Choosing the right BIG can be so difficult‏

We were thinking about doing something really, really BIG for our last term at the Institute.

Then we came across a protestant church which is situated right next to the I-5 freeway on the north side of Seattle.
After looking at what they have done, we are thinking BIG may not always be a good thing.

Here is a picture so you can see what we are talking about:

Now we are not exactly sure what they were going for. But apparently the city thought it was too BIG and won’t let them occupy it.

What do you think? We don’t mean to be condescending, but we can’t imagine even the Zoramites erecting such a tower. In fact, our thoughts honestly ran along these lines when we first saw it:

Now, from this stand they did offer up, every man, the selfsame prayer unto God, thanking their God that they were chosen of him, and that he did not lead them away after the tradition of their brethren, and that their hearts were not stolen away to believe in things to come, which they knew nothing about. Alma 31:22

We can’t imagine that reaction was what the church was going for. But just what were they thinking? Which elderly widow of their congregation was going to ascend up to that tower to pray or worship?

Perhaps the tower is just a sign of the times. Speaking of signs of the times, when we go walking every evening, we see this great sign:



We couldn’t have placed the sign better if we tried. We just wished more of the people in those cars knew how to read. Anyway, there are quite a few casinos in and around Seattle due to the several Native American reservations.


Back onto more spiritual matters, it always turns out to be a good thing to sit back and watch the Lord in His wisdom rather than counsel the Lord isn’t it?

Here at the University of Washington, the single wards’ Bishoprics are somewhat similar to BYU single ward bishoprics. But in some ways they are different. For example, Bishops tend to serve in the single wards for 8 to 10 years. Think about it! Can you imagine having the energy to serve in a single ward for 8 to 10 years? We wonder sometimes how these good men find the energy. But we now see evidence why the Lord has these good men serve these longer periods.

Unlike BYU wards, a large number of the students are converts, and recent converts at that. This means, the single UW ward is basically the only “ward life” they have ever known. Having a Bishop who has been in the ward long enough to really get to know each of his flock can mean a big difference in convert retention.

Also, other long term needs can be addressed that may unintentionally slip to the wayside if bishops were changed as frequently as they do at BYU. For example, a young man named Sean got his mission call back in 2006. Sean didn’t have any worthiness issues, but he decided a mission was not for him. But in 2006 a wise bishop put Sean under his wing. Sean responded well and this same Bishop then called him to be his ward executive secretary. Sean has served there for two years and has remained active. In fact so active, he and a group of his buddies just returned from a “road trip” where they visited over 25 temples in a two week period before school starts again next week. Sean has now matured. He has matured to the point that he made up his mind to see if he could return and serve his mission. It will be almost 4 years, but just a little bit ago, he and this same good Bishop got the approval for his return!

Sean is an outstanding young man and would have been even if he had never decided to return to his mission. But just think what this will mean to Sean and his family. Our hearts are so glad for him! And these are but a few examples of why sometimes we have found it is better for us to be patient until the Lord reveals why He is doing what He is doing and what His timing is.

Speaking of time, we can hardly believe our final school term is upon us. After the long quiet summer, signs of the new school year are breathing new life back into the Institute. Yesterday we witnessed the baptism of a young South Korean student whose nickname is “K.J.” K.J. is one of the most diligent students we have ever met. He will be a great asset to the Church in South Korea when he returns. Each Sunday brings a new wave of students into the three single university wards. Just when we thought we were getting a good handle on knowing all the students, here we go again! It is going to be such a challenge trying to remember all these new students’ names.

This upcoming week will be a mad dash of final preparations. This fall, we will be teaching four – 2 credit hour – classes. Mostly Book of Mormon, but with one New Testament class. Also the first week Institute “Kickoff” is going to make us wish a little for the slower summer days. Basically it will be a week of sign-ups, barbeques, parties, touring (and lest we forget, also teaching.) Anyway, it begins! And this is where we need to end this email.

Love,

Elder “Mike” & Sister “Jenny” Thornton

P.S. Not that we are fair-weather fans or anything, but what happened to BYU? At least we have UW to root for this week, who knocked off No. 3 ranked USC!

You too can become fishers of blackberries & students

As echoed in the lyrics of the 1969 pop song called Space Oddity,

“Ground control to Major Tom. , , , Planet earth is blue and there is nothing we can do, , ,”


The sky today is perfectly blue. Mount Rainier looks spectacular. September is absolutely splendid!

