Treasure Island Girls Camp

This past week was Girls Camp.  This was my 2nd year as camp director and I really love this calling.  It lets me use my creativity and my love of cooking.


Our theme was "Treasure Island - We Believe, We Seek, We Endure"

This was a Stake camp and we did a survivor twist with lots of challenges for immunity.


We were the "Pearl Tribe".  I sure love these girls...

Our first morning was dry.  

But after that it rained, and rained and 

rained......

Our Shoes were caked in Mud and we could barely walk down the muddy road to the amphitheater

The Girls will never forget the night it started to thunder and Lightning.  We dashed for the Scout Trailer and all 24 of us crammed into it until the lightning stopped.

After, Bishop Clough gave a priesthood prayer on the camp and

we all felt peace.  This experience brought us so close.  

I'm so glad I was able to have these memories with Jenessa

We taught the girls the Hula, made poi balls and maori stick games

They loved the Island Spa!

 The Rain Poncho Hula

I wish I could really play the ukelele

The Girls Enjoyed perfoming for the Bishopric

The Immunity Challenges were always a hit

And We really laughed at The Challenges we gave to our Bishopric

Chris is always a good sport....Good Bishop!

I will admit the Luau was yummy - Cooking is one of my favorite parts of camp!

I made Dutch oven Luau Pork, rice, dutch oven rolls, fruit salad, and Chris brought up rainbow sherbet for dessert 

Kaitlyn was sure excited to come up with Chris and stay overnight!

We ended the incredible week with our testimony meeting

Ben's Graduation and Juana's Baptism

Hola Jordan/Elder Soutas

How did your week go?  I hope you had a good one.  We have been praying for your investigators and

put their names in the temple.  How is Juana doing?

 This week, of course, was Ben's graduation.  It was so similar to yours that you can pretty much

imagine exactly what it was like.  Long talk by Mr. Hicks, singing by the madrigals, music by the orchestra and All of the graduates coming up to receive their diploma

 

 

There...Now don't you feel like you were there?

Time sure does go quickly.  Seems like we were just barely at yours

After we went to lunch at Rodizio Grill in American Fork.     

Later that night Ben went to the Senior class grad party at Noah's.  They had Wally ball, ping pong and

stuff like that.  He didn't get home until 5 AM!

On Thursday I went and helped at Kaitlyn's field day.  We walked over to Jordan Ridge Park and played

"Minute to Win It" Games.    I also went to Book Club at Jill's house.  Everyone asked how you are doing

and I told them "Great!!"

Saturday I went to a wedding shower for Lindsey Jones - can you believe she's getting married?  Those Jones girls

like to get married at 18..........His name is Brendan.

The Jone's are also moving this week.  They sold their house and they are moving to Herriman.

Then I painted Kaitlyn's room (she is now going to have Tyler's old room downstairs)  a very BRIGHT  robin's egg BLUE.

It is way brighter than I thought it would be.  Maybe once we move her bed into it and some furniture it won't be so Crazy.

I also went and did some initiatories at the JR Temple.  It was a great way to finish up the week.

Last night after Church we went to a fireside by John Lund (He is a well -known marriage counselor) and has written

many books and given many firesides and worked with the Church on all of this.

He was so funny!  He talked about how we need to communicate with our family members etc...

The one thing he really emphasized that I am going to try harder - is to not criticize anyone.  He said our society is

so ingrained with criticism that it is impossible for anyone to go a day without doing it.....To your family epecially but even in general when we are driving we critize other drivers etc...   anyway I know you had to be there to feel the impact of the

talk but it really had a great impact on me to try harder.

I heard from Ashlee this week, she got your letter  we sent, so she is happy:)  She is doing great!

I hope you have a wonderful week.  Rely on our Heavenly Father and the Spirit will guide you. 

Yo se que este iglesia es verdadero. Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador.

(when you get a chance - write your testimony in spanish - the kids would love to hear it!)

Un Brazo!  

Love forever, Mom

Phew! I was worried you had forgotten to write me! haha just kiddin I assumed it was because of the internet.

Well I have a surprise! Juana got baptized! YAY! ha ha we went over there last Tuesday and she was feeling much better and so she wanted to be baptized.

