there is a special place in heaven for mission presidents and their wives.....they travelled 6 hours to be with scotty for his dental work today and kept sending me updates with pictures!

Tuesday morning

Hi Sister Kearl, 

he is actually scheduled for today at 9:00 a.m. our time.  We are meeting him in Solano to give him the money he needs to for pain medication.  His pain meds are reimbursable.  President will offer him a blessing if he feels he needs it.  

I understand you concern completely as we have sent 6/7 of our children out on missions (our oldest daughter married at age 20:-).

if you could get a glimpse of how these young men and young women step up to manhood and womanhood in such a quick and beautiful manner, it would overflow your heart with joy.  Elder Kearl is wonderful.  He is happy, obedient, willing and trusted. His Tagalog is remarkable and he is already serving as a district leader at a very young 'mission' age.

We had a wonderful Christmas, there is a special feeling spending Christmas in the mission field - it really can't be duplicated.  We hope yours was too.  I'll update you on his progress.

Keep him in your prayers as do we.

Love, Sister Hiatt

Tuesday evening

Hi Sister Kearl, 

just thought you'd like a bit of a visual of the dentist location here in Solano.

Sister Hiatt

Hi Sister Kearl,

President Hiatt and Elder Mebulos gave him a blessing- all will be well. I picked up his antibiotics and gave him sufficient ibuprofen for pain, just in case. The dentist assured him there would not be any after the procedure.
I'll update you after the root canal is over.
Love you!

Sister Hiatt

Hi Sister Kearl,

This is the clinic where the root canal will take place. This dentist has been highly recommended.

Hi Sister Kearl,

A couple fun photos, a funeral procession and the city Christmas tree.
Elder Kearl and Elder Mebulos traveled about an hour from their area in Dupax Del Sur (south) in the zone of Bambang to Solano. They are the southern most area of our mission.
It's a great and wonderful life here!
Enjoy 

Sister Hiatt

and finally, an email from scotty boy from President Hiatt's phone.

Hey nay hey tay! Elder Kearl here in the flesh. The Oh so lovely Sister Hiatt is letting me write a little note to ya guys! All is well in Del Sur, en route to the root canal after a lovely blessing from President Hiatt and Elder Mebulos. Whatever happens just know it will make for a good story and Sean Frieberg can probably fix it. Love ya, praying for ya.

KEARL

AND AFTER ALL THAT.....NO ROOT CANAL TILL NEXT WEEK

I emailed Sister Hiatt and thanked her for looking out for my boy.  She replied......

You are welcome, however, in your son's words...
"So still no root canal. We'll return next wednesday for that. The abcess still needs to drain. But those meds you got are perfect thanks! Enjoy banaue!

      Elder Kearl &
          Elder Mebulos
    ¤Dupax Del Sur¤

I responded to go get a burger and celebrate. 
He texted back: "Were on it! That christmas card from my grandpa had a life saving $40 (american) in it as well! And we can work today! :D"
  We love these elders!
Sister Hiatt

i keep getting freaking rice stuck in my tooth hole!

kamusta po nay, 

sunny days for sure. and my first christmas of 2 in the field! helped me appreciate christmas back home, thats for sure. 

so about my tooth. i actually get my root canal wednesday so you can start praying then. on tuesday, doc just drilled a hole in my tooth to drain some junk and ive had no problems, no pain, handsome smile now. but the tooth is still kinda loose and i keep getting freaking rice stuck in my tooth hole!! and its a challenge to get out. i notice if its clogged for too long, i then get the rice out and a huge burst of face fluid pours out and tastes bad. the tooth holes weird, but good stories right? 

so some more things about my companion. so one night i was busy with something and asked him if he could sweep the apartment for us, he simply said "its not my culture".  i asked why and he said its more filipino to sweep the apartment in the morning! super into it! love what i'm becoming! also he loves to sing in the shower. so he will be singing and then all of a sudden you hear him pour the bucket of cold water over himself, then silence, and a "OH freak!! MALAMIG (cold)!!!" every time. he is a hoot. falling in love with the kid.

as for christmas, bc of the build up since september, i was getting hyped but it was pretty low key. mostly bc no one can afford to do much at all. christmas eve meal was just a canned ulam (side you eat with rice) and christmas dinner we actually skipped bc i was busy w my calling and we had no rice!! we did get an awesome christmas lunch tho which was great! i had a lot of fun telling everyone "merry christmas" and getting a sunny response back. the presents you sent me were so great, thanks!! i followed our tradition of putting the stockings on the couch and i was the santa this time... miss ya! super low key christmas, full of mental flash backs to my fav parts of christmas back home......christmas eve!! we had church, i was asked and honoured to be the concluding speaker. for my 7th time speaking in church, i was given 30 minutes to fill and i really prepared my talk about grace! in my super ugly tagalog but i love talking in church! hope they understood...... crazy how i have one more christmas left! idk if that is encouraging or depressing.

weekly scripture about my current favorite study topic. a classic.

