November 15

November 15 is my nephew Preston's birthday, but there are things that happened on that day even before he was born that I remember.

2011. I remember my mom calling my brother to wish Preston a happy birthday. Preston was playing Wii or something, so my mom told David not to bother getting him, because she knew he wasn't the kind of kid who would like talking on the phone.

2008. It was transfer call day, a day that makes missionaries pretty jumpy. We knew if we got our call from the mission president, one of us would be transferred, and neither of us wanted that. We were doing our personal study and the phone rang; Elder Love smiled when he saw it was the zone leaders, because that meant neither of us was being transferred. Later that day we were going to have dinner with our branch mission leader, Brother Keane. Elder Love told me that if I needed to go to the bathroom, I should go before we left, because it wasn't good at the Keanes'. It was also prudent for us not to wear our proselyting clothes, since we would be eating outside. So we changed and headed out of Ritzville to the Keanes' property. On our way we saw a large bird of prey hovering and swooping--there was a cat walking through a field. Elder Love started laughing--we didn't know how long that cat would last. Then we got to the Keanes' place. They just lived in an RV parked on a giant rural lot. Brother Keane was an interesting man, but he was very proactive about missionary work, and he had invited some people of other faiths to dinner. I think there was a family with two kids and then another woman. The kids were riding on Brother Keanes' horses; I think someone was giving apples to the horses. We as missionaries weren't allowed to ride. One of the kids I think almost ended up in the sheep pen; Brother Keane yelled about that--not because he was mad at the kid but because he didn't want him to get hurt. There was an odd conversation about neutering sheep and dogs. Brother Keane asked us to share a spiritual thought before dinner, but he wanted it to be relatively innocuous since the family were strong Christians. I asked Elder Love about sharing Jeremiah 1:5 (about how God knew us before we were formed in the womb); he seemed to not know what it was, which surprised me because it's a pretty common missionary scripture. We did end up sharing that one, and after we did the wife of the family mentioned that was a good scripture to use against abortion. Brother Keane later complimented us for using that scripture but not going too far; I think he said it was a perfect scripture to use. That family left, but we stayed for a bit and talked with the Keanes and the other woman. I saw inside the Keanes' RV; they slept in sleeping bags on little couches. They had a permanent structure set up outside the door of the RV (connected to the RV to expand it); it was there that they had a fireplace and an outhouse-style toilet. I remember something about a macaroni salad. Then we headed home. After our nightly planning, Elder Duncan called me. He said, "Hey, I'm going to be with Elder Dunn!" He told me that a lot of the good potentials in East Wenatchee had moved, and that the nice lady who seemed open to the idea of Joseph Smith became unresponsive. We also talked to Brother Keane on the phone that night; he told us that the family at dinner lived in a yellow house in Ritzville, and Elder Love deduced that they were ones who looked out the peephole at us when we tracted into them (on November 2) but didn't answer. This is what I wrote in my journal that night: "Today we were delighted to receive our transfer call from Elder Payne and not from President Clark. This evening Elder Duncan called  and said that Leslie's thought about being baptized. He and Elder Barwick are swapping places, so I wonder how things worked with Elder Hobbs. Elder Killpack is killing off Elder Reynolds, so maybe I'll kill off Elder Love.

"Cassandra was the only lesson that went through today. It was not the best lesson and I didn't think I was teaching well at all.

"We went up to the Keanes' place out in the middle of nowhere, and they had their friends there who didn't answer the door when we tracted into them." 

2007. I was fortunate enough to be in Nashville for Preston's birthday. This might have been the day Ya-ping was hosting preschool at their apartment but it might have been the day they went someplace else and I stayed home. When David came home, we gave Preston some presents. My mom had sent him a stuffed dinosaur and a bug cage. We went out to search for bugs, but since it was November they were a bit hard to find. We found a cricket, and Preston got really excited. Then we went out and got pizza. We went to a Ross store, where I got Preston a shark toy. We went to a chain pet store to look at the animals; Preston liked looking at the kittens through the glass. I don't think this was the time we went to the mall and went in the arcade but didn't play anything and Preston played on a playground and said "Die!" to a kid who was playing where he wanted to play, but it could have been.

2005. We had people over for Preston's birthday. I was surprised that Ya-ping wouldn't let Preston have any cake on his own birthday. Someone gave him a gift of a toy that shuffled balls through a tube by blowing air.

2004. My mom, my sister, and Allie all drove down to Provo to see the new baby. We went to the hospital to the nursery window, where David showed us the new baby. Susanne and my mom both said, "Awww!" David talked to one of the nurses in the nursery. We couldn't hear him, but we knew exactly what he was saying because of the way he put his hand at one height and then raised it. He was obviously telling her about my height before and after his mission. We went and saw Ya-ping, who was shaking. Then we left to go get some dinner. On our way out, my mom motioned to David that he needed to put the baby down and go see Ya-ping. We got food at a Wendy's. We also stopped at a Food 4 Less (I can't quite remember when) and I stayed in the car and did my chemistry homework, but I wanted my mom to buy some candy corn (I don't remember what we were there for, but I'm sure it was for Dave and Ya-ping). We went back to the hospital; I think David had brought Preston up to Ya-ping. Also there were their friends Jesse and his Taiwanese wife. My mom asked what the Chinese term for Allie's relationship to the new baby was, and Jesse, who was not known for his smarts, gave a term. Then his wife (and I think another Taiwanese girl) corrected him (and mildly laughed at him) because he had erroneously believed the new baby was a girl! Then we drove home; as we drove out, I remember seeing Melville Stables. As we got closer to Salt Lake, my mom had me call my grandparents and ask them if they wanted to see pictures of Preston. They did, so we stopped by. It was after 9:00 at that point. My mom and sister were saying that Preston got his looks entirely from Ya-ping, but I said I thought he looked a lot like a Chinese David.

2002. I was out on the roof putting up Christmas lights. I asked David to come out and supervise me so I wouldn't fall off, but he went inside because he was cold, having just spent the last two years in Taiwan. I eventually came inside too because my fingers were cold, and I made some hot chocolate.

2000. To the disapproval of my family, I went to school in the morning--dressed up, I believe--before my parents would pick me up so we could take David to the MTC. We met my maternal grandparents and my sister, and all seven of us carpooled down in my grandparents' van. It was snowy that day, and my mom said, "Wouldn't it be cool if we came out of the MTC and it was sunny?" But then it got sunny on the drive, and my mom said, "See? It's sunny because we're doing the right thing." I thought it was a stretch. We met my dad's family at a Chuck-a-Rama in Provo because my grandpa Boyd wanted to eat there. A "waitress" asked my uncle John what he wanted for drinks for him and his kids; he wanted root beer. I had never had anyone ask what drinks we wanted at Chuck-a-Rama before. I remember talking to my maternal grandparents about the bad special effects on I Dream of Jeannie. Then we went to the MTC, and it was snowing again. I remember thinking that the "coming out when it was sunny" thing wasn't working for those who were presently coming out. My mom needed to use the bathroom, so we waited for her, but some senior missionaries moved us along to the meeting room. At the end of their little intro, it was time for all missionaries to say goodbye. While most missionaries said their final goodbyes and hugged, David looked back at us and took off, moving a chair to get out of there faster. All of us family members were a little teary-eyed as we left. I remember when we got home, my mom was talking to Linda Larson about school stuff. Or maybe she was talking to someone else and Linda Larson had just dropped off a bunch of notes from her schoolkids sympathizing about her broken leg. I wanted to use the computer to make a Christmas list.

1999. I think I made up my Christmas list using a snowman clipart picture in Word; I also used the Frostbitten font in alternating red and green colors.