Easter has passed - He has risen! Alleluia!

     Well, Tom has spent his first Easter in Malaysia. We have continued to receive weekly emails from our Elder Aikens, along with an occasional surprise envelope in the mail that contains a photo card with videos and pictures. We love to receive his videos and recently Tim, Katie, Liam and I compiled our own videos and sent them back. I have started carrying a small video camera with me so that I can record any encouraging words if I run into Tommy's friends.  By far, my favorite video is the one of Tommy and the durian fruit. I'm told durian smells awful - either like rotting meat or dirty socks, take your pick. I'm trying to post it on the blog, but it may be a little too big.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

     He surprised his Dad on his birthday with a video of him and his companions singing Happy Birthday. They sang it in a couple different languages, and Tim thought it was pretty cool. Tim, Katie and I all celebrated birthdays in March, and Tommy managed to send us some handmade gifts from Malaysia. Tommy says his Chinese is coming along much better, and he can understand people much easier than he could when he first arrived. At the end of March his bike was run over by a lorry (truck) - while he was on it. It's a miracle that he walked away with only a scrape and a bruise. Unfortunately, his bike was trashed, and he will need to get a new one. We later spoke to Elder Smith from the Malaysian Mission and he told us how it is a testament of how God watches over his missionaries!
     On April 14, we had to deliver some sad news. Tommy's Nana (Marian Aikens) passed away with family members by her side. While it was very difficult not having Tom with us during the funeral mass, it was even more difficult not really knowing how he was feeling or what he was going through. Elder Smith delivered our message and assured us he was checking with Tom daily to see how he was doing. When we finally got our weekly email from him, he had these words to share with us, "I was sad when I heard, but she is in a better place and I know she is happy. We will all see her again one day.", His faith was carrying him through, he was worried more about us than himself, and wished he could help. Easter was the following week, the Malaysian Elders would have Easter dinner with Elder Smith and his wife. Elder Smith also asked for some of our Easter recipes. From the picture below it looks like they had a full table.
      Our next big milestone is Mother's Day. That is when we will be able to Skype with Tommy - we can hardly wait. We did a practice session this week to confirm that we will be able to add additional people to the call. This will be important as our call will most likely come at 6 am, and Katie will be up in Oshkosh. I will let folks know how it goes!  That's it for now.  Take it easy all and keep sending your letters and comments to Tommy - he loves to hear from us!

Tommy Delivers Eagle Challenge to Casey Skalbeck

On Saturday, January 8, Casey Reed Skalbeck was honored by friends, family and local dignitaries, for achieving scouting's highest honor, the rank of Eagle Scout. Many scouts from Kenosha's Troop 505 participated in the ceremony, and I know Tommy wanted to be there. There were many special moments during the ceremony - the candle lighting, the "pinning" of Casey by Lucy (his Mom) and the time spent by John (his Dad) putting the Eagle scarf around his neck. But anyone who attended the ceremony, will know my favorite part. It was the highlight of my entire week. It was the point in the ceremony where Tommy delivered the Eagle Challenge to Casey via recorded video. It was once again an incredible feeling for me, I'm not sure whose idea it was, or even where the video was recorded. All I know is that it was great to see something planned and organized by a group of fine young men for a truly momentous occasion. In my last email from Tommy, he wanted me to make sure to pass on his congratulations, so Casey, on behalf of Tommy, "Congratz!!"

Some highlights from Tommy's last notes include the fact that Malaysia is hot, but fortunately they do have air conditioning. He only got to spend two days in Singapore, but he said it was such a cool city, he can't wait to go back, and of course, the food is very different (he misses Taco Bell). He is enjoying himself, and trying not to be discouraged by comments from the locals that they do not want to hear what he has to say. The Chinese is very difficult even when people are asking him simple questions like "How old are you?", and "Where are you from?" Church services are done in Chinese. Finally, he wanted to know how dinner with Katelyn and Emily went. Tim served up our traditional Christmas Eve feast of ravioli. We talked for hours over dinner and dessert of cheese, grapes and Christmas cookies. We had a great time, as evident by this picture, I really can't wait for him to see it. Thanks to all of you who commented on his wall! We'll be sending your comments in our next package!!!

Four Phone Calls and an E-Mail Later...

