Hello

Well, just to let you all know I'm still alive and having the time of my
life. We get to go this week to Swaziland and go on safari!!! I'm really
excited and promise that I will try to keep out of the way of angry or
hungry animals! I love you all!!

ellen

here in africa

Well, it has been a hectic week here in Africa, we are always doing something, and when there is a free moment, it is the perfect time for a much needed nap. I have tried all week to get on the internet, but the computers were all down and it just seemed like all of my efforts were not going to ever pay off. Anyhow, I am still alive here in Mozambique Africa and am quite enjoying myself. We got to take a very stuffed minivan ride to the district of Changalane one hour out of Maputo where we are staying and we attended a big parade kind of thing and then the president of Mozambique, Gabuzo, spoke. It was quite an expirience and we also got to see some traditional dancing and things like that. I have also had the opportunity to teach about AIDS prevention in some schools and in the communities. We are getting to be kind of experts. We also taught the school of teachers how to do country dancing which was really fun and exciting. They absolutely loved it and taught us a couple of their dances.


Here we are with our neighbors at Changalane, very patriotic with our flags and all, and we did sing their national anthem a couple of times.

On Sunday we got to teach the Primary. Elyssa and I are basically totally in charge, and it was so much fun to sing and just to be around these darling children. There are also a couple of kids who speak english and they are really excited that we're here to explain things to them once in
a while. I love the fact that I am able to have missionary experiences as well where I work and just in general in the community. Africa is a beautiful place and i am really enjoying learning about the culture, literature, and just getting to know the people. I love you all and will write again in a couple of weeks probably, when I can get to the internet again. Kisses!

ALSO NOTE MY FRIENDS' BLOG: www.hayniesisterssummeradventures.blogspot.com with photos and everything

ellen

Re: Africa

My dear family,

Well, things are going very well, we have kind of gotten into a schedule. I work at an AIDS prevention and testing center until noon every day of the week and then in the afternoon we have classes. We have a cook who prepares our meals for us and so I will probably come back with another couple of pounds in remembrance of Africa. Sometimes we are doing stuff
and so we don't get around to our class until after dinner, but it is really awesome. I really like the classes, they are edifying and fun at the same time. It is also very nice because we are really needed here and so everywhere we go there is a lot to do. For example we performed in a
presentation put on by the students at the college and I will be the Primary chorister at church. It will be a lot of fun to help the kids learn, and I do so love the songs! It is a good feeling to be needed and useful to someone. On Saturdays we do cultural things like going into town and seeing the sites. We are very careful, and it is great to have Professor Williams around who knows a lot of people and knows where everything is. It is such a great opportunity. I do so love the people here, they are just people, and I love people! Yep, and that's all for today...Love you all and hope you're doing well!

ellen

Here we are with one of the authors Malangatana at his studio/home.

I'm in Africa!!!!

So, after a whole lot of traveling and not sleeping I made it to Mozambique, Africa. I have got to talk to a lot of people and am really going to have a great learning experience. I also am learning some cool songs and traditional dances. Fun stuff! I get to work in an AIDS clinic and help do teaching and prevention as well as testing, and whatever else I can teach them. It is great! Love you all and see you soon!

ellen

a note

on my way to mozambique...I love Portugal and have been having a great
time! I'm still alive!

ellen

I'm home!

Well, I made it to Portugal safe and sound and this morning as I was in the train going north, as soon as we got into familiar territory it really felt like I was home. It was a good feeling. I do so love this beautiful country! Last night I sang in a fado club. It was really fun and the guy who plays the funky portuguese guitar said that any time I was in Lisbon I would have to come sing with them. It was nice because I also met a very nice couple from the united states and they picked up my tab...and so it was an excellent night because I got to sing fado with the backup band and I didn't even have to pay a cent. I was blessed all along my trip, it looks like someone would like me to return safe and sound, so thanks for all of your prayers, because they are helping. Well, sure do love you all!

ellen

Other exciting news!!!

Well, I leave for Africa in two days...but even more exciting that that...I went and got myself engaged. Hyrum from Arizona has asked me and even more crazy...I said yes! So, it won't be until December that we tie the knot, so hopefully you all have time to meet him. Clear your calenders before Christmas.

ANOTHER BABY

Yes, once more I am an aunt...that bring the count to 16. Ten beautiful girls and six handsome boys. Martha and Blair, along with Keturah, Alaina, Marah, and Charles are pleased to welcome SARAH to the world. She weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long! Beautiful baby!

Yet Another Baby...this one a surprise

Yesterday the 11th Deann and Zac had their fourth girl, after an emergency C-section. Monet Isabela is doing really well for being in what was her predicted 34th week. Hopefully she'll return to her Mom tomorrow (great birthday present for Mom). Everyone's healthy and we just can't wait to see her cute little face.