Her baptismal service can only be discribed in one word: Epic. Well I dunno there's probably a better word but that is the first word that came to my head. So we finally get there and she is there and she starts telling us about how she is sick again but she still came. But oh well she's there and we aint stoppin it now. Then like only six people were there, pretty typical for our branch.

So she gets in the water and almost slips and dies. But luckily not. Ok so now she is ready to be baptized. Elder Lyman says the prayer. Amen. Juana leans over forward and dips her head in the water. "Am I done?" she asks. No....We explain that she needs to bend backward but she says she can't because of her back. So we have her kneel down in the water and try to have her go under. Her head doesn't quite make it and she comes up choking. Oh crap she's going to hate the church now I keep thinking. the six people in the audience are feeling very awkward. We try that again and I'm like "Elder Lyman just push her head under the water!" But she still doesn't make it.  I was stressing out hard core now. I was so worried she was just going to give up and be like 'Nope never mind i don't want to!"

But then somebody has the genius idea to use a primary chair and have her sit on it and then Elder Lyman can just lean her back in. We do this and It worked! She got baptized! and Heaven rejoiced! I was still worried she was going to hate it though.

But she came out and she was so happy and proud of herself. She said that she was praying the whole time (this is true we heard her) that Heavenly Father would help her to do it and he did. She said she felt like a new person! So we're all talking to her happy and stuff. But where's Elder Lyman? I go check the bathroom. He forgot another white shirt. (a la Elder Soutas' first baptism.) So we try to think what we're going to do. We finally decided that i was going to go and microwave his shirt. So I did. It just made it wet and hot so that failed. So he just wore it wet. and then we went to Taco Bell.

And that was Juana's baptism. It went very well I think. Definately unforgetable.

So Ben graduated huh? I didn't think he'd make it. jokes. But that's way cool. Sounds like he's still having fun. What day does BYU start up again? Wow I just realized that there's only one more school year and then I'll be home. That's weird. Hey Ashlee only has to survive two more semesters of college without getting married! Yay! I'm glad that she's doing well in India! I haven't got a letter in a while though probably cuz of the stupid mail man!

One thing I've been trying to do lately is strengthen my personal relationship with my Savior. I've found that just reading about his life in the New Testament is a great way.

So this week I was told by a baptist minister that I'm going to outer darkness. My testimony is just devastated! (Sarcasm.)
Oh and update on the Guerras. the reason that they are not married is because they can't stand each other! ha ha we found this out last night. Apparently Noemi doesn't cook well enough and so German doesn't have his perfect woman. Seriously dude? also Noemi doesn't trust German and thinks he's cheating on her but I don't think he is and she needs to chill.

Pretty much they just have all these little things they don't like about each other and it just builds and builds. I was just kind of laughing because all there problems are so little. But they are still together for the kids sake and they do want it to work out too. Lesson: Don't have kids before you're married. And don't hook up with people you don't like. Duh. But we're working with them.

Well that's about it.

pues si uds. quieren mi testimonio voy a escribirlo. Yo se que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial y que el nos ama. Jesucristo es el salvador. Se que Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios y el Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios con La Biblia. Tenemos un profeta viviente con Thomas S. Monson. Necesitamos tener fe, arrepentirnos, bautizarnos, recibir el espiritu santo, y perserverar hasta el fin para vivir con Dios otra vez. Familias pueden vivir juntos para siempre con el evangelio y los templos.

Les amo mucho

Con amor,

Elder Soutas

Babboo's Chicken

Jenessa and I both have a cold.  The weather is still cold.  It's May 26th for crying out loud!
 Chris is on a diet.
What should I make for dinner? 
I found a recipe that sounded yummy - well the picture looked yummy, over on Our Best Bites and
I've been wanting to try it this week.  So I bought some fresh ginger root and a couple of limes
and stirred up a wonderful chicken glaze.
Everyone loved it.  It really was amazing!   Chris decided to name it "Baboo's Chicken".  (He likes to name things)

I served it with a new twist:  Jasmine rice with chopped mangos - no really - try it! - and just add a little butter & salt and pepper.



