The End of Scotty B

Hello to everyone back home!  I love y'all and thank you for your prayers and thoughts, letters and emails.  They mean a lot, and I appreciate them.  This P-day has mostly been wasted driving to and from Birmingham for an A1C check, so I'm going to have to make this short and sweet.

We got transfer calls last night and I was told that I will be transferred this Wednesday.  I'm so sad.  I honestly was surprised by it, and I was very much hoping to stay here another transfer.  However, that will not be the case.  I've loved being here in The Boro for so long.  I love all of the members, the investigators, the crazy people, the awesome people, the investigators, and the memories I have of this place.  I'm sad to go, and I look forward to the day I get to come back here after the mission.

If this week had to be my last, it was a good one.  It also had a few unfortunate incidents, which were a bummer.  But overall it was a good week.  Here it is:

Last week we got to listen to several Apostles speak.  Not sure if I told y'all, but last Monday, Elder Bednar spoke in Salt Lake, but it was broadcast to our multi-Stake Conference.  He gave a great talk, and he gave a major call to repentance.  It was great.  Then last Tuesday, as we all know, the new First Presidency was announced, and President Nelson spoke to everyone as well as President Oaks and President Eyring.  It was awesome as well, and I hope every one of you watched it.  Then last Friday, Elder Andersen was in Huntsville for a Stake devotional with the Huntsville, Madison, and Tupelo Stakes.  We didn't go to Huntsville, but we watched the broadcast of it to the Scottsboro building.  Elder Andersen talked a lot about his experience last week with the calling and setting apart of the new First Presidency.  He talked about their time spent in counsel in the Upper Room of the Temple, and the experiences he had.  He shared some wonderful things, and it really strengthened my testimony that he is an Apostle of the Lord, that the others of the Twelve are as well, that Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God, and that this Church is Jesus Christs' Church.  That was really awesome.

The next day, Saturday, Elder Andersen drove down to Birmingham and we had a mission conference with him.  This was even more cool than his devotional the night before.  I got to shake his hand!  The way he presented his discussion was pretty informal (at least compared to our perception of the Apostles in General Conference).  It was so cool to talk to and visit with a special witness of Christ like Elder Andersen is.  One major thing that I learned from the conference was this:  It is such a good thing that I am in a mission where people believe in Jesus Christ.  Sometimes it is difficult because people don't want to hear our message because they already belong to another church, or they've "been saved,"  or something like that.  But that's fine. Those people have faith in Christ.  Obviously the message of the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation is something that everyone needs to hear, and is something that everyone will have the chance to hear and accept or reject.  But if people don't want to hear the Restoration, just talk to them about the New Testament.  There's nothing wrong with that.  If people don't want to hear our message, just talk to them about Jesus Christ.  Talk to them about their beliefs.  Help them build their faith in Jesus Christ, whether that is by teaching the Restoration, or simply discussing the New Testament.  I thought that was interesting advice, and I will definitely use it.  Another thing that was interesting that Elder Andersen shared was this question: "Do I believe in Jesus Christ, independent of the Restoration?"  I do of course, but it was a question that I had not thought of before.  This stems from the fact that most of my knowledge and testimony of Christ comes from the Book of Mormon and modern revelation.  Elder Andersen's invitation to "fall in love with the New Testament" is something that I will have to do, and I invite y'all to do it as well.  Sometimes as Latter-Day Saints, we sort of discount the Bible because we have the Book of Mormon.  DON'T.  The Bible (while sometimes more difficult to understand) is awesome!  Study it.  I know I'm going to more.  (Should be easy now that I've finished my "bashing Bible" haha).

This week we met with the Orgill kids again, and taught them about the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They have basically been coming to Primary all of their lives, so they knew almost all of it already, we just had to review.  I'm excited for them.  They are one of the reasons I'm sad to leave here.

