Counting and Keeping Your Companion Humble

No rain for 5 FULL days and counting!
Taking full advantage of our first sunny day, Memorial Day, we left early to go see Snoqualmie Falls:

Snolquamie falls are impressive. They are actually taller than Niagara falls:

We think Niagara falls still seem SO much bigger, but Niagara may in fact be OUTSIDE our mission boundaries, so these falls suited us just fine!

Of course, what good are BEAUTIFUL falls to guys like Mike, without seeing how they generate POWER out of all that falling water! (insert your own Tim the Tool man growl):

What is it about big pipes and the hum of water flowing through them at high pressure that creates such a guy magnet?

Mike could have spent the whole morning right there watching water turn into sheer electric power – (insert another primal AAuurgh, AAuurgh, AAuurgh!!).

So after a few minutes looking at pipes, I gently persuaded my loving companion to MOVE ON.

Because the walk down to the bottom of the falls was like walking through a rain forest was much more pleasurable than pipe watching. (Okay ,,, most of Seattle is actually a rain forest.) But, the forest around the falls was iridescently beautiful that morning:

And the Washington State Flower is now in bloom:

Well, we could have stayed longer wandering through the flowers, at least one of us could have, but it was Memorial day and we had yet to see one grave or tombstone to commemorate the day.

This raised a problem. We actually don’t personally know anyone who is buried near Seattle. However our problem was soon solved by good old Sister Garmin. Who is Sister Garmin? She is that GPS voice that basically takes us all around Seattle - like we actually know where we are going. Anyway, she located a cemetery close by.

Throwing all caution to the wind, we went. And it was just amazing what we ran into.

First we found the memorial for the greatest electric guitarist of all time, Jimi Hendrix.
As we stood there, we both tried to recollect just what were some of his songs. And guess what? We couldn’t remember one. In fact, we couldn’t remember even what band he played with. Okay, we have heard of Woodstock, but we are just sure he was famous for something else. Because the Seattle Music Experience, (which is a BIG deal here in Seattle), was dedicated to him. But apparently, we just aren’t astute enough electric-guitar aficionados to know. We did think though, that it was probably just too bad that a man of such talent was born into the world at such a time as the 60’s – in that he only lasted 28 years before his death.

Anyway, our attention was soon drawn to another part of the cemetery – the real reason for Memorial Day. At this little cemetery, about 200 military veterans and families had gathered for a commemoration. They had a few short talks and then it happened. What everybody had been waiting for. A full entourage of bagpipe and drum players playing Amazing Grace:

And then of course they had a 21 gun salute. So it just felt good to give honor to these veterans since we couldn’t be home to give honor to those we personally know and love.

The remainder of the week went pretty much as normal with our classes and teaching.

However on one evening the Institute Council sponsored a “Linus” blanket-tying event on campus.

Essentially the “Linus” project gives blankets to kids who have been traumatized due to various situations. For example, when firefighters are called to do a rescue of a child, once rescued, they use one of our blankets to wrap the child up. Anyway, it was a good project and bonus, several non-members joined in. Of the group in the picture, three are non-members. So bonus, some good missionary things were also happening at this event.

Finally, on Friday, the “ole” institute instructors (Bro. Knowles, Bro. White, & Elder Thornton) took on the young adults in a b-ball game to celebrate the NBA finals. They played a game to 11. They surprised everyone by winning. However, they were the first to acknowledge, had the game gone to the normal 21, they might not have lasted. And since Elder Thornton hit the game-winning 3-pointer, he might not be livable with for a few days. But since I am his companion, I have too, so I will do my best to remind him that hitting a 3-pointer after you have not taken a shot for over 3 years is LUCK and has nothing whatsoever to do with skill.

As you can see, some days it is a full-time job just to keep my companion, humble, meek and well-grounded. But I am up to it. I have had 24 years of practice with this particular companion (and counting, and loving it!)

We also do miss and love you all!

Elder (Mike) and Sister (Jenny) Thornton

Ring Out Wild Box

Missionary pixie dust has just been flyin’ around the Institute this past week.

