Joshua Tree

Thursday night we took Jackson on his first camping trip, to Joshua Tree National Park. We arrived at our camp site about 10:30 pm, but that didn't deter Steven from having 3 cheesy brats and the rest of us from having S'mores. Yum.

Here we are trying to stay in the shade.

Jackson was a little tired due to his late night.

Here are Lindsay and Danny Poelman, our adventurous ward-dental friends. (Lindsay is an accountant, and Danny is a faithful basketballer w Steven).

Joshua Tree has world famous rock climbing, so I wanted to check it out. We did a short, easily accessable route. Definetly nothing world-class but it felt good to be climbing, never mind the 99 degrees (per the park ranger).

Here is Steven finger-jamming.

Overall, the camping was successful, it was a great way to celebrate the holiday. Thanks "Dansay" for coming with us!! You are great examples and lots of laughs.

On the way home we passed a big windmill farm, it was pretty spectacular.

The Best Fat Lip Ever

Another basketball injury:

This is Steven the next morning:

Action Jackson

Here are a few pictures of Jackson's latest adventures:

Mom is trying to take a nap, but Jackson wants to play!

TP down the hall!

Jackson wants to help in the kitchen!

Book of Mormon

Steve and I have been trying to get more involved with missionary work while we are here in LA. We've be going to "lessons" with the full time missionaries and getting to know the investigators. I've also been trying to be more outgoing and initiate more conversations about the gospel.

Last week a man came over to inspect our air conditioning system. Before he came I challenged myself to have a missionary experience with him. So I welcomed him in and asked if he minded if I played the piano while he worked. He said he didn't mind, in fact he wished that someone played at all the homes he visited. We talked a little bit about his involvement with music. I started practicing the Hymns that I was supposed to play on Sunday for Sacrament Meeting. To my surprise, he started singing along to "Count Your Many Blessings". I stopped playing and asked how he knew the song, to which he replied he used to sing it at church growing up. I asked which church he attended, and he told me the name, but said that he hasn't gone in a long time. He said "Maybe you can tell me what church you go to". So I wrote down the address of the church on a pass-along card and gave it to him with our phone number. He finished his work, and before he left, I thought I'd give him a Book of Mormon I had. So I pulled it out of my bag and said, "Here, this is what sets us apart from other churches" and as I handed it to him, he looked surprised and said "I can take this?" And I said "Of course. Read it. It will change your life". I remember those words because they just came out and he looked kind of emotional and said "Thanks, I really need that". And then he left.

So, I'm a missionary in training.

Here we are with the Elder Byron and Elder Parker.

(Elder Parker is from Rire, ID)