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

Zone-ariffic Adieux

“Shlawkee, shleckee, shlawkee.” Loosely translated that means “The gospel has been restored.” Or that is what we think it means.

You see, from time to time we are delighted when we have time to assist the younger missionaries with a discussion or two. This past week we sat in on a lesson by two sister missionaries who were teaching in Mongolian. In most languages, when people are having a gospel discussion, even if you don’t know the language, every once in a while you will pick up on something like “Christus” or “Josef Smit” or something that gives you a hint of what they are talking about. Well, apparently not in Mongolian. We sat through a 45 minute lesson and did not pick up on one single word. Zero, nada, zippo. They might as well have been talking about a Mariners’ baseball game.

However, even though we didn’t catch a word, the spirit was still there. You could still feel the spirit working through these two young missionaries to bear testimony of the truth to our new little friend from Mongolia.

This past week marked a milestone for us. We attended our “first” zone conference! What you say? Our first? Yup. Even though zone conferences are held every six weeks, we have our own classes and other obligations we have to attend to. But finally a zone conference was held on a day when we didn’t have any conflicts. It was great! Don’t get us wrong, we love our mission, but being Institute missionaries does leave you a little isolated from the other missionaries. So to have a chance to rub shoulders with a whole bunch of missionaries at one time was a real treat for us.

And can we tell you how strong the spirit feels when you are surrounded by 60 young, articulate, well-groomed, and excited missionaries who are singing their mission song, as fast, and as loud, as they can in a chapel? Okay, maybe it was because we were having visions of perhaps what it is like for an Anziano Thornton in Milan, Italy to be attending a zone conference and an Elder Thornton in Nairobi, Kenya to be attending one there. Yes, one “Senior” missionary couple got a little choked up just thinking about them while being surrounded by all those young elders. They are just so great!

And Elder & Sister Arnold, the visiting general authority & spouse, weren’t too bad either. Of course, how could Elder Arnold not be? He was raised as a fellow spud from Rockland, Idaho. Salute! And boy is he organized. We think he gets more accomplished each morning by 8:00am than what we do in an entire day. We still have so much to learn from others don’t we? What a good example he is to set such a productive pattern, especially for these young missionaries to follow and incorporate into the rest of their lives.

On yet another missionary front, we were invited to go see the Church’s property out on Vashon Island. The Church was donated a 100+ acre farm on Vashon Island which they are trying to turn into a camp. Anyway, there is a legal battle of sorts, so until everything gets settled, (its been years) they have a missionary couple whose job it is to be the caretakers of the farm:

It is hard to see, but this beautiful farm used to be a Morgan horse farm. Its right along a south edge shore of the Island. In addition to its beautiful wooded landscape, it also has beautiful views of the Puget sound. Anyway, the missionary couple spend most of their time just trying to keep the place looking like this. They do a great job. But they sure were glad to see us since they don’t get too many visitors. So if you are looking for a nice & quiet service mission, this might be just what you are looking for.

And speaking of visitors, we had a plethora (I just love saying that word) of visitors over the past two weeks.

First, we had the Dave & Lori Wise & family come for a day or two. They like to take their family on vacations that re-create history. This year’s trip was based upon Lewis & Clark’s epic adventure into the great Northwest.

And wouldn’t you know it? The Wises ran into the same problem Lewis & Clark ran into on their epic journey. That’s right, their alternator went out on their car. They ended up spending their first night sleeping in their car waiting for the mechanic shop to open up the next morning in Ontario, Oregon.

But, as Dave explained to their kids, that was the exact spot where Meriwether Lewis’ car broke down when he crossed the border into Oregon. Except, back in 1803, alternators were made much better so Mr. Lewis had made over 3,000 miles before his alternator actually gave out. Fortunately, his mechanic, by the name of Sacagawea, installed another and they were quickly on their merry way. And today, if you look real close at a Sacagawea dollar, you can see that alternator she carried in her right hand clear back to the Napa auto parts dealer in St. Louis so she could get a refund and pay for their entire trip.

