12/29/08 letter

The family,
Thanks for the package. I really , really liked it. I'm listening to the tape right now so that's pretty fun. Those pictures are pretty crazy. That is alot of snow! I wish I was there to play in it. It has pretty much snowed every day for the past week and a half. I think we are close to 2 feet right now. We are having alot of fun. I was just made a zone leader over about 30 missionaries. It's alot of work but it's great getting to serve everyone and take care of them. The newest district we just got has 12 boys in it in one classroom. It's packed but I'm getting used to the flow here and being able to teach anything at the drop of a hat. I love you all and hope you are all doing good.
Nathan

So I just got all of your letters. Thanks. They help alot. I hope you're all doing well and that Christmas was awesome. It's weird being out here but I'm loving it. I'll start working on your tape as soon as I finish yours. I'm doing good though. Everyone got their flight plans except me cause supposedly the mission home is 3 blocks away, but the end is in sight. Well I gotta run to our fireside tonight. I love you all. Thanks for everything and tell everyone hi.
Nathan

Nathan letter 12-8-08

Hey everybody,
This is gonna be a quick one. Just writing to tell you all that I love you and got the packages today. I'm still listening to the Thanksgiving tape. Thanks alot for it and the "forgotten carols". It really made my day better and brighter. It's tough down here for me sometimes because it feels like I don't know Spanish at all. Everyone is better than me and I still can't say things in full sentences. Everyone around me is talking and carrying on conversations and I can't understand a thing. So I get a little discouraged at times, but our price to be a disciple in the church is not free. Nothing is free in the Gospel. Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice for me personally that I could repent of my sins and come and serve a mission. He has paved the way in all of our lives and if we exercise a particle of faith, he will lead us down the right path and make up for our many shortcomings. You will only receive a witness after the trial of your faith. That's what this whole life is about. Living in a way that Heavenly Father can use us imperfect souls and bring to pass His work and glory. Keep Him in your hearts and you will not be lead astray. I love you all!
Your son and eldest brother,
Nathan

snowfall 2008

It started to snow at 7:30 Wednesday morning and these pictures were taken at 8:00am Thursday morning. We have about 20 inches now and it is still snowing!!

dearelder.com

If you want an easier way to write a letter to Nathan, you can go to dearelder.com . It is a great tool where you can type a letter to Nathan and they deliver it free of charge. It goes the same day if you send it before 9am Utah time, or else it goes the next day. Go to their site and on the right hand side you choose Provo MTC from the "Select a mission" and then send a letter. You need to put in his address, which is on this blog site and type away. It is nice because he gets it so quickly and it is pretty easy on the writers part.

letter

Mi familia,
These two weeks have flown by. It's amazing that I have been here this long. It really does not feel like it. Guess who got to sit 20 ft away from Jeffrey R Holland, make eye contact several times and listen to him speak for 45 minutes. It was amazing. I took 5 pages of notes. MTC life is good. Me and the comps re now in the groove of things. The gospel and the lessons are coming pretty easily for me. Its the espanol that is giving me tons of grief. It's hard being in a class of people that have taken it in college and have a pretty strong grasp on it. I'm trying my best, it's just tough. ME and the comps are getting along really well. We are like brothers. Cookies are good and it would be awesome if you could send some of those Satsumas or whatever those tangerines things are. We would love that alot. I love you all. Keep the letters coming. And send pics. Love Nathan Webb-the cool Elder

Socks

The socks that Nathan is talking about in his letter are from a store called Missionary Mall. They have a web site (missionarymall.org) that you can purchase them from and they do not charge shipping to the MTC. They are $4.25 a pair. If you are looking for something to send, it looks like he would love some of these!

letter from Nathan

El Familia,
How is everyone doing? I miss you all like crazy. The MTC is awesome. You feel the spirit 24/7. Its amazing. I love every second of learning with our teachers or devotionals. And keep writing me cause I don't get any mail. I love you all lots and lots. Its crazy to me that it has only been a week. It feels like a month. Me and my companions get along really well. We are together 24/7 so its a very good thing. I'm constantly busy. Even our p-day is cramed full of things we have to get done. I'm singing in the choir so that is really awesome. There are probably 300+ people in it so its really powerful. Tell me how everyone is doing. Tell people that the socks we bought at the missionary mall rock and more of these would be greatly appreciated. My espanol is getting better, although I still don't like it. But my teachers are great and I'm learning alot. I love you I love you I love you. Love Elder Webb
P.S. Send some pictures.

Our first family letter from Nathan

Our letter is addressed to "The Familia"

11/6/08
Dear Mom and Dad and the rest of the family,
The first day was pretty crazy, but I'm getting through it just fine. I have 2 companions which is pretty cool. One is our Senior comp Elder Anderson and Elder Moss is the district leader. All is well with me. Everything is taken care of and I have everything I need for now. The food is good and me and the comps are getting along really well. We have an extra bed so I'm probably going to steal the mattress and have two, ha ha. It's a whole different world down here but I'm loving it. Everyone down here is really nice and talks to you. You have to say every word in Spanish that you know all the time so that's pretty crazy. Anyways, tell everyone that I love them and I am thinking about everyone. I wouldn't have gotten this far if it was not for you all. You're my greatest examples. I love you all and write me back soon.
Love Nathan, AKA Elda Webb!
PS. Tell Connor if he breaks into my clothes and steals them I'll break his nose with my awesome spiritual powers.

