  Aunt Rose grabbed the Bible and opened it and read, “God… will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them… and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain...  eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”  “Isn’t that the most beautiful thing you’ve ever heard?  With such a glorious future, why get swallowed up in the past or present things that don’t go quite the way we planned?”
 
Eva was confused.  “Are you saying that being happy means just looking forward to happiness in the future?  Is all our happiness in eternity?  Can’t some of it happen now?”   “Of course it can!” Aunt Rose exclaimed.  “Dear child, now is part of eternity.  It doesn’t only begin after we die!  Faith and hope will open your eyes to the happiness that is placed before you.  I know a poem that says, Forever- is composed of Nows.  I didn’t want my forever to be composed of dark and fearful Nows.  And I didn’t want to live gritting my teeth, closing my eyes and resentfully enduring to the bitter end.  Faith gave me the hope I needed to live joyfully now!” 
 
“So what did you do,” Eva asked.  “I exercised faith in God’s promises by filling my life with meaningful things- went to school, got an education that led to a career.”   Eva thought for a moment, “but surely being busy isn’t what made you happy.  There are a lot of busy people who aren’t happy.”  Aunt Rose responded lovingly, “You are absolutely right.  And most of those busy, unhappy people have forgotten the one thing that matters most in the world- the thing Jesus said is the heart of His gospel.  Its love- the pure love of Christ.  You see, everything else in the gospel- the shoulds and musts and thou shalts- lead to love.  When we love God, we want to serve Him.  We want to be like Him.  When we love our neighbors, we stop thinking about our own problems and help others to solve theirs.”
 
“And that is what makes us happy?” Eva asked.  Great-Aunt Rose nodded and smiled, her eyes filling with tears.  “Yes, my dear.  That is what makes us happy.”
 
The next day Eva gave Aunt Rose a big hug and left for home never to forget all she had done for her.  She was never quite the same.  She grew up, raised a family and lived a wonderful long life.  She was always so thankful for her dear Great-Aunt Rose who taught her about faith, hope and love.
 
My beloved sister, I hope something has touched you about this story.  I know that God lives and that He loves each and every one of you.  As you walk along your own bright path, I pray that faith will fortify every footstep along your way; that hope will open your eyes to the glories Heavenly Father has in store for you; and that the love for God and all His children will fill your hearts.  As an Apostle of the Lord, I leave this as my testimony and blessing in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
                                                  
 President Uchtdorf
(General Women’s Conference Sept 2015)

This story touched my heart.  I know we will all have hardships in our lives.  Things won’t always go as we have planned.  But I pray that at this Christmas season and throughout our lives we can turn to our Savior and through following him we can have    Joy in the Journey.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

 

 

 

Lotts of Joy from Elder Lott

 

 

A month or so ago Mike received this text from one of Alex's mission companions, who is now home and engaged.  His message really touched our hearts.

 

 

Alex was my last companion.   He taught me a lot about the importance of the family unit and always added a great testimony at the end of lessons about Heavenly Father's plan.  Him and I saw a lot of miracles happen in that area, and for the short 6 weeks we were together we saw a significant change in that area.  He had really good relationships with the members which made member missionary work really fun.  I went home before any of the baptisms occurred but I'm glad he was there for them.  He also really improved in his language skills and grew spiritually.  I consider it an honor to have served with your son.

 

Elder Williams

 

 

 

 

 

 

12-14-15

Well this week was so busy but it was such a fun week.  On Wednesday we went on splits in my first area.  It was my second time going back there since I transferred.  I miss the members there.  they are so nice.  Most of the people that we went to I already knew, so it was pretty exciting.  It was nice to be able to talk to them and to actually understand most of what they were saying.  We went to dinner at one of the members.  She cooked some adobo and that is my favorite adobo that I have had on my whole mission.  After dinner our district leader was messing with one of those huge spiders.  He was just letting it crawl all over him.  He actually put it in his mouth and it was still alive.  I don't know, but he must have some problems or something.    I was looking at the pictures that they have of me from my first area and I look so different.  Man I look like a little kid.  On thursday we had our christmas devotional in ilagan.  We listened to our mission president and his wife.  We studied a lot about the birth of christ.  It was pretty cool.  They told us a lot of cool facts about the birth of christ.  We had a good lunch with some mashed potatoes and stuff, but they are no where near as good as yours.  We got assigned to do a christmas skit with our zone and I hate acting.  They gave us some random props and we only had 30 minutes to plan and we had to sing a christmas song during our skit.  Lets just say that it won't win any awards or anything.  By the time that we got back to tugue it was like 7 so we didn't have any way to get home so we slept at our zone leaders.  They had a dinner appointment so at least we got a free dinner out of it.  On sunday we had a christmas devotional.  So we went to tugue to watch it.  I enjoyed it.  It made me think of going to temple square and seeing the lights.  That will be fun to do next year.  I am super excited to skype next week it is going to be so fun!  I love you guys so much!  Have a great week

Love Elder Lott

 members from my first area

 

Gross!!!!