Another reason is Deana.  Unfortunately, this week we have had little contact with her.  We had an appointment with her, but she cancelled because I guess she had an allergic reaction to some new medication she recently started taking.  That was a bummer, but we still were able to speak with her on the phone a little bit.  That appointment was supposed to be on Thursday.  On Saturday we texted her and we were expecting her at church in the morning.  However, about 10 minutes into Sacrament Meeting she texts and says that she had to go with her husband (to where, I don't know) so she wouldn't make it.  That sucked.  I know that there are still some major struggles between Deana and her husband.  I'm still not sure exactly what the situation is, but I know that they both need lots of prayers.  Deana is still on track to get baptized on Feb 3, provided she comes to church this week and we get another couple of appointments with her in the next couple of weeks.  As far as we know, her husband is okay with her getting baptized, so I'm not sure what the situation was on Sunday.  Either way, I was pretty sad that she wasn't there, and I could tell that she was too.

There was one awesome thing that happened on Sunday, though.  Sister Cantu, who I told you about last week, is married to a guy who is a Lakota indian.  Brother Cantu has met with dozens of missionaries before, and has enjoyed their visits and lessons, but has just enjoyed his tribal beliefs and traditions a little bit more.  Well, he and Sister Cantu have been married 7 years, and I guess that she finally got to him.  One of the first things that he said to us when he walked into church (for the first time in a long while) was, "I'm going to start learning the Book of Mormon so that my wife and I can get sealed in the Temple."  Whoa!  That's awesome!  They told us that he would start taking the lessons so that he can get baptized.  That was another awesome thing, and another reason I'm sad to leave here.  However, I know Elder Marshall and whomever else will do a great job teaching him.  So for Gospel Principles class we taught the Restoration to him, and invited him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.  He seems ready and excited to start learning about the Church.  Only one problem:  I'm not sure where you draw the line between his Native-American beliefs, and what we would call "apostate."  Obviously there are things that he can keep because that's his culture and they are in line with church standards.  However, I don't think praying to Wanka-Tanka (which he does) is okay if he is to become a member of the Church.  I'm not sure where that line has to be drawn, but I guess whoever teaches him in the future will just have to talk with the Mission President.  Either way, I'm excited for him and his desire to learn and progress in the Gospel, eventually to be sealed to his wife.  It's awesome.

We didn't see Dustin at all this week until Saturday night, and when we went over.  He hadn't read the Book of Mormon at all.  We gave him an assignment to read (which was only like 9 verses), and invited him to church.  He promised he would do both, and then didn't do either.  When I called him and told him I was getting transferred, he was really upset.  I love Dustin, and he loves us, but it is hard to be encouraging and supportive and loving and kind or anything like that when he is such a flake.  He was upset that he never kept his promise to me that he would come to church before I left.  I'm going to go over to his house one more time before Wednesday, and just help him see that we still care about him.  I also want him to remember that feeling that he had when he found out he didn't do all that he could, and use it as motivation to keep commitments.  Eventually we will all stand before the Lord.  It says in the scriptures that if we aren't prepared to meet him, if we aren't worthy, if we haven't done everything we could, we would be glad to drop a mountain on ourselves to hide us from Him.  I don't want that to be the case for me, or Dustin, or any of us.  I just want us all (especially Dustin right now) to have the faith to obey the simple yet sometimes difficult command from the Savior, "Come, follow me."  I don't want Dustin to come to church because of me.  I don't want any investigators to keep commitments out of obligation to me or my companion.  Obviously that is better than not keeping them at all.  However, I would much rather have them keep commitments so that they can draw nearer to the Savior, and do what HE wants them to do, not what I want them to do.  I hope I can help Dustin realize that before I leave.

I'm not excited to leave Scottsboro, but I am excited to serve the Lord and the people of Alabama (or maybe Mississippi) in another area.  I know that there are great things in store for me in other areas, just like there were here.  I'm so thankful to be a missionary, and to be doing the Lord's work.  I love it!

Sorry if this email seemed rushed, or if any part of it didn't make sense.  I had to type fast and didn't really read through it.  Either way, I love you, and I thank y'all again for your prayers.  Keep them coming!

Elder Beach

#RollTide

#GoodbyeScottsboro

Helping A pull the engine from his Jeep.  Elder Marshall knows a lot more about it than I do.  I was just there for moral support! :)

Mission Conference.

Beautiful Scottsboro (Scotty B).  I will miss it!

Checking out the frozen lake.

My "bashing Bible". 

Dinner!

Roll Tide!

