Speaking in Cali.

This morning Christian and I spoke to the Vericel health professional team 

at their annual conference.

It was so cool to speak to them about how their product, Epicel, 

saved my badly burned legs after the accident and 

enabled me to live a beautiful life filled with color, joy, and experiences,

like the opportunity to hike Kilimanjaro!

Epicel grafts are made by growing a patient's skin cells in an incubator. 

The finished grafts will be used by surgeons to replace 

the outer layer of damaged skin. 

Thousands of burn patients have been treated 

successfully using this technique.

We also met the sales rep in charge of our case 14 years ago!

What an extraordinary full-circle moment.

He was the one who transported samples to my hospital bed in Phoenix

to the lab in Boston.

We took questions from the audience and told stories about

life and how recovery is treating us.

Another blessed reminder that life is so wonderful and we're

so lucky to be here!

California in a Storm.

 This morning, Oliver dropped Christian and me off at the airport

. We flew to Carlsbad, California, to speak at a medical conference 

representing the medical team who developed the process and grew

my skin for grafting. My legs are covered in this magical skin.

It was nice to be alone together.

We haven't been away just the two of us in a while, and it 

was long overdue.

We've always stayed in the Nies with one of the boys in charge,

there has always been a Claire of Jane taking the lead.

But I have all the faith in my boys, especially since 

Before leaving, I helped Ollie make a menu and shopped for food together.

We left the airport in a storm, flew into Chigaco in a snowstorm,

and arrived in LA in the pouring rain.

Service of your God.

 Yesterday Ollie and I were driving along the back road to our house

after picking up Lottie and Gigs from school, and 
noticed a house that is usually covered by trees and vines, but we

noticed that a huge tree (I mean HUGE) had fallen over, just missing

the house leaving debris and branches everywhere.

We drove on, but I felt the spirit tell me to go back, 

I've learned to listen to that voice- ...

well, I'm trying to be better at that anyway.

I know where that voice is coming from- GOD, so I told Ollie

to pull around, and much to everyone's chagrin (hungry kids!).

I knocked on the door and met a delightful older woman who told me

the tree had fallen over a few days ago (while we were in AZ), and

she lived alone.  I offered our help, telling her I had two wonderful strong

boys and a strong husband who would love to help her clean it up.

She gladly accepted.

I invited the missionaries over to help in our efforts.

It was a fantastic afternoon.

'When ye are in the service of your fellow 

beings ye are only in the service of your God."

Mosiah 2:17

It's all good stuff.

 

Coming home from a trip is the worst.

I went into my Barre class feeling a little low and unmotivated,

my horizon is, of course, beautiful, but admittedly, 

I'm also feeling some weight, too.

Seeing Claire's empty bedroom and Oliver's missionary 

gear packed in a pile for his departure in March was a killer.  

So. Much. Change.

Today when the day was winding down, I started a fire, lit my candles, 

listened to my U2 playlist and made dinner.

I don't want these days to be remembered as somber, instead,

I want to have a good attitude so I can look back on my 2023

and remember that there was so much change, but I was enjoying every second of

it, it is, after all, all good stuff.

I'm ready for January to move on!

Bittersweet.

 This morning, I found myself driving 45 minutes away
to a particular FedEx store in Durham to pick up six Asian Forest scorpions

(that grow up to 6 inches) and a Vinegaroon scorpion that Gigs bought.

Since they are live creatures, they need to be picked up right when 

they arrive at the location, and since I had nothing better to do (NOT),

I picked them up along with several other customers in line who were

picking up their creatures like; jumping spiders, an

orchid praying mantis, and a tarantula.

Later, Ollie and I drove to Walgreens for the 

THIRD time to get his Visa passports photos for his mission.

Then we went to pick up Lottie and then Gigs from school.

It's been pouring rain all day (I LOVE IT), and we came home, made a fire, 

lit the candles, and then I started dinner.  

Gigs showed me his new friends, which are super creepy, especially the 

Vinegaroon scorpion.  Gigs named her

Leia because her pinchers look like rolled-up buns on her head, similar

to Princess Leia from Star Wars.

While driving or cooking, ironing, or what-have-you, I've been listening

 to a book called Bittersweet by Susan Cain,

(who wrote "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a

 World That Can't Stop Talking-one of my favorite books!!!!!!!).

I'm learning more about myself and why I like sad movies, books, and music.

There IS A REASON, and I feel so validated!

It also may confirm why I like gloomy days like today.

Stay tuned.

Go back to sleep!.

