The Phone Call

On Thursday, December 2, 2010, I got the most amazing phone call. The caller id said "Mont Ringer". He is an oral surgeon who took out Deric's wisdom teeth almost 2 years ago. I didn't think much of it so I answered. The woman's voice said, "Sister Larkin, you probably don't know me but I have just returned from Honduras where I met your son." I nearly burst into tears. Even now, as I am reliving the experience, my eyes are tearing up. We visited on the phone for a few minutes then Sister Ringer told me that she had some photos and a note from Deric. She asked if she could bring them right over. Deric had given her our address and I gave her the directions.

As I was waiting for her, I hear the garage open and Conrad came in. He isn't usually home until 6:30, but a conference near the convention center was over early and he was home just after 5:00pm. Sister Ringer arrived and came in and we visited for about 30 minutes. She had a picture of her and Deric and another one with Dr. Ringer, his twin boys (seniors), and Deric. Sister Ringer told us that Deric looked healthy and happy and his Spanish is great. The Ringers were part of the medical brigade in my last post. They said that the whole experience was absolutely amazing for them. She said that she had a glimpse of Deric's badge and saw Larkin so she tracked him down and asked him if he was from Las Vegas. He was surprised until she introduced herself. The Ringers are in the Lakes Stake where Todd (Richard's cousin) had been the Stake President until about a year ago. That's why she knew the name.

Sister Ringer told us about a fireside where the area authority spoke of the miracles in Central America because of the medical brigades. The number of missionaries serving from those countries has nearly doubled since the brigades started. I thought that maybe Deric would come home from his mission and want to go into medicine instead of engineering, but Sister Ringer said that as he carried a dental chair out to the truck, he told her that the closest he would get to the medical field would be designing the equipment as an engineer. That's my son... Sister Ringer said that all of the missionaries who helped with the translation and such were amazing. They worked so hard moving equipment and assisting and working with the young people. She said that there is no way they could have done it without the Elders.

Deric told Sister Ringer to assure me that he is healthy and well. I've told him that he looked thin in the last photo we got. The ones from Sister Ringer have him still thinner than he was but looking good (except for that haircut). Sandra would die... I'll make sure to set up an appointment for the day after he gets home.

Missionary News

In chatting with Deric yesterday, he told Felycia that he had been on splits with the Mission President. We thought that sounded cool until he explained that President Viers needed to spend some time and the office and so did Deric so they went together. "Splits with the President" sounds more impressive.

Brother and Sister Tobler are from out stake. They have been serving in Guatemala. Brother Tobler is a dentist so they are part of a medical brigade in Central America. Deric got to see them this last week. Apparently, there have been many latin missionaries who have got into the field without proper medical checks so they do these checks a few times a year. Deric stood in as a translator. I guess the language has come along quite well. He said that there were of about 40 dentists, 4 oral surgeons, 3 doctors, a podiatrist, an all of their assistants. About 120 people in all. This time it was in Northern Honduras. Here is what Deric told us about the week.

"They change the country and place every time. It was really cool. There really isn´t much else to the story. There were tons of miracles that happened. Especially in pre-op. Everybody has a really bad fear about getting their wisdom teeth out. A ton asked for blessings before going in. There were other little things that made all the difference. Cleanliness was one of them. It really was sooo much fun to be there and be around a ton of gringos. There were also a ton of really hilarious things that happened. Almost all of the doctors that were there had their own style of music. Somebody was a little worried about it "because there were missionaries there". President Veirs´s response was that it was fine. "They won´t know the music anyway," is what he said. I got to use a ray gun. I felt like one of those really old cartoon characters. It was an x-ray gun. I spent some time translating in the room where they were doing the dental x-rays. One of the assistants went to dinner and I got asked to step in...and use a ray gun. Somebody was taking a video and I turned to the camera and said in the Arnold Schwarzeneger accent, "I am the x-ray taker." All of the doctors cracked up. It was perfect."

That last part is sooooooo 'Deric.'

Only 27 days until we get to talk to our missionary. Only 19 days until our college student is home for 3 weeks. Conrad and I both took off the week after Christmas so we can just hang out as a little family. Works great for us. Unfortunately, neither one of us get paid for the week either. Conrad's contract requires furlough days that week and I'm part time so no work = no pay. At least we're prepared.

Update on our Missionary

So, last Saturday when we were e-mailing with Deric, Conrad asked if we should call the mission president to see about going to pick Deric up. Deric's reply was, "No, Dad, because I'm the one who answers the phone." Then, Deric promised to visit with the mission president about the possibility of our trip next summer. It makes me proud to know that Deric is trying in every way to follow the rules.

Youth Conference - The Benson & Call Handcart Companies

Last weekend was Youth Conference in the Sandstone Stake. We did a handcart trek up near Zion Canyon in Southern Utah. It was amazing. Great experiences for all the kids who participated. The leaders were strengthened by the the faith of the youth. It was a trek so it was hard. There were times when the kids didn't think they could go on, But someone would step up and help.