Hello everyone!  First things first, Bama is National Champs!  I was a bit worried there in the first half, but they finally got it together and pulled out the W.  Roll Tide!  I wasted no time in acquiring myself a new national champions t-shirt.  They were in Walmart the next day.  Unfortunately, the white handbook prohibits us from recording or participating in "civil unrest," so we didn't go out and celebrate or see anyone partying too hard (though I'm sure it happened).  Haha, just kidding.  We went to bed before the game was even over.  It was still great.

This week was pretty good.  We spent some time on the bikes, spent some time in Fort Payne, and (almost) spent some time in Hunstville.  We have been just working hard and having fun.  I love being a missionary.

Last Friday we had interviews with President Sainsbury.  I asked him about some possibilities of what might happen this transfer, and I guess it's not a guarantee that I will leave Scottsboro.  I thought that I was out of here this transfer, but that may or may not be the case.  Even though I've been here almost 6 months, I would be fine with another transfer.  If I stay, I would be here for Deana's baptism, and I would just be in a place that I know and love.  It wouldn't be all bad if that were to happen.  

Right after interviews we drove all the way from Huntsville to Fort Payne for an exchange.  We have been doing our best to keep our miles under control, and have been doing a fairly good job.  However, on Friday we drove 272 miles - in one day.  It definitely put a dent in our allotment.  We had a good exchange though.  I went with Elder Layton, and we had a good time.  At one point, we were trying to visit a less-active member on their roster that he had never met.  We drove like 30 miles into the middle of nowhere to find his house, and when we got there, his mailbox was in front of two houses so we just had to guess which one it was.  Well, we guessed wrong, and we ended up meeting this crazy guy and talking to him for like 40 minutes about all of his conspiracy theories.  One of the very first things he said to us was, "You know in Revelations, when it talks about the 200,000 horses crossing the Euphrates river?"  After ignoring our "no" he said, "Well, I don't think there are that many horses in the world, so obviously it's talking about robots."  Yeah, that is about how the rest of our visit went.  Crazy guy, but he was super nice, and we did actually talk about the Gospel with him for a little bit.  He had a copy of the Book of Mormon in his house, so we invited him to check it out and we gave him a Restoration pamphlet.  

After that we went and knocked on the door of the less-active that we were looking for.  He invited us right in (which was unusual to me - most of the "less-actives" in Scottsboro don't want to have anything to do with the Church anymore).  But we were able to chat with him for a while, share a message with him, talk a little bit about how and why he joined the Church, and then invite him to church.  I'm not sure if he came on Sunday, but at least we were able to invite the Spirit into his home and begin to reignite the testimony that he has.  That's one of my favorite things.

On Saturday we went over to Dustin's house for a little bit.  He still hasn't read any of the Book of Mormon on his own except for the introduction.  We just don't feel like Dustin has a whole lot of "real intent."  When we help him to understand our goals for him (including an eventual baptism), he agrees that those are his goals, too.  When we ask him what would keep him from getting to that goal, he just tells us that he is on the fence right now, and that the only way he is going to tip one way or the other is by "studying the word," (reading the Book of Mormon) as well as attending church and continuing to learn.  At this point, the question is always in our minds: Why haven't you done those things?  If you are going to make a decision about joining a church, you should investigate that church.  However, Dustin hasn't done much investigating beyond hearing the lessons.  After promising us on Saturday night that his family would be at church, they didn't show.  I'm a little bit disappointed in him, but I'm also just sad because I know how much the Gospel can help Dustin and his family.  I think we are just going to give him a break from our visits for a while before we go back again. 

Deana, however, is as solid as ever.  This Sunday was Stake Conference, so it started at 9:00 instead of 9:30.  We let her know on Saturday night, but I guess she didn't get the text until morning because she showed up late.  That was okay though, because she got to hear the best part.  For Stake Conference, they broadcast the first 30 minutes from the Stake Center in Huntsville, and the following 90 from Salt Lake City.  It was expected that a General Authority would speak, but who we got was Elder Bednar!  It was awesome, and Deana got to see it!  It was a great Stake Conference.  Right afterwards, we were talking to Deana and she just kept telling us (as always) how much she loved it and how much she has learned and how much she enjoys the things that she learns in this Church vs. all others that she has attended.  She is a true investigator.  She is reading and studying and praying on her own, learning on her own and with our help, and she is coming to church.  She even told us, "I knew that I would be late this morning, but I decided that I wouldn't miss for anything."  That was a great thing to hear.  Elder Soares, of the Presidency of the 70, also spoke in Stake Conference, and he talked about temples.  So naturally Deana asked us all about them.  We answered everything that we could, and also referred her to mormon.org and lds.org to find out more about them.  Deana is just awesome.  I'm so excited for her baptism, whether I'm still in Scotty B or not.  When Preach My Gospel or the Scriptures talk about "finding the elect," people like Deana are who it's talking about.

