Lubbock Week 25............

Hey Mom!!

Sorry I didnt get to email yesterday the library was closed due to Memorial Day. So I am here today writing you from TEXAS TECH campus. Its a pretty nice school actually, the college is huge. We split the city with another zone, so we have one side of Tech and the other zone has the other half (which has the football stadium...darn it!) My proselyting area though is actually on the outskirts of town. Its called the Frenship Mesa ward, and it is awesome!! So different from Big Spring...there is a lot more wealth in the area I am now serving in, and most of it isn't coming from oil fields anymore.  Its still not the prettiest place in the world, lots of wind and dust, but all in all it is pretty pleasant. We have a pretty sweet apartment too, two bed two bath, which is really nice in the mornings. The ward is great, but I am getting hated on for being a Ute...our ward mission leader is a big coug, so we will have to work through it!  We are pretty close to the mission home, haha he took us to lunch last week which was pretty different. There is about 20 missionaries in the Zone, and we take numbers from the district leaders every night and then report them to the Assistants. It can be a bit hectic, we are on the phone a lot, but it is a great opportunity to learn and grow. Elder May is my new comp, he is from Lake Point Utah. He is a pretty good guy, great missionary, just trying to get in our teaching flow now. I am still trying to get to know our investigators, but Roho was baptized Saturday! I wish I could have been there so bad, but I am so happy that he carried through with it and did it.

I havent gotten the pants yet, but I am going to pick them up at the post office today. Thank you so much!! And I got the letters from the ward today, that was so nice of them. Tell them all thank you so so much, it meant the world to me! I am doing good with everything else, I dont need anything at the moment (: I love you so much Mom, thank you for the support and the constant emails and letters, they mean a lot to me. I love you so much! I love you and cant wait to hear from you. I hope you have an awesome week!!

Love, Your son

P.s. does bishop know the Kreitzer family? She is a new missionary in the zone, haha she is from Richfield and knows the Andersons! Haha small world right?

I'm not sure what the look on his face means??....

Big rain storm in Lubbock....

Happy Memorial Day!

Bountiful Cemetery....

My Great Grandma Burningham's headstone with Christine, Cassidy and I....

My Great Grandpa Burningham's headstone with Cassidy, me, and Christine....

Steve's Grandpa Backus...

Steve's Grandma and Grandpa Potter....

Murray Cemetery...

Steve's Grandma and Grandpa Bentley's headstone with Christine, Cassidy and Steve...

David Osmond - Part 2

David Osmond just released a music video to "Danny Boy", definitely worth watching.....

David Osmond at 6th Grade Graduation

As Christine prepares to graduate from 6th grade, I can't help but think back to Cassidy's 6th grade graduation.  David Osmond had a new single out called "Last Day" which was written about his struggle with Multiple Sclerosis.  Cassidy's class wanted to use this song as the theme song for their graduation, and because I was on the graduation committee, I decided I would email him and ask if he would be willing to perform it on that day.  Thinking I would never hear back from him, I was completely surprised when he called me a couple of weeks later to tell me he would be honored to sing at their graduation....

Big Spring Week 24 Part 2................

Oh the blessings of modern technology.  Today I was messaged via Facebook from Matthew Martinez the husband of Alena who was baptized a couple of weeks ago.  He told me how hard it was to say good-bye to Cody and sent me a short video of their good-bye.  As I watched this 45 seconds I had to laugh because Cody is still the Cody that I know and love mixed with a commitment to go to the temple in a year to be sealed together and make and keep sacred covenants.  There is a picture of the Lubbock Temple on their wall and that is what Cody is referring to when he turns the camera......

I was going to post it but Matthew told me that Cody told him he needed to take it off Facebook (against mission rules).  He tried to send it to me via email, but he couldn't get it to work, bummer!  He did send me a picture of Cody and Alena on her baptism day.

Big Spring Week 24...........

Hey Mom!!

Its always great to hear about things going on back home. Haha Cassidy is starting to get in the work grind huh? Thats really sad about Scott...I hope everything goes well with the funeral, I will be praying for them. Aubree looked beautiful, really nice dress. Sad she couldnt wait another 17 months for me but hey, it happens.

 Soooo I did get transferred. I am still in Big Spring, but I will be heading to Lubbock tomorrow, haha the "big" city in the mission. President Augustin's backyard. And to make it even better, I got called as Zone Leader of the Lubbock Zone. I. Am. Terrified. My companion will be Elder May, he served here in Big Spring a couple months ago, and I liked him. He has been a Zone Leader for the past 2 transfers so hopefully he will show me the ropes. I think there is about 30 or so missionaries in the Zone...I need some special prayers haha. I will get you my new address as soon as I can, but for now just send stuff to the mission office, its only a couple minutes from where I will be staying. I really am sad to be leaving the spring...this place has become like home to me, it really felt like my home ward. Plus Roho, who we have had to work very hard with, is getting baptized this Saturday and I wont be able to see it. But I know Lubbock is where I need to be right now, and I will give it all I got, even though that probably wont be enough...haha oh man. 

Well Mom, I love and miss you like crazy. I sure would appreciate a letter from you soon (: Have and awesome week and remember who you are and what you stand for (; Tell everyone I said hello!! 

Love, Elder Backus 

I LOVE YOU MOM........

Because May is the month we celebrate our mother's and also the month we celebrate my mom's birthday, I have reflected upon the influence she has had on my life.  Here are just SOME of things that I love about my mother.

