Busy and Change

Though not quite a month, and despite the abundant conversation in July we've decided that some of our recent experiences are comment worthy. As some of you are already aware, Sharon and I met with our Bishop during the reunion and asked to keep the subject matter in confidence until an official announcement was made. The announcement, the reorganization of the young single adult program, including Sharon's and my release as Young Single Adult Advisors, the 4-stake Singles Ward dissolved, and four new single wards organized has presented many changes. Accompanying the changes, clearly directed by revelation to local leaders with 1st presidency approval and support, has been a wonderful spirit confirming these changes along with the significance, importance, and magnitude for greater awareness, love, and support for the Young Single Adults. Likewise it has left a void in our hearts as the regular association and recharge of spirit and friendship Sharon and I enjoyed has to a degree been halted. Sharon enjoyed only a brief break as she has been called as a primary worker. I too have been busy as a "hall monitor," I walk the halls and monitor Peter.....





....I'm sorry to tell you that is all Matt wrote up. Now you get to read my writing.





Peter does only have two more months of church before Nursery. I'm sure many of you are also aware of the age of your 14-17 month olds. Can we apply for a new class within the church. Those kids or at least the parents of the kids 12-18 months need a place to go for three hours. Peter's prime area would include a jungle gym as he is climbing everything he can.





Preschool starts next week, but orientation started this week. As head of one of the committees, I get to talk to all of the classes about our fundraiser. Thanks to Kathy for watching my kids.

We enjoyed ourselves up at the Whiting's reunion. No one got sick, but we missed all of you.

We have a busy family and we are loving every minute of it. Hope all of you are doing great.

Matt, Sharon, and family

Special Days for August and September

AUGUST:
4th: Jacob Anson - 12th: Caroline Joan - 27th: Israel Anthony

SEPTEMBER:
6th: Zachary Thomas - 11th: Richard Lincoln - 12th: Sharon Ella - 29th: Elijah Christian

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Missionary Report

Dear Rising Generation,

Since returning to Tampico, Mom and I have modified our daily schedules quite a bit: we used to go for long walks at the lagoon or on the beach nearly every morning but we have only done it a couple of times this month. One reason is that the sun comes up earlier in the Summer so the temperature is also a lot hotter. We thought about getting up before dawn every morning but most of the time we simply feel too tired to exercise that early. But probably the main reason for our schedule changes is that we are getting to the temple much earlier and staying longer. Just before we went home to Utah we changed my counselors and Mom's two assistants. Just before we left I told them that the number of initiatory and sealing ordinances being done this year was lower than it was for last year and that we ought to try to do more when the temple reopened. They have really taken up the challenge! Thanks largely to them, we have quite a few workers and patrons who are willing to travel to the temple every morning and to come an hour and a half earlier every afternoon just to do ordinances. All they ask is that someone be there to open the doors so they won't have to spend too much time waiting at the door in our hot, humid, subtropical weather.

We were afraid that our new counselors and assistants would be unable to devote as much time at the temple as their predecessors because some of them are still working part time. To our mild surprise, they are spending more time there, not less. We have also been pleased to see that they are full of new ideas and have a real commitment to the temple.

My second counselor, President Garcia, is a good example of this: Although he has a relatively small income from his contracting business, he willingly stayed at the temple for the entire two weeks we were in Utah so that the other members of the Temple Presidency could go on their pre-planned vacations. He usually is the first on to open the temple and he often stays later than anyone else. He is faithful to his calling even though his health is not the best: among other things he has problems with his vision and right now he is in Mexico City having an operation on his knees. But he has a lot of faith and is totally committed to the gospel. When he was serving as a bishop several years ago, a woman told him her husband was going to divorce her because she was unable to have children. He told her he would fast with her for three days and that the Lord would bless her with a child. Not only did she get pregnant right away, but she had twins!

My first counselor, President Alfonso Lopez, and his wife were baptized only 10 years ago, but they have also shown a lot of faithfulness and dedication. All of their four children are active in the Church and those that are married were sealed in the temple. In Mexico this is somewhat unusual for convert families, even when the parents are active members of the Church. Much like President Garcia, President Lopez usually comes early and leaves late. Obviously, with counselors and assistants who are willing to sacrifice this much, the least we can do is be willing to make the same kinds of sacrifices.