A day later, the Wises did arrive. We met them at this historic Lightpost. Dave says the post marks the exact spot where Lewis told Clark “this is the spot President George Washington wants his library.” (or maybe Dave is getting this confused with “Lois & Clark?”) Anyway, that is how Washington University Library came to be around 1948. Oh, and if you look closely at the rusty, pointy, thing on the right, Dave also says that is where the next “national treasure” movie is going to have a major clue. There is a HUGE hidden vault of treasures right under that triangle.

And it is just by sheer coincidence that the handicap arrow is pointing directly at the point of Dave’s brain that stores all that accurate historical data. And as Mike is fond of pointing out, of course, the most important reason why anyone should study history in the first place is so that when you visit a historical site, you can go around correcting the tour guides.

Well we did have a little pity on the Wises. Since they spent all their money on an alternator, as missionaries, we thought the least we could do was take them down to Seattle’s soup kitchen so they could at least get something to eat before we sent them over to the homeless shelter for the night.

Don’t they just look happy? Or maybe Dave just likes to make people nervous by smiling like that.
Anyway, isn’t it just amazing how a little hot soup can melt away all your alternator troubles?

We then left the Wises in the good hands of the local authorities and wished them well until we meet again. Adieu, Adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow.

(Okay, if you don’t know by now, Dave & Mike were college roommates and they tend to get a “LITTLE” carried away when they get together.)

After the Wises left, we then had another pleasant surprise. My niece, Rebecca decided on a whim to pick up my mom and drive up the Oregon coast for my niece’s birthday. As they traveled north, they dropped in to see us and we were able to take a day to visit Orca Island and such.

We just LOVE visitors. Especially of the Mom & niece variety.

We did run into a slight problem. You see, when we went down to the water, there was this little tiny island at low tide you could just walk out to.

However, the tide started to come in faster than we anticipated and, , ,

You probably guessed that the water covered the trail back and it got a little deeper than expected trying to get back to our car – whoops!

We then toured another island and ran across this beautiful garden many of you probably recognize:
We have annual passes, so come on by!

We then said our “good-byes” and please, “please come again.”

We then had our final surprise visit of the week. Mike’s niece, Joy & her husband Alex (and darling daughter Jacklyn) McClean swung on by for a quick visit. We were so really happy they did! They live in Rochester, New York and we have not seen them in years. So we were more than happy to give them a good old Institute and U-dub campus tour:
And so ended our week. We attended our normal 3 sacrament meetings today and now it is time to go for a walk.

It is summer here in Seattle. All but one of our summer classes end next week. We LOVE getting visitors!

So don’t think you are of any bother if you decide to drop on by!

Mike will be happy to give you the “real” Meriwether Lewis tour!

Until next time - Adieu, Adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow.

Love,

Elder “Mike” & Sister “Jenny” Thornton

Sweatin' & Solacing in Seattle

Bracing for Blastoff?

In the summer time, things are a bit “dead” around here. That gave us an idea. Why not go and work for the dead? (I know, we are just brilliant aren’t we?) So we got permission to go do temple work each Thursday this summer.

So, as usual, on Thursday we started to drive from the University area to the temple area in Bellevue. The fastest way to get there is by using the “520 bridge” over Lake Washington. It is actually a beautiful “floating” pontoon bridge that looks like this at one end:

And it looks like this as it spans over the lake:

Unfortunately, bridge traffic mostly looks like this:

Slows downs to screeching halts happen all the time.

As we made our way onto the bridge, some “mishap” at the far end of the bridge brought traffic to a complete standstill. Mike quickly applied the brakes to avoid what would otherwise be our 4-runner becoming “one” with the cars piled up ahead of us.

As we started our rapid slowdown, we heard a great tumultuous noise coming up from the rear. At first it sounded like a large semi-truck applying its brakes. A nano-second later, the sound turned into a ROAR and deafening high-pitched “SCREACH!!!”