During the hardest hill at the end of the first day, "angels" came out of the trees to help get the carts to the top. After eating just broth for dinner, they were told of a "rescue" coming to help them. Chicken stew, hot chocolate, and apple crisp arrived just in time.

At one time, some of the kids said, "I wish Deric Larkin was our age. He would have just taken the cart up the hill all by himself." Deric is strong, but the carts weighed close to 600 lbs fully loaded.

As the Mormon Battalion left and the girls pushed on by themselves, they were promised miracles. Some of the girls reported that their carts were moving but they weren't really pushing and pulling them. Miracles did happen.

The testimony meeting on Sunday was great. The bishops passed the sacrament to a huge turnout. They had to open the overflow and then they had to set up chairs in the gym and open those doors, too. I couldn't believe it. We haven't had that kind of turn out for a Youth Conference testimony meeting for a long time.

The fireside on Sunday night was fun, too. The slide show was really good, too. Brother Marelli, Brother Whiting and others contributed photos. Brother Marelli has posted all of his on the internet. I've looked through them and have found some that I'm going to try to download and post. I will make sure to give credit where credit is due. I also have video and photos that I did. They will be posted later.

All in all, it was a really fun weekend. It was cold and we were all tired, and hungry at times. I didn't do the whole trek because of a previous injury, but I walked the last 3 miles or so. I understand it was the easiest part of the whole 2 days, but it was all I could do.

Missionaries

Deric sent this photo last week. Can you find him? I think I saw him in at least 3 different places. This collage was done after a real 'fireside' in Sonaguera. Deric is still working in the office. He told Felycia that he is tired of staring at a computer screen. This coming from the kid who would sit for hours and play "4x4 Evolution" or "Need for Speed." I think he enjoys being in the city. He has access to more stores that have the things he needs. In other areas, I had to send shampoo and deodorant. Now he can buy it himself. It sure will save me some money to not have to send everything. Deric tells us that he no longer has anyone cooking for him. They have to fend for themselves. He did say that they eat out a lot because a full meal is really cheap (less than $2). I hope he's eating well. He looks skinny in the photo. I've decided that maybe it has been good that we haven't been able to get pictures for a while. I would have worried that he is too thin. I told him that he looks like a little kid wearing his dad's shirt because it is so baggy. If you can, take a look at the tie. I think Cristi sent it to him for ugly tie day at the MTC. Now he wears it as a representative of the church. Go figure.


This is Evan Kittaka, my nephew. He was called to serve in Cote d'Ivoire. This photo was taken 2 days before he entered the MTC in September. He leaves for Africa on Monday. We are so excited for him to begin the real part of his mission.



Casey Nowack, a nephew, reported to the MTC in July. His call was to one of the Mexico City missions. His visa didn't come in time so he has been in Boise, ID for the last 6 weeks. He finally got to Mexico this last week. He looks really excited.

(Casey is on the right.)

Finally...The Field is White

I've been working on this photo for 8 weeks now. I finally know how to make it into the vision I had the first time I saw it. This photo was taken up at Calico Basin near Red Rock Canyon just west of Las Vegas. It was about a month before Deric reported to the MTC. I saw this as "The field is white already to harvest". Now, it is.

More Photoshop Stuff

This is a photo that I took at Brittany's wedding. I love what happened when I turned it black and white and highlighted the red. So cool. I also like how Photoshop allows me to choose a color in the photo for the words.

Our Teacher - To - Be

Okay, I finally found a cute picture of Felycia. I played with it and here is what I came up with. Isn't she beautiful?

My New Hobby

When we went to SLC to see Evan before he went into the MTC, Becky was working on a quilt and I decided to get ambitious and make a quilt. I happened to be at JoAnn's with my friend, Jennifer (a total Halloween freak) and it was close to her birthday. She picked out fabric and here is the result. The pattern makes really small quilts. The finished product is only about 40 inches square. They make great lap blankets.



I suggested to the YW in my ward that a quilt would be a great value project. So, I took one of the girls shopping for fabric and I found this for me. Now, I'm on my third quilt and I have stuff to make 3 more. 3 of the girls have completed their quilts and I have about 6 more coming to my house this week to finish their's. It's been a fun activity and I love having the girls at my house. My house is too quiet without the kids here.

Photoshop Classes are SOOOOO FUN!!!!

I have finally learned what I really took this Photoshop class to learn. I can make parts of photos color and parts black and white. I'm having so much fun. These are my first two attempts. They aren't perfect because this is a very involved process and it will take lots of practice to get good at it. It's a beginning though.



As you can see, I've had lots of fun working with this one photo over and over and over. I just pull up the original and do whatever it is we are working on in class for the week.



This was one of Deric's Eagle Scout photos. I wanted the flag to stand out and it was an easy shape to start playing with.