 

 

12-20-15

 

Well the weather sure has been crazy here this week.  It has been raining for pretty much the whole week.   On the way to tugue this morning we were in a tricycle and got pretty wet.  Hope I dry off before our christmas party later.  The temperature has also dropped this week with all of this rain.  It has been pretty nice, but it has been getting chilly at night.  This past week we got some texts from a lady that is in our area.  I have never been to that part of our area, but she said that she has some sisters that we should teach so we will hopefully go this week.  If we can find it.  We have been teaching our other investigators, brother niko and I can't remember the other ladies name.  They didn't make it to church this week, but we had an investigator come.  It has been like 3 months since I have seen him and he was really progressing when he was coming to church, but then he just stopped coming for awhile.  I don't know where he lives either cause we always taught him at the church, but it is a good thing that he attended church.  Me and my companion got assigned to talk in church AGAIN next week.  I am not looking forward to that, but I am guessing that I will be transferred on the 30th since I have been here for 6 months or so.  I am pretty excited to get transferred and go to another area.  And who knows maybe my next area will be my last area!!  I am super excited to be able to skype in a few days!  I can't believe it is my last christmas in the field.  It is crazy how fast the time flies.  Then I will only have 1 more skype!  I am not getting my hopes up, but I hope some of the members feed us this week with it being christmas and all.  Hopefully me and my companion will be able to skype at a members house.  I don't have any pics this week, but we will see each other in a couple of days!  I am so excited and I love you guys so much!  Let us have a Merry Christmas, but not forget the true meaning of christmas!  Love you guys

Love Elder Lott 

 

 

 

 

 

12-27-15

 

Wow I cannot believe that december is already over.  This past week was fun.  The highlight was obviously skyping  you guys.  If only we could have skyped for longer haha.  This week we had a couple dinner appointments and a lunch appointment.  I guess the members will only feed us if there is a holiday or something cause I have had like 5 dinner appointments in 6 months.  The food was alright, but they had this graham cake.  It is like sweet and condensed milk, graham crackers, and like fruit cocktail.  They layer it kind of like a lasagna, but it is good.  Last monday we had our missionary christmas party.  So we had a individual person in our zone to buy a present for and we did a white elephant.  We also had games and some food.  It was pretty fun.  It was fun to see some of the white elephant gifts.  After that the 4 sisters in our zone and me and my companion and our zone leaders went caroling.  It was really weird caroling without snow haha.  We were singing at one house and this guy threw a rock at some tin that we were next to.  I guess he didn't want to listen to us haha.   Then tuesday was our last district meeting before transfer.  So during my mission I have spent 1 year of it in the tugue north zone!!  This morning for p day we played a lot of games and stuff while we were waiting for the transfer list.  I am transferred...finally!  Like every companionship in our zone has someone transferring except for two companionship's.  Now I am super excited to go home and pack either later today or tomorrow ughhhh!  Who knows my next area could be my last area so who knows I might not have to pack again until I am ready to go home.  That would be nice, since I have a lot of stuff.  Yesterday in church me and my companion were speakers AGAIN!  I was pretty busy this week so I studied my topic on sunday morning.  My topic was the promised land, but my talk went well.  Thank goodness, hopefully I won't have to speak for awhile now.  I have known this for probably 3 months but I thought it was a joke.  My parents told me that I have to take 40 minutes for my homecoming!!  I told them that I would just go less active for a bit haha jk!  I don't even know how I am going to speak for 40 minutes!  Good thing it is 6 months away, guess I better get thinking.  Now that I will be going to a new area though that time will go by so fast.  I was asked where I wanted to eat after I get home.  Well I would like a full rack of ribs from texas roadhouse!  My family is so nice that they told me that they were going the next day!  Thanks for making me jealous guys...and hungry!  I hope you guys have a great week.  Happy New Year!!  Love you guys

Love Elder Lott

Ps- Happy B-day dad!!  You are getting old haha jk.  Hope you get my card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Merry Christmas
Dec 25, 2015 

 

 

 

 

The highlight of our Christmas day was being able to Skype with Alex.  It was the following morning for him due to our distance apart.  He looked and sounded great.  It was fun to hear him speak in Tagalog.  We love him so much and are so proud of him.  We can't wait to see him on June 22 when he comes home.  But until then he is where he needs to be, in the Lord's hands.