These scheduling changes have forced me make better use of my available free time, but so far, by prioritizing my time, I have been able to still go to the gym and keep up on Cougar football. I go to the gym to lose weight and get in better physical condition (I've lost about 8 lbs. since I came back and feel great). I keep up on Cougar football without any apologies because I have followed it most of my adult life and this season looks as if it could turn out to be really special. My other passion, by the way, is my wife and family, which even more important to me than BYU football (except, perhaps, during the annual BYU-Utah game).

To conclude, I would like to mention another change in my life that I've been working on since before we began our first mission together. As you probably know, given enough time, a wife can have a wonderful spiritual influence on their husbands. Mom has been trying to change me for the better as long as we have been married, but only recently have her not too subtle efforts begun to have much visible success. Among other things, she now has me fully trained to open the door for her, put down the toilet seat and flush the toilet after I use it, take out the garbage, help prepare food and set and clear the table, and put on my seatbelt before driving. I'm still working on but improving in my duties as priesthood leader of the family, such as always calling on someone to pray morning and night and at meals, calling the family to read the scriptures every morning, and for family home evening activities. At this rate, I will soon be able to do it all without her prompting me first. A nice by-product of my domestication is that she is becoming much easier to live with because she no longer has to keep reminding me and I no longer feel like putting up a fight before doing them. How would men, children, and other wild creatures ever become qualified for heaven without women?

Your slowly improving Papi

the technelogical, advanced, modern generation?

I gave the above title to this, because this "older generation" grandma, is the one who is posting the following from my educated, computer literate sons who seem to find the blog a little complicated to manage ( but I give them credit because at least they wrote. hint, hint to the rest of you)

BLIMEY! We are supposed to write a BBB for August? All that talking in July didn't count? Really? Steve

Hola familia,
Things are pretty much the same around here except I havn’t interacted with any children since the reunion so that’s nice. Last weekend we went to Bear Lake fishing, jet skiing, and golfing. Since my inlaws are obsessed with golfing I have become decent at the game. Besides Charlie does anyone in this family golf? I have quite the garden going. Father taught me well. Other than the fact that I mistook some corn for weeds and took a machete to them everything is growing rather nicley. The tomato plants are like five feet tall! We are doing eggplant and various peppers as well. Mandi may be getting a job with the photographer who did our wedding. She would do candid shots mostly for weddings, only work a few times a month and make good paper (money). I am just trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer before school starts up again. Ok, that’s it. Love,
Jimbean and Mandiloo

the last

To quote Capt. Hook, "...and yet a third time..."

here is the second group

The Wild Things that Abound Everywhere

Dear Bentley B, (Caution: this may be too long for some bloggers)

Rachel, Josie and I had a great time in Utah with the family. I especially liked climbing and flying in my mountains. It was really fun. Keena on the other hand, has seen better days. She did not eat anything the entire time we were gone. But she sure was happy when we got home. She even tried to cuddle up to Rachel, who she has learned to be wary of mostly because Rachel is convinced Keena is out to get her place in the family. Right now, Keena and I are alone as Rachel decided to go back to Utah with her family for a cousin's reunion. It worked out well because I start my class this week and will be very busy.

One thing I enjoy about living up here in Oregon is the abundance of wildlife that surrounds out little cottage home. I would like to tell you about it. We have a resident red-tailed hawk who patrols our mountain ranch in search of rabbits and squirrels. He is quite handsome and I like to watch him out the window as he sits on the same limb every afternoon in his never ending search for food. He makes a lot of chatter. I don't know who he is talking to as I don't think anyone can understand his language and can't see any other red-tails around. Additionally, there are 4 or 5 coveys of quail, each with around 15 chicks all hiding in the bushes around the ranch. Its fun to see them scatter as I approach them. There is always one adult who is put in charge of watching for predators as the others rummage around for food. Large gray squirrels, chipmunks and cottontail rabbits abound here, because of this I'm rather surprised that we don't have more coyotes and foxes of which we know are around, but never see. We hear them somewhat frequently down the hill and across the way yapping and howling back and forth at each other. Keena and I sometimes join in! I would love to know what she says to them. Or what I am saying to them for that matter when I howl. It is not uncommon to stumble upon small garter snakes and lizards. I've seen skinks and salamanders as I've roamed around as well.

