rickety – Page 25

Missionary Dan Email #15 from Vancouver, Washington

July 20, 2010 by rickety Leave a Comment

So Wednesday we picked up our new companions. My companion is Elder Hardy from Atlanta, Georgia. He lived close to where I served for three weeks, so that was really cool. He plays the guitar and had a job working at a pest control company selling door to door. He has lots of good ideas that work for tracting, but we keep in mind that following the Spirit is most important. We have had many great experiences already, which comes from working with new missionaries. They are fresh from the MTC full of faith, desire, and excitement which does wonders.

I was prompted to turn down a street that I’d never really noticed before. As it so happens we talked to a man and he allowed us to teach him about the restoration. We gave him a Book of Mormon and said we could come back. The road also was a shortcut to where we wanted to get to. I was grateful for the guidance of the Spirit and it strengthens my testimony that the Lord uses us as instruments. I think rarely do things happen by coincidence especially in the mission field.

At church there is a girl that has been coming to church for about three months. With family problems etc it has prevented her from being baptized and meeting with us. We hope to meet with her soon and she’ll be baptized. That should be exciting.

With the push to have effective plans for each hour and increased desire to find people to teach I expect great things to happen. The Lord has blessed us already. Thanks for all the emails. Good job posting on Mormon.org Dad. It looks like its getting really high-tech. Where are you going on a cruise again? Ask Matt if I’m still vice-president of Fence4u too. Thanks.

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.
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Meet Mormons at the new Mormon.org

July 17, 2010 by rickety 7 Comments

I wrote recently about the new Mormon.org and the inclusion of 1,000 profiles of Mormons. Each profile is a collection of stories and testimonies from Mormons. Profiles of members just like you and me. In my case it turns out that I do indeed have my profile for all to see in the “Meet Mormons” section. I looked through many of the profiles to see if I recognized anyone but they were all strangers to me.

My profile was not edited in any way and I was permitted to place a link to my blog and Facebook page with my profile.

The Mormon.org site is meant to introduce the Church to the world. Questions are answered, accurate information is given, and the opportunity is provided to learn more. The “Our People” page introduces its readers to Mormons who tell their own stories about how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed their lives. “Our Values” highlights some of the cultural priorities of Mormons, such as strong families, service and good citizenship. Core doctrines that underpin Mormons beliefs are in the “Our Faith” section.

What do you think about having personal stories about your faith online? Do you have your profile on Mormon.org? If so, post the link so we can read your story.

Update

It turns out that there is one person I know on Meet Mormons: Marc Lee

Missionary Dan Email #14 from Vancouver, Washington

July 13, 2010 by rickety Leave a Comment

Transfer calls created chaos (kind of). Every companionship in my district is changing. Only three Elders (including me) are staying and the rest are going to be different. It was quite surprising. Elder Draper and I are sticking it out in the apartment with two new missionaries to train. We were both humbled by the call and excited at the same time. We’ll get to meet them tomorrow.

The hike last week was really fun and it was nice to be with the whole district. The picture in front of the waterfall is with Elder Draper.

My bike had an interesting experience. The back tire’s bearings fell out making it out of commission. That is okay because today is the best day to fix it. It’ll be good to go soon. We decided to ride some scooters around while it wasn’t working (see picture). The person on the training wheels is Nathan in the ward leaving on a mission soon who likes to go around to lessons with us.

Church was great. We were able to have five investigators there. Mostly the ones that have always been coming regularly. Hopefully they will make the commitment to baptism soon. The members are sad to see Elder Derges leave. I am too, we did lots of great work together and had lots of fun.

Thanks for all the support and letters. Keep up the great work.

Love, Elder Willoughby

Vancouver North District A. Daniel third from right.

District hike. Daniel front left.

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.
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Kaysville City — Utah’s Hometown

July 11, 2010 by rickety Leave a Comment

The next time you are in downtown Kaysville take a look at the street banners. They read “Kaysville City,” “Utah’s Hometown.” Sandwiched here between the two banner photographs are the two originals (click to enlarge). Mayor Steve Hiatt saw the photographs in my 2008 Kaysville 4th July Parade blog post and asked if he could use them. I was happy to oblige.

So what are these banners for? I will explain in the following paragraphs spaced among the photographs.

Brett Gee of Forthgear has been hired by Kaysville City to help the City develop a brand, particularly as it relates to marketing potential commercial enterprises. Gee explained that the City should set a strategy and marketing efforts to enhance the tax base. Forthgear looks at what makes each entity unique. He stated that Kaysville needs to decide what they want to do to remain viable in the expansion of its commercial base.

Gee says that if the City does not brand itself, it will happen on its own. He believes that affordable housing is critically important to the City which is predominantly white and LDS. The City has a higher household income than the rest of the state, the City is almost 50/50 male/female, and that the median age in the City is 24. The City needs to decide what story they want to tell. He stated that taxes will need to be increased to accomplish this goal.

Forthgear has gathered and analyzed data for Kaysville City. A good brand understands the City’s strengths and weaknesses. Gee believes that there are things that make Kaysville unique. Forthgear isolated some of those variables that make the City stand alone.

The brand positioning for Kaysville states that Kaysville City serves their citizens, both residents and businesses, and that Kaysville provides the opportunity for a lifestyle steeped in the traditional American spirit. He explained that Kaysville City is centralized in the county and northern Utah and is uniquely situated in the middle of everything. It is accessible to Ogden and Salt Lake City, is located between the Wasatch mountains and the Great Salt Lake, two important recreational areas in the state, and is bordered by two major traffic arteries, I-15 and Highway 89, both connected by one large, easily traveled east/west street, 200 North. Accessibility into the city is a significant benefit to Kaysville businesses and commercial enterprises. He believes that this is a marketable trait.

