Still Kicking in Karlskrona!

When the alarm went off this morning at 5:30 I did not want to get out of bed.  Blaine had to be to work by 6:00 am to do a sedation for a patient, and I always like to make him a good breakfast so he can have some energy throughout the day.  A lot of days he doesn't take time to eat lunch so I always make sure to feed him a hearty breakfast.  I laid there and groaned, but then I remembered it was Monday!  That was the ticket!  I could get out of bed to read my email from my favorite missionary! It's amazing what a little motivation can do.  I was not disappointed.

As I went throughout my day, my mind became caught up on a few thoughts.  As I reflected on some of the trials I and other members of my family are experiencing at this time in our lives, it became very clear to me how important it is for each one of us to take time out of our busy/crazy lives and allow ourselves to feel the unconditional love that our Father in Heaven has for each one of us.  It is such an incredible realization and an even more incredible feeling.  This knowledge is what will provide the foundation for each one of us to continue living our lives happily, peacefully, and with confidence.  As we keep His love in the forefront of our minds our lives take on a different meaning.  Our thoughts and actions become more intentional.  There is a clearer vision of who we are and why we are here, and it silences the critics in our minds.  We see life from a more hopeful perspective, and we discover purpose in our beings.  There is not a greater feeling in the world than that of the unconditional love of our Father in Heaven.  To all who read this....  Seek to feel His love today - you will be amazed!

Here is the letter Blaine sent to Dallin this week (he totally cracks me up!)

Hello Dallin,What up?!):

Sure good to write you again one week hath Mother's day. It was sure good to see you on the Skype.
Thanks for getting me those dates. Those dates should live in infamy. I hope you have found your second wind for another round of it. Hopefully you can still get something done over there and not start hanging it up early.  I would sure hate to see you take it on in. I hope you have still got something left in the tank.

Well don't eat too much over there. I don't want you to start looking like a salad. It looks like your starting to round off a little if you know what I'm saying. Just kidding Dallin, Grandpa Glen always said a person looked better with a little flesh on em'.

We just got home from the state baseball tournament. Grantsville beat Dhills 8-7 in game two of the championship. It was very exciting and Me and your Mom learned a lot from it. Pine View won the first two games last weekend to get us to the final rounds at Utah Valley University. On Thursday Dakota Donovan lost to Dhills 3-2 and Friday Harrison Goebel lost to Cedar 3-0. We finished our varsity at 14-11 with a 7-5 league mark. We took 5th in the state tournament and was the 4th seed from Region 9.

Carter didn't get to pitch in the state tournament at all. Donovan and Goebell pitched every inning of the past 61 innings. Carter went 4-0 with 28 innings in JV and 0-1 with only 6 innings in varsity. It is ok. We love Carter.

Well, Dallin I hope you're doing ok. We sure love you and are very proud of you. Take care of yourself and don't forget to brush your teeth.

Love,

DAD

Here is my letter to Aldste Milne:

 James 1:
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

While the pessimist and the optimist were arguing over whether the glass was half empty or half full, I drank it up! - Opportunity!!!!!

Dear Aldste Milne,

What a crazy week it has been. My phone quit working last Sunday, and I have been without one ever since. I was hoping the repair man could fix it, but to no avail. I have lost all my contacts, pictures, data, etc... My technology ignorance has caught up to me. I now know to back up my storage every week. In some ways it was nice to be disconnected from my phone for a week. I found myself wondering how we ever survived without cell phones though. I felt completely isolated. Especially when we went out of town. I felt like my right arm was missing. Anyhow, I will have my new one tomorrow. Then I will be up and running again and can get back to my normal busy routine.

Can you believe that this is the last week of school? This year has flown by. I am excited for the summer. We will definitely be watching many more baseball games, enjoying youth conference up at Duck Creek, attending girls camp, and we will be going to Laguna Beach for a week in August. In between all of this I need to start studying for the GRE and writing the book. I will pretty much be writing and rewriting 6-8 hours a day. We have a new deadline of August 18th to have it completed because Dr. White has been hired by the church to do research. She will be working in the church office building in SLC.

Carter will be playing Legion Baseball and Ty of course will play with the Rebels. Carter is also going to try and get a job at pro image. I will put Ty to work around here. The garage is going to be a nice place for him to start. You have three cousins graduating from high school this year - Keely, Pete, and Candace. Keely is going to the University of Utah, Pete is attending SUU, and Candace will most likely attend Dixie State. She already has her associates finished and she wants to prepare for dental hygiene school like chantel did. Lexi might be moving down here with us to attend PVHS her senior year. As you know, Dave and Desera are divorcing and Lexi doesn't want to stay in Beaver. We are hoping that she will come here. We are really excited about this. It is crazy to think that she and Carter will be seniors this year. I can remember as plain as day when she and Carter locked themselves in the bathroom when they were four years old and cut each others hair.