It occurs to me that most of my photos have been Deric. I need to find more pictures of Felycia to play with. She tends to hide from the camera so I just have more pictures of Deric. Besides, Felycia was mostly done with her sports by the time I got a good camera and joined the digital age. I'll find some good Felycia shots and work on them this week.

The Scoop From Honduras

We got an e-mail from Deric on Saturday. We thought that p-day was Monday for his whole mission, but it seems that the office missionaries do Saturday p-day because they are busy during the week. We don't have all the details yet, but here is his letter.

THIS WEEK WAS INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday we had a zone p-day. Tuesday, we had the normal meeting. I did not sleep at all on Tuesday night because we had to leave the zone leaders´ house at 1:30 AM to catch the bus to come to San Pedro Sula. In the transfer meeting I found out that I am the new secretary. I am in charge of all the immigration stuff and all of the records (Baptism, Ordination, etc.) Wednesday night, we had all of the missionaries that were headed home staying at the house. At least the house is huge. We got to bed really late and got up really early. Thursday at 5 AM we had to be at the airport dropping all of the returning missionaries off. We also went to make President Veirs a resident of Honduras. A couple of hours in immigration later and we now have a Mission President that is 100% legal in the country. Yesterday we ran tons of errands. Buying parts to fix President´s car, doing some other things in immigration, Baptismal interviews for the baptism that we have later today, Taking president to a special interview, and a ton more. In other words, there is not a ton of missionary work that gets done here. We are really just here to make sure that the rest of the missionaries can do their work and are doing all of the paperwork right. Because I will probably be here for Christmas, They are going to put me in charge of editing the Christmas video. That is going to be a ton of work, but it should be really cool.

I have done a ton of things in the last week that I had never done in my mission before. I have stayed up all night, been with President Veirs for more than 5 minutes, driven a car, taken a hot shower, and a ton more stuff.

I am doing really well. I am just really tired from the lack of sleep this week. I am hoping that there are not many more days like the ones this week. I need more sleep.

That has been this week. I am tired. Other than that, I am doing just fine.

I hope you are all doing well. I love you all.

Deric


At Stake Conference this morning, one of Deric's friends from high school (Matt Stewart), who returned from El Salvador 2 weeks ago, was talking to Conrad. He mentioned seeing Deric in a video presentation about missionaries in Central America. That's the first I've heard about anything like that. I'm going to work on getting more information this week to see what's going on. Matt also met someone (a returned missionary) who knew Deric in Honduras. Pretty cool.

We are hoping that he will have access to a card reader so we might get to see some photos. Cross your fingers for us.

Felycia's Great News

Felycia was home last weekend for General Conference. Halfway through the Sunday afternoon session, she got a text from her roommate wondering when she was coming home. Felycia told her that she would be leaving in about an hour. Then, Britt sent another text that she needed to hurry because her letter was there from the Education Department at Dixie. Needless to say, Felycia left for St. George as soon as conference was over. SHE'S IN!!!! We are so excited for her to start the real part of becoming a teacher. She starts practicums in January and then it's just 2 years to graduation. As her parents, we can't wait for her to be done either. Tuition times 2 starts next September when Deric is back home. The sooner that is over, the better.

More fun from Photoshop

This really was in Las Vegas. I learned how to contour words around objects in my photos. I love learning all this stuff.



I learned how to put words on my photos in my second class. I've had lots of fun with it.



This is the same photo from the last post, but this time, I learned how to add the banner with the words in it. Pretty cool, huh?

I have also learned now to erase unwanted things from photos. I took some family pictures for a friend of mine and I got a stop sign in the background of one shot. I took it out now. Quite convenient. I can also get rid of people I don't know and shadows in the wrong places.

Photoshop class

I am taking a Photoshop class at one of the scrapbook stores here in town. My first class was on Thursday. I learned how to do black and white and how to do sepia. I've really had lots of fun going back through 5 years of pictures on my hard drive and deciding which ones to play with.



This photo was taken about a month before Deric left for his mission. Conrad's cousin took some family pictures for us up at Calico Basin. We called this "The field is white, already to harvest..." The field really did look white until we got it home and off of the camera. Now, it's white again.



This is Henry. He was tired after a day of viewing, funeral, graveside service, and luncheon for Great Grandma Zella Flinders. He just laid on the floor and I started taking pictures. If you look close, you can see his reflection in the floor.



This picture is Deric at the Junior Boys Classic Volleyball Tournament in Anaheim, California in June, 2008. Deric tried out for a volleyball team right after graduation and made it. The Junior Boys Classic was a qualifier tournament so they could participate in the Junior Olympics in July, 2008. It was hot and a long drive, but we had a good time and the boys did pretty well, considering that they forfeited all of their Sunday matches. Mostly Mormons on the team and they didn't want to play on Sunday. The coaches made them go and watch the other teams from their club but they didn't have to play.

Time Flies

I didn't realize it has been nearly a month since I updated.

