Brian Baird

Image via Wikipedia

Last night Clark County voters met in a Town Hall meeting with Brian Baird, our Congressman, about HR 3200, the Health Care bill. I was among the voters meeting at the Clark County Amphitheatre at the fair grounds. I would estimate that there were over a thousand people in attendance because the stadium was over three quarters full. I went to this forum for the reason that health care is important and I feel strongly about this bill. I wanted my voice to be heard and wanted to hear what other people were saying.

As we entered the stadium, we found protesters against the bill out front. We were handed flyers about combating this proposal or should I say proposals that are in the house. The gist of the argument was that we should not let the government take control of our health care system. I strongly feel that our freedom to act would likely be curbed if government were to take over, our taxes would increase, and the quality of our health care would diminish. I have a strong trust issue with having the government in my personal life. Some people feel that giving control to the government to solve their problems is the best way to solve the problem. However, giving another massive entity like the government control over an issue that could result in life or death is a highly questionable procedure in my thinking.

I was happy to say that the voters in Clark County overwhelmingly spoke against the rush to pass this bill. Some of the questions that were asked by the voters were valid. One man asked about sections of the bill in which the government would appoint people to come to our homes and tell us how to raise our children. Other people brought up the trust issue in that they do not trust the government to take responsibility for their health care. In the past the government has proven to be inefficient.

A good question that was asked was "Why are the tort laws not changed?" and Brian Baird said that he had a bill that he was introducing to address that issue on his website. When the statement that Nancy Pelosi called anyone against this bill a 'brown shirt' (meaning a Nazi) the crowd started to boo and hiss because they were offended that an elected official would talk about the people they represent in such a way. There were many there who felt the government was overspending and being irresponsible with the taxpayers money. The person said that they are feeding corporate America by giving them large amounts of money and it is not filtering down to the general American population who are footing the bill.

One man got up and told Brian Baird that elected officials should look at the people as people they represent and not as people they rule over. I agree with this stance because have found this true about Baird when I have written to him about issues and he has basically said that he will not listen to my point of view. My husband Kerry said that he was concerned over the fact that of the 300 amendments to the bill that the Republicans have tried to propose that not one of them has been adopted. This is NOT a bipartisan bill but is being ramroded down the throats of the American people.

One point that Baird tried to make throughout the forum was the fact that he stopped Congress and they read the thousand page bill and asked questions about it before voting on it. Another point that he made is that the American people should have several days to look at laws before they pass. This has been a concern of a lot of people who have watched legislation pass recently without having the ability to comment which has facilitated the opinion that the legislature is dictating to instead of representing the people. Another point that Baird tried to make was that we are going to pay the cost of health care for other people if this bill does not pass. I don't believe this is true.

I look at the Social Welfare states in Europe and other places and see that their systems do not run efficiently. In fact some of these states are in massive debt and their citizens suffer heavy taxes. One person brought out the fact that some countries in Europe pay over 60% of their income in taxes. I think that if a government taxes people in this manner that many people's freedoms are taken away. Christine said that her granddaughter who was born with a diaphramatic hernia would be dead under the French system (Christine was born in France) because she would not have been able to get health care.

Another proposal is that the rich should be taxed. California tried to do this and had 5000 of their very richest citizens leave the state and move. The rich won't put up with being taxed in this manner and find ways to get around being taxed. They are smart enough to put their money in untaxable trusts which the government can't touch. The idea of taxing the rich is really funny when the people that run these large insurance companies make billions a year. And another point made is that corporate leaders make obscene amounts of money. There is no competition between insurance companies. We all pay the same amount.

Under this plan small business owners would be required to offer health insurance to their employees. Some small business owners spoke out and said that they could not afford to do this even if the government were to require it. I can see that small businesses would have a difficult time complying to the regulations because the high cost of health care will not diminish.

Pescara on fiya!

The Guisti family

Hey ya'll!

