With All My Love

Dear Elder Schenewark,

Hello! How are you? We love you! We miss you! You have a new cousin entering the mission field. Kayla turned her papers in, and got her call this week. She's headed to Roseville, California, June 28th, Spanish speaking. She'll be entering the Mexico MTC. How exciting! She fervently wanted to learn how to speak Spanish, and had a tender mercy being assigned to do just that.

What else is in the news? Your cousin Emma and her rugby team were on a bus that was involved in an accident. The girls didn't suffer as much as the elderly driver of the car. We're so glad she's alright!

My favorite headline: Northeastern United States: Experts Say Area Should Expect Influx of 17-Year Cicadas: The 17-year cicadas, which hatched in 1999, will come above ground next month to mate. The influx is set to be seen in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

There was a 7.8 quake in Equador, and a 7.4 quake in Japan this weekend.

And of course in Brazil we heard: In a landmark vote Sunday, members of the country's lower house of parliament supported impeaching the Brazilian president, who is charged with tampering with state funds to make the economy look better than it actually was ahead of her 2014 re-election. She has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Pro-government lawmakers scuffle with opposition lawmakers during the session where it was voted to impeach Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, Brazil on Sunday.

The big news this week is Porter. He's hit some major milestones, all in a matter of a few days. Dad took him down to Stephenville Friday for his driving test. He spent last weekend redoing his driver education for the State of Texas. He finally got his drivers license! He was motivated by wanting to drive to prom Saturday. His insurance kicked in at midnight Friday, and he was up the next morning driving to pick up his date's flowers. He has now officially gone on his first date. And his first school dance. Fun friend facts? Most of the girls were from the high school soccer team. Some parent paid for over twenty of them to ride to Arlington in a shuttle bus. Porter said he felt like a senior citizen being transported to an appointment. And, by popular vote, he was nominated as Prom Prince.

Miller is the only one who had a game this week, two actually. He pitched in one, and caught in another. He's still deserving of his Ohio nickname: Hoover. He had a great diving catch on a foul ball near the first base line.

I was sitting in Sunday School by myself today, and saw Dad come in and sit down - NOT.WITH.ME! I gave him the look. So he moved. Later, he told me that, "There was something wicked seeing my wife in her red reading glasses, looking up and smiling at me." We have too much fun together. We were reading in Jarom 1:11-12, "Wherefore, the prophets did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching...persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he already was...And by so doing they kept them from being destroyed upon the face of the land; for they did prick their hearts with the word, continually stirring them up unto repentance." Your father immediately thought of the importance of General Conference. We only are treated to this spiritual feast twice a year, but can you imagine the consequences of not having this in our lives? Literally, we are kept from being destroyed because of this blessing in our lives. Do you want a copy of the conference edition of The Ensign in your box I'm packing? I picked up your contact sample, FINALLY!, and will be mailing it shortly.

I have probably been remiss in keeping you updated in my efforts to re enter the work force. It's been so long since I've worked that I've been slightly fearful about my skill set and desirability. But after having been poked, prod and dissected, I mean fingerprinted, polygraphed, psych evaluated, etc. I have two BIG departments in negotiations. One put me through all the testing and interviews in about three weeks (county). Another (city) has found out, and is bringing me back in this week to interview for a higher position. More money, more leverage. One of the tests I had to take, about two hours long, with lots of typing, phone calls and emergency messages beeping in my headphones, scored the highest score they've ever seen. Not bad for an old lady that hasn't worked in over twenty some years. My mantra this weekend, whenever I wanted to smile, has been, "Highest test score EVER!" Your father has been very supportive of the thirty page applications that I've had to fill out by hand, multiple times, converting my old letters of recommendation, newspaper articles, etc. into a PDF, and helping when I have needed a sitter. I have a start date of May 2nd, unless I am offered a different position. Either way, it's all good.

We're looking forward to your letter. It's such a weekly treat to glimpse into a piece of your Brazilian existence. Please let us know what we can do when you have one of those hard weeks.