I am working at Mirabelli a couple of mornings a week. I was released as the MiaMaid Advisor in my ward and I am now the YW Secretary.

Conrad is settling in to being a bishop. Evenings are usually filled with interviews and meetings. The house is really quiet.

Deric is doing well on his mission. He has been in Honduras for almost a year (August 24th). He is still in Sonaguera and working hard. We are waiting for a package to get to him. It has a new card reader in it so we are going to cross our fingers for photos next week.

Felycia starts her 2nd year of college on Monday. She has spent most of the summer in St. George. She took 3 classes and then she started back to work at the dance studio. She is in an apartment with 4 other girls this year. She loves having a kitchen to cook her own meals. Sara, a cousin, just moved in to the dorm this week. They will have fun being together at school but not living together.

We have had a busy summer. Scout camp, girls' camp, survivor camp, wedding receptions (5), a missionary farewell, family reunion, new callings, work, church, etc. The list goes on and on and on and on.

We are just plugging along and handling all the things life throws at us.

Family Home Evening at Little Creek Ranch

This is the video that Jerrald and Theresa did for our Family Home Evening at the cabin. Each family was to choose a different story from the Book of Mormon and decide how they wanted to share it. Leslie and Casey did a puppet show about Nephi, Sam, Laman, Lemuel and Lehi. Reid's family did a little skit about Samuel the Lamanite. Becky prepared a little game about Enos. Jerrald's family did the video. Our family did a new verse for Book of Mormon Stories about Abish, the Nephite servant to King Lamoni's wife. It was lots of fun. Enjoy the video.

More reunion photos

I let Isaiah use the camera for a little while. These are some of his shots.

Felycia and Casey eating lunch.

Leslie is cooking her hot dog.

This is why I like to hold the camera...So there are no pictures of me.

Sierrah was sitting next to Isaiah and wanted to have her picture taken.

Richard Larkin Family Reunion 2010

This was our family t-shirt this year. It is so fun. It actually says, "How can I be normal when I'm related to a LARKIN!" Reid and Donelle designed them and then we each got to use the Sharpie markers to color them in however we wanted to. This one is Conrad's. Deric's leaf is orange and Felycia's is purple, of course. And Leslie's has cow spots. We decided Conrad was the most creative in coloring his leaves. I just did a different color for each family and Felycia did all the girls purple and the boys aqua.

The four-wheelers are always the highlight of the reunion. The older kids took them out a few times on the last night of the reunion. Every time Allyssa went out, it started to pour rain and they had to come back. They had a great time and finally came in after it was totally dark out. I like this photo with the beautiful sunset in the background. The rider is either Casey or Isaiah.

We went down to the reservoir on Tuesday. Savannah, Olivia, Allyssa, and Breanna took one of the canoes out after lunch. They went down to the dam and did some swimming near the spillway. We were ready to leave before they got back, so Casey and Felycia went on the four-wheeler to find them. We finally drove the cars down to pick them and the canoe up so we wouldn't have to wait anymore.

Dakotta wanted a turn in the boat so Jerrald and Theresa took her out. They turned and waved for the camera.




On Monday night after dinner, I was looking out the back window of the cabin and saw some deer in the meadow. I grabbed the camera and went out to the balcony to get pictures. There were 3 does and and baby. These two posed as a push-me-pull-you.

We bought a new video camera and used it at the reunion. I am still trying to figure out how to upload videos and make them actually work. Felycia hit a moving target with the 20-gauge shotgun. She was pretty excited.

Jerrald and Theresa made a video for their Book of Mormon story. Jerrald was Nephi. They had a famine in the desert and then Nephi prayed and the rain came. It was great. I will post it as soon as I get it figured out.

El Deric

Deric got another transfer. He moved on Wednesday, June 16th to a town called Sonaguera. It is a 5 hour bus ride east from San Pedro Sula. I found it on the map, but Deric was still lost and not about to try to describe exactly where he lives. He said that it is one of the roughest areas in the mission. I guess they haven't had any baptisms in quite some time and there is no teaching pool to speak of at the moment. Deric left 10 progressing investigators in his last area. That area had been nearly dead when he got there, too. I told Deric that his mission president has a whole lot of confidence in him so it is time to get to work. I have no doubt that he will.

YW Camp

Last week was YW Camp. I actually spent the entire week at Camp Stimson. I have always had to make at least one trip back to Las Vegas during the course of the week, but not this year. I worked with the Level 2 girls. Rachel Van Orman was the level leader and Shaylee Ray and Holly Best were the junior leaders. We had 23 girls with us. It was a blast. Rachel brought her generator and her popcorn and snow cone machines. I made 3 batches of salsa. We ate trail mix and licorice and scones and hot chocolate. Instead of losing weight like I usually do when I go to the mountains, I think I must have gained some. We ate really good in our level. Of course, I did lots of braids during the week. I think that once the girls find out that someone can braid hair, they all want to be that person's best friend.