Ether 12:27

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.  I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.  

his grace is sufficient everyone,

yeah thats it! still learing tons, improving a lot, having fun, struggling here and there. just the mission life. sunny days!! 

KEARL

ongoing tooth saga

I'm not able to call Scott and I have been worried about his tooth.  When we spoke to him, he said the pain had mostly gone away with the antibiotics but he still couldn't move his lip very well.  He emailed us on Monday night asking us to put $200.00 in his bank account to cover the costs for the root canal.  I emailed Sister Hiatt, his mission president's wife for an update a few days later.  She received the following text from Scotty boy:

So no root canal right now. Ill be returning next week. She just drilled a tiny hole to drain some abscess. Gave me comxicla 625mg to take every 12 hours instead of my other antibiotics. I'm all good now.

Got the money!  Finally i can breath! Aren't moms the best?

       Elder Kearl &

           Elder Mebulos

     ¤Dupax Del Sur¤

Love you

burned his classic pink san francisco hat to commemorate 1/4 done

hi mama,

kamusta po nay,

i have some fun updates from this week and also a super sketchy keyboard. bear with me (side note from mom:  yes, the space bar wasn't working so most of his email was continuous letters with no breaks). these computur shops are a pretty big gamble sometimes.

so i travelled to Cauayan to take care of some things.  I got a filipino drivers license, a dentist check up for my messed up mouth and a training meeting for all the new leaders in the mission. i attended my branches christmas party and also skyped you guys!!! 

Cauayan was fun. the dentist i visited was actually really cool. first person to look into my mouth other than Sean Freiberg. felt like i was cheating on him.... sorry sean. but he was legit. super cool gear, experienced and offers free first visits  for servants of God. aka us. so what has been happening is a super bad toothache that was pretty unbearable for like a week. he prescribed antibiotics and now the pains gone, but there are 2 new bumps in my mouth and the pain moved to just by nostril. my lip wont move as much, but i'm seeing a new guy tomorrow in Solano. then i got my drivers license. the test was some verbal questions like if i had a wife and my blood pressure. good on both so i'm licensed! not too likely i'll ever use it but its all good. then the training meeting was rad. learned a ton which i'm into. saw elder briones and some other local legends and ate a great meal. real pizza!! then came home with a 6 hour super comfortable bus ride. super sunny. 

we had our branch Christmas party, which was super sunny but also super Filipino, meaning kinda awkward the whole time. the youth love to have talent shows and show off their singing and dancing. this one 12 y/o girl killed it at singing. wow. this place has got talent! me and the comp attempted to leave to get some work done but the branch members wouldn't let us until we ate. typical. good seeing dupax united for a super fun night. they asked me to give a l'il talk. simps!!! that night I burned my oh so classic pink san francisco hat bc i hit 6 months and it was time. a solemn event. 1/4 down is crazy. 

then the next day i skyped you! that was a treat. not going to lie it was so short and after we were done, all I could say was "ok". lol, super great to hear your voices and see your faces. it made me feel a lot closer to you guys which is super appreciated and seeing snow blew me away. i honestly couldn't believe it at first. this place is playing mind games on me I swear.

sounds like your doing good and staying happy and busy mama!! keep that up for sure. takes the worry out of me. 

the church is like a 5 min tricy ride or 10 min bike ride. not many members still :/ 

please also get me the mailing adress for the litchfields! 

seriously no time sorry but thanks for all that you do for me!!! 

a great addition in the package would be a usb w so many photos of everything. in .JPEG form. thanks!! i can view that in the apartment.

other than that, it's been going up! feeling better, more confident, improving ya know, all the good stuff of the mish. this week was insane cold! like i wore a sweater outside once. and at nights i'm now in pure PJ's. feels good for sure. 

listened to a talk that changed my life and here is a scripture from it. Moroni 10:32

  32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, anddeny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient foryou, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowisedeny the power of God.

thats about it. life is good, and i'm excited for pasko down here!!

His Grace Is Sufficent,

KEARL 

skyping home

 
 

Scotty officially hit the 1/4 mark this week and we were able to Skype him for Christmas.

This year, Emily and Dan, are with the inlaws and so we will not be together on Christmas Day.  We were in Rexburg, Idaho for Dan's graduation from BYU so I received permission from his mission president to Skype him early while we were all together as a family.

The roads were horrible from Montana to Idaho and we arrived later then we had hoped.  We went for dinner as a family then came home to Emily's apartment to open Christmas gifts.  We rushed to Dan's graduation and had the thrill of watching our boy cross the stage as a graduate with a Bachelors in Biology Education.  Afterwards, we came home awaiting the Skype call from Scotty.  It took about 45 minutes to get a connection with him.

It was wonderful to see his cute face.  You could tell it was a little overwhelming for him at first to see us all sitting there together smiling at him.  He looks really good.  His companion was sitting next to him and fell asleep off and on.  He doesn't speak any english, so every time he woke up and looked at the screen, we would all wave to him, he would get the biggest smile on his face and wave back.

