November 26, 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 hope you all had as happy a Thanksgiving as we did! Johnny left Provo about 7:30 Thursday morning and got here just in time for dinner at 5:30 - all the Elders starving and anxiously waiting for him because we had told them we weren't going to eat until he got here - they had made him a big banner and put it across the entrance to his garage welcoming him home. He really looks good and it was wonderful to have him home.

Daddy and I went shopping last Monday and got all the things to fix for Thanksgiving. I made my pie shells on Tuesday morning and then went to get a permanent - Tuesday is the day we meet with the missionaries early in the morning for a special Book of Mormon study class at the Institute and then Daddy and I go back in the evening for a special; class on the New Testament so that is a busy day! Wednesday we started cooking and cooked most of that day and then again on Thanksgiving day. I will never cook that much again - we really didn't know how many were going to be here because we had invited all the missionaries in the area - as it turned out we only had 14 but they ate heartily!!! We had a 38lb. turnkey that a member had brought to us and then we had everything that goes with it. I decided to contribute to the ward Thanksgiving dinner here and I also wanted to make something for our Institute teacher because he does so much for us SO I made three milky way candy bar cakes - they are really unusual and rich - each cake has 8 milky ways in it and then the frosting is a fudge recipe. We put all the left over food out on a table in one of the pantries where it kept good and cold and the missionaries have just about cleaned it all up!

We put a white linen cloth on the table and had candles and our little Pilgrim dolls, corn husks, gourds (sp.?) and then used the Mission china , crystal and silver ware and the table really looked pretty. Since we had so much food left over I decided to allow the Elders to eat on the dining room table for the weekend (they usually have to eat in the kitchen). Well - when we came home late last night I discovered there had been a fireside here and there was this soiled cloth on the big table - I about died!!! They are supposed to clear it with us before they have firesides here but this ward just decided at the last minute to come to the Mission Home - we will cherish our privacy after our mission!!!!!

Friday morning Daddy & Johnny and I went deer hunting - we drove out to the farm (ranch) of this ward member who lets us come hunt and it was a simply gorgeous day and the scenery is just unbelievable - we all loved it. It was so funny - Johnny saw a big buck so he jumped out of the truck and then Daddy followed him - pretty soon I heard five shots and I thought, My word, that poor deer is really going to be shot up - well, they came back with the longest faces - they had missed it!!!! We saw a lot of does but Johnny wanted "horns" so we kept hunting. Just as it was getting dark he saw this little buck and shot it.
We had promised him if he would get another deer we would make it all into jerky for him - Daddy is down in the kitchen right now cutting it up and wanting me to go help him - the meat looks really good! We were so happy that Johnny got "one" more hunt in while we are still here - I think we are really spoiled when it comes to deer hunting - we saw two trucks yesterday that had huge moose in them - we talked to some of the hunters and they were really proud - I personally hate to see those beautiful animals killed! There are so many deer killed by cars on the high ways here that I am kinda' used to them being killed - in fact, the ranchers want them cleared out because they eat so much of the food they have for their beef cows.

Johnny had planned to go back to school on Sunday morning. We had to go to Glasgow for their District Conference and since it's so far and their meetings start at 8:30 in the morning we had to leave Saturday afternoon. Well - Johnny slept late Saturday and while we were getting ready we heard on the weather news that a bug storm was coming in so we got him up about noon and told him he would be better off to leave right away. Daddy hurried and cooked him his deer heart and I threw some cookies together and we helped him pack and leave. We had asked him to play Santa Clause for us and take our gifts to Utah so his car was packed - we talked to him last night and he said it was so dark and stormy but the time he got to Brigham City that he had to leave Grandmother & Grandpa Forrests' gifts on their front porch - I hope they find it. Johnny said he really had bad roads a lot of the way and from Malad into Utah he could only go about 25 miles an hour. There was a terrible accident right near Whitehall right close to where he was traveling and three women were killed - they were in a bus and it skidded on the icy roads and rolled over. We had our first really close call with an accident yesterday on the way back from Glasgow. The reads wee really bad so Daddy wasn't going very fast but we hit an icy patch and the car skidded and we circled all over the highway and went down in the barrow pit - he really did some fancy maneuvering and we are so thankful there weren't any cars coming because he had lost complete control. Everything in the car turned upside down - our ice chest spilled all over - but there wasn't any damage to the car. It was funny because the storm had come up during the conference and everyone was advising us to take another route home which we had done and it was 100 miles further than the other one and I'm sure just as bad with ice. Anyway, we're so relieved that Johnny got home safe and sound and didn't have to miss any of his Monday classes. Now we have to worry about the weather conditions for the Christmas holidays.