And some other news...I told the stake leaders that I do NOT hike. Well, after our adventure in Kolob, I decided that I could do it. And I did. I was the slowest one on the hike. I was the last one back to camp, but I didn't die and we didn't need the air rescue patrol. I was tired and hot and dirty, but I proved to myself that I can do what I set my mind to.

I am at Felycia's apartment in St. George doing this update, so I don't have my camp photos with me. I'll will have to post them when I get back to Las Vegas.

Adventures at Mt. Charleston

Well, another first for me this week...

I've never been to set up girls' camp in the SNOW!!!

We went up to Stimson to set up. It was cold and cloudy when we got to the mountain. It started to HAIL and RAIN. It did that off and on until we were done getting the things done that we needed to. Then, we drove up the hill. At the top, it was SNOWING! It rained most of the way to town. We were pretty sure it would be sunny in the valley, but we had little sprinkles of rain at times for most of the day. It started to clear in the evening and made for a gorgeous sunset.

I can't believe that it was only a week ago that we hit 110* and today we didn't even see 80* in the valley. I hope it warms up for next week. I don't like camping anyway, but cold weather camping will be even worse. It's been crazy weather this year.

Adventures on Kolob

On Monday afternoon, Conrad and I drove up to Kolob to where our scouts were having their camp with the Canyon Gate ward. It was a beautiful drive and the weather was wonderful. However, I forgot to take the camera so we didn't get any pictures. Conrad did a fireside and we prepared to leave so that we could get off the mountain before it got dark. You know how it goes with the best laid plans...

We started out and we were just chatting and driving along. We came to a slight incline that was muddy. Before we knew it, the front passenger side tire was spinning in the mud. We were totally stuck. Conrad got out and found some rocks to try to shove them in enough to get traction to get out. We tried going forward. We tried going backward. Nothing worked. By this time, it was getting dark. At least we had a flashlight and we were wearing our hiking boots. At 9:45 pm Utah time, we decied we were going to have to walk back to the camp to get help. It took about 45 minutes to walk back on the road through the mud and trees. I just kept telling myself that I can do hard things.

Once we got back to the camp, Brother Thorley thought that his big truck would be the best one to use to get us out. He got in and started backing up, but the back passenger side tire wasn't moving. At least Brother Een was there to figure out the problem and get it fixed. Apparently, the emergency brake wasn't releasing on that tire. Once that was fixed, we headed back to the truck to pull it out. Brother Thorley said it was about 1.5 miles. Conrad got the tow strap out and Brother Een hooked it between the two trucks. Brother Thorley started backing up and pulled our truck right out. They got the tow strap out and Conrad started back up the hill. I think if it had just been dirt-mud, we would have been okay. But it was clay-mud. It's much more slippery. So, after determining the best was to get up the hill, Conrad gunned the engine and took off...and slid into a different rut. He was able to rock the truck and get out without help this time. Brother Thorley said there was one more place that could give us trouble so he followed us out to Kolob Reservoir Road.

Because we are so smart, we decided that for time it might be faster to go the north route and head up the dirt road to Cedar Canyon. Little did we know that it would take an hour and a half to get to the road. By the time we got to St. George, it was 1 in the morning.

We finally pulled up in front of our house at about 2:15 am. Needless to say, I didn't make the 6:30 am temple session for girls camp the next morning. We sure made a memory, though.

Conrad took the photos of the truck, the clothes on the driveway, and the flashlight on Tuesday morning before he went to work. I took the picture of Conrad at 2:30 am. The truck photos were after the drive home. Most of the mud had vibrated off by then.

These are now work clothes.

The flashlight did come clean. We took out the batteries and just washed it under running water.

News from the College Ward

Felycia has a new calling. She is the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society in her new college ward. She is working with some fun girls. The advisor is from Ivins. Felycia is excited about working in Relief Society. She is learning more and more about what the purposes of Relief Society really are.

Breakfast

This morning, we had the missionaries over for breakfast and they brought friends. We ended up with 6 Elders and 3 Sisters. What a fun start to the weekend!!! We made pancakes, hash browns, fruit, bacon, orange juice, and white and chocolate milk. Yummy.

They stayed until about 11:00 just playing games and having a good time. It was the whole district and transfers are next week. They called it a district unity breakfast since it is probably the last time they will all be together. We played Smurf and Mafia. I learned the rules so we can play at Girls' Camp this summer.

The elders had to leave and the sisters stayed around and visited for a little bit. One of the sisters, Sister Johnson, looked very familiar to Felycia. Sister Johnson thought she knew Felycia, too. They can't decide where they know each other from, though. As we visited, they discovered that they have lots in common. They have even held all the same callings in Relief Society in their student wards. Sister Johnson is from Seattle, Washington and went to BYU-I before her mission. She is a really cute girl.

This is Deric and his companion, Elder Contreras from Guatemala. It took some convincing for him to even get into the shot for a picture. He was trying to figure out how Skype works. It's not the best picture in the world, but it's a picture.