First of all, I hope you're all doing well! It's been such a weird week here. EVERYONE is on vacation, so all the stores are closed and no one wants to meet with us because they're all at the beach! We've been doing a lot a lot of finding though. Every Monday they have a huge market across the street from our palazzo, in front of the stadium (yeah, the stadium where they have the mediteranean games is literally across the street from our house! We get the enjoyment of hearing the soccer crowds and fireworks all night! =)) So last monday we took my awesome english class poster over there and I walked around holding it while my companion passed out flyers. I was laughing so hard the entire time, because Italians always read stuff out loud, so I had this echo of "corse d'inglese gratuito" following me everywhere! It was so funny.

Last week we had an incredible p-day with this new member family in our ward called the Guisti's. They are pretty much the legend of the Italy, Rome mission. Fratello Guisti is a music professor, and his side job is he travels around europe and conducts for Opera's (his dream is to go to the United States and conduct there, so he's teaching himself english). His wife is an ex-opera singer who in her free time teaches yoga and makeup classes, and she has a doctorate in art, so their entire house is full of her incredible paintings. Their son is the next italian missionary, and he has all the girls swooning after him, because he can play practically any instrument, and he mixes music for fun. Their daughter is so cute and incredibly beautiful! I love them all to death. So we just went over for pday and ate lunch with them and played all day and sang and stuff. Anyways, they're really cool. I think you get the picture? =) They're really my family away from home...I love them with all my heart!

We've been working with the family of this new convert named Iolanda, and this last week we have been having some INCREDIBLE lessons with her husband Nino. He used to say that he didn't care at all to even listen to us, but now every time we go over he has a million questions, and the spirit is INCREDIBLE. It's weird, because he refuses to let us teach him, but every time we go over with a planned lesson, we always have really long discussions (that he starts) based on what we've planned. Definitely directed by the spirit!

Not much else super exciting has happened. We've had some old investigators come out of the wood work who've started making some amazing progress. My favorite things to hear are when people say to us that they want to know if something is true, without us even having to commit them to try! It's such a wonderful experience.

We had the most random experience the other day. It was kind of turning out to be a really lame day because all of our appointments had cancelled on us, and we were both reaaaally tired, so we decided to go and get some dinner. The pizza restaurant was completely empty that we went to, so we were able to talk a little bit with the owners of the restaurant about the church. Then as we were sitting waiting at the bus stop to go home (both of us completely exhausted) I was just smiling at the world (FAITH FACE!) when this man on his bike rode by and smiled back at me. I said to my companion, "that was really weird..." and I felt like he was going to come back and talk to us, and the next thing I knew he had turned around and he came up to us and started talking. He told us that he had been baptized three years ago in my old ward in Rome, and he wanted to start coming back to church. Our bus passed and we didn't get on because we felt like we needed to talk to him. Then the next bus that passed we hopped on, and the first thing we hear is "hello, are you from the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints?" We both turn around and there's an african man sitting with his family. We say yes, and he tells us he's a member of our church, and that he served a mission in Ghana, but he hasn't been to church in Italy and he wants to find it so he can go back. MIRACLES! We had been praying for something really good to happen to give us a little boost of faith that day and God threw two inactives right into our hands. How great is that?

The church is true! I love you all. I love the scriptures, they are full of incredible truths, but most important of all is they testify of our savior Jesus Christ, and all he has done for us. The way back is through him. Never give up, never forget that YOU are a child of God, and that's what really matters in this life!

Congratulations to Jonathan and Janalee! I'm so happy for both of you! And thanks for photoshopping me into the wedding picture Mom. =) Happy Birthday Krissa! Keep up the work of the Lord, I'm praying for you.

Baci e Ambracci!

Jenessa

Yes! A Wedding...

Saturday was a big event in our family. My son Jonathan married Janilee Pratt. We were so grateful and happy for the wonderful couple. Jonathan has waited a long time for this moment and has been careful in choosing his mate. VERY careful. He has dated numerous women but always found that he didn't think that 'she' was the right one for him. I have never seen him so happy as at the moment that he married Janilee or so in love with someone in my life. I love Janilee also and am glad to have her part of our family. She is kind and fun to be around as you can see by the look on her face when she came out of the temple.

Look at the smile on Jonathan's face. It reminds me of the time when he was 2 years old and I had invited 8 little friends of his from Primary nursery to celebrate his birthday. When we brought out the cake and began singing Happy Birthday, he realised that we were singing about him and he got this grin on his face that went from ear to ear. That is the same happy grin that he has on his face.