On special occasions I've caught forest falcons darting across the driveway in hot pursuit of unfortunate squirrels or songbirds. These are mostly sharp-shinned hawks, but once I was certain that I saw an elusive goshawk. Turkey vultures sometimes use the thermals generated on our mountain as a launching pad for cruising the upper airways. Ravens frequent our hill, especially in the winter. In fact they congregate every afternoon, sometimes 60 at a time down in the back of the ranch. We can see them interact from our back window. It is a curious thing to see and something I never was taught about when I studied corvids (the crow family) in school. Blacktail deer have been less frequent visitors this year, but we know we have one young buck who's mother and twin sister tragicly were hit by cars out on the highway. I've spotted him very early in the morning stealing the pasture from the sleepy cows, but he remains very shy. The trout in our pond are quite friendly. There are two or three of them that live in the 80 ft. long river between the spring and above the waterfall. They have no where to go, but to hide under rocks like ostriches, unaware (probably) that their tails are fully exposed. Its fun to watch them move from place to place and try to guess why they behave the way they do. In the pond we have a 90 lb. Columbia River sturgeon who is about 6 feet long. You can see how ancient he is. In fact, he's probably been here on Earth twice as long as me! He doesn't move very fast, but his facial expression is one of contentment and even happiness. As if he was smiling cause he knows he's not going to be dinner.

Creating the pond has brought a surprising amount of wildlife to our ranch. Ospreys frequently take a glance and have probably stolen a few fish. I spied one hovering 50 feet above the pond waiting for a meal. I had to think fast of what to say when my father-in-law also found him and raced at him with his truck honking. Asking me why I didn't deter the bird from stealing his fish, I told him that I was waiting to see if he'd fully submerge like they say they do and then I was going to hit him with a rock! (Actually, I would have gladly paid the man the $.50 per fish he paid for them to watch the show play out to its fullest extent. Its with joy that I see all of this that the Almighty has blessed me with. I challenge you all to take the time to find something wild and see what benefits come from pondering it.

With love,

Danimal Frank

Mom's fotos from the reunion

Bentley Reunion Slide-show

I'm sorry that I don't have pictures of most of you, seriously apoligize. I'd love to see the rest of your pictures, especially Mandi and Dave who were snaping photos right and left. this was a really easy program to use, so hopefully there will be more slideshows to come. Love you all! Mary

DAD'S FRIEND THE BEAR

okay so I didn't get the right picture. Now you can see Hna. Esparza's arm in a sling from her recent operation. AND you can see Dad almost being eaten by a bear!

THE OLD AND THE NEW

I thought you might enjoy seeing pictures of those we associate with and I refer to in my e=mails. Here are pictures of our first presidency (Hna. Esparza has her arm in the sling, Hna. Treto has the reddish hair). And here is our new presidency (Hna. Garcia has the short dark hair and Hna. Lopez the more reddish color). SEE YOU ALL NEXT WEEK (OR SHORTLY THEREAFTER).

tHe BeNtLeY ReUniOn

Ok so here is the meal schedule revised (hopefully for the last time! :) )

we are now starting the reunion on Wednesday night....

WEDNESDAY

DINNER AND DESSERT - Mary and Karalee

THURSDAY

BREAKFAST- EVERYONE IS ON THERE OWN!!

LUNCH- Sharon and Rachel (DAN) at classic (there is a grill)

DINNER AND DESSERT- Mandi and Mom

FRIDAY

BREAKFAST- Mary and Karalee (at moms house)

LUNCH- Mandi (at the pond)

DINNER AND DESSERT- Kathy and Rachel (STEVE) at the pond

SATURDAY

ALL AT THE POND!!!