Classic Deric. This was towards the beginning of our call when it was still light outside. He told us that he had gone for his first haircut in this area and he would be finding a different barber for the next haircut.

Mother's Day 2010

It was so fun to see Deric on Mother's Day. We were able to use Skype to talk to him. We chatted for nearly 2 hours. He was in an internet cafe in Dos Caminos, Honduras and we were in Las Vegas. He had a webcam and headphones, so he could see us and hear us. He didn't have a microphone, so we couldn't hear him. He had to type his end of the conversation but it was good to see him anyway. We took some pictures of him while we were on. I can't get them to upload right now so I will have to try again later.

There were emergency transfers because of a problem in another area last Saturday (May 15). Deric wasn't transferred, but he has a new companion. His name is Elder Alcantara and he is from Honduras. He is two months into his mission.

Deric did say in his last few letters that they are working hard and teaching some good people. He is in a branch right now and they are trying to get enough priesthood holders that they can be made a ward and qualify for a meetinghouse. Right now, they meet outside in the heat most of the time. Deric says it is hard to teach when another class is going on less than 25 feet away, but they make do. Sometimes, they have power outages and then there aren't any fans to keep them cool. Deric also said that because of the heat and humidity, they take two showers a day when they can.

Deric is coming up on his "hump" day (the halfway point of his mission) on June 24. I am working on a package to send but I won't tell what is going in it because he gets to read the family blog and I want it to be a surprise.

Felycia is back at school. She finished her first week of the summer term at Dixie. She is in an apartment now with a kitchen. She loves having a refrigerator and a freezer. She can make her own sandwiches whenever she wants to. She has milk and cereal and some frozen stuff we bought for her when we took her up. Now she is learning how to shop for food and finding out that she really didn't cook much at home. That will change. We are going to let her do lots of the cooking when she comes to visit so she will be more comfortable at school.

I ran into the mother of one of Felycia's friends from high school. She was glad to hear that Felycia is at school because her daughter is too. That way, they can e-mail and call and neither one of them is home and having fun for the summer.

We were at a baptism last night and we have another one this morning before a full day of the Stake Humanitarian project. Soccer is this afternoon. At least the calendar is blank for tonight. Conrad is making dinner (his own creation from a recipe in Food Network Magazine). He made it while I was in Houston and he said it was really good. Should be fun.

I will try to get those photos of Deric up in my next post.

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to update. Well, I'm going to give a newsy update on the Larkin Family.

Conrad has been asked to be on a committee for the Varsity/Venturing scout camp this summer. That is keeping him busy right now along with still being in the bishopric. It has been about 7 years straight now. We had some bad news at the beginning of April. Conrad was informed that his position with the City of North Las Vegas was going to be eliminated in June. He was able to take a different position so he will still have a job. It will be a big pay cut, but we will manage just fine.

I have just returned home from 2 weeks in Houston. My sister, Cristi, and her husband took their turn to visit Mom and Dad in Kenya and I went to babysit the 4 kids. I forgot how much work it is to have small children. I guess there's a reason we have children when we are young. We have more energy and fewer aches and pains. I'm glad I went and was able to spend the time with Kayla, Henry, Jack, and Brinley. I got home 2 days ago and I miss the kids already.

Deric is in his second area and doing well. I didn't get to chat with him on Monday because I was at the airport in Houston picking up Cristi and Lars after their trip. I am very excited, though, because Sunday is Mother's Day and that means a missionary call. I hope we will get to use Skype again. I like seeing Deric so I know he is healthy and happy.

Felycia took her last final of the semester this afternoon. She will be home tomorrow evening. We go back up to St. George on Monday to move from one dorm to another for her summer semester. Then, it's back to Vegas on Tuesday so we can get our toes done. Then, back to Utah on Friday to a wedding. Lots of miles on the cars but worth it all.

I have girls' camp coming up in June and we are in full swing of planning it. It should be lots of fun. I am working with Level 2. Those are the girls who will be in 7th grade in the fall. Great kids but they sure are loud. Especially when there are 20 of them in one room.

I will try to be better about updating from now on.

Deric's First Transfer

Deric got his first transfer on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. He moved about 10 miles. He is basically as far south from San Pedro Sula as he used to be east of it. He is now working in a small branch. 70 people for sacrament meeting is huge because they meet in a home most of the time. When that many people show up, they have to meet outside and Deric says it is really hot when the fans quit working.

The 24th of the month seems to be a theme for his mission.

June 24th - entered MTC
August 24th - arrived in Honduras
March 24th - first transfer

I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes on the 24th of each month.

More Gardening

We really want the boys in our ward to earn money for Scout Camps this summer. We have been offering repeatedly to pay them if they will come and work in our yard. So far, 2 boys have been to our house for a total of about 5 hours. That's not much when you consider that there are probably close to 15 boys going to camp. Between Conrad and I, we are pretty much keeping up with most of the weeds.

