10 Aug 2025
VOLUME 13 – NUMBER 621
Braden and Brooke’s new apartment
Last week our family moved into our new townhome here in Saratoga Springs. The timing of how it all worked out was a tender mercy for us. The day after we got back from our North Carolina vacation, Brooke saw a listing for a townhome that was about 1,000 square feet larger than our current place at the time. She asked me to see if it was managed by the same landlord, and it turns out, it was!
I reached out to see if they might have a unit available around the time our contract was ending. Management said that if we wanted to move over even before our lease was up, that would be just fine with them.
Braden and Brooke’s new apartment
So, on August 1 we moved in. The West Jordan family came down with a trailer to help us move all our stuff just around the corner. Later that night, I ended up pulling an all-nighter by myself to get all the last little things that were still lingering at the old house. It was the first time I’d done that in a while.
We upgraded from a 3-bed, 2.5-bath to a 5-bed, 3.5-bath. I now have a room in the basement for my office instead of it being in the entryway of our old place. We also have a second living room in the basement that has become our theater room.
So far, we’ve been absolutely loving the new place. We’re very grateful for how perfectly the timing worked out for us to move here.
Children at Cowabunga Bay
On Monday we went to Cowabunga Bay. It was me, Dad, Quinn, Joanna, and Gloria. Veidi came too, and Mom showed up just as we were leaving.
It was my first time going, and it was so fun! The rides were long and fast. It was also very cold, but there was a warm breeze.
Quinn and I went on rides while Joanna stayed with Dad and did the smaller ones. Gloria and Veidi didn’t go on any rides. There was one ride where Quinn and I raced to the bottom. That was the only one Veidi was willing to go on.
The first time we raced, Veidi won. The next time it was just me and Quinn, and I won. Veidi and Gloria even got a video of us. Cowabunga Bay was so fun! I’m really glad Mom has foster care for her work, since it was a free Utah Foster Care activity for foster and adoption families.
Children at Cowabunga Bay
Cougar is doing his last full week at his internship this week. Summer is wrapping up, and so is his time as a Cougar!
This week I took the boys to the park and splash pad. I am starting to get into a rhythm with naps, meals, and activities.
Even though every day is a different song with a different rhythm, it feels good to be up and doing things again.
Emmett in shades
I got sick on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I mostly recovered after that, except for my voice. For some reason, my voice was all wack the rest of the week.
At work on Friday, I got to lead a tour of the MTC for some youth at EFY. They were a pretty rowdy group until we got to the new buildings. I had them imagine themselves coming to the MTC and having that experience. After that, they were very focused and asked a lot of genuine questions. It was cool to see them change just over the span of 50 minutes.
Later on Friday, the Missionary Department booked out some tickets for the Salt Lake Bees game. It was my first time in the new stadium and only my second Bees game ever. Since I was already close to home, I just stayed up in West Jordan and spent the day on Saturday with everyone.
We drew some official basketball measuring lines on the court and were surprised to find we had been shooting well behind the typical three-point line in our normal pickup games in the backyard. It was a pretty relaxing day, and we got some Harmon's chicken for dinner, which is one of my favorite nostalgia meals.
On Sunday, I spoke in church. My voice was still not fully recovered, but I made my way through it!
Monte and Elder Larson with dessert
The mission is still amazing, and I'm still going strong. The work of the Lord is truly something else, and it genuinely fills me with joy. The gospel of Jesus Christ is miraculous. Now let’s talk about the week.
This week we went to the mainland twice. That pretty much just means I was completely broke the whole week. Our first trip was for immigration. It was pretty chill—we just spent five hours sitting and waiting, before signing a little bit of paperwork. We ate at McDonald’s after, so that was pretty sick.
Our second trip to the mainland was for zone conference. Elder Larson and I sang another musical number, but this time it was with Elder Hughes, one of our zone leaders. We talked about how to be more effective and efficient in our work, and we discussed what we can do to accomplish our goal for baptisms this month. It’s got me spiritually pumped!
