Update from Elder Folau

I just have to share theis picture. Elder Folau is always smiling in his photos, but this one with these ninos is just too cute to keep to myself.

Judith Matthews

I had dinner with the Godfreys in early August (the first since Christmas) and they told me in passing that Judith Matthews had passed away last July 2006. Her Visiting Teachers had attempted to contact Judith repeatedly to no avail, so they called the police to check on her and that was when they found her body in her apartment. It looked like she had purposefully overdosed on her medication and from the decomposition of the body, the police/medics thought she had been dead for about three weeks, which was about the last time her Visiting Teachers had last visited her. They notified the Godfreys as they were her emergency contact. Judith didn't leave a note; however, she did have some kind of will that expressed her wishes on how to dispose of her property and remains. No obituary, she was cremated and her ashes sent to a childhood friend for him to scatter at a place where they used to play as children.

Although not surprised that Judith had taken her own life, the news of her death was unexpected. I knew Judith from when I was her roommate for a few months in NYC. She was a very interesting lady. A large woman, she claimed to have suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome among other ailments. Very strong minded. Fascinated with the Middle East where she had once lived and worked. Lonely ... I remember her internet dating in 1995 before such a thing was even common place or popular. I could see from my last encounter with her that she was depressed and anti-social. Just made me wonder if there was anything that could've been done to help her out. How much of the desperation she must have felt during the end of her life was of her own doing? How did she get so depressed that taking her life was the only option out?

Sophia's First Birthday Party

It's Sophia's first birthday party and she's wearing the dress I bought her. Isn't she just so adorable? I want to just eat her up and pinch those chubby cheeks.

Oh, poor Chloe!

I think this completes the trinity of bad things to happen:

• 
  
  The rock chip on the windshield last Friday on Beck Street (which I fixed this weekend);
• 
  
  $120 taken from my wallet some time between Friday and Sunday morning outside of my apartment; and
• 
  
  Fender bender.

It's all good things from here on, right? (((KNOCK ON WOOD)))

It's christened!!! On April Fool's Day at about 5:40 p.m., as I was on my way to the viewing, I got rear-ended on the south-bound I-15 just north of the 3300 South exit. I was in the middle lane and in the blind spot of a truck that cut me off. There was a vehicle in my blind spot to the right, so I wasn't able to change lanes in order to avoid the truck. I slammed on my breaks, my car fish-tailed and a vehicle from behind rear-ended me to a stop. It all happened so fast. My bumper is split in two and I can't open my trunk. The highway patrolman who showed up said that I can't drive on the freeway with my rear bumper hanging like that so he told me to get off the freeway and get the bumper tied up. He didn't make judgment on who was at fault at the time, since the truck that I claimed to have cut me off didn't stop and will leave it to the insurance companies to make determination.

I literally got gored in the rear!  The 23-year-old man who hit me was driving an '88 Cadillac with a Texas long horn tied to the grill. The accident got his front fender, light and bumper. I'm just glad that no one was hurt. Cars can be fixed and we both have insurance. By the time the whole to do was over and done with and I was free to go on my way, I couldn't find a single gas station or auto store that was open or had rope for me to buy to tie my hanging rear bumper. I thought of calling AAA or the BACK-U-UP roadside services to have someone come out and help me tie this bumper, but the car is running fine and I didn't want to wait another hour for someone to show up, so I tried to call a couple of people, but go figure ... my cell phone wouldn't work. Then it came to me that Kent Hepworth's home is just a couple of miles away, so I took a chance that he'd be home and went there. He was (thank goodness) and was working on his home and was just barely finishing for the day. He had some serious duct tape at hand, and so bandaged Chloe. Before I knew it, I was on my way to the viewing.

Rest from callings ... Yeah, right!

I came back to the Monument Park 19th Ward and told the bishop that I was exhausted and needed a rest from callings. Bishop Foster assured me that I'll have a few months to rest before I'll have a calling other than being a Visiting Teacher. A couple of weeks later ... his counselor, Brother Knowlton pulled me aside. I had hoped that he'd give me back my Paper Products Coordinator calling, I had hoped he'd give me a calling on a large committee, I thought he just wanted chat to to get to know me better ... was I ever wrong. I was called me to be one of the Employment Specialists. Not the most exciting calling, but I am determined not to fall into the cracks by being passive in this calling. I've got ideas on how to make this a more involved calling.