     Well Tom left Salt Lake City on Delta 1109 bound for San Francisco.  But he purchased a $10 phone card and called us from Salt Lake City before he boarded the plane.  We didn't know the specifics of the flight, but we waited anxiously all day.  The call finally came 7:58 pm on Monday (12/27).  I can't even find the words to describe how great it was to hear his voice!  He was incredibly excited to be on his way.  We only got to talk for maybe 15 minutes before he had to head to the gate, but it was enough for us to catch him up on some of the family activities that had been going on.  He thanked us for the gifts we sent for Christmas and told us how he couldn't believe he had to pay $60 for his luggage.  After we hung up I immediately started checking the AT&T web site to find another calling card.  I wasn't having any luck it was now after 9:00.  Katie was now home from work (Sadly she missed Tom's first call home), so she and I decided to head out to get a calling card - it had to be an AT&T card because I had already gone through the trouble of finding the toll free numbers for both Hong Kong and Singapore.  We had to hurry - I was following his flight over the Internet, and while it boarded late, he was already in the air.  We only had until about 11:30 if we wanted to be sure we were home well before his next call.  We headed to Walgreen's first - just up the street, and while they had plenty of calling cards, none were of the AT&T variety.  So no dice!  I was going to have to break down and go to Wal-Mart.  Of course once in Wal-Mart, we now had to shop.  But Katie and I had lots of energy; we were done and home by 11:20.  Just in time to play the "waiting game" some more.  Katie put in an absolutely horrible movie, she had just purchased on our shopping spree.  It was called the Orphan, and it wasn't really horrible in bad sort of way, but definitely in a graphically violent and "ookie" sort of way.
     The second and third calls came at 12:38 am and 12:50 am on Tuesday (12/28).  His flight was late getting into San Francisco and it took them a while to get to the pay phones.  He called the first time on his original calling card, and the first thing we did was give him the new calling card information, along with the toll free numbers he would need overseas.  This time we talked for 45 minutes, maybe even an hour.  He told us all about the inspirational talks they had at Thanksgiving, and some of the inspiring stories and testimonies he had heard from some of the other missionaries.  We had a chance to ask him about some of the recent pictures he had sent.  He told us how they did the "light saber" pictures using the fluorescent lead from one of the other Elders' Scripture pens.  He talked about how when the Elders leave the MTC, they give away some of their stuff that they can't take with them (Tom wasn't able to fit his alarm clock).  Tom managed to inherit a chair and a small refrigerator, which came in very handy to store the Pita he received from us and the cheese curds he received from Sister Calderwood.  He told us a funny story about an ongoing argument he was having with a group of French missionaries about who has better cheese, France or Wisconsin.  Tommy wasn't backing down, and when he got the cheese curds he immediately took some over to the French for them to try.  Their response:  "Tastes like rubber - their cheese is better!"  He couldn't believe it.  Then he talked about Christmas and how great it was.  He was thrilled to hear Tim and I were having Katelyn and Emily over for dinner (one of the things he asked for Christmas) and sorry to hear that we had to find a nursing home for his Nana (her dementia has gotten progressively worse). It was truly an awesome conversation.  He was happy to hear we had all read the Scripture readings he assigned as part of our Christmas present.  We talked about how happy he was to receive the printouts of his Facebook profile and he wants me to continue to send those along.  Probably the thing that excited Tommy the most about his trip from Salt Lake City to San Francisco was the opportunity he had to teach a lesson to someone he had met on the plane.  Definitely just the thing he needed before getting on the plane to Hong Kong.  He ended the call saying how much he loved us, and then boarded Cathay Pacific 873 for the almost 15 hour flight to Hong Kong.
     Our final call was to come sometime after 4:45 pm on Tuesday (12/28).  We didn't know if he was going to have to go through customs, so we had no idea when he would call, but we thought it would be before 6:45 since his next flight was leaving at 7:10.  We were exhausted from staying up so late talking the previous night.  I talked with my parents earlier in the day and asked if they wanted to join us for our next session of the "waiting game".  They were up for it, and Tim made an awesome dinner for us to enjoy while waiting for Tom's call (spaghetti w/ homemade meat sauce).  His call came at 6:17 pm, in the middle of dinner.  We put the phone on speaker and he was excited to hear from his grandparents.  He told us he wasn't sure he would be able to call from Singapore (and he didn't), but he told us he was a little late calling because he and his traveling companions were once again involved in teaching a lesson to an American they had run into in the Hong Kong airport.  He was able to tell us about his flight.  It was long, and as a missionary, he isn't allowed to watch movies or TV while on his mission.  So he tried to sleep and study.  Unfortunately our call was cut short because of phone problems.  Tom could hear us but we could no longer hear him.  It was a short call, maybe only 10 minutes, he tried to call back, but it wasn't to be.
     This morning I woke up to my first E-Mail from Singapore (actually East Malaysia).  He apologized for the phone problems. said he could hear us but wasn't sure why we couldn't hear him.  Anyway, I imagine Tom is exhausted and overwhelmed to be in a new country.  In a way, I think it's good he wasn't able to call us from Singapore.  I think reality has set in and he realizes he's not in "Kansas" anymore.  (Apparent from his statement, "This is nothing like the MTC.")  He's not sure how to approach people, and he feels a little lost.  Hard to imagine Tommy being in a situation where he didn't know how to approach someone.  He said he will be in Sima East Malaysia first.  I have updated this blog with his new address.  For some reason, I seem to remember that we should not include the title "Elder" when sending mail to him in Singapore.  His email address is still the same.  Airmail postage to send a letter to him will be $0.98, and it will take something like 6-10 days.  But please don't let that discourage you from sending actual letters.  He still only has about 30 minutes a week for email.  Oh and his new preparation day is Wednesday (which really falls more on our Tuesday.)  He finished his message on an up-note and talked about how they have to eat with their hands!  He also sent some pictures!  I've included them below.  In closing, he asked for our prayers to help him adjust to his new surroundings.  If you are his friend on Facebook, please post a message occasionally to let him know you are missing him, thinking of him, or maybe something reminded you of him.  If you are not his friend, send a friend request and I will accept it!!!  I promised to print his wall posts on a monthly basis!  His Facebook link is on the left side of this page!
     From Tom's Christmas card to us..."May you have the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of His love at Christmas and always".  Have a wonderful New Year, and thanks to all of you for thinking of him!

