FW: Happy thanksgiving indeed! (Isaacs last letter...)

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Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:01:00 -0500
Subject: Re: Happy thanksgiving indeed!
From: joseph.pitt@myldsmail.net
To: maryepitt@hotmail.com

Mary,

  Hery i sent a huge letter to mom and dad. here is part of it.....This week was rufff. Right now we have no one that we are teaching and we didn't find any new people this week. No one came to church and things are just looking a little slow. I have faith that there are people in the area and that we can find them... but we just havent yet. We taught a few lessons this week and all of them just i felt like didn't get the message. So i don't know if we aren't explaining and teaching to needs. Which is one weakness i know i have. I feel like it is hard to teach to needs. That and i didn't feel like the Spirit was there during the lessons and it is obvisous when they don't understand and you are trying to explain. There isn't too much i can think of. I decided that i don't understand the latin mind.... it is so different and they were raised so different i find it hard to relate. I mean they grew up in the streets... dads drinking... fiestas everyweekend.... not going to church... and all of them say i love to just hear the word of God.  Well hello what is the word of God??? in your eyes.... I just don't understand the thinking sometime. They have a hard time understanding that there is one one true church one correct way to follow God. It seems all the same to them. But i cant complain because i know there is missionaries in all there countries that are baptizing and doing everything like we should be able to do here. It will come. :)

    We me and my compainion had a talk about planning. When we have lessons he doesn't really like to plan. just our views are different on them and i know that it has to be resovled so that we can have the spirit. And we talked about it, but he just says that his head hurts and he doesn't want to talk about it anymore... so we don't plan to much for lessons. Well the lessons that we do have set up. It is just a process and we learn alot from everyone so it is good. :)

    This sunday though, the second counsler taught sunday school priesthoood and talked in sacrament meeting but i must say i learned alot this sunday and he talk  so well. Actually Priesthood this sunday was just us too missionaries and him. The topic was how to raise a daughter.... but he changed it alittle and made it into how to make a eternal companionship. It was good. he had stories from his mission which were so crazy and man. i just felt so good a church and i know that he was suppose to teach all three classes.

    We did have an amazing experience with a less active allen. Elder Weeks and I went over to see him. He had one of his friends over. He was english. So we just got talking and we asked Allen to get his scriptures. He was looking forever and couldn't find them. So as he was looking we started talking to his friend. He told us that religion wasn't for him and that he doesn't like talking about it. So i asked what do you mean religion isn't for you? He responded with that is a good question. He sat there thinking for a while and then he started telling us like he had been betrayed so many times, and now in his life he doesn't have any faith and he wants to get away from the people he is around and hang out with a better crowd. With people that love him. We started going with the restoraction. He seemed interested a little bit. We got to the life and Jesus Christ and the things that he taught and did.  Then i asked how would you feel if you could start over and start a new life. He replied that it would be amazing. So Elder weeks invited him to be baptized. He accepted for the 24 of december. He had a huge smile on his face. We just talked more about baptism and had the less active tell his story of when he got baptised. It really rekindled the flame inside of him and he got all excited too. The lesson was something else. The spirit was there bearing testimony to everything that we were talking about. At the end of the lesson we ask if he would pray he told us. I don't want to be rude but i don't want to pray out loud with everyone. Please respect that. Elder Weeks and I actually started to laugh and we told him Elder weeks can pray to show you how and then you can say one. After the prayer of Elder weeks we asked again. He finally said the prayer and it was perfect! One experience i wont forget.

     Everything is great here just pushing along and doing what we can. I have learned so much already and this experience is amazing!

 Well my time is up i hope that all is weel. I was able to eat this week with too family... couldn't work to much cause everyone was drunk but.. haha alright love you all!!

