Court Monday... NOT... Cyber Monday

Today was the day.... November 26th.... Court Monday (also Cyber Monday).  However, we were not on our computers, we were at the court!  It became final today shortly after 1:30pm.  Lindsay is now a single lady and looking forward to her bright and amazing future!!!  I love her so much and I am so happy that the process went so smoothly.  She was blessed and showered with love from so many and most especially our Heavenly Father.  She is so strong and sweet and special.  I have loved her from the day she was born.  I could not imagine my life without her.  She is one of my best friends and she is also part of my family.  She deserves everything that is good in life.  Today starts the rest of her life finding and fulfilling all her hopes and dreams.  Love you Linz!

Black Friday

So true... and this year (again) we started on Thursday.  But, I am very THANKFUL I got everything I wanted!

Happy Thanksgiving

Such a time to be thankful for all our many blessings.  I'm not gonna lie.... 2012 was not our best year.  Lots of trials and sickness and death.  But, so so much to be grateful for.  In some of the worst circumstances there have always been many tender mercies that have been given.  These gifts push us forward to be better and to do better.  I am grateful for my family, my friends, my home, my work, my church, my Savior.  I am grateful to have people around me that I truly love and trust.  I love my family with all my heart.  I am grateful to have a large, supportive family that is ALWAYS there for me and my family.  They are funny, smart, brave, loving, happy, kind, serving people that make everything so much more fun and enjoyable.  They make this life journey tolerable.... ha ha.   I am grateful for some of the lessons learned this year.  I do have hope that 2013 will be better!  I know that not everything is going to be perfect and I also know that no matter what comes my way I have my Savior to help me.  I AM THANKFUL!

Sam's Letter- November 21, 2012

Hey everyone whats up?? Sounds like you all are doing great! Can you believe how fast time is going! And I can't believe my brothers have failed to have Clear Creek... well I guess when I go to school and stuff it will happen to me. And my shoe size is 9. Hopefully that will be good! And about the PS3 why don't you keep it at mom and dads so everyone can enjoy it! Well Elder Warner and I are having a great time! He really is awesome, and his Spanish is really good! I feel as if I just got another companion in the mission, not one that just came from the MTC. So heres my week:

     Wednesday- So today we didn't do anything. We just layed around, played a few card games. We just enjoyed the day!

     Thursday- We had some potentials to look up, nothing came from those. So we did some tracting! We were able to teach a man named Kenny. He was cool and seemed interested! We also went to Analees house to eat some food! Really good food, quesadillas! Then we went and taught English Class.

     Friday- So today we went shopping for food because Elder Warner finally got his support card so we went and bought our groceries. Then we went and had our Blitz in Elder Ochoa and Smiths area and I went and splitted with Elde Clark! We did some look ups for them and did some tracting! We found them a potential that they could possibly teach! Then we did some tracting and we found Julio! We taught him about the Restoration and he had the look on his face like, this makes sense! So we set up another appointment with him! Then our ward had a Thanksgiving party at the church. We ate some really good food!

     Saturday- In the morning we had a lesson with a lady named Flor! She was really cool. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation, and she had a ton of questions! The only thing that is bad is she keeps saying, oh thats like my church. But we are going to teach her about the Restoration next and that will start the differences. But she was awesome, she thanked so many times, and she said  she was going to call us to help her move! So I hope that happens! But after that we went and visited Ramon and ate with him, and read in the Book of Mormon! Then we talked for a little bit, especially his home attendant Sammy! She is a cool Dominican Lady who has a lot of questions about the Gospel. She lives in the Concourse area, which is right next to ours, so hopefully the missionaries will isit her soon! After we did some look ups and had a dinner appointment with Hermana Luna! We had a TON of food!

     Sunday- We had Stake Conference and it was really good! I could understand most all of it! The first Stake Conference, back in May, I had no idea what they were saying! But it was nice seeing the members from my last area and being able to talk with them! After that we had a lunch appointment with Hermana Rivera, then after that we had a dinner appointment with Kersy and ate food, and then we went to Analees for dessert! I was about to explode!!! I took TUMS that night, just to be safe.

