Boyer, Inc. Established 1979
Merry Christmas! I’ll get right to the heart of this year...Elder Boyer is home, after 2 years of serving in the country of Brazil.
Our two youngest girls, and Ken and I, made the 14 +hour journey to South America the beginning of November, and it was incredible! The people of Brazil are warm, loving, and generous and we were welcomed lovingly by all we met. We spent 3 days in country exploring Belo Horizante before meeting up with Elder Boyer and managed to do just fine despite not knowing any Portuguese
We spent time in Elder Boyer’s mission, visiting the members and areas that he served in: Barbacena, Uba, San Joan del Rei. All places we had read about in his letters, but now could put faces to the names and experiences.
A group of families held a special Family Home Evening, that included a tribute to Elder Boyer. It touched our hearts to see the members give their farewells to a young man they loved and respected. And, I can honestly say at that moment, all the months of wanting him home with us made me feel guilty and selfish. The church in Brazil so needs our young men and women with strong testimonies and leadership skills. They look to them as direct lines of communication to our prophet. Elder Boyer would be missed.
Over and over we felt their heartfelt appreciation, for letting our son serve amongst them. There were hard good-byes. Even harder were the native companions who shared so much with him. These observations for us will remain a strength and a love that binds us with the members in Brazil.
From there we traveled and did the tourist thing through out the southern part of the country. The most spectacular sight being the Iguaçu Falls, where we saw toucan’s and other exotic birds and animals! An incredible natural wonder.
Brian, 21 is working at his dad’s office and will be attending college in January. But who would have imagined that anything could have topped Brian’s return???...
...hard to believe but there was an event equally as precious to us...and that was the birth of our first grandchild Heidi Belen. WOW “grandparenthood” is the BEST. We are lucky that we get to have her close by for the next couple of years as Joe gets his law degree underway. YIPPEE… Amy is such a good mommy, and it is fun to see her raising this sweet little girl.
So after all the tragedies of 2003, the blessings of faithfulness are reaped in 2004.
Laura, 15 (although still going through a progression of recovery) is doing very well. She still is limited in her activities, and adjusts in other ways to the pain and other attending problems. She is active at church in the young women’s organization, she still works part-time for her dad, and is Heidi’s chief babysitter. In general she keeps her “aging parents” young.
Karen 18, is a very busy girl, who never slows down! After getting an early high school graduation she has attended college here in California and a stint in Hawaii. Tough, huh? I mean can you imagine trying to study while the sun and surf are right outside beckoning? Well she managed straight A’s, so she did her part! She continues her hula performances and classes and works at the office. She doesn’t do ANYTHING to keep her parents from getting grey hairs...she dates returned missionaries!
Ken and Linda are amazingly befuddled with how we’ve gotten to the point of being “old”. Our children’s lives have gone by in a blink. Work and church assignments take up a part of our time (she is still Stake Young Women’s Leader, and he is a Sunday School teacher) We celebrated our 25th anniversary by traveling to Grand Cayman (before hurricane Ivan demolished it), lounged on the wonderful warm beaches of California, went to Disneyland a bazillion times, got to see a tiny bit of Argentina, and enjoyed Brazil, as well as having heavenly moments with Heidi. All in all a full and blessed year. We are glad to have all of our loved ones home to roost for awhile, before the next adventures of their lives come into play...we hope you also, can enjoy and celebrate the love of family and friends.
MAY YOUR PRAYERS REACH UP TO HEAVEN,
MAY YOUR BLESSINGS KNOW NO BOUNDS,
AND MAY CHRISTMAS SPIRIT FILL YOUR HEART WITH LOVE
THE WHOLE YEAR ‘ROUND!
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you.-- 2 Corinthians 9:8
Love,
The Boyer’s