In His Own Handwriting

Thought I'd post Jacob's most recent letter so you can see his excellent penmanship. Getting his letters or email is the BRIGHT spot in my day. The letter is hard to read as it appears below BUT if you move your cursor directly on each page and click it will open them in a separate window and enlarge the print etc.

Thanks so much to those of you who have written him!

Pole Dancing in Scotland

This is the trip that I paid $6,200 for...

Defying Scottish Gravity

So here's a picture of Gabe in Scotland. Wow - talent!

No Disappointments

Well it was great. The season premier of Grey's Anatomy was as good as last season's finale. I downloaded it from itunes yesterday and spent the morning glued to my ipod. Well worth the time.

Everyone needs a good cry (and a few laughs) every once in awhile.

Life goes on (without George)...

News From My Boy!!!

Short but sweet from the BEST missionary in the world!

"heya mama!1) i dont need another suit atm2) i got the second one3) sam has my safebox4) sure, id love a copy of my pat bless5) and of coursethanks for all the great ways you guys are helping me! and tell aunty thanks for the box please =Dwe are running realllly late atm so i dont have time to make a lengthy and heartful response right now =[ill be sure to mail you tomorrow tho! even on Pday we are booked solid!love you guys, jake (ill get back to gabe soon, probably in a letter tho)"

Its Going to be a GREAT Week

Ten top reasons it will be a GREAT week:

10. I am setting up for tradeshow today and stay overnight at HOTEL!
9. Gene's going to stay there tonight too!
8. Just subscribed to givesmehope.com automatic update emails!
7. Internet won't be working at hotel today so 1 whole day no email!
6. Today's my beautiful sister Kathy's 21st birthday! (okay so I'm lying a little. Its just that people always say we could pass for twins so I think of her and I as being the same age)
5. Going to get a pedicure!
4. Free seated chair massage everyday at the tradeshow!
3. Got an invite to a party at the church on Saturday!
2. Tomorrow's Tuesday - email from Jacob day!

And the #1 reason this is going to be a GREAT week ...
-
Grey's Anatomy New Season Begins Thursday!!!!
(and we don't even have t.v. - thank goodness for itunes!)



(alas - no George - cry, sob, weep)

Gives Me Hope

Go to http://www.givesmehope.com/?page=1

It'll change your perspective.

Oh - take kleenex with you.

Birthday Celebration

Tonight I am going out to dinner with some gals to celebrate a very special friend's birthday. I have known her for about 16 years. She has lived near - she has lived far - but no matter where she has lived she has been there for me. 13 years ago when I was going through a serious health crisis she flew in to run my business while I recuperated.

Last weekend - when she learned of our most recent tale of woe she rushed over.

And I love her for that.

And I love her more for one more thing she did when she came over.

She remembered Michael.

Its been 10 years, but still she remembered his name.

God bless you Kuuipo.

Bright Spot

Got an email from Jacob today - which made my week!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Excerpts below. Anyone wanting to drop him a line may do so:

Elder Jacob Wright
Idaho Boise Mission Office
111 South Cole Rd.
Boise, ID 83709

Thanks!

From Elder Wright

Heya mama, i just got the letter about the girls today. It made me sad. but then i stopped letting it bother me . so either i am really an emotionless android or god is helping me cope with it. for my sanity, i am inclined to go with the latter.

i am in an area called "Jerome" atm. we also cover hazelton and shoshone. its a bunch of farmers. literrallllyyy 99% of the people here have at least 1 dog. most average 2 dogs, some, cats and a horse. we were giving a lessson to a less active and his dog got into a fight with the other one across the street, so we helped him get his dog in the house 0_0

there is just so much ffaaaarrrrrrmmmmmm everywhere!! i cant wait to get transferred into the city, or at least the forestyy area of the mission. BUT the people here are all really wonderfully pleasent and nice!=]

gracias amigo for el pancakes!

we went to the temple today also. it was sweet.

i am eating mostly ceareal (shocker) eggos, and bananas. also PBJ sandwhiches and saimin for lunch. we ge4t fed every night from the memebers (WE COVER 9 WARDS) and almost always have4 leftovers.

