16 April 2017

 Happy Easter day!

   First off, thank you, Aimee, for the letter and pictures.

 Anne, I love your haircut!! I think it really accentuates your pretty eyes.

 Ellen, the bread and cake are amazing! When you visit next time, I'll turn you loose in our kitchen! Noah, your video is really great; I totally agree with all the reasons you gave for not wanting to be President. That being said...I can't think of a better man for the job than you! Our country would truly be blessed to have a good person like you as president.

I'm going to pass along the geography question, to Gran; I'm sure she'll have it figured out in no time. :)

 Today is Grandma Christensen's birthday! For those of you who didn't get the chance to know her, she was Grandma Fern Humphries mother. She was born in 1904 and passed away in November of 2004, so she was 100 years and 7 months old. I found some pictures and her obituary and have included them. She was just as spunky as that picture of her shows. She was the perfect combination of fun and no nonsense. 

  In Enrichment night last week our speaker was a lady named Safar Qumsiyeh. She is a Palestinian woman, who was raised in Jerusalem. She was a Christian all her life; her family was Greek Orthodox. She has had an amazing journey which led her to BYU as a student where she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, then back to her home country where she worked for the UN. She now teaches Mathematics at BYUI. Growing up as a Palestinian, she developed a hatred for the Israeli soldiers because of all the terrible things her people went through. But the message she shared was of forgiveness and the miracles she has seen in her life. I'm so grateful that I got to hear her story; I learned so much about people I had believed were all bad. There are good people in every society and they all need to hear the gospel of Christ.

  The Conference CD's I'm listening to right now are from October, 2014. I'm listening to the Priesthood session now and Elder Quinton L Cook; the talk is called Choose Wisely. Two things in particular have really impressed me. One was a story about him and his high school team mate, Merlin Olson, who is now a former professional football player and actor. It's a pretty good story. And the other thing is about when the Apostle Paul went to the city of Athens and was rejected. The missed opportunity for those people and the potential for what could have been another Epistle in the New Testament, really has stuck with me. I hope that you might have time to watch or read it. Like I always say, sometimes the very best talks are in the Women's or Priesthood sessions and I think it's a shame if half of us miss them. 

  I almost forgot...the other picture is of a Buzz Lightyear balloon that is in the employee hallway at work. It is part of the kickoff for our new computer system that will go live this summer. He is over 4 feet tall; I thought some of you kids might like to see him! 

   I love you all so much and I'm very proud of each one. Please write when you can!

Love, Mom/Johanna/Nana