 Elder Aikens, Elder Jensen, Elder Forsyth:  First Day!

Yes, they eat with their hands!  Elder Aikens & Elder Jensen

Latest from Elder Aikens aka "Tommy"

We received a package him on Saturday the 18th. We waited for Tim to get home on Sunday to open the package - inside there was a personalized Book of Mormon for each of us, along with recommendations for reading. He sent a new Holy Bible, and also the other books of the standard works: Doctrine & Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. In addition, he sent along a video and some study materials. The movie he sent was, "The Testament", courtesy of Elder Sanford, one of his new friends. Apparently Tom was bummed because he was unable to send us a copy of this movie from the MTC's referral center because they didn't have it. But, Elder Sanford came through by having his parents send a copy from home. I'm not sure where he's from, but Tom says he's great and reminds him of Nathan. Tom also sent some updated pictures, which I will post as soon as I figure out how...

I'm sure you are all wondering how his Chinese is coming along. One of my favorite letters, recently, was when he wrote about delivering his first lesson in Chinese to an investigator from the Church. He indicated the investigator cried during the lesson, and that he hoped it was because the spirit was so strong, and not because the Chinese was so bad! It sounds like Elder Aikens has met some great new friends and is well on his way to heading out into the world to serve his mission. Watch out Singapore! Here he comes!

The last email I received from Tom was this morning - the day he leaves. It sounds like he will fly from Salt Lake City, to San Francisco, to Hong Kong, and finally on to Singapore. I know the flight from San Francisco leaves at 12:05 am (that's 2:05 am my time). He said he gets to call us from each of the airports, but we don't know what time to expect the call - so we are anxiously waiting :) Tim also received an email from Tom, today, where Tom reminded him that we are supposed to have his friends Katelyn and Emily over to the house during the winter break.
That's about it for now. After his phone call, I'll put up another post!

Photos relocated to upper right corner

Called To Serve

Tommy has been called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in Singapore. He is learning to speak Mandarin and preparing to live in Singapore at the Provo Missionary Training Center. He is going to leave for the next 2 years for Singapore on December 27th.

Photos relocated to upper right corner