This picture sums it up. But since you weren’t here, , , umm, , , maybe some further explanation is needed?

About once a month, the Institute Council sponsors a “Friday night” Institute movie. Can you guess the movie?

If you guessed something like “The Village People – The Sequel” just what are you thinking? (And just how old are you if you remember the Village People?) If you guessed “Hook” - Arrgh! That’d be Right! (What is it about pirates that makes you want to go around growling – Arrgh!)

We know, we know, , , you might be wondering what exactly does “Hook” have to do with serving a mission? Well, take a closer look at the picture and maybe it will give you a clue.

The guy on the far left? He is an investigator. The girl standing closest to him? She just got baptized a month ago. As for Pocahontas? She just got baptized a year ago. The red-headed young man with the hook to his throat? He just got his mission call this week to the Philippines. As for the rest of the shipmates, well, the guy in the cute pink tinkerbell shirt is the Institute Council President (also working on his PHD in ancient Hebrew studies. Yes, someday he may be teaching you Isaiah – AND having a lot of fun doing it.) The guy in the cute mustache? That is the Council Vice-President who is working on his PHD in chemistry. The girl-in-green most like unto Peter-pan? Sorry, but she just got engaged this week – more on her and a “box” later in this email.

Speaking of engaged, we went to an evening temple session with another couple (Kyle and Gina) who are, you guessed it, engaged. Gina took out her endowments and it was just a very wonderful day. Gina is the only member of her family and has been a member for only about a year and a half.

And just to show you temple blessings don’t stop once you leave your session, Mike received a double blessing of sorts for attending that day.

After the session, Mike went down to the recorder’s office to pick up the cards of those whom we had done the work for. At the office, a younger man stopped him.
The younger man hesitantly asked, “Did you used to teach at the MTC?”
To which Mike responded, “Yes, but don’t let my youthful black name tag fool you. I am now a ‘Senior’ missionary, and it has been over 25 years since I taught in the MTC.”
To which the younger man smiled and replied, “I thought so, I was one of your Elders.”
After further conversing with “Elder Jenkins,” (in our temple voices, of course) he introduced us to his wife and told us about their children and how their oldest is 16 years old and is already looking forward to serving a mission. Anyway, it is just so great to “reunite” with those whom we have come in contact with through the gospel. This of course, made Mike’s whole day.

I wonder if 25 years from now, if any of the students we are teaching will stop and ask us if we used to teach at the U-dub Institute? Let’s see, we will then be 73. At 73 what are the odds of remembering we even served a mission at the U-dub Institute? 73 - How will it be? What will the next 25 years bring? Will they go as fast as the last?

Speaking of time flying – since last we wrote, we celebrated our twenty-fourth anniversary! No transfer or exchange of companions for us! Well, at least we hope so! And that is true, even if I MIGHT have said something like “Honey, has the past twenty-four years gone as SLOWLY for you as it has for me?” And can you believe it, Mike wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that. But what I really meant to say was, it is hard to remember a time when we haven’t been together. Yes! That is what I meant. Anyway, that is my story and I am sticking to it.

We went to Maggiano’s (thanks Cherlyn Thornton for recommending Maggiano’s to us when we were in Boston, they also have one here in Seattle.) Anyway, the atmosphere is just splendid for such events and the crème brulee is definitely worth the zillion calories a bite for dessert.

We also went to a couple of other events over the past week.

The first was an exhibition sponsored by our Church
called, “Reflections of Christ,” by Mark Maybry

Perhaps you have seen it, or have heard of it.
Basically the artist has done some very tasteful photographs,
which drives home the point that Christ was a real man,
a mortal Messiah, not just some historical hero in a book.
If you haven’t see it, it may well be worth your time.

The website for it is http://www.reflectionsofchrist.org/


The second was a classical guitar performance by one of our Book of Mormon class students, “Peter Harker.”

Peter is on the right. His performance was incredibly good.

Whenever, we are invited to one of these concerts by our students, we love to go if we can. But it always causes us to ponder, “Now, just what were we doing in the pre-existence when all these other musically-talented spirits were apparently practicing?”

