Life in a Northern Town: FAMILY LETTER 03.11.18

Dear Loved Ones

Three weeks have flown by without me recording them but those three evenings were spent doing good things so I have no regrets—just fading memories! I think last time I wrote we were heading to dinner with the Jones family on February 18^th. That was a delightful evening. The next Sunday Grandpa and Grandma Melin joined us for dinner and a family night discussion about the Aaronic Priesthood, which we are studying to help James prepare for ordination in September. The next Sunday was March 4^th (“March Forth!”) and we had a Youth Fireside at our house. Then this Sunday we had Grandpa and Grandma over again for Mexican dinner and watching “Coco,” which movie we LOVE and have watched about 5 times the past week and bawled out eyes out every time! The hearts of the children are turning!

Anyhoooo, I can hardly remember other details of the past three weeks. I started an online October General Conference Study group on 2/19 and we are still going strong, We are in the middle of priesthood meeting talks this week. Our ‘niece’ (Heidi Buchert Egan’s daughter) Maggie Egan got her mission call on 2/20 to Utah Provo Mission, MTC 4/11. We got to skype in and watch her open her call and that was so fun. The next day was Papa Post’s and nephew Sam Post’s birthday, and nephew Owen on the 23^rd—yay them! On Saturday 2/24 we took the kids to Museum of the Rockies after chores. We watched a star show and explored the machines of ancient Rome, then went to dinner at Whistle Pig Korean-yum! That Sunday I got to chat with Sara, Dana, and Sam, which was really nice. Sam got released from the bishopric and called to the high council and he is happy to be able to sit with his family in church again (Kristen is probably glad about that, too). On 2/27 I got to feed our sister missionaries and go to Relief Society meeting. It was nice to have the sisters over and hear the conversion story of Sister Galloway. On Friday 3/2, we received sad news that our dear friend George Buchert, Papa B, passed away after a long fight with mesothelioma. Our hearts ache for our Buchert family and rejoice in his wonderful life. On Saturday 3/3, the girls and I had a date night. We went to Gil’s for food, then to see “Big River” at the Shane Center. Lots of our friends are in the show, including the entire Petry and Denniston families, and it was a great show. I had a ton of fun with the girls. On ¾ we had a lovely fast Sunday and a “Sunday Evening Devotional” at our home with the youth. 13 kids came and we watched some of Sister Eubanks’ BYU forum address and Elder Palmer’s April 2017 conference address and talked about discipleship and shepherding, about how it’s not enough to just obey the commandments, but that true disciples “could not bear the thought that any soul should perish” and help the shepherd nourish his flock. That seems to be a huge hole in leadership training—we learn how to check boxes and make calendars and stitch quilts and donate food and have meetings, but do we get our hands dirty and our hearts broken and do the actual hard things Jesus would do if he were here?

Last week was the week of Spring concerts and illness. Everyone has taken a turn being really sick with a gnarly sinus cold that just lingers! Monday night we enjoyed James’ band concert and were amazed at how much the kids have progressed in 18 months of playing their instruments (and for James it has been only 6 months because he moved from trombone to French horn this year). Tuesday was Heidi’s awesome choir concert. It was scheduled at the same time as the Spring sports meeting at the high school, so Rich took the little guys to support Heidi and made videos for me to watch, and I took Addie to get all signed up for track. She has been running 3-4 miles 4 times a week for the past few months and much to our surprise she wants to join the track team, which is super cool. Wednesday was a crazy day, with an emergency meeting at the middle school at the end of the day. I had to scramble to get Niles picked up (thanks, neighbor Rebecca!) and ended up having to buy fast food dinner (ack!) because we had so much going on in the evening and I was feeling so sick. I got the kids all off to YW and scouts and Rich came home early to help me because I just needed to go to bed. He’s such a hero J Thursday I had Niles and Ammon home sick, and I was sick, but they only feel sick at night and go stir crazy during the day so I didn’t get much rest. We all went to bed early though and we are starting to kick this cold. Friday I had parent-teacher conferences for Ammon and they were delightful. He is the sunshine of his class room, hugs everyone, plays with every one, and knows 16 letters and their sounds and his numbers up to 13. I am most proud of his kindness and communication skills. He is such a little lovie, I can’t imagine our family without him. Saturday 3/10 was a chore and rest day for me, but Rich worked on the VW, then took the kids to Bozeman. Addie got fancy new running shoes and Rich made a Costco run. Saturday night my friends Natalie, Naomi, Robyn, Margaret, and Lisa came over to watch “Wonder” and chill by the fire. It was nice to get together. Sunday was a lovely church meeting. The theme for the month is temple work and Sister Cotant shared the near death experience of a three year old boy who was shown the importance of temple work (you can google it—NDE birdies). It was really touching, especially for Mom and Dad Melin who were sitting by us in the meeting. I know they work hard every single day in the temple to “free the birdies from their cages.” As I mentioned, Mom and Dad came over and ate Mexican food with us, then watched “Coco”—more tears were shed over the beauty of eternal family relationships. I got to tell them about how Dia de los Muertos was celebrated in Tucson, and how it is so much more than a “Mexican Halloween.” We talked about how much the movie was like the book of Helaman in the the Book of Mormon, with themes of “I have given you the names of your fathers so you will remember them” and “Remember, remember.” We love the song “Recuerdame” but my favorite is the closing song that Miguel sings to his family, “Proud Corazon”:

Say that I'm crazy or call me a fool

But last night it seemed that I dreamed about you

When I opened my mouth what came out was a song

And you knew every word and we all sang along

To a melody played on the strings of our souls

And a rhythm that rattled us down to the bone

Our love for each other will live on forever

In every beat of my proud corazón

Ay mi familia, oiga mi gente

Canten a coro, let it be known

Our love for each other will live on forever

In every beat of my proud corazón ---[(Video: https://youtu.be/yoX88L5Ig7Y ]

We are so amazingly blessed to know what really matters. In a world that is coming apart and searching for the reasons, we know: family is everything. The cure for everything that ails us, including school shootings and mental illness and addiction—whatever, is having a loving family, a place we belong, and a soft place to fall. And knowing that the family is eternal and the foundation of celestial society gives even more purpose and meaning to all that we do in life. So many people are lacking those things, “wherefore how great the importance to make these things known unto the children of men” and to share the abundance of family peace and love we have with those who have none. It’s the best and only lasting solution to the troubles around us. We love you all and wish you a healthy, happy, productive week! Xoxo

Love, Jamie and Rich and Family