We instinctively braced for impact. Frantically we stared into our rear view mirrors. Just how far back was that earth-VIBRATING Thunder coming from? Just how many cars were to be blasted off the bridge like falling dominoes? Un-nervingly we could not see our fate.

Then in a heartbeat - the maker of all our fears appeared. Streaming from our far right, only to be gone in an instant overhead, the Navy’s “Blue Angels” thundered by. They were flying really, really low over Lake Washington. Apparently they do this every year for Seattle’s annual “Sea Fair” event. You would have thought someone would have told us! And don’t you normally “see” the jets before you “hear” them? What is up with that?

Once we got our hearts beating again at a normal pace, we then drove the rest of the way over to the temple. It’s welcomed serenity was especially “calm” and “cool” considering Seattle’s current heat wave.



That’s It? Really - a New Record?

Our first fourteen years of married life finally paid off. How you may ask?

Well, for the first fourteen years (7 in a 2 bedroom apartment in Orem & the next 7 in our Provo home) we had no A/C. Since 90% of all Seattlites - our own term of endearment, like unto Mulekites, Lamanites, Nephites, etc., - since 90% of all Seattlies don’t have A/C, they are melting! But not us. Mike hasn’t even taken off his jacket – okay, that might be a little strange – but it’s kinda fun in a strange way to be here to experience the new all-time high in Seattle when it hit 103˚ on Wednesday! Whaa Whoo!

Okay, the “real” story is, the “Insty” does have A/C. So we have little complaining to do until we go home at night to our apartment. Then the jacket comes off (as actually so does most everything else, hah! Take that you monster heat wave!)


He knows why we are here

As mentioned before, over the past two weeks, everybody, the director, the full-time instructor and the secretary have all been gone. That has left us two little mice to run around doing most everything. But it has been good. Like we said, summer can be a little slow. Anyway, yes, it is fun to be teaching “extra” classes over the past two weeks. And, yes, it has been very rewarding to be teaching our own classes this summer. And, yes, it has been nice to have the time to do some extra gospel studying. But, sometimes the “other” experiences, the experiences that just happen because we are here, are just as rewarding (if only we had the patience to allow the Lord to His part.)

For example, we have been trying to give extra help to one of the Insty students by the name of “Will.” Will is a young man in his mid-twenties whose life changed dramatically about 8 years ago. (Will is very open about his life’s story, so we aren’t telling you anything he would not.)

As a teenager, Will went to a local Seattle area high school. He was a star on his school’s football team. He had lots of friends and dated lots of fun girls. He attended church regularly. When he turned sixteen, he was given a brand new pickup truck. For all appearances, Will seemed to have everything going his way.

However, Will was not happy. In fact, he was so unhappy that one night, while he was driving his new pickup down a lonely highway, he did something horrible. He suddenly punched down hard on the gas peddle. He then followed an urge and intentionally swerved right in front of an oncoming semi-truck.

But for the grace of God, Will should have died. Will intended just that. But he didn’t. In an instant, Will’s earth life changed permanently in ways he never could imagine.

Over the next 3 years doctors did their best to repair the damage done to virtually all of his organs. They also performed reconstructive plastic surgery. The doctors did their best, but his broken body would never be the same.

No more football. No more being able to drive. His “friends” and girl friends drifted away until there was none.

Will is still the same on the inside, but his brain is now slow to process thoughts. His speech is now halting and slurred. He is able to walk, but in doing so, his walk is very labored and slow. Doctors tell him he may improve over time, but it has now been 8 years.

Will continues to get professional help to assist him with his emotional challenges. But he still has “good” days and “bad.” Most of time, the wonderful students here try to help Will the best they can - with both his “good” and “bad” days. They know inside that broken body is a child of God. It is truly amazing to see how his fellow students render such respect and kindness to him.

