JANUARY 13, 1986

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

It's Monday Morning - yesterday was a busy day and I didn't get my letter written. We went to church at 9:00 a.m. and got home about 12:30 - we had a quick lunch and then went to Brigham City to visit with the folks. It was really a dark and foggy day in Lehi and Daddy called the Highway Department to check on the roads and they said there would be dense fog into Idaho with some slick and icy spots. Sunday is such a good day for that trip because Daddy can't work on his projects and it's always hard to take another day out of the week to go - it takes a full day no matter how you work it. Anyway we decided to try it and as it turned out the roads were really good and when we got on the other side of Ogden the fog had lifted and it was just beautiful. The folks are doing okay but it is so hard for us to see them in that place - Daddy had fallen a little before we got there and for no reason - he didn't stumble or anything - he said his strength just left him and down he went. We're going to try to get them in the resthome here in Lehi - it's much nicer and I could go check on them almost every day - I don't believe they have very much company in Brigham - in fact, I don't believe Dee goes even once a week. It makes me feel so bad the way they are being treated and yet I don't want to make any trouble and the folks have given Dee authority to do what he is doing. His daughter and her husband are living in the folks' home and enjoying all their nice things while they are living in a dump. They don't even have their television and they would really enjoy that. Don never goes to see them. I was looking at some of our picture albums the other day and came across all the pictures of the times we had Aunt Marvel in our home in Little Rock for special occasions and Mother & Daddy haven't been anyplace except for the times we took them out to eat since they went to the resthome over a year ago.

We got home from Brigham City just in time for me to go to a Relief Society meeting here in Lehi and when that was over Elder Madsen came over to visit. He always gives us a boost and is so much fun to visit with - he brought us some beautiful place mats he had bought in Hong Kong. He & his mother and sister went to Hong Kong for about a week just before Christmas - they live a fun life. He asked about you Johnny and said he will write to you soon. He was going with a darling girl from California who lives in Salt Lake now but he said they have "cooled things" - Ha! It was fun to hear some news about the missionaries who served with us. Elder Klem is a "Used Car" salesman in Austin, Texas. Elder Taylor had applied for a job at the MTC and Daddy wrote him letters of recommendation and even called over there but he still didn't get the hob - he was disappointed!!!

Your letter was so good Johnny - we didn't get it until Saturday - we can't figure out the mail coming from Chile but as long as we know you are writing regularly then we know we'll get them sometime and we appreciate that so much. We were really thrilled that you had the opportunity to have a good dinner at an elegant restaurant - let me quote from his letter, "We went to eat at this restaurant that is just incredible. There were 12 of us, only 2 Chileans. It's a super elegant all you can eat place. They had seafood and all kinds of salad, and after that, waiters walk around with long swords that have huge pieces of meat that have been cooked over charcoal. They had ribs, beef, pork, chicken and lamb. They ask you how much you want and just cut it off. It was really quite an experience and only cost me $8." We're also really happy for you to have a companion from the States - Johnny's new companion is from Minnesota and is supposed to have the best Spanish of anyone in the Mission and he has three months left to serve. We hope you will save the letter you received from the family you baptized in Paine - we're so proud of you to have established the kind of a relationship that would cause them to write to you and that will mean so much to you after your Mission is over. We all feel bad that you haven't received our Christmas packages yet - most of the things we sent aren't perishable and Ann says that nothing she sent is so maybe you'll be able to use it if and when it ever gets there. Your Christmas was really different but we're glad that you realize how important it is to have the experiences you're having even though you had to sacrifice a Christmas at home!!!! We are sending you the Newsletter from the Lehi ward - they finally put in the articles we had written about you - you will notice that both Elders Shelton & Lucero called home on Christmas - their parents told us they are really homesick and we are so proud to tell them how busy and happy you are as you are so involved in the work - that's the key!!!! Lucille Webb told me she had received the nicest thank you note from you for the money she had sent and you KNOW how much that pleased me - she said, "He is one special young man"!!!! KEEP US THE GOOD WORK!!!!

Claire, we loved you letter too and that darling picture of little Brett - we think he looks a lot like Michael except maybe he's a little fuller in the face - is that right? We are thrilled for your parents - (Claire's parents have been transferred to Norway with Mobile where her father will train other geologists). Have they ever been there? It seems like they have been all over the world. It's wonderful they have been able to be with you and I know they have been a lot of help. That's too bad that Bob's scheduled is so busy but there will be many good things come from it too - I guess. (One of the 4 doctors in Bob's ENT residency didn't work up to standards so he has been removed from the program and that means Bob and the other two doctors will have to split all the night & weekend duties - now Bob will be on call every 3rd night instead of every 4th night). We surely hope you both will take good care of yourselves - we worry so much about the wear and tear on your systems when you go at such a pace!!! We think June will be a better month for your visit to us anyway since March is bound to still be cold and kinda' Miserable. It would be great if you could come and go to Lake Powell with us and if Roy & Patrice could come at that time too!!!!

Roy & Patrice - I felt bad that I missed your phone call! I had gone to a Relief Society meeting that night too - that's one thing about a church calling - you always get involved in a lot of meetings that you didn't expect!!! Daddy said you are doing great and everything is fine with you. We're exited about your visit out in a couple weeks, Roy and we realize we won't see much of you but it will be fun to have you and your friend here. The Lincoln is really working good now so please plan on using our Camry - it will probably be easier for you to manipulate going to the ski areas - we'll get Johnny's ski rack out and put it on the car. Elder Madsen had been skiing on Saturday and he said it was just wonderful - that's about all we hear on the news - is how good the skiing is as opposed to all the fog in the valley. We wish you could come too Patrice.

