Familial Research and Development

Dove and I wandered into the McNaughton Fine Art Gallery and walked around. There was a huge painting he had been working on-it was about 6 feet wide and 4 ½ feet tall. It was really huge. He had left his apron hanging on the corner of it. I asked the girl there about how close to being done it was. She said he had worked on it yesterday and that he’d be back on Friday and that it was pretty close to being done. I asked how much it would cost, $80,000. Okay-that just a tiny bit outside of our price range. The image was awesome. It showed Christ in the center, dressed in robes and a cloak of white. There was a gold tree (branches and trunk-no leaves) on his chest. Behind him were people who had lived. On Christ’s right hand were everyday people, all ages, ethnic backgrounds, the soldier was holding a folded flag (of a comrade or of a family member), one man was holding a Holy Bible; on Christ’s left hand was a Supreme Court Justice in his robes, kneeling and crying in tears-scattered at...

Father’s day is coming up and I’ve been racking my brain (well, for a few moments once in a while) trying to come up with something for David. I finally thought of something-he lost his wedding band about a year ago. I only really noticed how long it’s been about a month ago. I’m sure he told me about it, but he loses things and then they reappear eventually so I didn’t think much about it. No, he’s lost this one really good. It was kind of nice. It was a silver ring with 3 turquoise stones in it. He liked it and so did I. Argh! So I was thinking maybe just buying him a wedding band-not that he’s so hot to look at that he needs one to ward off all the young chicks-but that we are both used to wearing them. Hmmmm… A couple days ago he had his wallet out and was examining it like he was checking to see how worn out it was and I said, “Oh so you’re thinking you need a new wallet for Father’s Day, eh? I was thinking of getting you a new wedding band.” Oh, no, no, no-I don’t need a new wall...

I love flowers. I love roses. I love peonies. Last year my peonies budded and something ate them up and I had no pretty big puffy pinkness for my home. This year I took a stroll around the yard a couple weeks ago and saw that my peonies were budding. Wohoo! Promises of prettiness to come. But what was that I saw? Something diving in at the buds. Yellow Jackets! They were eating the buds. That's why I had no blooms last year. Now I knew who the culprit was. I grabbed my bag of granulated pesticide and I poured some over my plants! Today, two weeks later I went walking past my peonies and they were blooming in gratitude for their rescue from the voracious yellow jackets. I thought I'd share my fortune with you: Was this micro-managing on my part? I don't think so. I was gardening!

I watched my sister-in-law raise her children. I didn't closely associate with her, doing things together, asking how she handled one issue or another so it wasn't until recently (with all hers and my children grown adults) that I came to realize she's a micro-manager. Funny how I never picked up on that when I was a young (pup)mother. I never really thought much about mothering styles. In my mind a mother was a mother was a mother. They may have different tolerance/patience/preference/talent/skill levels and abilities, but they're all still moms. Basically. Oh how WRONG I was! Now that I've worked in offices and have really seen different manager styles I'm coming to understand and see that there are different mothering styles as well. I hate the micro-manager-absolutely loathe, detest, abhor . Yip-that about sums it up. And through all of the General Conferences I listened to, I never once got the impression that a mom should be a micro-manager. So I never did...

My dad did a lot of things right-taught a lot of correct principles. I didn't always agree with his methods-but then that in itself taught me the concept of there's more than one way to skin a cat. One concept my dad taught was being a debtor. When you ride in someone's car you are using their gas and adding additional wear and tear to their car-you owe them. A thanks, a bit of change (back then gas was nineteen cents per gallon), perhaps a promise to show up and do some labor for them. They were working to pay for their car and gas and insurance-the least you could do was pay your share, carry your part of the load. I was still in the mode of 'I'm a guest in your house therefore I owe you. I'm eating your food, taking up your space, etc.' So I would find things to do-to clean or clean up. This leads to two stories. Weeding the Strawberry Patch Dove's parents were living in Murray and had a strawberry patch in the backyard at the end of the driveway. We ...

This story is more about understanding my level of maturation, growth, development, perspective... that kind of thing. You know what I'm talking about... "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." 1 Corinthians 13:11 - 13 That becoming a man, becoming an adult. It doesn't just happen in the blink of an eye. It happens line upon line, precept on precept, here a little and there a little. Case in point. Our first born was only a couple months old. We went to visit David's parents. We went to Sunday School with them that morning. This was pre block-schedule so we would be going again later in the day for Sacrament meeting (Primary and Rel...