Yet there are days, even weeks, that Will gets down. This past week was one of them. Will has been trying to find some part-time work to help him with his bills. The economy is slow right now, and that makes it even tougher for people in Will’s condition. For example, when he applies at Burger King, instead of the normal 5 or 6 applicants for a position, there is more like 20. Will has a difficult time competing with 20 others who are more physically capable. And of course, Will has the normal challenges of people his age. He worries about his “thinning” hair. He worries about whether he will ever get the chance to marry in this life, or for that matter, will he ever go out on a date with someone who would take him serious.

We try to help Will the best we can. Quite frankly, we don’t have answers to many of the problems he faces. But we are here to comfort. We share stories of the warehouse falling down and Mike breaking his leg and how just as it seems darkest, a light will eventually shine forth. We softly testify to him that he does not have to face his challenges alone. We re-assure him and testify to him of a kind and loving Father in Heaven who knows Will’s earthly plight. He has not forgotten Will. He has never given up on Will. Will is still here on earth for a purpose - a meaningful purpose.

By the time we finish most of our visits, Will is smiling. Smiling is something he still is so capable of doing that brightens everyone’s day. As he leaves for the day a little brighter – a little cheerier, we know it is not us who brings him hope. It is that wonderful Spirit of comfort. We likewise feel blessed just for having the opportunity of being here.

In closing, may we be so bold as to leave you our testimony. We know the great God of this Universe knows the plight of each of His imperfect children. He cares. He commands angels, both in heaven and on earth, to assist us here. We are never alone. You, and each of your loved ones, are not excluded. You are His. This we know.

Love,


Elder “Mike” and Sister “Jenny” Thornton

Trip-Trap Trip-Trap! Whose in charge here?

Happy, belated, July 24th to all you of Pioneer stock! Of course you who live in the shadows of the ever lasting hills know that this is THE day when LDS kids everywhere are supposed to dress in their best polka-dot bandanas and flock to their nearest ward building parking lots. There, in parade style-fashion, they are to honor our pioneer heritage by being pulled around in little red wagons or by peddling around on their tricycles trimmed in colored paper. Finally, they are to be rewarded for their valiant efforts with that good old-fashioned treat - loved by all who crossed the plains – the orange creamsicle.
Life just does not get any better than that now does it?

Well, despite all that was going on in Utah, Friday came and went in Seattle without a single “Howdy” from any buckaroo & roo-ette! In fact, the “Insty,” (what we have fondly named “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint’s Seattle Institute of Religion Building”) was closed in commemoration of the day. So, no red wagons, no creamsicles, nothing. We spent most of the day at the temple, hopefully doing some good for those of our honored pioneer past.

Yet, despite the Friday pioneer let down, this week has been a little busier than most other week this month. The reason being, the Director AND the Full-time Instructor, AND the Institute Secretary were ALL gone this week (– AND they will be gone all next week as well.) That left just us two missionaries in charge.

We know, you are probably thinking – “What? Leave that Thornton couple in charge of the Insty? Are they Crazy? Do they know what Mike is capable of doing to a room in 30 minutes or less?”

Well, we did promise not to use any open flames or fireworks. But hey, that still left us a lot of wiggle room.

So, since we need to raise a few funds for an upcoming Institute party, we made a “slight” change to the building by temporarily changing it this:

We figured by turning the Institute into a Hostile, we could cook and provide room and board to enough students so we could really help out the budget. But, alas, as it turned out, most of the students seemed to have disappeared this week. So we took back down the sign. (And yes, we are just KIDDING. This is just a building along the freeway going to our apartment. The Institute is still safe and sound – despite leaving us in charge.)

However, the reason this week was a tad more busy, was because we had to teach early-morning seminary while everyone was gone. Since we have never taught seminary, (and I am not sure Mike EVER attended seminary – but somehow he did manage to graduate) we were a little bit nervous. But, it turned out to be quite fun. The class topic this term is “Mission-prep.” And since we just happened to be “Missionaries,” it wasn’t too big of a stretch. The ½ dozen students were actually quite attentive - at least a lot more attentive than we were at their age. So it was really fun, and we are looking forward to teaching them again next week.