My Car, Hope

I've been thinking about my car, Hope, a 1995 Saturn SL1 ... nothing fancy, very basic model. I finally learned to drive the summer 1997, a good 12 years after most of my peers took drivers' ed. After a few years in Utah without a car, depending so much on the compassion of friends to get around and a "funk" I went through after a break-up that year ... I got a car and that gave me the freedom to roam without imposing on friends and that gave me hope ... and so I named her.

Did you know that in Utah, if you're learning to drive, you can only have your parents or spouse take you to practice driving? If you're without any parents or spouse, then you have to pay a driving school to practice. That's just not right. What if you're a gay orphan? Luckily, I have Ludy who would took me out to practice in their cars despite the rule. At the time, she had just barely moved to Utah and came here without a job, an apartment or a car. Within a couple of months, she got all of that. She named her car Faith, because she said that it took faith to get it. So, we've joked that if she's got Faith and I've got Hope, then all we need is a minivan named Charity to complete the trio.

After almost a decade together, last month I replaced Hope with a new 2007 Civic EX I've named Chloe. I miss Hope. I cried the night I got Chloe and gave my keys to Hope to my friend, Nicole. I gave it a good hug, thanked it for being so faithful to me and felt so stupid for shedding tears over it.

Pumpkin a la Sophia

My cousin, Christine, just sent me an update on her little family. Little Sophia was born in New York this past summer shortly before they moved to Houston. They've got a website up and running with all sorts of fun pictures of Sophia, but I must say that this is my favorite.

Inner City Mission

In one of my last entries in 2005, I wrote of how toward the end of my initial six-month inner city mission, I extended for another six months. By the end of that extension, Lono was closer to having his mission papers done. However, there were other complications ... He and his girlfriend decided that they'd start seeing other people, but when she did, he got jealous and wondered if he should stay and marry her instead. Hmmph! I had to stay, see this through and help him in any way I can to make a decision that he can live with. So, another six-month extension ... In the end, Lono decided to serve a mission and was called to serve in the Mexico-Mexico City East Mission. By the time my second extension came to an end, Elder Folau was in the MTC learning Spanish. What a neat young man! I feel so blessed to know him as he prepared for this mission.

Helping to prepare Lono for his mission was a major reason for the multiple extensions, however it wasn't my only reason. Laura Laing, Andy Daniels, Anya Pasi, Marlene Angilau, Brittany Daniels, Ricky Washington, Marin Fisher ... just a few people who will always have a special place in my heart. Each taught me things that made me a better person.

My bishop called to tell me that he had a calling in mind for me, but something didn't feel right ... it wasn't time to go back ... yet. With Christmas just around the corner and my ward taking a few families from the inner city ward for Sub-for-Santa, I extended again until the end of the year. That felt right -- a nice conclusion to the year and a new start back in the Monument Park 19th Ward. And so what was intended to be a six-month mission turned out to be a 20-month mission.

What a great opportunity to work with some really awesome people. No doubt about it -- it was the best thing I've EVER done! If you are interested in volunteering, please check out the site at http://www.innercityproject.org/. I highly recommend it!

In the meantime, back at the ranch ...

I must say that meeting at 8:00 a.m. for church is not easy ... I am so looking forward to the new year when we meet at 10:00 a.m. When the announcement was repeated in Relief Society this past Sunday, the room erupted in a chorus of cheers.

Lono, our future missionary, is still working on his dental requirements. Sister Hall and I tried to find him some assistance to pay for all the dental work, but unfortunately, we couldn't find anyone who is willing to do the work for free. If only he was a single mom ... but of course, that would require some really drastic changes noone wants him to make ...

We've not had another activity since the Utah State Fair. With so few in number, you'd think it'd be easy to plan, but with the holiday season, it's just hard to pin down a date. We've agreed that we'll plan for something in the new year.

The Blog-less Months

I know, I know ... it's been months since I've posted anything. I think part of it is because this summer/autumn had been a difficult one for a lot of people in my home ward, the Monument Park 19th Ward. Since the end of July, we've had three (3) deaths. While that may not be so unusual in a family ward, it is quite unique in a singles ward. The first to pass on was Ginny Fischer. I heard that she died in a diabetic coma. In October, George Woolfolk died as a result of a work-related accident. Then just weeks after George's death, Ben Te'jere passed away ... just dropped dead while playing basketball. It was quite a shock to many of us. A few in my circle of friends have discussed estate planning and forming some kind of network so that someone will always know where we are and how we're doing individually. Naturally, I've been very contemplative and thinking a lot about death ... the topic isn't exactly an upper.