Dear Family, The month of December snuck up on me, and then finals week quickly snuck in with it. December is such a mixed basket for college students. There are ample opportunities for free food because the campus and various organizations are in a festive mood and professors are sympathetic and extra supportive because they…
On multiple run-ins with the fire department, an unconventionally magical Christmas, and the underrated virtue of “making a joyful noise unto the Lord” (vol. xxvii, no. 12)
Dear Family, The morning of December 5th began the way most Tuesdays do. Crystal’s alarm went off at 5:00 and she immediately sprung out of bed while I lay there for a few moments with my eyes closed, trying to remember what day it was. We usually arise together on Tuesdays. Crystal dons cycling gear,…
Sophie’s November: Featuring Utah, Washington, and Maryland
November started off strong with a ten and a half hour drive to Pullman, Washington. Midway through October marked two years since I left the Washington Spokane mission to fly to Ukraine, so I figured it was about time that I paid a visit to the place where my mission began. Had I actually visited…
On reindeer apostles, nonstop piano recitals and general, all-around gratitude (vol. xxvii, no. 11)
Dear Family, Full disclosure: I am beginning this letter on Thanksgiving morning. I will not finish it until sometime next week (prior to my self-imposed month-end deadline). The delay will owe in part to some choir-related stuff in the coming week that I will probably want to record for posterity. But I am beginning now…
Ari’s EPISTOLARIUS: Special Surgery Edition! — October 2023
Dear Family, As many of you know, my house, where I have lived for longer than I can remember, is just a fence jump away from the woods. (Well, it’s less a “fence jump” and more a “gate open,” as our backyard fence does in fact have a back gate, but the former sounds more…
Sophie Update: Feeding the 5,000 YSA, Homecoming, and the day that is call’d the feast of Crispian
Dear Family, My media consumption of the last two weeks has been unusually saturated with Taylor Swift music since Hannah, Emma, and Emma’s mother, Julie, took me to see the Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie. I realize now what my sisters have been freaking out about all summer. I actually cried when Taylor came out…
On back-to-back marathons, unconventional birthday celebrations, and the questionable utility of breasts (vol. xxvii, no. 10)
Dear Family, Now that all my children are grown and two of them are writing their own monthly missives, it at times occurs to me to wonder what I’m supposed to keep writing about every month. But then I remember that, while many of these letters make at least passing reference to my children’s (and…
Update from Miss BYU: I’m happy, I teach students, and I’m from Maryland
I have recently begun to greatly appreciate the contributions and impacts that teachers have on my life and general state of happiness. You’d think that I would have realized this earlier, given my plan of the past three years to study to become a secondary education teacher, but my motivation to become a teacher really…
On forbidden cupcakes, overstimulated amygdalae, and the underappreciated art of registering one’s dissatisfaction without making a scene (vol. xxvii, no. 9)
Dear Family, Attendees of Carrie’s wedding in Portland earlier this month may have heard something about a boorish (and possibly inebriated) guest who, only seconds after being told for the tenth time in two hours that the dessert table was still off limits, angrily thrust his right paw into the center of a large plate…
Ari’s EPISTOLARIUS — May-Sept 2023
Dear Family, If you are reading this, you may have noticed a couple of things. First and foremost, I have not written a letter since April. I swear I’ve been meaning to, but I only ever manage to find the motivation in the middle of a month, at which point I think, “Well, I should…