Last week we got to start teaching the Orgill kids. The two boys are 10, and they are twins.  Their younger sister is 8.  They have all been coming to church with their mom for basically their whole lives, so it's really easy to teach them.  It's really exciting to teach people who actually want to get baptized.  It doesn't seem to happen all that often, but there are people out there.  I love teaching them.

One tiny bit of sad news this week: We were supposed to go over to Huntsville today (Tuesday) to the Space and Rocket Center.  However, because of the 12 snowflakes that fell today, the Governor declared a state of emergency due to weather conditions.  As a result, the Space and Rocket Center closed, and we were unable to attend.  Sad day, but I think we'll get over it somehow.

One bit of info that you may or may not think is kind of cool:  I have been working this week on creating my own "bashing Bible."  A couple of other missionaries I have met have them, and they are awesome, so I have begun to make my own.  Now, this Bible is not meant for use in a proselyting setting.  Everyone knows that bashing doesn't make things better.  It is mostly meant for me to learn, and then I can use it for instructional purposes, should somebody with real intent ask about a certain point of doctrine that we believe.  Basically what this "bashing Bible" is, is a Bible that has been marked and cross-referenced to show the basic points of our beliefs and also to show how some common beliefs that other faiths often have are not all that accurate.  My Bible is marked based on these categories:

 - Add to or Take From

 - Contradictions (the Bible contradicts itself)

 - Faith, Works, and Faith + Works

 - Godhead

 - Gospel of Jesus Christ

 - Lost Scriptures

 - Plan of Salvation

 - Points of the True Church

 - Priesthood

 - Prophecies of the Book of Mormon

 - Restoration/Apostasy

 - Temples/Family History

I got most of the 250ish references from other missionaries, but I added about 50 of my own as I went through them and highlighted.  It's been really fun to take time and find where some very important doctrine comes from.  There are so many great truths in the Bible that people understand and believe correctly.  Unfortunately, there are many that people don't.  During the hours I have spent putting this "bashing Bible" together, I've learned a lot of things.  Perhaps the most important one is that we NEED the Book of Mormon.  I'm so thankful for the added witness of the Book of Mormon to clarify doctrine.  I love it.

I love all of you, too.  I hope y'all have a good week.  Hopefully I have my transfer news by the time I email next Monday.  If not, I'll let you know as soon as I can.  Thanks so much for everyone's prayers for me, Elder Marshall, Deana, Dustin, and others.  We can't change other's agency, but we can sure pray that they use it in the best way.  I'm thankful for the power of prayer.  Love y'all, talk to you next week!

Elder Beach

#ROLLTIDE

#NationalChamps

Roll Tide!

My GoPro that I purchased at "Unclaimed Baggage".

Some new friends in Scottsboro, Brother and Sister Hicks.

Elders in their "natural habitat" - a bamboo forest! :)

Break out the bikes!

Howdy to all of my family, friends, and neighbors back home, at school, work, on missions, or wherever else.  I hope that this letter finds y'all doing well.  This week has had several awesome things happen, and a couple of not-so-awesome things happen, so here's the brief synopsis:

Last week, like all of you, we heard the news of the passing of President Monson.  How grateful I am for the life that he lived, for the lives that he touched, for the lessons he taught, and for the example he lived.  It's good to know that he is in a place free of pain, sorrow, the weight of responsibility, and that he is with his wife again.  That makes me so happy for him.  I am also grateful for the organization of the Church that the Lord has established to call His prophets, seers, and revelators.  I know that even with the death of a prophet, there will be no keys, power, or authority lost, and there will be no doctrines altered or changed.  Everything in this Church has been established perfectly.  I'm so grateful to be a part of what the Lord Himself has designated as "the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth" (D&C 1:30).  What a blessing.  I love it!