Annie's family has been kinds' under the weather this past week - she took Jessie & Russell to the doctor and found they both needed medication for sore throats and ear infections and then Rob became ill and went to the doctor for medication to prevent a recurrence of pneumonia. He had business down in Duchene (sp.?) County and it was really important that he go so one of his employees drove him down in their van while he rested in the back - he said everything went well! Annie goes a million miles an hour - I was worried about her with all this illness so I called and found she was having a church committee meeting at her home in the midst of all of it. Jessie came over here and spent part of a day within us and we enjoyed that so much - she & I put a 100 piece puzzle together and then we made cookies and then we watched Black Beard's ghost (she didn't get to see it before).

Jeannie & Rick and their family went to Disneyland in California last week. I feel so bad - Jeannie called and told us they were going and I didn't have presence of mind enough to offer to take care of little Sarah. They had planned to go on Friday morning so when I thought about how much we would love to have Sarah and how it would be better for her tan to go on the trip to called Thursday afternoon and tried to get them for several hours but since they weren't home we have assumed they left Thursday instead (probably because of the fog at the airport). Jeannie said they would either be home Sunday or Monday and they aren't back yet so I guess they may be having trouble getting clearance because of the foggy conditions at the airport. From the weather news it doesn't look like it will clear up until tomorrow so they may have a longer vacation than they planned on. We're thrilled they were able to go - the weather in the Los Angeles area has been around 75 and it's been in the low 20's here.

Daddy is still working himself to death - except that he loves it and there isn't anything I can do about it! It's so funny - I love to sleep late (at least until 7:30 or 8:00) and it has been dark until then anyway - and the thing awakens me is the sound of the electric saw and him hammering out in the carport. I have taken pictures of him out there working in the freezing cold with gloves on and a coat with hood to try to keep warm and I'll send you some if they turn out. He has faced all the white cabinets in the kitchen and now he is building the others to go on the opposite wall - the kitchen looks like a different place and it is just wonderful to have a place to put things. Do you all remember that big piece of wood that was a top of some kind of cabinet that ONE of you brought home for something (I believe it was you Roy when you were building that student center at Hall high school). We can't remember who brought it home but it is a beautiful chopping block for the top of the cabinet between the stove & refrigerator now. Daddy is so resourceful and handy and I just wish I could keep up. We bought a beautiful handing light for above the kitchen table and that adds a lot too. Daddy really needs a warm place to work and more tools to work with - he could have all that if he would just hire someone to help him but he won't - he wants to do it all himself so it will just take time. I think it's crazy to put the money into a big garage here but that's what he needs. I keep asking myself how long he is going to want to work like this. I much prefer that he enjoy this instead of just sitting around though.

We still plan on going to Phoenix & San Diego but I don't know when. He doesn't have to teach his Sunday School Class next week because of a special conference for our area so that would be a good time to go - we'll have to wait and see. This weather doesn't bother me like it does him - I'm such a "homebody" anyway that I find it's kinda' nice to have an excuse to stay in but he loves to be outside doing things and the hunting season is over for awhile. He & his friend, Ray, went rabbit hunting one afternoon last week - they had problems with their old "clunker" of a hunting car and they didn't get much hunting done but it was fun for him to stop working for a little while anyway. Ray's daughter who is in High School broke her back while she was on a snow tubing trip with her church group so he is a little confined trying to help her now.

One night last week when our kitchen was in a big mess and the cabinets needed to dry from their painting Daddy and I walked up to the little café in town for dinner. It was really quite fun - the weather was terrible so we bundled up good and it wasn't very far and we loved it. We have an ice skating rink out north of our house - that area doesn't get any sun (when it does come out) and it had just stayed icy for the past two weeks. We hear from friends in Montana and they tell us how pretty it is there - it is cold but the sun always shines!!! It isn't nearly as pretty there as it is in Utah though during most of the months.

I am loving this computer - it is so much fun to work with it and try to learn how to use it. Just when I think I have it all figured out it does something that "blows my mind". It is going to be interesting now to see if I have remembered how to get this letter printed - if I haven't and I do something to erase it you probably won't hear from us this week. Ron got us a new ribbon for it but I haven't figured out how to put it in. I have put all our stocks on it and that has been fun. Speaking of stocks - I think we are ready to get out of the stock market. Johnny - you wouldn't hear where you are but the stock market fell 39 points in one day last week - the largest fall since the crash of 1929. Our stocks have done well and didn't fall but we still haven't made the increase we should have done with that we have invested and I think it's time to get out and have a more secure investment. It is so easy to lose a great deal of money in such a short time and it's too big of a risk at this point in our lives. There is so much stock news on television and it's really hard to know who to believe.

Johnny - did you hear that Pres. Benson has been ill. Evidently he kinda' "blacked out" one afternoon last week and he has been in the hospital since - he's doing fine now though. He had spent about a week back in the Virginia and Washington D.C. area visiting with Pres. Reagan and also conducting church business there and I guess it was more tiring for him than anyone realized. We watched a special fireside on TV. last night where Pres. Monson and others spoke and it was really good - Elder Madsen had us turn it on when he came over - we didn't know it was on. Daddy is teaching the Old Testament in Sunday School now and is doing such a good job - he really loves it and the class members love him. It is good to be studying something other than the Book of Mormon for a change.

That's all the news - We love each one of you so very much and we're so proud of you. PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO and let us know how we can help you"

Now if I can just get this printed!!!!!!!
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