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Mom’s 2007 Christmas Letter

This credit bureaus paper is what I was given here.  I am not sure if all these phone numbers are toll free or not.  Will you see if you can check out my credit rating and make sure that no one has gotten a hold of my SSN and used it.  I owe no one.  I had everyone of my bills paid off.  You would know better than me if you can get this by the internet.  My name and everything would all be under Sandy Jonas.  Nothing is under the other name.  You might check under my married name, too.  You never know what was changed and what was not, OK.
I found this little tidbit that maybe you could check on too.  Everything that is for public knowledge is it on the internet too?  If so, then you could maybe look on the net for this.  Probably under some gov’t site.  At county courthouses at the hall of records, wills are filed.  You can pay a fee for a certified copy of death certificates which lists the cause of death.  Like I said, I would like to know what the death certificates of Dad, Mom, and the one who got herself dead with me.  I know the cause of death but I would like to know what the death certificates say.  If you come up with anything will you let me know?
As far as what is happening with me I did get lucky and Crabtree was appointed my case.  Dunlap says that most of the time the judges do not want to deal with post convictions so they go to the appellate which usually kick them back down to district for a hearing on what evidence you have to support your claims.  I am hoping that Crabtree will look over the petition and let me have a hearing first.  All I can do is keep my fingers crossed.
I got a card from Jackie the middle of Nov.  It really surprised me.  It had been over 2 1/2 years since I heard from her.  Maybe she had a straight moment and remembered she had a sister.  She said May was expecting in Jan.  I hope she raises her kid better than Jackie did her.  But then I guess it ain’t none of my business.  I probably will not here from her for another couple of years.  I guess I should feel lucky.  I laugh every time I think about what you quoted Doug saying about communicating and yet the chicken shit caint get off his ass and write me back.  I guess that is none of my business either.  I guess if they both want to go around with their heads up their butts that is their problems.  It just gripes my ass and the bull shit about blood being thicker than water is not true as far as my siblings goes.  It is just hard to write and write and never get a response.  It hurts too.  But I guess that is life and life is not always easy especially when you live in a shit hole incubator that breeds a lot of nasty filthy sick perverted sexual warped son of a bitches that I have to live with.  You would not believe how sick the human species is Paul.
Anyway, I hope you two have a good holidays.  There is no snow here.  It comes and goes.  One day you need a coat and it is bitter the next day you do not.  It can be cold but the damn wind that always blows make it bad.  Well anyway take care and I hope to hear from you.
Love you,
Mom
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What it is not

I stumbled upon this quote by Theodore Burton in his book, Meaning of Repentance, pg 96.  I thought I would share it.  I have thought some about it lately and how to more perfect my life.  It is hard to nail down exactly how to do it, much of it really does seem like a God-given gift through faith.  The thoughts made me think.
“Just what is repentance?  Actually it is easier for me to tell what repentance is not than to tell you what repentance is.”

“My present assignment as a General Authority is to assist the First Presidency.  I prepare information for them to use in considering applications to readmit transgressors into the Church and to restore priesthood and/or temple blessings.  Many times a bishop will write: “I feel he has suffered enough!”  But suffering is not repentance.  Suffering comes from lack of complete repentance.  A stake president will write: “I feel he has been punished enough!”  But punishment is not repentance.  Punishment follows disobedience and precedes repentance.  A husband will write: “My wife has confessed everything!”  But confession is not repentance.  Confession is an admission of guilt that occurs as repentance begins.  A wife will write: ” My husband is filled with remorse!”  But remorse is not repentance.  Remorse and sorrow continue because a person has not yet fully repented.  But if suffering, punishment, confession, remorse, and sorrow are not repentance, what is repentance?”

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Jorgensen and Christensen

Robert Mathis shared with me this copy of a short history written by Amanda Emilie Jorgensen.  It is a history of her parents, my fourth Great Grandparents.  It also has a reference to Hanna’s parents.  This was written around 1933.
History of my Parents

My father Olaves Jorgensen was born in Drammen Norway 19 November 1830.

