Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

1 cup butter (melted)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Cream melted butter and sugars. Add other stuff. Bake at 350 for 10 min.

This recipe is traditional, but it really makes the best cookies-- much better than the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip package. My sister KaRynn got it from her friend Jessica.

Highlights from Mission Emails

So I went to a going away party for some girls in my ward who are leaving on missions and got thinking about my mission. So I decided to read some of the old emails I wrote as a missionary-- and got caught up reading for over an hour. Here are some of the highlights:

March 5, 2007

The elders here are crazy-- great, but crazy. Elder Tonkin (from Capetown) who has been on mission for 9 weeks and Elder Dolder (from Washington) who has been out 6 months. On Tuesday night, they made some ginger beer. They live with a member, Sister Pearlman, and we were at her house for supper. So they split the costs 50/50 with Sister Pearlman and made 20 liters of the stuff. It's supposed to be like rootbeer, except ginger flavored. (I've had it before (not homemade) and it's really good.) Anyway, you make it with yeast and let it bubble for about 2-4 days and then bottle it and refridgerate it. If you let it sit for like a week, it actually does turn into real beer, so you have to be careful. Anyway, it's about 36 degrees celcius on average in their boarding (around 90 degrees F-- I don't know conversions.. I just know celcius). So after 2 days, Elder Tonkin took a sip and it was already alcoholic!!!! LOL. Elder Dolder said it smelled like beer in their boarding for two days! And, the most appaling part is that instead of throwing it out, they gave it all to Sister Pearlman, who took it to work to give out to peopl!!!! LOL! I was shocked! So they elders are running the brewery here in Berea!


August 14, 2006

I think it was the day we began contacting, last week, we got a call from Pres. Hill with a referral (Sharon De Beer). We taught her last monday and it went extremely well. We've been praying for her and I've been feeling good about her. But then she canceled our appt. on Saturday, which was disappointing. She said she would still come to church though and Pres. Hill was picking her up (She doesn't have a car.) SO, she came to Stake Conference yesterday (we had a satellite broadcast from Salt Lake with Pres.Monson, Elder Nelson, Sister Lant, and Elder Snow) and really enjoyed it. She told me as we sat down before the conference, "I was speaking with Garrith (Pres. Hill) as we were driving here and he told me about the rules you follow in your Church. I do drink, but I can give that up. And I drink coffee, but I think if I quit that now and just drink regular tea to ease off the caffine for a few days... I can go to only Rooibos (Mormon-approved tea)." She also said things like, "So how do you join the Chruch" and "when do you have baptisms?" LOL! I love those questions! So we showed her the baptismal font and introduced her to the members.

Then, last night, we visited her. She had not only read everything we asked her to, but also 1Nephi 1-4 and she had done the questions in the back of the pamphlet!!! We comitted her to baptism and she set a date for herself for October 7th because she wanted to be baptised around her birthday. It's a little far, but not too far away. She has had an extermely hard life.... been severely abused, and has lived a life of poverty. But things are going really good for her now and only going to get better. She works grinding plastic in this big machine all day and loves it (shows you want she's been forced to do for work in the past considering the job is wonderful to her). When we told Pres. Hill's dad, Brother Bob that we were going to commit her to baptism last night, he started to cry. He's the one that asked us to talk to her initially at a funeral she was at. He is so sweet. He knows how much she needs the gospel in her life.

It's amazing how quickly things change. The Lord really is in charge. It's been such a mercy to be part of Sharon's conversion in the gospel... and there are so many out there just like her.... ready to hear and just need the invitation.

Oh Drano, ho, ho!

So I have an interesting problem. My kitchen sink is blocked. Both of them. And even though I knew this, I started the dishwasher. :-)

No, the sink did not overflow, thank goodness. But they both filled to within 1 inch of the brim, floating onions and all. So, I went to the store to buy some Drano. When I got back, the water was about 1 cm lower.

Directions: Pour 1/2 bottle of DRANO MAX GEL slowly into drain. (For tough clogs, pour in entire bottle.) (A bottle that cost 5 bucks!) Allow to work for 15 minutes (30 minutes for tough clogs). Flush with hot water. Repeat steps if necessary. (Another bottle? I only bought one)

But how can I pour this stuff into the sink with half a foot of standing water? I can just see myself now: pitcher in hand, bailing out the water ....and carrying it to my bathtub. Nasty. Well maybe by morning, I'll be able to at least see the drain. Wish me luck.

Some Facts about Payson

So I was doing a little research about the town I'm going to be teaching in, and this is what I found out (directly quoted from wikipedia):

• The population was 12,716 at the 2000 census.
• The median income for a household in the city was $43,539, and the median income for a family was $47,491.
• It is where most of the 1984 hit movie 'Footloose' was filmed. (Hmmm....)
  
• Payson was originally named Peteetneet, after a Ute Indian chief who lived near Payson's current location. However, the pioneering residents decided to change the name to Payson, after James Pace, due to the fact that no one out side of Payson knew how to spell or say Peteetneet. (LOL!)

I have to say these facts make Payson all the more endearing!

Merry Christmas

I love Christmas! I love the lights, the Christmas trees, and Silk Egg Nog, and Christmas hymns, and I'm so excited to be with family soon!

www.joytoeveryone.com