We love to go to Glasgow - the people there are so sweet to us and there is a beautiful spirit in their meetings - there aren't many members there and the District President really has a hard time keeping everything staffed. They served a delicious lunch after our meetings and that always helps. We have two Lady Missionaries serving in that District and Daddy had them both speak and they did such a good job. A couple up there does a lot of wild game hunting and are experts on preparing it in a variety of ways - they gave us three big rolls of venison sausage - one is summer sausage, one is bologna and the other is liver sausage. I had some of the liver sausage last night and it is delicious - we haven't tried the other yet. They also sent us home with a big pumpkin dessert roll that is heavenly!!!

We talked to each one of you last weeks and you all sounded happy and like you are doing good and that makes us happy. Roy was going to spend Thanksgiving with Patrice's family in Stanford, Connecticut and he had several days off so he was looking forward to getting some rest. Ron had gone to Boston on business and had called Roy so they had a good visit - there is a possibility of more business there in January so maybe they will get to see each other. Bob had to work on Thanksgiving day but he had Friday off so they were going to delay their big feast until then - Claire's family is going spend Christmas with them (including her brother and his girl friend from California) so they have a fun family holiday to look forward to. Ann had 22 for diner and she said they really enjoyed everyone - Ron's parents, grandmother, sister, another sister and her husband and their children plus Jeannie & Rick and the children were all there - she said, they cleaned out their "loft" and put some big tables (3) ion there so they could all eat together and they had a wonderful time. Jean said they really enjoyed it and so did their children - Johnny spent Saturday night with the Weinerts so they had him for part of the Thanksgiving holiday. Jean will go into the hospital tomorrow for her surgery to help her carry their baby without any problems - we'll surely be thinking about you and hope everything goes okay. She said she will have her neighbors care for children during the day and then Rick will be home with them at night. It is really hard for me to stays here when I am needed at home but I can't do anything about it!!!

Our friends, Sandy & Gene Jones from Provo, called us last Sunday night. They are so interested in our mission and they're very sympathetic to what we are going through because they had this calling in Little Rock. They had their six children with them and I always worried about Sandy, even though she never did travel with Gene, because their children had to be bussed clear across town for schools, and other problems they had but I will have to admit that our mission has been much harder on me since Johnny has gone to school - there is much to be said for having some family with you. Cissy & Charles Beyers also called us the night before Thanksgiving - they are doing fine and she said Shawna had mentioned seeing Ann somewhere recently and hearing about Jean expecting. Cissy is having problems with her teeth it seems that the bones & gums are deteriorating and her doctor in Hot Springs wants $7,500to treat her - so she is going to Las Vegas where she has a nephew who is a dentist to see if he can do it cheaper. We heard from Chris & Wayne smith and they are going to build a small house on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs - Chris' mother has had three strokes and is in a hospital in Little Rock and doesn't recognize her so that's really hard on Chris.

That's all the news and if Daddy is finished with cutting up the deer, I had better go help him. I believe we will be home most of this week and wow, do I ever have a lot to do to get this house ready for the Christmas holidays - we plan to have a big open house for all the neighbors and we have Stake Conferences every weekend plus zone conferences.

We love each one of you so very much - please, please be very careful in
everything you do and let us know how we can help you!!!
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