     Monday- We had Zone Meeting! It was awesome and the spirit was very strong. I conducted it and we had a great time. The Zone Leaders (Elders Hajje and Hill) had us play a game called, The Humble Game. What you do is you all sit in a circle, and one person sits in the middle, and each person goes around and gives the person in the middle a complient. Its a humbling game in which you have to humble yourself to give a compliment, but also to receive one. Then after everyone goes, you put a picture of Christ on the chair, and bear your testimony with everyone (not to the picture because thats like an idol). It was an awesome experience, and it really makes you want to give compliments to everyone! After that we went and got Little Cesaers Pizza, and chowed down! Then we went and did some look ups, and then Elders Richards and Hulme called me on Sunday asking if I could interview one of their investigators for baptism, because Elder Hulme is the District Leader, and the Zone Leaders couldn't do it, so they got permission from the Zone Leaders and I was able to do it. This investigator of theirs came to the baptism for Kersy and that was the turning point for ths lady! She was my first interview in Spanish, the other candidates I've interviewed prefered English, so it was a neat experience! I really felt the gift of tongues in that interview, and it was a very spiritual experience! Also this ladys daughter is getting baptized this Saturday also, so I interviewed her also, and they both DEFINETLY are ready!

     Tuesday- We had service at the Senior Center, then we did some look ups! We were able to find out that some members had moved, so it was a success! We also set up some appointments with referals and had a good time! Then it was Elder Andersons 21st birthday, so some missionaries came to the church to celebrate! Also some members came and brought some food and we ate! And Sister Lotuleilei smashed a little bit of cake in Elder Andersons face, then Elder Anderson smashed some cake in her face, and then she smashed some more in his face. It was a mess. But we cleaned it up, and it was a fun night!

     Wednesday- Today we are going to play some football at the park!

And for Thanksgiving we have three food appointments, I'm scared. Well I love you all, and hope all is well!!

The Day Before Thanksgiving Wishes

 The Fairrington's would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.  

***Brian also wanted to add this little sentiment to everyone as well.

Just in case anyone wondered where he stood on the Twilight movies.
I, however, very much enjoy these movies.

Eating

Thanks to McDonald's and their mint mcflurry.
Thanks to Sonic and their caramel/banana shakes.  

Thanks to Fry's and their endless individual serving cake slices.

Thanks to the Water and Ice on Val Vista and Ray.... for your amazing selection of old time candy.

Thanks to the Water and Ice on Power and San Tan for your shaved ice (with ice cream on the bottom).

Thanks to Circle K... well, that list is to long.

Facebook Birthday Reminders

For some reason I really remember the dates of birthdays.   Here are all the ones that I can remember without a Facebook reminder....  In fact, most of these people do not even have Facebook!
(I do know more birthdays but decided to keep the list to just immediate family and a few extended).

January 12- Emily
January 23- Great Grandma Magnusson
February 1- Josh Jr.
February 5- Dad
February 7- Cali
February 11- Brock
February 26- Lindsay
March 6- Mom and Stephanie
March 20- Linda
March 24- Elizabeth
March 31- Blake and Colten
April 11- Conner
May 7- Cody
May 5- Peyton
May 11- Julz
May 13- Steven
June 9- Chase
June 13- Brylee and Branson
June 18- Spencer
July 6- Tatum
July 21- Belle
August 16- Ella
August 28- Carley
August 29- Katelin
September 7- Brandi
September 9- Sheri
September 13- Elaine and Lettie
September 15- Great Grandma Heywood
September 28- Grandpa Heywood and Beau
October 1- Kayla
October 3- Me
October 8- Hayden
October 26- Lauren
October 31- Great Grandpa Magnusson
November 9- Brinlee
November 11- Titan
November 23- Kaden
December 2- Josh
December 4- Michael
December 16- Scott
December 19- Seth
December 30- Sam
Of all these names only 9 are on FACEBOOK!

Pinterest Moms

I really don't even need to comment... that is just the way it is!

Flying Home

Family,

Well, we are flying home from our wonderful and very memorable vacation/cruise!  Mom/Donell did great, but it had a very frightening start!