BREAKFAST- Mandi

LUNCH- Kathy and Rachel (STEVE)

DINNER AND DESSERT- Sharon and Rachel (DAN)

PLEASE NOTE- When in charge of a meal you will be responsible for EVERYTHING including silverware, dishes, drinks and clean-up!

for the meals at moms (and possibly Kathys) there will be regular dishes available. If you opt to use these you will be responsible for the complete clean up and put away of them! Ricks family will be doing their own meals, and Mary and Dave's families will not be there on Saturday, keep this in mind when planning how much food to make!

ALSO-The pond we are going to is a private pond so ANYONE can fish without a license! So bring your stuff! We are camping over night at the pond, Jimmy and I have a lot of tents and gear available so please let us know if you need us to provide anything for you. We can bring tents for the out of towners so that you don't have to bring that cross country with you, but we don't have a ton of sleeping bags. We also have quite a bit of equipment for cooking while camping and coolers that we can bring as well. let us know what you need!

oh and 1 more thing... bring bug repellent!

Here are a couple of more pictures. The one is our farewell dinner with our old presidency. You've heard me talk about the Tretos and Esparzas, now here they are.

the orphanage

Yesterday I went to the Salvation Army Orphanage with the Moss’ to assess the needs. I dragged the Moss’ into this because I learned that to access the Church’s Humanitarian Aid, if you have no humanitarian missionaries, there has to be a request from the mission president. The biggest need is for food, and milk is at the top of their list. When Uncle Bruce and Aunt Bev and Uncle John and Aunt Lynn served as humanitarian missionaries the Church provided 50Lb bags of powdered milk to the orphanages in Mongolia and Mozambique where they served. Hopefully, we can get that help here. I was very impressed with the director, Ana Maria Alcocer. She and her husband live there with the children (their own family is grown). There are five other helpers, two or three of which also live at the home.
I learned some interesting facts such as:
1) This is a “Children’s Home” not a true orphanage because these children can’t be adopted. All of these children have at least one relative, that person is just not able to care for the child because of poverty.
2) Abandoned and abused children who are able to be adopted are cared for by the government which has resources to cover expenses. This Salvation Army Children’s Home is funded by charity donations.
3) There are 22 boys and 16 girls from 5 months to 12 years of age. I asked what happens to them after they are 12 and she said they are old enough to work and if they have learned “obedience and respect” they are returned to their relative (it is enough to make a child not want to learn either principle).*
4) The school age children attend a local elementary school, where they do wear uniforms (you can see some of them wearing them in the pictures). There is a Woman’s Aid Society in Virginia which provides the uniforms and one pair of shoes for each child every year.
5) Although food is what is needed most, there is a need for pillows and bedspreads, toys and clothing. Any donations are welcome and what they can’t use themselves they sell at a bazaar and the money earned goes to buy food.
6) I was happy to see that things were clean and the rooms were painted and cheerful.

The children are darling and they loved having their picture taken. Enjoy the pictures (The picture of the sun I’m standing in front of was painted by the Mormon family that came last Christmas and we had for Christmas Eve overnight.

* Dad and I went downtown today to the big market. We stopped at Burger King to buy an ice cream cone. While Dad was ordering, a disheveled boy of about 12 or 13 came up to me and asked me for money to buy something to eat. His one eye was clouded and it looked like he couldn’t see out of it. His dusty face was tear stained. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a boy who had been turned out onto the street to fend for himself. We bought him a $9.00 whopper meal.

Hey all you cougar fans!

Will to Emma: "Emma, you have to get good grades in school?"
Emma: "Why?"
Will: "Because, if you do, you get to go to BYU and live in a hotel with all your friends, and if you don't you have to go to the University of Utah and live with Mom and Dad!"

Hey all you cougar fans!

kid quote:

Will to Emma: "Emma, you have to get good grades."
Emma: "Why?"
Will: "Because if you do, you get to go to BYU and live in a hotel with all your friends. If you get bad grades you have to live at home with Mom and Dad."