Love Elder Pitt

HJW

Well family, we finally got it worked out so that we can contribute to the blog...not sure what happened there for a while but it wouldn't let me in :)

Anyhow...where to start??? Things in Vegas are going great, it is finally cooling down a little bit but still not cold enough to really need a jacket (unless you go outside at like 3 in the morning).  Jenna has been busy taking care of the Will Man and being the best wife I could ever ask for.  She is really in to decorating the house but not really the conventional way...It usually starts out with her seeing a great idea online, then she tweaks it a bit (usually for the better), then comes the hunt to find all the parts and pieces, followed by some spraypaint, fabric, screws, nails, varnish, glue and most definitely some caulk to fill up all my mistakes with the saw.  In the end it always looks really good and I am amazed with the way she can just see things in her head and then Voilà! a very cool custom piece of home decor.  My favorite part of it all is that I have had to really invest in some good tools, i mean they are really for her I just get to use them;)  While I am talking about Jenna I just thought I would mention that we have been battling some health issues with her lately.  For over a year now she has been getting this terrible heartburn and it has only gotten worse.  When she gets it really bad, it basically makes her unable to much of anything as it hurts even up into her ears and head (yeah I know, real weird).  Anyhow, we have gone to multiple doctors and she is going in for a x-ray/catscan type ordeal tomorrow so hopefully the doctor will finally give us some indication as to how to treat it.  Until now his best suggestion is to take our her gallbladder but said that even that might not help much.  The only thing that is giving her some bit of relief is drinking aloe vera juice (which was not doctor prescribed by the way...Jordy I think you need to change the medical industry as I feel like I spent a large amount of money for very poor service and then find a little remedy online that points me to the nearest whole foods to buy aloe vera juice...seriously).  Anyhow, the reason for telling you this is that modern medicine can't seem to find a cure but I am sure some good prayer could do the trick.  Amongst your list of people and things to pray for, fee free to add Jenna to that list.

On a happier note, this weekend we are throwing a murder mystery Halloween get together with 6 other couples from our ward.  It is kind of a scary circus theme and Jenna is going to be the clown and I am the FBI agent.  We are really excited as we think this will finally be a way to meet some of the other young couples in the ward.  She we were banished to the nursery, we basically haven't met anyone.

Work for me is going great.  We have about five times more projects that we did last year at this time and at a time when some companies are going out of business, we are hireing.  We have added about 5 employees to the office and another 5 or so in the field so things are looking pretty good.  We picked up a project today and are bidding another on Wednesday.  I have already turned in 5 proposals this month, and have two more to go out tomorrow.  Needless to say this month has been BUSY and I think Jenna will be happy to have her husband back come November.

So the last (but definitely not least) member of our little family, WILL.  What a character he is turning out to be.  He is a very fun and smart little kid and I really love playing around with him.  We recently enrolled him in a little soccer class for 2-3 year olds at the indoor soccer place so you can imagine how excited I am.  Along with being sporty, he is also pretty artsy and Jenna always has fun things for him to do.  Since you probably haven't even gotten this far down the page...i am getting a little lengthy on this post, I will just finish with a couple of pictures.

 This is one of Will's favorite outdoor activities...sidewalk painting.

 Will often gets caught eating straight butter.  He called it cheese for a while but just can't get enough of the stuff.

 Thinking about selling these works of art on Ebay.

 A little Father Son bonding as I tried to teach Will how to build a computer.

And finally...Some guy in Jenna's Parent's ward has some old fire engines and will got the chance to go play on them...HE LOVES CARS:) 

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Which Blog???

Hey Miriam (or whoever else knows...),

Which blog do you want us to post on...the Pitt Blog or the Pitt Periodical Blog, or both?  Just want to make sure I post on the blog(s) that the family is reading :) And that I'm reading the blog that others are posting on.

Thanks!
Nat

P.S.  Ammon and I will let you know soon about the gingerbread/talent show info...we're still talking about dates.  Does it matter if it's on a weekday or a weekend since it will be during a school break?  And is afternoon when it works best for everyone or do you usually do it in the evening...like after dinner?