In our other classes, we had a few more new students show up at our Tuesday night class. It is always exciting to see new faces. However, our Wednesday night class suffered some temporary casualties. There was apparently a conflicting “going away” party for some of the interns returning to Provo. We can’t believe they would skip out on our class for some FUN party (Actually, we were just miffed that we weren’t invited.) But all in all, it was a good teaching week with the additional classes we are substituting for – at least until everybody gets back.

And last, one of the biggest surprises we had this week, was one we found underneath the bridge that goes across Lake Union;

This is the “underneath” portion of one end of the bridge. The “Surprise” is when you turn around to find:

You got it, there is a BIG troll under that bridge! (And, yes, that is Katie and me. We actually took this picture when Katie visited us earlier this month and we just wanted to share it with you. So now is better than never, , ,)

We can’t believe the next time we write it will be August! Where is this summer going? We hope your summer is going well for all of you too!

Love,

Elder “Mike” & Sister “Jenny” Thornton

P.S. We received a few emails wanting copies of the 38 points we talked about in our last email on the “Family Proclamation.” We will try to email a copy of the Proclamation with the numbered points sometime in the near future. Thanks for all your input! Yes, we are also going to try to put all these emails into a blog. Thanks again for all your wonderful support!

Just Chillin' with our Gnomies!

So can you guess what we have been studying in our “Building Lasting Relationships” Class?

You guessed it, the First Presidency document entitled:

“The Family ~ A Proclamation to the World”

As you know, it boldly goes where no other church on the face of the earth dares to go.

And if you go through it line by line, you can find 38 unique gospel principles within the 4 corners of that inspired document (and counting.)

How did the First Presidency pack so many principles into such a short and simple document? The more and more we study it, the more amazing it becomes.

Of course, here in Seattle, “The Proclamation” is the focal point to some pretty emotionally charged debates. So it has been good to discuss it concepts. In doing so, the young adults are better enabled to articulate a positive position without getting so emotionally defensive.

As we made final preparations for class, Mike came up with a “brilliant” idea. You know, one of those simple, easy-to-do, last minute things he tends to just spring on me now and then. Basically his idea was this, “Since we are studying the FAMILY Proclamation, why don’t we just whip up a good old fashion FAMILY meal for the students while we discuss the issues? You know, something simple, like roast turkey, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy and such?”

Of course, the word “Simple” is not the word that went through my mind. I quickly found myself reminding Mike that somehow our “little” class has grown to, oh, I don’t know, a class size of about 30+. A simple “roasted turkey, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy for just a small group of THIRTY? Just what was he thinking? We don’t feed that many at Thanksgiving. Plus there was no time, there was no budget. No, no, no, I am telling him!

So on our way to Sam’s Club to pick up a turkey and the potatoes, (I never could say “no” to that man,) Mike did promise to peel, cook and smash all the potatoes and I actually talked him out of making home-made rolls and just buying some. And I have to admit, when it was all said and done, it actually didn’t turn out to be that big of an ordeal. Besides, most of these kids don’t see home cooked meals for long stretches. So it probably is the least that we can do for them now and again.

But just to top the week off, I reminded Mike it was also “Bastille day” this past week (French Independence day – Having served in France, of course, I still just have to celebrate these things.) Anyway, with it being “Bastille” day, I couldn’t go without making a crepe or two. And of course, once I got the crepe maker out, Mike once again talked me into making enough crepes for our other night class. So there you go. It is just lucky we are only teaching two night classes this summer term. But I have to admit, it is fun to eat and mingle, and not just “lecture” the kids. It really does give us a chance to get to know each of the kids a little better. What is it about breaking bread with someone that tends to breakdown their inhibitions? Well, anyway, getting to know each of these kids at little better is one of the best parts of being here.