 

 

 

Pictures from the mission blog.  We were thrilled to see so many with Alex in them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before and After pic

The picture on the right was taken his first week in the Philippines.  Boy has he changed.   Alex told us he has lost 40 lbs.  I asked him how his clothes still fit so nicely.  He said he has had them tailored.  That makes sense.  I don't doubt he'll put some of the weight back on once he gets home because I know he loves to eat.  But he looks great and we are so proud of the man he has become.

 

 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Lotts in 2015 

So once again the year has come and gone. Honestly if I blink I'm sure I will be 80.   And believe it or not I'm looking closer to 80 with each gray hair that continues to pop out. Hopefully Mike will eventually catch up with me or we will look like a pretty interesting couple in a few years.  Oh well, such is life.   With that being said 2015 was a great year for the Lotts.  We enjoyed a few family trips, camping, hiking, swimming and just making memories together- even working together.  Someday hopefully my children will appreciate all the work we've done together.   I keep trying to remind them that they enjoy the grass as much as I do so they get the chance to mow it like I do.  That is the older ones complaining.  Ethan actually offered me 50 cents to let him mow this year. I did take him up on it, but I didn't take the money.   I should have though. It could have gone towards all the socks that end up with holes.   The kids also weren't thrilled when we bought another push lawnmower instead of a riding lawnmower. Hey I've got children with a lot of energy. I'm going to take advantage of it while I can.

 

 Ethan was so anxious to start first grade. Honestly he was a little more anxious than me. He gave me a little pep talk on the first day of school before I sent him off to the bus in tears (my tears), and not tears of joy.   But all is great and I have adjusted well to all of my free time that still doesn't exist while he is gone.  Ethan enjoyed playing soccer this fall. One day he scored three goals and said it was the happiest day of his life.  I thought that was cute.  For his 7^th birthday he received a pretend plastic shaving kit.  To be honest I'm sure he has shaved these last few months more than Mike has in his whole life. JK.  One day he went in three times to shave. It was pretty funny.  Then he would have me check for whiskers he might have missed.  He’s so funny.   Ethan surprised us a month ago by needing his appendix removed.   Thank goodness for answered prayers and kind doctors and nurses.   All went well.  He spent the night in the hospital and was so brave. He actually has too many good of memories of the hospital and if you ask him he would love to go back.  Apparently he didn’t get enough of all the attention.  He especially enjoyed playing video games in his hospital bed as I hand fed him food.   I've tried to explain to him that it is much cheaper to play video games in your bed.   He got a little tiny guitar for his birthday.  It's been cute to watch him strum on it as he sings songs.   And I have had to tell him way too many times that if he doesn't want the dog to step on his head then he needs to not lie on the ground.  But of course he hasn't figured that out yet.   As you can tell there is still never a dull moment with Ethan around.

 

   Adam is in the fourth grade.  It has been a wonderful year as he has had no homework. I think all teachers should do the same.   Adam has enjoyed swimming and especially was thrilled that I let him play flag football this year. To be honest he was amazing and it was very entertaining to watch as he ran all over the field dodging the other players.   Sadly he did get depantsed once but thank goodness he had on clean underwear.  After that he wore different shorts and held onto them as he ran.   Adam felt left out with all the attention Ethan was getting after having surgery.  He decided to cut his finger the night before Thanksgiving.  It bled a lot and we were grateful he didn’t need stitches.  He was lucky.  It hurt him a lot.  He promised to never use a knife again, until he needed to use one the next day and he cut himself again.  Crazy boy.  Adam loves being a cub scout.  He’s well on his way to earning his Bear award.  He loves being outdoors, mowing, and is great at taking care of our animals.  He’s a pro at being a pooper scooper and can hire out if anyone is interested.  He is also trying to raise money for his “sock fund” to pay for all his socks with holes.