Johnson Update

I suppose we are past due in writing to the pitt periodical. So a quick update on our family, the crazy life we live and more! Travis has been traveling the globe and racking up more miles, and lots of spare toothbrushes and pens from different hotels. We miss him terribly, but are trying to be patient as he works out a few things with work that will hopefullly bring him home to us a little more in the future. Here's to hoping! He is the favorite in the bishopric when it comes to conducting...all the ladies think he is charming and refreshing. This we already knew! Tanner, our big 9th grader is doing great in school and having fun with his favorite class, madrigals, and meeting lots of new friends, one of which is named Jessie, you should ask him about her?!!! Marshall has spent the last 4 months healing in one way or another, but he is in the thick of pt for his thumb, and hopefully after that we are in the clear for a while. Collar bone, facial fractures, and tendon in the thumb are all doing fine. It hasn't stopped him from loving Jr. high. He is wanted with the ladies, and real cool cat with just about everyone. None of us are surprised, right?! KJ (Kymble's official nickname) is the leading scorer for his soccer team, they took first in the mayor's cup and he loves being in 5th grade with Maddy and Hunter. They are all so smart, that teacher is lucky to have a dynamic "pitt" trio! He keeps us laughing and is very smart! Kennahdy just turned 9 and I had a small melt-down because of it! Its hard to see your baby grow up and be nothing like a baby. She is beautiful and helpful, and so much fun. She is also in a pitt trio at school and loving dance with Miss(aunt) Jenn and soccer with lydia and best friend Libby. (they also won the mayor's cup)
As far as me. Well, trying to survive being a travel's widow most of the time, and a mission's orphan, has it's challenges, but all in all, life is good, and compared to most in the world, I would have to say that I am living the dream. That's my new motto! Feel free to use if you find yourself in a crazy time of life and wish you could have a different one...you'll soon find out, after taking a good hard look, you are living the dream. And it's a good one.

Apologies, I've been hacked

To all,
 
I am sorry that some of you received an email from my account that looked fishy.  I'm not sure how this happens, but it sure makes me angry.  In the future, know that my emails will have a valid looking subject to them.  If it looks odd at all, please don't open it up.  Also, if anyone has any ideas on how to go about fixing the problem, please let me know.
 
Thanks,
 
Ammon

http://apartments-riva.com/romio2.html

Re: pool house

just a reminder I set up a new blog. you should have received an email that should say. you have been invited to the pittfamily11 blog. please accept and write for the month. mom is dying for pictures. love you all mir

JASON JENNY PITT <jjpitt5@msn.com> wrote:

>
>Family, We have arranged the pool house so that it will be easy for everyone to use. We put the calendar online at google calendars. The username is centervillepoolhouse@gmail.com and the password is swimbabyswim. You will see when you go online that every family has their days assigned. Nights are reserved for that family after 5:00 pm. Before 5:00 pm it is open for anyone. We do ask that if you want to plan something please try to plan it on our families day and put it on the calendar. If you need to switch with another family please call or email them and then go switch it on the calendar. Everyone is a manager of the calendar so everyone can make changes. The hope is that with a greater visibility and the ability for each individual to schedule what they need the pool house will be used more and without any conflicts. If you have any questions please talk to me and I can try to explain them to you. Thanks Jason
>

pool house

Family, We have arranged the pool house so that it will be easy for everyone to use. We put the calendar online at google calendars. The username is centervillepoolhouse@gmail.com and the password is swimbabyswim. You will see when you go online that every family has their days assigned. Nights are reserved for that family after 5:00 pm. Before 5:00 pm it is open for anyone. We do ask that if you want to plan something please try to plan it on our families day and put it on the calendar. If you need to switch with another family please call or email them and then go switch it on the calendar. Everyone is a manager of the calendar so everyone can make changes. The hope is that with a greater visibility and the ability for each individual to schedule what they need the pool house will be used more and without any conflicts. If you have any questions please talk to me and I can try to explain them to you. Thanks Jason

Isaac's letter

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Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:09:55 -0400
From: joseph.pitt@myldsmail.net

well everything is going really well. i love every second out and here, although i am starting to get frustrated and not liking how i just cant talk to everyone and just enjoy the mission. Right now the language is really hard for me the progress is really slow but i am trying hard. i will work a little hard this week to really work on it but thing other than that are really good. I get tired a little bit throughout the week since you work all day everyday but i love it non the less. i love all the latino people and everyone is just so friendly and nice. well that is a stretch. lets say the members are good. its a branch yeah. just one. anyway everyone else is like were penicostle we don't want to here your or i am a catolothic to heart. ha ha we just laugh and share our message anyway. the worst spanish here is from Dominican Republic, i cant understand a thing. As far as the spanish, i understand almost everything but i just can't talk so we will see how this next week goes.