I fed the dogs every night and cleaned up their poop. I asked why me and not my older brother or younger sister. I was told because the dogs liked me. By the age of 10 I was doing the dishes, by hand of course. I also cleared off, wiped and set the table. For my 11th birthday the added responsibility of sweeping the carpet was added. For my 12th birthday I started cooking weekend breakfasts. I also made school lunches for everyone before I went to bed at night-and dads lunch for work. For my 13th birthday I started doing the laundry. For the whole family. With a wringer washer. We had a solar dryer-clothes line and clothes pins in the back yard. For my 14th birthday I fixed dinner every night. I would be sent out to weed in the garden whenever it was needed. I would be sent to the grocery store to get the one or two things that were needed. When Barbara went she’d ask Mom if she could keep the change. I asked Mom once if I could. She said no. Well, why was Barbara allowed to? She is on...

The greatest world event which changed my life happened through Joseph Smith. He sought and received answers to his prayers as to which of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s church to join. Without this single event, my life would have been a total waste.

Miss Hanmore, my second grade teacher, using popsicle sticks, taught me to add and subtract. Mrs. Harris taught me the love of reading reading. Mrs. Diller (the Killer) taught me that not all adults who are strict, are mean. The single, most important education influence I ever felt was from my elementary school Principal, Richard Boaden. He’s the one who understood my needs and helped me fill them. He knew I was stealing others lunch money to buy food at school—he brought me into his office and gave me two cookies and sent me to the cafeteria to get a milk every day. He offered me the opportunity to pick up pieces of garbage off of the playground. He would sell ice creams on the playground and so would hand me an empty box. When I brought it back full of garbage, he gave me an ice cream. He let me work in the school lunch room when I was in 4th grade, unheard of for a 4th grader, to earn my lunch. This continued through 5th and 6th grades as well.

Values I need to be met and to meet in a loving, eternal relationship: 1) consistency 2) understanding 3) empathy 4) respect 5) the verbal sharing of feelings 6) devotion to God 7) desire and ongoing program to help children develop into thinking, caring, feeling, responsible individuals 8) moderate interest in finding out about and applying healthy lifestyle 9) applying the principles and teahings of the Gospel to my and in my everyday life 10) PATIENCE 11) simple, orderly, clean and financially unattached lifestyle These are my valuations-you make up your own list!

I got this from my Career Skills teacher, Karen Pool. She got it from her reading-she does a whole lot of it. When a child is about 4 years old you should begin the marshmallow test. It should be repeated every six months or so as the child will learn from it’s subtleness. Children who eventually pass, retest repeatedly, and those who pass repeatedly again tend to not go into debt and do much better in life through relationships as well as financially. So for caring parents the motivation is there to employ the marshmallow test. Set the child at the kitchen table and explain to them that you’re going to give them the marshmallow test. There is no right or wrong answer. Place two saucers on the table. Open the bag of marshmallows and let the child smell the freshly opened bag. Have the child count with you as you place one marshmallow on one plate and four marshmallows on the 2nd plate. Put the bag of marshmallows away. Explain to the child that you are going to place the plate with fou...

I hate this one. Who in their right mind wants to divulge this one? You judge which is the worst. At Christmas I was opening my presents (I was age 13) at Grandma Nelson’s home. The way my Dad wanted to do it was you were handed one, you opened it and showed it to everyone. I opened my first bra. Another, at Grand Central Department Store in Orem and needing to use the restroom I walked into the men’s room. (I’ve done that a couple of other times-but worse is when you’re starting to leave the room and some guy is accidentally walking into the wrong restroom!-yeah, I’ve had that happen.) What about passing a car on the freeway because they’re annoyingly slow and then I realize that I’m speeding. Then I pull over in front of them and slow down. Putting away a gift and forgetting where I put it. Telling the same story to the same person, for the umpteenth time. Having part of my dress stuck in my pantyhose so my dress doesn’t hang right in back as I’m leaving the locker room in the Provo ...

I stand amazed at young men and their willingness to leave the woman and family they love so dearly to serve in the military. The military life is not an easy one. It is not a sure or safe one. Yet I see this happen again and again. My dad, my father-in-law, my great-great-great grandfather, and further back on David’s line; these men have all been willing to leave family and serve their country.

