Dearest Family,
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RICK NEXT SUNDAY -
THE 18TH!!!! They will be on their Alaskan Cruise so I wanted to wish
him a happy birthday before they leave. I sent your card too early Rick
- I can't keep the days and the months straight - does that tell you
something???? I know it will be a very special birthday for you with
LOTS of friends to help you celebrate. Rick & Jean have been in Boston
this weekend so they are REALLY travelers. Jeannie is giving a bridal
shower next week besides having her book club and going to a wedding
reception for David's sister and her husband SO they are busy, busy,
busy!!!
JOHN - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! John called me
last Wednesday and said he wanted to bring me some peaches from his
peach tree. I "swiped" some peaches from his tree last year when I was
there about this time and they are REALLY good. I love the peaches and
I loved even more having him come to visit - I always worry about the
cost of gas for him to come just to visit. I love his home and yard and
he does too - he could have LOTS of peach trees. He said he has an
apple tree too.
JIMMY - I was SO happy to hear that you are
safe and sound in Brazil. I can't believe you could be inside for five
days - that's not a very good idea for a young man who loves the
outdoors!!! We have all learned from Brett that missionary work is much
better after the CTM in Brazil. I have always thought the MTC in Provo
was an ideal place to prepare missionaries so it is difficult for me to
think it would be different in Brazil. I laughed about your companion
being like Napoleon Dynamite - the "nerd" from Idaho who has been nerdy
enough to make millions on his movie. You will look back on this time
in the CTM as a necessary learning experience (easy for me to say)!!! I
LOVE to look at the pictures Jean & Claire have given me of the day we
spent at your home just before you left - you and Brett will be GREAT
missionaries because you both know how much you are loved and how much
is expected of you - we know you will learn to love the people you serve
in Brazil.
BRETT - you sound busy and happy and THAT'S
GOOD!!! I'm glad you are with your same companion and that you are
enjoying what you are doing. Would you have been prepared to talk about
your testimony of Joseph Smith if you had been asked by Bro. Scott???
I keep thinking about how much you must miss playing your drums and I
wonder if the music in Brazil is anything like the music in America. I
can't think of any missionary who doesn't leave things at home that they
miss - golfers, basketball & football players etc., etc. It will be fun
for you to become acquainted with the different Brazilian instruments -
you may even find some drums to play on P-Day.
The hurricane tragedy in the South continues
to lead the news. Can you all believe they have had to "drain" the city
of New Orleans? It has been unbelievable to me to see how a place that
large could be completely flooded. I was proud to read in the Church
News today that our church sent 50 semi-truck loads of commodities and
supplies to the bishops' storehouse and meetinghouses in the affected
area in the days right after the disaster. Another 30 trucks were sent
to replenish storehouses.
According to our paper today there were 600
evacuees who initially came to Camp Williams and now there are about
half that many. They have been well received here and they have been
very good to take good care of all the facilities at the Camp. There
are some who want to make Utah their home and they have been offered
jobs and temporary homes - it will be interesting to see what happens.
Some of the children are already in school in the Jordan School
District.
It has been interesting to see the concern
and care the animals have been given. There have been many dogs and a
few cats that were lost in the flood waters and they have been rescued
and I heard many of them were being sent to Utah for care but I'm not
sure. I'm impressed with the thoughtfulness of Government officials who
have tried to reunite people with their pets.
Laura - thank you SO much for your sweet
letter. Jessie - thank you SO much for your sweet letter. Lee Anna -
thank you SO much for your sweet thank you note - they are a pain to
write, Ha!!! I LOVE to hear from my granddaughters.
I went to my 62nd Box Elder High School
reunion on Thursday and I just had a WONDERFUL time!!!!!
I went to Bountiful to pick up a former
classmate who lives in an assisted living center and then we drove to
Willard - we had our reunion with a delicious luncheon at the event
center next to the Maddox Restaurant. I had sent 123 invitations and
123 reminders and we had 70 attend - probably about 50 classmates. Most
of us are 80 years or close to it so that is pretty good.
My friend, Helen Jane Lemon, was the
chairman and she did a GREAT job!!! They had made posters of
special pictures that were in our yearbooks and the placemats were
enlarged pictures of our High School which has since been torn down.
They had little cellophane bags filled with Box Elder pencils, magnets,
"B" pins and other things. A small group of friends was invited to a
home of one of our classmates who lives in Brigham City after
the reunion and we just visited and visited and I enjoyed it SO much. A
friend from Idaho Falls, Sharon Ward, came for the very first time and
that was special. Another friend, Kathryn Wilson, came from California
and it was only the second reunion she had ever attended. Many former
classmates came from all over - Arizona, Southern Utah, California, Ohio
and other places.
I believe Roy is my only child who still
keeps in touch with his former High School classmates and I hope
he always will. Roy went to school from the 1st grade through the 12th
in Little Rock and the rest of you moved around. My Box Elder High
School friends have been such an outstanding support to me all my life
and I wish all of you had those same friendships.
I won the prize for being the only one who
was brave enough to say our "yell song" alone - not really a song. It
is "Yo Triumphe" and many of you have heard me say it: "Yo Triumphe, Yo
Triumphe, Hob Um Swab Um, Rebecca De An A More Whoop De Whoop De Shell
De Vere, De Boom De Rah, De Ay De Paw, Hennica Swennica, Whack, Ca
Whack, Hob, Dob, Ball De Bora, Balle Bora, Conslobidy Rah - Hob, Dob,
Rah, Box Elder Rah!!!!" Noone seems to know where that came from or
what it means but it is fun to say - I don't know if they still yell it
at Box Elder games.
That's all the news - I think - I LOVE EACH
ONE OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING
YOU DO. Grandma B XXXXXOOOOO