NEW BABY!

Here are some great pictures of my newest nephew born Saturday, March 31 at 11:something. He weighed 9 lbs 5 oz and was almost 22 inches long. He's sure a cute kid! Also note the adoring older brothers Joseph and Caleb.

this week

Well, have had a great week and am just loving everything that I'm doing.
I'm not doing anything too exiting...but am keeping out of trouble. I
went to a temple wedding on Saturday, that was a beautiful ceremony! I
had never attended one before, live so to speak, and I really enjoyed it.
It made me realize that it's worth whatever wait that there may be. This
weekend I am going to be pretty busy with the service project, but we'll
see if we can't arrange a little time and find a date, just a date, not an
eternal mate, unless he just happens to show up...Sempre as ordens!

Samuel, eles me mandaram a coisa para o scholarship de Shining Mountain
entao vou submeter isso ja, se posso. Tambem um dia destes vamos receber
a informacao sobre os taxes e depois posso submeter todo o resto das tuas
coisas. Tambem uma coisa fixe...acho que podes receber um SMART grant
porque a tua area e precisada ou qualquer coisa assim. Entao, vamos ver.
Bom trabalho o meu irmaozinho. Te amo e sou muito orgulhosa tambem. Es
um grande homen!! Continuacao!

ellen

Yipee!!

Good news!!(no, I'm not getting married and don't have a boyfriend--sorry)

After weeks of holding my breath and being on good behavior (you all know
how hard that is for me) I made it into the Masters of Portuguese program
at BYU!!

I start in September with the masters classes and it will take about two
years, so I should be graduating in April of 2009. My acceptance is of
course contingent on my completing the courses in which I am currently
enrolled and in which I will be enrolled during the spring and summer
semesters. So, with the 16 credit exam (testing out of the lower division
credits) I will gain more than 46 credits of portugues in a nine month
period. No wonder I feel tired!

Also, in connection with the portuguese department, in order to attain my
goal, I will be attending a study abroad/internship in Moçambique Africa
(country just north of South Africa, just west of Madagascar) I will be
teaching English and AIDS prevention among other things as well as taking
9 credit hours. I leave 26th of April right after winter finals and get
back 24th of June, just before the summer semester. No rest for the
wicked!! It will only be 80º there as we are going during their winter,
so I won't have to swim in the India Ocean every day, maybe only every
other ;)

And I think that is the only exciting news that I have....I love my
classes and love work and am envolved in church (I am chairing a committee
that is in charge of a 400-600 person service project on March 24, should
be fun). Hope everything is going well with all of you! Drop me a line
anytime! (if I don't respond right away be assured that I will soon)

Film of Life

A very thought provoking, introspective clip that you're sure to enjoy.


<http://www.thedashmovie.com/> http://www.thedashmovie.com/

[Fwd: Hello Aunti]

Dear Aunt Ellen,

h aw was your mishin and who did you trch i am going to
have a flamly ronyronly and you and your flamly will came
to and my moms flamly will to i hop you will came the
and it is the nunbrs the 14 42 36 54 that is it.
Love
Naomi

Dear Aunt Ellen,

Listen to your family and always help your dad when he calls you. Any
time you want to visit Aunt Hillary just go there. Anytime you want to
visit me again you can. And whatever you want to do you can do it by
yourself. poiujhhyui .,';lkop=-098iuytrewqasdfghnm,nnb
;lkjjhgfdssaqwwertyuiop[';,.nmnbhyuuiiop[ouuyy0098765432ddsfdghuhjmkk,kkk
.,mk
opohj.h,jjjjjkljjuhhghhjhjghjhjgfrswaqckhnjnbbnnbbbnfdfddvbvbbvbmbmbmmbmn
bmbngvngfvdcbjhnjhjhjmmnhmnbgbnbnhnmbnbnbh
jkhiyyyyy7tt64eeertdjghhjhjhmjkjhkjkjhjhbgg;lhnj;mkklkkj.kjkljkl.j,;kpjo
joipipoujyouhiiulikkhklklukhuhjjhjjbjkkjhghhftrghghghjkjkkl

Love,
Rachel

Re:

Mama,
Thanks for your example of endurance until the end. I am always so proud
to say that my parents are really building their own house and shed with
their own hands. I know now where I get that itch in my head telling me
that there is nothing that I cannot do. It may take me a while, but I can
do it. I am so thankful for that legacy that definitely was left and is
being left by you and Dad. Yep, thanks also for the quote.

