November 4, 1984 Billings, Montana

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

We just came home from Great Falls and we did a dumb but fun thing. Last week in the paper they featured a Mexican Restaurant in Galantine, Montana (Johnny when you go East from Billings you got to Shepherd, then Huntley, then Worden & Galantine) and it is a little teeny, tiny down. Well - today has been Fast Sunday and Daddy and I were starving about the time we got to Billings so we decided to drive out there and see what is was like - we went fifty miles out of our way but you just wouldn't believe this place. It is really hard to find once you get to Galantine but it was well worth it - it is a small restaurant but it is so clean and the food was just delicious! It was so funny, when Daddy went to pay the bill the cashier asked him if we were Senior Citizens and when he smiled she said, "You get a twenty-five percent discount". We have to keep reminding ourselves that we are really that old because we surely don't feel it (And I don't think we look it - Ha!)

We really loved the letters this week from Ann, Johnny & Claire - I admire you all so much for writing personal letters - if I couldn't type them I wouldn't get them done. I tried to write some long overdue letters this week by pen and it took so much time I couldn't believe it.

We hope your family is over the flu bug Annie - once that starts it is so hard to get it stopped! We can just imagine the fun Susanna had at her party (Ann said she planned it herself and wanted ten little girl friends to come for a spaghetti dinner and then play games after - her Daddy was to be in charge of the games). We hope Ron won't have to be in Alabama for a long time although this is a pretty time of year for the South. We're thrilled that Ron's father & mother are coming - it's really great the way he has recuperated. We laughed about the way you described little Russell going around the house calling you and saying, "My Mom, My Mom -" but you know there is real significance to that - he probably wants his little sisters (big sisters) to know you belong to him too! I get so homesick for him and I think it's because I suggested to you that you occasionally! It's wonderful that think it's because I suggested to you that you spank him occasionally! It's wonderful that Susanna & Jessie love their schools and little Lolly will crawl when she's ready, as you said!

Johnny, we really loved your Happy Halloween letter (one of John's computer friends let him use his computer and he made the cutest Halloween stationery with little jack-o-lanterns all over it). Your swimming class sounds really good and we know that's good for you because you have always had so much activity and exercise. We don't think you will be driving your car enough in the snow and ice to have it undercoated, do you? We were shocked to read your letter tonight when we got home! (Johnny thinks he would be a better student if he moves out of the dorm and into a condo apartment with the roommate he had this Summer!) We will leave it up to you because you know the situation much better than we do - we remember how well you liked Grant and you may be happier living that way. I would worry about the way you would prepare your meals but I think it would be great exercise to prepare you for your mission - I am constantly amazed at how few of our missionaries can prepare good, nutritious and low cost meals - the Elders in the home absolutely refuse to warm up any leftovers - they just wait for so long and then throw them out in the containers they were put in! Daddy and I do worry about things such as laundry facilities, the cost of changing your phone, utilities and things you don't know about and we wonder if it would be worth it for such a short time - like from January to April. I'm sure that when you return from your Mission you will want to live off campus - you think about it some more and we will too and then we'll talk to you by phone!

Claire - it's hard for us to believe you are still mowing your lawn - we have had Winter for at least a month. I'll bet Laura & Michael loved their little clown costumes - I hope there were a lot of little children out in your neighborhood to go tricking & treating together! It's wonderful that you are learning how to Upholstering - Chris Jordin took a class in that and loved it! We had a sweet letter from Joanne Doxey and she told how thrilled she was to meet you - she is a remarkable person - she had written down the names of people in Little Rock who had asked about us and then she sent their good wishes (Joy Geisler, Bev Culwell, Brenda Lowe, Cissy Beyers, Ann Cobb, etc.) she & Dave had stayed with the Cobbs and they were very impressed with everything in Little Rock including the Women's conference. I talked to Chris about their visit and she said everyone really enjoyed them - she also mentioned that Jim Griffin had given the best talk she had ever heard - he spoke on abortion and free agency. Joanne & Dave loved the people in the South - they had gone to Mississippi as well as Arkansas & Tennessee. While I was talking to Chris she told me that Kathy Coleman has been excommunicated from the church - can you believe that? She is expecting their seventh child!

Jeannie & Roy - we know you're busy. We would have loved to see Ricky, Barji & Mary Ann on Halloween - was Ricky, BatMan? We had a fun experience today at the Great Falls Stake Conference - afterwards this pretty young woman came up on the stand to say "Hello" to us and I looked at her and knew I Knew her but I couldn't place who she was. It was Cindy Harvey from Little Rock (actually they lived in Jacksonville) and she has grown up - she is married to a man from Salt Lake and they have two children and they're in Great Falls just temporarily and then will move to Farmington, Utah and then on to Missouri - he is civilian employee who works on missile sights or something. Anyway, she wanted to know about you Roy - she said how she admired you when you were together in church functions. She also said she remember Daddy was Branch President and we remember so well when they tried to confirm one of her brothers a member of the church he slid off the chair and crawled under the benches and they had a hard time restricting him - she said he is still this way - Ha! We get so homesick for the children - I have to about tie up Daddy's hands because he is constantly wanting to get Ricky a fishing pole or something like that - it will be so much fun when we're closer.

It's Monday morning now - I stopped writing my letter last night about 10 because of the noise it makes and also because I though there was going to be a special on Sharlene Wells, the new Miss America - we would never find it on television so I guess I had the wrong time. We watched the news coverage when she came back to Utah for the first time since winning the title and we were impressed with her.

My thoughts will be with my folks - today is their 65th Wedding Anniversary!!!! That is really a rare and wonderful achievement and we hope they will have a really happy day and more years to celebrate - I'll be home for their 70th and will put on a shindig of some kind. I talked to Dee and he said they just wanted a few friends to come visit with them - I'll call later on today. Daddy and I celebrated our 37th a month ago and we though that was some kind of record - Ha!

The Elders in the home last night were so excited - they take "call ins" each Sunday night which is a report of the baptisms for the week and last night ended the month - we got 73 baptisms for the month of October - that is the highest number all year and they were really happy and we were too. We got some ice cream and chocolate topping out for them to celebrate! We won't make our goal but at least we're doing better than we did for a few months during the Summer - we have found that the General Authorities who came out from Salt Lake aren't nearly as missionary oriented as our Area Presidency is so we're not going to worry about it.

Last Sunday night Patriarch Chevalier from Great Falls put on his fireside on the archeology findings that substantiate the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and we had 350 people attend and at least half of them were non-members. It was just excellent - we had some people who tried to heckle him but he is a "pro" and handled it very well. He and his wife have gone all over the mission doing this at their own expense and we really admire them - they own a little resort up by Glacier Park called "Kiowa" and they're investing half million dollars in it to add things - their whole family works in it and it's really neat! They came over to the home after the fireside and the next morning - we thought they were staying with the Stake Mission Leader so we didn't invite them and found out they were in a motel and we felt bad!

We had planned to go to Missoula & Polson last Monday but a terrible snow storm came up and they closed the roads so we stayed home and it was so fun to be snowed in! We did go to Butte & Bozeman on Wednesday for missionary district conferences - we had our Elder who is recuperating from foot surgery pass out the treats for Halloween. We went to Helena on Saturday and then on to Great Falls for their Stake Conference - Daddy & I both spoke - their General Authority was Arthur Kay, former Pres. Of the Seattle Temple and now in the First Quorum of the Seventies - we gave some good talks - he's a dentist and graduated from Utah State 45 years ago so we had some things in common to talk about.

We surely do love each one of you so very much - PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO - Let us know how we can help you!
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