It's Monday...you know what that means????

k - we were able to chat for a bit over several e-mails...so I'll post his one big one then summarize the others.....remember, he answers questions from other e-mails so his replies are all mixed up...I'll try to make sense of them if I can....SO random!

Here we go.....

We said:

Dad is asking: have you learned to fold those oragami shirts? He thinks you should have each companion that you have on your mission sign or write something on the
back of each one...and of course he bawls through it.....

then he replied:

haha. i will do that. with every companion we get matching ties at tjmacs and you sign them. those are what we call missionary thank you cards. you write the note on the back and leave it under you napkin at dinner appts. we have on eevery night so i make alot of them... ya i think that pamaroys jaket will be great so long as it has a hood. it has started to cool off finaly!!

In his main e-mail he writes:

yes!!! have you done the FHE yet. and i am dead serious about the reading!! and you and dad need to be going to the temple at least quarterly!! its just stupid to think its not nessisary. it absolutly is. i will keep sending home leason plans you just have to do it!! tis so important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....um....i can look at it but cannot coment on it. i could but that would be disobidiant! funny to hear that from me i know, right! haha well i have changed! obidiance is the 1st law of heaven. i dont know how i could have wanted my life any other way! the sporot is so sweet. i have had so many worries this week about a job and house and all that stuff. but through prayer and study i revived personal rev. that i just need to worry about an eternal family and the lord will provide the rest. thats why we missionaries get married so soon! it the next step to exaltation.
Me and my Iss'enatha(russian for companion) (i think i spelt it right) have been getting along great. living with a companion has propared me to become a good husband and father. we have alot of gospel discores sessions. lots of deep stuff. like this: When egypians are buried, the ones who were considerd worthy of reciving heaven and had been through special cerimonies were burried dressed in white robes with whte sashes and a golden apron. WEIRD Right. well we looked in the scriptures and there is evidence in the old tes. about the gospel existing all civilizations to some degree.MIND BOGGLEINGGG!!!
Anyways, its really hard to get a pix of myself. but as thou wilt, the same shall be done. haha. umm..... Shantel got smacked hardcore with "anti" crap. so dissapointing. i will try more in november. gift cards:SONIC, BURGER KING<> hey you should tell kylee that i am sending her a letter. and hat i think she should serve a mission!! she would love it!! especially tell her that rms have a 40% higher acceptance chance at BYU's.. Just Sayn! well, love you guys. hope to here from you soon.

In a seperate e-mail I asked him when he thought he would be ready for his jacket....

ya Fred Myer is the place out here. (The same as Fry's here) but i get plenty of money for groceries. i will need the jacket witin the month. umm. if they send it to the office i get charged for it to be sent to me. unless it comes by usps. (Regular snail mail ya'll) that goes for all packages. we dont go to tjmaccs really. just for ties. but ya that would be cool. (I asked him if he wanted TJMaxx cards since they seem to buying lost of ties)

Aunt Onnie (JR's sister) sent him an e-mail

Are you eating well? I have gained 12 pounds
How often do you eat at member's homes? evry night
Have you told them how cool your Aunt Onnie is? evry day
Have you been to the temple in Oregon yet? yes but not inside yet
I saw your apartment video--do you have to sleep on the floor??? no i have a matress and box spring
What do you do on P-day? so far: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Ultimate frisbe, sleep,email, vollyball- all sports done with my district
Are you being sure to brush your teeth morning and night? 3 times a day
How many wards do you cover? just Salem 1st
Do you like the high councilman over missionary work in your stake? the Ward mission Leader? Love him!!!
What do you NEED us to send you? I will let you know if there is anything. but food is always good.

Then he had to get back to work! **sniffle sniffle**

Enjoy your update...thanks for your support!

Love to all!

Goofy joke

k - Skylar and his goofy jokes....kinda like his..."Stop being a centipede" joke....


hey tell kylee this joke MOM: aks me if im a tree! (excitedly) Kylee: Are you a tree? Mom: no. (Like you cant belive she just asked you that)(then go back to whatever you were doing) hahah

...more e-mails......

and this one.....


haha ok love you. i will keep writing. but i want updates on scripture reading and FHE i sent you a lesson plan so its super simple! tell dad hes got to be prepared to come out here! haha. and have people email me questioniers and i will answer them.

here's another one......

he also sent this one....


