Trip To Kirtland With Jeanne and Rodger

On Thursday, we started on our trip to Kirtland. The leaves were turning so there were many, many beautiful landscapes.

We stopped at the memorial to Flight 93. It was an interesting side trip. The people who have come here have made many different kinds of memorials. Some are small headstones, some are photos with names and dates, some are just cardboard with writing. Some are made by scout troops, some by veteran groups. Some by the relatives of the people who gave their lives. It's a strange feeling standing here and remembering what these people did and how many lives they saved by giving up their own lives. The Ranger posted here told us that they are trying to get enough money for a permanent memorial.

After we visited the visitors' center , we were shown around some of the sights owned by the Church. Our guides were two sister missionaries. They took us to the Whitney store, to a water powered saw mill, and to the Johnston's second home.

We left the Church owned sites and went to a cafe recommended by the missionaries. The food was delicious and the price couldn't be beat! After, we drove to a small town where the artist James Christensen was having a showing of some of his paintings and sculptors. That was interesting! But we learned that the the punch really had a punch to it. It was not apple juice! After, we found our hotel and called it a day!

The next morning, we visited the Kirtland temple. I was able to climb the many steps to the third floor. This was where the prophet had his office. The second floor had a room divided off from where the school of the prophets met. That room was a school room where anyone could come to attend school. They had all ages meeting there. The first, or main floor, was filled with rows of seats. There were three tiered rows of seats at each end of the building. The Melchizedek priesthood sat at the front of the building and the Aaronic priesthood seats were in the back. The guide told us that originally they had planned for canvass curtains to come down from the ceiling and divide the room into smaller rooms. He explained that a curtain came down in front of the Melchizedek priesthood seats, and that this was where the Savior appeared to Joseph and Oliver. He didn't mention that other angel prophets also appeared and brought back important keys. The building is in pretty good condition; but we wondered when it will again belong the the true and living Church.

This is on the Issac Morley property, we are standing on the supposed site of the schoolhouse. The prophet and Emma had a small log house on this property. We learned that Issac and his family followed the Saints to Nauvoo and then to the Salt Lake Basin. He was called by BrighamYoung to go to San Pete and colonize that very difficult area. He was truly a saint!

Dad looking over Chagrin Falls. We visited Chagrin and the falls. This was a quaint older city that has kept its charm. The buildings were old but in good condition and occupied. The falls were beautiful. We found the popcorn store and got us a cup of hot chocolate.

Trip to Kirtland

Before we started for home, we visited the John Johnson farm. It was here while sleeping in the guest bedroom with a little sick baby that Joseph was dragged out into the cold and tarred and feathered. The mob even tried to poison him. It was also here where Joseph and Sidney Rigdon received section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants. We learned that Sister Johnson really liked bright colors. She had one room's trimmings all done in yellow. In another room she had a checkered floor with red, green, and black checkers. Good for her!

How We Two Became One

I became a coed at Utah State Agricultural College in the fall of 1946. I lived in the ladies' dorm on campus. I loved being in college. It was a different life since I had left my high school friends behind and was soon making all new friends. Becoming a member of the Chi Omega sorority made making friends much easier.

Rulon started college the same time as I did. This was good since he had a car. It was good just to know that he was around.

Bob and I met when I invited him to the sorority's spring formal. I had invited my high school boyfriend but he called to tell me that his mother had become quite ill and was in the hospital. Jane Johnson, an older sorority sister, knew Bob quite well. She thought we should get together and encouraged me to invite him. He accepted. This was a blind date!! (In the meantime the mother was feeling better and my boyfriend called to say that he would be able to come. I had to tell him that it was too late.) To make a long story shorter, we had a good time at the dance and then started dating.

Bob received a call to serve in the French mission in the spring of 1947. He and Martin both received calls. They left for their mission together and returned together. I attended the farewell with Bob's family. We hadn't made plans for the future, but did write to each other for a while. I had a date with Bob's friend, John Emmett; and then received a "dear John" letter from Bob. In the letter he said, "Those who love are lost and those who wait are left." Of course, I answered immediately and informed him that I wasn't "waiting" for anyone.

I enjoyed college. I majored in English and minored in French. I was an editor on the school paper and had dreams for a while of majoring in journalism and having a column of my own. I lived in the sorority house, but that's another story.

