Jared Update - May 13, 2009

 
one with Elder Semar and me on his shoulders.
 
Allred got a flat, i helped him on it.

 
Allred and I at Noccolula falls

I received Jared's email on Wednesday. However, I have been so busy with other family activities that I haven't had a chance to post anything until today. He continues to love life in Alabama. Here are a couple of excerpts from his letter:

"We also ended up mowing an older lady’s lawn, who is homebound. It was my first time mowing the lawn with a riding lawn mower. I think everyone here in the south has one of them things. It’s hilarious, even if they have 20 square feet of lawn. I just don’t get it."

I remember the riding lawn mowers in Tennessee. Jared is right, everybody has one. In fact, I remember the riding lawn mower club that rode in the annual 4th of July parade in Farragut. With my half acre lot in Farragut I should have invested in one. Now my yard is so small that I don't think I could turn one around in it.

"I accompanied a mother and daughter who sang. It was kinda funny because they came rushing in when we were teaching Kristen and said, “We can’t find anyone to play for us, the lady who was supposed to do it can’t play the second half of the piece! Will you play for us?” I was liked sure. We went through it a couple of times and that’s all the practice I got. It went really well when we played it for reals. I was kinda nervous because I was stumbling on different parts and stuff since we had 10 minutes to practice but we said a prayer and I played it perfectly. That was cool. I’m glad Mrs. Beard taught me how to sight read really well."

I am sure that Jared is glad now that his mother made him practice every morning. He is a very accomplished pianist and probably could have sight read the piece during the service if necessary (after playing Rachmoninoff and Listz, this one would have been a piece of cake).

"oh yea, i almost fogot!! Thursday was my year mark and I burned one of my shirts. That was pretty fun. We have a grill on our balcony that we burn our anti material in and i burned my shirt in it. We had a fun time. Whoo hoo!!!! It's a bitter sweet thing."

Yes, it is hard to believe that Jared has been in Alabama for over a year now. The first couple of months went by quite slowly, however, the time seems to be really flying by now (I'm not sure that Britney would agree the time is flying by).

We are glad that Jared is enjoying his mission and that he continues to work hard. I have been a lot of growth in him and I can certainly say that I am a proud father!