As you have all probably heard, mom/Donell had a Grand Mal type of seizure as we were flying to Tampa, Florida.  We had been in the air for about two and a half hours of our four hour flight.  We had been talking with our friends that were traveling with us and then we settled in for a quick nap before landing in Tampa.  I was dosing in and out of sleep, when I looked over at mom/Donell.  She was very ridged with her arms were bent at the elbows with her hands clinched in a fist close to her face.  She was unconscious, not breathing and very purple. It looked like she was dying.  I grabbed her face and started shaking it back and forth while saying Donell, Donell.  She was totally non-responsive. When it was apparent that I could not bring her too, I got up and went back to the flight attendants to let them know that my wife was having medical problems.

When we got back to mom/Donell she was flailing/waving her arms around like she was off balance and she was kind of wild-eyed and mumbling. The flight attendants got on the PA system and asked if there were any doctors or nurses, etc., on board for a medical emergency - no one responded. The flight attendants started putting cold towels on her head and bringing oxygen and an emergency medical kit that they had. They had also made contact with emergency medical people on the ground and were telling them what had happened and what was going on.

Finally a young man came up and said that he was an Emergency Room nurse. He sat down next to mom/Donell and took her blood pressure, pulse, etc.  He did standard testing for stroke, etc. Donell was very, very weak and felt nauseated and still a little out of it, although she could answer questions. The flight attendants were trying to give her club soda, but the nurse said to bring her some apple juice (sometimes seizures can be brought on by low blood sugar). The nurse also asked for some alcohol wipes and told mom to smell them.  This did make her feel a little better. They continued to take her blood pressure and monitor her other vital signs and continued to look for signs of stroke, etc.  When it appeared that mom/Donell was stable, everyone went back to their normal activities. We were now about 40 minutes from landing in Tampa.  Mom/Donell threw up three times and was extremely weak.

When we were landing, they told everyone to remain seated and that emergency medical personnel would be coming on board to remove a passenger. As soon as the plane door opened medical people came rushing in with a wheelchair and transported mom/Donell off of the plane (she was so weak that she could not even stand). There were lots of police and medical people waiting in the terminal for her. As soon as mom/Donell got off the plane they put her on a gurney/stretcher and started checking out her vital signs, put her on oxygen and were doing other emergency tests.  The police also wanted her ID to run a criminal background check on her and to see who this person really was... Thankfully, mom/Donell checkout okay and wasn't a criminal.  Once the emergency medical response team had check her out, they immediately rush mom/Donell and me to a waiting ambulance. Our friends who were traveling with us were stunned and wondering what was going to happen.  I had about one second to tell them that I would call and give them an update.

We never got our luggage, they just rushed us by ambulance to the Emergency Room of a major hospital in the area.  They immediately took her into a private room in the ER and started doing lots and lots of tests.  Mom/Donell could communicate, she was just very weak and a little bit out of it. After some tests they took her into x-ray and then in for a CAT scan.  When she came out of the CAT scan, I noticed a marked improvement in her mental alertness. The doctor came in and I again went over what had happened and that mom/Donell had just finished her last radiation treatment the day before and that she had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and was taking medications for that. Mom/Donell started telling the doctor that we were departing on a cruise the next day and she really wanted to go on the cruise.  The doctor was very kind and understanding, but said that she would not be able to go on the cruise - however, he said that he would pass the information on to the neurologist that would be caring for her. We were told that more tests were scheduled for the next morning. Donell, never stopped telling all of the medical staff that she really, really wanted to go on the cruise.  After several hours in the emergency room and many tests, they admitted her into the hospital and took us up to her room.  She was still very, very weak! The doctor told us that during a seizure like the one she had, all of your muscles become extremely tense and it is like you are having a very intense workout and so afterwards you are really weak and tired.

After mom/Donell was settled into her room, she wanted me to go to the airport and get our bags and go check into the hotel. I checked with the nurses and they thought that would be best - I gave the nurses my cell number with strict instructions to call if there was any change in her condition.  Even though I repeatedly told mom/Donell that the cruise was the least of my worries and that my only concern was for her health, she never stopped telling all of the medical staff about the cruise and how badly she wanted to go.