And, we really do discuss real gospel issues (in between bites at least.) Hopefully, in addition to the food, we are getting a better handle on “the how” to keep these kids interested in institute, who are just brilliant enough to be hanging around the Institute while they are working on their doctorate or other college coursework. They are so great. We are so very blessed to be here.

So, until next week, just try to remember our summer P-day slogan:

And try to do a little yourselves. Thanks again for ALL you do!

Love,

Elder “Mike” & Sister “Jenny” Thornton

Pin a Rose on your Nose - There she blows!

Did we tell you summer days around the Institute are just a bit slower? We suppose it may be that way from time to time no matter where you serve in the Lord’s army. There simply exists gaps in this great work at times no matter how good the planning.

No matter. Before the big ramp up for fall, we were encouraged to take a few moments to “smell the roses.” So we have been giving a few tours around campus to a few institute visitors this past 4th of July holiday week.

And among them were Mike’s parents!

Just how swell is it to have your very own parents visit you while on your mission? We asked that question to the “younger” missionaries and they didn’t think we were very funny.

Well, of course, we gave them the full campus tour.

Then we took them to church:

Okay, not an actual church, but a large room in the University of Washington’s library.
It kinda reminds us of something like unto the Hogsworth great hall doesn’t it?
Anyway, it is very beautiful. And it is where we would go to study if we were aspiring wizards.

We also were able to spend sometime with them touring some beautiful gardens:

And yes, we stopped to smell some roses:

Then we said our good-byes to Mike’s parents and “Surprise!”

We then said Hello again to our daughter!

That’s right. Katie dropped in to fill out the remainder of the holiday week.

Of course we did not forget our main duties around the Institute, even with the extra visitors.

Can we tell you how much FUN it was to have our RM daughter attend our Tuesday night institute class. As you may recall, the class is entitled “Building Lasting Relationships” – (aka “eternal marriage prep” class.) Yes, there she sat, “captivated” so-to-speak. While her dear old parents lectured on and on about the importance of dating and temple marriage. Okay, so she might not have been hanging on our every word. And she might have had to roll her eyes a few times at some of our comments and jokes. But did we tell you how fun it is to have a daughter who doesn’t think her parents are the most embarrassing people on planet earth? She even raised a question and made a comment in class. How cool is that?

Since it was the 4th of July weekend, we did reward her for not walking out on us in class by taking her for a day visit by ferry boat to a nearby island. While there we . . .

Rented some mopeds and drove around the island. We found this cool lighthouse and more, , ,

And can you see that dark pointy thing out in the water?

At first we only saw it from the distance, then, , ,

Orcas look really cool out in the wild! (especially when you blow up the picture just a bit.)

And they look even cooler in pods:


And they even sound cool when they “blow.”

Anyway, it was just a fun experience with Katie.

Notice the cute “wind-blown” helmet-hair look after being on the mopeds:

And if you look even closer, you might notice that one of us got stung by a bee, right under the eye – Oouch! In fact, that same person got stung, not once, but TWICE. We aren’t saying who, but our little “bee-magnet” in red still looks great doesn’t she! Despite the stings, she was a real trooper and still enjoyed our company.

Upon leaving the island, on the way home, we then got real close to the land made famous by, , ,

You guessed it, that crazy series of teenage books that once you start reading you can’t put down (but are also too embarrassed to let anyone know you are reading them, hah!)

Well, the 4th here in Seattle ended in a big bang:

Actually, we went home and to bed without seeing them firsthand. But we heard from the students Seattle fireworks this year were fantastic and as always free! (It’s Mike’s pet-peeve that Provo is the only place on earth where you have to pay to see the fireworks.)

Well, Katie is now back in Provo herself.

We remain here holding down the fort and trying not to lead too many students astray with our summer teachings.

We love and miss you all and promise to write something more “missionary” in nature now that all our company has gone.

Hope your summer is going just swell!

Elder “Mike” & Sister “Jenny” Thornton