2.22.15

What a fun week this was! It helps that there was a holiday weekend,  so the week wasn't that long and for preschool we did the letter "r" which was robots and rockets. Two of my favorites!

We left monday morning after flags to drive to Portland.  It was so sunny and beautiful! (For February) I was feeling a little bad because Rays family lives back east and it has been severely cold and snowy back there! I was taking pictures of our car thermometer,  starting at 68 degrees and it kept going up.. until 72 (just for a few minutes there).

A great story, though,  I posted on facebook the temp and "I'm  on my way to Portland. " My childhood friend that I've known from the 4th grade and now lives in Salem Oregon,  comments and says, we're on our way to the Portland temples visitor center, can we meet up?! So long story, short .. we got to see each other!! And go to the Portland temple visitors center. I'd never been there before.  It seems like whenever we go to the Portland temple, we're in a hurry.  So that was pretty cool, too. And as I mentioned,  it was gorgeous outside, so it was really cool to walk around the temple!  (It was closed for cleaning)  I love seeing my friends!  We hadn't seen each other in about 10 years, so it was so fun to catch up!

We got lots of tax free shopping done in Portland.  We also went to Voodoo Donuts.  I wasn't too impressed. . I guess I'm too practical. My donut was good.. but not fantastic!  (Maple bar with bacon on top) But it was super expensive.  So we've gone once and had that experience.

We spent the night and did some more shopping the next day. It was so beautiful outside that part of the time I just sat on a bench outside and soaked up the sunshine!

Last week Ray and Keagan went and got new suits, so they had them for this Sunday.  I'm not sure if Keagan has ever had a new suit and not a hand me down... He was pretty cute!

Today was our ward conference. 

It went pretty well.  I love hearing Pres. Copin speak to us in Sacrament mtg. And I love being able to sustain our prophet and apostles!

A funny keagan story.. he's been texting this girl, Morgan for a while now off and on. And I'm proud of him because I know he likes her, but he wants to be good and not have a girlfriend.  (Also he likes lots of different girls, which at his age is good, too) so, he met this other girl at the last stake dance, olivia.  She just happens to be in Morgan's ward. He's been texting her, too. We tease him saying,  you have to be careful. . I'm sure they talk to each other. So, Saturday he's texting both of them. He comes running into the living room, covering his face and saying, oh my gosh that was awkward!  Hahahaha

He was texting morgan and she was telling him all about this stake dance in Tacoma that her mom was going to take her up to. Then he was texting Olivia and she said she was on her way up to a stake dance in Tacoma (with morgan in the same van) He said he didn't know what to say.. hahaha. . That he already knew or..

Oh keagan!

Sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors,  I had to type it on my phone.  (That's mostly for Leslie Oliver who I fwd this too also. ;))

Have a good week! 

Love ya!

Sister shoop

2.15.15

This was a good week. It was mostly sunny and warm (for winter).  It was in the 50s and 60s! Saturday we drove through downtown. It was gorgeous! There is one picture from that.. while Bro. Shoop was driving, I tried to get a picture of the Capitol. Beautiful!

Also we did some good missionary work. We had Jennifer NIeche over (she just got baptized a few weeks ago) for new member lessons with the missionaries. It was really good. She has a few questions, nothing too big, but things like, what are gentiles & Jews.

Larry also came to church with us. Ray got to give a talk, so I asked the missionaries to sit with us, so it wasn’t too awkward for me to be sitting with Larry. Larry actually stayed the whole 3 hours. He’s come to church a lot, but I’m not sure if he’s ever stayed the whole time before. The other little sad news is that Elder Bing is being transferred to Gig Harbor and we’re getting an Elder Short. I always get a little too attached to our missionaries and I’m sad when they get transferred. I’m sure the next one will be great, too.

We were happy to get our income tax check this week, so we have been doing a little shopping, which is always fun when you have $. Keagan has been needing a new suit. We went to K & G in Tacoma and got the males in the house a suit. Keagan was so cute and funny, strutting around in the suits.. He cracks me up! 

So a couple Keagan stories.. The one of him smiling, sitting down, he is talking to Melissa on the cell phone. It was Sat. night, Valentines Day and the stake dance. He was wondering if he should give the girl he kind of likes some chocolates in a heart shape.. He couldn’t decide and was pacing around the house trying to decide, which was pretty funny to watch, I tried to get it on video, but didn’t. So, I told him to call Melissa. She was out on a date with Chaz (someone she’s been dating the last couple of months) and he answered the phone! haha, it was pretty funny, so they put Keagan on speaker phone and were giving him “advice” OH MY GOODNESS... we were all laughing so much and Keagan.. pooor Keagan just didn’t know what to do. Even when he was getting ready to leave, he was like, should I take it... and then ... he chickened out and didn’t and then when he got home, he said he wished he would of.. I’m so glad I never have to be 15 again! HAHA

Another funny sweet Keagan story was we were watching a “bad” show... Sister Wives, one of those reality shows. Well one of the daughters is converting to be LDS. She is going to school in Logan and she had the missionary lessons and has decided that is what she wants to do. She (the girl getting baptized) was saying things like, I felt really good when I heard about it, and Keagan was partially shouting at the t.v.... saying something like, DUH, that’s called the spirit, it was there, that’s what happens when you read the BoM. Oh my goodness, it was funny, but also made my day that he was saying these kinds of things and getting so worked up over a silly tv show!