Weighty Matters

When I was courting Grandma Bentley she used to tell me I was what the girls at BYU sometimes referred to as a "hunk" or a "massive structure" and I took that to mean that she thought I was big, strong and athletic. With my customary sincerity, quiet modesty and agreeable nature I would often tell her how astute she was and that she could certainly count on me to protect her from any threat, uncluding the unwanted attentions of her former boyfriends (which, may I add, were numerous). most of them must have gotten the message that I was someone they should never mess with because I did not have to prove my manhood until a few months after we got married. We had recently moved into our first apartment and were just getting to sleep when someone tried to come through the front door, no more than ten feet from the hideaway bed where we were sleeping. I could barely see his heavy-set silhouette in the doorway. Expecting the worst, I waited until he was about six feet from our bed and then I suddenly leaped, karate-like, out of bed with the loudest, screaming roar I could muster, my chisled body in a fighting stance. The man panicked and stumbled out the door as fast as he could move. We later decided he was probably a fellow renter who had gotten drunk and became confused about how to get to his apartment, but after that we kept our door locked.

When my boys were little I used to let them try to beat me in wrestling, a sport in which I lettered in high school and took two physical education classes in college. I would teach them wrestling holds and then lie on the floor and let them get any hold they wanted before we started wrestling, but they could not keep me down until after they became teenagers. I also ran distance events in high school and used to jog a lot until I was called on a mission to Argentina at age fifty-five. One time, when Rick was about eleven years old, I took him with me on a 13 mile run up Mill Creek Canyon and back. Amazingly, he kept up with me all the way, but after that I could never get him to jog with me again. I wonder why?

After the mission, I had to quit jogging because it was too hard on my knees and ankles, but Mom and I began a practice of walking for about an hour most mornings. We still do it, but it has not been enough to avoid a growing pot belly or to keep my weight from gradually increasing about a pound or so per year, perhaps because of my Paul Bunyun appetite, together with the sedentary lawyer lifestyle I had before my retirement last year.

I am now even more of a "hunk" and a "massive structure" than I was when I courted Grandma, but not in the way I want to be, especially when I look at the difference it can make in my health and ability to feel good and be an active participate in the lives of my children, grandkids and maybe even my great-grandkids. After years of making New Years resolutions to get in shape and lose weight that I did not keep, with Grandma's help I'm finally making some significant changes.

Mom and I are eating smaller meals consisting mostly of healthy foods like salads, fruits and vegetables. Breakfast is usually fresh fruit or high fiber cold cereal. We drink a lot of purified water, usually with a twist of lime. Once in a while we go out to eat because we like the local food, but we usually do not order as much now and we seldom drink anything but water. We pretty much avoid foods like pizza, pop, sweets and rich desserts.

As indicated, we go walking together most mornings and we also exercise separately. Grandma rides a stationary bike at home and I go to the gym at a local university most days for an hour or so for a workout that usually includes weight-lifting and exercises on machines for almost every part of the body. Some days I even jog a bit on the treadmill machine. I typically burn about 400 calories per session. We also have a swimming pool close to our house. I still don't feel very strong compared to how I used to feel when wrestled and played football in high school, but I'm a long way from where I was just a few months ago. Best of all, I feel a lot better and my stomach is getting flatter. Oh yeah, today I weighed less than I have for more than five years.

Anybody under 16 want to wrestle? Elijah? Israel? Levi? Lincoln? Brigham? Joshua? Will? Samuel? Peter? Jacob? Thomas? All of you at the same time?

Papito

A quick tour from London

Please forgive the sad hair day. I'm sick and today is officially a P.J. day so there was absolutely zero effort on the hair front. We are really having a great time here now. Zach and I discovered miles and miles of trails that follow the river here through the forest. It's biking and hiking. There's lots of beautiful scenery all over here. I'll get some more pictures for you. There are more pictures and information on my blog site at www.zachandmary.blogspot.com

I hope everyones doing great. We sure love you all. Love, Mary

Dad quote

In place of a "kid quote" I have a cute "Dad quote." We were watching the old, old 1930's "King Kong" classic movie in Spanish on TV when Dad stated, "It is a little unbelievable in a way."

Marisa, thanks for the great pictures! We love being able to keep up on the happenings with everyones pictures! FOUR weeks from today we'll be home!!!