On Thursday of last week we had a great lesson with Deana.  We taught her lesson 3, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, and she absolutely loved it.  We also invited her again to be baptized, and she gave us a very confident "yes!"  She is on date to be baptized on February 3.  At this point, we are hoping to move that baptism up to a date that is before transfers (Jan 24), so that Elder Marshall and I can be here for it.  I think that could be possible, however, if that doesn't work out, she will definitely be ready by Feb 3.  I'm super excited for her.  

There were a couple of things that Deana said during our lesson that stood out to me.  1) She told us how sad she was that people didn't believe the things that we teach.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ truly is "good news," and so many people just don't want it.  Deana kept telling us that every time she read the Book of Mormon, it just helped her understand previously misunderstood concepts from the Bible.  She said, "How can someone read it and say it's not true?"  We definitely agreed with her, and told her that that's how we feel every day.  It is a sad thing, but we can't let it weigh us down.  Her comment reminded me of a scripture that I had read very recently in personal study.  It is in Mormon 7: 

"For behold, this (The Book of Mormon) is written for the intent that ye may believe that (The Bible); and if ye believe that ye will believe this also;..." (verse 9)

The chapter heading of Mormon 7 reads, "All who believe the Bible will also believe the Book of Mormon."  I know that to be true, which also means that a few other things must be true.  Those things are: 1) People really don't read/believe/understand the Bible like they claim to, for if they did, they would believe the Book of Mormon, or 2) They don't understand the Book of Mormon when they read it, which is unfortunate, because in my opinion it is so much easier to understand that the Bible.  I'm just thankful for someone like Deana who proves that quote from Mormon and from the chapter heading to be true.  Deana reads, studies, loves, and from what I can see, actually understands the Bible.  Because she does, she has also taken the time to read, study, understand, and love the Book of Mormon.  It's awesome!  I love seeing prophesies being fulfilled!

One other thing that Deana said during our lesson which stood out to me, is that she explained several of her life's circumstances that led her to be able to accept the missionaries and the lessons, the Book of Mormon and the doctrine it contains.  She mentioned several times how the Lord has been preparing her for it her whole life.  That reminded me of two other verses from the Book of Mormon:

Alma 13:24 - "For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory."

Alma 16:16 - 

"the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming—"

Once again, prophesies in the scriptures are being fulfilled, and I am a witness of it.  What a blessing it is.  Please keep Deana and her husband in your prayers.  I have really been seeing them both change as a result of prayer.  Deana has grown so much in her confidence, and her husband (while still not supportive) is tolerant of her decisions.  They have both come a long way, but I know that the closer we get to her baptism, the harder it's going to be for her.  Thanks!

One bummer of a thing that happened this week is that President Sainsbury has really been cracking down on the amount of miles that we put on our cars.  He never has in the past, but he recently got a call from HQ in Salt Lake that we have been going way over, so now he has to.  Anyway, we found out this week that we have been allotted 1000 miles per month in our area.  Well, I've been here for 5 months, and the least amount we have ever done in one month is over 1700.  The most was about 2300.  We have our doubts that we will be able to stay under 1000, but we will do our best.  So last Friday we rode our bikes over to Mama Reyes' house for dinner.  It was pretty cold, but I was actually sweating a good bit by the time we got there.  After dinner, we rode home with Andrea and Jeremy (Mama's daughter and son-in-law who live near us) and we left our bikes there.  Saturday morning we had the biggest accomplishment of my entire mission: WE DROVE 0 MILES!  Instead of driving to pick up our bikes, we walked the 5-6 miles to her house, and then rode our bikes for the rest of the afternoon.  That evening, we went on team-ups with Brother Williams, so he drove and we didn't spend any miles.  It was great!

