Ben's Mission to Toronto

From Dad - A week of birthdays Dear Ben, It has been a wonderful week.  We loved talking with you on Monday. Thanks for staying up a little later to talk.  We got to try out our vaccine passports for the first time as most restaurants are requiring them. On Friday we went to the Van Gogh exposition/projection show in Edmonton for Mom's birthday. It was pretty cool to see and experience. After we went to Montana's and were asked to present passports and id to get in.We enjoyed spinach dip and a skillet cookie with icecream. Amazing how good food drives crankiness away :) On Saturday, we harvested what there was of the garden. It wasn't the most stellar year and we are seriously contemplating fundamental gardening practices next year. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the fruits of our labors today for Sunday dinner shared with the city boys! Final preparations are underway to pour the BBall pad this week. I'm both nervous and excited. I want it to go well and be a source of fun a...

 From Mom - Happy Birthday!: Dear Elder Smith, Your birthday package IS in the mail so I’m actually quite proud of myself. It’ll arrive at the mission office on Tuesday or Wednesday then who know how long it will take to get to you? Maybe we should start thinking about your Christmas package now. Haha.  But I AM so so glad you were born and it is a day worth celebrating. So here it goes…  20 Things/Memories I Love About Ben. 1) As long as I live, I will never forget your first wonder-eyed stare as a minutes-old-newborn. Most babies fall asleep immediately (it’s hard work being born) but you certainly did not. You stared into our souls with your blue eyes. One day I’ll get to ask God what you were thinking in that moment but if I had to guess, I think you were just curious because you’ve always been like that. 2) Your fetish with your Winnie-the-Pooh sippy cup. You carried it everywhere and lost it daily, but you actually got over it pretty fast on the day it was finally l...

 From Benjamin - Your Killing Me Smalls Another transfer begins!  Now, we are a trio. Elder Geisbrecht and Peterson have moved into Trenton, and I remain the guy that kind of knows what's happening here, but not really. We're basically just three nerds as we all wear glasses and look like geeks. (It's going to be a good transfer) Elder Geisbrecht has this awesome laugh that he  puts to good use often, and Elder Peterson is amazing with voice impressions. Both of them have a great understanding of Gospel doctrine, and we've had some great conversations. I'm going to learn a lot from these guys.  This week had its moments!  On the day of Transfers, me and Elder Hamilton had to be at the mission office by 9:00. It was a two hour drive to Brampton from Trenton, meaning we had to be out of the door by 7:00. Quite predictably actually, we played ourselves and left the door by 8:00, an hour off schedule. We were going to get there by 10:00 instead of 9:00. By nature of...

 From Mom: Whirlwind Dear Elder Smith, It’s been a busy time. You know most of it from our phone call last week, so this is how things played out … Tyler, Steph and Bowie’s visit was like a dream. The treehouse has improved, thanks to Tyler. (He slept there most of the time and set up a home office to do his work.) Steph stayed in the guest room and we loved loved loved having her here. She’s a calming presence and made life just a little bit better all around. Bowie is, I’m sure, the most adorable child on this planet. You might have died from cuteness overload. Grandma and Grandpa Smith came up on very short notice to spend some time with them.  One story … Grandma Smith and I were at the table painting Bowie’s nails (a ploy to keep her busy while Steph and Tyler packed their van). She picked one hand to have green nails and the other hand to be yellow. Partway through she says, “Dramma, I do it!” I was a little reluctant because she’s just barely two years old, after all. D...