I love all the food it is so crazy, i have to get used to picking out my own chicken bones though in like every meal cause they just throw it all in there and i guess it just adds with the flavor and everything. there is always a lot of fruit drinks, which have been really good, but the last one was cantalope whatever... terrible. um... every meal now seems to have rice for sure the corn tortilla which i have fallen in love with, i could eat them all day long they are so good. and then lettuce too... for some reason it is always part of your meal and you just put everything on the lettuce. it has been really good and i have come to like eating the hot food. there is always pico salsa on everything and the jalapeno sauce. i just love it. Actually the normal food now, never sets well in my stomach i need the spanish food.

um... i dont think there is anything that i don't like everything is just amazing. i will tell you a few stories now. Luiz Mendez.. he had met with the missionaries before and been taught a few times but he didn't really make any progress or go anywhere. well we have been teaching him. on my first visit with him we talked about the plan of salvation and more of what are purpose is here. we committed him to be baptised and he excepted so he is going to be baptised on the 17 sept. we are just helping him prepare and he is doing really well. he wanted to go to the temple so we went to the temple visitor center in dc. that temple is amazing, but luiz had a really good experience and he is loving the church. it is hard sometimes to get him to church because of work but we are doing our best. Another story. we were going by a potencial and they didn't answer so we were walking back to the car and Elder Crawford want to knock this one door. we had met the parents before they were penicostle and we didn't really want to knock cause we knew that they didn't want to listen but we did anyway. we knocked and then knocked again. nothing.... we started walking back when this kid comes out of the house. he told us to come back up. we told him we wanted to share a message with him and he let us in. i guess we had woken him up, but i think the spirit moved him alittle to come to the door. our lesson was amazing. we talked about the restoration. right after the joseph smith story he got really interested and he was just really feeling the spirit. it was amazing. but we asked when we could come back and he said that he works in washington dc from 5 to 10 everyday and we just happened to catch him. um... so we are trying to work things out cause he really wants to listen. um... other than that everything else is just normal, trying to help the recent converts out, or the less active. we teach alot of lessons to them. he actually helped this latino lady lay down her wood floor. we just had to cut it with a hand saw and fit everything together. it was pretty ghetto if you ask me, but she loved it and it was some good service. anyway i got to go... tell everyone hello.

love,

elder pitt

Descision

So I here that Im in charge of the PP now days which is just fine. Anyway what I was thinking was setting up a new blog and reminders that each month we need to write. For you guys close it might not be as exciting but now that half of us are away, Im thinking we need to be better and write every month. Just a brief summary of the month, not necessarly about each child, and pictures. I think mom is really missing all the grand kids, so pictures would be great. respond to this or email me what you think. would you all just like it printed out like we used too? I know mom prefers that but I know all of us like the computer so let me know MIriam

A more detailed letter from Isaac...

Here is the email Isaac wrote when he had more time.  I thought I would pass it along...and I tried to fix it up a bit so it is a little easier to read. :)

Family,

Hey, everything here is going really well. I love my new companion he will train me very well i think. His name is Elder Crawford. Me and him are actually a lot alike it is crazy. He is pushing me a lot which is good because it will make me learn faster. The first day I got here I had an appointment. Marco was his name. Of course all in spanish so it was crazy and I just bore my testimony which he said that he was only able to understand half of it but that is alright. My spanish is getting better slowly. Everytime we go to a less active members house or recent converts i alway give the lesson. Just a scripture and some thoughts about it so it has been good.