Love,

Mom

P.S. Stephen's brother, Daniel, had a benign tumor around the base of his spine they partially removed. They'll wait to see if it grows back.

Porter, Prom, and a Princely Title

Prom tickets: $60

Taking the tux to the tailor: $27

Steaming the tuxedo shirt: $12

Flowers for his date: $41

Dinner: $30

Finding out the unsolicited votes from the entire junior and senior class...

placed your son in second place:

PRICELE$$

You've adjusted to our move exceptionally well!

Cooper's Brackets

Brotherly Love

Dear Hunter,

What a week!!! Notably, snow, sickness, sweets, and shows. Let me explain:

About Tuesday I got hit with some kind of out-of-this-world fever that stuck with me clear through Friday pretty much off and on. Not good because this week it also decided to snow....on my walk home from school A LOT. Hey, at least you don't have to worry about that kind of precipitation down there! Plus, I worked BYU's last basketball game. They're headed to the semifinal of the NIT against #1 Valparaiso. (update: they lost in a wingdinger of a game)

What do you do when you've been taken out of life's rat race? You discover that you can watch the Amazing Race!!! Its been great. AnneMarie and I have watched a couple of episodes this week and have Race fever on top of whatever the other fever was:) We're already planning our video submission to get on the race. I'm serious. And that theme song gets caught in your head and makes everything seem like a race challenge.

For example, yesterday was our summer sales kick-off meeting. (We don't really get into these affairs but they had free food so ya know...) The after-party was at Provo Beach Resort with dinner and games. We--knowing there were 1100 people coming--took off and arrived 1st! Securing a key parking spot and slipping into the building before it even started, but NEWMAN! The food was outside!!! By the time we figured that out we were well back in the line. We just looked at each other and were like "We just lost the amazing race..." And then they had a ropes course, competitive croquet (yeah I didn't know that was a thing either) and ski-ball. It was a fun night.

This Week:
MY BAD brother. I know you're probably going into withdrawals wondering what in the world is happening in the life of AnneMarie and Tanner....Never fear. I'm here to tell you.

WE'RE GOING TO SCOTLAND. Yes, that's right. And we almost have our flights, visas, etc. IT'S REAL. Come August these letters will be coming to you from the lochs and highlands of the old country. Stay tuned. What that means now is that we've gone, at least temporarily, into full-time Europe planning mode, working on which trips we'll be taking and what not. Don't worry we'll bring you back a kilt:)

We've also taken up running, with the goal to do 30 miles in the month of April. Its one of the highlights of my week to get to jog alongside the girl of my dreams and enjoy the spring that's finally come to Provo. Flowers are blooming, just like they do in Brasil.

We're also in the last throes of the semester, the very last in the case of AnneMarie. Friday night we went to watch the #1 ranked BYU men's volleyball team take on USC. They beat them in three games straight, and there plenty of high-powered blocks and spikes along the way. We thought of AnneMarie's dad who played with the team for a bit when he was at BYU. MAN can those guys jump! Then we got ice cream at our new favorite spot, Roll With It Creamery. They make your ice cream from liquid in front of you and then mix things in ColdStone style except its served in scrolls. They had guava sorbet, and loving guava after my time in Brasil I had to test it out. NOT disappointed. One of the best treats I've ever had:)

AnneMarie is teaching today after another teacher gave her a short notice that he would be out of town. She's so sweet, though, and she's very dutiful in coming prepared to teach by the Spirit. That's a good trait for a missionary too;)

Lots o' Love,

Tanner and AnneMarie

Letter #34

Dear Family and Friends,

Whirlwind week. Perhaps the hardest of my mission. But, the hardest had to happen sometime right? And, I love my mission, and still feel like I have the best weeks ahead of me.

My teeth are feeling great, it´s been a miracle to feel so good, and I think I´ll stop updating on the status of my eater.

And now, I thank everybody who waited months for official confirmation, and now after using countless toilets here, I would like to certify, that the flush is counterclockwise here. Yes, counterclockwise. And undeniably so.