I got our bags at the airport and checked into the hotel, it was then that the emotion of what had happened really hit me - for a time it looked like mom/Donell was going to die on the plane.  A thought I could not even bear to think of!

I called mom early the next morning and the first thing she started to tell me is how we could just check her out of the hospital without the doctors permission and she could go on the cruise (wonder where she got an idea like that)... I told her, that is NOT going to happen!  She was feeling really good and just wanted to get out!

When I came to the hospital that morning it seemed like everyone knew about mom/Donell and the cruise and they were doing everything they could to try and get all of the tests done quickly, so she could go on the cruise.

The neurologist had come in and examined her in the morning and said that if all of the tests checked okay, including an MRI - she could go. He put all of the tests in STAT (rush).

Everything came out okay and we called a cab and rushed to get our bags at the hotel (I really didn't think we would be going on the cruise and I was still very concerned about her health - only a few hours earlier, I thought she was going to die on an airplane - but Donell, would hear nothing about not going) we rushed to the cruise terminal (our friends were already onboard) and we were one of the last ones to board the ship! Just made it, with a couple if minutes to spare! 

Mom/Donell said that she was feeling fine when she went to sleep on the plane and the next thing she knew was when she woke up to people all around her asking her how she doing (and silly questions like what is your name, how many fingers am I holding up, when is you birthday, what are your children's names, etc.) Seizures are not necessarily dangerous by them self, but since it was her first one ever, they always want to make certain that it was not caused by a brain tumor, stroke, etc.

She seems to have no ill effects and we had a truly wonderful time on the cruise!  We did zip-lines through the jungle, went snorkeling on a barrier reef, held and played with money's and beautiful MacCaw parrots, swam with stingrays in the middle of the ocean and went swimming with, and riding on dolphins, floated down a river that was inside a giant cave system.  We did lots of other really fun things, to many to list!!!

We love you all so very much and we will be so happy to be back with all of you - safe, sound and alive! We are truly BLESSED!

(I am writing this from the plane as we fly home - they have Wi-Fi - mom/Donell is doing fine... So far...)

Texts from the Cruise

Nov. 11th...
Dad:  Prageith is our waiter.
Me:  No....
Dad:  What would be the chances?
Me:  Well, right now I think anything could happen.
Dad:  Agreed!
(Prageith was our AWESOME waiter on the Disney Cruise 2007)

Later that night...
Dad:  His name is Grapeith.... thought he said Prageith.

Nov. 15th...
Dad:  Mom is doing GREAT!  Your prayers for her were answered!  WE snorkeled in Belize yesterday and zip-lined through the jungles of Roatan, Honduras today!  We played with monkeys and macaws in the jungle!  It was a BLAST!!!  We love YOU soooo much!
Me:  Mom did not zipline...
Dad:  Yes she did  and she loved it!!!  I can't slow her down!
Me:  U promised....
Dad:  Sorry, she is not listening to me!  I actually worried more about her during the snorkeling!  But she did great!  Tomorrow we take a boat out to stingray city.  It is not really a city, just a sandbar out in the middle of the ocean.  You get into the ocean and swim with and hold and feed giant stingrays!  We are then going to swim with the dolphins!  It should be really FUN!!!  Love YOU!!!
Dad:  Belize was amazing!  After snorkeling, we went to the town.  You can buy medicine without a prescription!  It was cheap, legal and the real thing.  I also got  mom a $5 backpack- a great buy!  It was really fun!

Nov. 16th...
Dad:  We just got back on the ship!  Today we were in Grand Cayman.  It was so FUN!!!  We went out in the ocean and swam with the stingrays!  You can hold them, pet them, kiss them and feed them!  We then went and swam with the dolpins!  It was AWESOME!  We held them, kissed them and rode on them and lots of other fun stuff.  Mom is doing GREAT and having a BLAST!!!  Love YOU!!!
Me:  Awesome!  That sounds amazing!
Dad:  So amazing!  I was just wishing you guys could all be with us!

I can't wait until they are safely home and we can see all the pictures and hear all the fun stories!!!