Okay, just in case, you think we spend all of our days going to movies, art exhibits, and concerts, we do have to work a little. In fact, we didn’t even stay to watch “Hook.” And this past week in our classes, we are very excited to have “Traci,” a young woman who is investigating our Church, come to our Wednesday night class.

Traci is a very interesting U-dub student. Among her many talents is she is an accomplished “unicyclist.” We are not sure which of the younger missionaries talked her into bringing her unicycle to the Institute. But each of the younger missionaries took a turn at falling off – and it wasn’t pretty. In fact, it looked like it might just hurt a little. Question, “Does the Church cover young Elders being hurt while attempting to ride unicycles? The young Elders weren’t quite sure, so they thought they had better quit. Elder Thornton decided our health insurance coverage excluded us from unicycle riding, so we respectfully declines. For which we were glad, because Traci then showed us all up and then some.

Speaking of our Wednesday evening class, we were also very delighted to have another student, a young woman, by the name of “Ahn,” join us. Ahn has been a member for an entire, whole – week! So, yes, we do get some missionary work done among our other duties with both investigators and new converts.

Lest we forget to finish the “box” story. Basically, the girl-in-green, “Robyn” just became betrothed to “George” who lives in Colorado Springs. (Just like at BYU, ‘tis the season.) Anyway, Robyn decided to fly to Colorado Springs to surprise George. I told her I had a sister-in-law in Colorado and wouldn’t it just be fun if I could arrange to have my sister-in-law meet her with a BIG box that she (Robyn) could fit into and be delivered to George. She was game and I called “Cherlyn” to see if she would. Of course, Cherlyn was happy to help, but then it dawned on her that somehow I had forgot Cherlyn actually lived in Fort Collins, NOT, Colorado Springs. Whoops!! One of those “Senior” moments. Sorry Robyn! Sorry Cherlyn!

Oh well, and for all those RMs out there, here’s some free advise, (so take it for what it is worth) - the pixie dust is flyin’, it is apparently the season to get your ring on or move on. As far as boxes go, they’re optional.

We love and miss you all.

Elder “Mike” and Sister “Jenny” Thornton

Windermere - Who's Your Mother?

“Hello! Is that you? Tell your dear Mom everything, anything, something!”

Just practicing, , ,

With over 50,000 missionaries out serving, can you just feel the LOVE of thousands of Moms awaiting their annual phone call?

So many questions, so few minutes.

Having been through a few of these phone calls, there is a real art to keeping oneself focused, on task and not drifting into imaginary, pre-conversations - all the week long - prior to the real call (And once we figure out how not to do that, we will let you know.)

How bad can it get? Well, lets just say when we went to the University wards’ stake conference this past week, we didn’t even notice we had parked a little too close to a fire hydrant AND when we came out of conference we found our car was gone. So, yah, it can get pretty bad. AND after paying the tow truck company $200 and the $80 parking ticket - that is our story and we are sticking to it.

We just hope our classes didn’t suffer too much because of our daydreaming. In our Book of Mormon classes this week we covered the 2nd book of Nephi. You know, the good ole writings of Isaiah. Thank heavens for Nephi’s and Jacob’s great commentary. It really does help, especially with our Mother’s day pre-occupation. It also makes one think – just how does the rest of the Christian world really understand Isaiah without the aid of the Book of Mormon? No wonder the Book of Mormon will be a key in the convincing of the tribe of Judah that the Messiah really has already come for the first time.

Can we also say it has also been hard to concentrate on the talks we have to give on, , , Mother’s day, , , – focus – focus – focus.

Ummh, what were we talking about? This must be what it is like to have A.D.D.

Seriously, we understand Richard & Sharon Jeppesen will be reporting on Sunday – we hope someone takes good notes and sends them to us – hint, hint.

Fortunately for us - now that Katie is out of the country, she has once again decided to blog.

http://www.katiegracethornton.blogspot.com/

Reading her blog seems to help us a little.

Also fortunately for us, we have had several extra-curricular activities to keep our minds in the present.