Taking Nathan to the MTC

We had a very nice trip down to the MTC. We (Michael, Nathan and I) flew down to Salt lake early Tuesday morning. We spent the first part of the day looking for the few things that he still needed to get-missionary coat, shoes... . Our first stop in a store in Salt Lake we met the queen of all sales people. She had Nathan try on some pants and then whisked them off for alterations before we even agreed to buy them! If she had her way, he would have spent about $600.00 in that store. Unfortunately for her she was dealing with a couple of servers who understand upsell and we were not accommodating! We did buy the pant but ended up down in Orem to get everything else he needed-and they were not pushy. Nathan wanted Chinese for his last dinner together so we went to a very good restaurant and went back to the hotel to watch the election results and go to bed. Wednesday we all got up a little early to get packed up ,get some breakfast and get to the 9:00 session at the Salt Lake temple. I am so glad that we did. It was a wonderful experience and Nathan really enjoyed it, as did Michael. The architecture and artwork is all so magnificent and beautiful. Nathan had to be at the MTC at 1:00 so after the temple we headed down to Provo. We got there with about 25 minutes to spare, so of course I am taking pictures. We headed to the chapel for the service and while we are waiting for it to begin, they are playing Mormon ads all about families. It must have been designed to prime the tears because it did! I was fine until they played 1 with a father and little blond son who are walking hand in hand. Nathan was a little blondie when he was young and it reminded me of him. Michael thought it was funny that it made me cry. I was better and then we sang "Called to Serve" as the opening song. I got through the 1st verse but lost it in the second. Then the wife of the 1st counselor spoke and said something that made me cry again. Michael did get up to get me a bunch of tissues, which are ALL OVER the room. All this time Nathan is cool and calm, although he looked a little nervous. We got to the end and I was ok. Then it was time to hug and say goodbye. We hugged, and of course I started crying again. Nathan and Michael hugged and were ok and then Nathan turned around and hugged him again and they both started to cry. They will probably both fiercely deny this, but I was there and I saw everything! Of course, once again, that made me cry. The missionaries then leave their families and go out the doors on the right side of the room and the families go out the left. Michael and I got out to the car, hugged and congratulated on one down 4 to go! I am so glad that we went with him and shared in this wonderful trip to Salt Lake with the temple and the MTC. We are happy for him and know that he will do a great job. We are so proud of him and what he has accomplished and what he will accomplish. He is a good young man. We love him and look forward to hearing all about this new adventure he is on.

Elder Webb in the MTC

This is what I think of cameras this early in the morning!

"Did I really get up at 4:00 am?"

Checking last minute details

MTC address

We took Elder Webb to the MTC this afternoon!
His address there is:
Elder Nathaniel Todd Webb
MTC Mailbox #170
UT-PRO 0107
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

Family picture 2008

Here is our most recent family picture. A gracious friend took them for us as I realized that we did not have a family picture since I was pregnant with Connor!

my first blog post!

I decided to enter the world of blogging to have a place where friends and family could check in on Nathan's mission as well as the goings on of the Webb's. Please bear with me as I go through the learning curve!

Nathan's farewell talk 10/26/2008

I have to say before I start that speaking in front of everyone today is a little bit of a change of scenery for me. For the past year or so I have been a teacher in sunbeams and have loved every minute of it. Each one of those kids teaches me something new every week. So when I got this talk I thought it would be easy right. I have been teaching for a year and this should be pretty easy too right. If you know who is in my sunbeams class you know that each one of those kids are a character and specialize in running you ragged. So I thought which would be harder, teaching them or talking in front of you I thought It would be a no brainer. This should be much easier. For the most part everyone here pays attention to the lesson, does not need treats or have to go to the bathroom every 2 minutes, does not need a rope to hold onto to keep reverent in the church or need to be walked before the lesson, does not need stuffed animals to hold onto or like to turn off the light in the middle of the lesson. I hope no one does that in here. But honestly right now I think I would take them right now if for nothing else the lesson in there takes on a good day around 5 minutes and is about heavenly father giving us food and animals. This was a little tougher to prepare for.

Our talk is by Kenneth Johnsons and its titled Restoring faith in the family. One of the things he talks about is role models in our lives. I want everyone to start off by thinking about your favorite role model as a kid or now. Someone that inspired you to be better or someone you wanted to be like. And while you are doing that I will tell you about mine. I went through many fazes when I was younger but I can clearly remember one of my favorites. I think im old enough now to tell everyone and you won’t make too much fun of me but I loved and wanted to be a power ranger. I thought they were the coolest people ever. Everyone else at school said it wasn’t cool to like them but you know we all watched them on TV. They had all these sweet moves and sayings, picking an animal to fight like. And when they weren’t tough enough to beat the bad guy they would power up into a giant transformer thing hundreds of feet tall and wipe out their enemy. They were all so awesome. But like most people I grew up and started trying to be like different things, more mature and adult things…. Like batman, superman, the incredible hulk and iron man.