One cool thing in my gospel studies: I have been reading five minutes
every morning and then later on in the day I read more when I have time
and carry my Book of Mormon with me in my backpack. Anyway, I decided
that I would study for 5 minutes each of the scripture masteries. I read
today 1 Nephi 19:23 and after pondering all day wondered what makes the
writings of Isaiah different than the books of Moses. It says he
preferred Isaiah because it helped to persuade them to believe in the Lord
their Redeemer. I have now decided to, during those other periods of
study in the middle of the day, at night, and on Sundays, put some study
into the book of Isaiah. I plan to read it from beginning to end and
catalog all of the attributes of the Savior, and really make that my
study. I am really excited, and already I love it. I have only studied
the first 4 verses, but it is already awesome.

Classes are going well for me, I really am having fun learning. I get
excited when I have to do research, even though it is time consuming, it
is a lot of fun....so I guess I'm doing the right thing. I got my
graduate application in this week, which was a huge relief and got the 9
page research paper in. I have a couple of fun things due this week and a
test or two, have to keep myself out of trouble.

Socially things are going well, I did go on two separate dates this last
weekend. They were fun. No, I didn't get revelation as to who will be my
husband, sorry to disappoint. I also went up cross-country skiing with
Elizabeth Lewis. It was a full moon and we were up there at night. It was
beautiful and I didn't even die or anything, although I did have a very
graceful and lucky fall as I neared a grove of trees. My tail-bone has
been a bit tender since then, but it reminds me and always brings a grin.

So, yep, that's me. Love you!!

ellen

['The Mormons' on PBS]

I hope it's good press!

Deseret Morning News, Sunday, January 14, 2007 'The Mormons' on PBS
takes aim at stereotypes By Scott D. Pierce
Deseret Morning News PASADENA, Calif. - Award-winning filmmaker Helen
Whitney has one over-arching goal for her four-hour production "The
Mormons," which airs this spring on PBS.

Helen Whitney
"I hope that most of the stereotypes - ideally, all of them - will be blown
away," she told the Deseret Morning News on Saturday. "Because so many of
them are just based on ignorance. Ignorance about Mormon history, ignorance
about Mormon theology. Ignorance."
The two-part, four-hour documentary, a presentation of both "American
Experience" and "Frontline" - their first co-production - is to air
nationally on April 30 and May 1.
After spending three years on the project, Whitney is well aware of the
stereotypes and ignorance that's out there.
"Most of the time when I bring up what I'm doing and I talk about it with

people, the first word that comes up is polygamy," she said.
Indeed, introducing the documentary to a gathering of television critics
from across the country, it took only moments for the subject to be raised.
It was addressed in the first question asked of Whitney and a panel that
included KUED's Ken Verdoia and authors Will Bagley and Terryl Givens.
(And, interestingly, in addition to asking about the Osmonds, television
critics - learning that the men have Utah ties - assumed all three are
active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; only
Givens is.)
Whitney has no illusions that "The Mormons" will answer all questions
about the LDS Church.
"It is not exhaustive. It is not comprehensive. It is thematic," said
Whitney, who worked with both LDS and non-LDS consultants. "I have chosen
what I felt to be the defining ideas and themes and events in Mormon history

that would help outsiders go inside the church."
It's not altogether chronological, but "roughly so."
The first night, on "American Experience," addresses LDS Church history,
with themes that include revelation, persecution leading to exodus, polygamy

and "the great accommodation" when the church renounced plural marriage.
The second night, on "Frontline," deals with the modern church -
missionary work, family, temples, dissenters and "the extraordinary
transformation from a people who are outsiders and pariahs to the
mainstream. It is one of the great, neglected narratives of American
religious history," Whitney said.
Also timed to air in April in conjunction with the two-part documentary
are three "Antiques Roadshow" episodes filmed in Salt Lake City, looking at
memorabilia from the West and early days of the LDS Church.
"The Mormons" is not a film about Utah. Whitney traveled across the
country, from New York to California; she sent a film crew to Ghana.
"Mormons are everywhere, and I wanted to make that point," she said.
"There are more Mormons outside of America than in this country. And even
within America, there are many Mormons outside of Utah. So only a small part

of it was shot in Utah."
She spent three years working on the film, interviewing "hundreds and
hundreds of people" ranging from LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley to
everyday church members to those who are openly antagonistic toward the
church.
She attended ward meetings and made visits with home teachers; she spoke
with people who had been excommunicated.
"The Mormons" will no doubt displease anyone who doesn't want to hear a
negative word about the LDS Church. At the same time, it's going to anger
those who don't want to hear anything good about it.
The LDS Church was "absolutely cooperative" in the making of the film,
said Whitney, an Emmy and Peabody Award winner who profiled monks in "The
Monastery," profiled John Paul II in "The Millennial Pope" and looked at
religion in the wake of terrorism in "Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero."
"They had seen my films. They realized ... that I was not going to
approach them and be uncritical but I would be respectful," she said. "And
it would be an intelligent film and searching."
Whitney's goal is not to recruit people to become Mormons, nor is it to
discourage current or prospective members. She is hoping, however, that "The

Mormons" will prompt viewers to examine their own beliefs.
"I would also like them to take a deep and searching look into their own
religion and see the ways in which there are commonalities as well as
uniqueness and difference," she said. "I think that by looking into the
Mormon heart, you look into your own."