Monte on the ferry
Now for some stories from here on the island! Candy and José are so ready to get baptized! We finally got them their wedding papers on the same day we were scheduled to eat with them, and they made us the best freaking pozole in the world! The wedding is going to be expensive, and they don’t have much money.
On Sunday the coolest milagro happened. We were making our Sunday waffles for the ward, and a tourist who came to church handed us $100 to share with members or friends who most needed it. We immediately thought of José and Candy’s wedding. God wants them to get married, so they can make their first covenant with Him, and we’re going to do everything in our power to help make it happen.
Remember Rosa? Yeah, well, she up and left. Where? Quién sabe. She was súper potenté, and it made me sad we couldn’t help her be baptized. But it’s okay—we planted the seed, and maybe some future missionaries will see the harvest.
Elder Larson making waffles
Now for Laura and Jesús. Remember how they said they were getting married the day before their baptism? Well, nope! Not anymore. They had the papers and were filling them out, but the next day they told us they were breaking up and not getting married. Honestly, I think it’s for the best. It felt like Jesús was only getting married so he could be baptized, and that’s not the point.
But here’s the good news: since they won’t be living together anymore, they can still get baptized! Laura told us to keep visiting her, because that’s what she wants. Today we’re going to talk to Jesús to see if this is still what he wants—which we’re 100% sure it is. I see this as an absolute win!
Satan is real. He is dangerous, and if we aren’t vigilant in fighting against him, we will fall. As followers of Christ, we need to warn others of this danger, even if they seem happy where they are or don’t want to hear it. One day, everyone will know that we knew the truth, and if we didn’t warn them, they’ll ask us why we never told them. I want people to come up to me and say, “Thank you for trying.”
Monte eating with a family
This week has been pretty good. On Monday night, we were able to go to Cowabunga Bay for Mom’s work. I had never been there before, so it was my first time going. It was really fun, and I especially enjoyed floating in the lazy river.
Most of the week, I’ve just been working and passing meds in memory care. I was also able to pass meds in assisted living at night for the first time. That was really stressful because the other med tech didn’t show up, so I had to cover both halls within a couple of hours of each other. I was already behind on one hall, which made it worse.
I was supposed to get off work around 9:30pm, but I didn’t come home until around 11:00pm. That was a really stressful day for me because I had to focus on two halls by myself until the very end, when I finally got help. While I was texting my boss, who was on vacation, I was struggling and stressing about getting the meds passed on time. She told me it was okay and that she would take the blame for it.
Her two daughters also kept cheering me on, telling me that I could do it, that I had this, and not to stress about it. That really helped me push through.
Girls at Cowabunga Bay
I’m still making that work-apartment-repeat cycle every day!
On Tuesday afternoon, I went up to West Jordan and hung out with the kids at home. We played a little Switch, which was fun.
Other than that, it’s been pretty much the same routine as the past few weeks!
Children watching dry ice bubble
I think we mentioned this before, but Mom started working full time (30 hours a week) in July. She is really enjoying the increased responsibility, and she has an amazing new office that she just moved into. I am so excited for this new opportunity for her, and I am also so proud of how well she is doing.
As expected, this change has caused adjustments at home, where I am now the only at-home-parent more often. I am still trying to fine tune this new role of attempting to balance BYU work, MyPack work, and all of the other at-home things that are going on, such as helping Quinn and Joanna to get their school work done, lunch, quiet times, and more help with dog tasks.
Block party at Chamberlain’s house
This week I also continue with my challenging river trip electronics box project. No end in sight yet. I’m pretty good at doing this—blowing a project out of proportion and falling down the rabbit hole, as they say!
Another looming project came because Mom has now super-cleaned the attic, and she has sent all eight boxes of my personal history stuff down to my office in the basement, with instructions that I sort through them, and downsize! For now, there is a big pile of boxes that keeps calling my name!
On the bright side, next week is the last week of Summer Semester classes, so I’ll have about three weeks where I can focus more on non-BYU tasks! We’ll see if that helps or not!
Joanna and Quinn at Cowabunga Bay