Well the area is nice, trashy and really crazy but it is good. They just split the area so that wasn't very good because we don't have any investigators right now. So we have been trying to find people this week and we are having no success. This week is going to be a finding week. We have a goal for 6 new investigators this week so we will see if i can make it. The Spanish people are so nice and i have met a lot of awesome recent converts. The branch here has about 50 people in it. I am surprised sometimes at how much the members want to help. It is going really well. I am not too worried about the speaking I know that it will come in time. Tonight I am supposed to invite luiz to be baptized so we will see how it goes. My first contact was on the street it went pretty well it was with a Guatamalan named Julia. She just took our number but I knew that she wouldn't answer. My first door contact was a very drunk hispaninc man that would listen but i am sure that he didn't remember us the next day so that is pretty cool. Anyway i love the branch and the people. I just can't help but love them and i am really enjoying everything that is going on. Last night we had an appointment with a guy named juan hernandez. He wants to get baptized but he is waiting for his wife. Long story but I don't think he will get baptized soon, praying hard that something will happen. Umm... one of the recent converts omar just finished the book of mormon and his favorite parts is the vision of lehi, he is so awesome.

Umm... my first meal was with the castillo familia they fed us inchile which is just like a chicken with a ton of hot sauce and stuff with peppers and tons of spices. You just take one of there homemade corn tortillas and pull the chicken off the bone with it and eat it. You eat everything, sometimes it looks a little gross but you just eat it anyway.  Also had fried eggs with corn tortillas. Everything is with corn tortillas. I love everything that is going on and I love the work. I don't know how many countless times the Lord listens to your prayers and answers them for you. He has performed many miracles here. About my finger no need to worry, I don't even pay attention to it and I know that Lord will take care, i know that i am just working hard and don't worry about the lord will let my finger get back to full range of motion. I am at about 75 percent right now so all is well. I know the Lord has called me here for a reason and i can't wait to find out. I don't like right now that i can't talk to most people but it will get better. Anyway hope all is going well at home. oh um...
my new address is: 136 Willowdale dr. #31

                               Fredrick MD, 21702

 

That is my apartment or you can just send it to the mission home either one. anyway i hope you are doing well and that things will start looking better and that there wont be anymore accidents. well love you all!!!

elder pitt

Note from Isaac

hey just wanted to let you know i am here in baltimore. all is going well. my compainion is elder crawford. my address is 136 willow dale dr. #31 fredrick MD, 21702. anyway we have a meeting in 15 mins so i have to go. know that all is going well. we went to the ward mission leaders house. awesome didnt know anything but its alright. love you guys. got to go to my first investagators house. by.
loves elder pitt

mom and dad's update

dear mi familia,

Mom and dad are still having problems with their internet and haven't been able to log on yet.  So, mom asked me to write and give everyone the short update until she can get to a computer that works.

The first few days were rough--just all the adjusting and "baptism by fire" so to speak.  Mom was a bit teary when she first called home. They had about an hour with Pres. and Sis. Thornock and then they were gone and mom and dad were on their own.  Mom was especially grateful for all of Alicia's help.  This was her report on their first zone meeting:

"We had our first zone meeting today [Friday], and i guess it went okay.  I pretty much bombed my part (yes, she said 'bombed') but dad did really well--told a bunch of his stories and kept them all interested.  But you know what was their favorite part of the whole meeting?  Alicia's cookies!  Alicia made cookies for them and they all just about died over them.  So at least that part was a success."

Not quite a raving response, but I talked to her yesterday for just a few minutes and she sounded better.  So, keep them and Isaac in your prayers and soon I'm sure they will be feeling a little more comfortable and at ease!

love you,
Mary

Our Family Blog Address

Hey family,

Just wanted to let you know that we have family blog for our little family at dancingmommablog.wordpress.com

Jenn

mom and dad's address...

Just thought some of you might like mom and dad's address to the mission home in west virginia.

