Lubbock Week 28.........

Hey Mom!

Whats up?

Sooo first off the $400...I really dont know where all of it goes haha we get 135 every month for groceries etc. , but we dont use it to pay rent or gas, those are covered by the mission with the rest of the 400 I am guessing...crazy to think my mission president is heading out!

The week here was really awesome. Elder May and I worked really hard, we spent a lot of time pounding the pavement looking for people to teach. We found a lot of really good people that we set up lessons with this week, so hopefully everything goes through! So.... Dusty and Lori's baptism. It was awesome!! The Spirit was so strong. They were confirmed the next day and Dusty will be receiving the priesthood soon and will be able to baptize his 3 kids on the 5th, how cool is that?? I am so blessed to be a part of their conversion. The lows are lows out here in the field but the highs are just that much higher (;

The Zone is doing well. The Sisters definitely do work hard, I am proud of them! It doesnt surprise me that a lot of Sisters, well just missionaries in general, are coming home early. Unfortunately in the culture of the church we have painted a mission as a vacation where you wear a nametag and everything is super fun and every body is nice to you and its really easy and next thing you know you are starring in The Best Two Years Part 2. Haha then they get out here and realize its not a vacation, its not fun in the worlds sense of the word and then they actually realize they signed up for a full-time job with no worldy benefits...haha so please, when someone asks you what a mission is like, tell them the truth! Its the hardest thing in the world!  But, it is worth it. And I know you know that (: 

Everybody here is getting set for girls camp too, haha what else do you guys have planned for the summer? I love and miss you guys so much...haha and thank you for telling me that I can vent to you for anything, its good to know that I can still do that (:

Oh and actually this is transfer week again...haha! This was a shortened transfer, only 5 weeks...so I will be finding out if anything changes on Sunday. I dont think I will be going anywhere, but hey you never know. Love you Mom! Have an awesome week!

Love, Cody

Elder Backus, President Augustin, Sister Augustin and Elder May

Earthly Father, Heavenly Father

One of my favorites.......

Happy Father's Day!!!!

Steve asked for a framed picture of his daughters for Father's Day, so the girls and I headed to Gardner Village and took lots of pics.  These were some of our favorites......

We loved the red bench in this one....

the flowers and barn in this one.....

 the lighting in this one.....

 and after hundreds of pictures, and girls who were no longer cooperative...

we decided this picture was true to the personalities of who these girls are :)....

Happy Father's Day to a dad who really and truly LOVES his children....

Spartonian Ball........

Grant Elementary Fun Run......

Family picture before mission.....

Lubbock week 27............

Hey Mom!

So no worries about the zip code thing, haha it all worked out (: I got all those materials you sent me, Thank you so much, they really helped! Yeah you sent me that book back at Christmas and Gpa and ma Brown sent me one too, so I have 3 of them...haha my companions like them though so I have just given the extras to them. Thank you though! That Elder Zwick talk is great, it has a lot of wisdom in it, it really is hard to understand someone's point of view sometimes! The shirts and pants are fantastic, I especially love the grey ones and am actually wearing them right now, Thank you (: 

Elder May is alright, haha he treats me like I am a fresh missionary sometimes, but hey, I need all the help I can get....I am so glad I get to choose the person I marry though, haha living with someone is hard! I will write Cass, but tell her she needs to write me a hand written one! I sent her one a while ago and she didnt answer /: Those are a lot easier to respond back too (: 

Christine looks so old, what the? Haha I heard she met the Smith twins this week, haha that could be interesting...

Things are going pretty good here, Dusty and Lory are set to be baptized this weekend with their 3 kids to follow soon. They are some awesome people. Dusty was in the Army for 12 years and due to that has chronic back problems, but he is a trooper. He has been trying to quit smoking and coffee these past couple weeks, it has been hard on him but he is going to do it. We are going to fast for him tomorrow. Lory was actually in the Army too and while she was stationed in Germany she went to an LDS church with a friend for an entire year, and then, what do you know, her next door neighbor in Texas is LDS. Crazy how the Lord works his magic! Really excited for them!

Well Mom, I love and miss you like crazy. What has the first week of summer been like? Are you guys planning on any fun trips? Love and miss you all, make this a special Fathers day for dad!!

Love, Your Son

Christine's 6th Grade Graduation........

This last week Christine graduated from 6th grade! 

 Mrs. Hohnholt was a fantastic teacher in every way.  

Christine graduates 6th grade in 2014 and high school in 2020....

Christine, Ashley, Mrs. Hohnholt, Hallie and Addison.

The Best Day of My Life!

The graduation committee tried really hard to get David Archuleta to come and sing at graduation but with no success..........however, the 6th graders (especially Christine) were thrilled to have Steve announce their names and awards.  

Christine with Grandma and Grandpa Backus.

Congratulations Christine!!!!!!!!

We can learn an incredible amount from people who think differently than we do.....