When he was twelve years old he started working in a saw mill for Mr Kjer.

My mother Hannah Mathea Christensen was born in Drammen Norway fourteen November 1831. She was a dressmaker when she was old enough to work. They were married fourth november 1855 in Drammen Norway. Two girls were born there. Constanse and Olga. Then Mr. Kjer transferred Father to Fredrikstad Norway to another saw mill and he worked there until he came to America in 1896.

Mother was very religious and always went to some kind of church but never felt satisfied. She lived in an apartment house and was talking to a lady named Mrs. Ask that lived across the hall. Religion was mentioned and mother said she wanted to find a religion that baptised people like Jesus was baptised.

Mrs. Ask asked her if she had ever heard about the Mormon people and mother said no. Mrs. Ask said to be ready Sunday afternoon and she would take her to hear the Mormon Elders.

As soon as mother heard the Elders preach she knew it was the true church. The Priest and other people tried to tell her it was wrong but she wouldn’t listen. The Elders had to take her to the ocean to be baptised after dark as they would be arrested and put in jaail if they were seen baptising people.

Mother was a very faithful member and the missionaries were always welcome in their home. She was President of the Relief Society for years.

Father wanted to join but didn’t dare to because he knew he would lose his job. Father was baptised just before he and mother came to Utah.

They went directly to Richmond Utah in Cache Valley to be near their daughter Othelia. They were here four years and had never had the opportunity to go to the temple when mother died in November, 1900. Father and Othelia and Constanse came to Logan and did the work for mother and she was sealed to Father. Father died in November 1904 and they were both buried in Richmond Utah.

Mother told me that the pastor of the Luteran Church said her parents Christen Hansen and Marie Evensen were the most beautiful couple he had ever married while he was a pastor.

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Sin to understand?

I have always been a bit irritated with the idea that we have to sin to understand evil.  I understand that the fall of Adam and Eve were something that were part of a plan and that God made provision for the fall.  However, in our day and age it seems there is a line of reasoning that one has to venture into hell to understand it.  It always really bothered me and seems to go against what the gospel would have us do with our lives, meaning avoid and repel temptation.  I remember the old man in England telling me the more we went out of our way to sin the more we would see the Saviour’s atonement in our lives and that we are encouraged to do so to witness the miracle of redemption.  Well, I found a quote that seemed to utter to some degree what I have struggled to find.  While I am not a Lewis fan for the fact that his fans appear to like the nicety of language rather than his intent, I have to share this quote.  Forgive me for using two Lewis quotes in the last three entries!
It is from Mere Christianity,  “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.  A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means.  This is an obvious lie.  Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is; after all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in.  You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down.  A man who gives into temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. 

That is why bad people in one sense know very little about badness.  They’ve always lived a sheltered life by always giving in.  We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means-the only complete realist.”

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Sister Delivered

Here is a picture of the newest addition to the family.  Daniel Neil Constable.  That is my sister in the picture, the proud mother.  Both mother and baby are doing very well.  Little Daniel is slated to be given up for adoption.  However, I have heard this may not be the case.  Without more information, I won’t write anything more.
Andra and baby Daniel
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Brave Knights and Heroic Courage

