Dustin and his Mission President and Wife

Well, Elder Northrup is doing well! Here he is with his Mission President and Wife, President and Sister Viera.

It's been somewhat of a struggle for Dust. His mission president entered the mission around the same time Dustin did. President Viera doesn't speak any English. Dustin's first companion is also an Elder from Brazil who doesn't speak any English. Needless to say, the first week or so of communication was somewhat difficult and as Dustin says, "made his head hurt".

He informs me that he is now thinking in Portuguese and has trouble writing us emails in English. To me, that is perfect!

He has had an opportunity to baptize and last Sunday he confirmed a member. He said it was awesome.

Anyway, if anyone would like to write to him, his address is as follows:

Elder Dustin Shawn Northrup
Brazil Ribeirao Preto Mission
Rua Cerqueira Cesa, 481, Sala 606
Centro
Ribeirao, Preto-SP
14010-130

He would love to hear from you!

New Addition to Our Home!


I know it's been a month since our latest addition arrived at our home. Things just got a little out of hand with Girl's Camp and all that.

This is our little German Shepherd puppy named Juneau. Hannah saved up her hard earned cash and bought this little guy from a breeder in Chattaroy, Washington. He is going to go up and be a big boy! His grandparents are Spokane police dogs so he comes from nice stock. He is a little spitfire!

Freedom and Power are better than momentary pleasure!



O.K. so what does that mean? Take a minute to think about how profound the statement is!

Have you ever been caught in the trap of buying something because everyone else has it? Our youth are extremely vulnerable to this mentality. “Mom, I need to have this, that or the other thing!” I need a Wii, a car, a new iPod. Where did they learn this behavior?

I came across a quote from Will Smith that sums it all up beautifully!

Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like!

Freedom and power come from being in control of your actions. I chose spending to illustrate my point but this also applies to other areas as well. Just think of mankind’s sexual drive. Hmmm, freedom and power are better than momentary pleasure. Think about peer pressure. The list goes on and on.

The next time you feel that you absolutely have to have, do or experience something ask yourself if you really need to or is it just a momentary pleasure.

An awesome opportunity with iLearningGlobal!

So, many of you know that I've been involved with a company called Bookwise. Well, Bookwise has merged with a company based in Phoenix called iLearningGlobal. Talk about an incredible product...

Just imagine the following:

  • Imagine having access to the best in the business training, tax strategies, personal development and so much more right at your fingertips any hour of any day.
  • Imagine that training being in the form of high definition video clips, audio clips, webcasts and teleconferences.
  • Imagine being anywhere in the world and being able to access this valuable training.
  • Now imagine an income opportunity where the product you sell actually trains you to become more successful.
Training includes topics such as:
  • Taking Charge of Your Life
  • The Power of Letting Go
  • Into to Tax Savings
  • Wealth Secrets
  • Leadership that Inspires
  • Change
  • Communication
  • Negotiation
  • Law of Attraction
  • And so many more
It is awesome! Go check out iLearningGlobal and download the webplayer. You will be amazed! There is no buffering. You get fullscreen viewing. The words match up with the mouth. It's awesome to watch.

If you are interested in knowing more...shoot me an email!

We Survived Girl's Camp! YEA!


WOW! Girl's camp was a hoot! It was also a tremendous amount of work!

Ahhh, to have the days back in Mesa where we camped in cabins, had bunks, had a cafeteria and nice wonderful warm showers. Alas, it wasn't meant to be...

O.K., so it wasn't all that bad but let's take inventory:
1. Camp leaders consisted of myself and my 1st counselor
2. We had the largest camp out of all the wards in the stake
3. We camped in tents with port-a-potties for the bathrooms and Lake Pend Oreille for a shower/bathtub.
4. We cooked all our own meals with the exception of one meal a day which was usually lunch.
5. We had the best YCL's in the church!
6. We learned that even girls like to play with fire.
7. We learned that the Lord can be present anywhere we allow him to be.

It was a lot of fun. I was so impressed with my Laurels. They stepped up, took charge, loved and served with wisdom, kindness, charity and hope. I might add that they continue to do so even though camp is over. They have taken upon themselves to personally seek out those who are less active and struggling and showering them with love and their testimony. They are amazing! These six young women truly understand they are daughters of God.