But none of these people really gave me true help when I needed it or taught me things I would so desperately need later in life. Elder Johnson said reflecting on his own life he learned loyalty, integrity, dependability, selfless service, honor, respect, and the gospel principles in his home by his parents and family. They were his greatest role models. And think if we all think about it we would agree with him. Our parents are our greatest teachers. They teach us everything from everyday things like how to tie our shoes to the sweetest gospel principles. No one here would be the person they are today without their parents and families examples.

Our whole church revolves and is centered on the family. One of the reasons god sent us to earth was to multiply and replenish the earth by starting a family. In The Family: A Proclamation to the World it reads: “Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide
for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners”.

A lot was said in that passage but one of the key points it said was that happiness and success in the family is achieved when your family is founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ. One of the most well known and great examples of this was the mothers of the stripling warriors. In the 56th chapter in Alma it reads “Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.
21 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.”

These 2,000 boys were taught by their mothers and by their father’s examples. When they were little they watched as their fathers willingly gave up their lives to keep the covenants they had made to not take up arms ever again. So from an early age their mothers taught them the gospel and how to live and obey its teachings. These two great examples of righteous parents helped these boys throughout their lives. As young men they took arms up to help aid the Nephites in battle. Heleman recounts after their first battle.

“And now it came to pass that when they had surrendered themselves up unto us, behold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain. But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war.” These boys courage came from their mother’s teachings to them and their faith in the lord Jesus Christ. Imagine what we all could do with faith like that, what mountains and stumbling blocks we could remove and how strong we could become.

Another point that this talk brought up is that each member of your family is different and thinks and acts in a different way. One that speaks volumes to this point is Lehis family. Talk about your different personality types. You have Lehi who is a prophet of the lord, Laman and Lemual who could not stop murmuring against the lord and their father and brother, and Nephi who was their younger brother and grew up to be their leader and a prophet as well. Can you imagine being Lehi and Sariah guiding their family through the wilderness? Talk about a bad car trip. Watching the goodness of Nephi and Sam do what they tell them and always listening to the lord. And at the same time watching Laman and Lemual do what they are asked but always have a bad attitude and murmur the whole time. It’s all about your attitude. You could be doing all the right things but with a bad attitude it really takes away from everything. Elder Johnson says “our outlook or attitude can sometimes restrict our ability to enjoy life’s greatest opportunities.

An example I have of this was a service project I did a few years ago. I think it was when I had just turned 14 and was a teacher with Bryson Toth and some other boys. Brother White was our leader and for some reason or another we had the great opportunity to rake leaves around the church that night…. in the middle of December. It was freezing cold outside with probably about a foot of snow on the ground. We all froze because being tough 14 or 15 year old boys we didn’t really dress for the occasion. All the boys including myself were not in the best of moods while performing this. Talking about how dumb we thought it was. If we would have had a better attitude we might have actually gotten something from that night other than frostbite.

The last point Elder Johnson talks about is a question posed “What of those who have not experienced a positive family environment?” In answer to this he shares a short poem by Helen Steiner Rice.

When God makes a promise,

It remains forever true,

For everything God promises

He unalterably will do.

When you’re disillusioned

And every hope is blighted

Recall the promises of God

And your faith will be relighted.”

What one would have to think about if in that situation is that our ultimate father is Heavenly Father and Jesus is our older brother and we should look to them as a perfect example. To close with I would like to share a poem I found that really fits this talk.


By Henry Hallam Tweedy Entitled My two Homes.

Of all the houses in the world
The one that I love best
Is that in which I wake and play
And lay me down to rest.
My father built by his toil
My mother makes it a home
You cannot find a lovelier place
No matter where you roam.
The rooms are clean and bright and fair
With pictures books and toys
And food and clothes and beds and chairs
For all the girls and boys
We children work and care for it
And help to keep it clean
Our palace of true happiness
Where mother reigns as queen.
And father guards us with his strength
A wise and gracious king
To whom we pay the honor due
And glad obedience bring.
So full of love and joy it is
So safe and bright and warm
I would not go too far from it
Lest I should come to harm


And yet when I go out of doors
And look up at the sky
I know im in my father’s house
And his love is nigh.
For god is father-mother too
The world is my big home
The green grass is the carpet
And the blue sky is the dome
On every side are pictures
The fields are full of food
And all the things that god has made
Are beautiful and good
He keeps me by his mighty power
He loves me as his child
His paths are bright with happiness
His laws are just and mild
And all his children in this house
So wonderful and fair
Should love each other, learn his truth
And trust his love and care.
I thank thee father, for these homes
Where we may dwell with thee
And cast out fear and share the joys
Though givest full and free.


Testimony.
Church is true.
My family greatest example
Everyone in the ward.
My mission.