September 4, 1983 Billings, Montana

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

Well, I'm back on my Sunday writing schedule and I'm glad - I can't remember things that happen from one day to the next, let alone longer than a week.

We had the most wonderful letters this week from Jeannie and Claire - I really love to receive letters because I can read and re-read them as many times as I want - a phone call is over in such a short time!!!!

Thanks so much for the darling pictures of little Laura - I think she looks exactly like Michael - she is just a beautiful baby. We loved the pictures of all of you and you look so good and so happy - Michael has all of a sudden grown into a little boy instead of a baby and the picture of him with Laura is just priceless - he looks so protective and proud!!! Your plans for decorating Laura's room sound great - I hope we will be able to see it in person sometime - you are really good at that Claire. We worried that maybe your folks would feel some effect from the hurricane that hit Houston, Claire - that sounded really devastating. Since you didn't mention it, I guess they weren't hurt by it - we know your visit with your Mom really meant a lot to both of you. Thanks for the pictures of John & Jason and John and Erin - they were excellent pictures.

Jeannie, you sound so happy and that makes us so happy - I'll bet it really is wonderful for you to be feeling good for such a long time. It seems that ever since you have been married you have had health problems with your pregnancies - what a great blessing to have three such beautiful children and good health - we are really proud of both of you - most couples would have thrown up their hands in despair but you have faced your problems with area courage. Rick - sounds like you're quite then handy man to put in your sprinkler system and get your yard in order - I think "sod" is the only way to go. We had all kinds of problems with our lawn in Little Rock until we planted it with "sod". Your work schedule sounds so good Jeannie - just enough to keep your foot in the door!

Annie - guess what I made until ten o'clock last night???? We have had so many tomatoes that I made your spaghetti sauce - it took a long time to make it but it is delicious and I have nine quarts and enough left for a lunch. I made it like your recipe and then I processed it for 15 minutes in the hot water bath and if our tomatoes keep producing I will make some more because that is one thing we use a lot. I loved our "phone visit" the other night and Ron - we're proud of you - working on the Stake Farm hauling hay!!!! Ann said you were "loving it", but I doubt that it would be much fun in your heat. It was so neat to hear you tell about seeing Elder Spencer (he was with his father at their Sacrament meeting) - that is something we are really looking forward to - seeing our missionaries often after our mission!

Roy - you would be proud of how Johnny is sticking to his football - I will always remember when you played in Junior High persistent you were in going to all the practices even though you didn't get to play as much as you would have liked, I'm sure.

Johnny went to Casper, Wyoming on Friday to play a non-conference game. They left here about 8:30 a.m. and stopped at a town about 50 miles from here for breakfast - they took a sack lunch which they ate on the bus and then after the games they treated them to a dinner at Wyatts Cafeteria in Casper. They lost the game, 19-0 and Johnny has been kinda' grumpy all weekend but I guess that's part of it. His school started last Wednesday and he has a tough schedule: physics, calculus, psychology, English and P.E. They have asked him to work in the Dean's office his last period and that will be good for him. They have listed on the roaster as 6'2", 172 pounds and he looks huge in his uniform.

Last Sunday we brought Elder Richards back to Billings from Cody but we just barely got here in time for his plane trip to Salt Lake so he didn't have time to come to the Mission Home. It was nice to become better acquainted with him and he wrote us a nice letter after he got home and we appreciated that - most of the General Authorities don't do that. After Stake Conference in Cody, Phyllis & Swede Larsen's daughter and her husband found us and what a cute girl!!!! Her name is Jerry Spackman and she looks a lot like I remember Phyllis at that age only prettier. She is teaching P.E. in Cody and has just finished getting her Master's Degree in Laramie so we had a lot to talk about but we had to hurry to leave with Elder Richards.

Monday and Tuesday we worked in the yard and in the house trying to get caught up a little - Tuesday was Elder Tisdel's birthday (he is now one of Daddy's assistants) so we had a little party for him. Wednesday we left at five in the morning to drive to Butte to have our zone conference there. After the conference we were surprised to have a dinner prepared for us - it was so funny because they came and told me about it and I waited for Daddy to finish an interview and by the time we got to the kitchen it was all gone. You can't imagine how much food a group of twenty missionaries can consume!!! They had boxes of fresh fruit stacked up in their kitchen and I read the label on the boxes and it said, "Pettigill Farms, Willard, Utah". I was so excited because, of course, that's right by Brigham City and I found that some of the boxes contained peaches. We asked them if we could buy some and after a few phone calls they decided they could sell us two boxes @ $11.00 a box - that's quarts expensive but they are absolutely heavenly. I guess they deliver fruit like that quite often for the members there in Butte and close around to buy.

Thursday we had our zone conference in Missoula - it was good to be with some of our missionaries who have only been out a couple weeks. All in all our missionaries are happy and doing a really good job - most of you remember Elder Pottberg. He was the one who came out with us a year ago who couldn't read and doesn't write very well and he has had fourteen companions. It is so funny because he has real success in converting people but he has really been a problem for Daddy - Well, he got mad at our conference in Butte and doubled up his fist and hit a brand new car (truck) and put a big dent in it. It just seems that it is one thing after another with him and we are holding our breath that he will make it until November. Elder Pottberg's companion, Elder Robinson from California, had such a sad thing happen to him - his father suffered a massive heart attack about three weeks ago and they have been keeping him alive on life support systems. Last Monday he called Daddy and told him he had talked to his Mom and they had decided to take him off the support - he passed away and his funeral was Thursday - when we were with Elder Robinson and Wednesday he was sad but he showed so much courage and bore the most beautiful testimony. Daddy had told him he could go home if he really wanted to but he felt it best for him not to - they raised enough money in his home ward to fly him home for the services and then come right back to his mission but he decided to stay and fulfill his calling as a missionary and not go home. Things like this really make you appreciate the gospel and love the missionaries.

We drove home after our conference in Missoula - Daddy had to be here Friday morning to meet with the architect who is going to design the changes for the Chapelson the Indian Reservations - the church is going to spend about 20,000 on each chapel - Daddy has tried to get them to not spend that much and to also put an apartment in each one to accommodate our missionary couples who labor on these reservations but they won't do what he wants them to. They are determined that these chapels will be filled with active Lamanite members some day - I hope so.

Tomorrow is going to be a BIG day and I'll be happy when it is over. We are bringing the top seven missionary companionships into Billings for a big banquet and awards ceremony. We have also invited some of the local leaders and their wives so we will have fifty for dinner. The missionaries dug a pit out in back and we are picking up a 100 lb. pig tonight and will put it in the fire about nine tonight - Daddy stayed home from church this morning so he could make sure the fire was started right. We have a millions things planned and I will tell you all about it in my next week's letter. We didn't make our goal of 100 baptisms but we will have almost 80 and that's more than last year at this time.

I don't believe I told you that we saved the church $600 by driving to Denver for the Mission President's Seminar - Daddy wants to buy a new copier and it will cost almost $5,000 and he thought that might help. I'm sure you have noticed that we really need a new one.

We love each one of you so very much and we are so proud of you - please let us know how we can help you and BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO!!!!!
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