In thinking of some of the difficulties facing our society in our day I often wonder about the role of reading.  It was then I finally stumbled upon this talk.  Some of the most thought provoking comments I have copied here.
In the end of C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy assume their rightful thrones and Kings and Queens of Narnia.  Lewis dedicates only one sentence to describing how they governed during the Golden Age of Narnia, but it is interesting to hear his summary of their most important accomplishments.  Lewis tells us that they “made good laws and kept the peace and saved good trees from being cut down and liberated young dwarfs and young satyrs from being sent to school and generally stopped busybodies and interferers and encouraged ordinary people who wanted to live and let live.
It is interesting to note that the first item of business after keeping the peace and protecting the environment was abolishing school!  Narnia is thus the first kingdom where home-schooling is not only encouraged, it is required!  But I think Lewis was talking less about the institution of school and more about what was being taught there.  And when it came to what was being taught, Lewis thought that stories made all the difference.
Lewis begins The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with a memorable introduction of a new character: “There was once a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubbs, and he almost deserved it.”  In introducing us to Eustace, Lewis believes the best way for the reader to understand him is to know the kinds of books he reads.  “He liked books if they were books of information and had pictures of grain elevators or of fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools.”  In other words, he didn’t have time for the types of stories that Lewis adored-stories about heroism, knights and talking animals.
As a result, Eustace is at a significant disadvantage when he first arrives in Narnia and finds himself in a dragon’s lair.  “Most of us know what we should expect to find in a dragon’s lair,” Lewis writes, “but, as I said before, Eustace had read only the wrong books.  They had a lot to say about exports and imports and governments and drains, but they were weak on dragons.”
The situation worsens when the dragon begins to stir: “Something was crawling.  Worse still, something was coming out of the cave.  Edmund or Lucy or you would have recognized it at once, but Eustace had read none of the right books.”
Clearly Lewis is telling us something about more than dragons and talking mice.  He is giving us a simple instruction: You are what you read.  We are shaped and influenced by the books that we read.  They prepare us for more than interesting conversations – they actually prepare us to face real crises that we encounter in life.  Few people would dispute this simple statement, so let’s ask the related question: What are we reading today?
The short answer is: not much.  A few years ago, the National Endowment for the Arts released a report entitled “Reading at Risk”  Many people here are probably familiar with its findings, but allow me to repeat the headline: For the first time in modern history, less than half of the adult population now reads literature.  The decline is across all races, all education levels, and all age groups…
The report went on to show that the decline in literary reading strongly correlates to a decline in cultural and civic participation.  Literary readers are more than twice as likely as non-literary readers to perform volunteer and charity work, nearly three times as likely to attend performing arts events, and nearly four times as likely to visit art museums.  Before you begin to think that this is limited to highbrow events, literary readers are even substantially more likely to attend sporting events than non-literary readers.  And before you begin to think that the group of people making up literary readers is a group of Luddites that has sworn off electronic media, the report found that literature readers still managed to watch close to three hours of television each day!…
The report concludes on a rather somber note: at the current rate of loss, literary reading as a leisure activity will virtually disappear in half a century.  This decline will not be reversed by any one solution.  In fact, it will require a number of innovative ones from a number of different groups…
… project opens up a fair debate about whether children should read books that have such frightening content.  C.S. Lewis tackled this issue head-on when and offered some good advice that informs how we select our projects: “Those who say that children must not be frightened may mean two things.  They may mean that we must not do anything likely to give the child those haunting, disabling, pathological fears against which ordinary courage is helpless: in fact, phobias.  His mind must, if possible, be kept clear of things he can’t bear to think of.  Or they may mean that we must try to keep out of his mind the knowledge that he is born into a world of death, violence, wounds, adventure, heroism and cowardice, good and evil.  If they mean the first I agree with them: but not if they mean the second.  The second would indeed be to give children a false impression and feed them on escapism in the bad sense.  There is something ludicrous in the idea of so educating a generation which is born to the…atomic bomb.  Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.  Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.”
(Micheal Flaherty, President of Walden Media, given at Hillsdale College 30 Jan 2007)
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Report for Thanksgiving