 My mother chose to give birth to and raise 7 children, wow!

 My mother is the most even tempered person I know, despite raising 7 children.

 My mother always kept a clean home, despite 7 messy children.

 My mother up and moved 5-6 times with 7 children without any complaints that I am aware of.

 My mother is a farmer's daughter and knows the value of work.

 My mother is a natural nurturer and has a genuine love for each of her children and grandchildren.

 My mother is down to earth, she lives in the world, but not of the world.

 My mother is one of those individuals who is always taking care of those in need, and does it with no
 desire for recognition.

 My mother read to me out loud and I did the same for my children.  Those moments with my mom
 and that I have had with my children are priceless.

 My mother lives what she believes.  She will forever be my hero......

 My mother understood that she was a mother first and foremost, we had chores and responsibilities, we
 had rules and curfews, we had to eat our vegetables, we earned our own spending money, we had
 punishments when we were disobedient, we had privileges taken away when deserved, we watched
 very limited television and spent our free time playing outside,  My mom taught me that being a good
 mom means requiring things of your children that are hard and won't make you very popular, but in the
 end will be for their good.  Today, she is still my mother, but also one of my best friends.

 I love you Mom!!  Happy Mother's Day and Happy 75th Birthday!!

 

Cody, Christine, Cassidy and Mom at Temple Square.

Cassidy and Mom.

Cody and Mom.

Mom, Cassidy and Christine.

 
 
 

Mother's Day Weekend..........

A perfect mother's day weekend...........

We spent Friday night at the reception of Aubree Thomson, one of my Young Women who served her her mission in Fresno, California.  When she got there the sisters were teaching a young man who Aubree helped teach and then later was baptized.  He moved to Utah shortly after his conversion and when Aubree returned home they began dating and were married in the Salt Lake Temple.   

Christine, Hailey, and Crista helped seat guests at Aubree's wedding dinner.

On Saturday Cassidy had a volleyball tournament............

Grandma and Grandpa Backus came to cheer her on.

Cassidy had to leave her tournament early to get home in time for her first formal dance, Spartonian Ball, with Tanner Olsen.

I found that taking dance pictures of Cassidy and her date is SOOOO much easier than it was with Cody haha!!!

On Sunday we got to SKYPE with Cody :).  I absolutely loved being able to hear his voice and see his face, he is doing well, loves his companion, loves the people in Big Spring and loves his ward family. 

 I do believe Cody has learned the same thing about his mission that I have learned about motherhood, it is truly the hardest, most rewarding thing you will ever do.  I love you Cody, Cassidy and Christine....

A little of what we have been up to this last week........

 Last Tuesday Christine's friend Crista turned 12, so the first thing she wanted to do was go to the temple.......she had 2 friends that wanted to be there with her :).

At the end of each year, Grant Elementary has a 1.5 mile Fun Run and this year Christine came in 5th place for girls in the 6th grade.

Dad was there to cheer her on!

 

Cassidy is officially an employee at the Lion House pantry on Temple Square.  Stop by to try their famous Lion House rolls and say "hi" to Cass.

Christine had her Spring Dance Show.....

and we always celebrate afterwards with ice cream at Iceberg :).

Tuesday night the phone rang and the caller ID showed a call from Texas and my heart stopped.  The southern voice on the phone was Sister Condray, Cody's Bishop's wife.  As she began to talk I literally stopped breathing (moms can jump to conclusions sometimes!!).  After what seemed like forever, she finally told me that her husband wanted to make sure they were set up correctly for Skyping on Sunday (Mothers Day).  When she finished I let out a huge sigh of relief and got a little emotional haha!  When Cody comes home and reads this he will roll his eyes for sure.  On Wednesday night, Bishop Condray called me and we did a test run on our Skype accounts and got to spend 15 minutes talking to each other about Cody.  Just a side note, I have always had a hard time sharing some things about my children for fear of being one of those parents who is constantly bragging, so in my quest to not brag, I have not shared enough of what I love about my children.  As I spoke with the Bishop, he told me "we have had lots of missionaries in our ward over the years and some are easier to love than others, and your son has been one of the easiest".  (Those are thoughts more for Cody to read than anyone else)

Thank heaven for modern day technology, including the ability to Skype.  This picture was at Christmas time........can't wait for Sunday!!

Big Spring Week 22.........

Hey Mom!!

As much as I hate it, I feel like I'm growing up out her. There is a lot of crazy stuff going on in this town and it can get a bit daunting. Haha the world is really trying to just eliminate any sort of Christian values. Its sad and its depressing, but it is the cost of discipleship I guess. But we were able to participate in a bright spot today I guess....haha Rohelio, one of our investigators, was married today to the woman he has been living with for the past 23 years after we taught him the Law of Chastity last week. Haha he is this 60-year old spanish guy that is just a crack-up. He wanted us to be there, so we went this morning to the court house and watched the whole thing. Haha hopefully its a little bit more special in the temple, but for now, a Texas court-house will have to suffice. He will be baptized on the 17th of this month.

I am really excited to get to talk to you next week!!! I get about 45 minutes to chat. Im not sure where we will be going yet, but we should be able to find a computer (: Plan on.....well what time do you guys get out of church??? Write me back as soon as you can!! I love you mom, thank you for all that you do and all that you are doing for me. I love you! Write me back quick so we can set something up (:

Cody