 This morning, I dropped Lottie off at school and saw that

 THE BLOSSOMS ARE BLOOMING ON THE TREES!  

Not to mention that at Stillestead, my daffodils and tulips 

are popping up in the front yard.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I am NOT ready for spring yet!!

I haven't had enough cold days and stormy gray weather; 

we have yet to have ONE snowfall.  It just can't spring yet!  

Please go back to sleep for at least two more months!!

First Day on the job.

 Over Christmas break, Gigs applied for and got a job, 

and it went like this:

Gigs: "Mom, I got a job yesterday."

Me: "Wait, what?  Where?" 

Gigs: "Taco Bell slash Kentucky Fried Chicken." 

Me: "What?"

Gigs: "Yes, I start in January 

and need to drop off my social security card."

Me: "Well, which one will you work at, KFC or Taco Bell?"

Gigs: "I don't know, wherever they need me."

So today was the first day at his new job.

I picked him up from school, and we drove across

 the street to Taco Bell/KFC.

But first, he changed the clothes that I had brought for him

(black pants and shoes per the dress code).

Turns out, the pants I bought and brought

 him in the car were too small, and luckily

Ollie was in the car with us and HAD ON BLACK PANTS

but was very, VERY hesitant to give them up.

"You'll make them smell really bad." I think his words were followed by,

"you owe me big time." 

Then both boys stripped down to their undies in the

 back seat of the car and exchanged black pants.

After dinner, Ollie, Lottie, Christian, and I jumped in the car

and drove to see Gigs.  We went to the drive-through hoping

he'd serve us, but apparently, the "system" was down, and they couldn't

serve us.  The manager told us to return in 20 minutes, and it

would be up and running.  The funny thing was, they closed in 10 minutes.

Hmmm...well played, manager.

Then Gigs walked out the door to take the trash out, perfect timing.

We'll try another night again, besides there isn't much we like at

Taco Bell.  In fact, I don't even know the last time I went there.

They only had a size XL in his uniform shirt. 

 He was literally drowning in it!  

I am super proud of Gigs for initiating this job, 

we'll see how long it lasts.

His snake, Candace, needs a frozen mouse every week, so he needs a job

to keep up with her feeding habits, and needs money 

to feed his other critter children.

Go, Gigs!

Jane in Portugal: January 2023.

Oi querido amigos! 

The big news around here is that I was transferred North. 

I left my first area (Seixal) and now serve in Aviero! 🤩

I love it! 

It is so beautiful! Here there are little rivers and canals with

 brightly painted boats, and the houses are so beautiful! 💕

Lisbon/Seixal was really cool! Like, modern art vibes - 

but Aveiro is just so European and lovely! 

The ward congregation is incredible and willing to help 

with the missionary work! Many of our members are from

 Latin America and don't speak Portuguese - so....catch me learning Spanish ✌🏻😚

On an exciting note, we were on a train, and some drunk guy grabbed my head

  and then told me to f-off when I promptly stood up and ran away from him

on the opposite end of the train. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

I guess I just have that effect on people...🧚🏻‍♀️

I live with my companion (Sister Adib -who I love half to death, 

she is an incredible missionary and makes me laugh so much) and 2 other sisters

 (in one of the nicest apartments in the mission 💁🏻‍♀️ I am SO spoiled.)

I adore them! We have so much fun - we work and play hard. 

We also live above a pastelaria, so the stairwell 

always smells like yummy bread and pastries. 🤤

I am so happy! The work here is so blessed! 🌞 

For example:

1. We were buying pastel de nata, and the woman at the

 register started to cry when she saw that we had the 

Savior's name on our name tags. 

We are now teaching her the restored gospel of Christ 🤍

2. A woman was so thrilled when we told her that after His resurrection,

 Jesus came and showed himself to and ministered 

to the people in ancient America too. She said, 

"I knew it never made sense that He would only visit the 

people on one side of the world!

 I am so glad to hear that!"

My lil heart 🥰3. SEVEN of the friends we are teaching came to church on Sunday! 

I hope they felt the spirit and the love of the Lord there 🙏🏻

I love this gospel! I love seeing how it blesses the lives of God's children. 
I love the people here with all of my heart! I love the Savior. 
This is the Lord's work and His glory...He's got big plans for us.

That's all.

Adeus! 👋🏻
p.s. I already have 6 months on the mission. How did that happen?? 
It is going sooo fast! 

To imagine that I only have a year of this joy-filled work left...*dies*👻😨
Also, I ate a pig's ear. Ok. 
Tchauuuuuuuuuu!