Well, so far there is. You see Jammin' used to write letters at least once a week and when she had easy access to e-mail she would e-mail nearly daily. This went on for a good six years. I printed them. Now I'm putting them in a three-hole punch and putting them in binders. I delivered one. There was a laugh. There was an 'oh my'. And then I related some of the stories, the memories that were contained therein. Hmmm... So this morning I was working on the second binder. I will deliver that one today. It had an interesting story in it which I had totally forgotten-superfluous information tends to be forgotten. Just Altogether Courageous and I worked at the same place. We were ready early. The car was backed out and being a gentleman he raced around the car to open the door for me. The car was parked in the driveway. No duh you say!? Well, the driveway was inclined. The car door gently closed and then you could hear it latch. Yip! We were locked out. We called the city, t...

PERSPECTIVE From a really BIG fish. Yip. I think that's what I would think IF I was living near the beach around the Sea of Arabia a few hundred years ago. I think that because I'm sure I would have seen dried and rotting carcasses from animals and would have seen their bones. If I was living near the beach I would probably have fish as part of my diet and would have been familiar with fish bones. But when I would see these things, I probably would have had a fear, having heard stories from others about HUGE fish in the great, nearly bottomless depths of the sea and I would probably draw a very wrong conclusion. Well half wrong. Here are the 'bones': My dear friend 'Heifer' recently visited the Sea of Arabia and knowing I collect tiny bottles of sand from any and everywhere she brought back a water bottle filled with sand and a few sea shells. Among the shells were these coral pieces. Who knows where the tides brought them from. As I was cleaning them off and ...

Oh my gosh! I couldn't believe my ears this morning when I saw that on the news. Of course, TV can only 'dedicate' so many seconds so I had to turn to the Internet to see more. It brought back the memory of bouncing a ball on the playground at Monroe Elementary and watching the white ashes that covered the playground fly away momentarily. Santa Barbara wasn't burning that time. I think it was called the Coyote fire. It had come up through the mountains from the south being pushed by the Santa Ana winds. This time they said the winds are from the north and they don't know the cause, as yet. This morning the TV announcer said that more than 13,000 people are evacuated from their homes in the hills above Santa Barbara. Oh my gosh! I wonder about Brooks Institute of Photography. Yeah-looking at the map it is in mandatory evacuation. That means so is my alma mater SBHS. I found a map of the evacuated area. It may even involve the chapel where I was baptized!

I loved this song. It was sung by Brett Raymond and it gave me a tremendous sense of where young men need to center themselves. The whole tape (yes, I have a cassette) is great, but this song speaks volumes. I played it often when my boys were teens-as much for me as for them. My youngest son even sang it at a program once-ah heaven-maybe some of it was getting where I really wanted it to go! The Measure of a Man comes from the album of the same name. It is by Clive Romney and friends. I have the hologram sticker that came with it. On the back of the jacket to the cassette case it says: "Though beautiful in any light, this holographic cover is most beautiful when viewed by the light of the sun. Life, likewise, is most beautiful when viewed by the light of the Son. Try it!" Is it the width of your shoulders how tall you stand Or how far you tip the scale The size of your biceps the strength of your hands Your prowess in games of skill Is it the style of your hair, the way that...

Everyone ought to have a house hunting/house buying story, right?! Of course right. So here's ours. We had been married for 13 years, our oldest (of six) child was 12 years. There was a contractor in the ward (David Gill). We talked with him. He had a set of house plans that we could use. He would work with us and let us do sweat equity. Then we found a piece of property. We put our tax returns down as earnest money on the property (off of 4th South in Springville) and then started working with a bank to get a loan. The property owner had to make improvements on the property before we could break ground-this according to the lending institution. He drug his feet. Several months past by. Three major things were going on at this point. I had adopted an exercise routine (jogging five miles/day), I was working at ZCMI, and we were trying to get into a house. Finally, when it had almost been a year and the property owner had still not done his part, and when my baby (now almost three ye...

Well, that's what mama called it. I have NO clue where she got the idea to make it. She called it that because it was whipped up so much it was dreamy. She made up a large package of Jell-O (generally a red one) and left it in the fridge until it was half set. Then she took her favorite stainless steel mixing bowl (with rounded sides into the bottom-no corners) and blended (with her little Hamilton Beach hand mixer) 1 cup of sugar and one can of evaporated milk. I guess the same way you blend cream and sugar-until there was no more granulated sugar. Once this blend of milk and sugar had taken form she then poured the half-set Jell-O into it and continued blending until it was completely mixed through. One time the Jell-o had hard set and so it was kind of chunky-no amount of mixing helped. Generally when the mixture was completely blended there was so much air whipped into it that it had about doubled in size. Then she'd put the bowl back into the fridge and let it set up. She...

