June 20, 1983 Billings, Montana

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

Johnny - please come home - we all miss you so much!!! Every day the elders want to know when you're coming home. We're so happy you are having a good time - you will be glad to get back here where you can breathe - every night as the cool wind comes through our bedroom window we think of all of you in the humid South - that's one thing I don't miss!!! We can hardly wait for you to tell us all about our old home there (Johnny went to the new owners and they let him go through the house). We can't believe all they have done to it - we had just had it redecorated and they took off all the wallpaper and took up the carpets - they have painted the walls blue and have the hardwood with just throw rugs - Johnny says it's ugly. He also says the yard isn't pretty - could be we are prejudiced a little!

Bob and Claire - this is the last letter I'll send to your Beechwood address - that's kinda' sad but it's progress and we can't quarrel with that. Claire, we loved your long newsy letter and we're happy t learn your baby isn't due until the first of August - I could just see you stop along the highway between Little Rock and Memphis and have Bob deliver your little guy 9?). we really appreciate your many kindness to Johnny and Jason - we know they have loved their visit. We loved hearing about all the changes in Little Rock - our Stake was divided this morning and they made the Little Rock Stake and the Jacksonville Stake with Bob McChesney the Stake Pres. in Jacksonville and Jim Griffin the Stake Pres. in Little Rock. That will be so much better - there won't be as much travel involved and the competition between the two stakes will be good. Joy Geisler called me this afternoon and told me how impressed she was with Bruce McConkie - she said she got to the church at 8:10 a.m. and the chapel was already filled and he was going around shaking hands with everyone and then he stood at the door and welcomed people - that's neat!

Ann and Ron - it was so good to talk to you this afternoon - we could tell you are feeling so much better Annie (we didn't talk to Ron but Susanna and Jessie said he had had a Happy Father's Day). It was fun to hear about your old high school friends Ann - Dorinne and Mary Sue - I think it's wonderful that you would get together like that. Bob and Claire we went to Bob's 10 year High School reunion in Little Rock yesterday and Bob said everyone told him he was skinnier than he was in High School. Your new trampoline sounds so much fun - I'm sure you have instructed your children to not jump close to the edge - they kinda' scare me but in reality they're safer than jumping on beds!!! I can't believe your baby is due Dec. 26th - that's so exciting - I hope "he" comes on the 27th.

Jean and Rick - Daddy was so thrilled to hear from you too! We keep hearing news about Farmington and Bountiful and their mudslides - we feel sure are in a safe area and we hope the other homes will get cleaned out and people will be able to resume their regular lives soon. Michael and Barji will be having birthdays this next week - it's really hard for me to believe that we will be on our mission as long as Barji is old - three years doesn't seem like a long time until I think of Barji and it seems like we have always had her. It was fun to hear Michael talk today - he wasn't talking the last time we saw him. How is your yard coming - or is that a touchy subject? With all the cleaning up in Farmington I guess putting in a new yard doesn't have top priority - it's had with little children though to not have a yard for them to play in.

Roy - you start your working schedule tomorrow? - is that right? We are anxious to hear how you like the new hospital and everything. We hope you have your apartment all fixed up so it's comfortable and not too lonely. I can't tell you how much we have enjoyed reading the Arkansas Gazette - I keep forgetting to tell you!! We read all about Bob's graduation in it and also David and Anna's wedding and the High School graduation that Johnny has been so interested in and we always enjoy reading about Tommy Robinson and his escapades and Governor Clinton - we still know so many people there and it's wonderful to read about them - that is by far the best newspaper we have ever had - the Billings Gazette is the "pitts"!!!

I think most of you know that I resist change with every fiber of my being and when I think of all the changes that have come into our family's lives this year it is amazing I'm not in the "Funny Farm". First we moved and that was a drastic change and then Jean and Rick moved, then Roy and now Bob and Claire - Ann and Ron have been the only ones to stay put. Next year at this time Johnny will be moving to college and that will be such an exciting time for him and that's the only change we articulate.

Last Tuesday night just before Daddy and I went to bet he received a phone call from the Stake President up in Kalispell - that's about 450 miles from here. there was a problem there involving our missionaries and a woman - the kind of thing that can't be handled over the phone. So we got up early Wednesday morning and took off for Kalispell - we got there in time for a meeting they had set up at 5 p.m. Daddy was in meetings until about 9 p.m. and the problem wasn't as serious as he was afraid it might be and he was relieved about that. We left Thursday coming to come back to billings and since we were right by Glacier Park we decided to take a few hours and go through it - it is absolutely the most gorgeous place we have even been. It hasn't been opened very long and we were hoping we could see some wild animals but we didn't. Johnny - you must go there with us when we have to go again - you would love it. I wish the rest of you could come and go through it while we are still here because this is such a good stopping place. We took advantage of being there and had a little vacation and didn't get back in Billings until about 10 p.m. and we had traveled 1,000 miles in two days - we stopped in Havre and Chinook because we had never been there and visited with our missionaries there and also the Ward Mission Leaders. My brother Dee worked in Chinook about 25 years ago so I was glad to see what it was like - it is really a pretty place but I will bet it gets might cold in the Winter. We saw a sign that said we were 18 miles from Canada - kinda' tempting to go there but we didn't.

I'm sitting up in our bedroom right by the door going out on the balcony and it is so fresh and cool - there are two boys playing Frisbee in the street in front of the Mission Home. The view of the Rims is just gorgeous - the grounds of the Mission Home look manicured Daddy spends a lot of time with the flowers and shrubs and the Elders keep the lawn moved and everything cleaned up. Cur vegetable garden is doing so well - we have had radishes, lettuce and green onions. We have little tomatoes on our vines and also broccoli and squash - it's unbelievable the way things grow here - course Daddy is a good gardener too!!!

Daddy and I went to Hardin today for their church services - it's about 60 miles from here. we have a missionary there who is so homesick he can hardly stand it - he's from Springville, Utah and he just cries every time we talk to him - we thought our visit might help him but I don't know if it did or not. Their services were really nice - it is a small branch and they're getting ready to build the 2nd phase on to their building. After church we came home and I typed up some little Father's Day poems for the Elders to read at dinner - Brisket roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, Brenda made some Yorkshire Pudding and it was really good, slaw and strawberry shortcake. The missionaries from all over the Mission have been calling to wish Daddy a Happy Father's Day and some who have gone home have called - a Father of one of our missionaries even called - from Illinois. Daddy got a white short sleeved shirt and new tie - that's all he ever wears!!!

Ann said that Mamie Hansen had called her and said "The Paramount Studio" wanted to use Aunt Marvel's home in a movie they're making - she told them that there would be absolutely no way they could get permission to do this so they chose another home. I'm disappointed - that would have been so neat - they wanted to film someone coming out the front door!

I can't think of any more news - we love you all so much and we really miss you - we have been here almost a year now and I'm worse than our missionaries. Please let us know if we can help you in any way and PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO!
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