I sent kasey a letter. and i did not get the Cards. i Will check the boxes again before i toss them. umm. i know i said letters but email is really best. i cannot believe how busy i am getting. i really need an extra 2 hours in a day. that's all i ask. then i think i can make everything work. if my send a letter i guess just send me an email telling me that you did. and again. I'm sorry i doubted you. but got the packages and they are awesome!!!! i have joshes address, i just needed the email.but i have it now. well love you guys!!!

Monday is e-mail day!

k - so I was keeping things short so I just send him questions and he answers them...problem is...he doesn't reference the question he just runs all the answers together. So, to help you guys understand this e-mail...I asked him about the boy that was baptized, the little house and the garden. He's also near a Burger King and a Sonic and a Taco Bell....so if you feel like it....gift cards!



hey, ya. i got the boxes, and im sorry i dubted you. haha. are the debit cards in the boxes? Titus is 12. i am watering the comunity garden. and the little house is just a really small house i saw while i was tracting. its for sale at like 80,000. thats crazy right. and no sales tax. the talk was good. it was 15 minuets.
Also, you dont have to make emails to short. an hour is more time than you think. oregon is great. we have a batism and merige right around the corner. i will send you pics when i can. make sure to pace yourself on packages. i keep hearing that they stop after a couple months because parents get burrned out. haha. but they are awsome. i am about ready to kill my companion. he has gotten in the habit of correcting me in front of investigators. but he goes home in about a month so i am going to let it slide. over all though things are good. i wrote pretty much everything down in the letter so ya. hope things are going good. keep me posted on the move. i want pictures. haha. hope everyones doing good. cant belive how fast time is going. ive been out for month and half. YIKES!! and people have started talking to me about school...and working.....getting a house....and marigge.....UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Skylar's apartment

Pics!!!!

Oh cool! Got a letter today...actaully all of like 3 lines because our letters and his e-mail have crossed in the mail so he thinks we bailed on him this week! When he gets the letter and 2 packages we sent I expect a HUGE SINCERE apology from that boy!!!

In the meantime enjoy some pics he sent.

When I find out who some of these people are and who's little house that is I'll pass on the info.
I wonder if that's his apartment???








His first baptism, Titus DeWitt Jr.




Portland Temple

He seems to be having fun. Thanks for supportin' my boy! Love to all!

Monday e-mail!

k so the plan is this: I'm going to scan his letters and post them...that way you can see what happens in between e-mails. As I go back and read them it's hard to tell what he's responding to huh? Sorry guys, work in progress. In this e-mail the beginning part is in response to JR wanting to do the Jr. Missionary thing with him his last week in Oregon. If you ever have any questions as to what he's talking about just drop me a line...k? k - so- here's his latest!