Other news of international importance, the crisis here economically is spreading. Like the United States, there is an order of succession if something happens to the President. But, a bunch of the people have already been implicated, so in short, if Pres. Dilma is impeached, Tiririca, will become President most likely. Yes, Tiririca. He´s a comedian from Forteleza, who is very popular, but nevertheless was elected as a joke. He can´t read, and doesn't know anything about the government. But, he is clean from all the scandals.

Rafaela was sick, so she couldn't come to the church. She stopped and had talked with some other missionaries, because when she saw some them with tags that said Jesus Christ, in her words, she thought they´re secretaries for Him. Which I thought was pretty cool. So that´s how we started teaching her.

Isabela, is excited to be baptized, this Wednesday. She smoked Tuesday, and when we told her, the date for baptism would change from Sunday to Wednesday, she left the room crying. She´s truly amazing. She leaves to help us teach sometimes, and is reading the Book of Mormon every morning and night. When we talked about family history, she started immediately. When I showed her the picture of our family, she took a picture to put on facebook, because it's her goal. To have a happy family. She wants to become `uma irmã` or a sister of the ward, who has a family, attends all the events, and just helps people. Her dad is German, and lives in Germany, and she hopes to serve a mission there.

We had interviews with Pres. Young this week. Always wonderful to talk with him. The emphasis lately has been to teach repentance. I love it, as it's what brings joy. People we talk to think of repentance as painful or hard, but it's not! Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, so we don´t have to. He lives, and we can too! We can change! This is our message of hope and happiness. Lately I've begun to understand the doctrine of Christ, and it's changing me, and how I teach to others. Faith in Christ, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end.

While we were waiting, we talked with Sister Young. She challenged us to memorize Article of Faith 8+13 in Portuguese. I was the first to do it, so our companionship gained 10 reais for ice cream later. And more importantly, I recognized how useful these succinct phrases are, so I memorized all 13 to use in contacts and lessons. Learn them!

And that brings to me to the next matter. Ice cream. I've taken an extended, undetermined leave of absence from açai, due to the acidity. Just to let everything heal completely. So, ice cream. People said the summer heat would end in March, but we´re still waiting. Holy cow it's hot. So we enjoy an ice cream. We found this one place, Tres Estrellas, where the ice cream and the prices are delicious. Its only 2 Reais for 200 mL, but its 5.75 Reais for 400mL, so I have a propensity to buy 2- 200 mL´s. I´m waiting to see if she´ll change the prices. I´ve been trying out all the flavors, and graviola might take the top prize. Or Romeu and Julieta. Romeu and Julieta is caju with guava. I've never read the play by William Shakespeare, but don´t feel the need to anymore. The flavor is so rich, tasting like lost love. It's the most effective advertising I've seen in my life.

Last Monday, we went to Vitoria, had a great lunch with the secretaries of the mission, but found out the camera store was closed. Our town, Serra was open, but Vitoria, more Catholic, had declared a holiday for some saint, Senhora da penha. We´re still not sure who she is. But we´ll return today to finally get it fixed.

I love this mission. I love this opportunity to serve. I love spreading this message of joy. I love President Young. I love this gospel, this everlasting gospel in its fullness. I love my Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. I love my Father in Heaven. And I love you all.



Elder Schenewark

Brighten your day.

With All My Love

Dear Elder Schenewark,

Another week has gone by. I found myself gazing at your life size cardboard cut out that leans against my piano often. We had a new elder arrive this week, and we made the introductions to you. I'll miss our Alaskan elder that has moved on.

Highlights of the week include your grandfather's 75th birthday celebration. I wasn't invited! How rude of the Massachusetts gang! The two pictures I dug off the internet are great:

On the home front, Miller FINALLY caught his first fish. Dad realized he probably didn't have the oomf to cast it out far enough to hook a fish, so Cooper helped him by casting it out, and then he caught one. I asked him what he named his first fish. I got the look.

Miller also has been playing some baseball. He got to pitch one inning each game, and played short stop. He had one smooth, great play to first base, and otherwise the game was quiet for him. He's probably the most accurate pitcher on his team, though.