The theme for Kaysville that is being recommended is “Utah’s Hometown.” Gee stated that a good brand creates emotion. At the June 1, 2010 Kaysville City Council Meeting he presented a copy of the new City logo, theme, letterhead, banners, website, business cards, etc. which showcased the new brand image.

Sources

Kaysville City Council Meeting minutes
19 January 2010 — Regular meeting
2 March 2010 — 5pm Special meeting
1 June 2010 — Regular meeting
Forthgear website
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Free Scrap Metal — NOT!

July 10, 2010 by rickety 14 Comments

This classified ad offering free scrap metal appeared in KSL.com today with my cell phone number listed. This is how the ad was worded:

I have some heavy scrap meta [sic] that I need to give away asap. please come and pick it up call for address. First come First service no holds. Thanks!

At first I assumed the callers had the wrong number (which they did). After the calls kept coming I asked the callers who they wanted. Of course they wanted “V”, the person with the free scrap metal. For a moment I thought it was maybe one of Paul’s many projects, like his microwaves to arc welder undertaking.

Eventually one of the callers mentioned KSL so I searched their classifieds for “free metal”. I found the ad and clicked on the handy big red “Report Abuse” button. A few hours later, and after receiving several more calls, the ad was taken off the air. I’m glad KSL got it ironed out.

I bet you won’t hear about this on the KSL Channel 5 Eye Witness News at 10 in HD.

Update

The irony in all this is that I have earned AdSense revenue from this post.
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City Creek Canyon Trail

July 10, 2010 by rickety 1 Comment

Yesterday found us walking along City Creek Canyon Trail. City Creek was the first water source used by the Mormon Pioneers settling the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. In the early years water flowed through ditches for irrigating gardens. Residents hand dipped water for their culinary and domestic needs. In 1866, City Creek was first diverted into a municipally-owned, piped water distribution system to provide fire protection and culinary water supply to city residents.

The maximum recorded flow in City Creek during the floods of 1983 was 322 cubic feet per second, which resulted in considerable debris flows, flooding and damage through downtown Salt Lake City as State Street was converted into a temporary “river” after debris clogged the city’s storm drain pipes.

We walked up the road 2.5 miles and back again. So not many photographs (click to enlarge). The first two shots about sum it up:

Going up. Shauna, Jill, Susan, and Mike.

Coming down. Susan, Shauna, and Jill.

Mike carried on when we turned back. However, we did find a concrete staircase built in the middle of the wilderness by a lost civilization.

We stopped for lunch.

We sent Shauna out over a rotting log to find the trail but there was none.

The girls found a geocache by a big tree stump.

I love it when the directions say, "You will find it by the tree down by the river"

Mike went on to Area 26, about a 10 mile round trip.

The View From The Living Room

July 9, 2010 by rickety 6 Comments

View From The Living Room

On Monday, for a view of the Salt Lake Valley, we hiked to The Living Room. We relaxed in sandstone chairs with armrests. There were even coffee tables we parked our feet on.

The hike takes about two hours (it took us longer). It is considered easy (it isn’t). Trail length is 2.3 miles (seemed like 5 miles).

Here are some photographs of our hike. Click on the images to enlarge.

My nieces Shauna and Connie on the trail

Mark photographing the view

My brother Mike works his way to the top

Mark, Connie, and Shauna ahead of us across the canyon.

Susan and Jill behind us

Shauna in the living room

Mike captures the living room view

Mark and Connie eat a snack in the kitchen

Jill wonders what happened to the television

A beautiful view

Susan and Shauna did some geocaching

The mandatory group photograph

Left to right: Jill, Rick, Kent, Connie, Mark, Susan, Melissa, and Shauna.

Jill on her way down

Missionary Dan Email #13 from Vancouver, Washington

July 6, 2010 by rickety Leave a Comment

President and Sister Greer with missionaries. Daniel is third from left rear.

The 4th of July was lots of fun. We got to watch a few fireworks from our apartments backyard. We were completely surrounded on all sides with people launching fireworks into the air. Since they are legal here they are everywhere.

We were riding our bikes at the usual quick pace that we do and we were coming up on a driveway that leads down a slight hill. I was just about past it when I glanced over and saw a lady washing her car. I slammed on my brakes causing my companion to almost hit me and went and talked to her. She happened to be a member who’d been less active for 20 years. She was married and sealed in the temple, but now is divorced. We invited her back and we’ll see what comes from it. It was great to have the Spirit direct us like that.

We met our new president and his wife. I sent a picture of the zone with them in it (see above). He is really cool and seems like he’ll do great.

Elder Draper and I worked on a fence while I was on an exchange with him. It was fun to get back into fencing. We got the hang of it and got a lot of work done.

Sister Mary Cook with Elders, Daniel on left.

I included pictures of the dance festival and also with Sister Cook. It was a good week and today we are planning on going hiking. It should be a hot day. Thanks for all the great emails and support. I’m not sure if Elder Od Bayar got his gloves yet, but I’m sure he’ll let us know soon. The lawn we mowed was not for a member, but lived right next door to one.

Dance Festival with 1,800 youth preparing for six months

Many non-members danced in the festival

We walked out with white flags on both sides of the youth

We recited the “Standard of Truth” in unity and powerfully. Daniel on right.

We also had many opportunities to talk to the youth between performances. Daniel holding cup.

Rickety Note: See last week’s email for a full account of the Dance Festival.

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.
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