Santa Barbara High School, I graduated in 1972. It was in my junior year we voted as a school to allow girls to wear slacks to school. That's right. The school dress code up until this time required you to wear dresses. 'Santa Barbara High School, "Home of the Dons," is a high school in Santa Barbara, California. It is part of the Santa Barbara School Districts. The school was established in 1875, and was designated an official California and City historic landmark in November 2005. The school's newspaper, The Forge, has been in continuous publication since 1914, the second oldest high school newspaper in California.' (thanks Wikipedia) I loved the architecture of the building. After looking at some online pictures (thanks Google) I remember my locker being in one of the outside halls-covered with a roof, but still it was outside. I also remember going into a two-story facade to go downstairs to the girls locker room, change clothes and either go jump on the t...

My favorite childhood songs were the ones my mama taught me. 1) One day as I was seated on the subway, my high silk hat, my high silk hat; I laid it on the seat beside me, my high silk hat, my high silk hat; A big (sung in deep voice) fat lady came and sat upon it, my high silk hat, my high silk hat (sung in high pitch tiny voice); A big (sung in deep voice) fat lady came and sat upon it, my high silk hat, my high silk hat (sung in high pitch tiny voice); Christopher Columbus now what do you think of that? A big fat lady sat upon my hat! She broke my hat, now what’s the joke? She broke my hat, now what’s the joke? Christopher Columbus now what do you think of that? 2) The golden sun sinks in the west, Great Spirit calls all scouts to rest. We’ve had our work, We’ve had our play And we have lived, The true scout way. Upon my honor, I will try, To do my duty, To God on high, To help all other people out, And live the life of a real Girl Scout. 3) I had a little parasol long, long ago. A ...

Funny? Me do something funny? Stupid maybe— When I was about 3 1/2 years old I got into the sugar bowl in Louisville, KY. I had to drag a chair to the counter, climb up on the chair, climb onto the counter, open the cupboard door and then fill my mouth with sugar. Mom caught me after I got down—my mouth was as full as full could be. She asked me if I got into the sugar. I shook my head no. What’s that in your mouth? I shrugged my shoulders. She knew. I was pretty certain she knew. Not being allowed to leave our property-parents rules-I rode my bike in the backyard in Santa Barbara. I ducked my head as I rode under the wet clothes hanging on the clotheslines. I hit my teeth on the handle bars when I ducked. That's when I chipped my upper front left tooth. Yip-it's still chipped to this day. Dressed up for a Halloween party for the Independent Order of Foresters (an insurance group). Went as a hobo. It was hot in the recreation hall so I went outside to cool off. Took my hat off....

WHEN, WHERE, BY WHOM, RECEPTION, COLORS ETC. February 9, 1973, in our Branch President’s front room, by him, President Ronald C. Martin. There was no reception. There was no open house. I remembered hearing my dad complain about the wedding invitations they received. They didn’t know very well half of the people who sent them and both he and mom made comments about how the kids were just looking for life to be easy-trying to get stuff from others who didn't have half the stuff the newlyweds would be getting. Yeah-I learned first hand what it means to be poor in spirit. I wore a homemade peach dress and David wore the brown 3-piece wool suit he had from his mission. While we were in the apartment we would be living in, waiting for his parents to come; he kept pacing nervously from one window to the next. He was so nervous. They eventually arrived and followed us out to Pres. Martin’s home. David's parents brought me a corsage and David a boutonniere. Gary Butler and Cindy Huntsm...

I hear concepts and they are like puzzle pieces in my mind. Each concept fits together with another concept. Perhaps puzzle pieces are not the right analogy-as they are flat and lie on a flat surface-unless either your dog or Maytag dryer got hold of one. Think of a 3-D puzzle and then you get a better idea. Here are three puzzle pieces. I’m listening to Elder Dallin H Oaks and he just said something about how some people have erroneous thinking that LDS people follow in blind faith . Hmmm… blind faith. In the Urban Dictionary it says to see ‘stupidity’ or ‘foolish’. It also says: ‘Unquestioning of anything that is dictated by the religion of choice, no matter how foolish, or even if one "rule" (or "guideline") contradicts another.’ Okay, set that puzzle piece aside for a moment. Let’s look at another one. Blind faith touched on the edge of another puzzle piece that I’ve been mulling/pondering over- straightway . A talk given by Marvin J. Ashton in April 1983. “Stra...

