December 16, 1984 Billings, Montana

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

Roy - what a wonderful letter!!!! It was a thrill to receive such a long and newsy one from you and we loved it! Your Thanksgiving sounded wonderful (he and Patrice went to her Mother's home and then to her boss' home for dinner) and your trip into New York sounded like a dream - to walk all over Manhattan and visit museums, etc. would really be a treat! Your work sounds busy but it also must be very rewarding to be learning so much and then to be able to put it into practice. Roy spends 12 to 14 hours at the hospital each day and is then on call about every 5th night and gets the day following that off - that sounds like a mighty hectic schedule to us!!! It's wonderful that you are so completely happy with your chosen profession - you have put everything you have into it and deserve to be satisfied!!! I'll bet your Christmas holidays will be fun with so many friends coming into Boston and then going to a country home in New York for a special reunion with college friends - Roy, you are more like I am than you are your Daddy as far as maintaining close ties with friends - friends really a lot to me. We hope you and Patrice will have a great holiday and we hope your weather will allow for all the traveling involved. I am amazed at how your computer makes all margins even - that's one of the big problem in typing a letter!!!

Jeannie - we were thrilled to receive your letter too!!!! Daddy and I were on a trip going or coming somewhere and we talked about you because we hadn't heard for awhile and we had planned to call when we got home and then we had your letter waiting for us. We are so happy that you are feeling good and everything is going good for you and the family (Rick too). We are so proud of the way you and Ann can entertain so beautifully and make it sound so easy to have thirty of Rick's home teaching families over for dinner (30 people in all) is simply wonderful - I wish you would go into the detail that I do and tell us what you had to eat!!! The Christmas you have planned for the children sounds great to us and we know they will be happy and won't it be fun for you and the Woolleys to be together!!! I'm so glad they have released you from the Relief Society Presidency - that's too much in your condition.

Annie - we loved talking to our on the phone - it always scares me when anyone calls at "prime time". We appreciated your thinking of us and sharing your good deal with the canned turkey. We are really proud of you and Ron for planning your ward Christmas Party (they planned the big Christmas dinner for 450 again this year) - we would like to belong to a Ward wit you two as the Activities Chairmen. We hope you Christmas Neighborhood party turned out good - they were having all neighbors in for dinner the night she called. We really think maybe you should goof up once in a awhile so you wouldn't have to work so hard!

Bob & Claire - his would not have been the weekend to come to Billings - we have had and continue to have the worst weather we have been there. The roads are so icy ad right now it is five degrees below zero and that is ward compared to what it has been. We surely hope you are going to be home for Christmas, Bob - this will be such a fun year for little Michael! Resident physicians always get the worst deal so you will probably have to work all day - Roy gets Christmas day off but has to work Christmas Eve.

Roy - thanks for the pictures too - we'll try to duplicate them and in this letter. You look better than you ever have.

Johnny just called and said he is going to wait for a few days before coming home. He had a test last night until 9 o'clock so he couldn't leave until today and they had a huge snow storm so he decided to wait for a better day. If it doesn't clear up before Wednesday we'll have him fly home because his car just doesn't handle well in the snow & ice. He has moved out of the dorms and will live in a condo with his roommate of last Summer - he has wanted to do this for several months. This is his new address: 788 East 750 North, Apt. #1C Provo, Utah 84601 and his phone number is 1-801-377-5746. He was so happy because Roy call him one day last week. Daddy has big plans for the two of them to go duck hunting and just goof off in the outdoors for a day or so - we'll be so thrilled to have him home with us and so will the missionaries.

We had a Christmas letter from Helen Bridges and she enclosed a clipping from the Arkansas Gazette - Ron Caveness took out about &250,000 from Tommy's account without her knowledge - it is really a big scandal in Little Rock - so sad! We thought they were such straight people!!

Last week was our zone conference week. We had the Custer & Central Zone Conference on Tuesday and this is the one where most of our couples are so I made casseroles so they could come over for dinner after the meetings. Well - Tuesday we awakened to find the roads all covered with snow and I was sure the couples wouldn't come in off reservations so I put the casseroles in the freezer. When we got to the meetings I was so surprised to find they had all come in - Daddy & I hurried back home and I took the casseroles out of the freezer and put them in the ovens. Bro. & Sister Wright from the Brigham City didn't come for dinner but all the others did and we had a good time. They will all go home in January, February and March and they are really trunky. Merle Wright was in the Mission Home about a week ago and she said "Oh, it feels so good to be away form the reservation". I really feel bad for them and really don't blame them for feeling that way. Daddy had an Indian Woman and two little children come into his office one day last week asking for money to get her car out of the garage - the bill was almost $200! We fed them and then took to the garage and bailed them out and they went blissfully on their way. The Indian people are the sweetest people in the world but they're completely irresponsible.

We were supposed to go to Helena on Wednesday but the roads were too bad so Daddy just put all the conferences a day ahead - we went to Helena on Thursday and then on the Great Falls on Friday - we got home late that night and then got up early Saturday morning and went to Glendive. Last night when we came in , it was late and I looked in the mirror and I looked like I was at least a hundred years old. I plotted all night how I would color my hair this morning (it is really quite grey without any color on it) - now it is too dark! I really like it much better grey and so does Daddy and Johnny said he did too, so after Christmas I'll let it go again. If I weren't in the spotlight so much I wouldn't worry about it like I do!!

Our big news is that we will go to Salt Lake for April Conference!!! We couldn't believe it - we had a letter from the First Presidency last week with our schedule for meetings during that week and also reservations for the airplane tickets and also rooms at Hotel Utah. We will be there April 3 - 8 and will only have two evenings free but it still seems unreal. They are bringing all the Mission Presidents in from all over the world - we'll also have the opportunity to meet the new Mission President and his wife who will be coming to Billings. I don't believe they have done this for a long, long time so we're excited. It will be absolutely wonderful to see the Woolleys, Weinerts & Johnny and we hope to be able to spend at least a few house with Grandmother & Grandpa - we'll have to wait and see.

We have invited about 150 people to an open house at the mission home next Thursday - I'll include the invitation we have sent out. We had the missionaries hand deliver them to all the neighbors around the mission home and then to some of the ward and stake leaders. I get a little dizzy when I think of all the things I have to get done before then - we're going to have things like ham & rolls, cheese & crackers, candy & cookies and a little fruit cake and then a really good frappe punch. I am going to have the two lady missionaries here in Billings come over on Tuesday and make some cookies. It's funny - of the 150 invitations sent out we could only have about ten come - we have wanted to do this since we first came so we're going to "bite the bullet" and do it!!! I think there is a lot of curiosity about what goes on her and this will give the neighbors an opportunity to come and see. Our tree isn't very impressive and I have bought three different kinds of trimmings to try to help it - it is prettier now than it was when I first decorated it - I wish I had splurged and bought a larger one and had it flocked. 'We are very conservative compared to the others who have been in charge here. We will be prepared to show Mr. Krueger's Christmas to anyone who wants to stay and watch it.

It is just bitter cold right now and has been all day. We went to church at the fourth ward and there were very few people there - the roads are really hazardous. Our mission has had more accidents this month than we have had all year - after the Central Zone Conference Daddy had two Elders follow the Lady Missionaries to their places about 100 miles from Billings and would you believe they "tailgated" their car and did about $500 damage to it!!

Daddy is having some problems with some of the missionaries who want to extend their missions the extra six months - the ones he wants to go home want to extend and he is in a dilemma because it Is really his decision. We wish the church hadn't given them that choice!

We 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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