November 7, 1982 Billings, Montana

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

This has been a special week and week-end and we have renewed spirits to do a good job here. Jeannie and her little family have been with us and when we came home tonight this big house seemed so quiet and empty. Bob went to Salt Lake on Wednesday for an interview at the University of Utah Medical Center and stayed with Ann & Ron until Friday afternoon and then he flew to Billings - he got here about 3:30 and Daddy and I had to go to Great Falls about 6:00. John and Bob went deer hunting Saturday morning (they didn't get one) and then they drove up to Great Falls and spent Saturday night with us in a motel and then Bob left from there to fly to Little Rock and Johnny drove back to Billings. It was wonderful to visit with Bob and we appreciate so much having him come out of his way to see us, even if he could only stay one day. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he will get his internship in Utah - wouldn't that be super!!!!! We loved having Jeannie and the children too and it was so special to see that little Mary Ann fill out and do so well - I will miss going to the little park close by the mission home Ricky and Barji. I have at least one million things to do and I guess that's good so I won't "yearn" for home and family too much. We're sorry we missed you Rick - Brenda said you came in about six last night and left this morning about 9:30 so I'm sure you have had enough driving for a while. We will be so anxious to hear about the developments on your new home - it will be so much fun for you to watch it be built.

Annie and Roy - Bob said you two had a ball together in Boston - how fun!!!! Bob brought your "huge" Christmas package Ann and we can hardly wait to put it under the tree. We are all amazed at how you get so many things done - you're over a month early for Christmas and you have also done a lot of your shopping for Susanna & Jessie too - that's great!! Bob said your new van is "out of the world" - I'll bet you're really enjoying it - it's perfect for your family. Bob was so impressed with the way you discipline your children - we think Jean does a good job with hers too. Discipline is an ever growing thing - it would be so much easier to just let them do anything they wanted to. Bob also loved your breakfasts - Cream of Wheat and bacon - he loved being with you all. Roy - we hope you will let us know about your interview plans - is school any easier? It's hard to believe this is your last year in Rhode Island. We hope we'll have snow for you for Christmas vacation - surely we will!!!

They had Stake Conference in Great Falls this weekend and then we had our zone conference yesterday - it must have been 30º in the church buildings and we couldn't turn on the heat. I sat from 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. just freezing to death in one building and then we moved to another one and we sat from 4:00 until 8:00 in an equally cold one - I couldn't believe it. It really was my own fault - it has been beautiful in Billings so I just wore a dress with a jacket and everyone else had big heavy coats on. I have learned that now with this new rule that the individual units pay their own utility bills we won't have any heat in the buildings for our missionary meetings. I will be prepared for the rest of the Winter. They told us they were expecting 16º in Great Falls tonight. Elder Hartman Rector Jr. was their General Authority and he was really good - he spoke at five different meetings and just had his audience spellbound. Daddy spoke today also and did a great job - he spoke for a few minutes last night too. He is having problems with one of the missionaries up there - he wants to go home - so Elder Rector talked to him. He told Elder Rector he would stay and then when he talked to Daddy he said he wanted to go home - Daddy is going to change his companion and maybe that will help. Keeping all the missionaries happy is really something - we have one Elder who calls Daddy every single day for reinforcement and it gets old!!!!

Johnny saw a big five point buck tonight on his way home from Great Falls - he wanted to shoot it but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to get it home so he didn't. He is so anxious to get a deer. Daddy is going to try to find time to go with him and help him. He really loves his job - I worry a little about his grades but he will get a report card soon so we'll know how he's doing. His boss says he won't be able to work if he doesn't get good grades or if he starts to miss seminary - he's so smart that he doesn't need to study a lot but I also don't think he cares if he gets Bs and Cs and we can't have that. He is the sweetest young man in the world.

Jeannie, I can't believe all the cleaning you did before you left this morning - you really didn't need to do that. I leave Tuesday and will be gone most of the week so Brenda said she would help me with all the Elder's laundry in the morning and I told her I wanted to change the linen in the room you used too and then when I went to get it, it was all done. Thanks so much. She said you have lost a thermos too - please tell us what it looked like so we can look for it - I'm sure it's around here some where. Rick - thanks so much for bringing all that wheat - the mission home will pay you for that. I'm anxious to make bread with it because when we took it to Little Rock we loved it. When Ricky and Barji get a little older you will want to start making whole wheat bread for them so remember where you got it.

I keep meeting people from Brigham City and it's so fun but I have a hard time placing them in age where they should be. We had a cute couple come into the mission home the other day - Daddy and Johnny had been to their ranch deer hunting several weeks ago and Daddy told me the wife was related to Boyd Munns - when I talked to her I asked her if she was his sister and it turned out he is her father - I was embarrassed. She was real sweet though and I hope she realizes that I remember Boyd when he was her age. Boyd is a brother to Alta Munns husband and it was fun to visit with her about Alta and her family. Last week at our Couples Conference a Dale Anderson came up to me and asked me if I had brothers, Dee and Don. He is the Welfare Services Director in Missoula - he said he used to sing in a quartet with Lamoyne Frost and graduated with Dee and Don.

I can't think of any more news - we really love our mission - there are far more problems than we ever thought there would be but we are growing and we hope we'll learn more about how to cope with things. We're thinking about spending our Thanksgiving and Christmas days with the Lamanites - I'm not sure yet but Bro. Dunn wants Daddy and I to visit each Lamanite family in our Mission and leave a blessing in their home and that would be a good start. We took Jeannie to Lame Deer and she couldn't believe what it is like - the church wants to put about $200,000 into each one of the chapels on our reservations to make them more economical to heat and cool - they say they built those chapels to fill them up and not to shut them up. We can tell they are very serious about the Lamanites blossoming as a rose so we should be able to do our part.

The Stake President in Great Falls has a son who just went to the Philippines on his mission - he brought a picture of him to show us today and he is with our friends, President and Sister Allen Price from Brigham City who preside over that Mission. It was fun to see the picture - they're all in shirtsleeves and there are palm trees in the background.

That's all for now - we love each of you so very much - please let us know if we can help you in any way and PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO!!!!!

P.S. I forgot to say how wonderful we thought Bob looked - Wow! If we were looking for someone to fill a very important spot we wouldn't hesitate in trying to get him for it. He wore a gorgeous new suit and looked as sharp as a tack - of course, when we told him that, he gave Claire all the credit for it so we're proud of you Claire.
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