cool. its not to late. i am pretty sure that it will be approved. also, i can email everyone in the family. and i will count josh and barb and Cathy as part of the family. tell Shannon that that her rreferral was out of my mission but i got it to a trusted companionship. i need joshes email asap. now if possible! ya its been so Freakin (missionary slant word) hot here this past week! like 95 with 60 humidity. on bike and in pants. i need to go get slacks or my pants will be so faded. i have had a really hard week. just was not motivated at all. but i got my stuff together and am back on track. had some really cool experiences. my bike broke down so i had to take it in. we had to walk all the way back to the apt. so while walking i was so thirsty and it was so hot and a really far walk. we got to a crosswalk and i thought we should go right. so we did, and just after a member stopped by and she gave us water and let us use her phone to get a ride. i realized then how often the spirit speaks. now i rarely miss a prompting. i have got really in tune. no wallmart in this area. no target. but there is a store we use called Fred Myer. its like Safeway. pretty cool. i had to use 100 bucks for bike stuff. umm... i think that does it for the things i need. i have like 25 packs of gum. ha ha and we can only chew it at the apt. Gram sent me the pancake stuff. ha ha it was legit... and like 3 bottles of shampoo. thanks. i am set till December.i will keep mailing home stuff that will be good to keep. i also need you to send me back that certificate i mailed. i did not know that i needed that on me. also, anyone sending stuff has to send it thorough the post office. otherwise i cant get it until zone conferences. the office wont mail them from fed ex and that kind of thing.
i need emails for Cathy and Barbe and josh. they are my aunts basically. ha ha. today is a little cooler. the work is going good. i have been able to use my past like 4 times to help investigators. i am currently helping 2 quit smoking and have made a deal with 2 others that if they will take a lesson and/or come to church i will give them guitar lessons. good trade. haha. oh. i am not allowed to have my guitar, but i am allowed to play the uke!!! Christmas idea. haha. there is so many good wills and yard sales!!! I'm loving it! i love pretty much everything out here. especially the people. everyone knows who we are and even if they don't care they all respect what we do. some think we are terrible people though. its funny.
tell kylee that when she falls asleep i am going to punch her square in the face! hahah. i hope your move goes good. have the missionaries help. trust me they want the service time and food. missionaries will do anything with Joy. especially for food. i never thought about it before i came out but i have been called essentially to be Christ.i live by the phrase WWJD. everything is for him. its by far the best decision anyone could ever make. you really learn whats important. i hope you all are reading daily. and praying together, having family home evening. it sounds hard and mundane and stupid but the blessing are so amazing. its impossible to comprehend unless you do it! things happen and you are stunned that the lord blessed you that obviously. its like having the cheats to a game. things just work out perfect. things that are hard come with ease. things that you want you get. when you have a problem the spirit solves it. i will even write out an outline to use! i promise that you will have the lords choicest blessings! speaking of which, i was able to give a blessing to a investigator who is quiting smoking. no idea what i said. that kind of thing happens all the time. we answer questions before people ask them. we address things that people say that they have never shared with anyone! its amazing!!! the church is so true!! Joseph Smith did translate the Book of Mormon threw the mercy and grace of god. in his own words he said:"...I saw a pillar of light exactly above my head, above the brightness of the sun, witch descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me i saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. one of them spake unto me calling me by name,pointing to the other and said, this is my beloved sun, hear him". i know that we live in the dispensation of the fullness of time. in the bible dictionary i learned that the lord has so many blessings that he is anxious to grant us, but he cant give them to us until we ask. the lord loves to hear and answer our prayers. when the resurrected Christ visited the Nephite people they prayed. and after they finished he wept and said"Behold, my joy is full." I love you all so much and i know that through this gospel we can be an eternal family. and i say that in the name of Jesus Christ. amen
Sorry.. I'm a missionary., cant help it. have to bear my testimony every chance i get. i don't have a choice anymore. it just comes out. i learned why sometimes Rms don't cry as much when they share there testimony. we learn not to wait for it to hurt so bad. if you don't share it right of the spirit keeps pushing. so we just let it out stait off. hahaha. let me know if you have any questions about the mission. happy to answer them.plenty off food send candy. haha.
God Speed
Elder White

The latest from Skylar

i saw that you put some money in. Thanks! none of the coats fit me and i also need to go buy some pants unless you want to send me mine. wichever works best. my good pday pants are now work pants. ive been doing service out the yin yang. but everything is going great! the you should look at the area on google maps its cool. salem is super scetchy!! but no one is agressive so we have been fine. the ward here is all old people but they feed us like no other. please have dad send me his soft bike seat. i know he dosent use it and it would save my butt! haha Literaly! umm. i am giving a talk on sunday...make sure grama pat gets the thing i sent you... the next sd card will have a video of my apt. o ya this next part is for dad. In our mission they have somthing really cool set up for missionaries with fathers thatdid not serve. its 2 years away but they will let dad come up and be my companion for the last week of my mission! and then the whole family can be at the last trensfer meeting to take us home. i hope that that it might be something that he would want to do!!well, we got one baptism. i got to stand in for his confirmation. lots of door knocking, lots of study. no time to write letters. im sorry, i know i told you letters were better. but email is most convinient. i can alwasy get to it in an emergancey. we only have an hour on monday and i can email anyone in the family. so kylee can have a seperate email if she wants. gramma pa.. the whole gang. tell bo to stop being tool and write me!! at least say whats up. tell molly to tell josh to do the same. even though i dident write him much either. sorry bro. haha

anyways... we cant chat or email back to the ones you send until the next week. its a rule. and when you are fully relying on the lord you cant afford to be disobidiant. if dad wants to come up and be my junior companion please let me know next week. he is going to be realesed soon, but anything that he approves the next president is soposed to honer. idk if the next president will want to do it so its important to get it approved asap.

