November 20, 1983 Billings, Montana

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

I mailed your letter last week in the downtown post office and on the ride back to the Mission Home I remembered the wonderful letter we had received from Bob last week and I had said we hadn't heard from any of you. I tell you, I am going so fast I am having a hard time keeping up and I'll probably forget a million more things. Bob - we really loved your letter and hearing about your work and little Michael's Halloween. Today when I was reading Claire's wonderful letter and how sad she was that your Halloween pictures didn't turn out I was sad too because Michael's clown costume sounds so cute. I can just see him with his big sack going tricking and treating - it's so good that you could go with him Bob. I love Halloween and it is sad the children have to be so careful about their candy treats - did I tell you they were flouroscoping (sp.?) their treats at the hospital in Billings to check for any foreign things? I agree with you Bob about Claire not leaving the children for Relief Society meetings - that goes for Ann and Jean too. I used to take all of you or have the meetings in the evening when Daddy was home to take care of you until Ann and Jean got old enough to be "in charge". We're so proud of you for fellowshipping the semi-active young family - after much experience I can honestly say you can never do too much in helping people come into the church - you are blessed and so are they!!! Claire, thanks so much for the darling pictures - Laura looks just like Michael and he is a living doll!!! Johnny is going to try to duplicate some of your pictures to include in this letter.

Bob gave us some wonderful suggestions for gifts for Christmas - very thoughtful and very inexpensive - we hope so much that all of you will do this. What we would really like is a Christmas letter and picture from each family - and I don't mean photographers pictures - just snapshots. What we have decided to do is give a family gift this year to each family and not send the children gifts. The reason is that we really don't know what toys they have or what they need and while they are still so young they won't miss our gifts - that's one of the reasons - the other one is that we must plan Christmas for the ten of us in the Mission Home and we're going to make mints for the 130 out in the filed - plus have a Christmas party for the local missionaries and mission leaders. We are really looking forward to the time when we are closer in distance to all of you and will be able to give meaningful gifts to our grandchildren. We already have your family gifts and will be mailing them soon so when they come PLEASE DON'T OPEN 'TIL CHRISTMAS! We are so proud of Ann and Jean for starting a tradition of getting together on Christmas Eve - we had a letter from Ramona and Winston and they said they would miss you at their party. NOW - if any of you can come and be with us for Christmas or anytime during the holidays, we would be thrilled to pieces and you all know the room we have.

The Woolley's Christmas is really going to be exciting this year - exciting for all of us. I am hoping "he or she" will be born on my birthday - that would be so neat! We hope so much you are feeling good, Annie! It is really wonderful that Ron's mother is going to be with you - she will be so much help and the children will love having them with you.

Jeannie and Roy - we haven't heard from you for quite awhile. We know you are really bogged down with all the things you have to do Jeannie with Relief Society and work besides caring for your family. Claire wrote that Bob had talked to Roy and he is doing great so we won't worry about you.

Claire, we are so happy you are able to visit your folks and we know they are loving it too!!! It sounds like you're having a wonderful time and Bob is probably there today - (she wrote hat he was driving to Houston this weekend). Will you all go back to Memphis for thanksgiving - that's quite a ways isn't it?

This has really been busy week. We wanted all day Tuesday for a couple that was supposed to come from the Missionary Training Center in Provo. They left the Center five days previous to that and they are supposed to come directly to the Mission. Daddy finally called their son in Idaho and he said they had spent several days in the temple there and would be here on Wednesday. They came in Tuesday night about 8 P.M. and they had already checked into a motel so Daddy asked them to come to the home early Wednesday morning and they did. They are really cute - he used to own a nursery in Sandy, Utah and is about 15 years did than his wife - she's 45 and just a darling woman - she is his second wife. Keith Boyer, who is a friend of Daddy's because of their association in the fertilizer business when we lived in Phoenix, is a good friend of his and Keith is living in Brigham City. Keith has always been quite a "salty" character and this man is exactly like Keith - kinda' hard on Daddy because he demands spirituality from our missionaries and Elder Atkinson uses a lot of words that are far from spiritual. The Atkinson went on a trip to the Holy Land with Keith in 1979 - Grandmother and Grandfather Forrest went on that same trip with Keith only I believe they went earlier than that. Daddy sent them to Lander, Wyoming to work with the Indians at Ft. Washakie. We met with them yesterday down in Casper and he was upset about the house we had arranged for them to live in so they have rented a trailer. She is very quiet, refined and spiritual and worked for the missionary department in Salt Lake for about ten years so she will add the refinement he lacks. They brought us a big box of delicious apples from Salt Lake. We're really glad to have them here and I'm betting they will be wonderful missionaries.