 

   Well it finally happened, Jaime is now officially taller than me. And she loves to stare me down and point this out.   I kindly remind her to back up and that I can ground her at any moment. But really if you round my height up and round her height down we are still the same height.   Right??  She doesn't agree.  But it makes perfect sense to me.  Jaime has been enjoying the ninth grade is getting wonderful grades. Yeah!!!!  She also excels at piano. She recently played a piece in her recital practically by memory and it was six minutes long.  We are so proud of her.  It still is so crazy that instead of having to ask her to practice, sometimes we have to ask her to quit practicing so the kids can go to bed. But really we are so proud of the beautiful young lady she has become.  She is also super boy crazy. We are still so relieved that she is in the phase where she momentarily stops breathing when she walks by the boys she likes.  I dread the day when she gets the confidence to actually talk to them.  I guess it is good she has lots of brothers to watch out for her.

 

I would be lying if I said this wasn't a hard year. This year would be Ryan's senior year. I am sure he would be dating and having a lot of fun.  I'm sure he would be grounded at times as well but hopefully he would still be pleasant and happy.   Without a doubt I'm sure he would be shaving much more than his dad has to. And I imagine he would be over 6 feet tall and still a big cuddly teddy bear.   But I'm sure I could still take him down.   OK, I probably couldn't but I would at least try hard.    And in the end he might let me just to make me feel good.     Ryan would be driving by now, but only if he had his Eagle, and hopefully he would be getting good grades.   I can't believe he has been gone for 3 1/2 years. I know our family has been comforted and blessed in so many ways, even though it has been so hard.   It does also make me sad knowing he would be preparing to serve a mission shortly.  But I know his mission started 3 1/2 years ago and he is doing what he needs to be doing and serving up in heaven above.   By doing Family history here on earth I know that I am working with him as he teaches those up in heaven whose names I find.   And that makes me smile.   We love and miss you so much Ryan. We are so thankful that families can be together and we wait patiently for our joyous reunion someday.

 

It's hard to believe that Alex will be home in six months.  We are so proud of all that he is doing.   He is living in such humble circumstances.  It touched my heart to hear that for Thanksgiving he had a can of chili that I had sent him and he said it tasted good and he was full. He also said he recently, for the first time, heated up a bucket of water to have a warm shower.   I am so blessed by his example.  He is doing things I can't even imagine.   I am glad he isn't experiencing everything over there. He recently sent us a picture of one of his missionary companions who is a native and was letting this giant spider crawl all over him. Then he actually let the spider crawl in his mouth.  It was pretty gross.  Alex has been enjoying riding on top of jeeps and doing many more things that I'm sure are illegal here in the states.   He says the language is finally starting to click and it is neat for him when he runs into people he's taught in the past and he can actually converse with them without problems now.   We look forward to hearing about all the miracles that have happened. We recently corresponded with a companion he once had. He said nice things about Alex and said it was an honor for him to serve with him.   We love you so much Alex.  Thank you for giving up two years of your life so others can find theirs.
                    

 It has been a busy year for me. I am still the Relief Society president and have been so blessed by all those I've gotten to love and serve. I admit it will be hard to let go next year when I am released. But for now I enjoy doing my “priestly” duties.  (If you have ever watched Nacho Libre you will recognize that phrase.)  Everyone got a kick out of me wearing a nun costume to our Halloween trunk-or- treat. I joked that I would wear to church the next day but for obvious reasons didn't.   I am still taking horseback riding lessons. I have a wonderful patient teacher.   It still blows my mind every time I watch a movie with horses running fast and the people looking so at ease.   It isn’t easy.  Hopefully someday I will get to that point.   Mike jokes that he hopes to see me do barrel racing at the rodeo sometime. Ha ha keep dreaming.

 

 Mike is still on the high Council. It is still fun to go listen to him speak. Sadly he hasn't had the opportunity to speak as much this year.   I know he is so disappointed.   He continues to enjoy having his new/old truck especially so he can do all of the honey-do projects for me; fix goat pens and haul wood chips.   He was also a good sport and took us on a few work related trips and we played while he worked.  Thanks babe.   Mike and I celebrated our 20th anniversary this year. We enjoyed a belated trip to Washington DC.  After this trip he only has one more state to visit and I have nine. Hopefully he won't have any business trips to Alabama anytime soon and I can catch up.  In his spare time Mike loves to do yard work, dishes, laundry and especially clean bathrooms. (Haha - added by Mike)

 

  I love this time of the year.  I am so thankful for the birth of my Savior.  Because of him I can be forgiven of my sins, comforted when I am sad and I can be with my family forever.   That is the greatest gift of all.   I pray that at this time of the year and always we can remember our Savior and live our lives as he did-by loving and serving others, being kind and patient and spending time with those that we love most.

 

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,   The Lotts