Yet, September at the Seattle Institute is also a very odd month to be a missionary.

Just as all of Europe takes August off for “Holiday,” it seems all of Seattle takes September off for “Weather.” The Institute itself was closed for the Labor day weekend. Students and investigators are all but non-existent. But have no fear, we remained at our post. Well, sort of, , ,

Here is a picture of our final summer class, held down in West Seattle last Tuesday:

Actually it is a picture of only about half the class. The other half already left last week to go to various places, like BYU – I.

Down in West Seattle, most students are facing some pretty hefty challenges. But face and grow from them they do.

For example, the one gal in the middle, (dressed in green sweater, purple shirt, pink shoes,) just got her mission call. She is about as out-going and positive of a person as you can possibly imagine. And she just finished graduating from BYU – Provo. She also put her charisma to work as an EFY counselor. She is just great with kids.

So what is her challenge? Guess where she got called? The Provo, Utah Mission! Once she got over the initial shock, (the only mission she was fearful to be called to), she wrapped her heart, might, mind and soul around it and got way excited for her mission again. She realizes this is not her work and humbly accepted where the Lord wanted her to go – even if it is back to the very place she just spent the last 4 years going to school and working.

She will be a great asset to any mission! In fact the girl in red and black plaid standing next to her is just one of the many less-actives or investigators she routinely brings with her to our class and to church. She is going to be a great missionary. We are just honored to have had the opportunity to discuss the gospel with her this summer and all the other great students in West Seattle.

Speaking of greatness, take another look at the summer class picture above. If you look closely at the person sitting on her knees, you just might recognize her. Even though she fits right in with all those “young,” single students, she is actually a mom of four, a wife of one – a friend to all, a big happy 25-year anniversary salute to Michelle Wimmer and her husband Greg!

Greg and Michelle came and visited us this past Labor day weekend:


Greg had to leave after the weekend (something about work, work, work, to feed and clothe their naked & starving kids, yada, yada, yada,) but Michelle stayed a few more days and pitched right in and whipped up a wonderful dinner for our “last class of the summer.” It was a Thai curry dish that everybody LOVED. She also sat through our teaching of the last class without falling asleep. In fact she sat right by a less-active student and helped her with scriptures and thoughtfully answered her questions. Thanks Michelle!

Bonus; She even cleans up after herself! That is an art Michelle and I have tried and tried to teach our current companions, but with only limited success. Wait a minute, maybe Michelle and I can go on exchanges! Greg and Mike can go and do that which they do best. You know, “talk, talk, talk, , , clear your throat and pontificate really deep thoughts like, , , ‘back in our single mission days,’ bla, bla, bla, then BYU football talk, then more mission talk, talk, talk,, ,”

While, Michelle and I, “chatter, chatter, chatter, , , ‘wouldn’t so-and-so student be so CUTE with so-and-so?, , ,’ giggle, giggle, giggle, more chatter, chatter, chatter, , , ,” BUT at least we do the shopping for the Institute while yammering. Because, as everybody knows, although we are created equal to men - we just so happen to be “more” equal when it comes to “Multi-tasking.”

And Look! Here Michelle and I are multi-tasking while actually doing some missionary work with a cute couple on their bicycles.

We invited them to Church on Sunday and can you believe it, they came!
Okay, so it was kind of easy to get them to come to church. They were visiting from Alpine, Utah and were already looking for a place to come to church. But, we do what we can and the black name tag does the rest!

We were just thinking, do you think Greg & Michelle’s four kids would miss them very much if we kept them to help with the Friday Feasts until December? After all, about ½ the recipes we tried on the kids last fall came from the Wimmers.

It was such a delight to have Michelle and Greg join us. But, like we said, with the students gone right now, they really did not get the full effect. So to compensate, while the Institute was closed in observance of the Labor day weekend, we took off to visit some of our favorite places:


And of course, we had to stop and pick blackberries that grow like weeds everywhere around here:

But then, as soon as they came, they were gone. Not the blackberries, but the Wimmers.

Now we wait for the students to start coming back. We think it is kind of like the fishermen waiting on the river banks for the salmon to return each fall. Until then, we will keep our lines in the water and work with what we’ve got. We’ll keep preparing for the fall classes and keep picking a handful of blackberries or two.