Side Note: We were thankful to have all our family there but we missed Jenessa. I thought of getting a cardboard cutout of her for the wedding but thought the better of it. I love her letters and know that she is doing the Lord's work and where she is supposed to be. Lily was a little flower girl and did a great job even though she had a busy day. What a sweet thing it is to have a grandchild...

I thought everything was perfect that day. Janilee was so organized and I really appreciated knowing the day's agenda. The planning was perfect and therefore the day was perfect. We were able to arrive at the places we needed to be on time because we had a piece of paper that told us the layout. Good job Janilee and Jonathan!!!!

I was thankful for the support of my family. Cherie, Keith, and Lily came from Connecticutt, Arlen flew in from New York, Jan came from Roosevelt, and Jaren, Jessica, and Jesse came from Salt Lake. We appreciated the picnic that my Dad and Marva threw for us the night before so that we could become acquainted.

Here is a picture of our wonderful family.

Hello everyone.

This has been a really crazy week. I met some of the most interesting people because we have been doing finding work like crazy. In one day we met this lady who walked into our district meeting at the church in the morning, and told us that she thought that the cross really signified a big hug because it looked like a head with the arms outstretched. Then she asked us if we could come to the beach with her and talk English to her all day, because the angels told her that she's supposed to stay in the sun for 6 hours a day, and the stars for 3 hours a day. She looked completely normal...it was so interesting. Then while we were in the park that afternoon I met this lady who always introduces herself as "Sunshine" (in English) to the missionaries. She was really good, and a very "free spirit" you could say. Then that night I was just standing in the doorway waiting for our african friend kevin to come for his appointment, and this random man walked by with his dog and started telling me that he had been reading the Book of Mormon and loved it and thought that everything our church teaches is true. He also told me he's been having this reoccuring dream about Christ, and that he wants him to be baptized or something and come to church. I didn't really understand that part but it was incredible. Yeah, it was such an interesting day!

Yesterday we woke up and while doing personal study this HUGE lighting storm started, and was hitting the stadium across the street from our apartment. Then sheets of rain started coming down. When we went to leave our apartment later that morning the ENTIRE street was flooded in front of our palazzo, and the water had even come inside! We were really confused about how to get out because my boots weren't waterproof enough to be walking around in a foot of water, so I had to climb a wall. It was great fun!

Last week we had zone conference in Rome which was really good, and we talked about finding work a lot. Afterwards there was a meeting for the sister's at the president's villa, and we ate angel food cake and talked about girl stuff. Sister Acerson asked the elders if they had any concerns about the sisters that they would never say to our faces, and one said that the sisters need to shave their legs more, and one of the sisters was like "ELDERS SHOULD NOT BE LOOKING AT OUR LEGS! THAT US JUST NOT RIGHT!" It was really funny because she's hillarious and dramatic. Afterwards we missed our 3-hour bus back to Pescara, so we had to stay the night.

I've been meeting some really cool people doing finding lately. I got on the bus the other day and thought, I'M GOING TO BAPTIZE SOMEONE ON THIS BUS! And then I sat next to this lady and told her that I liked her shoes and she told me that she liked mine and then we talked for FOREVER and she's been living in Chicago teaching italian and I got her phone number and we have an appointment on Friday. She is SO COOL. I KNOW that she's going to get baptized! Finding work is so hard, but we meet some incredible people. We met this great couple in the park the other week, we think that they're in the Italian FBI but they are so cool and we talked for about an hour about the gospel and the guy is really excited to read the Book of Mormon. They're going to get married in a year...MAYBE they can get married in the temple! That would be sooo cool. Um, I have to go but I love you all!!

Dad, could you forward my emails to robbriggs85@hotmail.com?

Jenessa aka Sorella Smiles

CONGRATS TO JONATHAN AND JANALEE! FOR TIME AND ALL ETERNITY HECK YES! I love you and my prayers are with you!

