October 24, 1982
Billings, Montana

Dearest Roy, Bob, Claire & Michael, Rick, Jean, Ricky, Barbara Jean & Mary Ann and Ron, Ann, Susanna, Jessie and Russell,

It's kinda' dumb to include Jean and Rick in the salutation because they're here with us in Billings but I know they'll want to read it - Ha!

Today is Susanna's birthday and we have heard all about her wonderful birthday party she had yesterday - Ricky has said one hundred times, Susanna was a witch!!! He and Barji loved the party though and they showed us their Big Bird and Cookie Monster costumes. I loved hearing about the party too and appreciated so much your phone call, Annie, Susanna, we're so sorry you didn't receive our package in time.

Tomorrow is Roy's birthday and we hope you have a really happy one - I can't believe you're twenty-five years old but we're surely proud of you and will think of you all day. Roy's plans for San Antonio didn't work out and Daddy and I feel that was an answer to our prayers ever though he was disappointed. We felt you would be selling yourself short just to have it easy financially for a few years. We are so anxious to hear now about your plans for residency interviews and we stand ready to help you in anyway possible.

Bob - Daddy has been near tears since having you call and tell us you had wanted to be in Billings on Nov. 6th. The Stake President in Great Falls called a month ago to make sure we knew about their Stake Conference and to invite Daddy to speak and to attend special meetings in connection with their conference so Daddy made plans to have our missionary zone conference there at the same time. Jeannie will be here so we're hoping you'll still plan to come - we'd like to have you come to Great Falls with us and then fly to Little Rock from there - Daddy is going to call you n the morning. Claire, we really loved your wonderful, newsy letter - sorry to hear about the Smithers having to sell their home at a reduced price and we hope things will work out for them - they are special friends. Glad that Dana Woods husband finally got a job at Timex - wouldn't that be hard to work for your father in law when you couldn't find anything else? We will be so interested in all your internship interviews - we stand ready to help you too in any way possible. I can imagine how expensive all these trips for interviews are going to be. Wouldn't it be wonderful if both you and Roy could intern at the University of Utah Medical Center - I wish we could pull some strings for you!!!!

Johnny has been so excited because Daddy said he could go deer hunting - we're going to buy him an out of Stake license and he and Daddy will go to a private area that is owned by a Mormon family. Daddy had originally said the mission home elders could all go but then he began to have second thoughts - I guess that isn't quite cricket!!!! They're going to go "sight in" a gun that Jeannie brought from Lehi (it's Johnny's that he didn't bring) tomorrow and then go hunting on Tuesday.

Jeannie and Rick got here about 2 o'clock this morning - it was so funny. They had said they would be here around midnight so I sat in the kitchen downstairs waiting for them until ten minutes to 2 and then I decided they had stopped some place so I came to bed - I had been in bed about five minutes when they came. That little Mary Ann is a doll but she is so tiny that it scares me - she seems really healthy - Jean is going to find a pediatrician here and take her to a doctor tomorrow to have her checked again. Little Ricky and Barji are having a ball with the elders and this big house - I took them to the park today for a little while and we had a fun time - today has been too exciting for them but they'll settle down and have fun. They sat at the big table with us tonight and ate tostados.

This has been our busy week (Ha! - they're all busy) - we had six new missionaries come in last Wednesday and that is always a big deal - we have a big fancy dinner and then orientation that last about two hours at night. We have some good ones though - one is a lady from Ogden who has taught first grade for thirteen years - she's really stout but she has a beautiful spirit and testimony of the gospel - Daddy sent her to Casper, Wyoming.

Thursday was our transfer day - many of the missionaries were transferred to other areas and then we had twelve come in to go home. We served fifty-five missionaries during the day and twenty eight for a sit down formal dinner - then Daddy has a kinda' "deprogramming for them that lasts a couple hours. They didn't settle down all night - we has six sisters sleep in the bedrooms next to ours and they talked and giggled all night - one of the elders going home short sheeted all the beds in the elders' room and then put chocolate in the showers. Daddy was upset and said he wasn't going to give them temple recommends until the morning they leave after this - he usually gives them to them the night before.

I guess this weekend has been our biggest disappointment of our whole four months and I hope the biggest one we will ever have on our mission. During the interviews with one of the lady missionaries who was going home she confined in Daddy that there was an "undercover newspaper being printed by a group of our missionaries - she said she thought too much of him to not tell him about it. When he investigated he found out that it started in July right after our first zone conference and has been published four times - you wouldn't believe some of the articles!!!! To make matters worse one of the mission home elders has been in on it and had copies of the newspaper and had written articles for it - they all have code names. Daddy found out who the ring leader was and he is in Miles city so Daddy left early Friday to go talk to him - he wouldn't tell him who else was involved and was quite cocky about it. Miles City is about two hundred miles from here so Daddy didn't get back until late Friday. Saturday was the start of Stake Conference for the East Billings Stake and Russell Ballard was the General Authority visiting so Daddy took the copies of the newspaper to show him and ask his advice - Bro. Ballard was simply aghast and advised Daddy to send all of them home. Today he had five Elders who are involved in it fly into Billings at their own expense so he could interview them - he has found there are nine involved altogether. Bro. Ballard took the newspaper with him back to Salt Lake so he could show them to the missionary committee and get their advice - Daddy will hear tomorrow about what to do. He is going to disfellowship and send home the ring leader if he can get permission - this Elder is from Logan. All of this reminds us of the Gadianton Robbers in the Book of Mormon. At our first Zone Conference this ring leader came in a suit he had bought at Goodwill for a dollar and it was really almost comical - Daddy emphasized the importance of looking our best - confidentially he told the missionaries that if they needed help in buying new suits to come to him for help (actual this ring leader has plenty of money and some nice suits). One of the articles in the news-paper was about all of this and quoted the scripture that says we should avoid vanity and pay more attention to things spiritual. They had articles about Bro. Dunn and called him Bro. Loren (his first name). Another of the members of the "gang" had a permanent and quite long hair at our first zone conferences and Daddy insisted that he get it cut the next day. The whole thing is just a form of rebellion - we understand there was a newspaper like this about two years ago and evidently the Mission President just called them in and talked to them without getting advice from Salt Lake. Just about all of the missionaries involved only have two or three months left on their missions and now they will receive dishonorable discharges and go home early - really sad!!!! The thing I feel the worst about is our Mission Home Elder - he is such a nice young man - from Kaysville and his folks are friends of Ellen Mae and Mel's - he has written quite a few articles for it under the code name of "Buffalo Bob" and he has had the papers in the home and hasn't let Daddy know about them. He was supposed to go on tour with another Elder this week throughout the mission to inspect all the cars and he was so excited - now he is going to have to be replaced here in the home and may even have to go home. One of the assistants to Daddy was telling me last night that the ring leader is a very sharp individual but a young man who hasn't had very many successes in his life and doesn't know how to relate to people (that kind of surprised me - I didn't think he had a brain in his whole head).

I went to a fireside tonight with the Idaho Falls Temple President (actually, I went to hear them speak). They were just wonderful - Pres. and Sister Harris. Today was the Stake Conference in one of the stakes here and Daddy gave a wonderful talk - Bro. Ballard was the authority and he really is good. We have some wonderful opportunities and we really love our mission - we are grateful for the opportunity to grow personally too - experiences like this newspaper make us realize that we have been too lenient and kind - now we must be more stride and firm. We'll let you know what advice we get from Salt Lake. Please don't talk about too much - I probably tell you all more than I really should - that way I get it off my mind.

We love each one of you so very much - PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO - wish we will help you soon!!!
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