Week #22 - A Peek in the Journal

Sometimes Landon doesn't get a general email letter off ... but Mommy and the brothers still receive a letter. Often he'll include some snapshots of his journal entries to let us know what he's been up to, without having to rewrite it all. So this week, that's what you get, a quick compilation of some of his activities from our Elder's journal ...

We often have several appointments, but so many of them fall through. That can be a little tough. On a good note, one of our investigators, Hector, gave us 10 ties! He said "well you wear ties every day and I have never worn a tie in my life" ... so, new ties! They are nice ones too. At district meeting, we had a little celebration for one of the sister's birthdays. Juice, chips and a simple cake. That is a missionary birthday party. We had a second one later in the week. Yea cake!

We spent some time in service this week. One day we helped one of the members move stuff. One item was a dental chair, which was a beast! Another day we helped another member break down some wooden frames. We had to remove all the nails and I was able to do it pretty fast due to my experience in framing. I got to break a bunch of glass too. That was surprisingly fun, and we left without any cuts. 

A little shop opened up nearby, selling bags, purses, luggage, etc. I bought a backpack, which I've been wanting/needing. I've been reading "Our Search for Happiness" by M. Russell Ballard. I've been attending choir practice, which doesn't exactly make me happy. And there has been a return of the rain this week. Some super storms.

I've been out for FIVE months now. Time flies!

 Here is Landon with a little friend ...

*** Step Stats ***

Monday, July 13 - 24693

Tuesday, July 14 - 13754

Wednesday, July 15 - 13949

Thursday, July 16 - 8389

Friday, July 17 - 10077

Saturday, July 18 - 11083

Sunday, July 19 - 6010

Elder Blackham dropped down to the seventh spot this week. Grayson was #1  for almost the entire week. He's been off it Italy, Rome and Barcelona, getting substantial steps as he was seeing all the sights. But ... traveling today dropped him a couple spots. Callahan spent the morning golfing then playing basketball, and that pushed him to the top. Curt (our neighbor and former bishop) moved up, even beating his wife (Terrilynne). Aunt Wendy and Uncle Chris made the top 10 too.  Just spoke with Grandma and Grandpa Westra's Fitbit is having some issues (also syncing with a new computer) ... even after the heart attack a couple weeks ago, Grandpa's steps seemed low.  Always fun to see how the steps stack up. 

*** Between Brothers ***

Dear Landon, this week was fun. My basketball game I won 28-23. In the 2nd quarter, it was tied 6-6 and then we got a 12-0 run! They started coming back but we were still making baskets. It was 26-23 we were  winning, and then my teammate Luke, got another basket so I said to myself, "Yep, game's over." I had to go to scout camp twice this week! The first one was just regular scout camp, but the other one was Star Wars. Jedi Camp. In the first one I did bb guns, a hike, games, digging for gold, smores, and an obstacle course. In Jedi Camp we did, rockets, build a "droid", a game called jeopardy, lightsaber fight, and another obstacle course. Maga got a new kitty! Her name is Princess. She is really cute. She mostly hid under Amare's bed though. Our ducks are almost full size! I can barley tell which is which. I was saving this for last, we got a new kitten!! Her name is Joy. And she is SO small and cute! But Oreo does not like her.  He has been hissing and growling. So we make Oreo sleep upstairs, and I think he likes it. One time he almost attacked Joy but we got him. That's the end of the week, love ya. Love, your youngest brother, Colton