Truffles Restaurant

Just got a text that they ate at the Truffles Restaurant.  The menu looked delicious and Dad ordered two entrees... the perks of a cruise!  He ordered ...

sweet and sour shrimp

large tiger shrimps in a tangy sweet and sour sauce

served with scallion, garlic and shrimp fried rice noodles

AND...

tender braised beef brisket in gravy

served with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes

These both sound so yummy!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Titan

Happy Birthday Titan... I have loved you since the first moment I laid eyes on you!  You are so fun!  We love to have you come over and spend the night!  We love you to infinity and beyond.  Have a great birthday!

She's a Survivor headed out to SEA

Does this look like someone who just finished breast cancer radiation, had a seizure on a plane, spent the night in the hospital, endured multiple tests and a crazy lady that was her "roommate" in the hospital?  I think not!  She is tough!
***Just remember... No Balconies!

Turbulence

FLORIDA-  A plane traveling from Phoenix to Orlando made a medical emergency landing after a passenger suffered a seizure aboard the plane.  Alan and Donell Heywood were traveling on a long awaited flight following an end to breast cancer radiation and a long political election season to take them on a cruise that would be leaving on November 12th.  Close to the scheduled arrival time Alan looked over at his wife of nearly fourty years and noticed that she was clenching her fists and turning blue.  Donell was non-responsive and suffering a seizure thousands of miles in the air.  Alan took off to find help and an announcement was made looking for anyone with medical training.  Soon after,  Donell became nauseous and vomited repeatedly on the plane.  Once they landed in Orlando, passengers were asked to remain seated while the medical emergency was taken care of.  Paramedics boarded the plane and transported Donell off the plane in a wheelchair (as she waved to other passengers who gave her words of encouragement and well wishes.)  Once off the plane Donell was transfered to a gurney and transported thru the airport to a waiting ambulance.  The ambulance then delivered the woman to an area hospital for treatment.

****This could just be any story but, it is my MOM'S story....

UPDATE- After numerous tests including, CAT Scan, MRI, blood work,cultures.... there was no apparent cause for the seizure.  She is currently under treatment for Parkinson's and just finished radiation treatment for breast cancer.  The culprit may be a "dramamine patch" placed behind the ear to thwart seasickness.  She was released from the hospital with a green light to board the cruise ship.

Just to make us all feel a little better.... I read that lil Wayne also suffered a seizure on a plane.

The Cruise....It's Just the Beginning

To all of our wonderful family!

Mom and I are flying out today for Tampa, Florida where we will spend the night and then get on a giant Carnival Cruise ship that will take us to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan Honduras, and finally the Grand Caymans!

We have some awesome excursions booked that include zip-line in the jungle, snorkeling on a barrier reef, going down a river in a big mountain cave, swimming with the dolphins, going to Stingray City and swimming and holding the giant stingrays, and lots and lots more fun stuff!!!

I just wanted to let each one of you know how very special you are and how much we love each one of you with all of our hearts!  Our family brings great joy and happiness to us and we are so proud of each and every one of you!!!  The Lord has truly blessed us with an awesome family!!!

I will have cell service and texting and internet.  Texting is a really good way to communicate.

Choose the Right and be careful while we are gone!  We will be flying back on Sunday, November 18th!

Again, we love you and wish you could be with us - but we will certainly have an opportunity soon to go and do some really fun stuff!!!  You are our reason for living and all of you are the first priority in our lives!!!

Dad and Mom

Number 2 for Brit and Jason

Congrats to the Holmes family!!!!  Brittny is expecting baby #2 and it's a..... GIRL!  Natalie is going to be a big sister.  Natalie is the cutest, sweetest thing so I would imagine this new little girl will be the same way.

Happy Birthday Brinlee!

Happy Birthday Brinlee Mae!  I can't believe that you are 2 years old.  You are such a beautiful princess.  Brunhilda also wishes you a happy birthday.  Maybe next time you see her you can tell her thank you and give her a kiss!!!!