The scriptures I shared this week were shared with us tonight by Carter during family home evening. He said that President Monson has referred to these scriptures as the most important ones we can come to know and live. Dallin, you are and always have been an incredible example of a doer of the word. That is how we know when we are truly converted. We become doers of the word and not hearers only. This is when we start becoming more like our Savior, and when we begin to realize the magnitude of blessings that our Heavenly Father has in store for us. Life is hard Dallin, as you know. We live in a fallen world where death, disease, pain, suffering, and sorrow exist. Natural consequences of this fallen world coupled with other's misuse of agency make life very difficult. Then you throw Satan into the mix and it becomes very evident why Tim McGraw sings about drugs or Jesus. There really is no other way to get through this life. However, we all agreed to come to earth and experience mortality under these circumstances, but in our Heavenly Father's wisdom He knew this was the only way we could truly become like Him. He loves us enough to allow us to suffer these things knowing that by so doing (with the help of His Son) we will become the sons and daughters we are meant to be.

Dallin, pray to your Heavenly Father each day to help you recognize the right opportunities to drink up. Life is full of opportunities, and only our Heavenly Father knows which ones are best for us, and for what reasons. Learning to walk by faith is key in our journey here. I promise you that if you look for them with an eye single to His glory, every opportunity that you need and truly desire will present itself, and it is up to you to partake!

How are you this week? How is the work progressing? The blessings of faith, prayer, and obedience are unquestionably real. How is your companion? I am so proud of the two of you for working hard and for your commitment to obedience. I pray everyday that the Lord will bless you with opportunities for the growth and development of your testimony. It is only with this sure foundation that you can move forward on your mission and in your life to come to become all that the Father desires. It is only by following His plan that each one of us can truly become who we are meant to be. How are your investigators progressing? How are the Branch members doing? Remember to pray for each one of them by name each day. I have faith that your prayers will be answered and the work there in Karlskrona will hasten!!! What a wonderful time we live in. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and it is our responsibility and privilege to share it with others.

I love you Dallin! I am so proud of you. Keep up the great work! There isn't a better feeling than putting in a hard day of missionary labor. I know the Lord will continually bless your efforts. Allow Him to be your guide. This is His work and He wants you to succeed! Always remember this. You are on His team and He is your captain. He will lead you on to victory! Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay obedient. You are continually in my thoughts and prayers. Take care of yourself son. Have a fantastic week. I put your name in the temple every chance I get. I know that prayer controls the powers of Heaven and can unlock help from both sides of the veil. I love you! You are so handsome!

All My Love,

Mom

Aldste Milne's letter this week:

Dear Family,

Well, I'm still kicking.

Those are some really good scriptures btw, good things to always keep in mind. It is easy to go to church every Sunday and hear the word, but if aren't doers of the word throughout the week and keep ourselves unspotted from the world, then just like verse says, our religion is in vain. I think it goes right along the lines of "faith without works is dead", which James also writes about. I really liked the opportunity quote you put in there as well, never heard it before but tis the truth. "ta vara på dagen" (seize the day)

And don't worry pops, I'm pretty sure I got a little left in the tank, at least I hope so, otherwise it will be a long year and a half haha. I'm not ready just yet to kick the bucket, there is still work to be done. As far as my weight goes, like I don't know if I'm a salad yet but I might end up that way if I'm not careful. All the swedish meatballs and kebab pizza are starting to get to me haha but yes I do remember Grandpa Glen saying that a time or two, what a guy. With all the eating though, I've been doing my brushing hoping to avoid a Swedish dental experience even though that would be pretty interesting.

That's too bad about baseball, looks like they were good ballgames but you guys just couldn't get the bats going. But exciting that you all were able to do so well with a younger team, next year should be exciting. Get Carter in the weight room if the chicks aren't motivating him enough to pump a little iron for his senior season. That is definitely something I wish I would've done a little more of back in the day. It'll be cool to hear about Legion ball. And that sure would be cool to convert Lexi into a PVHS the only way to be Panther, keep me updated on that!

As far as this week went, it was alright. We didn't have as much success as we did last week finding but we taught quite a bit. I'm not going to lie though I did get pretty frustratedeverything this week. There is just always something that comes up with our friends that shoots down your hope a little bit. Nothing ever seems to go as planned. It's like the Lord is flirting with us a little bit by giving us some success which gets us pumped up and then one thing happens which leads to another and you end up almost back to where you started. Don't get me wrong, I love the work and we really do have a lot of good things going on its just tough when stuff doesn't seem to go your way. Men kan vi bara kämpa på med tro och kärlek i våra hjärtan.

It is what it is. We are still working hard and trying to exercise our faith and praying for miracles haha. We did get some friends in church the other day so that was a positive. The branch members are doing well, we had about 40 in sacrament so that was super good. Me and Pack are having a good time, every day is different and it never gets boring. Good luck with the book writing, hope it all works out good! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers! Love and miss you all

Med Kärlek,

Äldste Milne

This weeks pictures:

Painting a member's home....

Me and Pack...  I'm still rocking an American suit!

From the window of the train on our way to Helsingborg for Zone Conference

Helsingborg is beautiful!



Another sic pic of Helsingborg!