Jeslene Crenshaw

Our November 2017 spotlight is our Primary President, Jeslene Crenshaw. 

Jeslene’s favorite scripture is Ether 12:4

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

She is most grateful for her husband, John and her 2 children, Emma and Peter.  She met her husband after his mission. His family moved to her family’s area while he was on mission. Their joke is that she technically met him on his mission because she wrote him a letter (that he never replied too, and that she only wrote because his siblings said he would enjoy it). They went on their first date 4 months after he got home and the rest is history. 

As a family they love to travel to new places together.  Her best vacation she ever had was Traveling Europe.  If she won a million dollars, she would go on a few nice vacations, keep a little for spending, and invest the rest.

A couple of her hobbies include crafting (which she loves and is very good at), and visiting with friends.  A talent that she wants to develop some day is Woodworking.

A Chore she absolutely dislikes doing is Dishes and a pet peeve she has is standing water around the sink and dirty laundry area.

It might not surprise you that her favorite smell is the fresh, clean Lemon scent.

If she has 30 minutes of free time she is most likely to RELAX, and if she could have a personal chauffeur, chef, maid, or hair stylist free for a year she would choose to have a chef .  Thanks for sharing with us Jeslene!

Teresa Oppie

Our October 2017 spotlight is Teresa Oppie and here is a little bit about her in her own words (thanks for sharing Teresa!):     
             I joined the church in 1974 becoming a member of Everett First Ward.  Thanks to a caring friend I got very active in the Stake Young Adult program.  Kalani Oppie was the President.  I had all my paperwork ready to go on a mission and the night before my interview with the Stake President, Kalani Oppie asked me to marry him.  We were married in the Idaho Falls Temple in May of 1977. 

            We raised our three children in the house where we still live.  We have been members of at least seven wards as the boundaries have moved around over the years.  Kalani will be retiring this winter and we’ll still be here.  We have five grandchildren that we adore and love to spoil. 

            I enjoy sewing and quilting.  I like to scrapbook, play Scrabble, take pictures, go camping, and travel.  I am also a collector of several things like children’s “Little Golden Books” (about 1,200 now) and dolls, to name a couple.  I have an antique business in Snohomish where I rent a space in an antique mall.  I love nature and working in my yard.   I especially love to write.       My calling in the ward right now is to serve as a ward librarian.  I also prepare the ward bulletin for Sacrament meeting each week. 

            My theme song is “I Am Woman!” and I have two mottos.  One is “save the relationship” which I learned from Sister Hinckley and the other is “treat others the way you want to be treated”.  If I could have a super power it would be to be able to twitch my nose and have the dinner I request appear on the table.   In a little less selfish vein, I would like the power to take away loneliness especially from the elderly. 

            My favorite scripture is Moroni 7:47-48 “But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.”

Erika Simburger

Our September spotlight is Erika Simburger.  Her favorite hymn is "I Know That My Redeemer Lives".  She is going to school right now and is most grateful for her husband, family, and friends who help her get to church. Some interesting facts about Erika and her husband are; they met at an airport setting up Hot Air Balloons, he proposed to her on the Christmas Train to Leavenworth, and they got married at Mt. Rainier.  They also love bicycling, hiking, and backpacking together.  If Erika had 30 minutes of free time she would most likely be caught riding her bicycle.  In fact, her perfect day would be spent bicycling 60 - 80 miles, spending time with her husband and doing NO homework.   A talent that she would like to develop some day is Patience.  A pet peeve she has is when someone is sniffling and would rather they just blew their nose :)  A chore she doesn't love is Laundry. Her favorite flower is her mom, Carol Flower and.... The best vacation she has ever had was her honeymoon in New Zealand!  So glad to have you in the ward Erika!

Lauren Underwood

Our August 2017 spotlight is Lauren Underwood.  Her calling is junior nursery leader, which SHE LOVES because the kids are all so sweet and loving and it’s fun for her to see them learn new things.

Lauren is grateful for her husband (Bryan), her son (Sean) and having her family close.  Her son Sean is 5 years old and starting Kindergarten soon! She also has a dog named Jake who is Karelian Bear Dog/ German Shepard mix and is best friends with Sean.

Her family likes to camp, do road trips and take random roads so they can get lost (Lauren gets lost but her husband is like a walking map so they are never really lost). 😊 They have found some really interesting and beautiful places doing that.  They also like to go to the beach and look for creatures.  Lauren loves to go look for rocks and dig for geodes, finding out how pretty some of them are inside. 

Lauren’s hobbies are gardening, crafting and testing out DIY recipes, sometimes with very interesting results.

If she won a million dollars, she would buy a ranch somewhere in the middle of nowhere so she could have lots and lots of animals, have a huge garden patch and watch the wild animals wander through.

Her favorite flower is the dahlia because she thinks they are a happy flower and they are in all different beautiful colors.

Her favorite dinner food is anything Mexican.  She said, “I mean come on-it's Mexican!”

Thanks for sharing and helping us get to know you Lauren!  So glad you’re in our ward!

Amy Duvall

Our July 2017 spotlight is Amy Duvall She was just recently called to be the 2nd counselor in the Young Women presidency.  She also works in building maintenance for a school district, maintaining the fire extinguishers and is on the painting crew. 

Amy’s parents live in Brier, her younger brother lives in Marysville and her sister and brother-in-law with her two absolutely adorable nephews (5 years and 2 years old) live in Vermont.

Among the things Amy enjoys doing are reading and rock climbing.  An interesting fact about her is that she did a triathlon a number of years ago and is working to do one again! 

