December Letters

 December 7th, 

Hi Lincoln,
 How are you doing in your new location?  I can't wait to talk to you tomorrow and find out how everything is going!  We sure love, miss, and talk about you all the time!  Were you able to get your package? 
We had a busy, good week.  The kids are working hard to wrap up the school year with their grades.  We have two more weeks of school before the break.  Last Friday was our ward's Christmas party.  It was a Bethlehem-themed party.  It was beautifully decorated with a few live animals out in the courtyard.  I pulled out the old biblical attire I had made for the Nativity-themed Christmas party we had at Lake Las Vegas during COVID.
Saturday, Gwen and I drove out to the Las Vegas Speedway for her to take the Driver's Edge course.  It was really fun!  She learned a lot about driving safety and had the chance to practice a few driving skills. 
Today was Fast Sunday.  Many great testimonies were born, then I got to go to primary and help Dad with his class.  He is such a great teacher!  After church, we had choir practice, then afterwards, we had the opportunity to meet with the Bishop for tithing settlement. We have such a great Bishop! He asked a lot about you.  Just now, I've been enjoying the Christmas Devotional while writing this email. I love this time of year and find it so hard to fit all the wonderful things of the season into the month! 
One thought that your dad had to share with you is that this time of year is a great time to be a missionary.  Hearts are turned to our Father in Heaven and His Son.  Please enjoy sharing the remarkable message that you have to share about our Savior and His role in the Plan of Salvation. 
We love and miss you! 
~Mom and Dad

Night-at-Bethlehem Ward Christmas Party

December 14th, 

Dear Lincoln, 

How are you doing this week in your new-ish area?  Is it still hot and sweaty? 

We’re doing well…busy with all sorts of Holiday festivities, etc.  

The kids are all working hard to prepare for the end of the Semester.  I am as well!  

Friday night we cleaned up the house, set out a bunch of cookies we had baked along with some hot cocoa in the courtyard.  Then we lit the fire out there and welcomed Gwen’s piano students in for an open house recital.  Your siblings all played as well.

Saturday morning we went to the Tuscany rec center for the Santa breakfast.  It was fun to mingle with our neighbors.  

Today we had a packed day, starting with heading out to Boulder for Ned and I to play O Come, O Come Emanuel  for Grandma and Grandpa’s ward.  Grandma and Grandpa say hi!  I got an update on Chandler.  I guess he is down serving at Newport Coast while he waits for his Visa.  Small world!

We came back to our ward and were able to catch Jentry Lyon’s farewell address.  She will be so amazing!  Just like you! 

Tonight, Ned and I will go play O Come, O Come Emanuel, one more time for the Stake Music Fireside.  

This season is so wonderful!  Are you able to enjoy spreading the Savior’s light?  Hopefully you are finding those ready to listen.  You are participating in providing the best gift available on earth.  We pray for you all the time.  We love you and are so proud of you!

Love, 

Mom and Dad

Gwen's Winter Recital

Nyle's Winter Concert

December 28th, 

Hi Lincoln, 

We loved talking to you on Christmas.  I was so sad to hear you had been sick, but glad you were feeling better when I spoke with you.  We had a good Sabbath today.  It was a musical testimony meeting where ward members were invited to come up, share a testimony about a song they loved and then we would sing that song.  I always love those types of meetings because 1) it's different and music is such a good way to feel the spirit and 2) I love to play lots of different songs on the organ!

This week in Come Follow Me, we've been studying the theme of Christmas.  Today, we chose to focus on the document "The Living Christ".  We each read from it and selected parts of it that stood out to us. We wanted to share our thoughts with you. 

Dad: The Living Christ is a heavy document...ubers of doctrine about our Savior.  A few parts that caught my attention include the following:  

1)  His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill. This is a message of great value to memorialize across the earth and dispensations of time what He was about, despite countless wars and bloodshed that have occurred because of Him and His Name.

2)   He gave His life to atone for the sins of all mankind.  This is fundamental to his mission, which is reflected in Moses 1:39 - For behold this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.  

3)  He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.  By and through Him, we can be redeemed of our shortcomings, sins, errors, etc.  

