Lahtinen June 20-30, 2010

On June 25, 2010 John received his Patriarchal Blessing from his Grandfather Herbert Osborn. They had a great spiritual experience together. John as a lot to look forward to and live up to.
John became Mark's missionary companion, after he was set apart. Mark was sad to leave his brother. They have become really good friends.
Mark was set apart as a Full Time Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday June 27, 2010 by our Stake President, Larry Larson.
It was a great experience to share with Mark. He was excited and felt prepared to set forth on this new journey. He has prepared for this, and saved his money, since he was around the age of 2. It has always been something he has wanted to do.
Jane and Mark flew down to Utah on Tuesday night June 29th, stayed in a hotel, had dinner together and cried as we said our prayers together that night and again that morning. We had a nice breakfast, then drove to Provo, took this picture, and then got a haircut at the Wilkinson Center. At 1:00pm, his assigned time, I dropped him off to serve his mission.

His address is:

Elder Mark William Lahtinen

MTC Mailbox 116

PER-LIME 0901

2005 N 900 E Provo, Utah 84604-1793

He will be here until July 20, 2010

You can see the pictures he posts, and read his blog at: missionsite.net/elderlahtinen

July 21-Sep 1, 2010 Address:

Elder Mark William Lahtinen

Peru MTC

Centro de Capacitacion Missional

Malgarejo 159

La Molina

Amazonas 12

Peru

(cost is 98 cents up to 2 oz. deliver is 10 days - 2 weeks)

Sep 1, 2010 - July 1, 2012

Pouch Mail:

Elder Mark William Lahtinen

Peru Lima East Mission

POB 30150

Salt Lake City, Utah 84604-0150 USA

(cost is 44 cents. Can only be one sheet of paper, folded in thirds with tape at the top. No envelope. Goes to Provo then gets put into a pouch that is sent to his mission office in Peru. 10 days - 2 weeks)

Sep 1, 2010 - July 1, 2012 (Letter or Package)

Elder Mark William Lahtinen

Peru Lima East Mission

Calle Los Agrologos 368

Urbanization Las Acacias De Monterrico

La Molina, Lima 12

Peru

(98 cents up to 2 oz. Package: $20 up to 4 lbs delivery 10 days - 2weeks)

Lahtinen June 17, 18, 2010

This is Mark's apartment complex at BYU. It is the Foreign Language Housing Residence. For church they meet in the large commons room, with all the language students. The sacrament prayer is in a different language each Sunday. To live here, you must be in a foreign language class. It is mostly Returned Missionaries. His RM roommates tutored him well in preparing for his mission.

Mark and his roommates are only allowed to speak Spanish, watch movies and TV only in Spanish. Mark's Spanish speaking improved greatly over the 6 weeks.
Five nights a week, the 30 Spanish students prepared dinner together, ate and cleaned up. Again only Spanish speaking is allowed. Then they divided up into their class levels and each group had class for an hour. Mark and one other boy were the only Spanish 111 students, so they put them in with the 211 class. Mark said it was really hard, but he learned a lot.
Two of Mark's roommates are from Peru, and another went on his mission to Peru. They showed pictures, taught him about the culture and prepared him for his mission. They even cooked guinea pig one night. There is a Peruvian store in Provo that sells them cleaned and ready to cook.

Mark could not wait to get home. Duncan and Mark left Provo a day earlier than planned and drove straight through to home. Mark was home for 10 days before leaving on his mission

Lahtinen June 1-15, 2010

This year's MSHS Graduation was held at the new McCarthy Center at Gonzaga University. The band sounded great as usual. The seniors don't play with the band at graduation, so we always wonder if the band can pull it off. Every year the under class-men arise to the occasion. John is the top dog now, as if he wasn't before!
My Seminary class had 17 students this year. 7 of them were seniors and graduated Seminary. Out of 17 students 14 read the Book of Mormon cover to cover and 14 memorized the 25 Scripture Mastery scriptures. All 7 of my graduating seniors memorized all 100 scriptures. My class was asked to sing at graduation. We sang "Lead Kindly Light" with a verse of "I Need Thee Every Hour" in the middle. We ended with the last verse acapella. It was beautiful. Lots of musical talent in this class. Most are in Jazz Band or Jazz Choir. We loved studying the Book of Mormon this year. This was my 5 th year of teaching Seminary.
We went to Bainbridge Island, WA to Emma Lahtinen's baptism. She was baptized in a pond, by her father, Darrel Lahtinen (Duncan's brother). The service was held in a barn that literally, they backed the tractor out of and set up chairs. It was a beautiful day in Seattle. It rained all the other days we were there, but not the day of the baptism.
The beach was beautiful and the sky was clear. We could see Seattle across the Sound.
The Lahtinen Clan

Front row: Darrel, John, Timo, Emma. Middle row: Grandma L., Amanda Smith Back row: Duncan, Grandpa L., Teresa Smith, Trish