TALOFA AND GREETINGS FROM NEW ZEALAND CAN YOU PLEAST GIVE ELDER FALATEA A MESSAGE THAT HE IS SO MISSED OVER HERE THAT HE DIDNT EVEN BAPTISTED ME lol

MAY GOD BLESS HIM AND TQAKE GOOD CARE OF HIM.

CAN YOU PLEASE SEND HIM OUR LOVE

THANKYOU SO VERY MUCH XOX

Maren you look so good! I can't believe that you are coming home so soon. I can't wait to see you...

Love the new pictures!! You look great!! See you VERY soon.

FYI:

There is a new address for the Mission Office. It is listed on the home page. Amazing to think that Maren will be home in almost the wink of a eye!

You have a funny way of getting into your apartment. It seems like it would be easier to just use to door. I like your pictures. See you in a few months!!!!!

We haven't heard from Maren in a couple of weeks . I think maybe she is having internet problems... I emailed the mission office this morning. I got a very nice reply from Pres. Coleman, and a minute later, a one sentence reply from Maren: "I won't tell Daniel what a great son I am. I always knew I was your favorite son. LOVE YOU! --Maren" Apparently, when I edited my weekly letter to send to Maren, I forgot to change "son" to "daughter". At least I know she's getting my letters, and hopefully we'll hear more from her! Thanks for all your support and love!

Carol Ann

Maren -- I loved your CHristmas card you made. It was cool.
I can't wait till you come home.
Love,
Caitlin

NEWS FLASH!!
We received word today that Maren will be released on April 29th. So 4.5 months to go! Amazing that I have such mixed feelings. I am so excited to see her, and at the same time, a little sad to have this wonderful experience come to an end.
I guess I'd just better enjoy the next few months!

Hey, everybody and anybody! Feel free to post a message! (hint, hint!)


Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself here!

I send anything on to Maren that pops up here... She is doing great!

Thanks for all your letters and support!

I just got off the phone with Pres. Coleman... Maren is out of the hospital today. He said she was the sickest last week with a high fever, and was actually feeling not as sick when they went to the hospital, but they needed to get her white blood count back up. One of the moms on my email group told me that there are four strains of Dengue Fever, and once you get one kind, you don't get that particular kind again. (But I guess that leaves three more as possibilities-- better send her more bug repellent!).

Pres. Coleman said Maren is a senior companion now, and that we should be pleased with all the good things she is doing down there. He said she is a very strong missionary. I do feel blessed, and very thankful today that she is feeling better. What a relief!

Thanks for all your kind thoughts and prayers! I know it helped Maren, and it was comforting to me to hear your kind words, too!

We didn't hear from Maren yesterday. Her mission president, Pres. Coleman called tonight from the hospital. He was there with Maren. She has contracted Dengue Fever from the bite of a mosquito. I got to speak with her, and her spirits seemed pretty good. I feel pretty good about her, and will leave an update when I hear more. Thanks for your good thoughts and prayers!

Maren is quickly closing in on her last 6 months! Conference weekend will mark her 2/3 mark. Amazing! Once she passed her halfway mark, the time has just flown by! I never thought it would, because for the Mom, the first half of her mission went SLOW! She sounds so happy and continues to do well.

I was just complaining that there was not a letter this week, when I checked and there was a "bonus" letter! I loved the pictures. What's the deal with a pinata at a baptism? It sounds like fun! You look good in your pictures. Mission life suits you well!!

Yesterday (July 4th) was Maren's Hump Day! She is at the halfway mark! We'll be seeing her in about 9 months. Wow! Her brother leaves for Argentina the end of August, so they will not see each other for almost 3 years... but we feel blessed to have them serve as missionaries! As always, thanks for all your love, letters and emails!

Hi All! We got to talk to Maren yesterday! She has a bit of a cold, but other than that, she sounded fabulous! We did a three way call with Kelly in Nashville and it was great to be able to include her! Maren says she generally eats French toast or milk toast for breakfast, rice and meat or vegetables for lunch and a nap for dinner. The cook isn’t paid for dinner, so they go back to their room and sleep for an hour! Then when they come home for the night, they have a bowl of cold cereal—like “Kellogg’s Complete”-- and powdered milk. They shop for their dinner groceries once a week at a place like Wal-Mart. (It isn’t called Wal-Mart, but it’s owned by them.) She says she has learned to like beans. And a drink made from cornmeal and water? She says everyone drinks bottled water that is delivered to their homes, and everyone likes their water flavored-- like with KoolAid-- and they drink their beverages at room temp—except her, she puts ice in everything! She also likes chocolate-dipped frozen bananas on a stick. She says that honey and syrup seem to be interchangeable, so, for instance, they eat “peanut butter and syrup” sandwiches instead of “peanut butter and honey” sandwiches! She sounds happy and it was a happy phone call!

Yesterday was a happy day. It was my birthday, and as I was blowing out the candle on my cake, the phone rang... Guess who? Maren! She said that in Guatemala, Mother's Day is on a different day, and that they had permission to call home any time in May. She had to call to give us her phone number for the Mother's Day call, and decided to call with the info on my birthday! It was the best present! Even though she was on her way to an appointment and the call was less than five minutes long, it was GOOD to hear her voice. She sounded wonderful, and like the same Maren! I'm sure this call will not be like the sad call at Christmas when she was brand new to Guatemala and homesick! I'll be talking to her again at 3 p.m. next Sunday. Yay!

Turns out I'll be going to Guatemala for 6 weeks this summer to teach English and work in orphanages. Who knows, maybe I'll run into Maren!! I hope so :) It has been fun hearing about Guatemala in her letters and I'm excited to actually see it for myself!

Maren headed to Coban last Monday . In the jungle! She says that she may not have email, but would love to hear from everyone! You can use dearelder.com (it's free!) and there is a link to their site on the Maren's main page. We can't wait to hear from her on Mother's Day! YAY!

Cool....you are going to the jungle. I can see you swinging from vines like Tarzan. Watch out for the mean dogs!!! I hope you get a good cook too. You are an awesome cousin.

Maren sounds really happy in this last letter. It sounds like things are going great for her. This new area sounds like it will be an adventure!! I can't wait to read the next letter here!!