The first was “Seattle’s Got Talent.” This was a talent show put on by the three University wards. The young adults were actually very good (made us wonder, just what talents did we have in college?) Anyway, it was really a fun evening for everyone involved as these pictures indicate:

“Funny Man – Allen”

“Teresa & Bass”

“Amazing Geography Man” - okay maybe you had to be there.

“The Band of Bands”

The winner for the night was “Jon, Sax – o – Man”:

We could go on and on, but we realize these pictures may not mean much without sound – so there you go.

Another great diversion this past week was an event involving one of our Institute kids.

“Rowing” a boat is really, really big deal here in Seattle. Hey, what else are you going to do with all this water?

They even give full-ride scholarships and everything if you are good enough to qualify for a college team – which is just what “Sam” (short for Samatha) did. Anyway, we try to go out and support any of our Institute kids when they have big events.

And around Seattle, there is hardly anything bigger than (drum roll, , ,)

WINDERMERE!!!

Once a year, Seattle closes the University bridge for thousands of people to hang out and about on this biggest of all boating days.

Some come on little boats;

And they bring their dogs;

Some come on bigger boats:

Some wear those funny sailing hats and sailor suits;

Some commute in the strangest ways:

But, by land or by sea, they all come out;

To see these guys compete:

And compete they do:

Our “Sam” and her team swepted! (that means U-dub won it all!)

It was just a really fun day, with Sam’s parents (Sam’s dad is photo-ing) and friends;

Well, from the Rowing capital of the civilized world, we need to sign off so we have time to formulate our Mother’s day questions!

May your Mother’s day be as GREAT as it is in our minds!

(Don’t worry Grandma Sandy and Grandma Fern, your two little “Senior” missionaries have not forgotten your call.)

Love,
Elder “Mike” and Sister “Jenny” Thornton

Fe, Fi, PHO, Flu, Fum

To start this email, a big shout-out goes to Grandpa & Grandma Thornton. It was their big 50th wedding anniversary Friday night! In today’s world, just how many couples get to check that off their list? Way to go!!!

Yes, we are sorry we couldn’t be there and also that Sean or CJ couldn’t be there – something about not being able to leave your mission, , , Anyway, Katie was our last hope to have someone in our immediate family represent us at the party – but alas, even as we write this email, Katie is winging her way to Ecuador for a month with the BYU nursing program.

Speaking of which, yes, we are just a BIT worried with all this talk about SWINE flu and our little family being spread out over 4 continents. Not that we would want the alternative – no wishes here of anyone coming home early - but we are just saying, with all this talk, it does make one think of how blessed missionaries and members are around the world to be experiencing generally good health.

And Mike says our kids have nothing to worry about with swine flu anyway. Why? Apparently when he was in high school, his basketball coach had the whole team inoculated against swine flu. That was around 1977 and he has yet to catch it, so he is just sure it is still working. I will save you the horrific details on how BIG he now recounts the needle being, or how much it stung – poor guy – a little ironic he was a big, strong, Bonneville BEE. Anyway, according to “Dr.” Mike, he figures half his blood is running through our kids, so they should be at least ½ inoculated. And, if ½ inoculated is not strong enough, he has some very simple advice – PLEASE DON’T KISS ANYTHING RESEMBLING A PIG!

Of course, you may want to follow the above advice even in non-epidemic times. In fact, SEAN & CJ it is really simple for you - there will be NADA, ZERO, NO kissing AT ALL - until you get home! Keep your minds focused on the work and you will be fine. As for Katie, well, as we tell the young adults here at the Institute, (Surprise! We too were once your age,) so at least keep your hands washed frequently won’t ya? (Like we really needed to tell our little germ-a-phope “nursing” student that, right?) And finally (whew!) a word of disclaimer, if you did not know already, Mike is not a real medical doctor, but rather a Juris doctor, so take this advice for what it’s worth.

As for the Seattle mission front, it has been another interesting week of teaching and meeting up with some great people.

First our little Book of Mormon classes in Edmonds are growing a little due to the club fair we had last week and because of the efforts put forth by class members.