4)  ...his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun;...  This is fascinating, applicable both literally and figuratively.  Christ is the light and life of the world.  He provides hope and reassurance that we can be saved.  

5)  That he lives!  Thanks to living prophets and apostles, we can navigate this wacky world thanks to real revelation.  I know Jesus Christ lives and is involved in the details of our lives, individually and collectively.  

6)  We testify that He will someday return to earth. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall ben,d and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts.

We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.

The first paragraph memorializes my drawing.  I yearn for the day that Christ returns and rules as king of the planet.  I can't wait to be a part of this and look forward to being one of His most faithful followers (I am striving).  Everyone will witness His goodness and glory.  When I say everyone, I mean everyone, those of the believers, those that I love and am close to, my Christian (protestant, catholic, etc), muslim, Jewish, agnostic, atheist, etc. friends.  We will all kneel and worship Him together in a unified manner.  The second paragraph memorializes that Christ is the light, life and hope of the world.  I know that following Him will lead to lasting peace, hope and happiness.    

Mom: I loved several parts.  1)"His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill."(Paragraph 2)  I loved this because the peacemaker in me loves the idea that His whole message is about peace and being a good person.  How could anyone argue with that?!  2) His priesthood and His Church have been restored upon the earth—“built upon the foundation of … apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone”.(3rd to last paragraph)  I love that Christ is the head of our church!  Also, it brings to mind one of my favorite scriptures: Helaman 5:12, where we are admonished to make Christ the rock of our foundation.  3) The whole last paragraph!  What a great exclamation about our Savior and the fact that he is a matchless gift from our Father in Heaven. 

Gwen: My favorite part was "He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), yet was despised for it. His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill." I really liked this because the act of Him doing good despite people's opinions of Him shows how peaceful and inherantly good He was and is. 

Ned: For the lesson, I chose to highlight the part that said, "He went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), yet was despised for it." I liked this part because he still did good even though people were not happy with him. He did it because he knew it was true and the right thing to do.

Nyle: For the home church today, I chose to highlight the part that says, "None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth." I chose this quote because I believe that he is the only one who has impacted the earth as he did, and nobody can accomplish what he did in his lifetime.

West: For the lesson, I chose to highlight the part that says, "He was the creator of the earth. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:3) I like this because it shows that without him, we would not even be here.

We love you and can't wait to talk to you tomorrow! We really wanted to share our testimonies of the Savior.  We know that a testimony of Him and a life built on Him and what He taught is the only way to ensure a stable life amidst the storms that come to all.  Thank you for taking this valuable time out of your life to help others come to Him!

Love you so much!  

Ready for Secret-Santa gift exchange

Feeding the Reindeer

Ned reads Christmas Day in the Morning

A rare rainbow on Christmas Eve

Leaf Angels

Baptisms on the first day of Winter Break

November Letters

November 2nd,

Hi Lincoln,

Come fue este semana? We are doing well here.  This week was a quick one with Nevada Day falling on Friday, so there was no school that day.  This week, a couple of  notable things happened:
The weather is absolutely amazing, so we spend as much time outside as we can.
Wednesday evening was Josh Stevens' ES fall carnival.  All four kids came to support and help, which was so nice because it was such a busy night!  Gwen and Ned helped first, then switched shifts with Nyle and Ned. Each of them also had a chance to go and enjoy the carnival.  After the carnival, they hurried home for Gwen to teach a piano lesson, and then they went off to the church for a tri-ward Halloween party. 
Friday, Dad and I were able to go to the temple.  The temple has been closed since early September, so it was really nice to get back to it.  They changed the locker rooms around quite a bit.  Then later that night, Grandma and Grandpa Hills came over for dinner. After dinner, they signed an offer on a home in Richfield (Central) and we drove them to the airport.  They're off to go on a cruise from New York City down to the Caribbean for about 2 weeks. 
Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa Shamo joined us to watch Nyle and West's soccer game, then came over for lunch afterwards. 
Today, Dad was listening to someone bear their testimony.  He commented that it sounded like a travel log. Still, then, instead of just complaining about someone else's testimony, he got up and bore his own testimony about the Savior and the restored gospel, allowing us to make covenants with our Heavenly Father. It was a beautiful testimony.  He needs to do that more often! 
Dad and Ned went ministering to the Johnsons today, and they commented that they missed you, but that Ned was basically a mini-version of you;) 
Dad's birthday is coming up next week so we're looking forward to that. 
We're also looking forward to talking to you tomorrow.  Hopefully you'll be able to have a good PDay. 
Love you!
Mom and Dad

