April 3, 1983 Billings, Montana

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

Happy Easter!!!! We are wondering what kind of weather you are having for Easter - we watched conference on television and we know our Utah family is having the typical conference weather, cold and blizzardy but we don't know about Arkansas and Rhode Island. We always sleep with our windows open and we awakened with snow on our carpet - we couldn't believe it - the wind must have blown from the North and blew the snow right in the window. It has warmed up through and there is hardly a trace that it was snowing earlier. We have enjoyed two full days of conference and that is such a treat for us to be able to get it on our television set right at home - the missionaries all come up to our apartment and we all watch it together. The talks were all so good - the emphasis on family and doing kind things for others!!!!!

Annie - guess who has the chicken pox???? I told Elder Tisdel (our missionary who said he hadn't had them) that he had lucked out with not getting them from Russell because the time was just about over for him to get them and then yesterday morning he called Daddy to go look at this back and it was covered. He has really been sick and we called the doctor and he said there wasn't anything he could do for him unless he got serious respiratory ailments and then they would have to give him some antibiotics. We have really been taking good care of him - moved him to the yellow bedroom and gave him our down comforter and have made him orange juice constantly - we have taken much better care of him than we did Russell. He has slept most of today and I just fixed dinner for him and he ate every bite - he is completely covered just like Russell was, even on his eye lids - but I think he is feeling much better. He says he is really glad to get them over with but I honestly thought he was mistaken when he said he hadn't had them. He is such a sweet young man and he is getting a lot of attention and I'm sure he will be okay in a few days. We loved your long letter and we're anxious to hear about feeding the ducks on Utah lake - your weather sounded terrible on the news.

Jeannie - we have thought about you so much this weekend and hope your vacation with your little family was a lot of fun (they went to California to Disneyland with some of their neighbors). I can't think of anything more fun than going there with Ricky - I can just see him want to go on everything - I'll bet you had a hard time keeping up with him! It's wonderful that Mary Ann is such a good baby - such a relief for you to have a baby who hasn't been sick during the winter - I'll never forget Ricky's ear problems!!! Did Barji get her little "sock bunny"? (I ordered one for her like Susanna and Jessie's) I hope Ricky didn't feel slighted - I'll do something for him and not Barji to make up for it.

Bob - it was so wonderful to talk to you and Claire the other night and then again the next day and then the next day Daddy tried to call you to get some free medical advice about Elder Tisdel but you didn't answer. We hope little Michael didn't suffer too much with the chicken pox - it is really great to get that over with before it gets too hot and you'll be glad when all his friends start getting them and he has already had them. I laughed though when I thought about General Conference being today and Claire wouldn't even get out of her Nursery job and Bob was counting on that! We are so anxious to see pictures of your home in Memphis and hear home more about it - we are thrilled that you have located one so quickly and we hope you will be able to get settled in before the baby comes. Brenda says that is really a nice area - very exclusive.

Roy - are you still there??? We haven't heard from you for awhile - maybe you'll call tonight. We would love to call you but we never know when is a good time. Have you found a suitable apartment in Boston yet? It's hard to believe you only have two more months left in Providence - are you getting excited?

The elders got up early this morning and hid Easter eggs all over the house - they were the little plastic ones filled with M & M's - then they had little Easter cups filled with candy for everyone. We have had a fun day even though the weather was cold and Wintry!

Daddy and I left last Tuesday to go on what they call "The High Line" - there is a member of the church who is operating some drills in a gold mine in Zortman, Montana. He has called Daddy several times to try to convince him they
should form a branch of the church in this mining camp because there are about thirty members there and they have to drive about 65 miles into Malta to attend church. We went there so Daddy could interview some of the members and they took us all over the mining area - I couldn't believe how extensive it was - he told us they took out about 350 ounces of gold a day. In my excitement of seeing everything I left my purse in their home there and I have been lost (they're coming into Billings this next Friday and will bring it for me then). From Zortman we went Malta, then Glascow and then to visit our couple missionaries on the Indian Reservations of Frazer, Wolfpoint and Poplar. We went into the homes of some of the Lamanite members and it just isn't possible to describe the conditions under which they live - I'm surprised they can live - I guess they get immune to diseases. Their homes are really filthy and their yards are nothing but junk heaps - our couples really put forth a lot of effort to try to help them and we admire them so much. Two of these couples will be leaving for their homes in June and we really hate to see them go - one of them is a former warden of the Utah State Prison and they live in Bluffdale so we'll probably get to see them occasionally at the Jordan River Temple but the other couple is from Washington and we'll probably never see them again.

We are getting eight new missionaries this coming Tuesday - they are assigned to Mexico but they haven't been able to get their visas so they are sending them to us temporarily (sp.?) We will be getting twenty-one the end of April so you can imagine all that is involved in placing them with trainers and all - Daddy is pulling his hair and he doesn't have much left. We are really proud of lour missionaries - we only have 107 baptisms - our goal was 115 but we said if we could get 100 we would be really happy. We want so much to get 100 in April now so we can get a "double hundred" because that has never been done before.

We had a letter from Dianne and Garry (Power) the other day and they are moving to Des Moines, Iowa - Garry has received a promotion with UPS and he has already gone but Dianne is going to wait until Garic graduates from High School before she joins him. Dianne is so good at making adjustments but I can't help but feel sorry for them - moving so soon after getting to San Antonio and with four little children - Garic is going to go to the University of Texas at Austin until time for his mission.

The Elders got the scales down in the kitchen tonight after dinner and we all "weighed" in - we're going to have a contest to see who can lose the most weight. I tell you eat the kind of food the Elders want it really shows - they love chicken noodle fat homemade noodles served over mashed potatoes and then Brenda makes biscuits for lunch today we had whole wheat pancakes, bacon and eggs and then for dinner tonight we had ham, baked potatoes, peas, green salad and strawberry shortcake with "real" shortcake biscuits. She is a good "down home" cook and even though I make up the menus she invariable adds fattening things to it. The Elder who finally went home who had come to us from England couldn't believe the meals we were having - he said lettuce in England was $3.00 a head and everything else was almost that high in comparison to the United States. Anyway, I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining - we are so thrilled to be where we are and doing what we are doing - we realize more each day what a wonderful blessing it is and WE LOVE IT!!!!!

That's all the news - we really do love each one of you so very much and pray constantly that you are happy and living worthy of having our Heavenly Father's spirit to guide and protect you - please let us know if we can help you in anyway - PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO!!!!
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