If she could have a personal chauffeur, chef, maid, or hair stylist free for a year, she would choose a chauffeur, as she feels it would be great to not think or worry about driving!!

Some of her favorite things are; Her favorite flowers are dahlias, Favorite Movie is The Four Feathers 2002, Favorite hymn: #99 Nearer Dear Savior to Thee, and one of her many of favorite scriptures is Isaiah 40:28-31.

“Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

           

Here are some books Amy would recommend:

Fictional - In Conquest Born by C. S. Friedman.

Spiritual - Being Enough by Cheiko Okazaki;

Nonfictional - Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham and For Those with Empty Arms by Emily Adams

We are so happy to have Amy in our ward!

Erica Saunders

Erica Saunders is our June 2017 Spotlight.   Erica just received a new calling and is now serving as the 1st counselor in the Relief Society presidency. She is most grateful for her family. She has three children and two grandchildren and loves being a grandma. She is currently working as a competitive gymnastics coach but has many years’ experience as a preschool gymnastics director. Her youngest child was a competitive gymnast for 12 years and was a level 10 gymnast for three years. She started coaching at The Little Gym to get her free gymnastics. Her favorite flower is Hydrangea and her favorite song is "Where Can I Turn for Peace".

Erica and Marv Saunders just celebrated their 3^rd Anniversary.  Below she shares her proposal story in her own words:

“When we dated and knew we would marry, I told him I would want a real proposal with a ring and done in a romantic way that took some thought (In my first marriage it I was proposed to in a rather tacky way and with no ring-I wasn't even really sure I was being proposed to).

Marvin and I looked at rings so that he knew what I liked but we decided that he would choose a ring for me, one that he liked too and that it would be a surprise.

I knew he ordered a ring. I was anxious and nosy and kept asking questions. He told me one day at dinner that he wanted to take me out to breakfast the next day but said the ring hadn't come in yet so it wouldn't be this weekend that he would be proposing. I believed him even though it was suspicious that he wouldn't tell me where we were going and it was a place that took reservations… for breakfast!!!

We were planning to attend the temple after breakfast. As we were driving I had a feeling that we were going to Salish Lodge. I was right. Also unbeknownst to him, as he was driving I noticed a square bulge in his right pants pocket that was unmistakingly a ring box! I can't tell you how excited I was. I didn't say a thing and just waited…wondering when, where, and how he would do it. He reserved the largest private table with the best view of the falls. The weather was beautiful and the falls were breathtaking (there would be a snow storm later that evening!). 

He was so nervous. There were times he started to say something but didn't. Later he told me he never knew when the waitress would come in and didn't want to ruin the moment. He finally slid his chair from the table and got on one knee and pulled out the box and said some beautiful words to me. It was the best day ever!

He kicks himself to this day that it wasn't a complete surprise. But I loved that I knew it was coming. I would not of had it any other way!”

(We're so glad she said yes and moved into our ward!)

Rebekah Ethington

Our May 2017 spotlight sister is Rebekah Ethington.  She has been blessed with many talents, one of which is that she can play the flute. Her favorite hymns to play are Be Still My Soul and I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go.

            Speaking of going places, an interesting place she has visited is Germany, where she got to go visit her Dad for Christmas when she was 12 years old.  She has also lived in an interesting place or two.  When she was 18 she moved to O'Neill, Nebraska, a 1sq mile town. Her Great Grandma had lived there for over 50 years and the Church was a small Branch without a Young Women's program. She was given the choice to go to RS or be Primary President /teacher /activities leader.  She chose the latter and her grandma would help her out when more children came for holidays. 

            She graduated high school in O'Neill and added to the long list of family members to graduate from the town’s alma mater. Later Rebekah continued her education and got her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Master’s Degree in Teaching.

            If she could have any super power it would be that she could be in two places at once.  This superpower would probably help her enjoy, even more, the many hobbies she is interested in.  These hobbies include: crocheting, playing flute, watching old movies, playing Scrabble, dancing, swimming, bowling, volunteering, and recently - Zumba.

            She is going to get her Zumba Basics instructor training in June and will be certified.  Then in September (anniversary month of losing her leg) she will get her Zumba Gold instructor training and get more certification to be an instructor for nursing homes and Adult Family Homes and Senior Centers where she can find interest. 

            When stuck in bed the past few years she decided to put her crocheting skills to use.  She started to crochet things for charity, mostly outfits for stuffed toys and donate to hospitals, shelters, etc.  After about a year she decided to create a nonprofit organization to do it.  That is when she came up with, and developed, Rebekah's Crochet Corner.  

            Rebekah’s favorite flowers are roses and if she had a theme song it would be the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song.  If given the choice to have a maid, chauffeur, or hair dresser free for a year, she would definitely choose a chauffeur. If she won $1 million dollars she would buy a big house with 4 bedrooms, a craft room, a den, an office for herself, a kitchen, living room, an elevator and a system that makes everything capable of voice activation like the doors, lights, curtains etc.   She would also make a dance studio/party room in the basement.  

            She was able to meet a TV Star when she was volunteering for the YWCA in 2011.  She met Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show mom) and spent 5 minutes alone talking with her before anyone else arrived to the VIP meeting.

            Rebekah’s birthday is December 14th so she likes to celebrate by going to a holiday Church dance or holiday Church party - No stress of hosting, sending out thank you cards for gifts etc.  Hehe.  (She might have to celebrate it a little early this year with the ward on Dec. 9^th)

            We feel very blessed to have such a talented sister in our ward, Thanks for helping us get to know you a little better Rebekah!