Impressed

When I was very young modesty was important to me. In fact, I remember going to the doctor when I was 12 and having to put on one of those hospital gowns. I tied it around me so tight that the nurse had to cut it off me. I thought the gowns were not modest and was embarrased to wear them.

The fashion of the day was to wear short skirts and I admit that I wanted to be fashionable. So I made a dress that was too short. I was always pulling on it when I sat down to cover my knees. Then in Junior High School my mother was absolutely floored when I made a top that showed my bare midriff. So in three short years I had gone from one extreme to another. That wasn't the end of the story though because my mother wanted to show me what I looked like in my top. One day I came home and there she was in my top with her bare midriff showing! OUCH!

"Mother!" I yelled. "What are you doing?"

Suddenly the door opened and in walks Arlen and his friend.

"Mrs. Olsen!" said his surprised friend.

"AHHHHH!" my mother screamed and ran for the bedroom to get decent.

We had a big laugh over that one and my top disappeared mysteriously.

I remembered this story because last week I was talking with my daughter Cherie. Keith had made her a beautiful dress for the wedding and I loved the dress. Cherie told me that Keith is very concerned about her modesty and would comment when she was about to buy a dress that was immodest. I was very impressed with Keith to say the least. I think all men should care about their wives modesty. I love Keith.

Benvenuto a Pescara!‏

Ciao tutti!

Let me just start off by saying HOW MUCH I love you all, and HOW MUCH I love being a missionary!! This is such an incredible work. It's harder than anything I have ever done, but it's also so incredibly fulfilling.

This week has been really great. We've been doing a lot of finding, and working on getting our investigators to commit to baptism. The pair of Anziani that left had left behind some incredible investigators, one named Belinda, an African lady from Zimbabwe, with an italian husband and a little daughter named Anna Lisa. She has a really interesting story, and we had to do some especially interesting things with her to prepare her to recieve our message. But now she's taking everything in, and has a baptismal date set for August 15th. We're just hoping that everything will continue to go well! The other investigator they left behind is a young girl about my age named Anna. We're trying hard to get appointments with her, because she had a baptismal date for last week, but she was devastated when her Elders were transferred.

As for us, we're working a lot with english speaking people in Pescara. It's so odd, because I went from an Italian speaking companion in Rome, with all italian speaking members and investigators, to Pescara and an english speaking companion, with investigators from England, Canada, and all over Africa that all speak english. Come interessante! We have some incredible brand new investigators that we're working on getting to make some progress. We've been doing a lot of finding trying to fill our investigator pool up. It's hard in the heat of the day sometimes though...it's really hot and we have to drink fanta every day so we don't pass out. I love Fanta though so it's all good!

By the way, congratulations to Kristen on her graduation! You worked hard for this. And also, congrats to Jeff on his engagement! How exciting.Thank you so so so so so much Carrie for sending me the addresses! You are the best and I love you with all my heart!

What else to say...the Adriatic Sea is still really tempting. It's so beautiful. I might have to go on a see the sea fast or I might just run and jump in one day! haha, kidding.

So I had one of those 6 month sister missionary moments the other day (I'm only a little over 5 months into my mission, but it's all the same...). I realized just how much I LOVE being a missionary, and how much a part of my identity it is now. People here are constantly asking me what my "real" name is, and I just say "Sorella Miles". It's weird, but that's who I am now. This life is so incredible, and I feel like I could do it for forever. I see miracles daily, and I just know that the harder I work and the more that I serve, the more I get back in return. I also love Italy with all my heart. We've been traveling a lot into the country lately, and let me tell you...Pescara is BEAUTIFUL. The people are a little hard headed, bless their hearts, but they are also some of the most loving people I have met in my entire life.

We have a recent convert Yolanda, who was baptized just before I was transferred here, and her husband Nino and daughter Chiara (who's my age) have turned into my second family. We are seeing miracles happen with Nino, who is one of the most hard headed men I have ever met! But he just loves us so much, and we're finding out that as we teach him without him even realizing that we're teaching him (I am so sneaky =)), his testimony is growing and he's changing. He complained to me the other day that he's noticed he's becoming a better person. We really think that one day he's going to set his OWN baptismal date. He says that he'll get baptized one day, there are just some things he has to put in order.