I put in some strawberries last week. I think we might have a few ready by the end of this week. They don't come close to comparing to the ones we bought at Walmart on Saturday. One strawberry was nearly 3 inches in length. It was huge. In about 1 pound, there were only 10 berries. Huge, sweet and juicy...

How Our Garden Grows

Not with silver bells and cockleshells and pretty maids all in a row...

Our garden grows with...

Peas
Tomatoes and lettuce

Onions

Herbs and flowers

We also have cucumbers, beans, peppers, squash, corn, carrots, radishes, an apple tree, a nectarine tree, and an avocado tree.

We actually had to do our first harvest of peas. We had creamy peas and new potatoes for dinner on Friday night. It was really yummy.

Honduras

We got to "chat" with Deric yesterday. He is definitely going to be transferred. That will happen tomorrow. He doesn't know where he is going, but he is excited. Last week, he told us that he had contacted every home in his area at least twice since he has been there. I think he is ready to move on.

Yesterday was a fun day. Ten elders and 2 sisters from Deric's district went to San Pedro Sula for P-day. They had lunch at Pizza Hut and then went shopping at a huge department store. Deric said it looks like "Wal-mart on steroids" and it carries everything a missionary would ever need and lots of things missionaries don't need.

Deric finally got his birthday package. It was only a week late. I guess I will have to send things even earlier. I thought 3 1/2 weeks would be plenty of time. Oh, well. Deric loves the ties we sent and the UNO cards and Skip-bo. The games will come in handy on P-days.

News from Deric

Deric is loving his mission. It is the hot, humid season. It hasn't been raining as much so the boots are not getting as much use. Maybe we won't have to send new ones until this summer.

This photo is Elder Fernandez (from Chicago), Paola (getting baptized), her mother Ersilia who got baptized a few weeks earlier, and ElDeric.

All Kinds of Stuff Going On

Our garden is in!!! I'm so excited. We have tomatoes, onions, green beans, romaine lettuce, and red peppers in the ground. The peas are left over from last fall. They survived the winter and they are so sweet and yummy right off the plant. In the house, we have started corn, green pepper, poblano chiles, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, spinach, celery, pumpkin, cantaloupe, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and more lettuce.

We put flowers in a couple of pots on the front porch and firecracker tulips in the pot from Grandpa Reynolds' funeral (the plant was finally too wild and we had to let it go). I love living in a place where we can start our garden early and enjoy the benefits for a lllllooooonnnnnggggg time.

On another note, Larsen's have moved to Spring, Texas. They had a good trip and saw lots of different weather. They got to the new house this afternoon and the gas hadn't been turned on so they will spend 2 more nights in motels. The trailer with their stuff will be there on Tuesday. The kids love the new house and the huge backyard. I'm excited to see it when I go to stay with the kids for a couple of weeks in April so Cristi and Lars can make their journey to Kenya.

New Mission Presidents

Deric will be getting a new mission president in San Pedro Sula in July. His name is Ronald L. Veirs.

My parents will also get a new mission president in Nairobi. His name is Steven H. Broadbent.

And another piece of news. Todd Larkin, a former stake president in Las Vegas and Richard's cousin, will be the new mission president for Washington Seattle.

All of this information was in the Church News for the week ending February 13, 2010.

College News

Felycia came home for the weekend. Today was Presidents' Day so she didn't have school. It was nice to just spend some time with her even though I've been sick the whole time. Felycia got back up to school a little before Deric was on the e-mail so she had a chance to visit for a few minutes.

Felycia will be back for her spring break the week of Deric's birthday. Then, no breaks until the end of the semester the first week of May. Even then, it's only 1 week off and start Summer term. She's going to stay at school and work and get in 9 more credits. Then she will be ready to enter the elementary education program in January. Wow!!! that's less than a year from now. She should graduate in just less than 3 years from now.

New Companion in Honduras

When Deric got his mission call in April, 2009, we found out that there was another young man from Mesquite, NV, who would report to the MTC the same day and also serve in the San Pedro Sula Mission. His name is Elder Sylvester. He is Deric's new companion. Deric is the senior. He thinks it is because his Spanish is just a little bit better. They are getting along really well.

Conrad and I had a few things to pick up at the store and when we arrived at home, there was a message on our answering machine from Elder Sylvester's grandfather in Mesquite. I guess we will get to know each other a little better over the next 5 weeks until transfers happen again.

We didn't get much 'chatting' in today because of troublesome computers. Nothing new there. Deric's birthday is coming and I will be sending his package tomorrow. I hope Elder Sylvester will help eat the cake. Although, Deric's pants would fit better if he ate the whole thing.

Not much else to report. He has stopped keeping track of numbers so he didn't know how many lessons they taught last week. They are working with quite a few investigators and have 1 baptism scheduled for this weekend.