And then he sent another one.....

sorry clicked send at the wrong time.haha the area is cool but the ward has 400 members 200 are less actice and 50 are unexplicibly not attending. lots of work with the ward mission leader and ward council. also. when you do dinner group you should give some of the leftovers that you never eat to the missionaries. you dont have to like have them over for dinner just tell them they can pick it up. it make a huge difference to them. just a thought.
um. everthing is going real good. i think that dad would realy like to do that thing. i heard from everyone who has seen it done that they say it was the coolest expiriance of there mission. plus, i think it would be sweet! me and my old man knocking doors, visiting some members. spreading gospel light. going through the portlan temple! sick stuff. well. i guess i will se yall next week. oh, and you can sent my blanky! its been like 70 as the high. and its going to get flippin' cold!! my companion elder hawkins is really cool. hes a great trainer and said that he is amazed that i skiped the greeny phase! i am his last companion. he goes home in 2 months and he thinks that i will be either training someone when he leaves or they will whitewash the area and i will be the zone leader. idk we will see. so items to sent:
Blanky
my Geans: we dont have to be conservitive on P-Day. people are crazy!
Family pictures (small in frames.)
copies of the ones ti took. so i can make notes on whos in them and send them. and make -our scrapbooks.
any other goodies.

love you guys!! God speed!

He's there!

Just got this this morning. He's so funny! Sounds like he's back to life as usual.
Here's what he sent......


Sorry i could not give you a call, we were rushed to the cars right after we got of the plane, one of the sisters wanted to switch me seats so she could sit next to her companion, so obviously i was happy to switch, little did i know that she had given me her first class ticket. She had been upgraded to to a lack of seating. i asked if she was sure, she said she was. so i got free premium food and drinks all the way to Portland. good start! when we got here they took up to the temple. it is the most beautiful temple i have ever seen. it has a beautiful garden on the inside. president dyches should be sending you pics. Then we went to the transfer meeting were i was put with my trainer elder Hawkins. He is pretty cool. then a member drove us to our area. it is Kiezer/Salem. we were Whitewashed into it. that means that me and my comp. are completely blind! we don't know the members. all we have is an area book with names numbers and a brief explanation an the current, former and progressing investigators. Yikes! but we went to the store and i got some groceries for our new apartment. my mission card wasn't activated yet so i had to use my card. i also had to use it to get a calling card and also to get my bike. so I'm not sure how i am looking on funds at the moment. the church should be reimbursing me for my 60$ luggage charge.but, after we got home we went right out and contacted 2 investigators and spoke with the ward mission leader brother southwick. hes really cool. overall the work is great. i will probably be in this area for a good 4 months so if people want to know what to send walmart cards and cash are best! we don't have a trashcan!!! so a little extra to get some stuff for the apt. would be nice. but its not urgent so just as people want to send stuff. we also have a sonic and burger king right next door to us. SAWEET!!! cherry limeade should save me today! i have already rode like 3 miles on bike in the past to days. please send letters, its a ling uphill ride to the church building! hahaha. but the weather is so nice. a little humid but its only hot from like 130 to 300 then its perfect and a nice cool breeze, i saw the sun yesterday. it was out for like 2 hrs. but is hiding today. the funny thing is that its cloudy but it doesn't start getting dark till 9 and the sun doesn't set till 10. however in the winter its gone by 5. its green and lush. i love it. the missionaries who left bequeathed(?) me a rain jacket and some shirts, the were going home. so that's nice. overall i cant wait to serve. people up here love us! i talk to everyone i meet! i cant wait to start baptizing! we have one this week. they had a date when we got here so i might get to do that this Saturday. There is allot of cool stuff here and its al cheep because they have no sales tax. Charmin ultra 8 rolls 2 bucks. gotta love it! well i will write you asap. send everyone my love and i expect you all to read Scriptures and pray and have family home evening while im gone. give it a try. like your guyses mission. and if you dont like the results after 2 years i will never make you do it again. talk to ya latter.

He also sent a second e-mail.....it said.....

OPM what does it stand for? Oregon Portland Mission? or Only Perfect Mission? IDK? hahahaa

Phone call!!!!

6:07 a.m. Skylar called!!

He was at the Salt Lake airport waiting for their flight to leave for Portland. He said the MTC was "legit" and awesome! He's glad to get going. He said they get to call before the flight and when they land but it's 11:00 and still no call. I'm thinking that there will be no time at the airport for everyone to call home to say they got there safe. Maybe later today?