Tone

Sam's Letter- November 7, 2012

So I have no time so I'll make this quick. So for transfers I was called as a trainer! So his name is Elder Warner, he is from Chandler AZ! So He is awesome, he went to Hamilton High School. So it will be great. Elder Conner went upstate Conneticut and he is going to be in a trio with a greenie! So its crazy! Today was the first day of snow!!!!!!!! Its super cold! Haha. Also the hurricane hit pretty hard in the South mission, and so we might be able to go and help clean up, and give service which would be cool! But Everything is the same with me. Sorry this is super short but the library is closing early. And so you can send everything that you need to the same address! I love you all so very much, and hope all is well!!! 

Election Day 2012....

Congrats to Dad and all their campaigns that won this year.  We won some battles but not the war... looking to 2016.

I'm Ashamed

Halloween 2012

Blake decided he needed a different costume for Halloween.  Well... he settled on Jason.  Luckily, he has no idea who that is.  I told him he was a hunter who had just skinned an elk.

Chase and his "companion" Kaden.  They got to wear their costumes to school and everyone thought they were so cool!

While they were trick-or-treating they received this compliment.....

"Oh man boys that's a BAD A#@ costume!  Here have some more candy!

Afterwards Kaden told his mom.... "Mom, I guess he doesn't know that Mormons don't believe in cussing."

Best costume of the night goes to Beau!!!!  He was an Evil Scientist! (not a mad scientist).  These pictures do not even do it justice.  He was so cute!!!!

Linda and Josh

Trever, Mercedes, Skylie and Riel

Blake had another costume change.... Here he is a "Mouseketeer!"  (I love this picture)

Halloween 2012 was a blast!  We all went to Steven and Elizabeth's for our annual Halloween party.  We ate soup... *new this year was Emily's pumpkin soup which I absolutely loved.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of everyone that was there.  I think this year was our best turnout ever.  We had.... Grandpa and Grandma, Fairrington's, Scott Heywood Family, Steven Heywood Family, Huber's, Spencer Heywood Family, Figueroa's, Rick Heywood, Peterson's, Holmes,and Holgate's.  After we ate dinner it was time to trick-or-treat.  The kids ended up with tons of candy and we had a great time walking around the neighborhood.  My best moment of the night was when Linda.... aka... Hobo/Homeless person picked up a sucker from the ground and ate it!  It was hilarious!  I can't wait for next year!

Mormon Missionaries Help With Storm Cleanup Effort

Sam's Letter- October 31, 2012

Hey family sounds like your doing great and... HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I can only imagine what you guys are going to do tonight! Bread bowls, candy, sleeping in tomorrow (not) and ROOT BEER! Well here's my week:
     Wednesday- We just played basketball and soccer at the church. It was pretty enjoyable! 
     Thursday- We had a lesson with the Rodriguez family and it was really good. We talked about the Plan of Salvation, and they really felt good about the things we were talking about! Then we had an appointment with Tony and Kelsy, they invited Elder Loera and Elder Farnsworth for dinner! They made us a Dominican breakfast, for dinner. Tostones, Mangu, fried eggs, fried cheese, salami, and an awesome drink that I have no idea how to spell! But then we talked about some of the Commandments and we went through the baptismal interview questions! Kelsy is going to be baptized November 3rd! I'm very excited. Then we had English class!
     Friday- I went on a split with one of my Zone Leaders Elder Hajje, in my area! We went to service! Then we had a Blitz, where we went to Elder Aguilar and Elder Ochoas area, and I split with Elder Ochoa for that! Then we just did some look-ups and tracting!
     Saturday- Elder Conner and I went to Ramon's house and read from the Book of Mormon! So Ramon has problems with his knee, so he has a home attendant that comes everyday for a few hours. So she sat and listened to us and she was asking questions and we were answering them and she really got interested. So she doesn't live in our area, but we got her information and we are going to give it to the Elders in that area! Then we did some tracting and we found this nice guy Eddy, he speaks English and he listened but said he wasn't going to change from being Catholic. So that stinks, but we found this guy and he was a member! He had just moved to the Bronx, and so we were able to tell him the time of church, he speaks English, but hey all are God's children! Then we went to a dinner appointment with Elders Loera and Farnsworth!
     Sunday- We had church, and then after church I interviewed two of Elders Loera and Farnsworths investigators for baptism. They are these two kids that have always been coming to church with there Aunt and Uncle. So they taught them. And then we had to be early home because of the storm so that was Sunday night, we just played games.
     Monday- So we had to stay in our apartments for the storm. So where I was all that we had was rain, and wind. The wind wasn't to bad though. So we played Apples to Apples, Uno, Worst Case Scenario, took naps, watched church movies, and finished a puzzle! Also we did shadow puppets. We were bored!
     Tuesday- Did the exact same thing as Monday. Seriously the storm wasn't bad at all where we were, especially today. But we enjoyed the day!
     Wednesday- We were released! So all we are doing today for pday is hanging out at the church with the whole zone, playing more games!
So yes Sheri I did receive your package and I loved it! CANDY, and I loved the Halloween papers that the kids did! Well everything is okay in the Bronx, there are a lot of leaves on the ground due to the wind. And for Halloween we have to be in by 6pm, and people do Halloween here. Its a little sketchy in the Bronx, some stuff that I've heard the people do so it will be good to be in early! And remember transfers is next week, so I would rather you not send me anything just in case I'm transfered but we will see! But sorry if this letter is short, but 16 other missionaries need to use the computers, due to the libraries being closed! But I love you all, hope you have a fun night tonight! Hope all is well!!

