Easter Hunt Prep

Tonight Iveth and her kids came over and we got eggs ready for the neighborhood easter egg hunt this Friday. As we made the eggs, the kids ate waaay to much of the junk.

I kinda hate all these sugar infested holidays but kinda feel stuck. I'm already such a party pooper. But all the unhealthy sugar is one reason we don't do the Hibbert Easter Egg hunt anymore... last one was in 2016. My mom said she'd always feel kinda guilty preparing so much junk. Peter, we will try to keep you as healthy as possible for as long as we can.

Hes a cutie. Here he was sleeping in the bed this morning.

What else... I next Invisalign trays are in, which is good, cause these ones are gross even with the denture cleaner twice a week. Another two month's and I'll have had these braces for a year. I don't think about them anymore, but I am excited to be done. I think I just have a few more months

Our Elder Wride is doing good. We didn't hear from him today - wasn't sure why, but then we were reminded that it is Easter week, which is a big deal in these Catholic Latin American countries, so it's probably a national day off or something? I wish that was a bigger part here in the US - less junk food, more Savior of the World. I have done better at remembering him this week than I've done in years past, but still have lots of room for improvement. Here is Corey's letter to Joseph, I thought it was really good, and also offered a good peek into our life from Corey's perspective. This blog is really only stuff from my perspective, I wish we could capture more of life, but I'm doing the best I can. Corey and the older kids kinda have to fend for themselves when it comes to their personal histories. Corey's email and our WhatsApp conversations are probably the best resources for that, but I'm not sure how they are going to be preserved. So this is a good chance to capture a snippet of it here. My apologies to anyone mentioned my name in this that didn't want to be. I always love Corey's letters and to read his thoughts, probably because that was the only communication I had with him for years during our missions, and cause we're both so busy with life, it feels hard to touch base with him sometimes, so I'm always glad to read what's going on with his life:
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I've been listening this morning to Elder Bruce C. Hafen talk about his writing a biography of the beloved Apostle Neil A. Maxwell. One part that I thought was good, and something I would pass on is as follows:

After two years with the army infantry, which included fighting in 1945 on Okinawa, Elder Maxwell served a mission to Canada. Helping maintain his sense of realism, the Maxwell children occasionally remind their father that on his mission he baptized two people and excommunicated four in one branch—for a net loss of two.

I thought it was a great quote; often when we're in the weeds we wonder whether or not we're making a difference. But over time, and with some distance, we appreciate it's the Lord's work and he's doing just fine. Another anecdote that was funny was how church translators would rank each conference speaker based on the degree of difficulty in translating their talks, the highest being the most difficult. But there was a separate category for Elder Maxwell - not because he used big words - but because his text was so packed with meaning and the listener had to bring something with them to understand. An example given was when Elder Maxwell talked about some people take risks with their testimony by doing "spiritual bungee jumping" - how do you translate that into Chinese?

When I hear or read Elder Maxell I think it is very plain and poignant and perhaps that is how it was with Isaiah...which is hard for us to understand. Elder Maxwell said that 'too long in the Church the husbands have been the theologians, and the wives the Christians".

A few random happenings:

• Colton Hansen sent out a text this morning telling the Young Men's that he got his mission call to Brasilia, Brazil. He'll report to the MTC in Brazil at the end of August. That will be really great.
• I think your friend Junior will come spend a few days with us near the end of the month - I need to reach out to him and see if his plans have changed at all.
• I'm thinking of taking some kids back east to see some church history sights, maybe in August. Originally I was thinking of taking everyone, but seems like a ton of work for less reward so thinking a few of the older kids maybe will fly in.
• Your mom has done a fantastic job of keeping the house clean. Having password-lock'ed doors on the pantry, my office, and bedroom doors seem to help a bit. We've always got a few areas that are kid-proof and so pretty clean.
• Sorry we weren't as good when you were here, but we've been doing regular Family Home Evening and Saturday activities - just for fun. Seems like we do so much family scripture study (come follow me) that we needed a bit more fun to live up to the Family Proclamation to the World. Last Saturday we took our Mexican friends to see the BYU Ballroom Dance concert. It was pretty incredible and I'm grateful for the spirit of church members that people want to emulate. Your mom sent me a message about a study done in 1975 - showing that few people join the church for the doctrine. Instead, most join because of the top three reasons - which to me mean that you want to include members as much as possible.
  
1. The feeling of closeness to God that they wanted to experience because they could see this closeness in the lives of Mormons they knew.
2. Happiness and a sense of peace, which they wanted and which they saw in the lives of Mormons they knew.
3. They wanted a better sense of purposefulness and direction in their lives. They tended to see this in Mormons they knew.
   
• Monday I took kids to see the Lego Movie 2, which Hyrum said has ruined Lego Batman for him.
• Lilian entered an essay competition (one short paragraph) about coding, algorithms, and variables. I helped her and she was a finalist in the essay competition and was invited to attend an awards ceremony. If you can send her a note of congratulations, I'm sure she's love it.
• Sophia is doing great at the violin. Every so often Sophia tries to be rebellious or disobedient, but the defiance doesn't last more than a moment. We say "Sophia, don't talk like that" and she bows her head while quietly saying "ok". It's super cute. She's such an obedient and submissive kid; she is so smart and has a bright future.
• Lilian is doing pretty well at practicing. With the soprano saxophone tuned up and a new (plastic) reed, she isn't really reluctant to practice and has learned four scales already: C, G, D, A. Then we try and learn something by ear and last night started learning "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and the first bit of "Lily Was Here".
• Abigail is taking flute lessons. Abi reminds me a lot of you. She's very responsible, a hard-worker and (except for maybe nagging a little) is all positive and nothing but a joy to have around. She's a super help with the younger kids and is like the oldest of the youngest. She recently started flute lessons to go with piano.
• Wes is doing a good job practicing - I'm excited when all the scales (currently working on the Bebop) will pay off with some improvising.
• Natalie has a major sweet-tooth. She was nagging and nagging for ice-cream and so I started putting scoops of the ice-cream I had bought (and was saving) into the sink. That shut her up quick and she was a bit shocked. The other night she had a plate full of cheese for dinner (until we discovered it). She's a sweet and wonderful girl and we're so fortunate to have her in the family.
• Across the street from the Smart's house (where you used to do yard work) was a field where we did the neighborhood band party. Now there is a house with a new, young family with two kids. Natalie has a new best friend.
• Did I tell you that Ivan Gygi is headed to University of North Texas for graduate studies on guitar? He worked his butt off at Utah State and got into every graduate school he applied to. I had him talk with Ella Larson who is probably going to Utah State to study bass.
• Our approach to Ethan has been to back off, help very little, and nag very little, and he's (it seems) learning to do more on his own than he really wants to do. it's a good thing and hopefully he's seeing how much work there is. It took him until nearly 1:00 the other night to finish his taxes with grandpa's help and he complained about never wanting to be an adult. I think he's hoping his tax refund will arrive before he needs it for the next school dance with Ella and some new contacts. We're making Melodie and Ethan pay for their own gas and (maybe) reimburse them afterwards...something I like very much. :)
• Hyrum has been doing some volunteering for YMAD, a non-profit where Utah youth help do charity work in India. I hope it leads to something more for him.

My hope with the letters is that you read enough to not be curious or homesick about what is going on here, and that your'e satisfied and ready to hit the pavement again. We love you Joseph and are very proud of what you are doing! Keep the faith.