And for a limited time, we are now taking reservations for those who want to come and help with a Friday Feast this fall. Especially if UW was your Alma Mater! Of course, you have to pay all your expenses to get here. And there is no monetary pay for the work. You have to be subservient, humble and willing to take orders. And Friday hours are, well, long. But besides all that, it is a LOT of fun! Open slots are limited and filling fast, so sign up early. October is already mostly filled. LOL! Remember, this is our final term!

Well, from the all-to-quiet Institute in Seattle, we leave you with the immortal last words of David Bowie, “Ground control to Major Tom. Hellooooo!!! Is anybody out there???? Can you hear us? Is something wrong? Is the circuit dead? , , , may God's love be with you, , ,”

Until we meet again,
Elder “Mike” & Sister “Jenny,” Thornton
Fishers of Blackberries & Students


P.S. Do you think David Bowie, aka, “elephant man” actor and pop star would have ever thought he would be quoted in a missionary email?

Bring em in, tri fold them up and its purple mania time!

Most all of the students have left for September break. We are down to teaching ONE last class until fall down at Myers way where Karen Beagles mom attends church. (I think of my good friend Karen every time we teach down there.) Anyway, next week we will be down to NO classes. Then in two weeks later it will get sooo busy we will have wished for these slow times. But, the temple opened back up again this week. So we will go be missionaries for the dead, if not the living, for a week or two.

However, we have tried to be creative.

This is a picture of “Jarod” (in the white shirt) and “Brian” (in the blue shirt.) They are two of our most favorite people in the world. During this slow time, Mike got permission to pow-wow with them and our business partner, Brad, over some looming business issues. So on Friday, they came up from Oregon and visited Fife, Washington to see a transfill operation like ours in Oregon. Anyway, when they were done, we invited them over to the institute. Jarod is not a member, but if he was one, his Bishop would have him doing all sorts of things because he is so people conscientious and friendly. And Brian is the same way. They are both just really great “people” persons. Anyway, Brian thinks he may have been baptized a member, but he doesn't remember and his wife is definitely not a member. So we gave them a tour of the institute and campus. We then told them about what we study here and of course about the Book of Mormon. They were both impressed. They asked some very good questions. We left them with a copy of the Book of Mormon and they both committed to read 3 Nephi 11 and so on. So, if we can't find enough students or investigators to teach, we will just keep bringing our own people in to teach. LOL!

Also this week, two of our students in our “Building Lasting Relationships” class are getting married. They were already engaged before they took our class, so Sister “Yenta” Thornton can’t take credit for this match. But we were so delighted and honored to be invited (and we went) to the temple to see “Kristen” receive her endowments. “Holland” and “Kristen” will be getting married this weekend. They are so great. Neither of them come from active homes. So it was so great just seeing these two young people, without any parental support, doing the right thing. A new generation starting their lives out the right way. What a blessing for them and the future generations of their family.

As for the rest of our week, we are starting to gear up for fall. It may not seem like much, but here is a copy of a tri-fold we are working on to help students see the necessity of finding time for Institute in their busy college lives:


Anyway, that is the Outside, and here is the Inside:

Those are just some of the many students we have been so fortunate to get to know over the past school terms. And if you haven’t guessed, “purple” is the official University of Washington” color! Anyway, we feel lucky we brought a computer with us that just happened to have Photoshop on it to do some of these things. But don’t look too close. Because, if they don’t look “professionally” done you are right! Just think how they would have looked if we hadn’t brought the computer. We would have had to resort to drawing stick figures and turkey outlines of our hands with crayons. Anyway, we are also working on a CES fireside flyer to announce Sister Elaine Dalton who will be addressing us in a few weeks.

We are also getting a “Linus” quilting project going for fall to have the students participate in as they sit around the Institute. So this fall is starting to take shape.

This weekend is Labor day. Mike, the other instructors, and most all of the young men around campus are just quivering with the excitement of college football that will bust loose this weekend. Who would have known that keeping up with college football was part of a mission? We just hope UW wins at least one more game than last year (0 – 20, ouch!) But new Head Coach, Steve Sarkesian has high hopes. Go Dawgs! (Being from Provo, “Go Dawgs!” just seems so natural to say anyway!) And at the same time we still cheer for Cougar “BLUE!”

What a great time of year to be on a college campus – but it is a little strange to have a college game start before the students are actually back in school.

We hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend.

From the “purple” capitol of the west,

Love,

Elder “Mike” and Sister “Jenny” Thornton