Service in the Storm

Dear Parents and Loved Ones,

Today has been a day of studying, journal writing, game playing and apartment cleaning. Many streets and county roads have been off limits to pedestrians while heavy equipment crews have cleared large trees, fallen rocks and debris and huge piles of leaves, limbs and branches. While all are "safely gathered in" they're also bored and restless.

This afternoon, those missionaries who were evacuated from low lying areas in Connecticut have been allowed to return to their apartments. Elders and Sisters have been given the "all clear" to reach out to branch and ward leaders to inquire as to member homes and clean-up opportunities. We've asked that they be back to their apartments as it gets dark. The fresh air and a little physical labor will feel good.

Tomorrow is P-Day for our mission. You should be hearing from your missionary about their experience over the past few days. As you write them back, you should know that I feel the Lord has greatly blessed our mission with safety and protection in large measure due to the obedience and faith of our missionaries. Every missionary has contributed to our coming through the hurricane without harm or incident by their focused obedience, faith and prayers. Please tell your daughters and sons that their personal worthiness has been the key factor in our mission's blessings.

We hardly have the words to describe how much we love our missionaries. They lift us and strengthen us and empower us with their work ethic and love for the Lord. They obey with exactness, (which some of you will find hard to believe, but they do!), and they teach with the spirit and they serve with priesthood power and unwavering faith. It's no wonder to us why the the Lord protects them and prospers their work!

We'll move now into a phase of clean-up where we'll have the opportunity to stand side-by-side with neighbors and friends picking-up, cleaning-up and building-up. Our example of hard work and community service will be our Christian message.

Thank you for sending us such wonderful men and women. They are really amazing! We are still without power or cell service at the mission home but I will continue to access information and communication from the office.

Thank you for your prayers and encouraging thoughts.

All the best,

Tom Morgan

Thomas B. Morgan

President

New York New York North Mission

Evening of Excellence 2012

Evening of Excellence 2012- "Who's On The Lord's Side?

This years theme was so much fun!  We all wore jerseys and we had 6 girls (our MVP's) getting medallions.  One girl was getting her bee, one beehive, one mia maid and 2 laurels were getting their medallions.  The mother of our beehive was also getting hers!  We had every avenue covered and it made for such a great evening.  Michelle gave a great talk about how we are in the game and trying to make our goal... our goal is the Temple and to live worthy and stay worthy to go there.  We even had Super Bowl rings (cute rings we found at Tinkerbell) for each of the Young Women.  Our Hall of Fame displayed all the girls projects that they have worked on doing Personal Progress.  Then, we had our concession stand complete with soft pretzels, cheese, chips, 7 layer dip, popcorn balls, mini cheesecakes and drinks!  I am so proud of all our Young Women... they are truly amazing!