SOCIAL LIFE: I was in the Usherettes-it was a club that ushered at football games and school plays. It was a click-ish kind of club and if they didn’t need me they didn’t call and let me know when there was a function. I guess I could have been more aggressive, but that’s not my style so I wasn’t. I was also on the girl’s rifle team. We didn’t compete with anyone or other schools. We just had a ball shootin’ up the rifle range of the Jr. ROTC. YOUR FRIENDS: Diana Flloyd (lunch together) Keith Kendrick (rides in to High School until I started seminary) Caroline Dansby (in a lot of classes together) Connie Placencia (went with her on her motorcycle) Kitty McNally (classes together and lunch sometimes) DANCES: I went to the Sr. Prom. I used to go to the dances we had at M-Men and Gleaners night. I also went to any Stake dances like the Gold and Green ball or the New Years Eve Ball. MOVIES: Krakatoa East of Java and really I don’t remember going to see any others DATING: I dated off and on...

This is an ugly topic. Seriously. I think my mama tempered what she’d learned from her mama. She was as strict as she needed to be. She found ways of being fair. When Dad was at the reservoir (he worked for the city water department and took a turn staying up at the reservoir) mom had me wash dishes for a week and Bob do it the next week. Each night she’d check. If we did things right we got a star—recorded on the calendar. Whoever earned the most stars earned fifty-cents. Bob, being three years older, seemed to always do better than I did with it; he usually got the fifty-cents. When dad was around she was a different story. How oft I heard her say, “You just wait ‘til your dad gets home and I tell him.” Oh, that always gave me such a sick feeling in my stomach. It was usually ugly when dad got wind of us being less than perfect. Dad was a wannabe drill sergeant. You did what he said, when he said it, and didn’t ask questions. Children were to be seen and not heard. He once told his s...

PERSONALITY, CHARACTERISTICS, STATURE, COLORING, TALENTS, TEMPERAMENT, AND STORIES ABOUT HER My mom tended to be very friendly to other people—first impressions are very important and she behaved that way. She had friends who came into her life and she never let them just move away. She would write letters (this was her preferred method to communicate across long distances) to them. Some friends wrote back. She would only write about once every four months to most of them, but her mom she wrote every couple of weeks. Her mother-in-law she wrote to about every month. I think this tells you a lot about her personality—it’s also a talent—to write and to keep friends for decades. Her stature was a large head with short (about 3”-4 long) dark loose curly hair, parted on the side and the long hairs were often held back with a clip when they started to get too long. She stayed in the house a lot. She didn’t know how to drive and bus service wasn't available on the Mesa in Santa Barbara un...

Keith Kendrick invited me to a movie. We saw, “Krakatoa, East of Java”. It was intense and frightening that the earth so steady and regular, could erupt and cause such devastation. We didn’t kiss or anything. His Mom drove us there, picked us up and brought us back. He was Catholic. I was Episcopalian. I was 14. I was not LDS and therefore was not under prophetic direction to not date until the age of 16. Perhaps because I started dating (once or twice a year) when I was 14 is why I married at age 18. I certainly know that I would have been better off in marriage had I waited another 2 years before dating. There’s something about steeling your passions for that additional two years-maybe thinking about what you really want or what’s really important just that much longer does the trick. Beginning dating is kind of like taking the brownies out of the oven 2 minutes early. They’re still wonderful, but they’d be just that much better 2 minutes later. 2 more minutes of smelling them and...

A white Ford Fairlane. It was a ’60 something. David bought it in Idaho with money he had saved up previous to his mission. When the exhaust pipe had rusted out we sold it because we couldn’t find a place in Rexburg who had a replacement. We didn’t know then that we could have found a place in Salt Lake who bends straight muffler pipes to the specs needed for any car. Dang it-we might still have that car if we had only known. The one in the picture is like the one I remember-it isn't a picture of ours-don't know if we ever took a picture of it.

My dad had finally bought a new truck-it was a little beige Datsun (since then Datsun was bought out and the new name of the company is Nissan). I had been babysitting at Louise Parsons. As I was backing out of the driveway I backed into the across-the-street-neighbors car as he was backing out of his driveway. That was when I had a driver’s license. When I still had my learners permit I had gone with my Dad and John Uribe (Dad’s friend) in John’s truck to Sacramento. They were letting me drive. We were on a highway and somewhere in some Podunk little blink twice and you’ll miss it place some old guy with an old car with big fins was going 20 mph in a 40 zone, turned his right signal on and swung far to the left. I had been taught in Drivers Ed to pull to the right if there’s a problem. Yeah-I smashed into the fins.