Babboo's Chicken

1/4 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C soy sauce
2 T lime juice (about 1 lime)
1/4 t curry powder
3-4 garlic cloves, minced (I just used 1 tsp garlic salt)
1 t grated fresh ginger
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used breasts)
Combine everything but the chicken in a small bowl. Whisk to dissolve brown sugar. Place marinade and chicken in a zip-lock bag. Pop that bag in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, or longer if you have it (even overnight)
Preheat a grill (or an indoor grill pan or broiler). Spray cooking surface with cooking spray and place chicken on it to cook. Cook for 5-10 minutes on each side depending on the thickness.  Optional:  garnish with sliced green onions
*Tip:  When I make this I usually make 1 1/2 times the marinade.  I reserve some of the marinade before adding the chicken and then use it in the last few minutes of grilling, or just brush it on after for extra flavor.

Dear Jordan/Elder Soutas

Aloha!  and Como Estas?

I hope you have had a great week!  That's so cool that Juan was baptized!

We will keep praying for Jorge.    And also that you will be led to more investigators.

Well of course I'm writing from Maui.  It is such a beautiful island.  Today we went to church

and it was so cool, as Dad told you that The Lamberts were there too.  Neither of us knew the

other was going to Hawaii so it was funny that now we were at church together.  It was fast

and testimony meeting.  Whenever someone gets up to bear their testimony they say "Aloha"

and then everyone says back "Aloha"  kinda fun

It's been a fun week.  We arrived in Honolulu on Monday around 11 am - after leaving home at 3 am

It was raining so we had a lunch at the hotel overlooking Waikki beach.

The next day we drove to pearl harbor

we toured an old war time submarine and took a boat

out to see the USS Arizona Memorial which is on top

of the battleship Arizona that was sunk by the Japanese

We also went to the Dole Pineapple plantation and saw how pineapples grow --just on bushes

I always thought they were trees...then we took a walk to Waimea Falls and then drove

over to BYU Hawaii

While we were there the Bell Tower rang - just like at BYU provo - same bells and sound

Next day we took a submarine ride under the ocean which was really cool.  Saw tons of

fish, turtles and a reef shark   also sunken ships and planes

When we got back to shore we rode on a smaller kyak in the ocean and there were huge

turtles swimming around

Thursday we went to Laie to the Temple and did a session.  It was so wonderful and peaceful

I loved the temple.  You move from room to room as you progress through the session like the

SL temple but much smaller and it has the movie.  It is a beautiful temple, it was just updated and

rededicated by Pres. Monson in November.

Next we went over to the Polynesian culture center for a fun day.

There are different villages to visit like Tongan, Samoa, New Zealand

Fijii with different activities at each.  The Church and the students

from BYU Hawaii have done a wonderful job with everything.  They have a

great Luau dinner

After the villages close the church provides a tram to take the visitors over

to the Temple visitor center - sneaky huh...show all kinds of church videos

and the sister missionaries are all there to answer questions of course.

Then everyone is taken back to the Polynesian Culture Center for an awesome

show with Fire dancers.

Friday we flew to Maui its really beautiful.

yesterday we took a helicopter ride-Dad talked me into it

and it was amazing! 

Well enough about us...

My 2 biggest questions are is there anything you need for your birthday?  I'll get a package

ready when we get home

and  When will you be able to call on Sunday?   We are so excited to talk to you again!

We will be in church from 1-4 unless there no other time to talk to you and then we could arrange it

Do we call you again?  

Have a wonderful week and hopefully everything will work out to talk to you on Sunday!

Work hard and be happy

love forever, Mom

Dream Hawaiian Vacation

                HAWAII

Aloha!!

Chris and I are on our dream Hawaiian vacation.   Right now we
are on the island of Maui overlooking the ocean as the sun is beginning to set....jealous?
You should be.  Chris just checked the temperature and Salt Lake is
currently 34 degrees ...brrrrr

Ok here are our pictures so far

Eating Lunch on Waikiki

Mom squeezing into an old wartime submarine

USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor

I love the tiny pineapples! I had no idea they grew like this

(click on the picture to see a close-up view)

This peacock at Waiamea Falls was a big fat show-off

but really pretty

We went to the Laie Temple

I thought we were still in Utah - Jello Cheesecake for dessert

at the Polynesian Culture Center

How ironic to get our first tatooes at a mormon event

Dad dancing with the poi balls

The mysterious Statues of "Easter Island"

The 2 pictures below are of my shirt that I was wearing

when we went down in a submarine.  The color red is

not visible below the water's surface.  So anything that

is red looks like its is purple...then when you get back on

top of the water it is red again :)

More to come after we download more pictures......