A while back it was brought to my attention that there is a feeling that many LDS parents don't want their children to hang out with kids who are not LDS.  This was an interesting thought because the family I grew up in lived outside of Utah and as 'Mormons' we were always the minority (in a big way), and I can remember parents who were concerned that their daughter or son was hanging out with a 'Mormon'.  I don't hold any bitter feelings about anti-mormon literature that I discovered in their homes, or the very negative movie about Mormons that they had their kids watch, because what you don't know about someone can make you fearful, especially when it involves the friends that your children hang out with.  Most parents want the very best for their children and I realized that my friends parents just didn't know me well enough and were learning about my religion from sources that weren't accurate.  

As I work on this post, Christine is with 2 of her very best friends, both who are not members of our faith, cleaning graffiti off of a neighbors fence.  They are all great girls who have similar values and who I feel completely comfortable with.  Christine also has some fantastic friends who are members of our faith and who she spends a great deal of time with because of the normal church activities on Sundays, Wednesdays,  girls camps, youth conferences, temple trips etc.  Because we live in Utah it can feel like we spend the majority of our time with those of the same faith, and that can appear to those outside of our faith that we are not inclusive, I get that.

I can see the need for improvement in and outside of our faith.

 I read a post today on this very subject written by a popular Mormon blogger (71toes.blogspot.com) from Phoenix, Arizona where there happens to be a big LDS community.  She shares the same feelings I do and can express herself much better than I.  This a portion of her post......


Oh my heavens, I'm not sure where the comment is that LDS kids can't hang out with non LDS.  I must have missed that?  

I think one of the very core beliefs of our religion is to love and associate with everyone regardless of any religious beliefs.  And that we are all children of God.  Sure, we should surround ourselves with goodness, but we are all different and learning from those who are different from us is, at least in my mind, essential to grow up well-adjusted and happy.  If we shelter ourselves and try to hang out only with those of our own faith what kind of life would that be?  I doubt our minds would be open to all the goodness that lies around us, in and out of religion.  One of my very best friends in all the world is Catholic.  Oh boy I am so grateful for the goodness she and her family have brought to my life through their example(love you Claudia :).  We've all been raised in completely different ways.  We all have different backgrounds.  We can learn an incredible amount from people who think differently than we do.  

Now, that is not to say that we should surround ourselves with drug dealers (ha!)  And teenagers are, of course, very impressionable.  We should choose our friends well.  But that doesnt' mean they have to be LDS.  We should love everyone and realize that everyone has a different path in this life of ours.  I have come in contact lately, for one reason or another, with some people from very diverse backgrounds.  I am so grateful for the perspective they have given me first of all that there are SO many people out there trying their best with what they have been given, and second, it has made me so grateful for the guidance that the gospel we live has given our family.  I'm so grateful for the standards we have been taught from the time we were young.  I'm so grateful to have so much help in raising my children to be good and loving and contributing members of society.  There are so many people who are muddling through this world of ours struggling trying their best to do what's good and right but they have no framework.  They know in their hearts what is good, but they have never had an example.  Never had a parent with a steady job.  Never been taught that it doesn't bring happiness to steal and cheat through life.  They have no examples.  What are their chances in life?  It makes me sad. 

Ok, I could go on tangents on this topic all day.  

To sum up this little string of tangents, In my mind, the only drawback where we live is that there isn't a lot of diversity.  There are a lot of LDS kids which I love.  There are so many amazing LDS families that I learn from and look up to with all my heart and I'm SO grateful my kids associate with their kids.  But it's easy to get closed off from the rest of the world when there are so many people in your same religion surrounding you.  I'm sure it's that way with ANY religion.  It's easy for kids to think that this is the only way of life which of course it's not.  I am so grateful for my kids' friends.  Some of their non-LDS friends have better standards and make better choices than the LDS ones.  There are so many great kids out there trying to muddle through life and being a teenager is tough.  Just because some kids go to church every week doesn't mean they will make the best decisions.  Teenagers are all trying to figure it out.  We encourage our kids to hang out with kids who make them want to be better, not just in our religion.  But we also talk with them a lot about the kids who aren't making good choices (in and out of the church) who may need a leader.  We try to go through scenarios where someone is making a bad choice.  We talk about what they would do in that situation.  We try to get them ready.  Because bad stuff happens.  And our world needs leaders.  

I am hoping to attend church with some of our non-lds friends at some point.  I want these kids of mine to know that there are tons of religions that are doing their best just as we are. It's all part of life.  We just need to do the best we can.

But boy howdy, all this talk does make me so grateful for the framework of living that my church gives me.  Makes me so happy.  How I hope my children will feel that same happiness and let the gospel we live bring them the joy it has to me.  I hope they will realize that people in and out of our church make mistakes. Leaders make mistakes.  We are all human.  But that we have a Savior who made it possible to overcome all that.  If we remember that, life is oh so good. 

I hope that my children will know, as my parents so beautifully taught me, that the LDS gospel is all about love.  Not judgement.  Each week as we go to church we are reminded of that.  And at the center of it all is Jesus Christ who we should try to be like if ever there is ever a question.  I hope they will realize that He loves us and is cheering for us no matter what happens, no matter what mistakes or what rivers of sorrow come our way.  If we can always cling to the centerpiece of the gospel, the Atonement, then life just makes sense.  And glows with beauty.