Sawyer had a few games as well, and pitched, caught, and played short. He's a cute player. He got a wood bat for Christmas, and after he hit so well one game, the only one who connected, all the other players were hankering to use his bat.

Cooper has his last tennis meet this week. He's hoping for another first place finish. He also gets his braces on. He's worn his "hold-in-place" band for a long time. Wait until next week for some up and close mouth shots!

Porter has his last track meet this week. The poles designed for his weight and height never arrived. The coach led him along all season. He's disappointed not to have been able to vault this season. Unless he qualifies at districts, he's done.

And then there's Breyer. We were driving along one day and she's chatting away in the car and says, "Do you know what my favorite part of church is?" "Leaving!"  I laughed on the road f-o-r-e-v-e-r!

Tanner found out he has been awarded the internship with the Scottish Parliament, and has begun his plans to leave for the fall semester. How exciting! I'm trying to finagle a deal with your father: I'll go pick up Tanner and AnneMarie from Scotland, and he can go pick up you from Brazil. We'll see.

And in golf this week, The Masters. AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy has been forgotten about twice. And that's just this week. He was a hot topic of conversation coming into this Masters, with many wondering if he could win a green jacket to complete a career Grand Slam. Then Jordan Spieth bolted out of the gate Thursday morning, fired a 6-under 66, which left Rory six strokes back before he even started. . In the course of 24 hours, McIlroy went from eight strokes back to a spot in Saturday's final pairing. With Jordan Spieth. The stage is set at golf's greatest theater.

But, Danny Willett pulled the win, with a -5, and a tie for second between Lee Westwood and Jordan Spieth, -2.

This week was a joint young men young women activity. Cooper wanted to go fishing. No one agreed. Then your father remembered it was the 6th, the anniversary of the restoration of the Church, as well as through revelation, the birth of the Savior. He said, "Jesus told his apostles to be fisher of  men." And then being outside, fishing in our pond, seemed like such a great idea. The youth gathered here Wednesday evening in large numbers; some parked their cars on our driveway and I shuttled them over. And then only three, including Sawyer, caught fish. So the analogy continued. "How excited were those three who caught the fish?" Very excited. "Imagine your joy when you catch one soul." Your father's a good man.

You're a good son. We love you and your sacrifice you're willing to make. We ache for your presence in our lives, but know you're in good hands. Stay safe.

Love,

Mom

Letter #33

Dear Family and Friends,

Dad asked if I've gotten his letter. I haven´t yet, but I don´t know when he mailed it. We were invited to lunch with the secretaries, the only senior couple of the mission today, so perhaps I´ll get it today. Are my letters arriving? No one´s said anything about them, and I´m wondering if I addressed them wrong or something.

Thank you for the family history pictures. They are wonderful.

We visited the dentist again, as he had asked for a follow up. He said everything looks a lot better. And my mouth feels a lot better. So, I shouldn´t have any more problems, I hope.

One thing I think is interesting, many of the doctors here are Cuban. It's super expensive to go to medical school here, and Basil really doesn't have the sort of programs that are needed, so the government of Brasil pays the government of Cuba money to send doctors. The Cuban government takes a bunch of money off the top, and then pays a pittance, really just living expenses, and sends doctors here as an assignment. And many native doctors of Brasil study there, and then return here.

And I don´t live with communists, but almost every single missionary I know, when we go to the store, wants to split the purchase. As in, let's buy some food together, and split the price. I don´t understand it (and don´t do it). If I could think of just one reason, I´d do it.

Last Monday, after lunch, we went and played basketball. It was weird being the best player. We played for three hours and the next day, I was awfully sore.

 We had a division with the Zone Leaders Thursday. My companion for this, Elder W. Santos, and I made lots of new contacts and knocked lots of doors. The first one we knocked on, was amazingly prepared. She couldn´t move her left arm, as she had crashed on a motorcycle 4 months earlier. We asked what happened, and she shared that she crashed, and woke up in the hospital three days later. During this time, the only thing she remembers is a dream of being in water and then coming out feeling new. She said she feels like she needs to be born again, i.e. through baptism. She attended conference both days.