Bob returned from his mission but we had no contact for a while. He had made a list of girls he would date when he got home. I'm sure I wasn't on it. I remember the first time I saw him. He was picking up a girl at the house and I was leaving with my date. We passed on the steps. His girlfriend wasn't exactly "Miss America". After a while he started calling me and we got together again. He was attending the University of Utah, so our dates were on weekends, etc. In the little Layton theater, in the dark, on February 14th. he put an engagement ring on my finger. I had to go into the ladies' room to see it! Wasn't that romantic?

As I remember, our plans were that I would graduate, then enroll at the University of Utah and work on my Masters' degree and he would finish his pre-med requirements. I don't know what happened to that plan! Instead, we were married on August 18, 1950. I had a certificate to teach in secondary school and then obtained a certificate for elementary school.

We were married on one of the warmest days in August. We were in the Salt Lake temple ready, but Brother Sonne, who was supposed to perform the ceremony, was no where to be found. We waited at least two hours. I remember thinking that if all the people were not there with us, I would run out the door, take off the warm, warm gown I was wearing and just disappear.

We had a very nice reception that was held in the junior Sunday School room of our Church in Layton. Mother and her friends had decorated the room so that it was beautiful! Mother's cousin had decorated the cake with the temple on top. There was an organ in the room and Jay Welch, a missionary companion of Bob's, came and played it for some of the time. My good friend, Shirley Lamb also played. Many of my friends from the sorority were there and sang some of our songs during the evening. My grandpa Whitesides, his brother, my great Uncle Ed, and his wife, Aunt Mary, came and went through the line then sat on chairs right near our line for most of the evening. I thought it was a lovely evening!

The bridesmaid dresses were white organdy with pastel colored slips under them. June was my matron of honor, the other bridesmaids were my cousin, Barbara, my school friend Donna, and my college friend Marva. My cousin, Catherine Johnson, was the flower girl. Martin was best man for Bob.

e

BYU-Washington Game. I made it to the top of the bleachers!!

I thought we had arrived only to find that there were more stairs around the corner.
So, here we are in our seats at last and waiting for the game to begin. The seats were way up, but we had a great view of the lake dotted with all the different boats. We also had a good view of the field. And we were surrounded by a lot of BYU fans and did our best to make a lot of noise.
There were a lot of us there and the weather was perfect. This was taken after the final score - BYU 28, Washington 27. What a perfect ending!! It was worth the climb.

Our "fast" trip to Savannah, Georgia, Sept. 12 to Sept. 14, 2008

Dad was asked to attend this AVA conference to be the Gala Honorary Chairperson at the close of the conference. When he mentioned going, I asked him why he was planning to attend. I asked if he were going to give a talk or whatever. He said, "Oh, I'm just going to let the nurses fondle over me." I thought he was kidding!
We left early Friday morning and flew to Dulles airport where we waited a couple of hours and then flew to Savannah on a smaller plane. We arrived at the hotel around 6:30 P.M. their time. We were invited to go to dinner, but declined. Our hotel was very nice as long as we stayed indoors. The temprature outside was hot and humid!! We ate some soup and a sandwhich in the lounge and tried to get some sleep.
On Saturday dad attended one of the lectures then we met Doctor Broviac and his two married daughters and went to lunch across the river from the hotel. We learned that Doctor Broviac was also invited to be an honorary chairperson. We had a very nice lunch and visit. We returned to the hotel, changed our clothes and went to the Convention Center to attend the "gala".
We arrived around 5 o'clock and discovered that we were in a small room for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. We got ourselves a coke and then the fondling began. These attendees were all involved in vascular access. They all wanted to introduce themselves to Dad and thank him for the "Hickman Catheter". They all had different stories; and many, many of them wanted their picture with Dad. They even included me in many of the photos.
From this room, we then went to the ballroom where there were many, many more nurses who wanted to shake Dad's hand and tell him their stories and have a picture taken with him. This continued for about four hours, then the ladies who preside over the association talked. We then watched a video about the association and then Doctor Broviac and Dad talked. They both received standing ovations!!
We finally got back to our room, took off our shoes, and read for a while. We tried to sleep, but our poor bodies were so mixed up they wouldn't cooperate. We made it through the night until 5 o'clock A.M. We then got dressed, caught a taxi to the airport and flew to Chicago, O'Hare. We waited there for about an hour then caught our flight to return to Seattle.
We're home, we've read the paper about BYU crushing UCLA and also about the Huskies getting slaughtered. We've unpacked, taken the garbage out, and received instructions about how to write in a blog. We're very, very happy to be home!!
I hope this works!!!!