Uncle Herbert Victor Astley was my favorite uncle. He was my mother’s, mother’s (Grandma Flint) brother. He married Aunt Piney. She was my favorite aunt.This is what made him special to me, when our family joined the Church he and Aunt Piney (who were members-I didn’t know them up until now) came to our baptism and they gave each of us our own copy of the Book of Mormon. Later I found out how they met. She had been married twice before. One of them she was sealed to. I think one husband was abusive and the next died. What type of abuse he used, I’m not sure. Uncle Vic was a postman. She had 2 small children. She had gone to the post office and her children, as children do, were playing with the combination-dials on the post office boxes. She knew that bothered some people and was trying to discipline them without losing her place in line when Uncle Vic said it was okay, they were just acting like normal healthy kids. Her heart then softened toward him. I don’t know the rest of the deta...

Uh, yeah. Freeze tag. Heads up 7-up. Jack and the Beanstalk (hiding the chalkboard eraser and one person-‘it’- walking around the room with everyone clapping louder and faster when you got closer and quieter and slower when you were further from it.). Marbles. I loved playing marbles at recess. I was given a board game, Monopoly. I liked that. But I’d rather play store with the money. I was also given a game called “Go to the Head of the Class.” No one else wanted to play it. Finally when I could read and comprehend I would read the questions and answer them. I would sometimes play 2 or 3 players and play it myself. I even remember the commercial jingle, "You want to go to college, and gain a lot of knowledge, then you can go to the head of the class." My favorite past time at home was to take the encyclopedia and open it up and start reading. For the fun of it. The dictionary was fun too-but didn’t have as many pictures. I liked playing rummy with my mom. We'd stay up la...

That would be Aunt Piney. Napina Astley. You couldn’t be around her for more than three minutes before she’d find something to complement you on. She was a feel good Aunt. She was sharp as a tack. You couldn’t pull anything on her. She was loving and Christ-like. I loved her, admired her and look forward to joining with her again in the hereafter. Her son was Carlfred Broderick. Anytime I hear any of his talk tapes I hear her laugh. Anytime I read the marriage and family counseling books he wrote I can hear some of her nuances in his verbiage. I love to hear the stories he tells of his childhood involving his mother. The picture posted here is when she was visiting in Salt Lake with Mont and Blanch-her cousins. She called to let me know. We were living in Provo at the time. I grabbed my 2 year old (Froggy) and we high tailed it up there as quick as we could. I'm so glad I did. I don't remember getting to see her again. She eventually succumbed to metastasized breast cancer. Whe...

PERSONALITY, CHARACTERISTICS, STATURE, COLORING, TALENTS, TEMPERAMENT, FAMILY STORIES ETC. He is 5’11”, and handsome to a fault. He is a handsomely crafted man—in his early manhood—before he started putting on the inevitable weight; he was not too big and not scrawny. Brown eyes, dark, soft, curly hair and white skin which tanned handsomely. Mom would cut his hair and I would clean it up afterward-so I know his hair was soft. I never touched it on his head-that would be gross-I was his daughter. He loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing, camping, anything to do with them. He had a natural man interest in everything. He liked anything to do with Indian lore and crafts. He ran around in the summer months-at home both inside and out-with just his pants (long-never shorts) and thongs. He was always bare naked from the waist up. You could see the scars from when his spleen was removed, 2/3 of his liver and the much smaller scars from the drain tubes (a hunting accident in Kentucky). The big h...

This is almost funny. I was called in to meet with a member of the Bishopric. I showed up on time and in the meeting he said, "We called you in today to extend to you a release. From being a visiting teaching supervisor." Me, "Oh really? I've never been a visiting teaching supervisor." He, "Oh, well, sometimes I don't take good notes and so I may have this turned around wrong. Maybe I'm supposed to be calling you to this position. Just a sec, let me check." He then opens the door and asks the executive secretary if it's a calling or a releasing. The exec secretary affirms it's a calling. Neither of them said the title of the calling however. He then says to me, "Okay, we'd like to call you to be a visiting teaching supervisor." Me, "Okay." He, "Thank you. We have a busy schedule this week and realize this is important and don't want this to slip through the cracks as it were, so please if we don't so...