Highlights from the call:

Scotty had a facecloth draped over his shoulder and when we asked him what it was for, he told us to wipe the sweat off his face.

He told us about where he lives and the highlights and challenges of the church in his area.

He was excited to see Joey but whenever we showed Joey the screen, Joey had no reaction.

Emily took the computer outside and showed him all the snow.  He loved it.

He told us he doesn't do countdowns for coming home, only counting up the days he has been serving.  He did say it was crazy to be 1/4 done though.

He misses his last companion a lot.  He felt a little discouraged because they aren't getting as many invites to members houses since he left.  I think Scotty is taking it personal but I think it's more of a culture thing.

He has no plans for Christmas yet.

It was hard to say goodbye and I totally understand why they don't call home very often.  You could tell he was a little sad too.

As his mother, I am proud of him, I am grateful for him, and I love him.  He has been a ray of sunshine in my life.  He came with a positive outlook and a love for others that he has used and developed for the benefit of many.

I am grateful for missions.  I am grateful my sons has chosen to serve missions.  The growth they experience is amazing.  Our family is blessed because of their service too.

julie

oh oh!!! dental pain

Hi Sister Kearl, we adore your son!  He has probably told you of his tooth situation.  He asked permission to 

email his dentist on Monday to get some advice on his loose tooth.  The dentist here gave him Amoxicillin 

500mg TID for 10 days.  He is concerned as are we that he may loose the tooth.  It is loose and it is causing  

him pain up into his nose and forehead.  He just wanted to ask the dentist if the thought this was good and 

why the tooth may have become loose as he said he had a perfect check up prior to his mission.  If you 

have any thoughts or your dentist has some help please let me know, I'll text him the information..I just 

remembered he will speak to your tomorrow - HAPPY DAY.   

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

Love, Sister Hiatt

no growth in the comfort zone...

hi mama,

kamusta po nay,

it's been a week. said good bye to my tatay and hello to my new companion. didn't actually think it would be so hard and exciting, let me explain.

so on elder Briones' last day we had a good day of visiting the greatest Dupax has to offer. you got to remember elder Briones had been here for 7 and a bit months, 4 of those with me so it was hard to say goodbye. we left our appartment around sunset to stay over night in Aritao bc those 2 were leaving as well. before we made it there tho, the 2 branches had an on the fly farewell fireside for Briones. basically, a huge gush fest, as we all had an opportunity to say why Elder Briones is awesome. it was so heartfelt and lovely with even the burliest filipinos tearing up. he's a legend and will be missed. walking down Del Sur's main street for the last time and later driving through after the fireside to Aritao was full of smiles and great reminiscing. stayed the night at Aritao and Elder Briones and Oredson + Abubo (from Aritao) spent there last night in Bambang. it was weird, but sunny.

THEN the new guys came. 2 brand new guys for Aritao and my new comp Elder Mebulos. Mebulos is my batch, meaning he entered the field the same day as me. he's from Mindanao and specks Cebuano. he has one emotion which is happy and laughs a ton! oh man you should hear his laugh, next level. he doesn't really speak english so we only speak tagalog. it was hard at first, but it's fun and i can't believe how much i'm learning! pretty much you can't hate this guy. oh his first name is JimBoy so that will tell you some things. then that night i showed Aritao missionaries their apartment and it felt so uncomfortable like in my chest without my 3 best friends. like the day after Briones left was pretty hard. can't believe how much i miss him. like i would see things that would remind me of him or the old Aritao elders and just feel so out of place and uncomfortable. haven't really missed anyone like this before. but life keeps moving and i'm adjusting! gotta love suffering! plus the new calling as district leader is overwhelming, but its ultimately good living.

the feels this week hit me hard but i've never noticed Gods hand or blessings in my life before. the language took a huge jump up. my life doesn't really involve english now. so instead of walking i'm now running. it's really cool tho. tagalog is so much fun. yeah, the blessings and growth are flowing like crazy. loving it. no growth in the comfort zone, am i right???

something spiritual. went back to see my indian friend. probably my best friend now. he's really into trying to convert me into the muslim faith but we both love all the religions so there's huge respect for each other. you gotta meet this guy. the best. but i had the opportunity to explain the good book itself in english to this guy in english. oh man, was it a powerful highlight of my mission. hard to explain, so i won't, i'll just tell you the book is true!!!

the weekly scripture is a missionary classic thats my fav to share. the brighter your light, the more people you'll attract to good news (gospel).

3 Nephi 18:24

Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed

yeah, the light the world is going strong here. super great teaching.  also had a dream about ben barfuss. hyped to see him.

so I have a baptism on saturday, so i'll probs skype around 11:30 on saturday my time. you'll have to figure it out!! i'm hyped tho!!! please have Litchfields mailing address for that. thanks!!! make your own account and see you then.

KEARL