Another person we met, became super excited when she saw our name tags, and said she had dreamed about them. Before seeing us, she had never heard of our church, but said she had a dream about our name tags. But, it's interesting the different responses between her and Angela.  She thinks the church is too far away, and didn't visit this weekend.

We met a young woman, Rafaela age 19, and she came to conference and loved it. We will be going back Tuesday to teach her whole family. And Dayani, who we baptized a couple weeks ago shared the gospel with some new friends, and they too attended conference with us yesterday. One, Isabela, is 17. A week ago, she smoked 60 cigarettes per day. I think she was waiting for someone to invite her to stop. The day after teaching the Word of Wisdom, she went down to 3. Then one, and hasn´t smoked for a couple days now. Lots of miracles.

General Conference was wonderful. We didn´t get to see all of it, and I´m anxiously waiting for the talks to come in the Ensign. I don´t personally know the apostles, and yet, I love them and aspire to have that sort of character. When President Monsen announced the new temples, even though Belem, Brasil, is really far away, everyone in the chapel gasped and was really excited.

Love,

Elder Schenewark

Daddy Love

Dear Hunter,

I am sure you are to watch some conference and it is nice to think that you were watching it at the same time as us. You are missed. It would be nice to hear your laugh, however thank you for being such a good example to your brothers and doing what is right. How are the teeth? Are there problems with the wisdom teeth or is everything under control?

The days here have been glorious. The Bluebonnets are blooming. There are fields of Indian Paintbrush. And other fields of various wildflowers which are yellow, white, various shades of purple, etc. I have a great drive to work as I pass ranches with green grass and a kaleidoscope of cattle. I guess it is a kaleidoscope of cattle as long as you consider different shades of brown, and different patterns of black-and-white. But it is nice to go through the rolling hills and see the blue sky. I usually leave our bedroom curtain open so that I can see the sunrise reflected off our neighbor’s house. It makes his house the kind of golden color. I also like to see the blue blue sky and often the early vultures flying high above the rooftops.

Speaking of vultures, one day Breyer was very cranky. So I made up a new game. It is to see who can attract a vulture (or buzzard) first. The object of the game is to lie down on the driveway and act as if you were dead. Need to be perfectly still, and perfectly quiet (thus you may see why this is a great game when Breyer is cranky), and see if you can get a vulture to land next to you. I came pretty close the other day and decided to move when one vulture began to circle real low.

I took Porter up to a soccer game in Denton on Friday. His high school team is in the state playoffs at the game Friday was for the area championship. The drive is about an hour and a half, but we had great time spending it together. I think soccer is a great game. And when he arrived at the student section to sit? They were all cheering for him.

I’ll have to share some bishop stories with you. It is good to serve in that capacity (for the most part). This good to have the opportunity to help people, especially before they ask. Here is a good quote from Joseph Smith concerning our service:

”The things of God or of deep import; in time and experience a careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O Man, if that will lead a soul onto salvation, must stretch as high as the upmost heavens and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss and the broad expanse of eternity -thou must commune with God!”

I am trying to do that, and have had in a short space of time a number of incidences which confirm that I am doing what heavenly father would want me to do. I hope those events will continue, even if there are bumps in the road. I hope you receive the letter which I wrote along with some pictures.

Keep up the good work and continue to write good letters.

Love,

Dad

With All My Love

Dear Elder Schenewark.

What a lovely weekend. It is always such a delight to sit and listen to General Conference. It's like I've been starving, and am being give cold, clear,delicious water that I can feel spread through my body that didn't know it was so thirsty. Does that make sense?

I loved the conference talks, but felt so much in the little moments I observed. I cried with President Uchtdorf after we had finished listening to Elder Kearon speak about the refugees. I cried with President Eyring and drawing nearer unto "thee," and Elder Arnold's four principles of rescue. I loved Elder Cook's statement, that "Increased temples and advanced technology makes this the most blessed time to live on the earth, despite the lack of righteousness." I was sad to see how much weight President Monson has lost. But I felt this conference had less "preaching" and more "let's work together in all the causes of righteousness." I'll have to think of a more eloquent way to express myself.