 I subbed at Pleasant Glade and was on recess duty. I wasn’t expecting that and wasn’t dressed warm enough. I was freezing. That morning was cold and foggy. I was out on the playground just a couple minutes early and the Kindergarteners were coming out with their lunch trays. They were so funny. They were asking me, who are you, what are you doing here. One of them said they were Kindergarteners and so I said, You’re Kindergarteners and then another said (as he stood up taller) no we’re first graders, then another said, no (and in a deeper voice and standing taller) no, we’re 2nd graders. Oh my goodness! They were cracking me up!

This is Keagan when he was 3 or 4. He has always loved "doing" his hair. He got into the gel..

Well, its late so I need to go to bed. We are going to Portland tomorrow to do some tax free shopping and spend the night there. We’re excited! There is no school Monday and Tuesday and Ray took off Tuesday, too. (He already had Monday off for the holiday). So, I guess I’ll see who I hear from tomorrow with the Holiday. (I know, it won’t change anything for all you out of country people)

Love ya!

Sis. Shoop

2.08.15

Hello to some of my favorite people!

One of my favorite talks is by Elder Bednar, “Tender Mercies” I remember when I first heard it and how it just touched me. I have always had a strong testimony of Heavenly Father’s love for me and others. Sometimes I am amazed at the little things that he takes interest in and really cares about. I had one of those “little” moments this week. I was trying to figure out a simple art project for my preschool class on the three pigs. I knew what I wanted to do, make 3 houses with one of straw, one sticks, and one brick to go with the story. I was looking all around my house for a simple square and triangle so I didn’t have too much to cut out. I came across my sticky notes and thought, oh those are the perfect size, I will use that as my pattern and cut them out. Well, then I had the thought, why don’t you just use the sticky note as the square shape and then you don’t have to cut anything out. Pretty simple, yes. But then I immediately knew that although it was very simple, it was not my thought, it was a tender mercy given to me. As simple as it was, it helped me save a lot of time and I knew that my Heavenly Father loved me and cared about me – even through my simple tasks. (Imagine how much he cares about the bigger things!) I put a picture of my art project...

Oh, Poor Melissa! She gets sick so easily! If there is anything to get, she will get it and it will be worse! This week she called me and was complaining about back problems and was in a lot of pain. The next day she had a temp of 103 and went to the dr. She got lots of different blood tests done and found out that she had an urinary track infection that got worse and turned into a kidney infection. The dr said it is fairly common in females. So she was waiting for her test results to come in and was in so much pain that she had to go to the ER Sat. night. They gave her an iv and morphine. Now she is on 3 different antibodies.

It has been really hard with her being so far away on both of us. I want to be there to help her and she wants the help! But we have been blessed with lots of people helping her out. The picture of her in the hoody is with Sherri Kay Miller. That family used to live in PA and she was the YW president when Bro. Shoop was in YM. (She must have been a young yw president...) They live near Provo now. She came over and brought Melissa dinner.

The 2 other pictures of Melissa are pretty self explanatory. In the hospital, getting her drugs and iv.

The other picture.. only in WA?! Keagan and I were driving and saw them holding the sign, “Legal Marijuana” +21  OH MY GOODNESS! We were laughing so hard and he got a picture for me!

We had a baptism this week in our ward. I don’t know much of the story except it was a young married couple that had just moved to our area. She was an inactive member. Her husband, Corey got baptized this Wed. It was nice. There was a lot of ward support there and his wife, Dallas gave the talk on baptism! Corey actually got up and bore his testimony today.

ok, a fun and little crazy story of me...  My baptism anniversary is Valentine’s Day. I was baptized when I was 10 years old. When I turned 8, we lived in Alaska. We lived on a tiny little island near Ketchikan – Metlakatla. We were in a tiny little branch. I think the most people we had was 20 or so people, 3 or 4 families. Since my bday is in January, they wouldn’t let me get baptized in the ocean, it was too cold. We moved back to WA when I was 9, but by then I was too scared of the water to get baptized. (I still have a little bit of water phobia). I do have some fond memories of having missionaries over all the time, they were trying to help me to decide to get baptized... The rule was (I’m not sure if it was my mom’s rule or the Church rule) that after you were 10 you couldn’t take the sacrament. My mom made a huge deal out of this and really tried to persuade me to get baptized. We went to every single baptism there was..