Chili dinner with G&G Hills before Trick-or-treating

Filling the candy bowl

Carving the pumpkin

Nyle, West and friends before trick-or-treating

November 9th, 

Hi Lincoln,
It was so fun to hear from you twice last week!  You look so good in your missionary attire. 
How are you doing this week?  You seem busy, that's so good!
We've had a good week. 
We celebrated Dad's birthday for a few days. Thursday, we had a quick birthday meal before running off for the last soccer practice.  Dad had the parents join in for a scrimmage at the very end of practice, so Ned and I jumped in to play.  Then Dad handed out his players' certificates. 
Friday, we celebrated Dad's birthday again with a more formal dinner and presents.  The boys had fun trying on Dad's new tights.
Saturday, we watched the boys' last soccer game.  Nyle and West dominated again.  Unfortunately, the other team scored a goal from a handball in the last minute of the game, which made them lose by one point. 
After that, we rushed out to BC for an event at the airport there.  The cool part was that the boys all got to ride in a small plane and take a turn flying it.  They all flew out over Lake Mead and the Dam in a quick ride. 
Today, we enjoyed our ward.  The Tolmans spoke (perhaps their farewell address before they head out to Georgia).  They really focused on the role our Savior plays as our redeemer, and knowing who we are as someone redeemed by Him and therefore disciples of Him. It was a nice Sunday!
This week, we're looking forward to Veterans' Day off on Tuesday.  It should be a nice day. 
Can't wait to talk to you tomorrow!  Love you!
Mom and Dad

Ned and his crazy hair

Dad's speech at end of Soccer season

Happy Birthday Dad!

Trying out the new tights

Nyle and his pilot- ready to fly

November 16th,

Hi Lincoln,
How was your conference with Elder Gong?  We've been thinking a lot about you--of course!
We had a good week. 
Tuesday was a day off for Veterans' Day, so we took the back seat out of Herbie, loaded it up with bikes, and went out to BC.  Gwen and I went for a jog down my old trail home from school when I was a kid, while the boys rode their bikes home from BC.  Then we met up for root beer floats at home.  It was a beautiful day! 
Ned had his tennis banquet on Wednesday night and Gwen had hers on Thursday.  We went with Ned, but Gwen's was just for the tennis team, no parents allowed ;). 
Thursday, we were supposed to pick up Grandma and Grandpa Hills from the airport after their cruise. Unfortunately, they got so caught up in talking with each other at the airport that they missed the boarding calls for their flight and missed their flight home.  They got to spend another day there and got home late Friday night instead.
Friday night, we went to the temple with Jentry as she received her temple endowments.  She looked so beautiful!  She'll be starting home MTC on December 29th.   
Saturday, we went to a UNLV vs. Utah State Football game at Allegiant Stadium.  That was a lot of fun.  The boys especially had fun watching and cheering.  Dad got on the flex cam for his flexing abilities, and the camera actually stayed on him for a while.  I wish I had had the presence of mind to snatch a picture!  It was a lot of fun, and we were very grateful the stadium was indoors as we had unusual, Seattle-like weather of a constant drizzle of rain all day yesterday.  We got a bit wet on our walk back to the car.  Then, when we got home, Dad and I still needed to go on our walk, and the rain was only light, so off we went.  However, the rain started really coming down, and in no time, we were pretty soaked, so we cut our walk short. 
We're looking forward to talking to you tomorrow and hope all is well with you! 
Love you! 