I love you all! You're wonderful. This gospel is a gospel of miracles that come only by our faith!

With all the love in my heart,

Jenessa

Viale Marconi 316

65100 Pescara (PE)

Italia

Road Trip

Kristen and I took a road trip this last week to Oregon and Northern California. We enjoyed visiting and listening to music and generally relaxing because we both needed it. Our plan was to go to Crater Lake National Park, Mount Lassen National Park, Redwood National Park, and then go up the Oregon coast to see all the lighthouses. Our trip was successful because we saw and did everything that we set out to do. Kristen and I arrived home today refreshed and ready to take on life again.
When we were on the road to Crater Lake we came upon this really neat covered bridge. We found that Oregon has a lot of covered bridges. This was the Lowell Bridge. It is not in use anymore so is used as a museum to covered bridges.

We took our hiking shoes with us so that we could take some short day hikes in the National Parks. Crater Lake was beautiful but we found that the drive to the park was longer than we thought so we had to drop our plan to go out in a boat to Wizard Island and climb to the top of the cone. Instead we took a hike around the lake for a few miles after listening to a ranger talk about the history of Crater Lake and the men involved in making it a National Park. Kristen was a trooper and carried the backpack on all the hikes with the first aid supplies for my blisters and the water bottles. She wouldn't let me carry it even though I offered a few times.

We stayed in Kalamath Falls that night and then drove to Mount Lassen. When we arrived we stopped at the visitors center and the store to stock up on supplies. We decided to take three hikes that day that were short. The first hike was to some beautiful falls and when we parked the car a downpour started. I had an umbrella. As we were getting out of the car a ranger drove by with the lights flashing. We wondered what was happening and were to find out later in the day. As we began our hike it began thundering and hailing. I was glad I had an umbrella at that point. When we returned and were driving up the mountain the rain stopped and Kristen took some pictures of a helicopter hovering over Mount Lassen. We parked our car at the trail head to go up the mountain and noticed that the ranger vehicle was parked there and the trial was blocked with orange cones. Some hikers nearby looked like they were in shock.

I asked the ranger when the trail would be open and found that a family had been caught in a tragedy on the mountain. A nine-year old boy had been killed, his 13-year old sister had a head injury, and the five-year old was scratched up. The helicopters were bringing them off the mountain. We later read in the news that the children had been caught in a rock slide on the trail. What a tragedy!

We went about 500 feet down the mountain to the next hike that we had planned and found two helicopters parked across from the parking lot and people with telescopes watching the events unfold on the mountain. There was little we could do so Kristen and I hiked to the fumerole for Mount Lassen. If you didn't know already Lassen is an active volcano. Our three mile hike ended in some paint pots, boiling pools of water, and steam vents. There were board walks around the trail and it smelled strongly of sulfur. The hike was worth going to see and we were glad that the ranger at the visitor's center recommended it. He also recommended that we be careful on the Mt. Lassen trail because of the storm. I was glad we delayed our trip and stopped for a few minutes or we could have been caught in it too.

Kerry called to say that it was 107 degrees in Vancouver that day and was very hot. He was suffering because of the heat and was glad to have air conditioning. Because we were in the mountains it was in the mid 80's and very pleasant. As we drove to Redding California, we watched the temperature gauge go up in the car as we came out of the mountains. By the time we reached the city it was 102 degrees. I got out of the car and it felt great. I love the heat.

The next day we drove to Redwood National Park where Kristen fell in love with the big trees and became a tree hugger. We enjoyed hiking through the forest and went on a couple of short day hikes. I loved the old growth forests that we drove through and enjoyed the wildlife, waterfalls, and spending time with Kristen there. There was a mist in the forest that touched the tops of the trees but was dry where we were. We stopped at the information center and asked about the hikes again. The rangers directed us to some great walks.

On our last leg of the journey we stopped at lighthouses on the Oregon Coast. There were nine on the coast but we visited seven because the one off Ecola State Park is a mile off shore on an island and is a place where people store their ashes. The other one was off limits to the public and run by the Coast Guard. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed the tours that were given at the light houses. It was an informative trip and we arrived home with great memories.

Image via Wikipedia