On Saturday night when we went on team-ups, we went out to visit Sister Mangold, one of the less-actives in the branch.  Her husband is not a member, and we talked to them for a good while and invited them to church.  We were also able to give Sister Mangold a blessing for some health things that she has been struggling with, and it was awesome.  We also went to go see Dustin that night with Brother William, which was actually pretty good.  Dustin has become really comfortable around us, so he is kind of rowdy sometimes.  We figured if we brought someone who he had never met, he would at least try to be a little bit more formal, which he was.  Dustin told us that his family would be at church on Sunday, and so we planned to call and wake him up, or knock his door down again like we did last week.  Anyway, he told us he would be there, but when we called him Sunday morning we got no answer.  We drove up to his house and knocked on the door, and he actually opened it this time, unlike last week.  Anyway, he told us that their heater had gone out that night, and the maintenance guy wouldn't be there for a couple hours.  He told us it was too cold to get the kids up and ready (it was maybe 65 degrees in their house) so they didn't end up coming to church.  Dustin really needs the Gospel.  It would bless his life SO much.  His problem is that he is exceptionally lazy.  He also likes to just be difficult sometimes.  Besides making excuses about why he hasn't come to church, he also has only read a tiny amount of the Book of Mormon, and he told us that he didn't want to start reading more until he had a hardback book, not the paperback ones that we give out.  I told him that I had a brand new hardback Book of Mormon at the apartment (which I did), but he said he didn't want to be given one, he wanted to buy it.  Since I wouldn't accept money for it, he didn't want to take the one that I have.  He's great at being difficult.  Well, he finally took the one that I offered to him on Sunday night, so I hope he starts reading soon.  We read with him sometimes, but his house is far from ideal to study and focus in.  Furthermore, he needs to read and pray and study on his own if he is ever to gain a strong testimony for himself.  He can rely on us missionaries for a while, but that will only take him so far.

This Sunday after church we were able to give Sister Cantu (pronounced "Chawn - too") a blessing.  She and her family have been struggling with financial problems, struggling to find work, and in the near future they will have to find a new place to live.  It's really stressing her out, and she is having a hard time with everything.  It was so great to give her a blessing and see some of that stress just leave her, see the Spirit come in and just let her feel at peace.  Certainly our Father in Heaven does not just remove our problems, but he helps us along every step of the way as we do our best to resolve them.  I know that everything will work out for the Cantu family.  She was very appreciative of us, and it was probably just as much of a blessing to me as it was to her.

This Sunday we also found out that there are 3 children in the branch who belong to the same family who are unbaptized.  They have been coming to church for their whole lives, and attend Primary regularly, but for whatever reason, they haven't been baptized yet.  Their dad is not a member, and that might be part of it, but he seems to be fine with it now.  Either way, we have an appointment will all of them this Wednesday to start teaching them.  I am really excited for it.  I have tried to work with unbaptized children of members before, but it has yet to work out all that well.  I am very optimistic about this situation however, because their mother is very active.  I think that her 3 kids shouldn't have much of a problem preparing to be baptized with her help.  I look forward to teaching them.

One more great thing that happened this week was that we were able to get in contact with Deborah again.  I hope I told y'all about Deborah.  She is a lady that Elder Hastings and I found back in October.  We taught her the first lesson, invited her to be baptized and she accepted.  When we went back a few days later for a return appointment, she had left her Book of Mormon on the porch with a note that said, "I have prayed about this, and it's not for me."  Anyway, Elder Marshall and I got back in contact with her over the phone a few weeks ago, but we hadn't been to her house until this week.  We were able to chat with her, and I'm sure glad we did.  One of her major concerns was based solely on a misunderstanding:  she thought that the Book of Mormon was supposed to replace the Bible.  We helped her understand that that is not the case at all.  The Book of Mormon is meant to add clarity, correct, and give additional witnesses to the Bible, not replace it.  She was glad that we helped her understand the facts, and we made another appointment with her tomorrow (Tuesday).  I'm excited to start teaching her again.

This has been a good week!  It's hard to believe that I have been here in Scotty B for 5 months.  I don't want to stay here forever, but I'm not looking forward to the day that I leave.  In all likelihood, it will probably be my last transfer here, and I will probably leave on Jan 24.  I'm going to miss this place, but I look forward to going wherever the Lord needs me.

I love y'all!  I'm so thankful for your thoughts, prayers, letters, emails, and packages.  I hope you have a good week, and I hope you cheer for Alabama in the National Championship tonight haha!

Love,

Elder Beach

#RollTide

P.S. - Happy Birthday to Grandpa Gary!  It was awesome to see that the whole family got together to celebrate.  Hope you have a great 80th!

(All Jackson sent this week was videos, so, sadly, there are no pictures to share.)