MISSIONARIES LOVE: mail, Walmart, and p-day.

=P

so hows home going for you guys now? hopefully its not too quiet in the house with the girls gone =[

we were close too baptizing this one investigator, but he is getting deported to Mexico because he entered the country illegallly.

we have several baptisms lined up tho.

i will checkmy email every tuesday, so thats when i can respond to them.

people are crazy(er than me)

after gen conference we gotta wear suits every day, bummer.

how is Bull "Gene" Muscles doing? i often finding myself asking "How would dad handle this situation?" i then do the opposite. lol, j(us)k(iddin). dad is an inspiration for me. i love you too mom. your awesome!!

well, i g2g. ill write home...i think if i can today. gots lots to do! getting lost in the work is easy. c ya!

love, jake

p.s. "I used to rule the world, and see it rise when i gave the word, now in the morning i sleep alone, sweep the streets i used to own" -coldplay, Viva la Vida

Questions

Life really boils down to just 2 questions:

1. Should I get a dog?





OR


2. Should I have children?




Made you smile, didn't I?

Thanks to all who have sent their warmth and love.
You made me smile again.

Resolve

Regular readers of this blog will notice I put the old family photo back up as the header and will, thus, understand my cryptic post of yesterday.

We are well...and cradled in the arms of His love.

More later.

From Jacob - But What Does It Mean?

Heya mom, wussup?

So i am in the mission field now. im really tired because we had to get up at four o clock yesterday and i havent had the oppourtunity to make up that sleep yet. -___-

so we taught our first family right after i got to my new place to stay (we are 4 elders liveing with the eggberts, really nice semi-elderly people themselves.) upon arriving at the house (of the family we were going to teach), i was promptly attacked by a middleaged man with a samurai sword O_O luckily in high school i was renown for my skills with the bo staff, and was able to defend myself. to bad i left my numchucks in my locker. anyways they were really nice people.

we went to another family and taught them, then on to a mexican family that could speak english, but decided to only talk in spanish =/. i sat and prayed for the gift of tongues for 35 mins while my companion taught them in spanish. i recognized the words "uno, si, and tacobell'

oh yes, and my firsty compy out of the MTC. He is from Brazil and speaks portuguese, learned spanish in the MTC, and is now learning english. and his first name is "Washington" -_O

i dont really get idaho humor yet, but i pretend to and laugh when everyone else does.

there was a cinnabon at the airport =D

My first area is a driving one, so that is pretty sweet for the most part. biking would be fun in the summer tho.

btw, can you find the notes for "Viktor's piano solo" from corpse bride and email it as an attachment please?

i went to walmart today and i bought enough food to last me till next transfer in 6 weeks. this time next week will be one month for me i just realized.

im not sure if you sent me any new info on that because we havent been able to check mail since last friday night in the MTC.

there are a lot of crazy people out there, and you must be as mad as a hatter to survive it. which luckily, i am >;)

so much to say and so little time! i'll send you my mailing address later (unless you already have it)

well, i love all of you guys. tell them i say "hi'

love, jake

p.s. i have realised that world domination is far too much responsibility for me.

Pivotal Day

I don't want to say much but today is really a pivotal day for our family. Today we will get some news - although I don't want to reveal subject matter yet. Suffice to say its a trauma drama day.

We have been praying about this day/event for the last little while. It's one of those "Thy will be done" kind of things.

It helps tremendously to know that we are never alone, that everything happens for a reason, that God has a plan for us.

Now if that's not enough mystery...don't worry - everyone is healthy.

But I do want to mention that I went to a movie the other night with my friend Cynthia. the film was Departures. It is a Japanese film that won an Oscar for best foreign film. It is a must see. It makes you think about how you treat the ones you love. It is a film filled with such respect, dignity, beauty and love. I highly recommend it!