Pre-bike ride-Jason, Nyle, Zach, Nikki, Ned, West

Nikki and Gwen

our new breakfast favorite- omelets

November 23rd,

Hi Lincoln,

How are you doing?  How is your companion doing?  Last time we spoke with you, he was coming down with something.  Were you able to stay healthy? Is he doing better?  We've been thinking a lot about you, especially as the Holidays approach.  Last night, West had a dream that you were able to come home for the Holidays.  That would be so fun!  But I know you're where you're supposed to be right now.
We had a good week.  We received quite a bit of rain, which was nice. I always love the rain! 
Gwen is busy, busy with school.  She takes it so seriously and does so well!  She's also improving her baking skills and made us some yummy chocolate chip cookies on Friday.  She's going to make an amazing mom someday! 
Ned has taken up skateboarding.  Ledger Lyons gave him his old skateboard, and he's been going down to the skate park with Ledger and Colton. He's also frequenting the gym more regularly.  Ledger has been teaching him how to work different muscle groups. 
Nyle is always off with his buddies Desmond and Jayson (usually West, Benny, and a few of the other Robinson boys tag along). 
West continues to balance his time between staying on top of his grades, playing with friends, and watching Psych.
Dad has been working on sketching his house plan drawings on SketchUp. He has so much fun doing that. 
Yesterday, all of us, except Gwen, participated in the Tuscany Turkey trot.  Ned led the race almost the entire race, until the very end when he started feeling sick and had to slow down a little.  He was something to catch, so I had to really push it hard to catch him.  In the end, we finished with me(mom) in first place, Dad in 3rd place, Ned in 4th place, West in 5th place, and Nyle further back as he was staying with Jayson Robinson, who was suffering from asthma. 
Overall, the Hills family represented quite well. 
Then yesterday afternoon, the Jerez's invited us to watch Wicked For Good (the second half of Wicked).  Isaiah had rented the entire theater out for his clients and had extra seats, so he invited friends from the branch and wards to fill in the seats. 
Today was a nice Sunday.  The Andrus's spoke. Victoria Andrus and I played a musical number: "I Stand All Amazed".  I sure love the Sabbath. 
We're excited to talk to you tomorrow! Love you so much!
Mom and Dad

Ned- wrapping up the tennis season

Post-Turkey Trot

November 30th, 

Hi Lincoln,
We sure love and miss you!  We love talking to you every week...it's the highlight of our week!
We're also so proud of you!  We hope you are drawing ever closer to our Savior--the true light of the world!  We are trying to do the same. 
Our week was hectic and good!  Thursday was a great day out in Logandale (as you may already know;). We really enjoyed visiting with Camrin and Brandon, and family, as well as Grandma and Grandpa Hills, Leslie, and Erin for a little bit.  Your brothers filled their day with trips to the football field to kick field goals, riding the four-wheeler, playing around the wood pile by the fire pit and playing tennis.   I enjoyed chasing them around and watching them play...I just love watching you all play! 
Friday, we cleaned, set up Christmas decorations, and had the missionaries over for dinner.  One of the newest missionaries looks a lot like you.  He's tall and dark, and from upstate New York.  It made me happy to have him in the home, almost like I was having you over for dinner!  Saturday was a more chill day, with more tennis playing and then a fire in the desert to burn some of our leftover firewood from the Sumac tree we took out last Spring.  The boys had to go off and build another fire, of course, beside the one we already had, and we even had one gas-filled tennis ball to hit around. 
Today was a nice day in church.  Isaac Gibson gave his return address as he has been home for Thanksgiving.  Both he and Ava spoke, and they did such a great job.  Ned and I provided the musical number (O Come, O Come Emanuel).  This week should be a busy one with lots of work to do and then the ward Christmas party on Friday night. 
Dad has been getting the hang of SketchUp and has much of our Tennessee house drawn up.  Ned has taken on the task of building it on Minecraft.  Today, he and the boys also built it with Legos. 
Gwen has been the recipient of God's goodness.  I think her testimony is really growing right now as she has been exercising faith with paying tithing and working hard to save up enough money to be able to drive.  Lately, she has been having small miracles with extra jobs to help supplement her income. 
Nyle and West are spending much of their afternoons playing football with the Jerez boys up  at the park by our old house. 
Life is good.  We're looking forward to enjoying the Christmas season.  We hope you are doing well and continue to pray for you all the time!  Can't wait to talk to you tomorrow! 
Love you so much!
Mom and Dad

Thanksgiving Dinner

Ned, West, and Nyle

After setting up Christmas decorations

Hard at work to create Christmas village 

Fire in the desert

Gwen and Brea

Kicking field goals in Logandale