This weekend is still very clear in my mind.. that Friday I threw up on the bus (GROSS!) and it snowed that weekend. We went to a baptism that Saturday. I was not scheduled to get baptized. Some how my mom convinced me to get baptized. (I really wanted to, but was scared of being dunked). They had to totally clear out the room and it was only the 2 witnesses, my mom and 2 younger siblings in the room. Since I wasn’t prepared.. I had to use paper towels to dry off. But I got it done!   My little ward in Rochester WA was so happy for me, I remember I had 3 cakes to celebrate! I should look up on my baptism certificate and try to find the missionary who baptized me! I would love to hear their version! And a picture of me – my school picture when I was close to that age. Haha

Love you all!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sis. Shoop

2.1.15

My thoughts are a little scattered today, so I hope this letter even makes sense, but I wanted to get it out before the game...

First, yah, Sister Lauren Redding is in the mtc now and I’m adding her to my list!

We just came home from Stake conference. It was wonderful and the spirit was there in full force as always. The choir sang one of my favorite songs, “Be Still my Heart” and I felt like I really needed it. It was so beautiful, they did it with (bear with me, I don’t know my musical terms..) Come, Come Ye Saints. It was lovely! I had something on my mind right before conference and that song always “speaks” to me and lets me know how much my Heavenly Father loves me.

I Know.. I know.. A little distraction from missionary work.. but can I just say, GO SEAHAWKS!!! I have to say that I love the Seahawks and almost everything about them playing in the super bowl. The only thing that makes me feel a smidge of guilt is that it is on a Sunday. And I have a strong testimony of keeping the Sabbath holy. When I was growing up, we would gather together and watch the Seahawks play and root for them. So, I do like how it can bind families together and something fun to do together. Of course for many years they weren’t that great, so it is pretty exciting to have them be so good this year. I have loved all the feel good stories on the news this week about them. It is so fun to see people everywhere dressed up in their Seahawks gear and green and blue. It has really been fun to have so much spirit around town and it feels like a community. So, today Bro. Shoop and I wore green and blue to church. (Along with several others) Check out his tie... So hopefully a win today! I’m writing my letter obviously before the game.

We have our friend Larry coming over for the game. He has been investigating the church for a while now. I hope he will come over for more discussions with the missionaries. He has before and he says he will again..  We’re just trying to make sure he knows that we are his friends regardless of what he wants to do with church.

A neat story that I heard a couple of weeks ago about the new Olympia Stake President... now I heard this second hand, so hopefully I will get it right.. The new stake president, I don’t even know his name.. was called by the apostle Elder Christopherson. The back story on this new stake president is that he is pretty young and he has a job at Intel. Intel has moved all of their employees to different areas. He has been commuting or is getting ready to move (can’t remember which) but anyways, he was planning on moving this summer because of his job. Well, if he would have been like most of us, he would of said that he can’t take this calling and maybe, something like really... But he took the calling and is trusting in the Lord that everything will work out. What a testimony! I think I would do the same thing if I was called by an apostle! I was talking about this story with another friend of mine and she said that something that really struck me. She said that she tried really hard to listen to whatever instruction is given from a bishop or whoever has the priesthood because they have the priesthood and are following the spirit. It made me think, how easy it would be for me to accept something from an apostle, but is it easy to accept something from my other leaders who have the priesthood? We can’t all have an apostle tell us everything we need to know, we need our other leaders who we should be sustaining and praying for to do the same. (hopefully that all made sense).

The picture of Bro. Shoop and Keagan... its what I feel like I deal with now. I am the lone female. So just think of all the boy wrestling, humor, etc. and you have our house. Granted, it wasn’t much better when Melissa was home, but she did help balance it... sometimes. (Sometimes she added to the crazy.. boy stuff) Sometimes...Bro. Shoop is one of the biggest boys I know!

Keagan is excited! He had to try out for the specialty dance for the dance festival and he made it! (I’m not sure if this is huge accomplishment or not..  because I’m not sure how many tried out, but we’ll take it) It means that he will have to be at the church every Sat. until the end of may to practice... Go Keagan!

This week I have been subbing a lot. I am trying to decide what to do next year. Do I want to get one of these jobs that I sub for to be permanent? Or do I want to keep doing my preschool and keep subbing or just keep subbing. So many pros/ cons of all of them. Luckily, I have a few more months to decide.

I have really enjoyed the subbing. It is fun going to different places all of the time. At first that made me nervous, but now that I’ve done it a few times, I am liking it. It is nice to do something different all the time, and then if I don’t like it, I don’t have to come back. This week I worked in a special needs elementary classroom, did recess duty (ok, here is an example of the boy in my house, I say this and he just laughs, “duty” he says, over and over laughing, why do they call them that?!) and then Friday I helped in the special needs preschool.

I love Pres. Hinckley! I love that quote from him! I hope it shows up on your email, if not, it says, “Keep trying, Keep believing, BE HAPPY, Don’t get discouraged. Things will work out!” I believe this, but sometimes I need to remind myself of this, too..

Pres. Coppin re-iterated again last night to pray for our missionaries by name in our ward and serving from our ward. I was so happy to know that at least I’m doing one thing right!  I love all my missionaries!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sis. Shoop