Honduras news

Well - Deric is not going to be transferred this time around. It will be at least another 6 weeks. Elder Rojas thinks that Deric will be a trainer. Deric would like at least one more transfer before he gets that responsibility. Change has always been hard for him but he adjusts quickly. He is still working hard and loving being in Honduras. He still loves the food and the people. When we hear from him next week, we will be learning who his new companion is.

I talked to the father of one of Deric's friends today. Jake is doing well in Texas. He is a senior companion and really loving his mission. He left in August and has been in Texas about as long as Deric has been in Honduras. He has yet to get a transfer either. There must be something about these boys. They are hard workers and have strong testimonies. Jake's older brother served in the same mission where Deric is. Small world, isn't it.

Deric hasn't been able to send photos lately. We've been lucky to get e-mail. Last week, we got messages that he sent around 3:00pm at 9:00pm. We were getting messages out of order and had to start new strings a few times. Just an unlucky day. This week was better for me but Conrad still had some issues. I'm just ready to get a real letter in the snail mail.

News from our College Student

Felycia is still loving college. I think she really likes being on her own. Her classes this semester include Biology, Psychology, English, Math for Teachers, and Ball Room Dance. She really loves her dance class. The teacher uses her as the helper to demonstrate new steps. He has told her that she is doing well. She should...she's been learning choreography quickly since she was about 5 years old. As part of the math class, Felycia has to tutor elementary students for 10 hours this semester. She went on Tuesday and had so much fun. She says that teaching is much more fun than learning about teaching. She also signed up for a computer class but she took the final exams and passed with an A so she has the credit on her transcript and doesn't have to do the assignments.

The roommate problems continue. We are looking into other options for next year. Felycia is researching apartments at college and I am using the Internet from Las Vegas. We are both really excited that Sara has put in her application and is waiting to hear back. It will be fun for both of them to have someone to hang out with besides roommates.

Work continues...only one class per week now. There is a recital coming up in April or May. We will go up for it. Felycia will be home next weekend for President's Day. We look forward to seeing her.

News from our missionary

Deric is staying busy in Honduras. They had 2 baptisms on Saturday. Even though he has been cautioned about success not being shown by numbers, he is keeping track and told us that he has helped to save 20 souls in the first 5 1/2 months in Honduras. On Wednesday, February 10, he will be transferred. President Cruz told him last week in his interview that he will not be staying in Pineda. I sensed a little apprehension when he let me know about the upcoming transfer. He's always been a little concerned about big changes. We just pray he will go where he is needed and can do the most good.

Deric's birthday is coming up next month. He would love letters from family and friends. The easiest way to send him a note is through www.dearelder.com. You just enter his name and his mission (Honduras San Pedro Sula) then type in your message. They take care of getting the note to SLC and in the pouch to go to Honduras. It doesn't cost anything and if you get it done by noon on Thursday, it goes out the following Monday and Deric gets it about a week later. It works well. You can also e-mail him at dericlarkin@myldsmail.net. You can probably count on not getting anything back from him. We still haven't got a letter through snail mail and he can only send e-mail to immediate family. I'm sure he will let us know who he hears from and we can let you know he got your messages. If your kids want to make cards and pictures, I will be sending a box on February 17. Get your stuff to me before then and I will include it. Thanks!!

Young Women Activity

I love the girls in our ward. We had an Un-Birthday
Party a few weeks ago. They were funny. They played Duck-Duck-Goose, Musical Chairs and the game where you tie the balloon on your ankle and then try to pop everyone else's balloon by stepping on it.






These girls are seriously competitive. They all wanted to win every game. Some of them even cheated at musical chairs by shoving others off the chairs. They cheated at Duck-Duck-Goose by running across the circle instead of around it. We finally got two winners in the balloon game after they ganged up on the other girls to back them into a corner and pop the balloons.





They ate pizza, brownies and ice cream and drank root beer. They really had a great time just being kids and spending time together.

Winter Storms Hit Las Vegas

WOW!!! What a week of weather we've had. Rain on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and a little on Friday. It snowed like crazy in the mountains. It was so pretty that we went for a drive towards Mt. Charleston (Kyle Canyon Road) just to get pictures. If it hadn't been raining all day on Thursday, my camera and I would have spent the day at Red Rock (although right now it is more like Snow Rock).

Looking at Red Rock from Centennial Hills area.

Looking up the Kyle Canyon Road from the other side of 95

Mt. Charleston

Brittany and Brandon Burgess

Brittany Larkin and Brandon Burgess got married on Tuesday, December 28, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a crisp, cool day and a beautiful setting for a wedding.

These are just a few of the pictures I took. Trish asked me to do some photos because they weren't getting very many from the professional photographer. I took over 400 pictures. As a gift, I printed up some of the best ones and put them into an album along with a CD of all the photos.

The exchange of rings.

The happy couple.

Brandon's Family.

Brittany's Family.

The Bridal Party.

The wedding was held at The Grove. The reception was at Auntie's house. The decorations were lovely. The cake was gorgeous. The food was delicious. What a wonderful time with friends and family.