We also had five new missionaries (Elders) come in that day and they come in about 11 a.m. we have lunch for them and then they just rest and study until dinner at 5:30 and then right after that we have an orientation for them. One of them is from Weston, Massachusetts, Roy. He says that is close to Boston. One of them is from Fruit Heights, Jeannie and he said his grandparents live on Cherry Blossom Drive in Farmington - their name is Phillips. His name is Elder Cardinet (French) and it was so funny while he was here he was playing with an exercise belt and it flew back and cut him on the chin - he had to go to the hospital and have five stitches. We also have had an Elder in the home this past week who is on crutches - he was playing basketball and sprained his ankle and it became really bad so they had to fly him to Salt Lake for surgery - he came back to us a little too soon because he couldn't proselyte and just recuperated in the home.

Thursday we had five Elders who had completed their mission come in to get ready to go home. I don't know if any of you remember Elder Pottberg - he came out with us and has given Daddy so many problems. He couldn't read or write and because of that he has developed a rebellious attitude - I would have loved to try to help him learn to read but we just couldn't work it out. He is from Manassa, Colo. and they don't have a remedial reading program there I guess. He has 18 companions and been in 14 different places - he's the one who punched a big dent in the hood of a new car, put his fist through the cabinet of one of the church trailers, spilled varnish all over the patio and front of the Mission Home (Daddy, in trying to keep him busy assigned him the job of varnishing the wood between the cement pieces), wrecked a truck and all his companions were seared to death of him. We learned to love him and he was even the top baptizer in the Mission one month but Daddy is really relieved to have him go home. It was so funny Thursday night - he just wouldn't let Daddy go - I thought he was going to have to come to bet with us. His parents were divorced and he has ten brothers and sisters so he has had a hard life. We know that he will be part of our lives from now on.

Friday we drove to Casper so we could have our zone conference there on Saturday. It was a really good conference - Jeannie, tell your friend at the hospital that Elder Jensen is doing a great job. I inspected six apartments before the conference and some of them were so bad - I left little notes in the bad ones and told the zone leaders to take away their "P" day until they cleaned them up. We came home last night and got here about 9:30 - I am sending you a copy of the note we found from Johnny. That was the cutest thing and we just could not believe it. We looked in the sink and there was a big animal heart soaking in salt water. Then we went to he shed and found the most beautiful 3 point buck - really a big one. He and a friend had gone hunting yesterday and his friend saw it first so Johnny said it was his turn and he shot and killed it - he is really a good shot. They want to make this one into jerky. I boiled the heart and it is so delicious. We are really enjoying all this meat. Now he wants to go for an Elk - ugh!!!

This morning Daddy and I drove to Red Lodge (about 100 miles from here) where we spoke at their Sacrament Meeting - Daddy always does a fabulous job and they really love him.

We have a turkey about 40 lbs. that was given to us - last year we cut it in half, but this year we're going to cook the whole thing. We'll have about 30 for dinner. We hope you all have a really HAPPY THANKSGIVING. We love you all so very much and really miss you LET US KNOW HOW WE CAN HELP YOU AND PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO!!! Wear your seat belts - we saw the film "Room to Live" and it made a believer out of me!!!
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