Dear Landon, Maga got a brand new cat named Princess Tiana. We went there today to go see her, and her cat. But  the bad thing about her, is that she is very shy and scared of us. For the time that we were at Maga's house, she spent about 95% of the time under the bed. Dad had extended his trip in Europe, but he is coming back tomorrow night. And do you remember when dad was on his trip to Las Vegas and we got Oreo. Now he is on another trip, so we thought, why don't we do it again? And we actually did get another kitty! Her name is Joy, she is very small,  cute, and playful. But Oreo really hates her. He'll hiss and smell her a lot, but Joy is living in mine and Colton's room right now, and Oreo will be upstairs sleeping with mom. But don't worry, we still love Oreo as much as we do Joy :). The NBA Summer League is coming to an end with the championship being tomorrow. The final game will be San Antonio against Phoenix, and I want the Spurs to win this game. And in Omega ruby, I beat the Pokemon league! I kind of changed my party from Altaria to Latios. And I didn't have Metagross because, I do not know where to find a Beldum. So know I need to complete the Delta Episode, which will be really hard to do. Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, dad ended extending his vacation out of the country in Barcelona! He doesn't get home 'til tomorrow night. We figured that since we got Oreo when he was away, why not get a second kitty while he was away? Lol. It was mom's idea. Her name is Joy and she is like six inches long! Oreo doesn't like her, though. He's been hissing at the sight and smell of her. It's really funny when he hisses. Pedro is doing just as fine as the other two duckies. Except, he's naturally afraid of everyone, when Alex and Andy aren't. Pedro has a black bill. Maga also got a new kitty. She is way more shy and scared than Joy. Her name is Princess Tiana. Princess was Addie's idea and Tiana was Aidan's idea. Maga had me get her from under Amare's bed twice. It took a while to bait her out of the corner with a hanger. So yeah... Wuv, Keaton

Dear Landon, Keaton got me playing Pokemon Revolution again which is pretty funny, I'll probably stop playing pretty soon because I'll get bored but who knows. I took the bros bowling and I got a triple in both games we played because I'm absolutely amazing. Then I hung out with some friends and we played some sand volleyball at night which was way fun! My team lost the 5 game series 3-2 but oh well. Mom kept getting red velvet cupcakes which are so dang amazing, I love them with all my heart. Amanda kept talking about stuff about her childhood so I kept thinking about it too. I kept thinking of songs we used to listen to as little kids like Now that we Found Love, and Sweet Dreams. For some reason those are the first two to come to mind. Hope you get more action in the mission field next week and some more rain because I bet you like a little moisture. Love you bro

• Dear Colton: Very nice. Keep up the good work on the basketball court! I remember those scout camps, they are a ton of fun! I never went to Jedi Camp (I don't think that it existed back then..) But I did go to a space one, which is pretty similar. Maga and you guys got a new kitty?! Whose idea was that? Hahah I don't it was Dad's.. Oh no.. That's a bugger when cats don't get along.. Maybe Oreo just needs some time. He is use to being the man of the house.. Haha. Well.. Good luck! 
• Dear Cooper: Yup.. I heard from Colton that Maga AND you guys got new kitties! Just give it time with Princess. She is adapting to the new environment.. The same with Oreo and Joy. Oreo is use to being solo, and the man of the house. Just give it time, I hope it will work out. Summer League.. Just the rookies and sophomores play right? Haha I don't remember which game I was playing.. But I believe I have a shiny Metagross... Maybe you can find it! 
• Dear Keaton: Haha that is a pretty brilliant idea, while Daddy is away. PLEASE tell me how he reacts! I am dying to know Ha! Ah Oreo.. He needs to chill out a bit.. How old is Oreo now, and how old is Joy? What if when Joy becomes an adult, they have kittens!? Ahhhh.. Kitten love. Triste (Poor) Pedro.. Haha Princess Tiana.. That is.... Interesting. You guys should've asked me for some awesome Mexican name for Joy! Well.. "Joy" en español es "gozo" pero.. Joy is a girl, so "Goza"...? Haha maybe..
• Dear Callahan: I remember Pokemon Revolution.. That is a pretty fun game. Triples? Dang.. That is pretty good! Haha, volleyball is pretty amazing. I just miss being able to play beach volleyball. It is the best there is. Dang so close.. Red velvet? Be careful.. Those can fatten you up really fast! Haha the song that always reminds me of you is UP, but I don't remember who it is by.. But that was when you were a lot younger. Another one of my favorite things of our childhood is when I would do ridiculous things to make you laugh! It was always hilarious. Tenga una buena semana, mi hermano.