June 6th

Dear Family,

Hope you are all well. 70 years ago today was one of the deadliest conflicts
of World War II which thankfully was the beginning of the end of the war.
We are getting ready for our Flag celebration a week from Saturday so wars
and their effects and the place of patriotism in our lives has been on my mind. Also, I have just finished reading the war chapters in Alma and was again impressed with how evil tries to use wars,
etc as a means of advancing their cause at the expense of good. 

I have tried mightily to figure out how to write a letter using pictures
like Eden does sometimes in her responses but have failed. Therefore the end
product won't be as good. Sorry. I took several pictures in anticipation of
being able to do what I described, so I will attach the pictures and try to
write an adequate description of what they are portraying.

Jamie has received a fairly new assignment; she is to remember each of the
sisters on their birthday. Various remembrances have been used but it won't
surprise you to hear that Mom has decided to fix them their favorite dessert
(or something similar). So she has mad a couple of cheesecakes and some
homemade bread. She loves doing it and the sisters are very appreciative.
The picture shows her making something for the sisters. 

Mom is also the unofficial seamstress for the sisters. It is amazing how
many dresses don't fit or are in need of repairs. As you also know the
product is always returned in better shape than when she got them. I was even
a recipient if her skills. One of my vests was very uncomfortable. She
looked at it and said that it was because of the way it was cut and that she
couldn't remodel it. So she made me a new one. The one picture is me in the
new vest. And the other is Mom doing her sewing. 

The next picture is of me at the temple in my tennis shoes. I include it
just S a reminder that things don't always go as planned and that Dad is
obviously getting older. We have several good laughs over this one. Come to think of it my feet have never felt better after a full shift. I wonder if New Balance makes one in a black and a
brown?

As you know we live in Point Loma which is a tract of land west if San Diego
proper surrounded on 3 sides by water. Everywhere you go in our area is
either uphill or downhill. It makes for interesting and healthy walks. The
next picture is one of the views we see most every time which makes the
walks fun and rewarding. Notice the big cruise ship in the harbor.

One final picture. Mom loves working in the yard. I hadn't realized how
much until watching her in the yard that has nothing and how she nurtures
everything that is growing. The picture is the hydrangeas in the back yard
that she has coaxed to life. They really are quite beautiful.

We had another new first. We got to inspect mission cars. Apparently, every
quarter or so they have zone conference. While that is going on senior
couples inspect the cars to make sure regular maintenance kinds of things
are being taken care of. It was interesting and we can now know that we
could get jobs doing annual inspections for the state. 

Happy Birthdays to Cassie and Mark. Hard to. Relieve you started your
sojourns in life in the same hospital just 12 hours apart.

We love you all. Have a great week.

Ralph Rasmussen
Sent from my iPad