Second, it must be that time of the year for submitting mission papers by young students attending the Institute single wards. We have several young men waiting on pins and needles to see where they have been called (or as more correctly put, “assigned.”) It is funny how attached you get to some of these kids in just a short period of time.

Third, our evening class at the Institute on U-dub campus continues to grow. Two new students joined us this past week. One of them, “Aaron” is a fairly new convert. Aaron has been a little on the outs with the church, so it was really great to have him join us.

Fourth, it was also our good fortune, not only to get to teach our Book of Mormon classes, but to also substitute teach a Book of Mormon class for Sister Tucker. Why so? Well, in Sister Tucker’s class there is a student by the name of Sean. What’s not to like about that name? Also, Sean and his whole family happen to be very active members of a Pentecostal denomination. He doesn’t want to be taught by the missionaries (but we ARE missionaries, hah!) The reason why he is taking the class, is because he had several good friends in high school who are “Mormon.” Their examples gave him the desire to take a Book of Mormon class while attending the university. He is really a very bright and wonderful young man. He intently reads, asks great questions and is willing to accept truth rather than just ask cynical questions like sometimes happens. Anyway, being able to converse and discuss the Book of Mormon with him is just so wonderful. It is just one of the many examples of why it is so great to be missionaries serving at the Institute.

Fifth is Samatha. She is one of the students attending our New Testament class held in south Seattle. Samatha is also a non-member, She is from Taiwan. The “member” students in our class just love her and she is now starting to reciprocate their friendship. She even brought a “rice” bowl soup (very SWEET) to class to have us all taste. Even Mike was venturous enough to taste it and loved it. And for all we kid Mike, he really will eat about anything with a smile on his face - at least the first bite.

Speaking of being venturous, friendly, kind, generous and just an all around great person, it was our honor to have a recently returned missionary, none other than, (drum roll please, , ,) Sharon Jeppesen, drop by for a visit towards the latter end of the week! We say “venturous” because we picked Sharon up from downtown Seattle, where she was attending a very proper, fine, and oh-so, etiquette-experience with her wonderful daughter-in-law, Mindy at the downtown Seattle Women’s University Club.

We whisked Sharon away from Seattle’s high society and brought her back with us to the U. district. There we walked up the “Ave” and suggested lunch at a little dive where a soup called “Pho” is served. For those who do not know what “Pho” is, (it is phonetically pronounced fuh,) Pho is a Vietnamese soup that has various Asian vegetables in it. You then choose what kind of meat you would want with it. Whatever kind of meat you choose – anything from brisket to tripe to various and assorted fish parts – it is then cut, raw, into very thin strips. The raw strips are basically just thrown into the soup just before it is served to you. Have no fear, the soup actually does cook the meat. Anyway, for about $4.00 you get a HUGE bowl - about as BIG as you could ever eat. And that is just the medium size – even Mike can’t eat the “large.”

Also they have a drink called “bubble tea.” For us Word of Wisdom observers, you don’t have to worry. It isn’t what the name suggests. Basically it is a Jamba-Juice type of fresh fruit drink – Honeydew or Mango is our current favorite. However, the “bubble” part is this – they put LARGE black tapioca beads in the drink. I know, I know, that sounds really weird – but if Mike likes it, well, need I say more – it can’t be that scary. And it is really quite good and refreshing. Anyway, Sharon was a true sport and we hope she enjoyed our little lunch experience on the Ave. We know we did! After we asked her a 100 questions, we took a stroll through campus. Sharon is no stranger to the U-dub campus. Duke University and the University of Washington are on the top of her list of favorite campuses. Anyway, we then went back to the Institute and have this picture to prove it:

Well, all good things must come to an end. We left Sharon in the good hands of her son David, (at least we hope, we actually dropped her and Mindy off at a COSTCO and David was supposed to come and get them.) Anyway, we hope everyone’s health is in good hands, or at least everyone remembers to wash their hands!

Love,
Elder “Mike” and Sister “Jenny”
The newest Pho Seattle Missionaries

P.S. Next Week - Windermere photos and much, much more