My dad writes to missionaries every week. Both Kamiko and Daysa are on his mailing list, as are about 12 other full-time missionaries. I get his email, too. I thought this one was especially inspiring. As I read it, I thought of my mission in Bolivia. That experience taught me that I can do anything. I also draw on my experience to allay my fears about Kamiko being on a mission and Allie going to Arkansas. If I can serve and work hard in Bolivia, I can do anything!
Dear Kids,
I trust you have enjoyed a great week. It has been good for me.
Life is preparation Don’t miss out on any.
Humor me, I promise it will be worth the read! I was born in 1937 in Holden, Utah, a fourth generation Latter Day Saint. My childhood and teenage years were spent working on a ranch/farm in Southern Utah. For cash crops we raised wheat and cattle. The land was not the most productive so yields were small, but the work was hard and optimism always prevailed. Our lives were centered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We understood the parable of the sower. We understood God adorns His creations beautifully: i.e. the lilies of the fields and beautiful birds and animals for which we were taught reverence.
There was never a shortage of work to be done. Each day cows had to be milked and domestic animals fed and cared for. Alfalfa needed to be cut, windrowed, bailed and hauled for the winter feed for the cattle. Three crops a year were a usual yield. Wheat needed to be harvested. Cattle needed to be moved from winter pasture to summer pasture in the early summer and then in late summer they were moved from summer pasture to winter pasture as we watched the cycle of nature herald changing assignments.
Days started early in the morning, usually around 5:30 and continued in a steady pace until 7:00-8:00 in the evening when we collapsed into bed, dog tired and fell asleep immediately so we would be refreshed for the coming day. This routine was every day, but the Sabbath, year in and year out.
In 1955 I commenced my college education at BYU where I enrolled in a pre-dental program. School was a challenge, but not too difficult I had been seasoned on the farm with long hours and hard work to prepare me. In October 1957 I arrived in Sweden to commence my missionary service. Missionary work was demanding and challenging, learning a new language and expressing spiritual thoughts in Swedish became a challenge and delight. I knew I could succeed. I have been forged in the crucible of long hours of hard work on the farm. My mission was a success as I blessed the lives of many, but most of all my life was blessed and my investment in time and energy would bear fruits for years to come. I loved it. I loved the people. I loved teaching the gospel. I loved the food. I loved to tract. I loved my companions. I loved Sundays in company with the Saints as we worshiped God together, sang the hymns of Zion in Swedish, and partook of the sacrament, renewing sacred covenants.
Upon return home in 1960 I met and married my dear wife, Ann, in the Los Angeles Temple and we have enjoyed a wonderful life of marriage and service. We raised seven children and now have twenty-four wonderful grandchildren and thirteen great-great grandchildren.
I continued my education and completed my dental training in 1965. The study of academics and manual dexterity to master dentistry was a challenge, but I had farmed and I knew how to meet challenges. I practiced dentistry for thirty-one years. The practice of dentistry was challenging, but much easier and considerably more financially rewarding than farming.
I have been blessed to have served in a variety of capacities in church service. I served as ward YM President two times, Stake YM President two times, Ward Sunday School President, Sunday School teacher, Primary Teacher, Scout Leader, Stake High Council, and Bishop three times.
I retired in 1996 and Sis Hunter and I moved to Utah to enter a new phase of life. We immediately sought to serve in the House of the Lord and were assigned to serve in the Provo Utah Temple. Learning the ordinances was a challenge, but I had been on a farm. I had served a mission in Sweden. I had served in a variety of church assignments and eventually I became comfortable in administering the ordinances of the temple. I felt the richness, the power and the beauty of these sacred ordinances. Sowing seeds, harvesting and putting into barns, the lilies of the field and the animals witnessed to the greatness of God and I enjoyed the abundance thereof.
In 1999 Sis Hunter and I received a call from the Prophet to serve a mission in the Stockholm Temple. I renewed acquaintances and refreshed friendships with many gentle Saints I had known during my 1957-1960 mission. We ended up serving three missions at the Stockholm Temple for a total of about five years.
We have a catalogue of friends among the Saints living in: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Russia. We have visited many of them in their homes and many of them have been hosted in our home. As I serve as a sealer in the Provo Temple it is not uncommon to have common acquaintances from these distant lands with a patron on a sealing session. On a recent sealing Sis Silander-Izatt handed me several family file cards. As I looked at the card I noticed the person who had submitted the card was Jukka Laine from Finland. I asked Sis Silander-Izatt how she knew Bro Laine. She said he was her uncle. Then she asked how I, from Provo, Utah, knew Jukka Laine. I responded he and his wife, Anna-Lissa, had served as ordinance workers in Stockholm when we were there. Such examples are more numerous than one would expect.
April 24, 2014 I had a complete knee replacement for my left knee. I am now in recuperation mode. Rehabilitation is hard, but I was raised on a farm, doing hard work. Rehabbing a leg is hard, even more painful than any farm laboring.
As we progress in life our character becomes the product of the sum total of our mortal experiences. I have learned the following are helpful to meet ever changing challenges in life: Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, prayer, confidence in one’s capacity to rise to the challenge whatever it may be, reliance upon those who love you and assist you and you will learn humility and gratitude.
In rehab pain is a constant companion to each exercise as we stretch and lengthen muscles and tendons that constricted during and after surgery. One must move forward, regardless of the pain. There is no easy route, but with the Lord at one’s side anything and everything can and will be conquered. His grace is sufficient for all. His grace fills the entire universe and validates our efforts in whatever arena we engage. Our gratitude for His Atoning sacrifice and grace should be deep and ever ongoing.
I testify of the goodness and all encompassing love of the Savior and His great desire to bring us all back to His presence that we may live and enjoy all the richness of eternal which is the greatest of God’s gifts.
May your week be rich and rewarding. Love Dad