Last Saturday's evening session for Women highlighted the Church's new refugee initiative: I Was A Stranger. The Church is asking women to prayerfully consider how they might aid refugees from their local neighborhoods, and when a way is found, to share. I felt very inspired from the beginning of my presidency to call a humanitarian specialist, that would provide sisters in the ward to serve together on a monthly basis. I'm grateful she is in place to help us spearhead this new program of the Church in their efforts to aid the now displaced 60 million refugees.

This Friday was the annual Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet. Breyer, Miller and Sawyer came with me while Dad and Porter were at his track meet and soccer game. We now have seven LDS boys in the pack. I love being in community packs, not re-inventing the wheel on a ward level. Some of my best friends from Ohio were the ones I left behind in Cub Scouts. Miller finished his Bear requirements, earning the rank advancement, and will be moving up into first year Webeloes.

The Granbury Ward priesthood had their annual BBQ before the session began. Porter was invited to help cook the meat this year, but declined so he could stay home and make applie pies. Two, to be exact, but he left one for me to sample. And darn if his crust wasn't better than mine! So flaky and crusty! He used the leftover pie dough and hot dogs today to make wienies in a blanket. Delicious! Then, he made empanadas, using that leftover pie dough and BBQ pork, and made Porter's pork Poptarts. Yum! It gets better. That last remaining pie dough was spread with your grandmother's jelly and jam, and he made actual sweet Poptarts. He would be a good roommate to have in college. He's become a very good cook.

Dad took BBQ to the missionaries at the church. He told me the elder from Alaska will be leaving this week. Darn! We've worked so well together! I'll miss him. He said he's going to have his less active friend take Kaleb out to lunch.

It's official. Miller won the March Madness jock strap trophy again. He pulled so far ahead that we've known for a while there was no chance for anybody else to win, except Breyer. Only because she picked Syracuse to win (#10 seed). They won their game against University of Virginia (#1) and that made Miller sweat for a while. But they lost last night to NC (#1), and Breyer won't be sneaking the strap away.

Your brothers each had a baseball tournament here in town, and between their four games, Sawyer had one win. Miller got to catch for the first time, and pitched two innings; Sawyer caught most of both games, and pitched most of one game. So interesting that they're both being catchers, and they're very good in that position. Hopefully I'll get better at keeping their books, and sneaking in a picture or two.  I don't have any of them yet.

I almost had all the Easter decorations away, and our neighbor dropped off a bag of eggs stuffed with chocolates they had meant to leave on our front lawn. Somewhere this weekend Breyer figured out how to make egg bombs, filling them with marbles. And she chases Miller around the house, who truly flees for his life. Marbles aren't soft when the egg cracks. It still makes me smile. And it was such fun for them to pick up the marbles together spread all over the house. Not!

We're excited to hear from you! We're thankful the dentist helped with your teeth and gum concerns. Know of our love for you.



Mom

Inner Beauty Leads to Outer Beauty

Dear Elder Schenewark,

I was perusing our "New and Revised Edition, National Gallery of Art, Washington" book and found this picture. It's Elizabeth Throckmorton, by Nicolas de Largilliere. Obviously she was a nun. She made me think of you. You being a missionary, for two years, foregoing friends, family, education, employment, entertainment...of your own choice, makes you similar.

What was interesting to me was the accompanying text that said, "Looking at her one realizes that life in a convent must have preserved feminine beauty more successfully than any method devised in the secular world. Little wonder that in the eighteenth century men often fell in love with nuns."

This made me smile. At first, I thought it romantic. Then I began to wonder. And realized, in my humble opinion, it wasn't life in a convent that preserved feminine beauty, it was the type of life dictated by their choice, the nuns, of living in the convent, that preserved their feminine beauty. And it still does today. Those who have a relationship with the Savior, who understand their eternal nature and divine being, and who have purpose in their life will have a lifestyle that preserves their feminine beauty. Beauty that comes from inner peace, and love for self and others.

(And I'm not calling you feminine. Just saying.)

Love,

Mom