Review of the month in picture

Sorry for the delay with the pictures. Rick asked me to post a long time ago, but life has been super busy. See you all very soon, Marisa
A day at the zoo with cousins

Our sweet birthday girl

A day in the life of super hero Brigham

Cora in her ballet performance of Tarantella

Lincoln riding the bus to summer school

more pictures

oops, I didn't mean to get a croc in this batch of pictures

our trip home

We are traveling on a small country road through the most beautiful scenery. This part of Mexico is just stunningly beautiful with bright green fields of sugar cane fringed with dark palms, tropical pines, and flamboyant trees with brilliant orange blossoms. In the distance tower layers of mountains, covered with billows of puffy, creamy clouds.

We left the temple yesterday in time to make it the city of Valle in the state of San Luis Potisi (Tampico is in Tamaulipas) .Luckily, the priesthood session of stake conference was scheduled for this morning at 8:00 instead of yesterday at 4:00. The adult meeting began at 6:00, and because the stake was being divided Elders Alonso and Elder Lynn Mickelsen were the visiting authorities. We had known Elder Alonzo when we served in Mexico City as he was a mission president in Tijuana at the time. Elder Mickelsen and his family had been our friends since Argentina when he was the area president there. I was sorry neither of their wives was with them. Sister Moss didn’t accompany her husband either and so I was the only woman seated on the stand and the only one to speak last night and this morning.

As is his forte, Elder Mickelsen had all of us riveted to the scriptures as he taught exciting insights. He talked about God’s work and glory, the three degrees of glory and asked the question which kingdom would have the most inhabitants? To many peoples surprise he said the Celestial. I hadn’t realized that over half the people that have ever been born during the world’s history have died before the age of 8, and therefore are automatically saved, plus those pure souls who live, but are never “accountable.” All those, plus, Pres. Snow also made the statement that “I believe that when the gospel is preached to the spirits in prison…there will be very few indeed of those spirits who will not gladly receive the gospel.” At one point last night he invited the zone leaders up to ask him the baptismal interview questions, and he bore his powerful testimony on each principle.

Coming home this afternoon, true to form, Dad didn’t want to take the same road we had traveled yesterday, and knowing that there were spectacular waterfalls and lagoons in the area, we checked out of the hotel and set off on an adventure. We forded wild streams found a place every bit as fun as Tolontango to swim and wade through, one huge waterfall so furiously cascading and steaming that we couldn’t even get out of the car, crossed over the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains from San Luis Potisi to Tamaulipas, and arrived home after a delightful Sunday drive, tired and hungry.

The klutzy bike rider

This is a picture of Will playing in a baseball tournament. Yesterday it was such a beautiful sunny day that I decided to go for a bike ride. Feeling coordinated in my new biking shorts, I thought I would try using my new biking shoes and clips. I got no farther than ther front yard when I lost my balance and couldn't get my feet out of the clips fast enough. I fell straight over onto the asphalt and broke my arm. If I thought it was hard to change Thomas' diaper before, you should watch me now that I cAN Only use one arm. I'll be in a cast for atleast three weeks. I plan to be as useless as possible and I'n hoping that in one month my kids (Charlie included) will be pouring their own drinks, making their own mac 'n cheese, and wiping their own bums. We'll see. We had a great trip to NY to see Charlie's parents on their mission. I loved the peace in the Sacred Grove. It was fun to have Thomas all on his own and just enjoy him completely. Sharon and Mary were awesome to watch the other kids for us as well as Charlie's sisters. I'm pretty sure the kids had an even better time than we did. It's hard to type one-handed so I have to go now. Love, Kathy

the klutzy bike rider

Celestial Babe in the Sacred Grove.

One of the few "witness trees" left in the Grove.

"you've got to be kidding me....not another church site!"

"ahh, that's more like it!"

The Crumps and The Crumps in Sacred Grove.

Grandma and Me at Smith farm house

Mom and Tom at Niagara (Hey Aunt Mary, see Canada in the background- Ehh hoser?)
When your mother is the tour guide you get to go behind the ropes! David Whitmer Farm.

One of Kathy's favorite pictures.

One of the Boys of Summer.