He is supposed to go pick out his bike this afternoon. It's 60 degrees in Portland today....must be nice! 113 is yucky!

Here's a picture of why e-mail at the MTC wasn't working for him.....

He says thanks for the letters and care packages. He sends his love to all!!!! (oh and keep 'em coming!)

Life at the MTC

k - Skylar misunderstood me when I said "send pictures". He sent a bunch of pictures - but they were all of his friends or of the landscape! SKYLAR! Mommy wants pics of her baby! What doesn't he get???!!! Here's the few he was actually in.

Gotta love Mondays!

I used to hate Mondays....now I look forward to them!
Here's his e-mail from today.

i have been writing. cool on the calls but i probably wont see them, theres like 5000 people here but hopefuly. haha. mtc is great, i can already see it changing my life. if you could email me my bank statements that wolud be sick. i got my travel thing. i leave on monday at 5 am. plane leaves at 830 i touchdown at930 orgen time. 2 hr flight not bad. care packs are awsome!!! and dont worry about the ties. they just banned tie trading. lammmeeeee! ahaha. how are things at home? any work? any big plans? there are so many cute sisters here and it is driving us all crazy!!! its not fair. soooo not fair. so starting on monday send stuff to the portland adress. ummm. what else? well.... the days here go by slow but the weeks go fast and we all grow so much in that time. when i first got here the people seemed like they were 25 no joke. now all the new elders and even sisters cant belive that im 19. its cool. when we walk to the temple we are like celeberities! everyone loves us! later today my district gets to clean the temple! the inside! i am looking so forward to it! well, apostles and prophet coming this weekend so they will be making the rounds. we are hosting next week so i will see all the greenies! keep writing.. mail is our driving force hahah. love you guys. let everyone know i love them but cant read there emails!
(Don't know what he means about the e-mails....I'll find out if he can only e-mail parents??? Or maybe is that just the MTC??? Will keep you guys posted.)

Finally! An e-mail....

Not much to say here but at least it's something! He also wanted me to tell you guys that he only get's 30 minutes on P day for e-mails so if you e-mail him he'll have to respond in letter form.
We sent off his first care package with his requested items...and then some!

Here's what he wrote: (you can tell he's typing really fast.....gotta beat the clock!)

Hey Guys, Pday in monday. i am useing one of the computers in the laundry room right now. thats just the thing to do haha. i only have 30 min. there is a timer that automaticaly times you out. it sucks.but life is good. you should be getting a letter soon. i need peoples adresses. please send letters. especialy if it has info i will need, the server does not alwasy work and i dont alwasy have access. but you guys should cef. send mountain dew, and other food. its all allowed. and there is a room contest comming up for tight pants, so i need you to send them up please, i will not wear them anyware else:) also dont swear in a letter, they are monitered and i dont want to loose privlages. i love you guys so much and am so happy to de here. getting pics to you is realy complicated so i will just send you the card.that should work better. i am learning so much. cant lose a tag right now i have a hard enough time keeping track of the 2 i have. haha. but we use both regularly. basicaly me schedule is, wake up, pray, get dressed eat. 4 hours of class and songs and prayes scaterd throughouteat and sleep. haha well clothes are done got to go. love you lots

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Goodbye's make me crazy! Skylar wanted no tears...ya good luck with that! He wanted cheers like at a football game...so we did! He was just so anxious to get to the MTC. We pulled up...he jumped out.... grabbed his bags and turned to go. The Missionary Host had to stop him and say..."uh, would you like to say good bye? A hug maybe?". Skylar's like..."oh...ya...I guess." Geez! So nevertheless...my vision of all those awesome MTC pictures were shot down! These are the few I got. Seriously, it was like all of 3 minutes and he was gone! Can't wait to get a letter, e-mail, pics, SOMETHING! It's been 3 days! What's the hold up???!!! :O)

Let's get this show on the road!

Well, here's the first post of many.

Skylar is so excited to go get busy! Hopefully he sends lots of letters so that we can post them all for you to see! We just want to share our love for everyone in our family and ward family who has shared their love and support for our family as we start this journey.

We're so proud of Skylar. We always knew he was going to make a great missionary because anyone who knows him knows that he loves to TALK! He was meant for this!

Remember our deal Skylar...no pics...no treats!

We love you!

Mom, Dad, Kylee & Kasey