What He Said

So before Jacob left we met his girlfriend's parents. Her Dad relayed the following story:

Him: I asked Jacob to describe his parents.

Me: What did he say?

Him: He said my mother is an extremely beautiful woman.

Okay!

So now you know my son is gifted!

Excerpts from Email from Elder Wright (MY SON!)

Heya mama, i forgot my old email so i made a new one. how are things at home?

Everything is pretty fun here at the moment. pretty hard too tho. Lots of work to be done in the world i guess.

We had a lot of really good speakers and teachers, which really helped make things run smoother and made everything easier to learn.

We went to the temple again this morning which was nice. now we got back and i am doing laundry while typing this to you. thanks again for the package, it was awesome. mail is a highlight of the day for everyone here.

if you responded to my last email, can you copy it to this one or remind me what it is? as i said, i forgot the login name.

You guys should invite the soliais/laumatias and sams family for dinner sometime so everyone can talk about how wonderful i am. i have fun doing that, so of course everyone else will!

i got sick for a day, then got better really fast. so i am good to go again. then my compy got sick, so its like i had 2 sick days in a week =P

sometimes we can be a bit rambunktious (i know that i butchered that word) altho we were told to put "childish things behind us."

We went to the wrong meeting last night by mistake. the one we went to ended up being one for good hygeine to elders going to third world countrys. so we were getting lectured on water and stuff liek that LOL.

how is susan doing nowadays? tell her i say, "hi."

and how is aunty leo? i wrote her a letter.

hopefully everything is floating on okay back at home then.

so much to do, so little time here. we really are on the lords time, so every moment is scheduled here. time goes by both fast and slow here, if that makes any sense. we go to boise next week.

i wrote to michael ann also. she will join the church eventually.

i had a dream i was a jedi the other night and remembered it, and lots of people i knew were in it by the way. may the force be with you.

im not to stressed over the spelling/grammar errors here, so just ignore them ;]

hopefully gabe hasnt killed anyone yet, but now at least we have some "crowd control" for those chickens lol

well, love you guys. c ya laters!

love, Jake (aka elder wright)

p.s. we all float on alright.

p.p.s. there is an elder from canada whos sings opra in the shower, occasionly "les mis'erables"

Serious Illness - Know the Cure?

Well, we've got it - WANDERLUST.

Our travels (Gene's and mine) have taken us to Canada, England (4 times?), Scotland (3), Wales, Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Italy (2 times), Switzerland, France (2 times), Belgium, Netherlands, Germany (maybe 5 times - lost count), Luxembourg, Ireland (2times) and to almost every sector of the U.S. But still we've got the illness.

In 2010 our travel group (FOG) is planning to go to Oberammergau in Germany. That'll be in Sept 2010. But that won't cure the illness - that's too far away!

What to do? What's the cure?

Only one thing - to quote Willie Nelson "...on the road again!"

To get us on the road to recovery we MUST plan 2 short getaways (this does NOT count my business trips - cause Gene will have to stay home and watch the keiki while I'm on those!). We are saving our pennies - cause you all know we travel on the cheap, cheap, cheap.

To avoid complete debilitation we MUST go this fall/early winter. The cure will only last about 4 months so we MUST have our second dose around late winter/early spring 2010 (like maybe February).

But where should we go? Your thoughts, dear reader? (Do NOT suggest Utah)

Not more than 4 days on the ground plus 2 traveling should make us GOOD AS NEW. (We have babysitter complexities as you all know!)

So far the contenders are:

1) Church History areas (Palmyra (NY), Kirtland (OH), Nauvoo (IL) etc.)
2) France (only 1 day in Paris though - the rest in the country)
3) Krakow (Gene's been wanting to go there forever)
4) Croatia (you can rent a lighthouse to stay in just off Croatia!)
5) England (my relatives in the Lake District make the whole country so special!)
6) Ireland! (ah! heavenly!)

Anyone want to GET HEALTHY with us?