1809 Shadybrook Rd.
Charleston, WV 25314


They sound overwhelmed but getting a little more comfortable every day.  Mom said they are very very appreciative of your many prayers because she knows they are helping and wouldn't be surviving without them! :)

Hello

 Family,

mostly a replay to the letter mom gave me. um... yes i got sick earlier this week. its alright though everyone is getting sick here just what happens. mom thanks you for the caution with the sisters here. don't worry i wish they weren't here anyway so i am not flirting with anyone. there is a more important work to do here. haha sounds like you have had an amazing week being taught many servants of the Lord. was it just apostols that teach you?? there was really high secured around the main building where you were so we couldn't get anywhere close. i got called down to the office and so i was trying to ger there but they had someone escort me there. crazy stuff, plus i wanted to break through the lunch room to eat your food. well you were talking about missionaries not taking morining serious. some kid in our room was like lets get up at 6 so we have been getting up at 6 and doing all the studying that needs to be done so no worries mom all is going well here. when you talked to Elder Perry did he like teach you stuff or was it just a casual conversation?? did you get to ask any questions?? well i haven't gained any pounds yet... i usually try to eat health.. like salads and stuff. yes that sounds really wierd but i have actually come to like salad. so what bike did you end up getting me??? any will do and thanks for all the rest of the supplies i am looking forward to getting them.

alright about me here and what has been going on the week. this friday at the mission pres seminar Elder Bednar talked about being a preach my gospel missionary. a few things that stood out to me was that " we don't ask you to be perfect but we do expect you to be worthy", also get out of the way of the Holy Ghost". i was thinking we can't be perfect yes but as along as we do all that we can do be the best we can be, the Lord will help with the rest. We need to be worthy so that the Spirit can be with us as we teach. also the Spirit is what teaches, it isn't what we say, but the spirit that someone feels as we are there. so we neeed to in a sense get out of the way while the Spirit talks. Another talk was given during priesthood session on sunday. Brother Rogers talked about how was need to have our own sacred grove, that we need to make prayer more meaning full and pour our heart our the the Lord. if we do that and do it off we can recieve many blessings that we as missionaries need. then sacrement meeting Brother Allen talked, he was just telling how missions were. that you are going to have afflictions and trials. that this will be the hardest thing of our lives but that isn't a reason to go home. he said the only reason to go home, is if we have major moral issues. i think that it helped every missionary there gain hope that they can be there doing the work of the Lord.

overall this week has been amazing. time after time it has been manifest to me that the only way to be happy or recieve happiness is through the gospel. there is no other way. everything is going well, thanks for the letters from some of you. hope all is going well at home, and all the house situations have been sorted out. love you all. hope all is going well! thanks

love, elder pitt

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

oops

Sorry about that last post--I was sending it to isaac so that he would know where to send his emails and we could all read it.  Didn't mean to post it. :)

ps

I keep forgetting to tell you: if you send your emails to: pittclan.newsletter@blogger.com it will post your letter to the whole family.  For the emails you want to send to everyone.  If you want individual e-mail address to the families, let me know and I'll send them to you.  Love you!

Dan's tribute blog...

Hey fam, I just wanted to forward this so you could read it.  It's a beautiful tribute written about Sam by his little bro Dan...

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Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:32:13 -0600
Subject: Cheermister - my latest blog
From: danmanhess@gmail.com
To: phess@strongandhanni.com; jzhess@gmail.com; mzhess1@msn.com; kate@thompsonhome.com; maryepitt@hotmail.com; monique.t.hess@gmail.com; John.Thompson@jbtc.com

I felt good after writing this, despite the tears. 

http://danmanhess.blogspot.com/2011/06/lessons-from-sam.html

I love you guys! 

Help!

Hey Family!


Ammon and I are in need of some help, so we're hoping some of you remember your church youth days!

We are going to be a Ma and Pa at youth conference and we have to do a devotional for our family (5 boys, 5 girls ages 14-18) one of the nights. There's no specific topic, so anything goes. The whole conference theme is "We Seek After These Things" after the church's youth theme for the year, the 13th Article of Faith. So, if you remember anything from EFY, youth conferences, or YM/YW that really meant a lot to you, PLEASE let us know ASAP (we leave next Thursday)!!!

Thanks for your help!

Nat n' Ammon :)