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good week

Well peeps, been a good week. Really enjoying what I'm doing. I was
really impressed yesterday by the orientation at work. It was the best I
had ever attended and I think I'm going to talk to the people at work back
in Denver and give them some tips. I really was quite impressed. Also, I
am excited about all of my classes. It's going to be a great year I
think. So, yeah. Otherwise, life is just pretty busy. Oh, and I did meet
my new roommates the other day. I think I'm going to like them. It is a
little bit different to be among so many people. I am kind of in culture
shock a bit, but it's good for me. I went snowmobiling yesterday
afternoon. That was fun! We got up to 80km/hr on the straightaways and
had fun sliding around some fun corners. I was very careful and was
wearing a great helmet and everything, just so you know Mom. Um, yeah,
and I think that's just about it. I'm excited to be alive.

ellen

my great week!

Well, today is Thursday and it has been a great week for me...Here we have
a couple of highlights:

Sunday December 31- January 1
I got to hang out with Martha and Blair at Blair's parent's house and
really loved every minute of it. I had fun with all of the little
girlies, and Charles. The fireworks on the street were also fun. Happy
New Year!!!

Tuesday January 2 - Wednesday January 3
After a great visit to the temple and taking care of business I had:
The First Day at my new job! I even had a personal phone call at the
beginning of my shift from Jane and Doug in Singapore (how he managed
it, I'll never know) It was kind of fun. The work is just like I
remember it and the staff is great. I'm really excited to be able to
work there. The Lord always knows what He's doing. It is also fun to
be able to walk to work (10 min) and school (15 min) from my house, got
to keep those cute calves in tip-top shape.

Wednesday January 3 - Thursday January 4
Another great night of work...wow, this week I was really a night owl.
Three big nights and that's all that I have to write about. the rest of
the time I was having all sorts of sleeping fun. Oh, and also during
this week (I believe it was on Monday) I read the 6th Harry Potter book,
just getting me geared up for the 7th...in all it's glory, and I
finished the Ensign already for January. It was fun to have it done on
day one.

Well, that's probably enough for one day....Have a good one! It's great
to be alive!!!

ellen

january 2nd

It has been a good day. It got up to 46 degrees so I did my wash and hung
it on the
line. It always smells so good--sunshine fresh. Then I hear about the
snow in
Denver and south to New Mexico--3 feet plus drifts up to 6 feet. It's
hard to
believe. So I am happy that I live in the "banana belt".

I have been working in the house cleaning, putting my material in totes,
working on
projects for nursery. Dad has been at the new shed. He is putting gravel
on the
roadway, measuring and cutting things for the shed wall, bending rebar for
the brick
ledge and getting ready to work. I'll been busy in a few days unless it
turns cold
again.

Tonight I am going to a Relief Society activity. I haven't done that for
awhile.
It'll be good to socialize with some of the sisters.

I haven't made any New Year Resolutions. I think I'll just let things
happen and do
my best this year. I need a year without so much stress. I did finish
the Book on
Mormon on New Year's Eve. This year I want to read it in English and French
(together so I can understand both better.)

Well, Happy New Year!
Love, MOM

To Samuel

Hey there my brother, and the rest of the family!

So, sorry that I have now turned into a writing slacker. It's kind of
different when you don't have a schedule to follow. Being a real person
is good, but it is also a bit wierd and different. I'll get normal soon
I'm sure. Anyhow...life is going well: I have an apartment (actually it's
a house and I have the basement room in the corner); I have everything
lined up for a very full year of portuguese study at BYU and am currently
in the middle of some "light reading" borrowed from one of the professors;
I got today an offer for a part-time night position at Utah Valley Medical
Center paying 21.17 hour, I may accept this, but I'm kind of waiting for
the American Fork people that I also interviewed with to give me an offer
and then I'll accept the best of the two.

Other news...I don't think that there is any. It's fun to be able to
live. I'm so grateful for the Lord's continuing blessings. Everything is
just falling into place, which can only mean that the Lord is watching out
for me. I love you and hope everything is going well in the greatest two
years of your life!

love you!

ellen