Here is a short update of what has been happening the past few weeks.
Thanksgiving Day we spent at Uncle Don and Lolane Andra’s home in Kensington, Maryland.  We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with them and the rest of the Rock Creek Ward.  We really enjoyed ourselves although we did not get to take home any left overs.  They came down to Richmond that evening and spent Friday through Monday with us.  Amanda took them to Monticello, we went to Jamestown Settlement on Saturday, Sunday we toured some of Richmond, and Monday we went to Shirley Plantation.  The highlight in the whole thing was taking them to church with us and meeting up for lunch with Sister Andra on Monday.  Sister Andra is Donald’s brother’s granddaughter, my second cousin.  It was a new idea for me to be at lunch with three missionaries and they are all related to me!  Please notice the picture I posted of us in the Virginia Living and Andra Family Albums.
Amanda has been a little stressed with finals coming this week.  So there has been a juggling act of sorts here at the Ross apartment.  I put my first application in for law school last night.  We we start the mad rush of applications and then the hurry up and wait game.  I guess I better start putting some more effort into securing employment after the new year.
In other news, I received a message from the detective for mother’s case.  I very much appreciate his goodness and comments.  I did have a few questions to ask of him and I hope he will respond.  Perhaps we can put to rest a few questions I have had lingering over these years.
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Berkeley and Shirley

In introducing the new photos just uploaded, Amanda and I decided to take a trip a bit off the beaten path and stop at Berkeley and Shirley Plantations.  Both of them hold significance in the history of America.  Just because back then many of the noble families intermarried among each other there are numerous links to various known families.
Berkeley Plantation was also known as Harrison Landing.  It is here at Harrison Landing the ship landed in 1619 having come from England.  According to the dictates of those who sent them, when they reached the shore, they were to drop and give Thanksgiving for having made it safely.  It is also here at Berkeley that Bourbon Whiskey was first made by a Priest.  The other notable first for Berkeley is “Taps” was written there in about 1862.  It is named after Richard Berkeley.  After the Berkeley Hundred was abandoned after an Indian massacre the home was taken over by the Harrison Family in the 1630’s.  It was through this Harrison line that Benjamin Harrison was born, the signer of the Declaration of Independence.  He is buried in the graveyard.  Interesting to note, the first 10 Presidents of the United States were entertained and stayed at Berkeley Plantation.  It just happens the 9th President, William Henry Harrison, was born at Berkeley.  It was in the same room he was born that he wrote his inauguration speech.  The one in which he gave despite the weather to prove he was not too old to be President.  He caught cold and died about 30 days into his Presidency.  The shortest Presidency still, the first President to die in office, and he was for almost 150 years the oldest President to be elected to office.  It was his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, who would become our 23rd President (during whose term Idaho became a state).  During the Civil War McClellan camped 140,000 troops here.  During this time President Lincoln visited and entered the home.  It was in these camps ‘Taps” was written.  Anyhow, Berkeley was very interesting to visit.  It was a cold day so there were few visitors.  The lady selling tickets saw my Zion’s card in paying and asked where were were from.  She taught English for many years at Mountain View and has moved to Virginia, where she was born.  Small world isn’t it?
Shirley Plantation is not far up the road.  It is part of what was the Shirley Hundred.  It claims to be the oldest plantation in America (1622) and the oldest family owned business.  The Shirley’s who were given the Shirley Hundred were on their way to Virginia when Mr. Shirley died in the Azores on the way over.  The rest of the family went home not wanting to venture to the wilderness without him.  The property was sold and the Hill’s acquired.  After a generation or two the Hill’s had no male heirs so it went through the daughter who married a Carter.  It is through this Carter line Anne Carter was born, mother of Robert Edward Lee.  Robert was raised here, but he certainly spent a good deal of time there growing up and receiving some of his schooling in this house.  During the Civil War the Plantation became a place where the Union Troops placed their injured after the Malvern Hill battles.  Those at Shirley Plantation went out to tend and take care of the injured soldiers and earned the respect of General McClellan.  In return for their efforts he assigned soldiers to protect the home from being burned and pillaged as many other homes were during the Civil War.  Today, descendants of the Carter’s (and Hill’s) still live in the home making it the 11th or 12th generation.  That possibly of itself makes it the longest family owned home in America.
There was some definitely instructive and pleasing things learned at Berkeley and Shirley.  They were fascinating really.