January 13, 1985 Billings, Montana

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

We went to the early church services this morning (I'm not going to say it is because of the Super Bowl today but that didn't hurt)!!! We went to the third ward here in the Billings Stake and it was really good - they asked us to sit on the stand but we asked if we could stay in the congregation and it was wonderful to sit back and really enjoy the meeting. When we came home we made a huge pot of chili for the house elders - I feel kinda' bad because I have had them leave the heat off the living room and kitchen and it has been so cold in there they wear coats when they go to fix their meals - consequently they haven't been doing much cooking!!! The office part of the home is kept almost too warm and of course our apartment and their dorm is always warm but it seems so senseless to heat the other part when it isn't used except for about thirty minutes while they're eating. Surely this bitter cold weather won't last too much longer! Our heating bill for last month was $550 and that was before the really cold weather came! We have had beautiful blue sky most of the time but the snow hasn't begun to melt - the elders are so sweet to keep it all shoveled from the walks and streets around the home.

Claire - thank you for your sweet letter! Bob - it sounds like your surgery rotation is going to be really busy for awhile. (Claire said that he was only home two nights last week and Michael asked if he had moved out). We think it's great that you are going to take an accounting class at Memphis State, Claire - it's just smart to do things like that! Do you have someone really reliable to care for the children while you're away? It's fun to hear about Michael & Laura wanting the same "Care Bear" and you're right when you say that it won't be very long until Laura will be sticking up for herself. Laura really has a darling mischievous look in her eyes and I know she's no dummy!!! Have Steve & Sharon set their date.

Johnny it was so good to talk to you the other night - Bishop Anderson had just come over to "Home Touch" us and I really didn't feel as though I had as good a visit with you as I wanted to have. We're so happy that you like school - it sounds like you're really studying and that's wonderful. We really miss you around here but this is the worst winter we have had since we have been in Billings and I'm kinda' glad you don't have to be in it. I'm sure the weather in Utah is cold too but I don't think it's this cold. We were supposed to have a Chinook wind come in yesterday morning and we were all looking forward to it because it can raise the temperature twenty to thirty degrees in just a matter of minutes but if it came it didn't do any warming.

Our really good news this week is that Annie doesn't have to have her surgery - she had x-rays and more tests taken and the advice of another doctor and they decided to wait and watch her carefully before doing any surgery. She told us that she really appreciated talking to Bob & Roy about it and they gave her a lot of information to help her. I have been of the opinion for a long time that a lot of doctors go into surgery too soon and that sometimes much of it isn't necessary but I'm also sure that that can be a dangerous opinion - I know Ann will be really smart about taking care of herself. Johnny said he loved going to Ann's and making pasta one night last week - John is a "Pasta Kid" - I have always had to force him to eat some of the sauce when we have spaghetti because he likes the pasta with just butter on it!

Roy - we hope you're doing good and you're back in the swing of things. Jeannie - we know you're doing good because when we talked to Ann on Tuesday she said you had been down to see her and you weighed more than she did for the first time in your lives - I think that's wonderful!!!!

Last Monday we went to Lovell, Wyoming for the open house of their newly remodeled Stake Center. We have two lady missionaries there and they had invited us to come down for dinner before the open house - that was so much fun - they have a little tiny apartment and they had us and the other four elders in that area and we had "sprout sandwiches". The new Stake Center is really gorgeous - they have spent over a million dollars in the remodeling. It is just huge - they have two complete chapels at either end of the building with the largest cultural hall of any church (LDS) in the world separating them. Each chapel has twenty-eight class rooms. They have four wards using the building and this way they only have to have one building. It is so funny - there are only 2,500 people in Lovell and of course, most of them are members of the church but the surrounding little towns have some non-members in them and for the most part they are quite anti!!!! We were there for their Stake Conference about a year ago and their General Authority was Homer Durham and he drove back to Billings with us and came to the Mission Home and met Johnny - we had just received the picture from Roy of his graduation from medical school (so I guess it was more than a year ago) and it was all in Latin and it caught his eye and he asked us all about it. He used to be President of Arizona State College in Tempe - anyway, he just passed away last week with a heart attach. When they were explaining parts of the remodeling they said that when Bro. Durham was there for the conference he asked that they have a "revolving" podium so the speaker could turn to those seated in the cultural hall. The church will really miss him in the Quorum of Seventies.

We had eleven new missionaries come in last Wednesday - ten elders and one sister! They are all going to be really good missionaries - one is from Hawaii and weighs 350 lbs. - he is the champion wrestler on his island!!! Daddy helped me and we fixed a "fancier" meal than we usually have - we had Italian cutlets with a special sour cream and fresh mushroom sauce. We always watch the news at noon and Gabby Gourmet comes on during the news and we watched him make this special dish. We practiced making it for ourselves first and just loved it so we made it for the missionaries - we also had that really good potato casserole, orange Jell-O with pineapple and carrots in it, green salad, French bread and lemon cake & ice cream. We really couldn't decide if they liked it - we never can tell - they just eat & eat and never make any comments. We had seven missionaries come in who had completed their missions and we had spaghetti, green salad, Johnny's French and mozzarella cheese bread and ice cream sundaes Our "transfer" day schedules are at least a million times easier now than they have been since we first came - I don't know if we will be able to pass our wisdom on to the new President and his wife or not but we'll try. For the most part the missionaries really prefer simpler meals as long as there is a lot of food. We also have very strict rules about making their own beds and changing their sheets and drying out their showers and tubs and really all I have to do is wash everything and put it away and then vacuum and clean up after they're gone - I used to spend most of the next day scrubbing and drying out the showers and when they do that right after they shower I don't have to do that. I tell them that our motto is, "We have come to serve and not to be served" and we don't have any hired help in the mission home and they really cooperate with me - and I think it's good for them!!!

When Daddy and I decided to not travel in January I started to work on our "Mission Scrapbook". I have saved so many things during the time we have been here and it will take me a long time to sort things out and decide what to put in the book and what to throw away but it has been fun reading through some of your letters and other things. I believe we told you about a friend of Johnny's who was a very promising gymnast in Little Rock - she moved to Houston to train under the same coach as Nadia (from Romania) at the same time we moved here and she wrote to Johnny and compared their moves from the High School they both loved. Well, she also sent a clipping about her roommates in Houston and the training they were receiving and one of her roommates was Mary Lou Retton who went on to win the Olympic Gold - Johnny's friend had an injury that kept her out of the competition!!! This was interesting to me!!!

We received a letter from Mamie Hansen - the neighbor lady in Lehi who is caring for our home there - and she sent a clipping form the Lehi paper telling about the proposed new development on the north shores of Utah Lake. It will be interesting to see if their plans work out.

George P. Lee who is the member of our Area Presidency over Mission is going to come tour our mission the day after we come home from April Conference - we couldn't believe it!!! We will come to Billings the afternoon of April 8th and I will work like mad to get the home in shape for his visit and then we'll fly to Missoula the morning of the 9th to start the tour. The Billings East Stake has offered to fix the lunch for us and also the dinner for all the missionaries in this area so the only meal I will have to fix will be breakfast. He is such a nice man and very cooperative so we won't have to worry like we have before.

We love each one of you so very much and wish you could come see us when the weather gets better - we are going to miss this beautiful home and place and would love for each of you to be able to have feelings for it like we do!!! PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO!!!! Let us know how we can help you!
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