The Dirty Truth About My In-Laws

Well, it's time to state the facts about this family I married into, and reveal the kind of people they really are.
A few weeks ago, Spencer needed soil samples for one of his high school classes.  He was supposed to bring in at least one sample from somewhere outside of Arizona.  He immediately thought of his grandparents, who are currently serving a full-time mission in Alaska, so he contacted them and asked if they might be able to help.
These are two very busy people who are spending their days taking care of the needs of all of the younger missionaries also serving in Alaska--feeding them in large numbers on a regular basis, making sure they have housing arrangements, sorting their hundreds of letters...  Do they really have time to go around digging up dirt and figuring out how to mail it to AZ for a 15-year-old boy to study?
Their answer:  Absolutely!  And not only did they find him some soil, they had to travel to find it, they took pictures of where the soil samples were gathered, and even wrote a letter to his teacher explaining exactly where the samples came from.  They dropped everything to make sure that this boy would have what he needed, when he needed it, and where he needed it.  Here's the letter his Grandma sent:

January 22, 2013

Mr. Hartfield,

I am Spencer Ferrin’s Grandmother and we are in Anchorage, Alaska.  The ground is so frozen we had to be a little creative to get to some soil!

Sample #1 was from under a stairway quite protected with a large tree overhead.  It was gathered from right in Anchorage.

Sample #2 was from a small town called Hope.  Hope is 88 miles south of Anchorage.  We had to drive a distance to find unfrozen ground.  The sample was from under a large tree as you can see in the picture and actually seems a lot like mulch. 

I hope these samples will help you in your class.

Diana Ferrin
3250 Strawberry Road
Anchorage, AK   99502

I can't say I ever remember crying over dirt before (unless maybe it got in my eye) =), but when I saw this letter it brought tears to my eyes.  I can't say enough good about these wonderful people, who always put family first, no matter how busy they are.  If it's important to one of their children or grandchildren, it's important to them.  Period.
The legacy they're creating for their posterity will not be forgotten--a legacy of love, of putting family first, and of caring about the little things.
So, there's the dirt on my in-laws!  =)